Lazy Sunday...

Hubba-hubba!

...watching "River of No Return," perhaps not Robert Mitchum's greatest role. That's what lazy Sundays are for, though. Managed to eek out a top ten finish in Cheyenne yesterday, largely because of a pretty consistent rifle and finally coming to grips with the Browning BSS double. Makes me feel a little better about my less than stellar performance in the IDPA Worlds. I'm trying to figure out a way to work a little defensive pistol competition into my now-brutal schedule. Not sure whether it's possible or not, but am going to give it a try. I think I talked about it on the podcast, but it's hard (at least for me) to do a couple of shooting sports at the same time.

At this stage in my career...I was tempted to say "late" stage in my career...LOL!...cowboy is my absolute favorite. I love the transition between guns (and can certainly see the huge appeal of 3-Gun). If 3-Gun had hats...

I did drop a note to Wayne Novak abut changing out the sights on the SR9s, the gun I would like to stick with.

Autumnal AR

We did a day of filming for a new opening of SHOOTING GALLERY...it was a lot of riding up and down about 1000 yards of road on a borrowed Beemer, as my Honda Magna was having a bad day. I had my old SG-yellow AR strapped to my back. At one point a sheriff's car drove past. He saw the AR, stopped dead in the middle of the road and apparently called it in (I could see him on the mic). After a couple of minutes, he drove away, because Colorado is an open carry state.

Actually, that particular AR has been a crash test dummy over the last few years. It's a plain vanilla M4-styled carbine from J&T Distributing we built on Season 1 of SG back in the Clinton Ban days when no other show would even touch a nasty black rifle. The old Cav Arms provided the SG-yellow furniture (including a non-collapsable stock to meet the looney requirements of the AWB). Eventually we disabled the trigger to use the gun as a drone to demo with. I always liked the little gun because it's light and fast...I've got a new bolt with one of the miracle coatings waiting for a gun, and I think there's a Timney trigger around here somewhere, so I thought I'd put the gun back in service later this fall (in my "spare" time, LOL!).

Lot of interesting rumors flying around the Internet about the entire BATFE being thrown under the bus to save B-HOs political appointees as "Fast & Furious" burns hotter, brighter and closer to the White House:

Multiple sources, including sources from ATF, DOJ and Congressional offices have said there is a white paper circulating within the Department of Justice, outlining the essential elimination of ATF. According to sources, the paper outlines the firing of at least 450 ATF agents in an effort to conduct damage control as Operation Fast and Furious gets uglier and as election day 2012 gets closer.

Make no mistake about it...AFT needs to get thrown under a bus. It has aways been an agency in search of a mission ever since "revenuers" stopped busting up whisky kegs and started carrying tape measures to see if gun barrels were of legal length...certainly the agency should have been dissolved after the Waco disaster. However, the higher-ups involved in "Fast & Furious," which has claimed hundreds of lives in Mexico and the deaths of 2 American agents while committing an act of war against a friendly power, need to pay. And pay big.

Open Carry

-- Post From The Road

Setting up for SG Opening...

...my ultra reliable Honda tanked, so I'm on a borrowed Beemer...



-- Post From The Road

This Week's Moron Alert...

Read the whole stupid thing, then think twice about sending your kids into these cesspools...then go post a Firefly poster on your office door!

Public Statement by Dave Sevigny

I haven't touched this mess, but because this mess has touched a good friend of mine I need to put this up. Dave Sevigny has always been a stand-up guy, a straight shooter and a friend. This public statement was published today on his Facebook Page, and if Dave says it, it is true:

Now that my 2011 season is over I wish to address what at least one person has referred to as "the elephant in the room". http://sassbrassnbullets.com/2011/09/08/elephant-in-the-room/

Please rest assured, I am as shocked as anyone regarding the accusations involving Billy Abbate and a fifteen year old minor.  It has been incredibly hurtful to hear some people are speculating that I may have also been involved. Nothing could be further from the truth.  Let me be clear: I am not a suspect, nor will I ever be.  I also was not a witness to any inappropriate behavior between the two, nor did I have any reason to suspect much less know that Abbate was engaging in a secret and illegal affair with the minor girl.

I have heard criticisms that I somehow should have known about the secret relationship between the minor and Mr. Abbate.  I don’t see how, especially when I was not told the truth about their “friendship”.  In fact, the family of the minor and Mr. Abbate had a closer relationship than I ever did with either party.  I have also heard rumors that I engaged in lewd or distasteful acts with the minor.  Rest assured, these disgusting rumors are patently false.  I don't know if a specific individual is purposely spreading lies or if people are just widely speculating that I must somehow be involved because of my recent departure from my old sponsor.  Regardless, I want to set the record straight and hope this puts an end to these sickening rumors.

Throughout my eleven year association with my former sponsor (eight years of which I served as an employee), I was completely loyal to the company.   I acted as a mentor to numerous shooting team members and built a winning record of 150+ major championship wins using products from this company.  I am proud of what I have accomplished.  Some have said that I am taking the rest of the year off.  While I am done competing this season by choice, I will rise above this unfortunate incident and will work hard on building a brand that will endure, just like I did before.

Respectfully,
Dave Sevigny

Para Out of the Rifle Business

Got this today from Para USA:

PARA USA Exits Rifle Market
Pineville, NC – PARA USA announced today that it was exiting the rifle market to concentrate on its core competency in handguns. CEO Thanos Polyzos said, “PARA has some exciting new projects in development that will continue the innovation that we started with the high capacity P14-45 pistol. We want to bring these exciting new major caliber handguns to the firearms market and we need to focus our attention on them.”

The Tactical Target Rifle is the best battle rifle in the world. It has the remarkable Delayed Impingement Gas System (DIGS) that makes it the softest shooting, most reliable rifle of its type. While PARA USA will cease production of the Tactical Target Rifle, it will continue its tradition of providing unparalleled service in the firearms industry.

PARA USA will continue to service all of the Tactical Target Rifles it has sold. However, the production and marketing of new rifles using the DIGS operating system will be resumed by Al Zitta, the original developer of the rifle. For information on new rifles contact: ZM Performance Systems, Inc., 1958 Wes White HL Rd., Richmond, VT 05477 or www.zmweapons.com.

The TTR is, indeed, a fine rifle (it won the SHOOTING ILLUSTRATED Golden Bullseye Award as best rifle of the year, after all). In my experience it does shoot lighter than your average vanilla AR, and my T&E gun was crazy accurate. It was, however, an expensive rifle, expensive at a time when expensive rifles are not selling.

I've said this before on the podcast...the problem with non-standard AR platform guns is that they are, in fact non-standard. And generally around twice the price of a regular direct impingement gas gun. The fear for the purchaser of one of the non-standard guns is that the gun becomes orphaned when anticipated military/LEO contracts fail to materialize and the gun ceases production. Basic ARs are like 1911s...there are enough parts out there that the guns will quite literally go on forever. When we look at the non-standard guns, whether piston or other novel system, the question is who has the resources to go the distance?

Interestingly enough, I think the industry focus on 3-gun hadn't helped the non-standard systems...if you look at the hi-zoot 3-gun rifles, whether custom from JP or the out-of-the-box guns like the Stag, you see gas guns (the exception being FNH, a huge supporter of 3-gun and their SCAR Light rifle). 3-gun has reiterated that traditional gas guns work great under adverse conditions, something already proven on battlefields around the world.

Crazy Busy!

You guys probably figured out that the shortage of blog posts is a direct result of a crazy schedule. We're doing scenarios for THE BEST DEFENSE over the next few days, and they're complicated and time-consuming. May get some pictures for you today.

Was definitely interested in Sig's release of a direct impingement AR, the M400, to augment their already pretty extensive line of piston guns. I think this is probably a reflection of a market that is, at least for now, resistant to paying the price for piston guns. I also think that it shows although the old AR "bubble" is thoroughly popped, the "modern sport rifle" continues to sell at a good pace...what I hear from numerous manufacturers is that the market is continuing to buy ARs at a solid pace.

