To do some house-cleaning, Frank James is 100% right...since my 329 had an action job from Alpha Precision, if I sent it back to S&W they'd point a big ole finger at the gunsmith, who didn't touch the lock mechanism. Bottom line...the S&W lock is POTENTIAL DEATH in ultra-lightweight frames! Think about it...say it only fails once every 100,000 rounds...do you want to risk that one failure while you're trying to keep Ms. Bear from turning your 8-year-old into a yummy snack? And remember, a 1-in-100,000 doesn't necessarily mean you get to pull the trigger 100,000 times before the lock fails. The failure could occur on Pull #99,999 or Pull #3. Think about it.
Here's a bit from the Congressional Research Service on the M-4 and its challenges for Congress. Here's the summary:
The M-4 carbine is the Army’s primary individual combat weapon for infantry units. The M-4 uses a direct gas impingement system that blows carbon from the fired cartridge back into the weapon’s receiver, which can lead to weapon malfunctions. The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is replacing its M-4s with the Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR), a modular weapon with a short-stroke piston system that eliminates carbon blow back, which theoretically improves reliability. Some have questioned why the Army has not adopted the SCAR or another similarly designed weapon. A series of studies and tests of the M-4 and potential competitors have added to this debate, and the Army has taken steps to begin evaluating other weapons to replace the M-4. This report will be updated as events warrant.I can't imagine any drive to change the Big Army's small arms during the reign of Knee-Pads Barry, whose response to hostile nations is...harsh language! Oh, I suppose that if, say, there was a problem in a democratic nation that was a U.S. ally, say, Israel, Knee-Pads would consider using an American nuclear response to keep the socialist world government agenda on course and keep those craaaaaaaaaa-zzzzzzzzy Jews from ruining everything!
Also, check out VPC's Josh "SAD PANDA" Sugarmann's piece in the Huffington Post on Jan Libourel's editorial in GUN WORLD magazine, trying to stir up some nasty dookey among us gun folk. Here's a little of it:
Libourel's Quisling rating then ratchets up a few more points when he has the audacity to call into question the pro-gun myth of the modern-day 'citizen soldier.' You know, the heavily-armed guy who in his grandiose dreams is linked to a heritage that stretches from the Revolutionary War to the Wolverines of Red Dawn -- and is only seen by the rest of us when he snaps and his last "patriotic" act ends up on the evening news.
Noting the reported increases in sales of assault rifles like the AR-15 in the wake of President Obama's election, Libourel writes:
"I suppose the people rushing to buy up AR-15s 'before it's too late' are counting on the anti-gunners' being magnanimous enough to ban the future sale of such rifles yet leave existing owners in possession of theirs. Either that, or they are planning to hide them in anticipation of an armed uprising or social breakdowns. Although I was certainly no fan of the Clinton administration, I had to wonder about those 'patriots' and 'constitutionalists' who advocated arming themselves back then with an eye to overthrowing the lawfully elected government! Although I didn't much care for him, Bill Clinton was elected president under the United States Constitution, fair and square."
Libourel then goes on to question those who would follow the logic of "survival guru Mel Tappan," whose "shtick" was that they:
"should prepare for the inevitable social breakdown or nuclear war by acquiring a 'retreat' in a remote rural area where you could essentially live off the land and arm yourself to the teeth with state of the art high-firepower weaponry so that you could blow away any 'looters' who had the temerity to trample your Jerusalem artichokes! (I guess you would have to have a keen nose for trouble to effect a retreat to your retreat before the social blowup or the nukes started falling...) I suppose for defending an isolated ranch or farmstead from the concerted attack of a criminal gang one of these rifles would have considerable merit. The same would hold true if one anticipated in engaging in house-to-house fighting in some sort of urban warfare, as taught in the 'Urban Rifle' courses at the sundry shooting schools. However, being an old-fashioned, low-tech sort of guy, I always felt that a plain old short-barreled 12 gauge pump gun or autoloader was all the urban defense gun I'd ever need. In most urban jurisdictions, it would be pretty hard for a civilian to plead necessary self-defense if he engaged in a shootout at ranges greater than the 35 yards or so at which buckshot is effective."
