As the .40 S&W Turns...

Every so often I'm really surprised when the world begins to turn in my direction. Several years ago, when I unloaded all my carry/competition guns in .40 S&W, I took a lot of heat. How could I abandon the World's Greatest Cartridge, a veritable laser death ray of lethal efficiency? I said then the were lots of reasons:

1) Ammo development has drastically narrowed the gaps between 9mm, .40 and .45.

2) The sharper recoil made it harder to rapidly make the follow-up shots I believed might be necessary. In small CCW style guns, .40 could be areal bitch -- I refer you to my little Star, one of the first super small .40s.

3) From a reloading standpoint I didn't like the pressure curves on some of the most commonly used powders for the .40.

4) I wondered about the longevity of scaled up 9mms.

There's a lot less love for the .40 out there these days. This is from the When the Balloon Goes Up blog, referencing the Safety Solutions Academy Podcast:

I am not a fan of the .40 and I think Paul did a good job in summarizing why and you should listen to his podcast to hear his explanations because he takes a slightly different bend than I do.  For me I would summarize the reasons I don’t carry a .40 as…

1. Ammo costs more than a 9mm and I want to maximize the training I get for my center fire training budget

2. The recoil is unpleasant and training isn’t as much fun

3. The terminal ballistic performance isn’t improved enough for me to want to deal with the added cost or unpleasantness

4. You can get more bullets in the same gun in 9mm, and assuming they are both effective more is better

5. I shoot IDPA and there is no minor scoring, so I don’t have to.

While Watching Old MASH Reruns...

...a couple of notes. Apparently, I'm late to the newest fashion trend of fake bullet proof vests, like this 50 Cent version (the rapper, for heaven's sake...not the retail price!).There's a certain amount of handwringing, but I sorta see it as Darwin-in-Action. I wonder if it comes in colors.

Anyhow, had a pretty good 4-stage warm-up match today. Weather in Phoenix is crazy good, especially after the hurricane wind at the Secret Hidden Bunker the last few days. I think I'm finally getting the feel for the Browning BSS double, knock on wood.

Was surprised at the big response on today's podcast about my .44 Maggie "Get Michael Home" package. Lots of interest in bug-out (or in my case, bug-back) kits. As I've said many times recently, there's a general, unspecified fear out there, a disturbance in the Force, if you will. Should the sitting President be re-elected, get ready for the Mother of all Firearms Bubbles...

Gun Culture Ver. 2.0 Soars!

From USA Today:

Research by the National Sporting Goods Association shows female participation in target shooting grew by 46.5% between 2001 and 2010. And an October 2011 Gallup Poll found 23% of women own a gun.

The world is changing, and for the better. It's interesting that the story is based on the NSGA report, which mentions "target shooting," but the story ledes with women "hunting." That's basically an MSM fail, the inability to believe that people use guns for anything but whacking turkeys. Yes, they get into it later in the story — congrats, Haley! — but that material should have been the lede. Still, we're winning!

Humped It Today, But All Good!

Got the podcast finished and then fished my cowboy Vaqueros out of the ultrasonic cleaner...after about 12 hours! LOL! The parts were very, very clean...and very, very degreased! After lubing them up, the guns seem happy, though. At least I have a 4-stage match Wednesday to break them in. I hate to come into a big match with 100% clean guns.

I'm not shooting the Wild Bunch match, unfortunately. Time time time. 

The week after next we're filming the last SHOOTING GALLERY of season 12. We'll also be choosing the 3 most significant guns -- handgun, rifle, shotgun -- of the last 12 months. Oh, go ahead and guess!

I'm also rethinking my knife strategy. I have lots of knives, but I'm reevaluating the way I carry them. Typically, since I carry a gun on my strong side, I carry a folder set up for my weak side. I'm thinking of adding a small fixed blade to the mix, although I may have to make my own sheath to get it exactly the way I want it.

The Best Laid Plans...

...etc.

I really planned to spend the day futzing around with the air rifles, but instead ended up cleaning and setting up all the cowboy guns for next week's Winter Range in Phoenix, the cowboy nationals. All the ammo's loaded, the guns are clean -- well, my revolvers are still floating in solvent -- got my clothes laid out...looking forward to it. I love shooting matches, and I miss them in the dead of winter.

Am moving forward on the break-down Marlin .44 lever gun...going for a16.5 inch barrel & scout scope mount with the little Aimpoint. Be a while until its done, of course.

Interesting to see how many blogposts/articles seem to center on stuff we've covered on thus season of THE BEST DEFENSE...sincerest form of flattery, etc.

Great article on Big Government about why don't we just repeal all gun control:

The repeal of gun laws or even a moratorium for sixty months will not lead to blood in the streets any more than the right to carry in forty-eight states has. The majority of states in America supports the concept of the armed citizen with more than enough laws to protect the public (murder is already illegal, for instance) and registration of guns is unheard of in many states. All inall,  they have not been given reason to regret open and concealed carry for millions. Those states have found that the armed citizen reduces crime by a ubiquitous presence while gun control has proven to be absent when it was needed most.

Read the whole thing.

Interesting Article on One-Hand Shooting...

...from John Farnam, via The Truth About Guns (the quip isn't up on John's site yet):

Comment: Even I am amazed at the number of shots that are fired via strong-hand only during the NTI [National Tactical Invitational]. Statistics from police shooting appear to support that observation, even though we’re all trained extensively to draw and fire using a two-handed technique. I’m not at all sure I understand why! I’ve always found flat-gripped pistols (like the 1911) to be more inherently accurate than round-grip ones, at least for serious shooting. We are apparently irreversibly into double-column pistols, but pointability obviously continues to be directly linked to the degree to which the grip resembles a flattened oval. /John

There was a time in my career when I unequivocally believed in two-handed sighted shooting no matter what. That was. of course, before the widespread use of simulations and force-on-force...reality intruded on my preconceived notions! One thing we see regularly in our state-of-the-art scenarios we put together for THE BEST DEFENSE is the necessity of using the non-shooting hand for blocking, for controlling kids/Spousal Unit/bystanders, for tuning light switches off and on, for opening doors, etc. In other words, in the Real World we often have tasks that require a handy-dandy standard-issue primate hand, leaving only one hand to operate the gun.

BTW, I was pretty pleased with the Survival Sheath System shoulder holster/S&W 329/CRKT knife set-up I used for hiking yesterday. As I mentioned, in concealed exceptionally well beneath a vest (I wore a lightweight fleece vest and an LL Bean lightweight down jacket over that) and carried very well...after about 10 minutes I didn't notice it at all. I had the shoulder holster made a while back as a handy carry-all for California-ish places should I have to exit quickly.The original plan was to create a lightweight revolver/lever gun combo that was legal in most jurisdictions around the country, excepting of course Snowplow Bloomberg's Urban Paradise. That's the rationale behind the revolver and the lever gun, avoiding both capacity issues and "assault rifle" nonsense.