Interesting changes in the industry as well...this morning's SHOOTING WIRE reports that Michael Golden is out as President of S&W, replaced by James Debney, former president of the company's firearms division. S&W has been going through some changes recently...we've mentioned that the much-vaunted S&W shooting team faced some drastic cuts.

Going farther south, industry veteran Mark Kresser is now firmly in control of Taurus International down in Florida...I expect some changes there!

Whoops...gotta go kidnap somebody!

High Color...

...near the Secret Hidden Bunker!



-- Post From The Road

Smoked Mullet

Trust me...this is the best smoked fish in the world!


-- Post From The Road

Very Good Match!

Looking at the IDPA Worlds with a whole day of perspective...I think it's a very good match, an interesting and challenging blend of electric and straightforward stages. I think if I was a regular IDPA shooter, I would be very excited for a chance to shoot at this level. Congrats to all involved!

It's also interesting to see the way IDPA has evolved in 15 years, and in some ways not as I would have expected. There is still a strong emphasis on the tactical aspects of the match — use of cover, drawing from concealment, specific reloading sequences — but with a lot less of, for lack of better words, the "religious fervor" that was present in the early years. I think everybody understands that IDPA is a sport...heck, this match proves that point pretty conclusively! I think that's a good thing.

I was slow and especially had issues with the bobbers, movers, running targets, which I expected. No matter what one might say, it is darn near impossible to practice moving targets without moving target, an issue that I think has implications for everyone who carries concealed. All in all, though, I'm pretty happy with my shooting throughout the match.

My Ruger SR9s ran perfectly...no issues whatsoever. No malfunctions with the Wilson Combat match 125-grainers, which are more accurate than I am. As usual, I was perfectly happy with the Blade-Tech holster and mag pouch and my plain old Wilderness Tactical Instructors Belt...can't imagine why I'd use anything else.

I got a nice compliment from my old and good friend Joyce Wilson, who is sort of the "Yoda" of IDPA while Bill Wilson is off decimating the hog population of Texas. She said she watched me shoot a few stages and I looked like the IDPA rulebook. Good! That's what I hoped I looked like.

Next week we're filming THE BEST DEFENSE scenarios in Colorado, and working on a new opening for the hour-long SHOOTING GALLERY!

27 Stages...

...300 some-odd rounds...I survived the very first, and very excellent, IDPA World Championships! I think I'm in solid contention for last place...LOL! But boy, was it fun! And I now totally remember why I moved out of Florida...hot hot hot! And wet...very very wet. More later...

Coyote Calhoun

I note the very unexpected passing of Lamar Shelnutt, "Coyote Calhoun," the Marketing Director of the Single Action Shooting Society and my good friend.

My heart is broken...and the world is a less joyful place.

Go with God, my friend.

Ready to Rock!

Okay, 9 stages tomorrow.. I was going to dry-fire tonight, but I thought what the heck, it's either there or it isn't. Little late to fix any problems. I will be using "illegal" hard kneepads, which I figure doesn't make any different since my scores aren't published and I'm not eligible for anything...I'll let match director Curt know tomorrow. Besides, my Sweetie threatened to absolutely kill me if I went slamming down on my knee! She's smarter than me, have I mentioned that?

Did have some fine oysters in Tampa tonight, so I'm "prepped..."

Expect boring pictures tomorrow, and THANK YOU for all your great advice!

Okey-Dokey Ready to Rock!

More or less...cleaned the Ruger SR9s, blacked out the rear white dots on the sights and used red nail polish on the front sight. Fished out all my SR9 mags, cleaned them, lubed them with magic magazine lube. Made sure I had the right Blade-Tech holster, Wilderness Tactical belt and some magazine pouches. Have enough Ace bandages to repair the Golden Gate Bridge after the Big One. I'm ready to rock! Or limp, as the case may be. Expect pathetic pictures. Squeeze...don't think!

Maybe I can score some boiled shrimp in Florida, although Frostproof is one of Dante's Rings of Hell, I think between the rings for malicious sins and Detroit. Or smoked mullet, truly a blue collar Florida delicacy! And something with rum and one of those little paper umbrellas.

Camped Out...

...in my living room with my left knee elevated and iced. Wowie-zowie, that bone-on-bone thing really really hurts! Also, probably not a great idea that Mr. Stupid decided to shoot a cowboy match yesterday. I figured I'd hobble through the stages and have fun, which I did right up until the last stage, when I got cute and tried to hobble a little faster. Got through the rifle, the pistols and then placed my left leg just sooooooooooooo...

Luckily, I held onto the shotgun, although when the white flash of sheer pain passed, I managed to shoot the wrong targets, then reloaded and shot the right targets. Hilarity prevailed. My bad. Nothing hurt but my pride. My Sweetie, BTW, blazed through the match, grabbing Top Woman honors!!!

I got my first shot of this year's sequence of chemical sludge into my knee last week; it usually takes a few weeks after the 3rd shot for it to take effect. I'm hoping the sludge continues to work, as I am 'way too busy to get my knee replaced. But it is what it is...if I gotta, I gotta. And a lot of you commenters have urged me to just get on with it. Ditto for my good friend gunsmith Dick Heinie, who told me a couple of weeks ago that he was sorry he'd waited.

Meanwhile, I'm on the Dr. Gregory House diet, along with an intimate relationship with ice packs. How, one might ask, do I plan to shoot the IDPA Worlds, all things considered. How about...verrrrrrrrrrrry slowly! LOL! Maybe they'll add a Combat Walker class.

I want to get this sorted out because I am planning on during next year's Survival Trial...it has been a longtime since I tightened down and forced myself to do something really hard, and it'll be fun. Well, fun is a relative term.

I did get to the range on Friday to zero the SR9s with Wilson 125-gr Match Ammo (which is awesome, BTW). I also put a bunch of rounds through 3 1911s — the Sig I picked up last week and 2 Commander-length Paras. Man, all three rocked! I'm going to talk about them in this week's podcast, and we did do some still photography and Marshal and I will be doing full video reports on all three guns. Essentially, the 100th Anniversary of the 1911 has yielded some spectacular guns.

Speaking of Trick Sigs...

This hi-zoot Sig 1911 is up at GunBrokers right now, with the proceeds going to a wonderful cause, Soldiers Angels. A very, very nice gun, for the right cause...

Home Again Home Again...

...etc. On the way home I picked up a really sweet (initial impressions) Sig 1911! Been a while since I handled one, and this one is flat-out beautiful. Will have it out at the range tomorrow and Saturday, along with that slick Para 1911 from their Custom Shop. It's never a bad thing when it rains 1911s!

Truth To Power...LOL!

Am in D.C. for the Congressional Sportsmens' Foundation annual banquet, where I will be striving manfully to not cause some sort of political apocalypse with my big mouth. I will endeavor to persevere.

Am picking up one of the new Sig Traditional 1911s tomorrow, which I should be able to shoot this weekend. Man, I could use a little more time on the range, but which of us couldn't? I'll be making sure my IDPA guns, Ruger SR9s, are zeroed with the Wilson Combat match ammunition I'll be using at the IDPA Worlds, then maybe sneak in one more cowboy match.

I want to do a lot more on concealed carry...if you heard today's podcast you can see the direction I'm headed in. I think we do need to seriously look at what we're doing on the square range and see how closely that aligns to what we need to do from a CCW perspective.

I should be getting holsters for small frame revolvers any day now, so I can spend some time with what is unequivocally the most popular carry gun in America. As I mentioned, it's been a while since I routinely carried a little revolver, so I thought it made sense to tune up bit. I'm still coming down on the side of .38 +P over .357 inn the little blasters from a controllability standpoint. I am a subscriber to the "more holes" theory, as opposed to the "one shot stop" theory.

