Some Firearms Related News

 Just random stories that have been filling up my in-box:

• "Ruger Single-Ten Stainless" by Thomas Christianson, Survival Blog. Like the Single-Six except offering 10-rounds of .22 LR. On the other hand, it doesn't have the interchangeable cylinder to shoot .22 Magnum.
• "NEW Colt Pythons! Same Snake Gun with Hogue Grips, Bead Blast Finish"--The Firearm Blog. Trying to turn the Python from a safe-queen to a carry or working gun. I agree with one of the comments, though, that the bead blast finish is perhaps going too far and something similar to what you see on S&W guns would probably be a better choice. The MSRP is $200 less than the standard offering, which is something, though. The double-action on my Python is superior to any other revolver I have, whether S&W or Ruger.
• "NY Lawmakers Want Background Checks & Waiting Periods for 3D Printers"--Ammo Land. Supposedly due to concerns of people printing firearms. Coming from people that have never used a 3D printer. They aren't "plug and play" devices even with the advances over the last few years. 
• "I Sat Next To A Gun 'Fanatic' On A Plane. When I Told Him What My Job Is, Things Got Interesting."--Huff Post. Anti-gunner strikes up a conversation with a lawyer who collects antique firearms and does some handloading. Although the lawyer admitted that something needed to be done, he wouldn't let himself get pinned down on anything because he saw too many flaws to the "solutions" that the author brought up. For example:

What about limits on gun ownership for those with a history of domestic violence? Rick had mentioned that his legal work included handling sexual assault cases, so this seemed like low-hanging fruit. But again, Rick was not on board. He felt there were too many cases in which women falsely accused their partners of domestic abuse.

Apparently he was a "fanatic" because he shot down each of her proposed "solutions".

• "AR-15 Rifle Basics: Understanding Iron Sights"--The Truth About Guns. The author contends that a good set of iron sights are still a must for an AR rifle. An excerpt:

    The first myth we need to dispel is that AR-15 iron sights are cheap and outdated. The folks who think that are usually the same people who buy a budget set of low profile Picatinny-mounted iron sights that folds down, think of them strictly as backups, and only zero them by making them line up with their red dot in order to co-witness.

    If you’re thinking that iron sights are the gun equivalent of that near-useless donut tire in your trunk, you’re doing it wrong. Don’t buy a cheap set of folding flip-up sights and expect them to perform with any degree of repeatability or precision. You can sometimes get away with just a rear sight if your gun already has a front sight integral to the barrel.

Also:

A high quality set of AR-15 iron sights will give you greater precision than any red dot and many magnified scopes. If you have cash for a cheap scope in the $200 range, realize that the USA-made, world-class set of sights pictured in this article, the Scalarworks PEAK sights, are $130 for the set. You can either buy cheap, easily-broken gun show junk, or you can buy something that works and will last. Your choice.

• Live by the sword.... "Study: 80% of Firearm Homicide Victims Have An Arrest Record"--Guns America. So what I'm hearing is that high homicide rates may have a silver lining.
• "Top Kel-Tec Sub-2000 Upgrades from MCARBO"--Ammo Land. The upgrades the author is looking at are an optic mount, extended magazine release, aluminum trigger guard, and aluminum trigger and trigger bar. I don't have one of these, but some of you might. I know that they are popular for bug-out/get-home bags.
• "Gun Review: Avidity Arms PD10 9mm Pistol"--The Truth About Guns. A not-a-Glock that tries to make a better carry handgun by retaining a full size frame, but thinner for easier concealed carry. Part of the reason they can get away with this is using 1911-style 9mm magazines (most of which are 10 rounds).
• "Optimizing Your Home Defense Handgun"--Shooting Illustrated. Some of the points raised in the article:
• Choose a common self-defense caliber--avoid the heavy magnums like .44 Magnum or larger.
• For a dedicated home-defense handgun, the author recommends a full size, duty style handgun.
• While acknowledging that most armed encounters don't take more than a few shots to resolve, the author points out that with concealment not being an issue, you might as well go with a full size capacity: "Using standard-capacity magazines or reliable extended magazines holding 15-20 rounds can be a sound practice."
• The author doesn't really commit to either iron sights or optics. However, my personal belief is that if you are going to rely on iron sights, a home defensive handgun should have a full set of tritium night sights.
• As to weapon mounted lights, the author states: "Used properly, a WML can be an outstanding accessory for armed home defense. Used improperly, a WML can be a dangerous liability." As to the latter point, the author is discussing the temptation of using the WML for searching. You have two options here: you can use a second flashlight for searching, which is the easiest option, or you can learn to keep the handgun directed in a safe direction and relying on the splash/spill from the WML while searching.
• Finally, he discusses options to safely store but quickly access the home defense handgun.
• "Follow through – Practical Application"--tacticalprofessor. He discusses a video of a police encounter with a hostage situation and how follow through would have helped the first officer (firing a less-than-lethal munition) and the second officer using his duty handgun. An excerpt:

    The second officer demonstrated good follow-through while shooting his Glock. When his first shot missed, he was able to assess and fire a second shot without hesitation because he was still on target.

    Whether shooting a long gun or a pistol, follow-through is extremely important. Pistol shooters often immediately drop their guns below the line of sight to see where the bullet impacted. This is a bad habit to be scrupulously avoided.

