Exploring practical methods for preparing for the end times, including analysis of end time scripture and prophecy, current events, prepping and self-defense.
I've learned that author, trainer, member of the "been there, done that" club, and friend, Marcus Wynne, passed away last week. Although I never had the opportunity to meet Marcus in person, he somehow came across my blog and reached out to me via email in early 2018 and we've been corresponding since.
Only knowing Marcus for such a short time, and only communicating through email, I can't say that I knew Marcus as well as did many others in the shooting community. But there were several things I learned of the man that came through in his comments and emails.
First, he was a deeply spiritual man. He had an intense interest in religious and spiritual beliefs of various sects and peoples, which often showed up in his writing. He had an intense faith in God and was eager to understand His word.
Second, he really cared about people. His life seemed to have been one concentrated on protecting the good from the evil. Although I don't know much of his life as a trainer, I know that he helped train anti-terrorist police and military units in such diverse places as South Africa, Israel, and Northern Europe, as well as in the United States. In his emails to me, he had a great deal of concern on where society was going and the consequences it could have on people. On an individual level, he helped train people in self-defense techniques and did other work to help people win the good fight against the evil in this world.
On a personal note, he and I shared an interest in the Suspicious Observers You Tube channel and the information provided there. He also went out of his way to help me with my blog. He would include me in emails he sent out with interesting news stories, articles or videos related to self-defense, and terrorist warnings that had been issued, many of which I passed on to you, the readers of this blog. He helped my blog in other ways such as putting me in touch with people that could provide gear for me to review, as well as answering questions I had as to certain topics or volunteering information about topics I had raised in my blog. For instance, after I posted a recent video about "woobies" he wrote to me:
Woobies are great albeit expensive; poncho liners go back to my era in the 70s (I had a chance to handle a special prototype made as casualty blankets for the Son Tay raiders who made off with all of them when the raid came up dry). The USMC liner is well made and cheap, Skumberjak and others make good ones, but hands down FAVORITE is the Hill People Gear Mountain Serape. Brilliant design fits inside of a standard
Poncho but with carefully placed zippers turns into a great coat essentially a sleeping bag you can walk and shoot in, and also converts to a lightweight sleeping bag. Used with additional warm layers it’s entirely fine for overnights into fall and would serve in an emergency in winter if augmented by other layers and a fire. ...
Although he did not share this with me, I suspect that he directed many others to my blog.
One of my readers with experience in tracking recommended the following book: Tracking Humans: A Fundamental Approach to Finding Missing Persons, Insurgents, Guerrillas, and Fugitives from the Law by David Diaz & V. L. McCann. I was lucky enough to find a copy on Amazon, but shortly thereafter happened across an epub version available from no cost at PDF Drive. Here is the link.
Jon Low at Defensive Pistolcraft published a new post this past Sunday. Jon has a lot of good information, comments, and links, so I advise you check out the whole thing. But one item that caught my attention in particular was a discussion on focusing on the front sight and closing (briefly) your non-shooting eye.
I don't know how much the issue is actually debated, but I know there are different schools of thought on each topic. For instance, back when pistol sights were generally small and dark and hard to see, the dominant school of thought was "instinctive" shooting, which was not instinctive but required a great deal of practice and relied heavily on placement of the feet and alignment of the body. This was taught to a high degree to FBI and Secret Service agents who, I've read, could make some pretty impressive shots while shooting from the hip. Some of you may even be familiar with Rex Applegate's method of point shooting which, while not shooting from the hip, still uses body and arm alignment to make quick snap shots without using the sights of a pistol. (See the video below).
There apparently is also a school of thought that claims that you should focus on the target not the front sight blade. But, as Jon points out in his comments, " If you don't focus on the front sight, it will wander off on you, and you will never notice it, because you won't see it, because you're not focused on it."
The increased field of vision is arguably the most important and notable benefit from shooting with both eyes open. Hunters scanning the sky or horizon appreciate being able to spot not just the mallard that’s currently in their scope, but also the one 50 feet away from it for the next shot.
Shooting with both eyes open greatly increases repeatability. This means having both eyes open allows you to move on to the next target quickly without possibly disorienting yourself from making rapid switches between one eye being open and both.
When a hectic situation arises, and you need to draw your weapon, you’re going to experience physical and physiological changes.
Most noticeably, the gun operator’s adrenaline will kick up, prompting the “fight or flight” response.
During this response, the body’s sympathetic nervous system releases norepinephrine and adrenaline from the adrenal glands, which are located right above your kidneys, as shown in the picture to the right.
Once these naturally produced chemicals surge through your bloodstream, your heart rate increases and your eyes dilate and widen.
These physical changes occur because the human brain is screaming to collect as much information as possible.
When these events take place, it becomes much more challenging for the shooter to keep their non-dominant eye closed.
Thoughtfully attempting to keep that non-dominant eye shut can potentially derail the shooter’s concentration, which can result in a missed opportunity for a righteous kill shot.
Jon disagrees with keeping both eyes open--at least at the time of the shot--explaining:
Why the shooter has to close the non-aiming eye for the fraction of a second required to release the shot --
Aiming with both eyes open causes the shooter to see a "double image". You can prove this to yourself by sticking your thumb up at arm's length, place it over a distant target, focus on the target and you will see two thumbs, focus on your thumb and you will see two targets.
So, if you are focused on the target and using the wrong front sight image, you will miss the target. If you are focused on the front sight and use the wrong target image, you will miss the target. Murphy's Law guarantees that the shooter will be using the wrong image. [Murphy's Law - Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, at the worst possible time.]