Anyhow, I gotta go put on a suit...if you've watched my programs, you know how rare a thing that is! Not only that, but it's Washington D.C., so I am unarmed...creepy creepy creepy. At the risk of sounding snippy, I'll bet I'm the only person in the room tonight who feels more or less lost without a concealed weapon...maybe not...I'll ask around!

And You Think You're Having a Tough Week!

Eel removed from man's bladder after entering penis during beauty spa
An erratic eel wriggled its way up a man's penis and into his bladder following an accident during an unorthodox beauty spa in China.

There's a headline that'll ice your blood! BTW, the Telegraph has a wrap-up of penis news on that page. Think about that....reporter's resume: Penis Correspondent. I wish I'd stayed in Mainstream Media! Truly, the sky is the limit...

Dawn

Sleepy, grumpy & dopey...



-- Post From The Road

Getting late...

-- Post From The Road

Moon Up!

Brutally tough shooting stages!



-- Post From The Road

You thought 3 gun was...

....equipment intensive!



-- Post From The Road

Race Ready

-- Post From The Road

At the very first...

...shooting adventure race...24 hours...35 miles...numerous shooting challenges...goes off at 4pm Whittington Center...

Filming for SG...this is gonna be WAY COOL!



-- Post From The Road

Next Event, Please!

Flew a few hours, drove a few more, O-Dark-30 call tomorrow AM. Expect to be up all night tomorrow, too. Damn, I'm tired. Spent a little while in the hotel room dry-firing with the SIRT gun, but honestly couldn't concentrate on the little orange dots on the wall. Read on one of those "operator" forums that I was a moron asshole, or an asshole moron, or maybe an ass-more hole-on...hard to keep it all straight! LOL!

I think we're breaking some new ground with THE BEST DEFENSE on Season 4, especially on concealed carry techniques. I'm probably going to cover some of it on upcoming podcasts. The Janich-Seeklander interchanges are fascinating. Marshal Halloway was there filming "behind the scenes" stuff for one day, and he caught a lot of those interchanges that you'll be able to see on DRTV.

Hopeful that I'll have a Beretta Nano pretty soon. Looks interesting, like a little baby Glock. Been carrying that LC9 on the road; will be changing to a small frame revolver for a while, just to remember how the little suckers work.

I think the genetically engineered sludge that gets shot into my knees every year of so has worn off on the left side...feels like someone is driving a self-tapping sheet metal screw into my kneecap. Ouchies! Getting old isn't for sissies...

On the Range Today

We filmed late into the evening last night, and I'm very pleased with how things went. You might not think about it, but to me the most important aspect of putting self-defense techniques is that all three of us -- me, Seeklander, Janich, Producer Tim Cremin, Director of Photography Brandon Green -- are good with the techniques we show. That is, we're presenting techniques that our viewers, if they use them at all, will use them on the worst day of their lives. Those techniques need to be 100%.

That leads to a process where everything is questioned by everybody...what if the user is short, tall, old, young,, good shape, bad shape, experienced shooter, new shooter, etc.? It's a good process, but occasionally grueling. All of us come from different training backgrounds in both shooting and the martial arts, and those backgrounds are reflected in the final product.

We also have the "assclown" rule, to wit, neither you nor any of us are going to be attacked by ninjas anytime soon, so we avoid ninja-esque techniques. And if you're being stalked by a paid professional assassin, your needs are probably beyond THE BEST DEFENSE!

We've got one more big scenario to film today along with the rangework.

My FFL guy tells me I've got one of the Stag 3-gun ARs waiting for me, and a new Sig 1911. Cool!

Nite Stuff

-- Post From The Road

Flying the Jib

-- Post From The Road

Janich bites the dust...again...

-- Post From The Road

Seeklander Passes Initiation

-- Post From The Road

TBD Cast Initiation

To get his "colors," Seeklander has to perform a variety of tasks...



-- Post From The Road

All Pro All the Time

-- Post From The Road

Pummeling Seeklander

-- Post From The Road

THE BEST DEFENSE Filmings

We're working on the scenarios for TBD this week, both with our regular crew and with Marshal Halloway filming "behind the scenes" stuff.

My podcast on the 10th anniversary of 9-11 is up over on DRTV. Was a hard episode to do. especially light of the world we're living in today. Listen to it and let me know what you think.

I note that after the horrific weekend in New York City -- something like 48 people shot, 2 killed -- the bleating goat Michael Bloomberg called for more federal regulation on firearms, claiming that was the reason there were so many shooting in a city where guns are, in effect, banned. Gee, I would have a different solution -- Arm the City! And capture the feral mayor, load him into a large, comfortably appointed box and overnight him to Nowhereistan, or someplace close to it.

BTW, Mike Seeklander and I were shooting the little Ruger SR9 yesterday...the more I shoot the little gun, the more I like it!

Happy Labor Day!

I will say the airport looks less than festive, but what do you do?

Was pleased with my shooting but disappointed in my finish at the Colorado Ruger Rimfire Championships last weekend, if that makes sense. Was a fun, well run match, although it was a Rimfire Steel Challenge match. Also had a wonderful dinner with Rimfire ace Tim Norris, Derek Zavada from the California Wheel-Burners, and SG Producer John Carter (who beat me by t....h....I....s....s....s much!) and family. I liked the Franken-10/22 a lot...cut a bit more out of that Boyd stock and reshape the comb,, maybe a Hi-Viz fiber optic front sight and it's 100%! Something to do this winter, which, BTW, is coming. Was 34 degrees night before last. Sadly my Sweetie got sting on the leg by a yellow jacket, no doubt pissed that his life has boiled down to a couple of more weeks. First freeze, he's toast.

Wish the pistol was a little heavier, but I don't think it effects my shooting. What few range sessions I can carve out over the next few weeks will be IDPA oriented, with the SIRT trainer to (hopefully) fill in the slack.

Sons of Anarchy tomorrow! Although they'll have a tough time topping last season. I'm waiting for word on the green light for a new series...if it comes through, you'll see it announced here!

Slacker!

That's me! I totally admit to slacking on the blog this summer. I know "work" sounds like the lame excuse it is, but it's the best I can offer. I also made a commitment to turning myself into a better competitor instad of a "parachute shooter" — one who just drops in occasionally and pulls the trigger — and that has worked out pretty well. I'm pleased with my cowboy season; less than pleased with my finish in the Ruger Rimfire Worlds, but it wasn't totally awful. I'm actually excited about the IDPA Worlds, which we'll be filming for SG, but I have maybe 1 range day between then and now. As per Tom Yost's strict instructions, I am religiously dry-firing each day.

I'm less pleased with the get back in shape initiative, but it is working...slowly slowly, damn it! The road and 12 hour days are nightmares to such commitments. Still, I tend to be stubborn.

BTW, here's a picture of rifle I'm shooting at the Colorado State RRS Championships:

It's basically a $179 10/22 big box store version with the Volquartsen trigger group from my 10/22 Target. I had the Boyd "Evolution" stock in the shop from another project, so I decided to bolt it on as well. I like the way the Evolution sits in my hands (I'm able to get a hard grip on that spikey forearm), but that comb is clearly for optics rather than irons...if I decide to leave the gun in this configuration I'll take a wood plane to that comb! Otherwise, receiver, bolt, sights and barrel are Ruger bone stock, and it's faster for me to get on that open sight than the AR post on my 10/22 Target...all that cowboy shooting with a brass dot front, no doubt...

I took it to the range yesterday to make sure it was sighted in and run some 20-yard drills, and all things considered it worked extremely well...that is, I can run it more like a pistol than my heavy-barreled target. I'll let you know how it works!

BTW BTW, heard from Tactical Solutions yesterday that they're "cooking up" something for me in the 10/22 Limited arena...I'll bet you see that baby at the SHOT Show!

BTW BTW BTW, Blackwolfe over at the DRTV Forums turned me onto a really interesting forum over at Rimfire Central, the "Super Stock" forum —  10/22s that look stock, but are strictly trick inside. Cool...thanks, Blackwolfe!