In a world viewed by many of his readers in black and white, Libourel has staked out a little island of gray. It remains to be seen whether he's exiled to it.
Jan has always moved to a different drummer. Sadly, Jan's piece is not on-line, but Jan is certainly entitled to his opinion, even if IMHO it's stone wrong. A quick reality check...today the news was full of a home invasion in Florida that involved up to 7 assailants in two cars that left the 2 homeowners shot dead. I've gotten reports of some major gangs ratcheting up their home invasions for fun and profit business. I like the heck out of shotguns, but in those kind of cases, I'll take firepower all day long.
Second reality check...Katrina. Again, firepower works.
And Jan, before you spend too much time dis'sing Mel Tappan and SURVIVAL GUNS (and keeping in mind that I am diligently working on a new book with the working title of THE NEW SURVIVAL GUNS: FIREARMS AND TRAINING FOR UNSETTLED TIMES), these are in fact unsettled times. The economy is teetering on the brink of...something. H1N1 has "jumped" Tamiflu in at least 3 countries, including the U.S. Israel, which has no sense of humor when it comes to national survival, is eying Iran and fingering the sharp edge of the knife. Pakistan, which has far too many nukes, is only a "country" in the loosest sense of the word. The entire electric grid of the U.S. can be turned off with a few nukes popped way up in the air over Kansas. We have a committed socialist "community activist" in the Presidency, a Congress full of second-rate comedians, a foreign policy that involved knee-pads, apologies and groveling, and a public obsessed with a dead pedophile. We're about to confirm a Supreme Court Justice who is proud of her membership in the National Council La Raza, which, in case you've been asleep, means "The Race." The borders are as porous as yesterday's used-up kitchen sponge. A major American city was destroyed by weather and lunacy. The San Andreas fault has recorded more than 2000 "mysterious" tremors in the last few months. California, where you live with those velociraptor-sized dogs, is bankrupt, issuing IOUs instead of...what were those things called?...dollars and is trying to figure out which services to cut or curtail. And Ryan Seacrest makes $15 million a year.
If you feel comfortable, by all means, pass the the Xanex...if MJ left any!
25 comments:
Maybe Jan Libourel needs to be Zumbo'd. These days the line has been drawn and straddling it should be professionally dangerous for gun scribes.
That's funny, because when when I took on a Ford Explorer bumper with my Element back in 2004, and the Explorer bumper one by a knockout, the butchers bill was $4000 dollars.
perhaps it is time for the sword of ar15.com to fall on Mr. Libourel just like it did Zumbo, we can no longer afford shades of gray, it is black or white now...you are or you are not
Michael, I just finished the novel "One Second After" by Wm R. Forstchen. The death of the US by EMP attack is a frightening tale. This story really puts it into human terms. Should be mandatory reading for everyone!
Jan Libourel has drawn the ire of the Walter Mitty-ists. MB, if YOU would admit it, their is a great deal of "survival" fantasy in the "gun culture". Hell, you make money off of it and I think you're smart enough to recognize what you are peddling.
Lock failure: When you decided against returning this gun last year, why didn't you remove the lock? Either return the gun to S&W for an evaluation or remove the lock would seem to be your two best options.
Will,
+1! It's making the rounds at work.
Really fits in with TBDS
Ratcatcher 55
The razor blade of life is a bitch! Libourel is surely entitled to his opinion and the right to express it. However, the public also has the right to VOTE for his employment with our dollars. I'm sure if there was significant uuprising his publishers would broom him to the street in a second...Thoughts to ponder....
Here is a new name for the zone that stupid, antiquated "outdoor" writers like to call home. Its called ZumLib Land......
Brilliant, Michael Bane. Brilliant!
You know, Anonymous, you are right that there is a great deal of Walter Mitty-ism — survival and otherwise — in the gun culture, ad I have spoken to it before.
And, yes, I have occasionally made a lot of money off it. As I once told the executives at OC, I do indeed sell fear, and often in wholesale lots.
Unlike some others in this business, however, I do not sell what I don't believe in. Everything I SAY I have done, I have done; I have tried to live my life as a person who not only "talked" but "walked" as well.
As a life-long libertarian, I believe that we as individuals must invent America anew every day in our lives. I believe that our politicians — Republican and Democrat — have failed us on a staggering level, and as a result we have wandering into a mine field with no cue how to get out.