The shooter won't automatically use the image from the dominant eye, because eye dominance is perceptual, not physiological. So, it can and does change with stress and attention. Eye dominance is not necessarily left or right. It can be 50% - 50%. Or, anything in-between. Everyone is different. Any time a person aims with both eyes open, he will get a double image.
Assuming a hard focus on the front sight, a person using his right eye to aim, who uses the wrong target image will be shooting way off to the left (damaging property, injuring innocent bystanders, maybe killing them). A person using his left eye to aim, who uses the wrong target image will be shooting way off to the right. This is why it is essential to eliminate the double image by closing the non-aiming eye. Murphy's Law says that anything that can go wrong will go wrong, at the worst possible time. So, the person shooting with both eyes open will be shooting at the wrong image, and hitting unintended objects. No such thing as a miss, only unintended hits.
"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." So, we must eliminate anything that can go wrong from our weapon system. So, the non-aiming eye must be closed.
I've periodically tried shooting with both eyes open and have to agree with Jon. You can and probably will see a double image of the front sight blade and, at least for me, I have to concentrate in order to mentally shift to focusing one the correct image to use for shooting. I suppose you can train yourself to automatically can do so, but it is not as natural or as easy as simply closing your non-shooting eye when you take the shot.
Besides, when I switch to shooting with my left hand, as I might if my right arm was injured or tied up, I can simply close my right eye and use my left eye to align the sights when I take the shot. I suspect that if you had trained yourself to ignore the non-shooting eye image, it would be difficult to suddenly shift to try and align the sights.
Now, with the addition of micro red dot sights to handguns, this issue may become moot just as it has when shooting a rifle equipped with a red dot.
This episode is an homage to Art Bell's Coast to Coast, with our sharing a personal paranormal experience and sharing some stories or articles from others.
I was able to mostly finish the assembly of my modern scout rifle (MScR)--i.e., my AR 308--over the weekend and take it out to the desert for a quick test fire.
When I last wrote about this, I had completed putting together all the parts for the lower. But with the arrival of my bolt carrier group (BCG) and handguard (with the barrel nut), I was ready to put the upper together.
The barrel I used was the Faxon Big Gunner barrel in a 16-inch length and set up to use a mid-length gas system. As you can see, this is a fully nitrided barrel. The twist rate is 1:10 which is typical for .308 barrels. This barrel is similar to the pencil barrels but is medium contour behind the gas block (and pencil profile ahead of the gas block) which gives it some extra heat absorbing mass and increased stiffness. Faxon lists the weight as 1.91 pounds for the Big Gunner versus 1.78 pounds for the 16-inch pencil profile barrel.
I picked up a no-name nitrided mid-length gas tube at a local store.
To save weight, I picked up a 2A Armament titanium gas block, which has a listed weight of 0.70 ounces. Very nicely manufactured and, because it is manufactured in Idaho, I'm supporting the local economy.
I first attached the gas tube to the gas block, which is simply a matter of inserting the tube into the gas block and aligning the holes and, then, driving in the roll pin. Oh, and make sure that the tube is orientated correctly so that it will be able to slide through the holes in the barrel nut and upper receiver. I had started to drive in the roll pin when I realized that I had inserted the gas tube upside down. But don't attach the gas block to the barrel yet.
Next, I turned to attaching the barrel to the upper receiver. Orienting the barrel is generally pretty easy because there is a pin on the barrel that fits into a slot on the upper receiver. In this case, Faxon ships a small clip (for lack of a batter term) that nestles around the pin and better fills the slot on the upper receiver.
Clip that goes around the barrel alignment pin.
The "clip" just slides over the pin from the top.
Barrel pushed into place.
Then, when you push the barrel into place, the clip fills the slot and makes for a much more solid alignment of the barrel.
I, of course, used a thin coating of grease on the barrel extension and on all subsequent threading (except for the gas block). Based on a recommendation from an employee of a local gun store, I used the Aeroshell grease pictured below which, he told me, was developed for the AR. I don't know if it was or not, but it worked well and seemed to be thinner and easier to apply than some other greases I've used.
In any event, this was the stage when I attached the gas block/tube to the barrel since it was easier to align the block/tube with the barrel inserted into the upper receiver. I did use blue Loctite on the threads to make sure they wouldn't back out.
For the handguard and barrel nut, I selected the Brigand Arms Carbon Black EDGE Handguard which comes with a propriety aluminum barrel nut to which the handguard attaches. Because of the short barrel and mid-length gas system, I only needed the 12-inch long handguard. The total weight for the handguard and barrel nut for my configuration was 7.7 ounces.
Brigand Arms carbon fiber handguard and barrel nut as it came from the box.
I could have used a Roam Rifles handguard made of magnesium which had roughly the same weight, but I had settled on the Brigand Arms handguard even before I chose the Roam receivers, and I sort of like the solid look of the tube and round shape. (The Brigand Arms handguard is not a truly solid tube, but has M-Lok slots in the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock positions). Also, the shortest length offered by Roam was a 15-inch model, which I was afraid might be too long for my barrel.
Above are a few photographs of the barrel nut. It is an interesting design and is actually 3 nuts. The aluminum portion of the barrel nut (the primary section with the 5 holes--the middle one of which is larger and for the gas tube to slide through) is threaded inside and outside. The inside portion is threaded for the gas tub and the barrel locking nut, and the outside is threaded for the handguard and its locking nut.
So, you screw the aluminum barrel nut onto the receiver like normal. But it is not actually the nut that locks the barrel onto the receiver. Rather, you then take a steel locking nut and screw that into the aluminum barrel nut until it contacts the locking ring on the barrel extension. This is what actually tightens the barrel against the receiver. It is a little time consuming to adjust the barrel nut and barrel locking nut so that it everything is tight but also still aligned so that the gas tube can pass through the barrel nut and into the upper receiver.