Ruger SR556E

Am also launched on a Ruger SR556E AR platform gun project that will, hopefully, lead to a pretty spectacular giveaway. And in the AR department, we now have a natty Daniel Defense gun in house, with one of the new Stag Arms competition rifles on the way! Not to mention a really nice lightweight Commander length 1911 .45 from Para USA, plus, pause for drum roll, one of the long-awaited LTC Tactical .45s! I saw this gun at SHOT and asked for one ASAP.

Strongly recommend Sipsey Street Irregulars to keep up on the evolving "Fast & Furious" ATF disaster...definitely read this post on the newest WikiLeaks...dot.gov knew as early as October 2009 that the "90% of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the U.S." meme was not true, Yet Hilary Clinton and BHo stood before the American people and continued to push the narrative.

Sushi Nite

We made an expedition to the People's Republic of Boulder for sushi...an evening in Boulder makes me feel older than crap, but a bit of unagi and a dollop of wasabi helps clear my head. Spent the morning running down some decent glass for my AR. I'll keep you guys in the loop as I move forward. I'm also doing some more work with the small frame revolver, since I've gotten a bunch of questions on little blasters recently.

Am shooting the Colorado Ruger Rimfire Championships this Saturday...I'm using a different rifle based on a $179 Big Box Store 10/22. I of course have big plans, but the pieces of the big plans are lying all over the gun room. If I'm industrious, I'll get it put together tomorrow, then run to the range and see if it shoots at all. Yes, the is the mathematically perfect wrong way to shoot a match! Maybe I'll take a different pistol, too, sort of a grand slam of errors. Then again, everything many work...stranger things have happened...

Home Again!

On the AR15/Rockcastle 3-Gun Pro/Am, first, I gotta give full props to name sponsor and match "imaginer" AR15.com, Match Director Jeff Crambit, Match Chairman Joe DeBergalis, all the guys at Rockcastle, especially the Noble family, and the match sponsors (including but not limited to Brownell's, Sinclair, Hornady, policestore.com and a who's who of the industry) for a spectacular and I believe game-changing match.

I'll be talking about the match on Wednesday's podcast, but I did want to at least touch on it on the blog. I shot 3-gun back in the day...I enjoyed it thoroughly, but at the time I was a pretty good pistol competitor and I decided to focus in that direction. We have covered several of the big 3-gun matches for SHOOTING GALLERY, including the Rocky Mountain 3-Gun and the FNH Midwest 3-Gun, and none of them had really captured my imagination. Great matches; great television "fodder," but the commitment to a sport requires a sort of immediate connection to what's going on, and at least for me, that connection was lacking.

Which was surprising to me, because I'm a cowboy shooter, which is a multi-gun sport. One of hte things that attracted me to cowboy was the transitions (I am an old, overweight former triathlete, after all). I thrilled at the amazing athletes of 3-gun — Daniel Horner, Michael Voigt, Bennie Cooley, Robbie Johnson, Jerry Miculek (of course) — and their ability to deliver any shot cooked up by Machiavellian match directors, but it was with the same view as one might look at a magnificent basketball game or a NASCAR race, something for the genetically gifted, superbly in shape and lucky enough to be sponsored athlete.

I did some consulting on the future of various shooting sports, including 3-gun, and in doing so I found a lot of similar opinions...that the barriers to entry for 3-gun essentially capped that sport far below the more mainstream sports. Those barriers go beyond the simple expediency of having to purchase 3 trick (and often expensive) guns. The long-range (500 yard+) shots called for in many matches require both a place to practice and a heavyweight commitment to training that's increasingly rare. The athletic challenges for some of the big matches are daunting.

This is not criticizing those matches or 3-gun, only pointing out the barriers to entry. That's why I thought the Arfcom/Rockcastle match was such a brilliant idea...the longest shots for the pros were in the 300-yard range; a little less for the amateurs. I know from experience that you can tune up for shots at that distance on a 100-yard range, which are much more accessible to larger numbers of shooters. The stages were all pretty contained, while remaining very interesting and darned challenging!

In short, it was a match that I and a lot of other spectators thought, "Wow! I wish I was shooting this match!"

I talked to MD Jeff Crambit a little bit, and he was like a kid who had gotten what he wanted for Christmas. His goal, as he told me, was to make a match that was exciting and challenging and accessible. I told him I thought he succeeded. If 3-gun can be a competition that can be run on a majority of what we might think of as "normal" ranges and appeal to the larger body of practical shooters, I think the sport will soar. I also think that such a path would enhance the current big matches by funneling new shooters to them.

It'll be interesting either way!

Dinner Tonite in Music City

-- Post From The Road

Robbie Johnson...

...on the move



-- Post From The Road

At the AR-15.com 3-Gun @ Rockcastle

And very tired to boot. You know, I think the guys here have pulled off a 3-gun hat trick...in essence, recast 3-gun as a do-able thing for mainstream shooters. This match is more "contained," I guess is the word. And the longest shot is 275 yards. The result us a more accessible style of 3-gun than many of the "outlaw" matches I've seen.

We've been following Iain Harrison as he struggles with his Saiga. Gonna be a good show!

BBQ Salmon Day!

Which is at least something to look forward to...meanwhile, I'm between hither and yon sitting in my office waiting for a conference call, a little bit I suppose like waiting for the electrician, or someone like him. I ordered a couple of Hi-Viz front sights for my 2 SR9s...hopefully, I'll have a chance to get them on the guns before the IDPA Worlds. If not, somehow, I will survive, probably with Too Hot Pink nail polish, Dave Spaulding's favorite, on the front sight.

I just discover that the latest move for gender equality can be found at Go Topless. What the heck, I'm okay with that...oftentimes it turns out the world is actually weirder than I think it, which is pretty darn weird. Here's the whole story. I would mention this to my Sweetie, except that I'd rather keep living. She still has ammo left over from last weekend (where, BTW, she won her division!).

From Military Times comes the news that Marines in Afghanistan has been banned from audible farting because it apparently offends the stinking goatherders of that plush nation. Perhaps a cruise missile would be more appropriate...

If you haven't seen the SPECULAR video of Team Erhardt's quest for the gold, you definitely need to tune in to DRTV. It's hysterical.

Great Day on the Range!

As part of our coverage of the IDPA World Shoot for the new 1-hour SG next month, I decided to spend (and film) a day on the range with many times IDPA champion and S&W master Tom Yost. Tom and I have been friends just about forever...he sat up scenarios, then we ran them. I think you guys are really going to like the segment, but I have to say it helped me immensely (and boosted my confidence). I was working with an out-of-the-box Ruger SR9 and Winchester white box ball...I gotta ink out the rear white dots and festively color the front sight, but other than that it's good to go.

Tom is a super guy and a great low-key instructor...if I had a week to work with Tom...LOL!

No Word Yet from Paul Erhardt...

...on his Steel Challenge performance...apparently, he's in hiding...

Seeklander Wins Steel Challenge Production!

Huge congrats are in order for THE BEST DEFENSE's Mike Seeklander, who won Production Division at last weekend's Steel Challenge in Piru, CA!

Production Division is the toughest division to compete in, and Mike certainly showed his mastery of the out-of-the-box gun.

BTW, Marshal Halloway and DRTV were right there in Piru, and you can see video of Mike in action on our Wednesday videos.

Great work, Mike! We stand in awe...

Horseshoes & Hand Grenades

Shot 5 excellent stages today! Unfortunately, there was 1 train wreck. Note to self: you CANNOT "make up" time! A 3 second mistake becomes a 3 second mistake with 2 5-second misses! Ouchies!

Larry's Place...

I love going back to the Gun Tec section of Mindway USA because it's like ascending into Gun Heaven!

We're going to be doing the live studio stuff for the new SHOOTING GALLERY at a studio we're building  in the Gun Tec section. I'll announce here when we're going to be doing toe studio work, so if you're around we'll be giving away tickets! Meanwhile, drool away!