As usual, the reality of work interceded with my project...I got the 4-inch 329 exactly the way I wanted it, with a super action job by the great Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision, who also added a gold bead front sight and an shallow-V express-style rear sight blade. I removed the Rube Goldberg S&W locking device and put on Hogue "Tamer" grips to make the little 25-ounce monster reasonably controllable. I usually carry the gun with the 200-grain Corbon DPX .44 Specials, backed up with Buffalo Bore velociraptor-killers, 255-gr Keith .44 Magnum "Reduced Recoil." Got a kydex IWB and the shoulder holster set-up.

Still to round up, a break-down lever action. ideally one of the Wild West Guns' Marlin conversions with a 16.5-inch barrel and an Aimpoint T1 forward mounted in a scout configuration. Add a sling and a nice fitted Storm Case for everything, throw in a skateboard backpack for discrete transport of the broken-down rifle, and — viola! — a lightweight, portable get-you-home-no-matter-what kit!

Meanwhile, Back in Gun World

We took Alf the Wonder Beagle on her first long snow hike since her minor surgery a few weeks back, and, as usual, she was a champ. The trail was packed enough that we opted not to use snowshoes. For something a little different, a threw on Survival Sheath System shoulder holster, an S&W 329 .44 Magnum on 1 side and 2 Tuff Strips and a CRKT Rescue knife on the other. Amazingly, all that hardware concealed under a fleece vest! Who knew? Well, I did, but I'd forgotten.

Why I Hate Politics

Let me get this straight...as much as I have been trying to ignore the Republicans' psychotic, self-destructive, circular-firing-squad "process" for choosing their contender — a person I have sworn to support — for the most important Presidential election of our lifetime, the front-runner now appears to be a man who loses elections by a landslide in his own state, who unconditionally supports big, bigger, biggest government, and whose stance on "social issues," especially women's sexuality, is pretty much on par on with your average radical Islamist mullah?

Excuse me for a moment...I think I need to throw up...

Sorry!

Doing interviews for GUN STORIES Season 2, so trapped in the studio yesterday and today...Steve Hunter should be here in a couple of minutes...followed by Bob Brown from SOLDIER OF FORTUNE mag...

Plan for the weekend is ramping up the air rifles (I'll get pixs!).

I'll lay off guinea pigs for a while...

Ah, Monday!

From Fox News:

British man reportedly arrested for 'frying hamster'

Police and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) were investigating Monday after law enforcement officers found the creature lying dead in a frying pan in the man's kitchen, in the city of York. 

They made the grim discovery after the unnamed 20 year old was detained for being drunk and disorderly -- and officers inspected his student apartment. The man was arrested on suspicion of a further offense of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, The York Press reported.

While I'm unequivocally against cooking live animals, except for lobsters and progressives, who, let's face it, don't count, inquiring minds wonder about the recipe...I wasn't able to find said recipe specifically for fried hamster, but I did find this one — strangely enough, on a UK food site — for fried guinea pigs, which always struck me as great big hamsters:

Fried Guinea Pig (Ayacucho-style)

CUY CHAQTADO

1 guinea pig, de-haired, gutted, and cleaned

1/2 c. flour

1/4 - 1/2 t. ground cumin

salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 c. oil

Pat dry the skin of the guinea pig and rub in the cumin, salt, and pepper. Preheat oil. Dust the carcass with the flour and place it on its back in the oil, turning to cook both sides.

Alternately, the guinea pig can be cut and fried in quarters.

Serve with boiled potato or boiled manioc root, and a salad of cut tomatoes and slivered onions bathed in lime juice and a bit of salt. Have cold beer on hand.

Me, I'd be going with wine, especially since the site notes that in Peru duplications of the Last Supper clearly show guinea pig as the main course. I might go with Seleccion Especial red from Peru's oldest vineyard, keeping with this whole South American theme.

Anyway, how does "hamster" come off as protected, and "guinea pig" comes off as dinner? I mean, let's say you're in the mood for guinea pig and, OMG!, none are available and the pet stores are closed. Isn't hamster a reasonable alternative? I mean, you'd have to cut the seasoning in half and all...

I'm sorry...it is Monday. I'm going to take the screen out of my office window, fill up the tank of my air rifle and go stalk the elusive dead tree trunk...maybe I'll get lucky and nail a capybara.

(Image courtesy DeviantArt)

Home to Snowy Colorado!

Can't wait to fire up the ole snow thrower!

Our last day on the range at GUNSITE had to be one of those fantasy gun days, starting out with full-auto FNH SCAR Light and Scar Heavy and finishing up with the amazing DS Arms reengineered RPD belt-fed carbines in 6.8.

First off, I've added the civilian semi auto SCAR Heavy,  the Model 17 in 7.62 NATO (pictured above), to my list of must suck it up and purchase guns. I've shot a lot of iterations of the SCARs as they were being developed, and I've always thought it was the softest shoots, most accurate of the 7.62 platform guns. It has kind of slipped out of my mind until this week...now it has kind of popped to the forefront. As you know, my present choice of an MBR is my beloved retro-FAL from DSA. Even grumpy old guys like me need to change...occasionally...

And — OMG! — the DS reengineered RPD carbine may be about the most fun you can have shooting! We had 2 flavors, the 7.62 X 39 and the newest in 6.8...I think we bought up all the 6.8 in Prescott and Phoenix to feed the little monster. DS reengineered the buffer system to slow the gun down bait in full auto...that plus the top end fluted barrel and modern rail system solves the nasty RPD habit of the wooden forearm bursting into flames...entertaining, to be sure, but counterproductive to good shooting. The new carbine weight in at just 13 pounds, about 3 pounds less than a SAW, I think.

The buffer system makes the RPD easy to handle offhand...you can quite literally keep the barrel level in full auto fire either in 7.62 or 6.8.

We shot until all the ammo was gone (funny, that happened with the SCAR Heavy as well) and the sun was going down. Just like the SCAR, the RPD is available right now in a semi auto civilian version for about $2K, pretty amazing for a belt-fed gun you can take to the range. Belts are in production, cheap and readily available, And a part of me keeps saying that an RPD at the top of the stairs pretty much trumps most home defense weapons.

J-E-L-L-O!

First, FYI:

Find yourself on this fun chart!

Have been on the range smacking ballistic gel and filming it with ultra-high speed Phantom camera. Net conclusion? Don't stand in front of anything that says "12 Gauge!" Also, for all you .410 Judge owners out there, we're going to come down in favor of Federal Personal Defense 4-pellet #000 buckshot, with the Winchester PDX .410 stuff pretty close behind.

You'll see all the tests on SHOOTING GALLERY in March.