I should note that the barrel locking nut is tightened with a standard barrel nut wrench, so you don't need to any proprietary tools to install it.
The outside threads for the handguard are very fine--like those on a camera for a camera lens. In any event, you screw the handguard down to where you want it, and then tighten the steel handguard locking nut against the handguard. It's hard to see in the photograph, but there are narrow slots cut at intervals around the handguard locking nut that you can use a small hammer and brass punch to put the final tightening on the locking nut. (I recommend brass so you don't mar the steel on the locking nut). I hadn't tightened this up very well initially, and it loosed somewhat during my test fire--so be sure to tighten it up with the punch and hammer.
In this photograph, I have screwed the handguard into place, but have not yet tightened the locking nut. You can see the gap between the locking nut and the handguard.
And here is what it looks like when you have it all put together.
I had decided to go with a combo muzzle compensator/flash hider from 2A Armaments, also made of titanium (weighing in at 1.7 ounces), but could not get the timing correct with the included crush washer. I have ordered a shim set and should soon have it attached. Yes, I do have the silver color because I didn't realize that 2A Armaments also made a black model. Nothing that some high temperature black paint won't fix.
Finally, I installed the bolt and charging handle. For the bolt carrier group, I went with the KAK LR-308 BCG with a double ejector. I originally was going to use an black melonited Aero Precision BCG, but the KAK was only a few dollars more and had the double ejector. Since I had read of people having problems with ejection of the cartridges, it seemed a no brainer to get the KAK product.
The charging handle I wound up using was the Radian Raptor charging handle for the AR 10. This is a fully ambidextrous handle with extended "wings" that give a better grip on the handle, especially when using a scope. I have a similar handle on an AR-15 and have really liked it.
Finally, for sights, I switched a Burris AC 332 that I was using on an AR 15 rifle to this rifle. It is a low power (3x) scope with an illuminated bullet drop compensator reticle with a large "donut" for quick shots. It has has a reputation for it ruggedness and durability, even being referred to as the poor man's ACOG. Although not forward of the action as Cooper recommended for his Scout Rifle, I think it meets the spirit of his requirements: a low power scope that was quick for alignment and shooting.
So, let's talk weight. My goal was a sub-6 lbs. without the scope and sling, and sub-7 lbs. with the scope and sling added. Prior to adding the scope, the completed rifle was 6 lbs. 2 oz. according to my scale, and jumped to 7 lbs. 3 oz. with the scope attached. So I came in a little over my goal. I could probably have met my goal if I had gone with the pencil profile barrel. I could have also met my goal using a titanium BCG. However, unlike other titanium products which were reasonable priced compared to other similar products, a titanium BCG is at least twice as expensive as a steel BCG. Nevertheless, it is still very lightweight compared to standard AR 308 rifles, and lighter than my bolt-action .308 I've used for hunting in the past.
The balance of the weapon was very good. With the lighter barrel and handguard, the balance point is at the rear of the magazine well which makes for a very quick and handy rifle. I was very pleased, in fact, on how the rifle felt in the hand.
The shorter 16-inch barrel also contributed to how quick and handy the rifle felt. This would definitely be a good rifle for hunting in dense brush or woods, or for using for self-defense in the confines of a house.
Finally, I was able to take the weapon out for a quick function check. I took along some 7.62x51 ammo from Tula (steel cased), Pakistani surplus ammo, and military ball produced by Prvi Partizan (PPU).
I started with the PPU ammo, loading a single round in the magazine. My intent with this was simply to see if the gas system worked and if the bolt would lock back on the empty magazine. This worked fine. I then loaded up the magazine with a multiple rounds and it still functioned flawlessly.
I switched to the Pakistani military surplus, and it also ran without problems.
Finally, I tried the Tula steel cased ammo, and had a stuck case on my 9th round. This wasn't exactly unexpected since my AR-15 also won't reliably run steel cased ammo. It mostly has to do with the expansion/contraction characteristics of steel versus brass. Steel won't contract as rapidly as brass after the bullet is fired, and so it has a tendency to grab against the chamber wall. In any event, I hadn't brought out a cleaning rod, so that ended my shooting. After I got back home, I put together a brass cleaning rod and, using a small hammer, was able to dislodge the case after a few taps.
I will, of course, be running more ammo through it--I still have to sight it in--but I was pleased with how it worked even if it choked up on the steel cased ammo.
One of the more surprising things to me was the low felt recoil. On my first shot, I caught myself pushing the rifle barrel down before pulling the trigger and actually hunching up a bit because I really believed that the light weight and lack of padding on the stock was going to make the rifle kick like the proverbial mule. So, after calming myself so I didn't anticipate the recoil, I made that first pull of the trigger and was surprised to find that the kick was about the same as an AKM shooting 7.62x39. I think it was because of the strong buffer spring slowing down the recoil impulse. In any event, because of the low recoil, I am wondering whether to use the muzzle compensator or just attach a simple flash hider or thread protector.
In addition to adding a muzzle device, I have a few odds and ends before I can say the rifle is complete. The handguard is very shiny, so I have ordered a section of Gunskins in A-TAK AUX pattern to cover the handguard to both dull it and camouflage it. Finally, I will need to add a sling attachment point to the front of the handguard. I haven't decided whether to add a weapon light, but I'm leaning against it.
So, in conclusion, I am so far very pleased with the rifle, its ergonomics, and handling. I'm looking forward to sighting in the weapon and giving it more of a workout. I can easily see using this rifle for hunting and plinking and self-defense--in other words, the "all purpose" rifle.
Disclaimer: I'm not the author of any of the documents, applications or things linked above and cannot vouch for their accuracy or completeness--use them at your own risk. I am not responsible for the posting or offering of any of the documents or things in the collections and/or libraries and have no control over whether they are posted or taken down.