It has been my observation that we as individuals do not come with any guarantees, and by extension the constructs of individuals, including political systems, are without guarantee. I imagine that when the world thrilled to the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo that no one in the stadium imagined that the region's name would soon become synonymous with the hell on earth of "ethnic cleansing". The overloads never imagined a "whimper not a bang" end to the USSR, the second most powerful nation on earth, until it was already upon them. The 21st Century urban sophisticates lounging in the sidewalk cafes in Buenos Aires didn't imagine that in the space of a few months, "money" would stop being "money" and they would be "buying" their next cup of java with a few .22 LR rounds.
In training for our personal defense, one of our unstated goals is simply to not be surprised. If we are the victim of a surprise assault, we start behind the curve, with all the disadvantages inherent with being behind the curve.
The first step in minimizing surprise on a personal level is the acceptance of the fact that, yes indeed, IT — whatever "IT" is — can happen to you. Jim Cirillo's magnificent response to the bodega robbery now codified in training by Col. Jeff Cooper as "The Cirillo Drill" is a case in point. I have come to believe that "transition time," the time between the actual start of hostilities and your response to those hostilities, is the defining measure of survival. Shorter is better.
Enhanced awareness, intuitive skills and training shorten that transition time.
Tell me that it's different for large scale disruptions...
mb
MB your points "sound valid". That is the problem. It is very hard for most folks to dig down and analyze each scenario of yours and validate or invalidate it. The folks in Jonestown heard a lot about end of times stuff also. The human mind can be pretty easily directed into obsessive thinking. It is just the way the neurons work.
I know for sure that I have forgotten my wallet and American Express card at home. The world did not end. I know for sure that airplanes crash. But I have taken flights on vacation and business. I know for sure that people are killed in bodegas in the heart of the ghetto. I personally try to avoid such places. And yes there was a single home invasion in FL that in a matter of 3 days has resulted in the arrest of 7 "hardened criminals" who worked at a car wash apparently. So much for the "organized" "paramilitary" initial reporting on the crime. But 300 million people weren't killed. It is kind of luck of the draw. It was four minutes in time when a house with lots of disabled kids and two adults intersected with 7 or more deviants. Wam bam. Over. Four minutes.
I also know that the hysteria around Jacko the Wacko is no different than the hysteria that can be brewed up pretty much any given night by the Art Bells of the world. If you seriously are worrying about EMP attacks by nukes exploding over the USA don't you think there might be bigger things to worry about? In which case worrying pretty much ends for you. Add that to the list of Ebola, H1N1, Morgallons disease, first Gulf War syndrome, Super Volcanos, UFOs abducting folks and coring out their anus's, Y2K, chemtrails, the entire Earth exploding, pole reversals, hyperinflation of money, etc etc etc. I do listen to this nonsense for entertainment. The list is enormous of things to dread. I've spoken to the various hosts and marveled that of all the guests over all the years I can recall only 1 guest that got called on this BS and tossed off the air. And he had to call Ted Kennedy a child rapist. Its like mental illness doesn't exist in the world of paranoia.
As much as I detest the young commie as POTUS, America will survive. In fact elections next year may throw a wrench into his plans. I lived through Johnson, Carter and Clinton. I will live through BHO.
To spend 24 hours a day training and worrying about attacks of individuals, earthquakes, chemical spills, North Koreans exploding bombs over my head is I believe, nuts. The world isn't that dangerous no matter what you say. And just because Cirillo used to kill people (and killed less than a dozen I recall) for a living in crappy drug infested neighborhoods doesn't mean I have to either train like him or change my moral code to his. Life is good in general, people are good in general. Like the Boy Scout motto being prepared isn't a bad thing. But being consumed by preparedness is.
Libourel wrote the same kind of foolish tripe when he was on the masthead at Peterson's Handguns years ago. At the time I wrote them a letter and canceled my subscription.
Too bad Gun World is such a pathetic waste of ink that no one reads it anyway so we can't cancel our subscriptions.
