Gun & Prepping News #97

Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Practical Pistol Practice"--Tactical Anatomy Systems. As the author notes, firearms practice is tradeoff between the very real costs of ammunition versus the benefit obtained from a lot of shooting. Therefore, he presents a practice/training regime for the handgun incorporating a mixture of dry fire, using a .22 pistol, and a 50-round practice drill shooting your larger caliber defensive pistol. The author uses dry fire both to practice basic pistol skills between range sessions and as part of his warm up at the range. Then he moves on to the .22 pistol to work on pure pistol skills: grip, stance, sight picture, trigger press, and follow-through, writing: "I like to fire 3 to 5 sets of 10 rounds, slow fire, at 7-10 yards. Each successive target will show a slightly tighter group. Your last target will typically be quite a bit better. At this point, you’re warmed up." Finally, he recommends:

Pick a good 50-round practice drill. A 50-round practice drill every week will benefit you far, far more than a 200-round practice drill once per month. Frequency of training has been proven to be far more effective than total time/ammo spent in training. As for which 50-round drill you should use, there’s a plethora of recommendations out there. This morning, I did a quick googly search for “50-round practice drills” and got pages and pages of recommendations. Pick one, and use it. Most of the time nowadays, when I go to the range I start with my dry fire warmup, then usually a 22 rimfire warmup, then I do one of the many 50-round practice plans that are available online. I’ve used a bunch of different 50-round drills over the years and they all have their strong points, so if you rotate through different ones you’ll find yourself working on more pistol skills than if you stick with a single program. 

• "Homeowner’s Gun Stops Intruder Where the Law Failed"--Shooting News Weekly. Key bit: "The residents woke up to a stranger in their home. The homeowner did the adult thing: he armed himself and when Xavier confronted him, the homeowner changed the intruder’s preferred pronouns to was/were." 
• "Know How: Understanding and Obtaining a Cold-Bore Zero"--American Hunter. Barrel temperature can effect where a bullet strikes. And since you first shot will be from a cold barrel, you need to know where that bullet will land. 
• "Revolver Malfunctions and Stoppages"--Revolver Guy. Revolvers are more dependable than semi-autos in the sense that they are more immune to neglect, poor grip, or poor ammo, but that does not mean that they cannot malfunction. The article covers some of the more common malfunctions and breakages that can occur with a revolver including broken springs, broken firing pins, a broken or worn hand (the part that actually turns the cylinder), worn ratchets, a broken or worn cylinder stop (the part that aligns the cylinder with the barrel), and more. Along the way, he provides information on diagnosing problems, cleaning and lubrication, and other trouble shooting. 
• Some firearm history: "The Hand Cannon: The First Handheld Firearm"--American Rifleman. An excerpt:

One of the more striking details in the segment comes from American Rifleman Executive Editor Evan Brune, who pointed out that many surviving hand cannons share a bore diameter in the .75-to-.78-caliber range—a size established in the 1330s and 1340s that persisted as a near-standard all the way into the early 19th century. That’s roughly 500 years of continuity in a dimension that was arrived at by medieval metalworkers without the benefit of ballistic science. It suggests that the practical limits of what a person can hold and fire were understood early and changed slowly. 

• And some new technology: "The Problem with Pressures: A +Peak Revolution?"--American Hunter. The Peak Alloy cases are a type of steel case that can handle significantly higher pressures than traditional brass cases, but without resorting to hybrid designs such as used by the military for the 6.8 mm. Moreover, assuming you're not trying to use it in an older rifle with inferior metallurgy, it can offer that performance out of existing rifles. However, it is currently only offered for the 7mm Backcountry and 6.5 Creedmoor.

The elevated pressure limits will certainly increase the demands on the rifles receiver, and that was probably a big factor in choosing the popular 6.5 Creedmoor as the first cartridge to receive the +Peak treatment, as the vast majority of rifles so chambered are of relatively new construction, and have the stronger metallurgy associated with the 21st century.  

• "Unrivaled Upgrades: Competition-Bred AR Parts for the Rest of Us"--The Truth About Guns. These do not appear to be competition parts, per se, but parts that were influenced by what Unrivaled learned from making competition parts.
• "PSA JAKL-10 .308 Review – A Modern Battle Rifle?"--Ammo Land. A long stroke pistol design that uses an AR-10 style lower, and a stock similar to the ACR. The author notes:

Good open-tip match-grade ammo would undoubtedly tighten those groups further, but even a 2.25 MOA group isn’t bad at all. I think you could run it as a DMR, but it would probably function best as a battle rifle. This isn’t due to inherent accuracy limitations, but rather to the inherent characteristics of the long-stroke gas piston system, which is where the gun truly excels. 

• "Old (Un)reliable: Finding a Magazine that Works for Your 1911"--American Rifleman. Some advice to a reader that is having issues with certain types of rounds not feeding reliably. Thus, there is a discussion of magazine maintenance and different types of followers for specific types of bullet profiles. 
• "Magpul’s Modified Coyote Brown"--The Truth About Guns.  A new color that is slightly darker than its usual Flat Dark Earth. 
• "IEDs Found in the Carson National Forest"--American Rifleman. A warning that it isn't just aggressive animals that hikers and hunters need to watch out for. The article mentions the destructive devices found in Carson National Forest in New Mexico, the risk of running across pot plantations and meth labs, and that "[o]n July 16, 2026, two female U.S. Forest Service biologists were kidnapped and held hostage on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest." 
•  The return of the pen light: "The Streamlight Wedge SL: EDC Done Right"--The Truth About Guns. This is about the size and shape of a partially used carpenter's pencil, so it carries flat in the pocket. It features three output settings: 50 lumens on Low, 100 lumens on High, and a 500-lumen THRO mode. It is rechargeable. As the author notes, "not every flashlight needs to be tactical. Tactical lights today produce ridiculous amounts of light. That’s great if you’re searching a backyard, clearing a building, or trying to identify someone at a distance. ... [But] [f]or most day-to-day tasks, all of that light can be too much." I carry an old Olight EOS that I have on my key chain for my EDC flashlight--it uses a single AAA and it twists to come on. Not tactical but it does 90% of the things for which I need a flashlight. It would be nice to have something with more throw at times. But I continue with my old, beat up EOS because it is easy to have on me (I almost always have my keys) and not something I'm likely to forget. 
• "Six Days to Anarchy: Silent Weapons for Urban Collapse"--The Truth About Guns.  The author argues for three silenced weapons: a .300 BLK carbine/SBR, a duty pistol, and a .22 pistol. But what caught my attention was the hypothesized cause of collapse:

     Six days.