Hither & Yon

Had dinner with Larry Potterfield tonight...we're hashing out ideas for Season 2 of GUN STORIES. I love going to larry's office because he's got some way cool guns...this trip, a magnificent target Sharps. I'll try to grab a picture tomorrow.

Tired now...more tomorrow!

Good Morning, I Think!!

From this morning's Boston Herald:

Yesterday, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry was campaigning at the Iowa State Fair, a reporter from Politico.com asked him whether he was armed. Perry, a known gun owner and enthusiast, refused to answer the question.

“That’s why it’s called ‘concealed,’ ” Perry told the reporter.

Amen, brother! Interestingly enough, I then turned on morning TV and watched Fox spend 15 minutes savaging Rick Perry and the Tea Party. Man, this is going to be a bloodbath of a campaign!

Another interesting read that is not yet on the Internet if from IDPA's "Tactical Journal," where my friend Ted Murphy argues quite convincingly for the sport to allow hard-shell kneepads. IDPA has traditionally banned the hard-shell pads as gear an average person (not a Washington lobbyist, of course) would not wear on the street. The hard shell pads are also perceived as giving a competitive advantage to people willing to throw themselves into a kneeling position. Wow...if I remember really hard, I can remember being willing to throw myself into strange contortions for matches!

Now I'm paying for those contortions, assorted other stupid sports, marathons and ultramarathons, etc. My knees are shot. Oh well, I never thought any of that cool stuff was going to be free! TINSTAAFL! After my last marathon, Big Sur, a few years ago, I got the exciting news that both my knees would eventually have to be replaced. "When?" I logically asked. "How are you with pain?" my knee guy answered. So I've spent the last 5 or 6 years experimenting with various and sundry weird gooey stuff being injected into my knees every 12 months or so, and when that failed eating Celebrex like popcorn. As long as I bicycle a lot, the knees don't hurt too bad. The SHOT Show marathon on concrete floors, however, is a laff riot!

I mention this because at GUNSITE a few months back I got cute and decided that since my knees were on a pretty good roll (I'd forgotten my hard-shells), I'd do all the kneeling positions. Bad plan, Michael-san! Paid for that Mr. Stupid act!

In fact, one of the reasons I stopped shooting some of the more aggressive shooting sports was the very real fear that it might push my knees to the replacement point. I heard from my pal Dick Henie, the master gunsmith, yesterday and he regaled me with stories of his newly replaced knee (Knee #2 will be replaced after SHOT). Getting old isn't for sissies!

Frankly, when I shoot the IDPA Worlds (as my score will not be recorded or posted and I am not eligible for prizes, etc.) I will probably seek the Match Director's permission to use hard-shells under long pants. I think Ted makes a lot of sense on this. I'm perfectly willing to sacrifice my knees in a Real World encounter, but not for a match score.

I see that Charter Arms has finally rolled out its .40 S&W snubbie revolver, the pit bull. On its face, it's a pretty good idea, given CCW carries who favor the .40 S&W cartridge -- obviously not me -- a snub reviler as a pocket option. It'll be interesting to see if the Pit Bull takes off. There have been several runs at small frame rimless cartridge revolver, and they generally generated more flash than heat, but most of those have been in 9mm.

I also see that powerhouse Beretta is getting into the super lucrative mini-9mm sweepstakes. The Beretta Nano is a striker-fired (a first for Beretta), polymer-framed single stack mini-9mm,, although Beretta was quick to say the platform would also carry a .40 S&W. I have to say I've been really lax over the years in spending time with Beretta's handgun products outside the ubiquitous 92 in various flavors. I'm going to make a concerted effort to change that. No word on when the Nano will be available.

Oh Wow, Home!

Came in late Friday and did a cowboy match Saturday...managed to hang onto 13th place even though I could have easily curled up and slept under a plate rack. My Sweetie designed the stages, her first, and I think she did a wonderful job. The only thing she asked was that I cook "a fishy thing" for her tonight. Of course, about the time I was ready to cook, a severe thunderstorm whacked the power. So I punted on the grill with cherry-smoked trout, grilled asparagus and mushrooms and red Bhutanese rice. Then we whipped up a horseradish sauce with prepared horseradish, Dijon mustard, pepper and a little sour cream whipped in. Pretty much rocked. Eventually the power came back on.

Next week, busy as heck, followed by dinner with Larry Potterfield, followed by a 2-day cowboy annual match next weekend...

Gun Stories...

Sometimes you really really wish the gun could tell you it's story, Like one of the few military sniper M24s in civilian hands. or check out the suppressed WinchesterModel 94 30-30. It's a special order 30-inch full octagonal barrel, which I dated to 1907. The suppressor is a very early Maxim, probably around 1909, leading to speculation that the gun was special ordered, then shipped directly to Maxim. somebody wanted to do some serious long-range shooting cowboy style!



-- Post From The Road

Cutaway Maxim Silencer

...circa 1909



-- Post From The Road

Rarest of the Rare

FG-42 German paratrooper semiautomatic for-real assault rifle...in fact, the uber assault rifle...



-- Post From The Road

AAC Conference Room

Boondocks Saints, of course...


-- Post From The Road

Steely Dan...

-- Post From The Road

Darn Tired!

Now, I know I'm not going to get any sympathy here — LOL! — but man, am I whipped! I do, however, know a lot more about how suppressed weapons perform, and I've now had LOTS of opportunity working with the .300 AAC Blackout cartridge (which is just super, BTW...everything the 6.8 meant to be but didn't quite make it). Among all this exotica we were shooting, there was a lowly H&R Handi-Rifle 16-inch threaded barrel rifle in .300 Blackout...too cute! If you have a .308 can, a must-purchase. I'm also looking at it as a fine addition to a preparedness battery if you're looking at the cartridge...especially at less than $300 suggested MSRP.

Too tired to add more tonite, except to add that the FNP-45, a gun I already like a lot, is even better suppressed...

End of the Day

-- Post From The Road

AAC "Integral"

...in .300 AAC Blackout...



-- Post From The Road

DP Gene Moffitt...

...and his new little friend...



-- Post From The Road

.300 Blackout Krink

-- Post From The Road

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!

-- Post From The Road

Another Grueling Day at the Office

-- Post From The Road

London, 2011

The Gods of the Copybook Headings
Rudyard Kipling, 1919

AS I PASS through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

Ruger Rimfire Worlds

Have ground throughDay 1 of the Ruger Rimfire Worlds at Funder's Ranch in New Mexico. Today was pistol day for my squad--6 stages, runs of 5 or six rounds each...basic Steel Challenge style courses. I shot okay, but the God of Speed wasn't with me today. I could put a couple of good runs together per stage, but a couple of runs doesn't do it. I was shooting my veteran iron-sighted Ruger 22/45 with a Tactical Solutions Pac-Lite top end; I was shooting CCI Mini-Mags, but I did have one stovepipe (I was a little worried when I cracked open the Mini-Mags and there was one empty case in the live rounds. Hmmmmmmmmmmm), and I dropped one shot, which obviously I tossed out (Steel Challenge = 5 runs; throw out your slowest run), but on their version of Smoke and Hope, probably the easiest and fastest Steel Challenge stage, I was pretty much all hope and not much smoke...I managed to get 2 out of 5 runs in the 3 second range. To give you an idea,, B.J. orris threw out his slowest run...1.89 seconds! LOL!

Tomorrow we go to the rifle. As I mentioned a few weeks back, I'm shooting a Ruger 10/22 Target fitted withAR-styled Tech Sights. Darn,that heavy heavy steel barrel is, well, heavy! I will endeavor to persevere...

God's Own Red Chili Sauce

...from the Shed in Santa Fe...




...some things never change...THANK HEAVENS!

PS: Margarita us a Silver Coin...

-- Post From The Road

Who Says Gun Control Doesn't Work?!?!?!

From Dave Kopel:

Mexico has Draconian Gun Control, Ciudad Juárez has Over 1300 Homicides This Year

Soon after Obama assumed the White House, his new Attorney General Eric Holder proclaimed that a new gun ban would help Mexico.