I also got to spend a lot of time with KRISS Vectors, both semi and full auto, suppressed and unsuppressed. I've shot the gun before and talked about it on the podcast...almost fell on my face because I put so much humph forward expecting recoil and muzzle rise of a .45ACP buzz gun that never materialized. The Vectors are a riot to shoot....40 and 9mm flavors are on the horizon.

BTW, earlier this week we were filming with Sara Ahrens...you saw her on TOP SHOT...also for SG. Impressive shooter!

BTW, am I the only person who wishes the FRANCKIN" REPUBLICANS would quite acting like they're all in the 10th grade, pick a nominee and get on with it? And note to Newt Gingrich...Barack Hussein Obama is not a "good man in over his head."

Super Buffoons!

So Snowplow Bloomberg once again takes to the airways and the Sunday pressers to continue his quest to control every second of everyone's life in America...man, that'll put you off your Ruffles and onion dip, or even Madonna's aging gams! Just wanted to touch on the meme he was peddling on the talk shows yesterday...from the NY Daily News, "Even with New York City’s tough gun laws, a Brooklyn thug who had 14 prior arrests allegedly obtained a pistol and shot plainclothes officer Kevin Brennan in the head last week, the mayor said."

Once of the big reasons America has lost interest in gun control is that the people are smarter — a lot smarter, as it happens — than Wayors Against Illegal Guns (who are 43 times more likely to be criminals than the average concealed carry permit holder). People with an IQ greater than lukewarm water pretty much figured out that our Brooklyn thug violated a lot of laws, not the least of which was shooting a cop in the head. I think that's still illegal even in NYC. It's also illegal for a convicted felon to even touch a gun, and yet our Brooklyn thug — amazingly — didn't hesitate to commit that felony, either. He probably carried the gun concealed...darn, another mandatory sentence crime in the Big Apple! Fourteen prior arrests?!?!? What was this thug doing on the street? Oh yeah, he hadn't tried to slip any transfats into his fast food and he was careful on salt intake.

American people realize that the reason criminals are criminals is that they break laws...if they're willing to break the big law about taking another life, especially the life of an armed law enforcement officer, they're pretty much not concerned with all the other, lesser laws. So, what is the point of passing new laws that everyone, including MAIG, knows will only impact non-criminals — you and I?

Wait a second...Michael Bloomberg is not really as dumb as he sounded last night...he knows that all the agenda MAIG is spouting won't amount to, as my friend Charlie Daniels once noted so succinctly, "a nickel's worth of warm piss." So then he has another agenda...hmmmm, I wonder what that could be? "Ending the gun show loophole..." Since there is no gun show loophole, and since there are now plenty of studies showing that gun shows are not a primary, or even a consequential, source of guns going to felons, wonder what Snowplow really hopes to accomplish?

Well, obviously, eliminate all private sales of firearms.

Hey, maybe, if all gun sales have to go through dealers, then there'd be a record of every firearms transaction...MAIG's next big item would be access to those records, a nice searchable database on every firearms owner in America...and, repeat after me, kids, what happens when we have that nice database?  Registration always, irrevocably leads to confiscation! No matter what those in favor of registration say; no matter which country (or state) we're talking about; no matter what guns end up on the list, as soon a Dot.Gov has a list that matches guns with citizens, they start moving toward taking those guns away from said citizens (rendering them "subjects," BTW).

The only "common sense" gun laws are carry laws. If NYC was part of the United States, where citizens have guns, thugs wouldn't control the streets.

Clobbered!

Snow! Note the rearview micro of my Honda Element on the upper left! The tiny mirror on the right is my Sweetie's Mini, in deep hibernation...

The Secret Hidden Bunker is absolutely clobbered by a fast-moving snowstorm. We have nearly 2 feet of snow on the ground, with as much as another foot or 2 before the storm moves on. Lotta shoveling on the immediate horizon! The snow is over Alf the Wonder Beagle's head...she's still recovering from her surgery (and having to go back to be restitched after an unfortunate scratching incident.

Yesterday's Holder testimony on Fast & Furious was about what I expected...Holder is, at his core, a water-carrier whose primary "accomplishments" have been brokering deals for rogue billionaires, freeing terrorists and fanning the fires of racial hatred. He is also holding the bag for an operation that only makes sense as a direct attack on the Second Amendment. I abhor conspiracy theories, because as a journalist I spent time with many of the people implicated in a number of conspiracies, and my take was the vast majority of people, including all of the government apparatchiks I worked with, couldn't organize a bake sale, much less a conspiracy.

Having met a lot of the gun control advocates over the years, I do believe however they are the kind of damaged individuals who would happlily green light the slaughter of foreign nationals and even countenance "collateral damage" in America to move forward their holy issue of gun control. Think about it...gun control has NEVER worked — not once. It always fails, often disasterously. Despite 3 decades of antigun propaganda, including a complicit mainstream media and an entertainment industry that until very recently actually allowed antigun advocates to write subplots of popular television shows and movies, support for any gun control is at an all-time low. The antigun industry is getting desperate, and Fast & Furious if nothing if not a desperate "Hail Mary" pass to swing public opinion toward more control. That particular Hail Mary pass not only missed its intended receiver, but it flew out of the stadium all the way to Washington to hit Eric Holder in the head.

Email Videos to:

FlyingDragonHelp@aol.com

We're Looking for a Few Good People...

...for an episode of SHOOTING GALLERY filming the last week of February (27 Feb-1 March) in Texas.


Basically, you'll be teamed up with 2 other individuals (2 men; 1 woman per team) and given a barrage of training from 2 legends in the world of Special Forces...then the 2 teams will face off...the remaining team will then run a simulation against yet another legend in the Special Ops world.


You will probably "die!!!"


But you will have the adventure of a lifetime!


We'll have details on what you need to provide us on DRTV later today...


UPDATE: We're looking at Feb 27 - March 2 in the Dallas, TX area...the tentative plan calls for us to pit 2 teams of 3 each (and each team must have a female participant) to be trained, then pitted against each other.


Coach for Team 1 will be Chris Kyle; coach for Team 2 will be Mark Spicer. The winning team gets to take a shot at an aggressor team headed up by Kyle Lamb.


We ideally would like to see a couple of minutes of video of you telling us why you'd like to join this little foray. Post the video on YouTube and send us a link!

Para Acquired by Freedom Group

First thing this AM, Para USA has been acquired by the Freedom Group of companies...here's the press release:

Madison, NC – Freedom Group, Inc., (FGI) through a wholly owned subsidiary has announced today that it has finalized an asset purchase agreement to acquire certain assets of Para USA, INC., (Para).

Founded in 1985, Para has built a solid and enviable reputation for innovation, performance and reliability. Firearms enthusiasts, serious shooting competitors and law enforcement agencies choose with confidence from a wide and growing variety of Para pistols. Para’s revolutionary high capacity frame and light double action ( LDA ™) trigger systems, are part of the innovation that Para has brought to the world famous 1911 design.