    That’s the timeline investigative journalist Annie Jacobsen lays out in Biological Warfare: A Scenario for a biological incident to move from outbreak to anarchy and insurrection.

    Not six months. Not six weeks.

    Six days.

    Jacobsen recently discussed that scenario on the Shawn Ryan Show, and one of the more interesting things she brought up wasn’t simply how deadly a biological weapon could be. It’s what happens when fear of infection begins to break down the systems we normally depend on.

     According to Jacobsen, declassified government material repeatedly raises the concern that fear of infection could send the United States spiraling into “anarchy and insurrection.” In the scenario she constructed from her reporting, it takes less than a week to get there.

    Most of us tend to think about preparedness as something with a little runway. You see the storm coming. You watch things getting worse. Then you make a few last-minute runs for food, water, batteries, fuel, medicine, and whatever else you should have bought months ago.
    
    Six days doesn’t give you much of that.

    If something capable of causing that level of disruption ever happened, there probably isn’t going to be time to get your shit together once it starts.

    You either did it beforehand, or you didn’t.

But the fear of the epidemic was the key reason for collapse under the scenario:

     Jacobsen boils a biological threat down to three basic questions: How does it spread? How deadly is it? And is there a medical countermeasure?

    Now imagine nobody has reliable answers.

    People don’t know who is infected. They don’t know exactly how the pathogen spreads. They don’t know whether the information coming from the government is accurate. They don’t know whether there is enough medicine to go around.

    Later in the interview, Jacobsen walks through a scenario involving a limited supply of a perceived medical countermeasure and a population desperate to get it. Law enforcement and first responders face the same exposure risks as everyone else; government resources are stretched thin, and thousands of people are trying to get their hands on something they believe could save their families.

    At that point, you don’t just have a biological emergency.

    You have scared, desperate people competing for limited resources. 

The article links to the video of the interview as well as a video from Garand Thumb on urban collapse and operating in an urban collapse as well as containing more details on his reasoning for each type of silenced weapon, why 6 days is not enough time to prepare, and the importance of keeping a low profile.

• "Retired cop shares inexpensive items everyone should keep in their home to save them from intruders"--Daily Mail. Recommendations to have door braces, door wedge alarms, carrying pepper spray and a personal alarm when walking or jogging, a faraday bag to protect someone copying the signal from your car fob (but also keep the fob near your bed so you can set off the alarm if you have an intruder); as well as a recommending that single women purchase a pair of used, sort of beat up men's work boots, to put outside the door of a house or apartment (remembering to bring them in at times and move them around) to make it look like a man lived in the residence. 

RPG Saturday: Visualizing the 6-Mile Hex

A 6-mile hex is a traditional map scale used in D&D and other table top fantasy games. But just how big is it in a more concrete sense? In this video, the author hikes around an area that would fit into a 6-mile hex to demonstrate how much can be in that size of area and the impact of terrain on what characters would be able to view.  

 VIDEO: "How Big is a 6-Mile Hex? Visualizing TTRPG Space on the Map"
Chubby Funster (8 min.)

Weekend Reading #72

Some longer or more involved reading:

• Jon Low has a new Defensive Pistolcraft newsletter.  Jon notes, correctly in my opinion, that:   

      De-escalation only works if the other guy is willing to calm down.  

     My father would always tell me that "You can always walk away."  But, I learned that's not true.  

 It must have been a generational thing because my father essentially said the same to me. Some other points:

• I found this interesting. Jon quotes the following from an article entitled "Police handgun qualification:  practical measure or aimless activity?"  by Gregory B. Morrison and Bryan J. Vila:

    "The authors’ own conclusion is that qualification, as American departments practice it, is not a valid measure of gunfighting ability.  It tests an officer’s capacity to shoot a fixed number of rounds at a clearly defined target at a known distance, with set time limits, and clear and arbitrary threshold.  None of that mirrors what happens in an armed confrontation, and none of the prevailing doctrine, technique, or threshold-setting was developed by looking at field-shooting data or evaluated against it after the fact.  Their words:  “the rote firing of time-honored courses and their derivatives produces well-practiced range marksmen, but it does not assess their ability to perform in gunfights.” "   

 That sounds like a lot of our (speaking of civilians) training and practice. 

• Jon links to low light readiness challenges and targets to use.  The link to the article takes you to some instructions, but the full instructions are in an embedded video. It looks fun.
• Make sure to go down to the section on "Techniques" as Jon has linked to some good material on concealed carry as well as adding his own thoughts and tips. He also has some pointed comments for those who insist on open carry:

     Open carry is an act of criminal stupidity.  Don't do it.  

     The element of surprise is the difference between life and death.  

     There is no advantage to open carry.  You will be mistaken for a policeman or courier of high value items.  In either case, you will be shot first in any criminal scenario.  

     Your pistol is a high value item.  Criminals and crazy persons will attempt to steal it from you.  And then they will kill you and everyone around you.  Actually, there are a lot of documented cases.   

I remember something I read from Massad Ayoob years ago about a store owner who always open carried to make sure that thieves would know he was armed and not rob the store. The thieves, indeed, did know. And so he was shot through the glass window at the front of the shop before he ever knew there was a problem.

• Also check out the articles and videos in the "Medical" section.
• I have recently posted some links and had some comments about DA/SA pistols. I don't mind DA/SA pistols that much, probably because I have a fair amount of experience shooting double-action revolvers and I tend to do more dry fire practice with the DA/SA pistols (it is nice not to have to rack the slide every time you want to practice a trigger press). But Jon has some valid points against using the DA/SA pistol which are worth noting:

     I think double action only (DAO) pistols are fine, because every trigger press is the same.  

     I object to double action / single action (DA/SA) pistols, because they have two very different trigger presses.  Which means the shooter must have practiced two different trigger presses.  (2000 correct repetitions to make the trigger press automatic.  Thus, 4000 correct repetitions to make the DA/SA automatic for both trigger conditions.)

     I think this over complicates the manual of arms.  I think every trigger press should be the same.  