“Well…there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons. I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum.”

Mexico has draconian gun control. Researcher Dave Kopel notes that possession of firearms above .22 caliber is practically prohibited, though there is a second set of rules for the wealthy. Mexico also requires registration for all civilian gun owners, and federal and state governments actively discourage firearms ownership.

So how’s that working out?

The El Paso Times reports that in July, Ciudad Juárez experienced 218 homicides.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Juárez this year, and more than 8,600 have been killed since 2008 when a war began between the Juárez and Sinaloa drug cartels.

Meanwhile, here in Texas:

Law-abiding citizens can walk into a gun store, buy a gun, and walk out with your purchase.
Law-abiding citizens can carry concealed handguns in public.
Concealed carry licensees are exempt from the NICS background check, because a FBI background check is part of getting their carry license.
In 2011 to date, sister city El Paso has experienced 15 homicides.

Putting it another way, it would take El Paso criminals about 50 years to catch up to the Juárez death toll January – July 2011.

Maybe Mexico needs to ban gun control.

Another GRINDER of a Day!

I know...I know...be careful what you wish for! Ran out in the PM and picked up a new, unannounced Ruger revolver that came in today to my FFL guy. Not sure on the release date, but suffice to say it's on a whole bunch of DRTV members' wish list! Marshal and I will be filming it this weekend. Then came home and reloaded like a crazy man.

TBD is shaping up incredible for the new season. The scenarios are going to blow you all away!

Starting the gun list for GUN STORIES Season 2, assuming we get picked up for the next season...open to suggestions here! Whatda'ya think?

SIRT GLOCK-like Trainer

Here's the Next Level Training gun we'll be using in TBD next season for our demos. I've been working with it for the last couple of months as my Office Dry-firing Utility and I'll be using it extensively to get ready for the upcoming IDPA Worlds in Florida, which we'll be filming for SG 2012. I believe this is a great leap forward for non-range training for several reasons...you can see your "hit"...you've got a couple of different options for training your trigger finger...you can work reloads into your dry training...and best of all from my position as a television producer, it's NOT a live gun! You can't make it go BANG.

This is important to me because it allows us to demonstrate and even show "hits" without violating any of the four safety rules. As you know, we do our TBD scenarios with Airsoft guns, then CGI in muzzle blasts. When we're working with LEOs, we're always obsessively making sure that the faux GLOCK is in the holster and the live GLOCK is locked in separate room. We've demo'ed a lot with blue/red solid plastic guns, some fitted with lasers to show trajectory, and I'm always looking for a better solution.

We'll no doubt add the upcoming Next Level AR trainer to our TBD arsenal as soon as they become available.

Bitch of a Day

Clone...I so need a clone...there's days when I'm so swamped I could sit down and cry. OTOH, my Sweetie whipped up some potato/chili "pancakes" and I grilled out some shrimp with 2-chili oil (basically a Bobby Flay recipe, but I use smoked ancho chili pepper and chain-saw hot chipolte chili pepper from Santa Fe). Also Official Shooting Gallery Margaritas, with the Tequila of the Revolucion, 30-30 Reposado!

Cut a deal with SureFire today for a .223 suppressor to fit a couple of my ARs, including my Spike's Tactical go-to gun. Maybe a Stag or the new AR in the house, one of the superb Daniel Defense guns. I hope the 2 .22 suppressors from Tactical Solutions clear this geologic era!

That SIRT trainer GLOCK has been a wonderful addition to the Secret Hidden Bunker! It's on the desk, so I pick it up and dry-fire. You will definitely be seeing this fine training tool on both SG and TBD!

Meanwhile, Back at the Top of the Food Chain

Admit it...given a choice, we'd all be rooting for the poor South Dakota cougar that got killed b a Connecticut SUV last week. The cat walked 1500 miles only to get whacked by a truck. Better than choking to death on a liberal, I guess. Here's an interesting column in the NYT by David Baron, a Boulderite who wrote the great book, THE BEAST IN THE GARDEN, about our "domestic" wildlife out here in the West:

Still, living with big cats takes some adjustment. As a former New Englander who now lives among Colorado cougars, I no longer hike alone. When I walk my dog in the early morning, I watch the bushes. I have educated myself on what to do if I encounter a cougar. Yell. Throw rocks. Fight back.

Yet in a decade of living here, I have not seen a cougar in the wild. The cats are masters at hiding and generally leave people alone, which means the biggest adjustment to living with cougars is psychological. It is knowing that a creature far more powerful than you could be crouched behind the trash can, around the next tree, under the porch.

Thanks to the South Dakota cat and its incredible journey, residents of the Eastern United States can now experience the fear and thrill that come with living below the top of the food chain. America has grown a bit less tame.

The Secret Hidden Bunker is a ways away from suburban Boulder, both in distance and wildness. The cats are part of the way of life up here. Like Baron, I've never seen one. My favorite stry is from a couple of years ago when I mentioned to my Sweetie to be extra special careful walking Alf the Wonder Beagle because a big cat was in the neighborhood. There were tracks all over the place, including up and down the driveway. Sweetie was skeptical at best, but around midnight that night the cat screamed. If you've never heard a cougar scream, it is a grab a bone and climb a tree primeval experience. My Sweetie sat straight up in bed and said, Oh my God WHAT IS THAT?" I said that would be the top of the food chain. "The top of the food chain is in there front yard!"

I agree with the "Yell. Throw rocks. Fight back" theory of lion protection, My rocks, however, are relatively small and go really really fast.

Yeech

I'm doing tax stuff over the next few days...I'd rather feed Mr. Weasel into a blender, but there you are.

I'm trying to run down the other mini-9s I don't have. I talked to a friend at Kahr at the Shooting Industry Masters, so hopefully that'll be in the works. I'm going to get a Kel-Tec and one of the new Diamondbacks, which I keep hearing so much about. I do need to run down a Sig 290... Handled one at the gunstore yesterday and had a good gunsmith take me through it.

I need to get to the range this weekend and run a bunch of .22s through my RRC guns...then I suppose it's conceivable I gotta clean the darn things. SG producer John Carter told me he's running a Nordic Components 10/22 as his rifle...I was bummed. I had a Ruger SR22 for evaluation, pretty much a Nordic Component gun, and it shot like a house afire. Light, fast and crazy accurate, but I returned it because I've got a bunch of 10/22s. I'd love to be running that gun with a good set of AR-15 irons! I am going to build a new pistol for next year's matches, though.

This weekend we're going to do a road bike ride from Breckenridge through Copper Mountain over Vail Pass...it's a wonderful ride and an honest-to-goodness lung buster! I'm looking forward to it. Then it's the Backcountry Brewery!

BTW, I've pretty much decided to get a Browning BSS SxS for sporting clays. I love the way the BSS I got from cowboy gunsmith "Johnny Meadows" handles!

More Norway Thoughts

Marshal Halloway produced this timeline of events in Norway:

All times PM
3:26: The bomb went off in downtown Oslo
5.27: First 911 call about the shooting on Utoya
5.30: Second 911 call about the shooting on Utoya
5.38: Oslo Politi District receives a request for assistance/backup from Buskerud Police Distrikt.
5.52: First police unit arrives to closest point on the mainland and are waiting for what is called a suitable boat.
6.03: The police are notified that a boat is under way.
6.09: A SWAT team from Oslo arrived to closest point on the mainland.
6.25: The SWAT team lands on the island.
6.27: Coward Breivik is apprehended without resistance.
The coward had over an hour to operate. Extended Gun Free Zone, what a paradise the so called modern western civilization is for a predator.

There are already questions being raised in Europe whether the Norway shooter could have killed as many people if he didn't have a semiauto rifle (a Ruger Mini-14). Based on this timeline, he could have accomplished the same number of deaths with anything, including a hammer or a machete.