"We welcome Para into the Freedom Group Family of Companies,” stated. E. Scott Blackwell, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Freedom Group Inc. “Para USA is a leader in handgun technology and their fine products exemplify quality, innovation and performance. Para is a perfect complement to our industry-leading family of brands, and our success in 2011 with the Remington R1 - 1911. We look forward to deploying both human and financial resources to continue to develop and supply current and future handguns for consumers and our channel partners. We also wish to thank all its employees for their continued dedication that has made Para a success.”

Para will continue day-to-day operations at their Pineville, NC based facility

This is a deal that has been hanging for while. We reported as long as 2 years ago that Freedom was shopping for a handgun company to round out their now-huge portfolio. It's also been no secret that Para has been struggling a bit since the move to North Carolina. Despite a history of innovative products, including the first larger-capacity 1911s, the superior Light Double Action system and the one of the first small single-stack 9mms in the market, Para hasn't been able to get the traction. I would still argue that the Para Carry 9 LDA remains one of the best small 9mms ever made.

The Tactical Target Rifle, Para's entry into the AR market, fell flat despite a number of innovative features and was discontinued last year. The exit of longtime Para professional shooter Todd Jarrett, whose spectacular run of successes kept Para in the spotlight, has not yet been offset by new Para professional shooter Travis Tomasie, who signed on after he left the legendary Army Marksmanship Unit.

This is potentially a very good match ...Freedom has the financial resources that Para has lacked, and the extensive Para product line offers freedom a path beyond the success of the Remington R1 1911 platform.

My Five...

....Rob Allen started this meme about the 5 guns you'd buy if money was no object...Say Uncle, Bob Owen and John at No Lawyers weighed in, and I couldn't resist. Here's mine:

1) Cylinder & Slide Commemorative 1911 "Exactly the way John Browning made them" -- These may be some of the most amazing custom guns ever made. Bill Laughridge. a meticulous researcher as well as THE master 1911 gunsmith, decided to build a 1911 that would be EXACTLY like the first 500 1911s that rolled off the Colt lines in January 1912. This month he began delivering the guns, and they are the utimate heirloom 1911s. Bill estimates that he might eventually build as many as 130 of these masterpieces, but there will be a cut-off date. At least I got to shoot #1.

2) Holland & Holland "Royal" Grade double rifle in something tasteful, like .500 Nitro Express. And a time machine to take me back to the mid-1800s so I could join Richard Sir Francis Burton in his quest to find the source of the Nile. At least I got to handle the rifle.

3) The perfect 1928 Thompson, complete with correctly numbered drums, that Independent Studio Services sourced for a certain very famous Hollywood movie star. I'd like it even better if Said Movie Star would drop it by the Secret Hidden Bunker himself. I'd make cookies. At least I got to look at this one before it was delivered...

4) An original Ithaca Auto & Burglar 20 gauge double-barrel pistol. Hell, I've seen pictures!

5) My Father's .357 Flat-Top Ruger Blackhawk, now long gone. It was the first centerfire revolver I ever fired, and my favorite. I spent a lot of money creating its duplicate, and that gun, and old Wyoming cowboy gun rebuilt by Dave Clements and refinished by Doug Turnbull, remains the single most accurate revolver I've ever fired...but it's not the same.

High Speed Cameras EAT Light

Laughridge Under the Lights

Slow Night in Omaha...

...heading to Cylinder & Slide tomorrow, then home. Am documenting Bill Laughridge's "recreation" of the 1911...he is one stubborn cuss, to be sure!

Am finally back under way with THE NEW SURVIVAL GUNS, plus I'm working on the outline for the concealed carry DVD, which I'll be filming with Panteao Productions in March. I'm talking with Marshal Halloway about expanding our DRTV video coverage of .22s for this year. One thing I think we'll definitely be doing is a sort of "Ruger Rimfire 101" later this spring, with Tim Norris. I've invited Tim out to Colorado to do a 2-day RRC class, so if you live here in the High Country, email me for the details. We will have a few open slots.

My .22 M1 Carbine is under way! I think I did a pretty good job on explaning the rise of .22s on today's podcast. Lemme know what you think!

Am a little worried about the upcoming cowboy nationals, Winter Range, in Phoenix next month. The weather has pretty much demolished most of the weekend cowboy shoots, and my Sweetie and I haven't gotten in nearly the match time we did last year. Am hoping dry-firing carries me home.

Alf the Wonder Beagle is recovering well from her surgeries...she had some bumps removed and looks sort of like a Franken-beagle with all the stitches. Luckily, she's healthy as a horse...you couldn't tell that she was carved up yesterday. 

Next week I'll be putting in a couple of ATF forms for building SBRs, a Ruger Charger for one and a .300 AAC Blackout AR for another. I've always wanted a little bitty 10/22, and with the right paperwork I can build out the Charger. I'll also be puting together my iron-sight RRC gun next week, going with a Green Mountain barrel with a set of Fire Sights replacing the heavy Ruger target barrel  in my Target 10/22. I gotta make a hard decision whether to go limited or open...if I do go with the red dot, it'll be a Tac-Sol X-Ring with one of the new 2 MOA Aimpoints on it. Still considering changing handguns...maybe I could talk my Sweetie into loaning me her 1911 Kimber with the Tac-Sol conversion unit on it. LOL!

Take a few minutes to look at the Cabot 1911s...Joe Mantegna and I were absolutely blown away by those pistols...the 1911 as artwork. If I had one, I couldn't bring myself to ding it up shooting (probably why I'll never have one). That said, I got an email yesterday asking me if money was no object, what 1911 would I buy tomorrow...maybe I'm boring, but I said it would be a top-of-the-line Wilson Combat Classic Supergrade, maybe in .38 Super. Or one of Laughridge's perfect Retro-1911s. 

See? Plastic guns just can't generate that kind of longing!

Of course, I carry a plastic pistol...the contradictions continue to mount!

Gee Whiz...Nursing SHOT Hangover...

Man, I can't seem to catch up on my sleep! Maybe by tomorrow, when Alf the Wonder Beagle has to go in to get a tooth pulled. Better her than me, I suppose...

I'm working on a SHOT round-up for this week's DOWN RANGE Radio podcast. I'm definitely calling the 2012 Show the "Year of the .22 LR." I think there are several reasons, but I want to highlight and discuss 4 for Wednesday:

• The Great Ammo Shortage of 2009/10 

• Gun Culture Ver. 2.0 discovering that guns are fun to shoot

 • Enhanced training opportunities with the .22

• The canny marketing of companies like Umarex and GSG

I also want to talk about the abrupt acceptance of the .300 AAC Blackout and the "suppress everything" movement, which is now in full swing.

Gee, They Noticed...

From Reuters, as lined on Drudge & InstaPundit:

Tegeler is among a growing subculture of Americans who refer to themselves informally as "preppers." Some are driven by a fear of imminent societal collapse, others are worried about terrorism, and many have a vague concern that an escalating series of natural disasters is leading to some type of environmental cataclysm.