     First round hits are critically important.  (because if you can stop the fight with one shot, you eliminate the possibility of collateral damage with the subsequent shots)  So, the first press should be the easiest, not the hardest.  Making the first trigger press long and heavy is not conducive to accuracy.  Accuracy is more important than safety when in the process of engaging 
an enemy.  

     The reason the DA/SA shooter had to fire more than one shot is because he missed with the first shot.  Because the first shot had a long heavy trigger press that he could not stage, that he could not control as well as the single action trigger press.  

     Docent also points out the the first shot in a DA/SA pistol has a much longer reach (pull length).  Some people can't reach the trigger for the first shot.  

     Handicapping yourself because you fear shooting yourself or having a negligent discharge is wrong.   

I will point out, however, that I give greater weight to the safety issue than does Jon. I specifically chose a DA/SA pistol for my "night stand" gun because I wanted a weapon where that first shot was because I wanted to take that shot, not because I tripped over something or was startled by the cat or one of my kids when investigating the proverbial "bump in the night". On the other hand, I can remember that the first DA/SA pistol I owned had such a long trigger reach and so heavy of a trigger pull that it was unreasonably difficult to shoot in double action mode. So test it out before you buy.   

• And there is a lot more in the newsletter, so check it out. 

•  Greg Ellifritz also has a new Weekend Knowledge Dump posted at Active Response Training. Some links of note:
• A look at handguns versus bear spray. The article's information is accurate, but not really complete. For instance, the statistics on the use of handguns involve actual attacks, while the studies on the bear spray include incidents where the spray was used to drive off curious bears, not just attacks. Thus the actual effectiveness of the bear spray against an attacking bear is much lower than what the article makes it seem. 
• An article on "Sinister Studies"--i.e., shooting with the left hand, which has a lot of tips for the left-handed shooter. 
• An article at American Cop looking back on the DAO (double-action only) semi-auto pistols from Smith & Wesson.
• SHTF Armorer discusses cleaning and maintaining your magazines.
• An article on the history of the M1 Garand as well as detailed instructions on field stripping and cleaning this rifle.  
• The Organic Prepper has a piece on black markets. Greg comments: "This is an important concept to understand.  I’ve been to actual black markets in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Paraguay, and Argentina.  They are coming to the USA eventually."  
• And a "how to" on zeroing the red dot for a shotgun. I learned a lot from this article. And while it seems obvious in hindsight, I truly hadn't thought of starting out with zeroing it with slugs before testing the pattern of the buckshot.  

•  "To Shatter Men’s Souls"--Postcards From Barsoom. The author writes about the Pitești Prison Experiment which ran from 1949 through 1951, in the small city of Pitești in Romania, while under Communist rule. The article begins with a lengthy semi-fictional account describing the torture inflicted on the prisoners, then explains why he made such a graphic account:

    When comparing the record of atrocities left by the twentieth century’s ideologies, it is easy to get lost in simple numbers. Communism was worse than fascism, many on the right will say, because communism’s body count was so much higher. Hitler might have killed millions, but communists killed a hundred million. The pyramid of skulls is incomparably heavier, and weighs down the scales of justice decisively on the side of communism being by far the greater evil.

    But as Stalin is reputed to have said, one man’s death is a tragedy; a million deaths are a statistic. Raw numbers do not communicate raw horror. Statistics leave the heart unmoved.

    When challenged on the relative body counts of National Socialism and Communism, leftists will usually reply that the Bolsheviks, Marxist-Leninists, Maoists, Afro-Marxists, et al. may well have killed far more people than Hitler, but that Hitler’s einsatzgruppen and death camps were still uniquely horrifying, because the Nazis targeted people for their race rather than their ideology or social class, while doing so with a bloodless mechanical efficiency that utterly dehumanized their victims.

    The implication that the communists did not also do these things is tendentious – they were not at all above exploiting ethnic divisions, indeed they did so routinely – but the true reason that it is beyond the pale to wear a t-shirt emblazoned with a hakenkreuz, while a display of the hammer and sickle is unexceptional to the point of being unremarkable, ultimately comes down to emotional programming.

    No one cares how many millions were killed by this dictator or that warlord. These are mere numbers, the output of cold equations, processed by a part of the brain that has nothing to do with emotions. What matters is that, for decades, our media have produced an endless stream of lurid histories, novels, movies, documentaries, and television shows depicting the horrors of the Holocaust. These images have burned themselves into people’s minds. Small children are traumatized with them at an impressionable age – made to watch Schindler’s List or read Elie Wiesel’s Night or study The Diary of Anne Frank as part of their education. The victims of the Holocaust become, not mere numbers, not decontextualized names listed on a memorial somewhere, but real people, human beings with faces, hearts, souls, dreams, families, friends, lovers, and quirks of personality ... they become, in people’s minds, friends who were abused and murdered. Thus the Nazi who murdered them becomes the ultimate beast, not a mere villain of history, but a personal enemy.

    The horrors unleashed by communism, however, are never talked about in such terms.

 And it is because the Left and its media allies won't tell these stories, won't even bother to learn these stories. Because they sympathize with the Communists. The article ends:

    Thousands of young men were fed through Pitești. The numbers were not so large. The duration was not so long – the experiment was shut down after two years, not because the communist leadership were bothered by it in the slightest, but because rumours of what was happening in Pitești were circulating and threatening to cause unrest that might destabilize the fragile new regime (the experimenters themselves, including the prison warden, were later tried and executed – someone had to be thrown to the wolves).

    What it lacked in scale and duration, Pitești more than made up in psychological sadism. It plumbed infernal depths that I have never encountered elsewhere in the history of mankind. The communists sought not merely to break the bodies of their subjects. Nor was their goal only to shatter their minds. Their objective was to smash men’s souls, to strip them of absolutely everything – faith, nation, family, will, self-respect, identity – that made them individual human beings. They sought to scratch out the Imago Dei.

    When you think of communism, don’t think of bread lines, famines, anemic economic growth, clunky consumer goods, or ugly buildings built with substandard concrete. Don’t think of fucking statistics.

    Think of Pitești.

    Pitești reveals the spiritual essence of communism in is purest, most distilled form.

Immigration In A Microcosm

The New York Post reports about a grandmother that stupidly opened her home to "Erik Eduardo Navarro, 26, of Orange County, after he showed up at her home claiming all his belongings had been stolen," and he needed a place to stay before an upcoming interview. 