And yet we have the apparently endless meme of, "well, they couldn't have done anything anyway and would have probably made things worse." Here's one of the many rehasings of the meme, this one from E. D. Kain at Forbes:

First of all, it is very unlikely in a situation like this that a vigilante will stop a shooter. In fact, it’s quite likely that more people shooting guns in such a scenario would lead to more confusion and possibly more deaths, some of which might be accidental. Police also have a harder time identifying who the shooter is and who the vigilantes are. Besides this, the killer is much more likely to kill the surprised gun owner since they are already prepared.

Let's get past his misuse of the word "vigilante" [vigilantes are civilians who punish after the fact; there is a huge difference between a vigilante and a civilian who chooses to protect him- or herself. Vigilante, of course, has a negative connotation, which is why he used the word here]. The rest of his comments are breathtaking nonsense. "Lead to more confusion?" Damn, I pretty much think a crazed killer running loose pegs the old "confusion" meter.

Secondly, let's look at an armed society at war — Israel — where armed civilians have routinely stopped terrorist attacks on civilians. Seems the Israeli police have no trouble figuring out the good guys from the bad guys...the bad guy is one lying dead on the ground with the good guys pointing guns at him.

There is also the mindset of the armed civilian. When armed civilians choose to carry guns, it is in acknowledgement that such events as Norway are possible. One of the main thrusts of training is to minimize the duration of the "startle" response and allow us to quickly respond. People like Mr. Kain, who apparently gains all his insights on firearms from Hollywood, has a vision of armed civilians trying to "quick draw" an armed terrorist, which is pretty much a guaranteed lose. This is based on their premise that anyone who wants to take responsibility for his or her own safety must be some kind of moron, so of course they're going to stand out in the open and try to Hollywood out-draw the bad guys!

I think that one of the things driving this meme some element of projection. Folks such as Mr. Kain imagines himself in that situation — frozen in place with urine running down his leg, begging some madman not to kill him — and imagines that everyone caught in that situation must respond the same way. Hmmmm...doesn't seem to happen that way in Israel. Maybe it's something in the water there.

But it doesn't even happen that way in the United States. Go back to the 2005 Tyler, TX, shootings, where a madman in body armor with an AK-47 decided to teach his ex-wife and anyone else he could find a permanent lesson. He killed his ex-wife and a bystander who tried to intervene and was looking for his next victim, their son. But instead he ran into an armed civilian, Mark Alan Wilson, a competition shooter and CCW carrier, who instead of freezing in place, begging for mercy and peeing down his leg, grabbed his handgun and engaged the shooter. Wilson scored repeated hits, but the bullets were all stopped by the flak jacket. Mark Alan Wilson died for his efforts, but police credited him with saving the life of the son and giving police time to arrive.

Mark Alan Wilson was a shooter. I believe that knew exactly what he was facing; he knew he was outgunned and I believe he knew the likely outcome. But he engaged anyway. That must seem like sheer insanity in E.D. Kain's world, where people wallow in their helplessness and wait to die, as if the bullet or knife or bludgeon were preordained by some malevolent god.

You might also note, Mr. Kain, that there are some things worse then death. Ask Colin Goddard, who's now "Living for 32" and "making a difference," because on the one day of his life when he could have made a difference, he didn't...all the speakers' fees and Oprah appearances in the world will never change that fact. I would not want to be Colin Goddard when he turns off the lights at night.

Finally, let's say that there was an armed civilian on that island, and in the ensuing melee 2 or 3 innocents were "accidentally" killed before the crazy man died or threw down his gun out of cowardice. Even in your sad sad world, Mr. Kain, would not 2 or 3 killed be better than 68 killed?

Just some thoughts...

"Between Norway and Hell"

Here's a must read article from Walter Russell Mead at the American Interest blog on Norway:

The tragedy in Norway is among many other things an important reminder that much of we want to believe about history is plain wrong. In particular, it reminds us that the most cherished American illusion, the form of historically determinist optimism often called “whig history,” is a delusion and a snare.

There is no principle so deeply engrained in American social science as the idea that moral and economic progress go hand in hand. 

...

The inescapable reality is that the very forces creating our affluent, modern and democratic world also generate violent antagonism. Breivik, like Al-Qaeda and like Timothy McVeigh and the Unabomber, is the shadow of progress. When conditions are right, the lone psychopath becomes a cult leader; in a perfect storm when everything breaks his way, the psychopath becomes Fuehrer.

Obviously, read the whole thing. He does a much better job than I do in explaining the inescapable fact that much of our world view is tainted by a philosophy of wishful thinking (you'll hear much more about this on tomorrow's DOWN RANGE Radio podcast).

I would take issue with Mr. Mead on a couple of points. The first is that I think it's a conceit to assume that it is only since the beginning of the Industrial Age that the rapid pace of societal change has driven a certain percentage of the population to "violent antagonism." I tend to look through a more Darwinian set of blood-colored glasses. I believe that violent, psychotic, sociopath, lunatic, serial killer, religious fanatic — pick a word, any word — has always been with us...as I said in a previous post, since the veldt.

It is the legacy of our evolution from killer ape to whatever we are today, the fragments of DNA left over from our forefather and foremothers who bequeathed us not only their successful genes, but the violence that placed them at the top of the food chain and ultimately as the unquestioned owners of Planet Earth. In short, there have always been monsters among us, but until the concentrating of populations in urban centers that  was part and parcel of the Industrial Revolution, those monsters were less visible, hidden in the widely scattered, largely autonomous human settlements. How many "knights in shining armor" were the John Wayne Gacys of their time; how many rulers with hands as bloody as Hitler?

This Just In From Taurus...

This presser just came in...Bob Morrison is one of my closest friends in the industry, and Mark Kresser is a great, great guy...should be interesting:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mark Kresser Named President and CEO of Taurus International

MIAMI—Taurus International Manufacturing is excited to announce the appointment of Mark Kresser as President and CEO. He will succeed long-time President and CEO, Bob Morrison. The move will become effective September 1, 2011.

“With Kresser’s vast experience in the firearms industry, he possesses all the qualities and strengths you look for in a leader,” said Bob Morrison. “Mark has demonstrated time and again that he understands this industry and what it takes to succeed. I am confident that customers can look forward to continued quality firearms from Taurus in the future.”

 

Kresser has worked in executive management positions for the past 15 years and has gained valuable experience with Traditions Performance Firearms, O.F Mossberg & Sons, Inc., Sigarms, Inc. and Beretta USA Corporation.

Bob Morrison is excited to continue on as a Senior Advisor with Forjas Taurus and looks forward to the new and intriguing challenges the position is certain to offer.

With a rich history that began in Porto Alegre, Brazil more than sixty years ago, Forjas Taurus, S.A. has become a diversified, international company celebrating its resounding success as one of the world’s leading small arms manufacturers. In 1941 the company produced its first revolver and posting record growth every year since. Taurus brand firearms manufactured by Forjas Taurus are imported into the U.S. and serviced by Taurus International Manufacturing, Inc. For additional information about Taurus, visit www.taurususa.com. High-resolution images are available at www.taurusdownloads.com. 

Emotionally Exhausted

Just finished Wednesday's podcast, most of which dealt with Norway. I am emotionally drained, saddened and so very frustrated. And I don't envy Marshal Halloway, who's been on the phone all day to Norway. I can't get that line from Vachel Lindsay's poem "The Leadened-Eyed" out of my head:

"Not that they died, but that they died like sheep..."

If you don't have a CCW, get one today. If you do have one, get trained. If you're trained, carry your gun every single day. There is evil in the world.

I'll be perkier tomorrow...

Back in the World!

Am back in Onllne World after the Shooting Industry Masters, sponsored by FMG Publications, at the spectacular Rockcastle Shooting Center north of Bowling Green, KY. We'll have DRTV coverage of the event, which also includes the Academy of Excellence Awards, coming up soon. I mostly worked, but did take enough time out yesterday to shoot the handgun stages as a part of Team Glock — Glock execs, not the Randi, Dave and Tori show!