He links to additional sources on follow-through.

•  "Prepper's Armory: Shot Sizes"--Blue Collar Prepping. A great primer on shotgun shot sizes, covering the different bore sizes, different sizes of small shot and bird shot (both American and European sizes), and the types of game for which the different types of shot are used. And because lead shot has long been disallowed for water fowl and this seems to be slowly spreading to upland game birds, the article discusses the different materials from which shot is made.
• "Vintage Gun Review: Savage Enfield No.4 MK1*"--The Truth About Guns. So these are like standard Enfield No. 4 MK1 rifles, but built under contract by Savage in the United States. The author opines that the Savage models are better build and more accurate than their English counterparts.
• "Apples & Oranges: Two Lightweight Concealed Carry Pistols"--Ammo Land. A look at the Beretta APX Carry and Glock 43X. With its relatively low capacity (6+1 rounds) and long and relatively heavy trigger pull, the APX is intended for people who normally would carry a revolver and/or pocket carry. 
  

While at the NRA Annual Meeting, I cornered one of the Beretta Pistol Product Managers and posed the question, “Who is the APX Carry for? What market are you chasing with it?” His answer wasn’t surprising. He told me that it was for the revolver market. Many people like the peace of mind of that design for concealed carry, and the goal was to offer a semi-automatic alternative with many of the same ‘comfort’ attributes.

For more on these, here are a couple reviews from The Truth About Guns on the APX and the 41X, respectively. 

• "Armed Self-Defense: Reality vs. Fantasy"--NRA Family. From the lede:

    Since most people have never even witnessed a criminal attack or shooting, they often have unrealistic ideas about what exactly might happen. We tell students that a criminal attack is going to be what it is going to be – and probably won’t fit your pre-conceived ideas.

    For example, I was recently made aware of a couple who had spent quite a bit of time discussing and planning for ways to deal with a home invasion. And then, one evening, the wife pulled into her driveway after a long day at work. Two men jumped out of a car parked on the street that the wife had not really paid attention to. They pushed her up against her car and demanded her keys. It was a carjacking, not a home invasion. So surprised to be dealing with an attack that she hadn’t even considered, the woman was almost overpowered. As it was, she was able to get her gun out and get a shot off, failing to hit either attacker. As they fled, the husband was in the house wondering who in the neighborhood was popping firecrackers.

• "Intruder In A Box - A Better Way To Test Self-Defense Ammo?"--Guns America. Sort of like Paul Harrell's meat target without the mess. MSRP is $90 plus another $20 for shipping.

    The front of the Intruder box has nine bullseyes embossed onto the cardboard. Behind the cardboard is a tough but flexible layer of a rubbery material. Directly behind this is a much harder but thinner layer of a hard plastic-like material. 

    Next, the elongated rectangle behind each of these bullseyes holds a water-filled plastic container, followed by what looks like an air pillow used for packing—air to represent an expanded lung.

    Then, more “bone” material and muscle/sternum-like flex material are at the very rear of the box.

• "Proper Combative Pistol Grip (And A Whole Lot More)"--Guns and Ammo. Good article for proper grip, proper grip pressure, the wrist, etc. After reading the first 3/4 of the article you might have the impression that the thumbs are largely irrelevant. Not so:

Are the thumbs important for combative shooting? I think so, but it has nothing to do with applying grip pressure. I like the thumbs forward, as they offer a secondary sighting device when trying to get the gun on target during the pandemonium of armed conflict. The thumbs-forward grip also helps lock the wrists to control recoil. (That recoil thing seems to be a continual theme, doesn’t it?) Locked wrists and an aggressive upper body will keep the gun on target even when shooting quickly.

• "Hip Grips, Clipdraw And NPE Carry, With The Darryl Bolke Mousegun Mindset"--Civilian Defender. An ode to the mousegun, recognizing that as a civilian defender and not a police officer or special forces operator, our task is to get away from danger, not run to it. An excerpt:

A FEW BULLET POINTS OF DB’S SALIENT THOUGHTS RELATED TO THE MOUSEGUN MINDSET

◦ (MOUSEGUNS) ARE Really good guns when you can’t have a gun or you don’t want to look like a cop; if you get made you are getting killed

◦ Your Bill Drill times will suck with them

◦ “When you carry a .22 revolver you don’t do stupid stuff. It completely changes everything about your mindset to NOT being about the gun.”

◦ He rationalized it by saying that if he had operatives overseas, he put them there with a .22, and it was concealable, wouldn’t make them want to be in a gunfight, and left no casings behind

◦ If you were in any leftist owned city these days, you MIGHT want to carry a gun that leaves you in a situation where the PROBLEM HAS TO COME TO YOU (get out of trouble guns)

◦ How many people do we know break the rule of stupids BECAUSE they have a gun (gas station at 1230am)

◦ All DB’s cop friends are now carrying J frames so that they DON’T get in trouble by accidentally interfering in dangerous situations

◦ What is the more tactically correct thing to do? Don’t be a big damn hero

◦ When you don’t shoot people through the heart or the brain, they don’t become incapacitated; most pistol bullets don’t work unless you shoot people in the right places

◦ John Helms Mindset; greatest extant gunfighter today: sights I can see, trigger I can manage and it should be reliable. The rest is fairly irrelevant

A lot more there, so be sure to read the whole thing.