    The kindhearted woman took him in, cooked for him every night and came to believe he was a “sweet kid” down on his luck.

    After two weeks, Navarro began “making demands and taking over her home,” the family said.

    Garcia then allegedly told Navarro on Aug. 25 that it was time to leave, which set him off.

    Navarro allegedly took up a metal baseball bat and began clubbing her while she was sleeping.

    Family described the brutal ordeal, which only ended after he believed the grandmother was dead, in a GoFundMe.

    “She was in and out of consciousness, and every time she woke up, he would beat her again,” the family said. “This lasted for hours. He stopped only after she completely lost consciousness and apparently believed she was dead. He then took her phone, credit cards, keys, E-bike, and other belongings and fled.” 

Only Police Should Have Guns: Negligent Discharge While Holstering

"Off-duty NYPD cop accidentally shoots himself in leg inside Bronx home: report" reads the headline from the New York Post. Not much information other than that Officer Demitrious Caceres "was preparing to leave his home and attempting to holster his gun when it accidentally fired and struck him" in the left leg. 

For My LDS Readers: Micmac Symbols On The Gold Plates?

 I long ago noted that the only places you find characters similar to those in the Golden Plates were from the Micmac language (in North America) and characters copied down by a 18th Century expedition exploring the Amazon. Apparently there is a researcher that contends that the Micmac language is not native to those people but was introduced by French missionaries. However, in the video below, the author went to the sources cited by that researcher and discovered that is not what the sources say, but indicate that the Micmac were already using the characters when the French missionaries arrived. 

In any event, the author also compares the Micmac characters with those copied from the Gold Plates and you can see that many are the same or very similar.   

VIDEO: "Mi'kmaq Hieroglyphs on the Gold Plates?"
Uncovering Lamanite History (41 min.)

Satan Welcomes Home One Of His Own

The Daily Mail reports that feminist “icon” Gloria Steinem has died at 92. 

The Conspiracy To Invade Ceuta

From Breitbart: "Bombshell Spanish Police Report Accuses Moroccan Agents of Orchestrating Ceuta Migrant Invasion, Contradicting Sánchez Government." The article relates:

    Contrary to the myriad of potential masterminds put forward by the leftist government in Madrid [such as Russia, Israel, or even right-wing groups], the Spanish National Police accused the Muslim Moroccan government of orchestrating the invasion, which the report claims was an operation to undermine Spanish sovereignty over the North African territory, El Mundo reports.

    The police dossier claimed to have evidence from the National Centre for Immigration and Borders (CENIF) that uniformed Moroccan gendarmes were on the ground at Castillejos, a town across the border from Ceuta, on the day of the invasion, directing the flow of migrants towards the fence which separates the two countries.

    Furthermore, the report said that police are in possession of “graphic evidence” showing plainclothes Moroccan government agents giving instructions to the uniformed gendarmes on where to send the migrants, specifically the sea surrounding the fence.

Why the sea?

This came just weeks after the Spanish Supreme Court ruled that illegals arriving by water could not be pushed back, opening a loophole for the Ceuta territory, where migrants could simply walk into the water on the Moroccan side of the border and technically arrive in Spanish territory a few feet down the coastline by sea.    

 While most of the 80,000 the Muslim invaders were forced out of Ceuta, there are still 8,000 or more remaining; and, according to Daniel Greenfield, it doesn't appear that those will be leaving anytime soon:

    Despite initial promises from the prime minister that all the migrants would be returned, many thousands of the invaders have remained behind. Some sources estimated the number of remaining invaders who have occupied beaches and overrun entire areas at only 8,000, but Spain’s Ministry of Health is sending 45,000 doses of vaccines to deal with the migrant outbreaks including 10,000 polio, chickenpox, and diphtheria-tetanus vaccines and 15,000 MMR vaccines suggesting that the true number may be between 10,000 and 15,000.

    What the vaccine regime reveals even more than the numbers is the fact that they’re staying.

    The fiction that the migrants will soon go back is falling apart. There would be no need for over 10,000 vaccine doses for the migrants if they were on the verge of being deported back home.

    MMR vaccines with the second booster shot operate on a 4-week schedule. The chickenpox vaccine is spread out over 2 months, and the polio and diphtheria-tetanus vaccines operate across 6-12 months. The Spanish government expects thousands, and perhaps even a full ten thousand migrants, to stay for at least a year which means that they will probably never leave.

    The new unified command is preparing to seize housing for the migrants for the rest of the year which means that the government expects the occupation to continue until at least then.

Meanwhile, the locals have had to put up with a 1,000% increase in crime. But that is not all:

    Prime Minister Sanchez, who famously wrote a New York Times op-ed titled, “I’m the Prime Minister of Spain. This Is Why the West Needs Migrants” to promote his policy of legalizing 500,000 illegal migrants, helping spur the invasion, has been running out the clock by offering meaningless reassurances and delaying any emergency intervention until now.

    As Spain’s former head of immigration, Ramón Caudevila from Ceuta, pointed out, under the law “after 31 days from the application date, undocumented immigrants have the right to go to the Spanish mainland.” What that means is that in around a week, thousands of invading Ceuta migrants will enter Spain proper and then all of Europe will lie open before them.

    No wonder they’re getting vaccinated. 

40 Million ARs?

The Truth About Guns reports that William English’s 2026 National Firearms Survey was used by attorney's fighting so-called "assault weapon" bans before the Supreme Court. The interesting thing to me were the numbers. Extrapolating from the survey:

    Put together, 30% of American gun owners — roughly 26.4 million adults — currently own at least one rifle commonly targeted by so-called “assault weapon” bans. About 22.1 million own an AR-15-type rifle specifically, per the survey.

    English estimates Americans possess around 40 million AR-15-type rifles and another 20 million similarly styled semi-autos. That’s roughly 60 million rifles.    

That should make the AR the most prolific rifle ever produced in the United States, and the second most prolific world wide. It also tells me that even if you don't own an AR and have no intention of ever owning an AR, you should nevertheless know the basics manual of arms for an AR in case you ever have to make one safe or end up having to use one. 