GS Named Best Shooting Show!!

Heck, we beat out the zombie ep of Shooting Gallery! Hell of a night!

Gun Sories wins Golden Moose...

....best educational show of 2011!

SHOT Hell...LOL!

As you guys have probably figured, I'm slammed big time here at SHOT. I've been focusing resources on the podcast (complete with coughing fits from talking too much, and DRTV's daily uodates.

So far, I have agreed to purchase a Legacy/Chiappa M1 Carbine in .22 LR, an Air Force pre-charged air rifle and maybe one of the Crosman/Jim Shockey signature air rifles. Shockey sure likes 'em!

No pistol decisions yet! Sig P938 in the running...

Mitt Romney & Guns

I strongly urge you to read this post from Bitter on the Shall Not Be Questioned blog (previously Snowflakes in Hell). Bitter and I have had our differences over the years, but she has been steadily on the front lines of the RKBA battle...and in this powerful piece of writing she tells the whole truth from the perspective of someone who was there. I strongly urge you to read the whole thing, then pass it on to your friends:

If Mitt ends up winning the race because GOP voters choose him in the nation’s primaries, gun owners need to know the truth about Mitt Romney’s record on guns as Governor of Massachusetts. I have said before many, many times that as a gun owner in Massachusetts during his term, I was extremely active in the efforts to fight more gun control. Guess who was on our side for that battle? Mitt. 

As the state’s most active gun rights group notes in their write-up on Romney’s record, gun owners were able to make more reforms to the state’s oppressive gun laws under Mitt than they had in more than 20 years.

Great Read...

...from American Digest...please, take it to heart!

Yes, nothing is damaging the "Conservative Brand" lately more than the rolling stupidity that is lumping itself around the failure of the Republicans to come up with a viable candidate that is more "Conservative" than Mitt Romney. This "failure", which was predictable as long as four years ago, is causing many online 'conservatives to drop into premature political menopause with whining, hot flashes of anger, and the grinding of dull, old, axes. They are pissed, it would seem, because nobody other than Romney can carry the fight to Obama in the coming election. The more demented among them are declaring, shades of McCain/2008, that they will take their retracted balls and go home on election day rather than vote against Obama.

These people are deeply stupefied and confused. Ideology will do that to you. They seem to think, to actually believe, that this coming election is about only voting if you can vote for a candidate you like. Let me disabuse these kids of this silly notion right away. The election of 2012 ain't a conservative popularity contest. It's a war to, first, last, and always, destroyany possibility of a second term for Barack Hussain Obama.

Read the whole thing!

Ramping Up for SHOT...

Monday will be Media Day at the Range, so I'll get a chance to shoot a bunch of stuff...including the new Colt Gatling Gun...man, that would look so good on my porch!

Is there anything you guys have heard about and want me to try and run down and photograph?????

Then it's hardcore SHOT...we'll be filming for DRTV and OutdoorChannel.com all day Tuesday. Marshal and I plan to post a daily wrap-up to DRTV every day. I also plan to do the weekly podcast from the Show floor, but we're having to wing that puppy on the fly.

Thursday night are the Outdoor Channel's Golden Moose Awards, which will be streamed live to the Internet. Strangely enough, I'm nominated in a bunch of categories:

• Midway USA's GUN STORIES for Best Overall Series
• Midway USA's GUN STORIES for Best Show Open
• Midway USA's GUN STORIES for Best Shooting Sports
• SHOOTING GALLERY for Best Shooting Sports
• Midway USA's GUN STORIES for Best Educational/Instructional
• Michael Bane's Video Podcast for Best Online Original Series
• Midway USA's GUN STORIES as Fan Favorite New Series

I was hoping that I'd get nominated in the Best Turkey category until they told me it was for turkey hunting...who knew? Joe Mantegna and Dan Ramm are coming in for the award ceremonies, which will be a lot of fun. I have now repeatedly promised not to create any international incidents...

Seriously, many many thinks to the many, many people who make all these shows possible...Producers Tim Cremin, Dan Ramm and Joe Mantegna, directors of photography Brandon Green and Rob Stookey for GUN STORIES; Producers John Carter and Mike Long, directors of photography Gene Moffett and Brook Aitken, sound technician Lincoln Terhart and all the other crew for SHOOTING GALLERY (Dan and Joe join us as producers for SG in 2012, BTW...they're handling our "Hollywood office"); Producers Marshal Halloway and Denise Jackson for the video podcast. They are dream teams, and quite frankly the best in the business.

I'm very very lucky...

Building " Blood Packs"

Just Another Day @ the Office!

A Perfectly Annoying Thing

Sorry for the blog silence this week...I was out in California finishing up both our SHOOTING GALLERY Celebrity Shoot-Out for the season and the episode with everything you ever wanted to know about how guns make it to television and the movies. I was at the prop house Independent Studio Services and the set of Criminal Minds, which we're using as our centerpiece. 

I had planned to post pictures and updates, but I was stymied by the fact that Apple's upgraded mobile platform iOS5 is a nightmare...the apps that I used to post from the road no longer work, although they've all been "upgraded" to iOS5. The system now crashes repeatedly in my iPhone and my iPad. The guys at Blogsy, my main iPad blogger app, worked with me to get it up and running. I've just downloaded yet another blogging app, supposedly" optimized" for the new operating system. If you start seeing short posts and pictures, you'll know it worked.

On the Range Today

Will try to get some pictures posted by end of day...

Notes to Self...

...avoid watching pandemic movies like CONTAGION before heading to the airport, lest you find yourself bathing in hand sanitizer...

Got my Green Mountain 10/22 barrel with the Fire Sights, part of my plan to do better in the Ruger Rimfire matches this year. It's a .920 barrel, but shorter and with lightening cuts in the barrel. Hoping to split the baby between super light and super heavy. Am also thinking about building up a new pistol off a Mark III and one of the new Volquartsen frames.

Guns = Business

Here's a great piece, coauthored by our good friend Paul Erhardt, in the giant Daily Caller blog, covering an area we've been surprisingly week in pointing out...that's the "business" side of the gun business, and its implications in the upcoming New Hampshire GOP primary:

Campaigning in liberal San Francisco in 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama was caught ridiculing those “who cling to their guns and religion.” The president’s cavalier attitude toward gun owners could undermine his re-election effort, especially in New Hampshire, where guns mean jobs. 

In New Hampshire, the gun issue isn’t just about the Second Amendment and freedom. More than 2,000 state residents are employed by firearms and defense-related manufacturers, including Sig Sauer (which manufactures the guns used by the Secret Service) and Sturm, Ruger & Company (which reported a 38% increase in sales between the third quarter of 2010 and the third quarter of 2010). Add that to the 1,500 jobs supported by New Hampshire hunters and the 4,000 jobs supported by Granite State sportsmen, and you can see how the firearms issue takes on greater meaning in the state.