This comes to me courtesy of Marcus Wynne (blog/books). On January 11, 2022, Area Echo released an Antifa Intel Report based on information discovered upon the capture of an Antifa operator in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Among the items recovered was a detailed "Direct Action Checklist" apparently describing the typical loadout covering such topics as clothing, armor, and gear to be kept in a backpack. It is worth taking a look at the list--and maybe even print it out or download it--so that you know what to expect. For instance, the list is heavy on tools and equipment for vandalism, drowning out or scaring opposition, as well as tools (caltrops) for disabling vehicles. The list doesn't include firearms, but it does include a collapsible baton and a flare gun.
The author next discusses the groups organization and communication:
The particular unit he seems to have been affiliated with is the Florida Youth Liberation Front. The Front claims to have chapters in Oregon, Washington, California, Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, New York, and Washington, DC, as well as in Canada. The Washington state version of the Front is known to have been around since 2018. The Florida chapter was formed in 2020.
They appear to be centrally controlled at the national level, and the different chapters coordinate their actions. The Portland chapter provides training for members of other chapters.
Their online presence is hosted by noblogs.org. This webpage is set up for insurgent groups. This platform caters to far-left causes, stating that it exists for the purpose of “connecting radical people.”
They use the crowdfunding platform GiveButter to collect donations. They use the messaging app Telegram to communicate, and include instructions on how to setup an anonymous account on their blog. Email is handled through riseup.net.
Their Twitter feed is not open to the public, but Twitter seems to have no problem allowing a group that advocates for violence, as long as that group is on the left.
One common theme I found on every site is the desire for the violent overthrow of government. I don’t understand how these guys’ meetings aren’t attended by a dozen cops. Every other criminal enterprise in the nation has been infiltrated to the point where they have more cops than real members, but these guys? This HAS to indicate some kind of government support. Reading the group’s website, and especially their “ezine” is fairly instructive.
(I didn't copy them, but the author has links to most of the websites).
The author also includes a further discussion of local organization and the type of violent actions in which they participate. Be sure to read the whole thing.
As you can already guess, Shift's background is in law enforcement in the greater Los Angeles area; specifically, as a member of the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. He brings his experience in law enforcement together with his interest in disaster preparation to provide a detailed look at how you could defend your home and neighborhood against mobs, looters and bandits in a post-SHTF situation such as after a natural disaster, economic crash, or civil unrest such as we saw in 2020.
Because of the timing of this book, Shift was able to incorporate information and trends we saw play out in the rioting of 2020, including the political motivated prosecution of people that tried to protect themselves or their homes from the hands of mobs of protesters, rioters, looters and arsonists. He also takes the realistic assessment that not all disasters or events will be periods where we are without rule of law (WROL), or that even if we experience WROL, it most likely will only be temporary such that readers will eventually face scrutiny by law enforcement. Thus, his advice covers legal options for defending your neighborhood, but also has suggestions if the breakdown will be longer and much worse.
His book is split into the following parts:
Critical Event Categories: This section covers some basic terms such as SHTF, WROL, and "Grid Down" before discussing different scenarios we may face ranging from what the press euphemistically calls "mostly peaceful protests" and up through longer term WROL. For each category he briefly discusses the characteristics of the situation and potential threats, defensive preparations, defensive tactics, possible blow-back, and more. This chapter alone would give you a good overview on to protect your home and/or neighborhood.
Neighbors and Defenders: This chapter covers putting together a neighborhood team, the typical types of support (or opposition) you might get from various neighbors, and so on. I appreciate Shift's bluntness in pointing out that some neighbors will be opposed to any sort of defense or use of force; and some will actually sympathize or support those threatening the neighborhood.
Intelligence: Shift here covers what your purpose is for collecting intelligence and the importance of learning about the area in which you live and how to go about better learning the lay of the land and observing what is going on around you and the people that live in or frequent your neighborhood. He also covers the basics of intelligence and analysis appropriate for your situation (remember that you are not a law enforcement or military agency--your goals are more limited); the difference between strategic and tactical intelligence; putting together problem and target profiles; and methods of gathering intelligence based on resources available to the general public.
Communications: This chapter covers communication basics. Because Shift does not believe that we can depend on the internet or phone communications being available, the majority of the chapter concerns itself with radio communications. He also makes recommendations as to the type of equipment and preparation to make in regard to communications, including recommending that you get a HAM license.
Self-Defense Legalities: As I have harped on before, preparation for defending yourself necessarily needs to include an understanding of the basic laws or rules of self-defense, including any peculiarities of your jurisdiction. Obviously Shift cannot address the peculiarities of one jurisdiction over another, but he does delve quite deeply into the law of self-defense, particularly against a group of protesters, mobs, or other organized groups. And based on what we saw in 2020, he also warns of liberal prosecutors that sympathize with the mob and will actively seek to prosecute anyone defending themselves against a favored demographic. This chapter alone is worth the cost of the book.
Hardening the Home: As you can guess, this section discusses methods of making your home more physically able to stop intruders. He doesn't limit it to the physical structure of the home, but also addresses methods that you can use in landscaping and fencing to keep protesters or an angry mob from bothering your home. Probably most important of all, he discusses the deficiencies of modern home construction when it comes to defense, and how best to protect yourself should someone start shooting or firebombing your property.