Simply amazing. Here we have several fellows who proclaim their defense of the 2nd Amendment, yet want to not only stifle Jan Libourel's 1st Amendment rights but also desire loss of his livelihood. Instead of the modern day Patrick Henry you fancy yourselves as, you are much more akin to Soviet-era apparatchiks. You've proven yourselves to be no better than the gun-hating liberals you despise.
To nj_larry:
While you will most certainly be in the minority here, you're not alone. "Like the Boy Scout motto being prepared isn't a bad thing. But being consumed by preparedness is." That was an excellent tag line to your post. I'd be willing to bet you're much like me and long for the days before the arfcom commando wannabes took over the American shooting industry. How did we ever survive real "SHTF events" like the 1917 flu pandemic, Great Depression, numerous urban riots, hurricanes, floods and blizzards without a safe full of "tactical rifles" and MultiCam underwear?
Libourel said that? JAN Libourel?
I guess I need to get back to reading GUNS and GUNS & AMMO (or whatever gunrags Libourel still writes for) so I can keep track of whats being published in the pulp-porn media.
This reminds me of the time a few years ago (April, 2005 - http://tinyurl.com/ndm3yb ) when Kim de Tuit and Massaad Ayoob both agreed online that "... as a matter of fact, you don’t have a God-given right to carry a loaded gun in shopping malls where there are kids walking around."
I disagreed with them online, and the entire subject went [flop].
Then people started shooting up shopping malls, and the entire concept went topsy-turvey ... until 2007 when an off-duty LEO pulled his backup revolver in a Utah mall and subtly changed the entire paradigm set. (http://tinyurl.com/2jbky7)
Bottom line: even the most experienced gun-writers can get it wrong when they start to wax Delphic. Some manage to re-evaluate (including the phrase ("miss-spoke"), and others suffer Blogger Meltdown.
Hate to see Libourel looking like a Halloween candle, but I guess Wax Happens.
" justbill said...
Simply amazing. Here we have several fellows who proclaim their defense of the 2nd Amendment, yet want to not only stifle Jan Libourel's 1st Amendment rights but also desire loss of his livelihood."
excuse me, the the 1st only protects you from the government, not your fellow citizens, and FYI the free enterprise system is still alive, meaning if you do something stupid to embarass your employer, like piss off the customers with an out of sorts diatribe, you can get canned for it....sorry, did you want some sort of union protection for gun writers or something...and you lecture us about the Commies????
Nothing is going to come of Libourel's remarks, because nobody reads his stuff anymore. I was unaware that he was still alive until I read of his comments here. There are plenty of other gun writers that are straight up full of it. He's just another on the list. Just because somebody gets published doesn't mean their opinion means diddly.
As usual, NJ_Larry has nailed it. I too believe in being prepared. But I would hate to go through life consumed by the paranoia that apparently inflicts MB and some others.
"..... consumed by the paranoia that apparently inflicts MB and others"? What?
As a "customer" of Michael's, I "buy" the various "services" that he "sells". He both entertains and teaches. He also provides a means to enter into controversy. I buy and use what I need to be prepared too. When I am finished preparing, I am, well, done. I come back for refresher-courses and updates, but to liken this all to paranoia, is ridiculous.
To many of us, any compromise to our Second Amendment rights is viewed as a threat. At times, we have "zero-tolerance" for any new controls, prohibitions, or any other "threat" to what we view as our primary freedom. This is due to the vast amount of data that shows that the anti-gun people just keep chipping away at those rights, either by taking small steps toward limiting, or eliminating our rights, or just plain deceiving us. Anyone appearing to fuel that initiative is often viewed as a traitor to "the cause". That's just part of the whole picture and we all have to realize that and deal with it. Is it right, or wrong? You all be the judge. But, if the preponderance of votes are for no compromises, then that's what it will be. It seems that is where we are too.
"Be Prepared"? It means just that. It applies to everything that we do. It simply means to be prepared. Don't make any more of it than that.
Life Member
"excuse me, the the 1st only protects you from the government, not your fellow citizens, and FYI the free enterprise system is still alive, meaning if you do something stupid to embarass your employer, like piss off the customers with an out of sorts diatribe, you can get canned for it"
Wrong. Not only does the 1st Amendment protect political speech, it also protects non-political speech. As an example, I can call you an ignorant blogger. I can say it here, on a street corner, on television. And you have no legal recourse against me like you do in other countries that do not have protections like our 1st Amendment.