Read the whole thing!

Big Wedneday

Tonight's SG on suppressors has generated tons of response, almost all of it positive. That's great news, because suppressors are indeed a great tool for safety and for shooting. Period. At the very least they should be moved to the AOW list, since they're demonstrably not firearms.

BTW, I'm in my 5th month of waiting for my paper to clear on 2 suppressors.

Interestingly enough, I was looking at some data this week showing that many of you watch THE BEST DEFENSE several times...it's got great DVR numbers. That tells me we're doing our job, because the information is compelling enough to be studied. THANK YOU, all! And thanks to the other 2 Mikes, Seeklander & Janich, and Marty Hayes, who are absolutely committed to getting it right.

The SHOT Show is out there waiting, a black hole sucking us all towards Vegas!

Having Trouble Getting Back in the Harness

Of course, it could be that this is the first working day of the year and I'm swamped. I got this incredibly stupid idea thatI was going to overhaul my recording studio, which I've been tinkering together as each piece of equipment failed over the years. In fact, I have no idea how I built the thing in the first place...maybe the South Park underwear gnomes built the whole thing. I started it on a shoestring and got the cheapest stuff I could, then added an excellent Audio Technica studio mike, which has to be the only thing in the studio worth keeping. In short, about 30% of it works, which allowed me to do the podcast as long as I didn't accidentally bump anything.

You should see the wreckage now! Hopefully, I can order enough stuff tomorrow to have the studio back up at least 90% in a few days. I wish I lived next door to a sound engineer...or a miracle worker...

Anyway, about the Ruger SR22 .22 pistol...didn't get a chance to get out and shoot it today because of the aforementioned mess. It's the same size as my SR9c carry gun, which is good, as I see it as practice piece. I'd rather it was more like the SR9c in layout and with a similar fire control system as opposed to a hammer DA/SA, but hey, no one asked. The SR22 does feel good in my hand, which is a big plus. It does cry out for a threaded barrel, though. Should be an aftermarket one pretty quick. Of course, I'm in Month 5 of waiting for my silencer paper to clear ATF, so there's apparently no rush.

Since it's a Ruger, it's more likely to work than that "W" thingie so many of you will write me about. Yes, yes...I know all about the "Cult of W..." I do like my PPK/S, but the .22s I've shot have been problematic. Maybe Thursday at the range.

I got a really cool giveaway gun in the mail today...a Ruger 556 rebuilt by JP Rifles! Man, is this a nice rifle! More details when we formally announce the giveaway, which may be after SHOT.

New Year's Day, 2012

It's cold and windy here at the Secret Hidden Bunker as the new year is born. There's many things I could say on this first day of a new year...we are a troubled country, the fear spreads like a disease and our future is clouded. As always on New Year's Day, I go back to the wisdom of LOTR, the great mythological tale of our time...especially appropriate for this year, as our own quest, the American quest, rests on that edge of that edge of the knife...but hope remains, if friends stay true...

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.

Perfect for the New Year!

From my friends at Stag Arms, the ideal briefcase for the Year the Mayan Calendar ends:

From the press release:

STAG ARMS is proud to announce that it has partnered with LAN World, Inc. to introduce the 2012 Executive Survivors Kit. 

STAG ARMS and LAN World, Inc. have designed the executive survivor’s kit (ESK) for the discerning customer that demands the highest quality equipment. Using only the finest products the 2012 ESK is truly the survivor’s kit of choice for any type of disaster preparedness and personal security. The ESK can be purchased ($2012) online or over the phone where a customer service agent will find your closest dealer and assist in the transfer to you. The ESK with its military grade case is perfect for long term storage or can easily travel with you.

The 2012 Executive Survivor’s Kit includes the following and is competitively priced at $2,012 (over $2500 value!):
•Stag Arms Model 2 AR-15 rifle
•Diamondhead Versa-Rail handguard
•EoTech 517 Holographic Red Dot Optic
•Stag Arms Field Repair Kit, OTIS AR-15 Cleaning Kit, & Silent Sling
•Two 30 Round Magazines (10 rounds for restricted states)
•Gerber MP 600 Multi-Pliers
•Gerber Omnivore LED Flashlight
•Dual Purpose Human/Pet First Aid Kit
•MRE Field Ration Meal
•Pelican 1700 Long Case
•60 Rounds of Quality Ammunition

Test...

Trying to get my apps back up and running...

Sorry for My Absence!

A combination of hellish end-of-the-year stuff that has to be finished by tomorrow and an ill-timed (okay,,,there aren't any GOOD times for this!) computer changeover that has not not gone nearly as well as I'd anticipated. I'm still trying to get everything up, running and sync'ed!

BTW, this AM saw a huge coyote in full winter fur about 7 yards from the house, standing up on one of our trees that came down in the last storm so he had a clear view of Alf the Wonder Beagle at the back door. That coyote would make a fine hat!

Merry Christmas!

Clear, cold and very still here in the High Country. Dinner will be "Midwest Traditional," with smoked turkey, sage dressing, dumplings, grilled asparagus, homemade bread. My contributions include a new lime/tequila/jalapeño cranberry sauce, a small bowl of very-Southern oyster cornbread dressing and amaretto chocolate mousse. Maybe King Fu Girl Riesling wine for a change of pace.

Tomorrow I will pass the actual holiday day on a stationary bicycle so as not to completely blow all the weight I've lost over the last couple of months!

Got to get to cookin'.

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Christmas Eve, 2011

We just came back from a long walk in the snowy woods with the Wonder Beagle, shown here after sticking her nose deep into the snow to see if there were any elk, or anything edible, such as biscuits, nearby.

The woods are indeed lovely, dark and deep, and we are amazingly lucky to live up here. It's going to be a low-key Christmas here at the Secret Hidden Bunker, and, obviously, a very very white Christmas.

As always, our thoughts are with those who serve on far-flung fronts, especially with our dear friends somewhere in the wilds of Afghanistan...wish you were here, guys.

From our family, animals and all, to yours...Merry Christmas.

And tonight of all nights, peace.

Buffalos Died in the Frozen Fields, Ya Know!

Well, maybe not that cold, but it was nippy up here at the Bunker. We hosted a neighborhood party last night, and it went wonderfully. We even drank up the last of my hi-zoot Brian Benson Kandy Red, a just wonderful red wine.

The winter storm that slipped through last night dumped about a foot-and-a-half of snow, which my Sweetie and I spent the afternoon chiseling off the driveway..ah, winter! Almost.

I hated to see that Kevin Brittingham, founder of Advanced Armament, is out. Of course, Kevin sold AAC to Freedom Group/ Remington a couple of years back for about a zillion dollars, but the merging of the free-wheeling AAC culture (much loved by top tier military) with the more staid FG/Remington was easier said than done. Last time I talked to Kevin, there was a lot of tension there. It's a shame because so much innovation comes from those "skunk works" type companies. Kevin's a genius, and I wish him the best.