Ellifritz On "Professional" Attire For Firearms Instructors

In a recent piece from Active Response Training, Greg Ellifritz answers a question as to what is appropriate attire for a firearms instructor. The short answer he gives is "who cares?" and, if you do care more about what he is wearing than what he is teaching, he doesn't want you in his class. But he does provide some history of the 5-11 slacks and polo shirt which seemed almost a uniform among certain types of people. He relates:

    FBI firearms instructors started wearing Royal Robbins climbing pants (the pants model was called the 5.11, named after a difficult climbing route) and polo shirts as their uniforms in the 1990s. Royal Robbins spun off the 5.11 pants into a separate sales division called 5.11 Tactical in 2003.  That’s the brand you all know well.
 
    There weren’t a whole lot of professional commercial firearms instructors in the business in the 1990s as compared to now.  Most of the commercial instructors in the business at the time had taught at the FBI academy or at least at their regional offices.  Those commercial instructors emulated the FBI instructor/agent look because it appeared sharp and was somewhat unique.  I remember when wearing 5.11 pants from an obscure outdoor clothing company (which had to be ordered by mailing the company a physical order form and a paper check) was like a secret code.  It meant that you were one of the cool kids who played with guns for a living. 

    Looking back on that time, it now seems quite odd.  Most firearms instructors I know are free thinkers and a bit anti-authoritarian.  Even if those instructors were (or had been) cops, very few had a high level of respect for the FBI.  Yet everyone jumped at the chance to LARP like an FBI instructor without the slightest bit of cognitive dissonance. 

VIDEO: Cleaning A Mini-14

 Another Mini-14 maintenance video for you. 

VIDEO: "Ruger Mini-14 Maintenance Series: Cleaning"
Brownells, Inc. (2 min.)

How To Video: Dissembly/Assembly of the Mini-14

 

VIDEO: "Ruger Mini-14 Assembly Disassembly"
bgallaher77 (8 min.)

"Gimme" - Mass Immigration In A Nutshell

 

VIDEO: "This Is The Perfect Clip To Expose The Illegal Immigration Crisis"
Matt Walsh (7 min.)

WaPo Goes After Conservative Commentators

The Washington Post has published an article accusing  Rob Maness, Kurt Schlichter, and Thomas Anderson (aka Cynical Publius) of having been hired to propagandize for the Department of War and, in particular, War Secretary Pete Hegseth. And the story has been picked up by many other outlets, including a Canadian influencer and former radio "shock-jock" named Dean Blundell who published a piece entitled "The Pentagon Is Collapsing, So Hegseth Hired Influencers To Tell You It Isn’t." 

    I would never have come across Blundell's piece, except it found its way to Western Rifle Shooters Association. Blundell's piece is actually less about Maness, Schlichter, and Anderson, and more about some of the Pentagon old guard leaving or being shown the door, and, more generally, reducing the number of flag officers and generals.  Since it has been long argued (correctly in my opinion) that the military has too many senior officers overseeing a bloated bureaucracy, I don't see this as ipso facto proof that the Pentagon leadership is collapsing. 

    But going back to the original accusation from the Washington Post, Kurt Schlichter has published a rebuttal: "The Washington Post Embarrasses Itself Trying to Embarrass Me." He explains:

    Last spring, a senior Pentagon official — not from public affairs, which had zero to do with this project — reached out to me, Tom Anderson (aka @CynicalPublius), and Rob Maness (@RobManess) about undertaking a review and making recommendations about the military’s war colleges, which senior military leaders attend as colonels and Navy commanders and captains. These programs (there are about 10 of them, of various sizes and forms) have had their problems, including but not limited to the same creeping wokeness that had affected the entire military until President Trump essentially banned it. But DEI was not the focus of the project, as the WaPo implies; the focus was how to ensure these institutions are preparing future generals and admirals for the challenges of war in the 21st century. The poison of DEI was a component of the inquiry, but just one part of a complex issue.

    We would come on board as temporary special government employees, since we needed that status to use government information systems, access information, and perform our duties. None of our duties involved tweeting or messaging; again, the claim we were paid to publicly message is a lie. We would visit the campuses, interview people, review course materials, and prepare a report with recommendations. We began by reviewing reams of written materials. We eventually made several visits to the Pentagon and to various schools, plus had some video interactions. We each talked to hundreds of people. We conducted detailed interviews with large and small groups, including commandants, students, civilian and military faculty, administrators, and civilian and military leaders in the field. ...

[snip]

    We eventually produced a report of about 17,500 words. It is up to the Secretary of War to release it or throw it in the trash as he sees fit. I will say we are proud of it and that we made recommendations we think will help train the best possible senior officers to face the challenges of the future. Every moment we worked, we were focused on one thing — making sure our young troops got the quality leaders they deserve. I know that motive is not as juicy for the regime media and their lefty friends as some fantasy influencing scheme, but it’s the truth.

    So why pick us? Why would three right-wing internet guys get picked for this job? Well, because we have a very special set of skills. All three of us are retired O-6 colonels, graduates of one or more of the war colleges, and we all have extensive tactical and command experience. Tom Anderson was an Army logistics officer with multiple deployments. Rob Maness was a B-1 weapons officer who was in the Pentagon on 9/11. I was a chemical and an infantry officer, serving both on active duty and — importantly — in the reserves, which make up about half of America’s military forces and are often overlooked in projects like this one. ...    

All three, he points out, also have had extremely successful careers in the public sector that would assist in their assessments.

    This reminds me of an incident from my college days. I had a friend who was a journalism major and wrote for our university's newspaper. One day he excitedly told me that he had learned that the Army was conducting a "secret" research project at the university and he was going to blow the lid off the program. He seemed to think that it was going to be another Pentagon Papers or similar. It turned out that it was a small research project assessing better methods to teach people how to type. Oh, and it was not secret. I got a good laugh out of that one. 

VIDEO: Massad Ayoob Discusses The DA/SA Pistol

Massad Ayoob discusses the DA/SA pistol: it's history, its advantages, and why law enforcement and the public moved away from the design.  

 VIDEO: "Why did they stop using the Double Action Pistol?"
Massad Ayoob - Facts and Firearms (13 min.)

Israel Counters Turkey

From Israel Hayom (via Instapundit): "Israel, Greece finalize €3 billion defense system agreement." The article reports:

    A 3 billion euro ($3.48 billion) defense agreement between Israel and Greece was signed on Monday, with Israel set to construct a "multi-layered" defense system for the Greek military, Israel's defense ministry confirmed in a statement.

