March 29, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

Jumping from a car, Russian weapons in the wild, the new civil war, and more....

"How to Jump From a Speeding Car"--The Art of Manliness.

Firearms/Prepping:

• "Gear Review: JMT Saber Single Stage Drop-in Trigger"--The Truth About Guns. The trigger retails for $100. The author provides a graph showing the pull and let off, and then compares it against other triggers. Basic point, however, is that the author believes it is a very good trigger, especially considering the price point.
• Russian weapons in the wild. The Firearms Blog has a couple posts regarding Russian weapons in Syria based on social media photographs:

• "Russian SF in Palmyra Highlighted"--photographs of SSO units and some of the small arms they are using.

• "VSK-94s Operational Usage By SSA"--the VSK-94 fires a 9 x 39mm cartridge, and was issued to Russian police forces. These examples, however, are various such weapons that appear to have been issued to and used by different Syrian units.

• "Camouflage Paint Application….It’s the ‘Little Things’ that Really Hide You…OR Make You Stick Out…."--Defensive Training Group. Using photographs showing the good, the bad, and the ugly, the author offers tips and a few tricks for applying camouflage "paint" (i.e., make-up) to your face and hands, and some other tips to keep your visibility down. It must not be something taught very well in the military, at large, because his "ugly" example was a woman soldier at Ranger training school who had done a truly awful job of selecting colors that didn't blend in as well as failing to break up the shapes and shadows of her face.
• I know I posted this a few months ago, but I felt impressed to do so again today: "Changing Buffer Weight on AR15s"--Rifle Shooter Magazine. A discussion of the different buffer weights, why you might want to change, and some other options. Must read for anyone building an AR or that might have problems after switching out the upper receiver.
• "KDG Apparition Pack: A Discreet Option for Your Guns and Gear"--Tactical Life. Some people want their packs, bags, and gun cases to be tactical (or, at least, tacti-cool). Others want something more discrete, at least for everyday use. Discrete does not necessarily mean subdued colors, but something that does not advertise "gun" by its shape or configuration. This pack appears to be designed for the latter person. It is black and red, and designed for a rifle that either folds up or is broken down, with extra pockets for water bottles and a concealed handgun. According to the article, the length is 27-inches, but can be extended to 33-inches. The main thing, however, is that it doesn't look like a "tactical" bag.
• "You Should Be Shooting Two-Gun"--Breach Bang Clear. As the author notes, one of the downsides of 3-gun is getting the shotgun. Not only because it is yet another weapon to buy and configure for shooting, but also because a good 3-gun shotgun is neither a self-defense shotgun or a field shotgun, but something that is purely for competition. He believes that a lot more people would be attracted to competitions if the shotgun portion was dropped, and it was just handgun and carbine/rifle. I agree. Unfortunately, it appears that the only competitions are in Arizona.
• "Reconsidering the Revolver Tactical Reload"--Revolver Guy. We've all heard of tactical reloads on semi-auto firearms: switching out a partially fired magazine with one fully loaded so we aren't caught with an empty weapon. Apparently some instructors have tried to extend this to revolvers. While I can see it with single-action revolvers where the rounds are ejected or inserted one at a time through a side loading gate--during a lull, it would make sense to top off the weapon. I've never thought about it with double-action, swing-cylinder revolvers because it is much faster to load those revolvers with a speed-loader or speed-strip. The author of this particular article explores what else can go wrong if you are trying to eject and replace only a portion of the cartridges/cases in your cylinder, especially under stress with reduced fine motor control.
• "Precision Rifle Chassis & Stocks: What The Pros Use"--Precision Rifle Blog. This article just summarizes a poll or observations of what some of the top precision rifle shooters have been using this past year, without discussion of the particular merits of each.
• "Editor's Notebook: Targets"--The Tactical Wire. A bit of history of the targets used by police for practice/qualifying, and changes that have been adopted, including using targets with a "no-threat" indicator and "threat" indicator. Also, if you want to customize the standard cardboard silhouette target, the author notes that Patriot Stencils offers reusable stencils to paint indicators or other features onto a target. 
• "Kershaw Barricade: The Emergency Responder’s Knife"--Tactical Life. This 3.5 inch folder comes with a bright orange handle, a seatbelt cutter slot, and a glass breaker. I had bought a similar knife a few months ago, but without really paying attention to blade length. It had a blade over 4-inches in length, which made it too long under state law to just carry in the glove-box of a vehicle (absent a concealed carry license). 
• "US Military Buying Thousands More M68 Close Combat Optics"--Kit Up! These are the Aimpoint CompM4 sights.

