(April 2010 Quips) – Defense Training International

1 Apr 10

Additional on rifle magazines:

As silly as it sounds, during rapid reloading, it is easy to partially insert an upside-down magazine into a rifle’s magazine-well! I occasionally see the phenomenon in training, with ARs, XCRs, SIG/556s, M1 Carbines, and M1As. In fact, a newspaper photo of a uniformed officer holding her AR, with a magazine, upside-down and backward, hanging from the rifle’s magazine well, recently circulated through the Internet. So, we know it can happen in real-life!

With AKs, and FALs, the Operator is usually made aware of the mistake sooner, as the magazine won’t insert when upside down. However, much valuable time can still be squandered discovering the error!

Again, nettlesome issues like this need to be addressed in training. However, installing a rubber cap on the bottom of magazines will all but eliminate the problem.

In fact, that is the main reason for the existence of rubber bottom-caps!

Recommended!

/John

3 Apr 10

Who go “unarmed in paradise” had better be absolutely certain that’s really where they are!

Paraphrased from friends currently deployed overseas:

“A recent Army ‘Safety-Gram’ reported thirteen NDs, in-theater, during the last two months alone. In the last six months, there have been forty-three, two of which resulted in serious injury. And, those numbers are all just self-serving fantasy anyway, as they only represent the NDs that were so blatant they couldn’t be covered-up! The actual number is higher by several orders of magnitude, but will never be known, much less reported.

All this, despite one being able to walk through most FOBs and never be out of sight of a dreaded ‘clearing-barrel,’ and the fact that most pistols, on those rare occasions when they’re actually carried at all, are always carried with no round in the chamber, and, in fact, nearly always carried with no magazine in the weapon.

Simply put, Army bureaucracy is (1) pathologically distrustful of its own people, even officers and staff NCOs, and (2) utterly contemptuous of its own training. They know very well their people have been trained poorly. Current pistol training is so poor, in fact, it virtually guarantees NDs! Pistols are so hated by upper-level bureaucrats that, on rare occasions when they are actually carried, they are required to be in a state of perpetual uselessness, even though they are ostensibly issued to protect the individual Soldier and Marine from sudden and UNEXPECTED threats!

Every time a Marine or Soldier sets foot inside a chow-hall (or any building for that matter), he is required to ‘clear’ his already-unloaded weapon, using a clearing barrel conveniently located at the entrance. Now, everyone knows and agrees that we would all be far better off if the Soldier never touched his pistol, and just left it in his holster. But no! Instead, we have muzzles waving all over the place, more or less continuously, in front of every building.

These folks are all fully aware they have been carrying empty pistols for months, so you can imagine how lax the ‘clearing’ procedure becomes. It is little more than a casual, slingshot action, with not even a glance into the chamber.

So, a kid who has been performing this inane procedure for months, finally goes outside the wire and is required to carry his pistol with (heaven forbid!) a round in the chamber.

Now, the ND stage is set! He has changed his condition of carry, but dreary complacency is so embedded that he becomes hopelessly confused. Later that day, or week, back behind the wire, he performs his typical, nonchalant slingshot action, but he has forgotten that his pistol has a round chambered with a magazine inserted, so he simply ejects one round and instantly chambers another, just prior to ‘dry-fire!’

Yes, it is the fault of individual complacency, but it is also the bureaucracy’s fault for instituting and promulgating a system that is literally designed to both foster and nurture complacency. Of course, none of this will even been an issue when we (1) train our people properly and (2) treat them like adults.

I blame the entire military hierarchy, from the Secretary of Defense, on down. Every single risk-averse one of them lacks the personal courage and conviction to even begin to bring enlightenment to this pathetically flawed, paranoid system. They collectively refuse to confront the fact that there is far more than just a semantic difference between the clauses: ‘Treat every gun as if it were loaded’ and ‘All guns are always loaded.’”

Comment: We’ve demonstrated, countless times, that Soldiers and Marines can be trained to use, carry, and store pistols correctly. We run hot ranges exclusively, and, when we’re finished with students, they are (1) completely comfortable continuously carrying a loaded pistol, (2) don’t have accidents, and (3) don’t miss.

Someone said that it couldn’t be done
But he, with a chuckle, replied
“Maybe it can’t,” but he will be the one
who won’t say so until he’s tried

So, he buckled right in, with the trace of a grin
and, if he worried, he hid it
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That “couldn’t be done,” and he did it!