Defending Your Suburb: Here, Shift moves beyond your individual home to methods to protect your neighborhood, most of which involves limiting access through use of barriers or gates, having layers of protection, and requiring armed people to stand watch. He discusses methods of surveillance to make sure people aren't trying to sneak into the neighborhood or see what they are doing the next street over. Shift discusses different types of barriers and how to make your own or how to arrange vehicles to be used as barriers; as well as using barriers and vehicles to funnel people into an "engagement area" (or kill zone, if need be). But even with all that, you could have protesters call your bluff and attempt to force their way into your neighborhood and/or provoke your defense team to shoot or otherwise use illegal force to either justify the mobs use of force or to call down the whole apparatus of the law on you. Thus, a big part of defending your suburb, Shift writes, is to exercise restraint--you certainly don't want to be chucked in jail, but you don't want to unnecessarily alienate people in your neighborhood or potential allies. Discretion is the better part of valor in this situation. On this note, Shift discusses neighbors that will be upset with an access control into or out of the neighborhood and how to deal with this problem in a way that won't get you arrested or turn the uncooperative neighbor into an enemy. Finally, he discusses how to give orders to people that might try to breach the barrier, and preparing for a mob approaching the barriers.
Apartment Complexes: While we tend to think of the suburbs as full of single-family homes, if we think about it, we will realize that there are a large number of apartment complexes. Shift discusses the peculiarities and challenges for securing and defending an apartment complex.
Dealing With Police In A Crises Situation: The basic gist of this section is that police can be a resource, but that they are not your friends. Be civil and cooperative, but don't share your plans. As with your neighbors, there may be members of the police force that support protesters and rioters or their goals and who would like to make an example of a less politically favored demographic. Shift discusses why the police do the things they do, how to deal with an upset officer, and interactions between armed citizens and police, with specific instructions and guidelines for when interacting with police or if you should be detained.
Riot Basics: This section covers how riots start, the difference between a crowd and mob, and how to analyze the threat of a crowd turning into a riot.
Riot And Crowd Control: This section deals with some methods for attempting to control a crowd or mob, keeping in mind that you are not law enforcement and likely lack the manpower and training to force a mob to disburse. Shift also covers the use of force and use of force continuum, and the difference between what you, as the private citizen can do, versus law enforcement. As Shift notes, "[f]or the private citizen, in a non-life threatening situation reasonable self-defense force is that which ends the criminal action. Using the standard of reasonableness, this would mean the least amount of force necessary to get the person to stop is used." He discusses possible responses to different levels of force used by a mob as well as tools or devices useful at different levels of force. He really likes the use of paintball guns as less than lethal deterrence.
Fighting And Combat In A Suburb: Shift initially discusses bullet penetration and the difference between cover and concealment--your home is likely only the latter as against rifle rounds. He also discusses the effectiveness of expedient cover such as sand or earth filled bags, water barrels, vehicles, and so on. He also discusses other skills such as movement, breaking contact, setting up fields of fire, stopping a vehicle with gun fire, combat at night, and the use of snipers. Shift also covers rules of engagement and what to do in a hostage situation: "If a bad guy has taken a loved one hostage and tells you to drop your weapon (or anything else), don't comply." Finally, he discusses what to do if you need to retreat or your neighborhood is overrun.
Arson And IEDs: This is a useful situation if you don't know how to react to such attacks.
Night Vision: As you would expect, this chapter covers night vision devices and the advantages they bring to the table. But if you can't afford quality night vision devices, he provides tips on maximizing your own natural vision, while attempting to reassure the reader that attackers will most likely not have such devices.
Firearms And Tactical Accessories: This section is really intended for the person without much knowledge of defensive firearms, being a quick explanation of defensive firearms and some recommendations with a primary emphasis on a military style semi-auto rifle. He also discusses some less-lethal weapons such as Tasers and pepper spray. Shift also provides recommendations as how much ammo you should store, which you will probably find to be less than most other sources recommend. He also discusses accessories such as optical and night sights, weapon mounted lights (but recommends against using lasers), load bearing equipment, body armor, etc. He also provides some advice about creating reasonable doubt as to whether you used a firearm such as purchasing a firearm through a private sale, always handling and loading ammunition while wearing gloves to prevent fingerprints, and ditching a gun.
Vehicles: This section goes outside the realm of your neighborhood to discuss what to do if you are in a vehicle and surrounded by protesters or a mob. This is a delicate subject because protesters, even if they are beating on your car, generally will not pose a risk of grave bodily harm necessary to allow the use of lethal force, but it is an especially frightening situation that may cause you to press on the gas petal ... which would be a use of lethal force. As always, your best defense is to not be there. But if you are there, he provides some guidance, including moving through a crowd and what to do if your vehicle comes under gun fire. Other topics include how to properly ram another vehicle, and moving in convoys.
Evacuation: The worst has happened, and you must abandon your home. Shift explains things to consider before you run out the door, such as were are you going, getting out of your house in hurry (e.g., if it is on fire, you come under attack, etc.), etc.
Refugees And Tent Camps: Don't be a refugee, and don't let refugees set up camp near your neighborhood. Shift, tongue in cheek, warns that "[r]ural and distant suburb residents should plan for and expect large numbers of individuals leaving large cities. Not insignificant numbers of these urbanites will have low impulse control and proclivity to violence."
So the foregoing is a brief outline of what this lengthy book is about. What I can tell you is that while I already knew a lot of the information in this book and you can find bits and pieces in other books, there was a lot of new information and ideas. Most importantly, Shift has collected this information and filtered it through the perspective of a law enforcement officer. Most other books I've read dealing with defense of a home, neighborhood, or community assume a complete absence of law allowing you to respond to threats in a militaristic manner. Shift notes that the reality is that law and order will return whether it is within a few hours, days, or weeks, and you will face the consequences if you defended yourself unlawfully. We saw this in the aftermath of Katrina, for instance. Obviously justice was not meted out for every assault or death, but where there was evidence it was pursued.