Rockcastle is amazing, a 2000 acre golf and shooting resort...admit it, you always wanted to see a golf course converted into a sporting clays course. Would that this become a major national trend! One of the reasons I went to the event was to scout Rockcastle for some upcoming SHOOTING GALLERY filming, and we'll definitely be placing a couple of shows there.

Sadly, a friend showed me a really spectacular gun that I can't tell you a thing about. Gun designers are an interesting breed, and in a world of CNC machines, their work is just short of magic. If/when the veil of secrecy gets lifted, you'll see it here first.

I did want to say a couple of words on the horrible events in Norway. Last night Marshal Halloway, who is from Norway and was active in gun rights there before he moved to America, was on the phone last night to Norway media addressing, once again, the "gun issue." What I see is, as others have seen, is a catastrophic failure of gun control. An unarmed people are sheep, with all that implies.

In a larger sense, we want very badly to believe that we have evolved beyond the implacable rules of the veldt, the iron law of tooth and claw. But in reality, the veldt is always with us, along with the knowledge that some in our pack, our extended family, are irrevocably broken. Rather than listen to his message, or endlessly ponder what series of events or severed synapses led to his rampage, or agonize over greater meanings, the Norway shooters should be put down like the rabid animal he is and let the human beings get on with mourning their dead.

Unfortunately, that will not happen.

Unusual Shooting Venue

-- Post From The Road

"Stopping Power"

This article on an alternative look at stopping power is really interesting and deserves a full read:

The average number of rounds until incapacitation was also remarkably similar between calibers. All the common defensive calibers required around 2 rounds on average to incapacitate. Something else to look at here is the question of how fast can the rounds be fired out of each gun. The .38 SPL probably has the slowest rate of fire (long double action revolver trigger pulls and stout recoil in small revolvers) and the fewest rounds fired to get an incapacitation (1.87). Conversely the 9mm can probably be fired fastest of the common calibers and it had the most rounds fired to get an incapacitation (2.45). The .40 (2.36) and the .45 (2.08) split the difference. It is my personal belief that there really isn't much difference between each of these calibers. It is only the fact that some guns can be fired faster than others that causes the perceived difference in stopping power. If a person takes an average of 5 seconds to stop after being hit, the defender who shoots a lighter recoiling gun can get more hits in that time period. It could be that fewer rounds would have stopped the attacker (given enough time) but the ability to fire more quickly resulted in more hits being put onto the attacker. It may not have anything to do with the stopping power of the round.

By all means read the whole thing, and read it with an open mind. The charts are fascinating. You guys now where I come down on this...I carry a 9mm precisely because I subscribe to the multiple hits theory, and the faster I can deliver those shots the better.

BTW, if you send me an email through any of our sights, please include you email address so I can answer you!

Michael Gets Domestic!

Good grief! I spent most of the whole freakin' day assembling grill! How can this happen? I was going to the range today and do a little shooting. I was going to write a chapter on SURVIVAL GUNS. Instead, it's me, a Brinkman grill and a screwdriver. I lost control and bought this monster, with a charcoal side and a propane side, because nothing beats charcoal for searing fish, but I like to finish the fish in the oven. So my idea was to replace my ancient Weber (10+ years) with something that wasn't composting itself. In a staggering moment of weakness, I decided to assemble it myself...what was I thinking? Clearly, I wasn't.

Anyway, I got the damn thing done in time to grill some mahi on it. I made a pineapple/red onion relish I wasn't crazy about, but my Sweetie liked it. That's what mattered. When I wasn't trapped in some hellish episode of HOME IMPROVEMENT, I ordered a .223 suppressor from Surefire. I'm waiting for paper to clear on 2 .22 suppressors.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Shooting Industry Masters at the Rockcastle Shooting Center north of Nashville. I'm not signed up to shoot, but I'm hopeful to get in the side matches. Also hoping for some fried okra and Kentucky bourbon, but I'll play it as it lays.

Got my new cowboy shotgun today, a pristine Browning BSS side-by-side now cut down for CAS shooting by "Johnny Meadows," one of the living masters of the cowboy shotgun. Be a few weeks before I get it into a match, though. Time for me to go to work.

Darn It's Hot...

...but not as hot as Florida, where I used to live! This from the National Review Online:

Looks like the spreading general consensus on "Fast and Furious" is that it indeed was a purely political operation designed to legitimize new antigun regulations, such as the ones being proposed by the Democratic shills in Congress and the DOJ, or even a new AWB. As the NRA ILA has noted, all these proposed new reporting regulations are nothing but a step toward the antigun thugs' Holy Grail, gun registration. Now repeat after me, kiddies: gun registration always and inevitably leads to gun confiscation! You register them to make it easier to come get them. Same song, same singers, same B-S...

As one of the original conspiracy theorist on F&F, I'm glad to see the scales lifted from so many people's eyes. F&F never made any sense as anything but a political operation. And as yet we don't know how big this operation actually was — F&F is out of Arizona, but there now appear to be similar operations across the border states. Here's an excellent summation in The Weekly Standard:

For once, the NRA might be understating things. “Gross incompetence” doesn’t adequately describe what has transpired here. The investigation is far from complete, but the facts so far suggest that the Justice Department and White House are implicated in the needless deaths of two U.S. law enforcement agents. And the level of political collusion suggests they were motivated not by law enforcement concerns, but by a desire to gain traction in implementing a liberal gun control agenda.

Absolutely amazing...this is Watergate Squared.

Headline of the Week

From the U.K. Sun:

History made as nipple is found on foot

A YOUNG woman has made medical history after being discovered with a third nipple on her FOOT. Startled researchers believe the 22-year-old's case is the first of its kind.

Now that's new you can use! I'm going to have to think about this for awhile. There are implication for humanity in these grim times. I can't help but wonder whether this has anything to do with Casey Anthony's aquittal...

Sunday morning my Sweetie and I watched Mogambo, the 1953 Clark Gable/Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly safari potboiler.

I have decided that I would now like to retire to Africa in 1953...maybe I'll see Robert Ruark there...

Meet Ruben Navarrette!

In his tortured commentary for CNN this AM, commentator Ruben Navarrette tries desperately to tie immigration reform to gun control while mentioning — and excusing — ATF's "Fast & Furious." Here's how this foremost voice of Hispanic America,  author of A DARKER SHADE OF CRIMSON: ODYSSEY OF A HARVARD CHICANO, excuses the killings of (according to the Mexican government) 150 Mexican nationals and 2 American agents:

The ATF, the same agency that is pushing the reporting requirement, is embroiled in a scandal because of an ill-conceived operation that let guns go into Mexico. Operation "Fast and Furious" was supposed to lead U.S. authorities to weapons smugglers by allowing more than 2,000 guns to flow into Mexico. The effort was a disaster, and nearly three-fourths of those weapons are still accounted for.

The administration's foul-ups aside, here's what the political end of this border battle is about: money and votes.

"Foul-up aside"...I mean, what's a few bodies among friends? What are the deaths of Mexicans worth? Well, certainly not as much as Harvard men, eh? 


It was just a "foul-up," you know, like when you forget to carry enough change in your Mercedes ashtray to pay a toll? Or, silly you, your wallet's in the other Armani jacket, and you have to ask Bootsie to pick up the check? Could happen to anyone. But you know, I can't help wondering how high a stack of 150 bodies would make, Mr. Naverrette...high enough to be seen from the windows of your San Diego home?

Oh, and I also want to mention your brilliant reporting:

Do you remember the part of the Constitution where it says that people have the right to buy two or more automatic weapons within five days without law enforcement knowing anything about it? Me neither.

Hey Ruben! Me neither! As a matter of fact, you haven't been able to walk into a gun store and buy an automatic weapon since 1934, which you would have learned with 30 seconds of Google research...but I guess you Harvard types don't do your own research. You just print the talking points your Administration handlers tell you to print, right? Lots easier that way — no foul-ups!

(Art is a theatrical poster for a production of Uncle Tom's Cabin, circa 1880s)