    Greece has dubbed the new program "Achilles Shield," a deal the ministry ranks among the largest in the country's defence history. Never before has the Israeli Ministry of Defense delivered a single, fully integrated array built to counter threats as varied as ballistic missiles, aircraft, and hostile drones. The two countries also finalized a smaller, supplementary contract, valued at 26 million euros, for Israel to provide Greece with drone dome systems.

This will, at a minimum, give Israel radar coverage of Turkey's north-eastern western coast. 

Rifleman's Guide To The Standing Position

Last week I had a post about controlling muzzle climb when using an FRT, and a comment to that post noted the importance of keeping the arm for the support hand bent and using a sling. So with that prompt, I decided to try and find a good article discussing the standing position when shooting a rifle. And the one that I found that I liked was this from Matt Robertson at Everyday Marksman: "A Marksman’s Guide to the Standing Position." Robertson begins by observing:

    The standing position is simultaneously the least useful, from a marksmanship perspective, but the most used of the rifle positions. It’s the one you see most at any tactical class, shooting range, or a day out plinking. Just because it’s the least useful, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t practice it. In fact, you should practice it a lot.

    If you’re using the standing, then you didn’t have time to get to a more stable position like kneeling, sitting, or prone. 

Or, as he quotes from TC 3-22.9, Rifle and Carbine Marksmanship: "This position should be used for closer targets or when time is not available to assume a steadier position such as short-range employment. The upper body should be leaned slightly forward to aid in recoil management." Discussing what he terms the "tactical" or "trapshooter" standing position, he has this to say about the support hand/arm:

    For the supporting hand position, you have to options: traditional and clamping.

    The “c-clamp” became a fashionable way to grip the rifle some years ago. With that variation, you drive the supporting hand out on the handguard as far possible and grabs the rifle from the side. The index finger of the support hand is sometimes laid parallel to the bore so that the support hand more or less “points” at the target.

    This variation usually includes a very “squared” stance to the target.

    The touted benefit of the “c-clamp” is that the shooter “drives” the rifle more quickly from target to target. But it’s not particularly new. There are pictures of the Rhodesians using the stance with FAL for close range combat during the Bush War.

    For most people, in most circumstances, placing the support hand under the rifle works just fine.

    Either way, the tactical standing position is the quickest way to get several shot off in a hurry. 

 He also goes on to describe an "erect" standing position which is often used for hunting or target shooting, and target standing position (like you might see an Olympic rifle shooter use when standing with the elbow of the support hand resting on the hip or midriff). Finally, he covers shooting from a support (e.g., a tree, edge of a window, fence post, etc.) and use of a sling. 

• More: "Resource Review: US Army TC 3-22.9 Rifle and Carbine Marksmanship" by Matt Robertson, Everyday Marksman.  
• More:  US Army TC 3-22.9 "Rifle and Carbine Marksmanship" (PDF). 
• More: "Rifle Shooting Positions"--Texas Parks & Wildlife.  

This Is The Way: 270 Trucking Schools Shut Down

The New York Post reports that "Trump admin orders 270 trucking schools to shutter in crackdown on licensing of illiterate, illegal immigrant drivers." 110 schools were shut down because they "had been found to have trained 5,000 enrollees later found to be unable to speak English" in violation of long standing federal law. "Another 160 schools were suspended for failing to meet training facility standards — sometimes claiming a single truck or small parking lot comprised their training center." Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in announcing the closures, "said 239 people died in crashes caused by non-English speaking truck drivers since the start of Trump’s term in January 2025, with California issuing most of the licenses used by operators involved in the smash-ups." 

Important Lesson On How Not To Be Shot

Don't hold house parties at 6 a.m. on a Sunday. Per the report, "[a] woman was killed early Sunday after someone fired multiple gunshots into a vacation home in Boise’s West Bench neighborhood, according to police," with officers responding just before 6 a.m. 

    A large number of people were inside the home when police arrived, and officers initially did not know the identity or location of the suspect, according to Boise police. The area was secured, the home was evacuated and officers cleared the residence while interviewing witnesses.

    Boise Fire Department crews and Ada County Paramedics attempted life-saving measures, but the woman died at the scene. No other injuries were reported.

    Investigators said evidence indicates a party was taking place when an unidentified suspect drove by in a sedan and fired multiple shots at the home before leaving the area. 

    The home was being used as a short-term vacation rental at the time of the shooting, police said. 

Update:  Police have released the names of the victim and one of the two suspects. Victim is Hispanic and the named, adult suspect also appears to be Hispanic. No information on the juvenile suspect. The local media referred to the two suspects as "teens" following the trend of media elsewhere to conceal the race of criminals. 

Gun & Prepping News #96

 Some links that may be of interest: 

• When you don't trust your students or trainees to carry a loaded gun: "Carrying with an Empty Chamber"--Recoil Magazine. The article delves into the origins of this strange practice:

    There’s a reason why carrying with an empty chamber is also called “Israeli Carry.” This form of carry has been a standard in Israel for so long that many instructors don’t even know why they initially started doing it. A goodly portion is due to the fact the Israeli military has always had a smattering of different pistols. This continues into the 21st century, to say nothing of when the nation was founded so many years ago.

    There are modern American pistols that aren’t as drop-safe as we’ve been led to believe, so imagine what the wide world of pistols looked like at the end of the 1940s. If you’re carrying a pistol that can potentially pop off if you drop it, and you have one in the chamber and you drop it … what then? Carrying on an empty chamber effectively negates that risk.

    Furthermore, different pistols have different manual safety mechanisms located in different places, and so for a fighting force with a mishmash of pistols, “rack the slide, then shoot” can be a universal answer, with the other safeties (if they even exist) staying disengaged.

    Another issue aside from the pistols themselves were the holsters. Available holsters ranged from homemade affairs, coat pockets, and those adapted from other platforms. Modern Safarilands they were not.

    Coming along for the ride of this tapestry of equipment was an early and persistent problem of gun grabs at checkpoints. Sometimes those that were stopped would take their chances, lunging for the gun of a guard to use it against them. The chamber being empty added an extra step, giving the checkpoint worker an additional ounce of reaction time in the event of an attack.

    Finally, the level of training always comes into play. A young conscript army may still be quite motivated, but the general level of proficiency will be lower than a fully professional force. This means less experience and more accidents.