"sorry, did you want some sort of union protection for gun writers or something"
No, just respect for another person's opinion that differs from your own. You know, that antiquated civility stuff.
"...and you lecture us about the Commies????"
Perhaps comparing you and your hotheaded buddies to a Soviet-era apparatchik was technically incorrect. Someone like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson or an ACORN "activist" is more accurate. You, like them, harass anyone who doesn't toe the line as you see it. You, like them, call for boycotts and demand loss of livelihood for anyone who isn't "right thinking." Yep, you'd fit right in with that crowd. Thanks for correcting me.
"No, just respect for another person's opinion that differs from your own. You know, that antiquated civility stuff."
actually Jesse Jackson, David Duke, Al Sharpton, Hugo Chavez, all have opinions that differ radically from my own and I have zero respect for any of them...
in fact I have no respect for anyone like Libourel who might in any way advocate limiting the freedoms I already have, probably won't develop said respect for them either...yes, I will just run with the other Philistines...hurdle the dead and trample the wounded and all that...and disrespect the FUD's while we are at it...
what I perceive of Libourel's defense of the government's right to limit freedoms reminds me more of a Torrie loyalist from the 1770's lecturing us on respecting the crown than it does something Thomas Payne would have said...
A lack of ability to respect others' opinions and see the shades of grey that are the "really real world" is deliberate ignorance, the worst intellectual sin.
The response to Libourel if you disagree with him isn't to "Zumbo" him or call him a traitor, simply disagree, give your own opinion and, if you feel it necessary, exercise your own freedom to vote with your dollars.
That's called, what's the phrase...
...oh yeah, being an intelligent adult; not a reactionary, childish, blowhard ass.
At least Libourel has the sack to sign his name when he gives his opinion...
People who see only shades of gray in human endeavors, instead of defining important things in black or white ARE THE PROBLEM! If you are unable or unwilling to label an idea or position as good or bad, then you will never draw a line and say "it stops here". When everything is shades of gray, anything can be justified. That sort of thinking seems to define "intellectuals".
Mr. Anonymous said: "in fact I have no respect for anyone like Libourel who might in any way advocate limiting the freedoms I already have, probably won't develop said respect for them either...yes, I will just run with the other Philistines...hurdle the dead and trample the wounded and all that...and disrespect the FUD's while we are at it"
By not reading Libourel's entire editorial while continuing to spew righteous venom, you really are marking yourself as a fool. (BTW, I do have the July issue of Gun World in which this piece appeared.) Have you even bothered to consider why the complete editorial wasn't included in Josh Sugarman's article? You know, the avowed anti-gunner writing for a left-wing blog. Did you try to stop hyperventilating long enough to think it doesn't support Sugarman's hoplophobic arguments when displayed in complete context?
At no point does Libourel call for a ban on AR-15's, AK's, larger capacity magazines, etc. The editorial does call into question the ammo hoarders and reactionary EBR buyers who went into overdrive as the result of Obama's election. Libourel goes on to explain why he thinks the President has bigger issues to deal with right now than gun bans. But I guess in your mind that makes him Dianne Feinstein's lover or something.
Jan Libourel has always been a proponent of the shotgun as a primary home defense weapon. In this editorial he reiterates his long-held opinion that the range advantage of rifles is lost in most scenarios when you have to consider the legalities of taking pot shots at "looters" beyond effective shotgun range. (A valid point rarely considered by EBR advocates, in my opinion.) So don't reflexively confuse Libourel's opinion and preference for the shotgun as an attack on your right to own an AR.
I'm shocked it took you this long to include "Fud" in your diatribes. psst...BTW, it's "Fudds." You know, like Elmer Fudd.
Will said:
"People who see only shades of gray in human endeavors, instead of defining important things in black or white ARE THE PROBLEM!"
Lenin and Hitler said the same thing. Not that it has anything to do with the editorial in question. You'd know that if you'd read it and not relied on other people to make up your mind for you.
justbill,
maybe you should follow your own advice, and read the whole thing. Read the comment before mine! People who can't be bothered to read the prior comments, perhaps should just keep quiet.
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