Somebody scoffed, “Oh, you’ll never do that!”
At least no one has ever done it
But, he took off his coat
And he took off his hat
And the first thing we knew, he’d begun it!

With the lift of his chin and a bit of a grin
Without any doubting nor quiddit
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That “couldn’t be done,” and he did it!

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done
There are thousands to prophesy failure
There are thousands who point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you

But, just buckle right in, with a bit of a grin
Take off your coat and go to it
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it!

Edgar Guest

/John

4 Apr 10

Addendum to “Soldiers and Guns”

It gets worse:

“At large FOBs, personnel ‘enforcing’ unloading procedures at clearing barrels are third-world contractors, who, in most cases, speak no English.

As we unload our guns in front of them, they are all carrying pistols, with magazines inserted, and they are there, we are assured, ‘… for our own safety.’ They are, in effect, ‘Base Police,’ but I’ve never heard of one risking his life in order to protect any of us forcibly-disarmed, uniformed US personnel, in an active Combat Zone!

As you might suspect, at shift-change these blithering idiots make use of the self-same ‘clearing barrels,’ and, due to their conspicuous, indeed comical, display of weapon mis-handling, the area around clearing barrels now easily qualifies as the most dangerous place in-Country!”

Comment: Unfortunately, it seems that Western Civilization, even our military culture, is reverting from a proud heritage of logic, reason, and daring, to a frightened, emasculate, unenlightened state of seedy, epicene mysticism.

How is it that, while casually admitting that what we’re doing is stupid and makes no sense, we seem unable to advance?

Have we entered a new Dark Age?

/John

6 Apr 10

Stupidity and endemic distrust is not confined to the military. This from an LEO friend in the Chicago area:

“Recently, Chicago experienced a wide-spread, protracted shooting incident. During a 48-hour period, 54 people were shot in an around a single neighborhood. One of the TV-news clips showed multiple CPD officers responding to dozens of simultaneous ‘shots-fired’ calls.

In one clip, several officers could be seen carrying AR-15 rifles. As these officers courageously approached the scene, you could here much gunfire, recorded by news cameras.

Our mayor was furious… with the police!

He could not believe any of his officers would actually deploy rifles in his little fiefdom. He indicated that he would rescind the general order, authorizing officers to carry these weapons.

Note that these rifles are not provided by the City. These intrepid and dedicated officers purchased the weapons, ammunition, and all accessories (to include required safety-measures for carrying them in beat-cars) with their own money.”

Comment: “Prepared” is present tense. “Victim” is past tense. “Justice,” in theory, can be either, but most agree that no justice exists in past tense!

We promote the incompetent; baptize the unrepentant; elect the unemployable!

/John

7 Apr 10

Barrett’s REC7

At a Course over the last two days, I’ve been using my copy of a Barrett REC7 Rifle in 223.

I will be using this rifle many more times during the balance of the year, but here are my initial impressions:

Of course, Ronnie Barrett, like Alex Robinson, and Dave Selvaggio, is a good, personal friend, and, if I didn’t like his stuff, I would probably remain silent. Happily, that is not necessary! Barrett’s REC7 currently tops the list of “gas-piston” ARs.

I’ve expressed concern in the past about gas-piston ARs, as a category, noting that both piston and op-rod are too small and thin on most I’ve seen. Another thorny issue with many is “bolt-carrier tilt.” During the normal cycle of operation, the bolt carrier moves back, but also tilts downward, impinging upon the detent that retains the recoil-buffer.

Both these issues are put to bed with the REC7.

The entire gas-system is beefy. The piston is the same size as that found on SIG’s 556, and, the op-rod is as thick as an FAL’s. The entire system is cleverly designed so as to be easily field-stripped and cleaned, similar to an FAL.

We ran several hundred rounds through it as fast as humanly possible. No hiccups, and very little heat build-up in the receiver. Also, no evidence of bolt-carrier tilt.

The bolt and bolt-carrier are NP3’ed, and all edges are nicely radiused for smooth operation.

Ronnie Barrett, like Alex Robinson, and Dave Selvaggio, is himself a dedicated rifleman, and personally devoted to the advancement of our Art. All three are “Gunmakers” first, “manufacturers” second, which puts them and their rifles heads and shoulders above disconsolate “fabricators,” who just “make stuff” but personally have little interest in any of it, nor in those of us who actually use their wares for serious purposes.

Positive first impression. More later!