• Some historical fiction for those of you that like that sort of thing: "Packing a Punch: A History of the M14"--The Firearm Blog. Rather than focus on what is wrong with the author's "history", including skipping entirely some of the shenanigans that led to the adoption of the M14, I want to focus on one point which is accurate:

The post-war era saw the U.S. military looking for a new rifle that could replace not only the M1 Garand but also the M1 Carbine, the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and the Thompson submachine gun.

[snip] 

The development of the M14 began with the search for a weapon that could fulfil multiple roles: as a standard battle rifle, a light machine gun, and a replacement for several existing firearms. This led to the concept of a "universal rifle," which would be capable of firing in both semi-automatic and fully-automatic modes. ...

And there lies the problem with the M14 from the onset: it was intended to fill too many roles. The Garand was a primary battle rifle. The M1 carbine was a light weight weapon intended to supplant the handgun as a weapon for support troops--not as big or heavy as a rifle but offering better fighting capabilities over a handgun. The BAR and Thompson (and M3 "grease gun") provided weapons capable of full automatic suppressive fire in an era where the primary cartridge used by troops was too powerful to use in a light weight automatic weapon. So how did the M14 do? It was a fine replacement for the Garand, but too heavy a weapon for support troops, and used too powerful of a cartridge for automatic fire from that light of a weapon. Something had to give, and that was the selection of a smaller, lighter cartridge with substantially less recoil, which gave us the M16.

As a side note, I would note that Italy was able to successfully convert the M1 Garand to use box magazines and added select fire, resulting in the BM59 rifle.

• "G3 vs World: Trials of Modern Battle Rifles in Pakistan"--The Firearm Blog.  The author was involved in a weapon trial conducted by Pakistan to replace the locally produced G3 rifles and Chinese AK rifles. And although the test were supposed to be only among the weapons that Pakistan was considering as replacements, at the last minute they decided to include the G3 to act as a "baseline" to compare against. The G3 compared very well against the modern battle rifle offerings from various arms manufacturers. The author's conclusion:

    What can we learn from this experience? Nobody is claiming that the G3 is better than any modern battle rifle, but if we look at the core of the firearm, what matters is the cartridge, barrel length, and action. You cannot expect a drastic difference between two rifles chambered for the same cartridge with similar barrel length.

    If a rifle is reliable and can be used with modern sighting systems, it doesn't matter whether it was invented in 1959 or two years ago. When it comes to the G3, there is a lot of room for improvement, but with proper modernisation, the G3 certainly fits the formula of ‘old, but not obsolete’.  

• "PSA Olcan Review: Why the 300 Blackout Bullpup Actually Makes Sense"--Ammo Land. The Olcan takes the upper from PSA's JAKL and marries it to a bullpup lower. Thus, it has a long-stroke gas piston system, side-charging handle, and adjustable gas system. The barrel is 14.5" with a pinned and welded muzzle device that appears ready to accept a sound suppressor. It cannot switch ejection from the right to the left, however. 
• "Is the H&R Retro M16A1 the Most Authentic Colt M16 Clone?"--Shooting Times.  From the article:

    NoDak Spud is one of the most recognizable names in the retro rifle game, and it plays a role in the H&R rifles. Like the H&R brand, NoDak Spud was also acquired by Palmetto State Armory’s parent company, and they made NoDak’s founder, Mike Wettleland, H&R’s CEO. To say the company was in good hands would be an understatement.

    The finished result is a really nice looking rifle. Chambered in 5.56 NATO with a 20” chrome-lined pencil barrel, the H&R M16A1 upper receiver is made from NoDak Spud’s proprietary dies, and it has all of the iconic cosmetic features that denote an M16A1. The muzzle device, buttstock, front sight, carry handle, teardrop forward assist, and the triangular handguards with the heat shields are all there – you know exactly what it is upon first glance.

    The finish on the upper and lower receivers is even the correct gray color. Now, I would be remiss not to mention that some people have complained about the color of the small parts. On some guns, the parts are a glossier black and they clash terribly. On the gun I received, the parts are most certainly not glossy black, and they blend in with the rest of the rifle’s coloring. Not sure why there is a difference between some, but I thought that it was worth mentioning.

It also is available with either the period correct 1:12 twist or 1:7 for those who want to shoot heavier bullets. MSRP is right around $1,200. 

• Speaking of retro: "Five of the Best Factory Loads to Try in Your M1 Garand"--Guns & Ammo. The operating system of the M1 Garand cannot handle the hot loads commonly found in .30-06, so some companies have developed and market loads specifically designed for the Garand. This article looks at the following offerings: Creedmoor Sports CMP Load; Federal American Eagle For M1 Garand; Hornady .30-06 M1 Garand Match; Underwood M1 Garand; and Winchester M1 Garand. Of note:

One of the newest of the batch, Winchester undoubtedly did the best job of duplicating the original M2 ball. I write this because, thanks to their control of the Lake City ammunition plant, they were able to recreate the appropriate “LC” marked cases, and the first ones the market has seen in quite some time. Built to be rough and tumble like classic military munitions, they aren’t much to look at. However, they proved to be the spiciest load of the day in each rifle. Consistency was above mil-spec in both rifles, and despite being hotter than the others, I didn’t perceive any additional recoil. This is a terrific load for general target practice, or if you’re looking for a faithful reproduction of issued ammunition. 

Given the cost of .30-06, you might want to consider handloading ammo.  

• "Reloading 101: An Introduction to Loading Your Own Ammo!"--Ammo Land. The author makes his argument for why you should invest in the equipment and learn to reload your own ammo, as well as providing basic instructions. He also explains the different types of reloading presses and other equipment you will need.
• "Handloading .38 Special: Allan Jones' Deep Ballistic Lessons"--Shooting Times. Lessons learned to make handloads more consistent and accurate. 
• "Cross Draw Holsters"--Active Response Training. Greg Ellifritz discusses the pros and cons of the cross draw method of carry: the primary advantages are ease of the draw from a sitting position while the primary issue is a gun grab from the front. He comments:

Although the crossdraw position has some merits, the potential downsides make me hesitant to recommend it.  Almost all the benefits from the crossdraw position can also be found in the appendix draw without having nearly the number of disadvantages.  I only recommend crossdraw to folks who have a shoulder injury that prohibits them from drawing from behind the hip or from the appendix position or for outdoors people who are carrying long barreled revolvers when hiking of hunting in the woods.   