"I Can't Believe It's Monday" Monday Post

In other words, I need another Sunday, or maybe even a Saturday and Sunday. When a major holiday like Christmas happens on a weekend day, doesn't it seem like a gyp? I haver a genuine grueling day in front of me, staring at a microphone, which is, I realize, perhaps less taxing than hanging drywall. Still, a day's work...I'm waiting for the stuff I need to voice-over to finish downloading...the Secret Hidden Bunker's Internet connection is catch-as-catch-can.

I did shoot a cowboy match up in Ft. Collins Saturday, resulting in my worst place finish of the year...wowee zowee...my gun-handling seemed pretty good, but I somewhat cleverly avoided actually hitting targets. Head-not-in-game = piss-poor performance!

The new 1-hour format of SG looks very cool!

Cry, the Beloved Country!

The McBane of McBane weeps in his grave, and the fallen of Culloden Moor are dishonored...from The Scotsman:

ANYONE caught carrying a knife in town and city centres in Scotland in the coming weeks faces a potential four years in prison, under a new crackdown announced today.

The six-week pilot scheme will see cases automatically prosecuted as more serious offences, increasing the length of jail terms available to sheriffs from one year to four.

The move follows a similar strengthening of prosecution policy in July covering anyone found with a knife on licensed premises or public transport and in incidents linked to local gangs.

Prosecutors say anyone caught as part of the latest crackdown will be arrested and brought before a sheriff and jury.

Scotland’s top law officer, Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, QC, said the pilot would involve a zero-tolerance approach to the problem. He said: “The public will wish to enjoy the festive period in our towns and cities without fear. The zero-tolerance crackdown should help to deter anyone stupid enough to think about carrying a knife.

“If the threat of severe penalties for breaking the law deters knife carrying and prevents one act of violence it will have been a success.”

No new legislation is planned by the Scottish Government on knife crime, according to a spokesman, but ministers will work to use existing laws more effectively.

Scots accused of possession of a knife in a public place in town and city centres during the pilot will see their cases automatically go through “solemn”, not summary, procedure, increasing sentencing powers.

Victims groups and the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit welcomed the new approach to knife crime but shadow community safety minister James Kelly MSP said the Scottish Government needed to go further.

He said: “The Crown Office’s tough new stance on knife crime is a step in the right direction, but with knife crime taking its toll on Scotland 365 days a year, the crackdown should be all year round, not just for Christmas.

“The message needs to be sent loud and clear that it is never, ever, acceptable to carry a knife on the streets of Scotland.”

A Gun You Gotta Have!

The Ruger LCR revolver...in .22LR!

The .22 LCR weighs in at 14.7 ounces and has 8 holes in the stainless steel cylinder...otherwise it's the same as it's .38 and .357 brothers, including the patented Friction Reducing Cam trigger system that gives the small-frame revolvers one of the best trigger pulls I've ever felt on a revolver of that size.

The HUGE utility of the .22 LCR — and something that we've been talking about a lot on the podcasts and on THE BEST DEFENSE — is that it's a convenient, low-cost tool for practicing with a gun that for some people can be notoriously hard to shoot. Snubs are the embodiment of Jeff Cooper's "carried a lot; shot a little" dictum. But the problem is that a snubbie revolver's short sight radius, light weight and resulting "brisk" recoil make follow-up shots a bit of a challenge (LOL! With an ultralight .357 and 125-grain screamers, is that ever an understatement!).

The solution to the challenge is, as it pretty much is with all guns, to shoot them a lot. A .22 option allows you to shoot them a lot, and cheaply. I'm going to go out on  a limb here and suggest that if you're new to CCW and think a snub revolver might be the way you want to go, I might get the .22 LCR first...no, .22 isn't the world's best self-defense cartridge, but it is substantially better than harsh language. Secondly, you will have a gun that you can shoot a lot and that you will keep even if you decide to go to a semiauto for CCW. If you feel comfortable with the .22, it's an easy transition to the .38 (which I've been carrying for a couple of months now) or the .357 version.

Secondly, a .22 revolver is a great gun in its "kit gun" role...a gun that you'll have with you in your "kit," fishing or otherwise. Recall that Smith & Wesson has made small-frame .22s described as "Kit Guns" since the 1930s. To update this concept, a .22 small, light .22 revolver is a great addition to a grab-and-go bugout bag, because if you have to grab and go, you now have a back-up gun to your primary piece, and you can easily add 100 rounds of .22 ammo to the bag. I currently have an S&W Kit Gun and 100 rounds of CCI Mini-Mag 36-gr hollowpoints in my grab-and-go bag. That gun will be replaced by a Ruger LCR .22, because I've shot the centerfire LCR a lot and love the trigger, I have extensive holster options for the platform and, hey, it's a Ruger and will probably outlast cockroaches and Keith Richards!

DRTV will have a full video report next week...

The Last Airport of the Year!

So I was at the Tulsa airport staring aimless at a spot between the magazine rack, women's fashion rags, and the Duracell display when it finally hit me that this is my airport of the year. If I can get out of Tulsa before the line of storms I can see moves in I will have gone the distance for 2011. Heck of a year -- taking SHOOTING GALLERY to an hour, the huge success of GUN STORIES, the addition of Mike Seeklander to TBD, our announcement of GS/RAPID FIRE as a new series, 2 more Telly Awards for excellence in programming, a lifetime achievement award from my Overlords at Outdoor Channel and the Communicator of the Year award from POMA/NSSF, a "Gunnie" award for the best podcast of the year...not a bad 12 months!

Of course, one of the things I learned as a music critic all those years ago is that you're only as god as your last hit...the holidays are a chance to find a bunch of new rabbits and stuff them in hats, to be ready to pull at the appropriate time.

A lot of my focus in 2012 is going to be on the Internet...there's a ton of things Marshal and I want to do for DRTV. I'm also planning on "building out" the new SHOOTING GALLERY format...there were too many changes we wanted to make to try and cram them into one season, so for Season 13/2013 (assuming I'm renewed) we've got some more surprises up our sleeve.

In the meantime, Uncle has funny piece on what he would like to see for SHOT versus what he will see...read the whole thing. He's pretty much on target, with a couple of exceptions I can't tell you about now. He got me thinking about what I'd really like to see, realizing that I might be the only potential market for some of this stuff.

• A centerfire double-barreled howdah pistol...my heart tells me in .500 S&W Magnum but my brain suggest something obscure, like 40-65. I could probably compromise on .50 Special.
• A .380-sized semiauto in .22 LR...a great CCW practice tool!
• A .44 Special Ruger SP101 (I keep begging and begging, but so far, nyet)
• A Scout forward-mount scope with an illuminated reticle...please...
• A coffeemaker that fits on an AR rail

How about you guys?