There were certain points I could quibble with. For instance, Shift gave the impression that trees were only concealment and not cover, whereas tests I've seen involving shooting at trees to determine penetration have generally shown that a healthy tree of 12 inches in diameter will stop common rifle rounds, at least through the center line of the trunk. But I found the book to be well thought out and full of useful information and points to consider.
I would recommend this book to anyone living in a subdivision, suburb, or, even, a small town, as I believe it offers the most realistic assessment of civilian defense of a house or neighborhood, especially in light of Soros-backed prosecutors that worship at the feet of "wokeness" and will figuratively crucify any homeowner that dares to protect their property against a crowd. And should things go south where legalities are no longer a concern, Shift provides the basics for defense under those situations as well.
If you have been paying attention to firearms related news you've probably seen articles and videos about Federal's new cartridge, the .30 Super Carry. It is being released under Federal's various lines of ammunition including Remington, Federal, and Speer, and will be available in HST and Gold Dot defensive loadings.
Based on the articles and videos I've seen, the .30 Super Carry was intended to fill the performance gap between .380 ACP (9x17mm) and 9 mm Luger/Parabellum (9x19 mm) rounds. The 9x19 is the most popular round for pistols for self-defense, law enforcement, and even the military. The .380 has always lagged in popularity--at least in the United States--because it just doesn't offer the speed necessary for both good penetration and reliable expansion. Even though modern bullet designs have mostly addressed this issue, it would still be a little iffy when shot through heavy clothing. But what the .380 has going for it is that it is just enough shorter than 9 mm Luger to offer a smaller grip for those with smaller hands or for better concealed carry; and it can, with the right weapon, offer lower perceived recoil than the full sized 9 mm. The lower pressure of the .380 also makes it easier (and less expensive) to design and manufacture a handgun because it can work in a simple blowback design.
So, one would expect that a new cartridge to bridge the gap between the .380 and 9 mm would try to keep the good points of .380--the lower recoil and slightly smaller length compared to the 9 mm--while giving better velocity. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be what Federal did with the .30 Super Carry.
The new cartridge is smaller, but only in diameter (it uses a bullet of .312" diameter). The case length is apparently just a tad longer than the 9x19 mm. This allows an increase of one or two rounds for a given magazine size, but will otherwise require the same sized grip as the 9 mm.
The 100-grain Federal load will provide 347 ft-pounds of muzzle energy; Remington’s 100-grainer offers 336. Meanwhile, the Speer 115-grainer generates 338 ft-pounds. Those numbers compare well to the 381 and 313 ft.-pounds produced by Federal’s 124-grain and 147-grain 9 mm loads, respectively. Moreover, JHP bullets in the new cartridge expand 1.9 times original caliber, almost identical to the best 9 mm loads, which expand 1.915 times initial diameter.
But it does this because of it is a very high pressure pistol load: 50,000 psi. As the video, above, explains, you potentially are facing problems with blown primers at those pressures. And it will be louder than either .380 or 9 mm. Perhaps more importantly to the end user, however, is that this high pressure and fast moving smaller bullet results in recoil that is reported as largely indistinguishable from the 9 mm.
It appears that there are two pistols available or that will be available soon for this cartridge: a ultra-premium Nighthawk Custom pistols, specifically the President and GRP; and the S&W Shield EZ. Smith & Wesson will also be introducing a Shield Plus in .30 Super Carry.
The price of the ammunition, according to Federal, will be comparable to .380 ACP. In other words, slightly more expensive than 9 mm, at least for practice and plinking ammo.
Test results in the articles indicate that the cartridge was accurate, although that might be more the result of the firearm than anything inherent in the round.
Although there is a lot of luck in whether a cartridge will take off and become popular--basically, is it the right cartridge at the right time--there is always the issue of whether the new cartridge can do something better than some other cartridge. (Of course, an influential figure in the gun community could also boost the popularity of a cartridge).
In this case, because of the harsher recoil, higher pressure, and a longer cartridge overall length, I don't believe that the .30 Super Carry is going to displace the .380 for those people that are already using the .380. That is, if those people wanted what the .30 Super Carry brings to the table, including the recoil and length and higher pressure than can be used in blowback designs, they would have already been using 9 mm.
Because the performance largely mimics the 9 mm, the .30 Super Carry is largely going to be competing against the 9 mm. Now, if this cartridge had been release about 5 years ago when single-stack 9 mm's were all the rage, it would have offered a significant advantage over the 9 mm by the simple fact that it would allow you to carry 7 to 9 rounds of ammunition versus 6 or 7 rounds of 9 mm in the same size magazine. Thus the probable reason for the first two pistols released being essentially single stack guns. (Interestingly, development started before the introduction of micro-9s).
But with the introduction of higher capacity micro-9s, does the .30 Super Carry bring enough to the table to convince people to abandon their 9 mm? I don't know; but as for me, it does not.
Greg Ellifritz's Weekend Knowledge Dump published on December 31, 2021, was chock full of useful articles including, but not limited to, mobs and mob looting, a check list to review before you intervene in a fight, a look at the new Federal .22 Punch ammo, steps to avoid being robbed while waiting in a drive-thru line, and a lot more. One article in particular stuck out, however, which was a 2011 article with the title "A Felon On Firearms" and published in Law Officer Magazine.
The relevant portion of the article related:
A while back, I sat down with a prisoner who was headed to court on a racketeering charge. The arresting officers knew he was suspected of several contract murders but evidence was lacking, so they went with what they could. I initiated a conversation with him (you don’t talk about their case) and worked my way to guns and his thoughts on them. He started laughing and stated he’d recently seen “a funny show” on cable TV about firearms training. As most of you know, jails are required to offer so many hours of recreation to each inmate and cable TV is a way to help meet this standard.