Other Stuff:

• "They Brought Brass Knuckles, Knife to a Gun Fight"--Weapons Man. More details concerning the recent shooting of three armed burglars by a young man wielding an AR15. Funny enough, the getaway driver had her young children with her in the car at the time of the robbery. She was caught by police when she called the police to request that they charge the burglary victim with murder. Now she is being charged with felony murder (i.e., committing a felony--the burglary--that resulted in a death), which is generally a first degree murder charge (or its equivalent). 
• "Britain's EU divorce letter is revealed: Historic moment as PM FINALLY triggers Article 50 with threat to Brussels that failure to give us a trade deal means losing cooperation on terrorism and security"--Daily Mail. Britain has made its own declaration of independence from the EU, making this the third time that it has escaped being sucked into a German dominated Europe (World Wars I and II being the first two times).
• "Leaked DHS Document Is Another Democratic Party Scandal"--Powerline. The document in question was allegedly a DHS report indicating that there was no relationship between terrorism and national origin. The document was either forged, or a draft that was never approved or formalized by DHS. The real scandal, however, isn't that the Deep State released this document, but that federal judges in the 9th Circuit halted Pres. Trump's immigration order based, at least in part, on this document. Of course, this is merely one example of a larger problem of courts involving themselves in political questions over which they lack the necessary jurisdiction, knowledge, experience, or ability.
• He could have been Obama's son: "PICTURED: Miami 'gangster', 19, who 'shot two undercover cops in an ambush while they were sat in their unmarked car'"--Daily Mail. According to the news report:

       Authorities say the plainclothes officers, who are part of the Homicide Task Force Gang-Unit, were investigating at the Annie Coleman Apartments on the city's north side when around six men walked toward the unmarked car and opened fire.

       At least eight rounds struck their car, blowing out the front passenger window.

       At least one of the officers returned fire through the windscreen. John Rivera, president of the Miami-Dade police union, said.

The suspect knew one of the detectives injured in the shooting, so it apparently was not his first interaction with law enforcement.

• "China's secret plan to crush SpaceX and the US space program"--CNBC. The article indicates that China is pouring money into "private" (at least in name) space ventures, and making space development part of its foundation for future economic growth. Based on past history, China will continue to weaponize space as well, which is only natural since it is the ultimate "high ground" in any future conflict.
• "The Civil War Is Here: The left doesn’t want to secede. It wants to rule."--by Daniel Greenfield at Front Page Magazine (h/t Nicholas Stix Uncensored). He writes:

       Some civil wars happen when a political conflict can’t be resolved at the political level. The really bad ones happen when an irresolvable political conflict combines with an irresolvable cultural conflict.

       That is what we have now.

       The left has made it clear that it will not accept the lawful authority of our system of government. It will not accept the outcome of elections. It will not accept these things because they are at odds with its ideology and because they represent the will of large portions of the country whom they despise.

       The question is what comes next.

       The last time around growing tensions began to explode in violent confrontations between extremists on both sides. These extremists were lauded by moderates who mainstreamed their views. The first Republican president was elected and rejected. The political tensions led to conflict and then civil war.

       The left doesn’t believe in secession. It’s an authoritarian political movement that has lost democratic authority. There is now a political power struggle underway between the democratically elected officials and the undemocratic machinery of government aided by a handful of judges and local elected officials.

       What this really means is that there are two competing governments; the legal government and a treasonous anti-government of the left. If this political conflict progresses, agencies and individuals at every level of government will be asked to demonstrate their allegiance to these two competing governments. And that can swiftly and explosively transform into an actual civil war.

Read the whole thing.