Ruger LCR

As I have mentioned, I've been doing a couple of months' experiment with carrying a small-frame revolver, a Ruger LCR in .38 Special, as my primary carry gun. I wanted to give it a try because it has been a long time since I carried a J-framed sized gun as my primary, and I've been getting a lot of questions. I'm thinking that many new CCW holders, what we refer to as Gun Culture Ver. 2.0, has opted for the classic revolver as their carry gun of choice.

Let me give you a quick set of bullet points of what I've learned so far:

• The LCR carries amazingly well on the belt. It's light (13.5 ounces in .38; 17 ounces in .357). The short revolver, combined with that light weight, allows the gun to be easily carried in a hi-ride holster without the dreaded "tip" outward of the gun away from the built. I've been using a Ritchie holster on a Wilderness Tactical Instructor's Belt.

• The LCR has the best trigger pull of any snubbie I've ever shot, including the other 3 I own. I've put anouth rounds through it that it's very smooth and, thanks to the patented trigger system, doesn't stack at the end.

• Polymer frames and soft grip panels work...felt recoil is reduced and the second shot comes quickly, even with the Corbon DPX I routinely carry.

More later...

BTW, here's Jeff Quinn's old review and an excellent look at the LCR .357 from My Gun Culture. You guys know I'm in the .38 Special camp, right?

GUN STORIES/RAPID FIRE

Say, what if the GUN STORIES team created a series that focused on full auto rock-and-roll? RAPID FIRE, coming Q4 2012...this ought to be a hoot!

Perfect Christmas Movie!

"There's a saying in prize-fighting...everybody has a plan until they get hit."

-- Charles Remington (Michael Douglas)
"The Ghost and the Darkness"

I made a special trip to the Field Museum in Chicago to see the Ghost and the Darkness...a little tatty, but think of it as a mandatory stop on the Grand Tour of our culture...

One Hard Lap Finished!

The Tombstone-Hollywood-Tulsa back-to-back filming trip is finally finally over! I'm not lying...this one was a toughie....lots and lots of moving parts. We ran mostly 4-camera shoots, adding in the ultrahigh-speed Phantom as a regular item. We really are taking the shows to a new level, and I can't wait to get them out there!

Couple of gunny things. Say Uncle links to a story on the current Virginia Tech shootings. Uncle notes that the VT campus had probably done more to be "ready" for an active shooter situation than any other place...closing barn door after horses have fled, etc. How well did their "never again" planning work? You be the judge:

14 minutes to respond...22 minutes to issue an alert

Yes! When your life hangs on seconds, the police are only 14 minutes away! Plenty of time to get a Happy Meal! Watch our scenarios on TBD Season 4 and see how quickly violence can boil up...Fourteen minutes...think about it.

In next season's TBD we also look at the controversial technique of using the gun as an impact weapon, a topic that's spun up a little buzz on the Internet. Mostly, it's a last ditch technique against multiple assailants to buy either the time or distance to put the gun fully into play. Maybe the most important thing we've learned from simulations is that the Real World refuses to mold itself to our training, requiring us to mold our training to the Real World.

Couple of new guns world a more expanded loop...the little 5-shot Ruger .357 with the better fiber optic sights and the 4.2 inch barrel (here's The Firearm Bog review) is really starting to grow on me...

First off, Ruger is a sponsor, so we've got that out of the way. For the last couple of months I\'be been carrying the Ruger small-frames snub, the ultralight-weight LCR, asan expedient as much as anything else.. Been a while (read, decades) since I routinely carried a snub as my CCW choice. But after some question off the Internet and as I was getting ready to put together by CCW Tips for TBD Season 4, I started carrying the LCR, a .38 Special version loaded with Corbon DPX. I've used 3 holsters -- a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster and leather holsters from Ritchie Leather, a vertical belt holster and a dedicated crossdraw I use when driving. Neither Ritchie nor DeSantis are sponsors. It's kinda spoiled me...the light LCR pretty much disappears on the Ritchie belt holster and conceals under a shirttail, vest, jacket, etc.

One of the CCW topics we talk about on TBD Season 4 is not comprising on one's home defense guns....if you routinely carry a smaller gun on a daily basis, and most of us do, it makes sense to have a larger, heavier "full-size" gun for home defense, since there,s no need to compromise size/weight to carry the gun.

The new Ruger is a pretty good home defense choice for a person who carries a snub on a daily basis. It's heavy enough so that full power .357 loads don't case one to have the vapors and because it's a 5-shooter you cans use the same speedloaders as for the snub. Not a huge deal, but handy. For those of us out in the boonies, it's also a "right-sized" trail gun. Besides, it's a Ruger and probably indestructible. We'll be doing a full DRTV report on it.

A second gun that has made a really great first impression on me is the Kahr CM9...I've shot a coupe of in both 9mm and .380 and was always impressed by the way they shot. The price, howeer,was daunting. The little CM9,though, has street prices in the mid-high $300 range. My T&E gun has just a super trigger pull,and I can't wait to take it to the range in my on-going evaluation of all the mini-9mm. Expect a .40 version by SHOT.

And BTW, I should have a really cool announcement from Ruger late next week...by really cool, I mean something I wanted...we'll probably be talking about at least the concept on the podcast!

More F-and-F

It gets harder and harder for anyone to even pretend...from this morning's PowerLine Blog:

If the Obama administration wasn’t trying to set up an argument for more gun control, then what was it trying to do? That question has never been answered.

If the Obama administration did arrange for the shipment of arms to Mexican drug gangs, not for any legitimate public purpose but in order to advance a left-wing political agenda, and those guns were used to murder hundreds of Mexicans and at least one American border agent–which they were–then we are looking at a scandal that dwarfs any in modern American history. I think one would have to go back to James Buchanan, who ordered the shipment of federal armaments to the South so that they could be commandeered by secessionists when disunion came, to find a worse scandal. And one could argue that even that act by Buchanan, generally considered the worst President in American history, was motivated by principle and not politics, and therefore was not as craven as Obama’s gun walker scandal. But such a judgment would be premature. A great deal more investigation needs to be done before we can conclude that Fast and Furious was the worst scandal since pre-Civil War days.

And from M.J. Mollenhour:

I always suspected that the ATF set F&F up for at least the right motive, and then the absurd operation got co-opted by the administration. Holder, and Hillary, others, and perhaps even the president then kept it going for the benefit of the TV cameras and reporters, finding Calderon a willing fellow-oppressor. I suspected.Now, after this, I am more strongly suspecting that it was a setup early on, to create anti-American citizen gun-owner propaganda. It may not have been spawned in the White House or with Hillary, though: might have started right there within the ATF.

But, I will never forget the sight of our Secretary of State on stage with the leader of a foreign power, speaking out to disarm Americans. And they wonder why we do not trust the government.