On the show in question, an instructor was demonstrating movement during a gunfight to avoid being shot. After all, a moving target is harder to hit, right? The instructor showed how to step sideways while drawing, and to move back and forth in a figure eight while reloading. This sounded OK to me but the prisoner didn’t agree.
While telling me about the show, he started laughing and said, “It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen!” Confused, I asked him why. He replied, “Because that’s training for your rules, not mine. Cops worry about where they shoot, street guys don’t. If a cop is dancing back and forth in front of a bad guy, he’s just going to shoot a bunch in the direction of the cop. He’ll hit something; he doesn’t care. Dancing around won’t confuse him long. He’ll just shoot because all he wants to do is get away.” Realizing he was telling the truth, I had nothing to say. Cops train to be the good guys and seldom consider that bad guys don’t have rules.
The author further explained:
Recently, I was teaching a class in Florida and we discussed the possible downside of a single lateral step while drawing. One student (a local instructor trying to be impressive) objected and stated, “It [the move] might keep me from taking a vital hit.” True, but you might also be moving into a shot that would have missed you. How do you know? The truth is you don’t and you never will.
Am I saying not to move in a fight? Of course not! Gunfights are fluid and movement to gain advantage, seek cover, flank or get a better shot is a good tactic. But, is movement for the sake of movement a good idea? The suspect I spoke with didn’t think so and the truth is, like all things in combat, it will be situationally dependent. If you do move, it needs to be aggressive—explosive really—as far as the environment will allow. If you can keep moving, do so because minimal movement won’t interrupt your opponent’s response loop. A single step to the side at 20 feet is a fraction of an inch to the muzzle you’re trying to avoid.
Ellifritz also included commentary on this article, writing:
I talked to Dave extensively about some of the issues he brought up in this article before it went to press. We primarily talked about his discussion with the contract killer about police officers (and armed citizens) training to take a step or two sideways when drawing the gun.
The theory is that your movement will force your attacker to take additional time to adjust his aim before he fires. Hopefully, that gives you time to shoot him. It makes sense, and I have trained shooters in this concept myself.
BUT, as Dave points out here…it only works if your attacker is taking the time to truly aim his weapon at you. Most criminals don’t do that. They just stick the gun up and start spraying bullets. In that case, your movement is just as likely to get you hit as it is to make the attacker miss, When the criminal is just shooting lots of bullets in your direction, without aiming for you, random movement may be detrimental.
Many people will say that training shooters to take a sideways step gets them use to moving on the draw and may stimulate them to KEEP moving towards cover. That makes sense to me as well. Purposeful movement to get to safety is one thing, but I haven’t seen that taking a step on the draw really gets people to think about moving to cover…it just becomes a “tacti-cool” range dance.
I'm not a big fan of doing something just for the sake of doing something--an action should serve some goal. But sometimes, especially when dealing with a surprise attack, you don't have time to think about how to respond. Instead, you may have to fall back on some pre-programmed reaction that will give you a statistically greater chance of surviving. For instance, when we took a drivers education course, we were all taught to steer into a slide if the car started skidding because most of the time that is the best course of action.
In my mind, getting out of the line of attack is one of those things that is statistically the better thing to do. One of the most basic points taught in martial arts is to step sideways and forward at a 45 degree angle to avoid a punch, and then follow up with a strike (or some other action) against your opponent.
For instance, in a 2017 article by Richard Nance, "Getting Off The X," he explains:
When an assailant armed with a contact weapon like a bat, a crowbar or a knife charges you, you might think that drawing your concealed handgun is the first step in your defense. However, immediately going for your gun contains two potentially fatal flaws. First, depending on the distance between you and the assailant, there may not be time to draw your gun. Studies have shown that the average man can close a distance of 21 feet in approximately 1.5 seconds.
Second, assuming you had time to draw your gun and shoot the assailant twice in the chest, his forward momentum will likely enable him to reach you with his weapon. That's because, barring a shot that results in a central nervous system stoppage, it's unlikely the assailant will be immediately halted—even if he received what may ultimately be a fatal wound.
Therefore, it's smart to add movement to your draw stroke to get off line of the attack. The most common method for achieving this goal is by moving rearward. After all, that's instinctive when someone is running toward your with a weapon. However, this tactic is comparable to backing up from an oncoming train. You can't move backward as fast as the train moves forward. The same is true for a charging assailant.
* * *
Realizing the shortcomings of backpedaling, many shooters combine one or two lateral steps with their draw stroke. While this is good in theory, it leaves something to be desired in practicality. As Dave Spaulding of Handgun Combatives is quick to point out, a charging attacker need to alter his course only slightly to reach you when all you do is take a step or two to one side.
If you're going to rely on lateral movement, it needs to be explosive enough to get you off the "train track," and you need to be prepared to fire the moment your feet are planted. Not only that, you need to be ready to continue to move to keep the attacker at bay. If there's a physical barrier like a vehicle or even a table, placing it between you and an assailant armed with a contact weapon is an excellent strategy. If the assailant can't reach you with the weapon, you're safe.
Lateral movement is a decent option to employ against a charging adversary but "getting off the X," as it's called in tactical circles, refers to diagonal movement. The easiest direction to move is forward, to your dominant side. Drawing and moving in this manner enables you to move rather quickly and still fire with a surprising accuracy. Of course, the faster you move, the harder it is to shoot accurately.
