Not So Dog Days

August is the time of year around the Secret Hidden Bunker that when Lowlanders come visiting, they immediately buy a house and declare their inner Jeremiah Johnson. The weather is generally perfect, cooler, as most of our blistering hot days come earlier in the summer. The fires are out, the hummingbirds eating like crazy, getting ready for the trip south in a few weeks, catfish jumping', etc.

I'm spending the week on SHOOTING GALLERY planning and getting ready for next week's first filming session for THE BEST DEFENSE. Next week will be a pretty aggressive week of filming, including our modeling of the Zimmerman shooting in Florida.

Got a note this AM from my friends at Action Targets introducing their new Sport Plate Rack for .22s. This is a really nice set-up! Six knock-down plates, easy disassembly and a great price...$185! I train a lot on steel targets. A plate rack is to me one of the finest training tools out there. Plates are reactive,, which is a two-edged sword — there's a carney feel to being able to knock things down, but if you take your eyes off the front sight to watch the target fall, you get to miss the next one! A plate rack allows you to practice target transition, speed and accuracy. Unlike a Texas star, one of my other favorite targets, you can reset the plate rack with the pull of a rope.

At $185 I think the Action .22 rack would be a perfect addition for a club running Rimfire Challenge matches, as the plate rack can be easily built into the stages, and since it's portable you can just as easily vary the challenge by adding distance. Secondly, the plate rack would be perfect for rimfire training days.

I realize I failed to mention that in July the Marines chose the Colt Rail Gun, SHOOTING GALLERY's Most Significant Handgun of 2011, for their special operations and reconnaissance groups. Steve over at The Firearms Blog has some interesting commentary this AM on the choice. Worth reading the comments as well.

I've always said that on the day the Big Army began issuing phasers, the Marines would be holding out for 1911s.

As to frames cracking, I'd like to see a breakdown of the tests. Here's a link to the Soldier Systems story. Certainly 1911s don't have a history of cracking frames (with the exception of the early general lightweight aluminum frames). I don't have that many rounds through my own Colt Rail Gun, but I do have well over 100,000 rounds through my Series 80 Wilson Combat competition 1911 without problems. I both my Rail Gun after it impressed the hell out of me at GUNSITE.