I would go farther than that. If you are sitting a lot, the cross draw is still, IMHO, more comfortable than an appendix carry. Additionally, those with larger guts will find cross-draw carry more usable than appendix carry. And for those suffering from sciatica aggravated by carrying on their strong side, moving the firearm to the opposite side of the body can in some cases be better tolerated.

• "Commerce Dept: There’s No Evidence at All Showing Microstamping is Reliable"--Shooting News Weekly.  Key bit:

    The determination by NIST officials, after reviewing the compendium of data examining microstamping, is that the existing studies show a microstamping cannot produce repeatable and legible codes. That’s for a couple reasons. Even the microstamping patent-holder, Todd Lizotte, got involved in the research that ultimately concluded that “…legitimate questions exist related to both the technical aspects, production costs, and database management associated with microstamping that should be addressed before wide scale implementation is legislatively mandated.”

    ... The Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTME) and the New York State Firearms Technical Working Group (TWG) observed that firing pins wear over time.

    That makes sense. Firing pins striking metallic primers naturally wear over time. NIST noted that adding in the fact that firearms produce residue from gunpowder (as any recreational shooter can attest). That gunpowder residue can accumulate in the microscopic laser-engraved microstamp, obscuring the code.

    That doesn’t take into account that different firing pins are used in different firearms. That variation of make and model, metallurgy and even lacquer coatings on ammunition can affect the ability of a legible code to be present on spent cartridges. On top of that, it doesn’t work at all in rimfire ammunition, since there’s an entirely different primer in the rim of the cartridge and not a separate primer. Manufacturers’ branding on the cartridge can affect legibility too.

    How the firing pin strikes the primer can affect legibility too. Repeated strikes and drag marks can mar the microscopic microstamping code. 

• I like the idea of a safari, but my wallet can't afford one. This article explores another option: planning a hunt in Texas: "How to Plan a Domestic Safari: Hunting Exotic Species in the US"--Shooting Times. The author writes:

Many Americans have hunted a lot in the Northeast, the Great Plains, and some of the other areas of the country and would like to go on “safari,” but various constraints prevent that. However, a hunting trip to Texas can be accomplished within most of our budgets of time and money. It is one of the most accessible and varied hunting venues available to us. It is within driving distance for most of the country, and driving to Texas avoids being at the mercy of the haphazard air traffic control system. In Texas, both native and exotic game species abound, and they are accessible through many means. So, let us consider planning a Texas safari. First of all, make a checklist of what to take, preparations to make, and such. 

•  "Best Emergency Food to Keep in Your Car Year-Round"--Modern Survival Blog. The author begins by laying out the issue:

    For a true year-round vehicle stash, I would use a two-layer system: one heat-tolerant emergency ration that stays in the vehicle, plus a small supply of normal snacks that you rotate and actually like to eat.

    This general two-layer method has been my approach for many years and has proven reliable.

    One problem is heat. A snack that lasts a year in your pantry may not hold up nearly as well inside a parked vehicle. Cold creates its own problems too, especially with water and canned food.

    That gives you dependable backup calories without turning your vehicle into a rolling pantry. It also avoids relying on ordinary granola bars, nuts, jerky, or canned food for years at a time. 

For a heat stable emergency ration, he recommends S.O.S. Rations 3600-Calorie Emergency Food Bars. This (or something similar) is what I also used for an emergency food supply in my car kit back in my college days when I was frequently traveling long distances in winter. The author additionally discusses what other snacks to have and carrying water. Interestingly, his selection of water pouches is also similar to my choice long ago. Basically, what I did was look at food and water packets that were primarily intended for small water craft and life boats. 

•  And another from Modern Survival Blog: "How to Check If a Product Has Been Recalled." Unfortunately, there is no single website or government agency to check--it depends on the type of product. But the author details what information to look for on a product and several different sources to check. 
• "American Heirloom Project: How would you rebuild it all?"--Tilting At Windmills. The author begins with a thought experiment: what skills would you need to rebuild society and survive if all our technology--the grid, long distance trade, etc.--disappear. He encourages readers to learn a skill, as a hobby, that would be valuable in such circumstances; preferably one that can be done without power tools.

     I don’t use hand tools because I’m too pure for power tools. It’s just a preference for me. I don’t like the noise or the health risk. I might still bleed from a chisel being rammed into my thumb, but I’m not likely to lose a finger to the table saw.

    That’s where you can come in.

    Find yourself a niche. Learn to fill it. Even just growing your own vegetables or herbs is something. You’re building resiliency that might save lives or, at a minimum, put a really nice tomato on your burger; one you can’t get at the grocery store because you are the one who grows that particular kind.

    We need to stop trusting a system to keep us safe when that system actually doesn’t care about you, the person. Governments don’t have to protect you as a person, just society as a general concept, and if we’ve learned anything since 2020, it’s how little we should probably trust that.

    I remember the empty grocery store shelves in the early days of COVID, after all. Maybe it’s just me, but I’d rather not depend on just-in-time delivery systems that can’t always deliver just in time. I’d rather not go to get meat for dinner and have the clerk tell me I can’t have it all because there’s rationing.

    I experienced it all, as did many of you, and it sucked.

    Building the skills so, at least in part, you won’t have to is good. Doing it so someone else doesn’t have to is better.

    Raise chickens.

    Spin fibers into thread.

    Turn it into fabric.

    Make pots and fire them in the backyard using a method that is cool as hell, and completely irrelevant.

    Find your craft. Find your apocalyptic profession. Find your thing.

    You may have already. You might be sitting there thinking, “I’ve been knitting since I was 12,” and I’ll say, “Dope. You were already there,” and move on.

•  In a similar vein: "The Manual for Civilization Begins"--Long Now. The author writes: "We have named this collection the Manual for Civilization, and it will include the roughly 3500 books most essential to sustain or rebuild civilization. Using this as an curatorial principle is helping us assemble a very interesting collection of books." The article then links to lists people have compiled of supposedly useful books. Unfortunately, many of the lists seem more about what academics think is necessary rather than what is necessary. I haven't gone through all the lists, but they seem heavy on fiction and social sciences over practical guides to machining and manufacturing. I didn't even see a single reference to the classic set of books, How Things Work, which provides brief descriptions of so many machines and how they work. So while the concept is sound, they seem to be compiling lists from the wrong sorts of people.