An example of where a side-step of some sort might have saved a life in a shooting is shown in the surveillance video of a woman and her dog that were shot in a smoke shop in New York City the other day. The criminal came through the door with his gun drawn and ready to shoot. He is believed to have been targeting another black man already in the store, who dove sideways behind a female customer. The shooter apparently tracked him with his firearm but, when he fired his weapon, instead struck the woman that was also in the store. The criminal then worked the action of his slide (remember that Greg Ellifritz has documented that criminals often use defective firearms), and fired one or two more shots, at least one of which killed the dead woman's pitbull. Assuming the woman was not the subject of the attack, if she had sidestepped to the one side open to her instead of trying to move directly away from the shooter, she might still be alive.
I guess what I'm getting at is that not all criminals are going to spraying and praying--at least not for the first shot, and a side-step might be enough for that first shot to miss. Even if you have a 50/50 chance of still being shot with a single side step, you don't lose anything by taking the step. But, as John Lovell points out in the video below, when dealing with someone using a firearm, the X is much bigger than you think.
And this is where the foregoing authors believe the standard training falls down: that a single step may not be enough, and certainly not a half-hearted step. Rather, as the Law Officer author notes, if circumstances allow it, keep moving to get to cover (or at least concealment), draw your weapon while moving, and return fire when able.
A friend of mine is former Army special forces and a current LE trainer in the western states.
He has several cases where students have stepped offline, shot their attacker, and found that the wall or patrol car they were standing in front of had one or more holes in it where they were standing (before getting off the x.)
In addition, I’ve had shooters demonstrate this regularly in force-on-force training. It’s not 100%…but that has to do with the fact that our visual skills change based on stress level and movement and different people process situations differently.
This goes way beyond “tunnel vision,” but in general, the higher the stress level of your attacker, the more movement will help you.
Thus, when responding to an assault, he urges that you "get out of the way of the attack ASAP." I take this to be more than a half-hearted sideways step.
I see it all the time on the range and in social media gun videos. Someone in an attempt to get off the x, ‘steps offline’ and draws a gun before shooting a target, or someone ‘steps offline’ while reloading (and oftentimes steps again to return to the same spot). It’s a joke folks.
This silly little range dance does not slow the bad guy down, it just slows you down. Our problem is that we believe the ‘X’ is much smaller than it actually is. Your big step only takes a tiny shift in the bad guys muzzle in tracking you. In short, they can track you much faster than you can move.
He adds:
Now there are some disclaimers we need to work through, and the first is to cut some slack to some ‘step offline’ advocates. It is not safe to have a line of shooters on a range bolting in different directions, so the discerning instructor may ask them to take a single step AS A PLACEHOLDER for more aggressive movement they can practice on their own.
Another disclaimer is that sometimes a single step can help. If a single step lands you behind cover, congratulations well done. Also, some of you martial artists can take a step in when at arms length to close distance and go ‘hands on’. Again, well done.
My main contention is with where civilians get into trouble with ambushing predators — between 2 and 7 yards. I need you to either end that fight in a freakishly small amount of time, or make distance with explosive movement. Remember, every foot closer to Joe Gangbanger’s muzzle and every millisecond you spend in front of it, dramatically increases your likelihood of getting shot.
Folks, we’ve got to be practical.
Time, distance, available cover, and mindset all can dramatically change what our best response to an ambushing opponent may be, but rest assured, doing a 2 step dance in front of a muzzle isn’t turning you into Neo from the Matrix. ...
I'm currently reading the book Straight Talk On Armed Defense edited by Massad Ayoob which is a compilation of articles by self-defense experts on various topics related to armed defense, with each article being one chapter in the book. Chapter 5 is "The Criminal Assault Paradigm" by Craig S. Douglas.
Douglas initially focuses on how the training we receive may not match what the circumstances we would encounter on the street before moving on to discuss specific examples. One of the specific topics he covers is how to react when a stranger encroaches into your personal space in order to initiate a robbery, typically initiating contact and fooling you into letting them come inside your personal space by asking a question or offering help.
While the encroachment problem could be a single mugger, Douglas also addresses the issue of where there is more than one assailant; for instance, one assailant encroaching and distracting you while their compatriot approaches from behind. Douglas explains that "[t]he classic criminal assault with a second assailant ... is usually a pincer movement conducted from the blind spot." He goes on:
More than likely there's a verbal component from the predator and the objective is to get the citizen engaged in dialogue. While engaged in dialogue, the likely approach is from behind by the second adversary.
He notes that this can be a difficult problem to solve because even if you are aware of the possibility of someone coming up behind you and turn to look, your doing so "may very well be the window that the initial adversary uses to throw a punch or draw a gun."
To address this issue, Douglas recommends an arcing movement rather than just moving backward to create distance. He explains:
Backwards movement is expected by any bad guy and it's quite easy to "steer" the uninitiated pretty much anywhere, once this basic reaction is understood.
One recommendation is to "arc" around the adversary and not move backwards. A good way of visualizing this is if one were to place themselves on the face of a clock with the predator standing at twelve o'clock and the citizen standing at 6 o'clock, the objective would be to try to cut a perfect arc up to either the 9 o'clock or the 3 o'clock position. This is not a natural or instinctive thing to do. In fact, it's quite counterintuitive, as are many of the best practices in self-defense. ...
Douglas notes three significant advantages to this tactic. First, it allows us to keep the first adversary in our direct vision while allowing us to see someone else approaching from the 6 o'clock position in our peripheral position.
Second, "if indeed there is a second adversary, then what the good guy has done is remove him/her self from a 180 degree pincer problem and significantly narrowed the field of threat." That is, rather than being in a position with one adversary in front of you and another directly behind you, you have now placed them to each side of you; it is the beginning of attempting to stack your opponents.
Third, "[t]he arcing movement is so out of pattern from average that, often, the reports back from those who have actually used this tactic are that the encroaching party gives the good guy an odd look and walks off mumbling."