/John

8 Apr 10

Test Your Gear:

I’ve been carrying a SIG/250 in 9mm for a number of months, and, like all SIGs, it runs fine. I then switched to another 250, this one is 40S&W. I ran my 9mm with the smallest of SIG’s three frame sizes. The 40S&W version came with the middle-sized frame, but I swapped it out for the small one that had been on my 9mm.

The new pistol ran, except the slide kept unexpectedly locking to the rear halfway through the magazine. I asked my pistolsmith to try it, and it ran fine for him with no glitches, and the slide-lock lever’s downward spring-pressure was normal, so I concluded that the problem was with my grip.

I prefer a thumbs-up, or “flying-thumbs” grip. My hands are average for a person my size, but my left thumb sometimes apparently put just enough upward pressure on the slide-lock lever to cause the problem. It didn’t cause the identical problem with the 9mm and the small grip, as there is just enough difference between the 9mm and 40S&W slides to cause it in one case, but not in the other. There is also enough divergence between grip sizes to make all the difference in the way the pistol runs in my hands. I never would have predicted it!

So, I put the mid-sized frame back on the 40S&W, and the premature slide-lock problem immediately disappeared!

For those who are wondering if there is a point lurking in all this, it is: Test your gear!

Your guns and gear need to be tested by you, in the exact way you use them. Pistols that run just fine “for everyone else,” may not for you, and the way to be certain, one way or another, is via thorough, realistic, faithful testing.

There are a million variables, and gunmakers can only make product to fit “average” circumstances. Accordingly, no gun will ever be exactly perfect for you personally, but it still needs to run reliably when you’re using it!

Test! Don’t guess.

/John

12 Apr 10

These anguished remarks from a friend who is coming to the end of his military career:

“After nearly forty years, I am finally leaving, in disgust!

Today, only our elite Army troops and some Marines are receiving what can be called competent small-arms training. The other eighty percent have the poorest of skills, throughout their entire careers!

I have been recently coaching rifle/pistol proficiency for deploying soldiers. A number have not qualified with their assigned weapon for years. When they routinely fail to qualify, nothing happens, and the next time they get to a range is generally in excess of twelve months.

In fact, range visits are so infrequent for the vast majority that simple, gun-handling skills are absent. Example, several twenty-year veterans had to be shown how to charge a rifle magazine, as they were observed, by me, putting cartridges in backwards. They didn’t have a clue!

Marksmanship is a joke. Use of sights, and trigger-control, are unperceived subjects.

Base commanders are petrified of guns! We’ll have more Ft Hood incidents, because no one is armed on military posts today, except a pathetically inadequate contingent LE folks, and most of them are ‘contractors,’ also with dubious skills. MPs can’t have a chambered round, and, with the ‘training’ they get, it is probably just as well.

Even after Ft Hood, nothing has changed!”

Comment: To get competent small-arms training, most soldiers are going to have to spend their own money, buy their own guns and ammunition, and seek enlightenment in the private sector.

Within our current military system, they’ll never get it!

This is, in fact, what we’re seeing today. Officers, NCOs, and even low-ranking soldiers are coming to us to get trained. Many indicate that they intend to go armed, even when that may violate “rules.”

I’m sure families of murdered, unarmed soldiers at Ft Hood are so glad their now-deceased relatives, at the moment they were murdered, were in “full-compliance” with all base regulations.

That must be an enduring source of comfort for them!

/John

13 Apr 10

Another retiring trainer comments:

“Taking note of the sad state of affairs you described in the last Quip, I, too, on my own volition, have attempted to set-up remedial small-arms training on military bases. Students of all ranks were excited and, at great personal inconvenience, still made arrangements to be there. I have multiple/redundant instructor credentials, so my qualifications to teach this subject were never an issue.

However, ‘decision-making’ in the modern military is anything but decentralized!

Each time the issue made its way up the food-chain, it was shot down. Most often articulated reasons were that such training is (1) ‘too violent’ and (2) ‘sends the wrong message.’

Within a military context, those rationalizations are nonsensical of course, but I was told, always off the record, that there was concern over the fact that some enlistees, even NCOs and officers, are ‘not getting along well with each other.’ The reason is invariably that they are dating the same woman, not exactly a brand-new phenomenon!

When I assisted with qualification, students shot the Course twice. When they passed the first time, they just left early. When I asked why we don’t do additional drills with the range time we have, I was told by instructors that they are only permitted to do what is written in the curriculum. In other words, even our own instructors can’t be trusted to actually teach, much less carry weapons!

Our enemies, be they Islamic extremists or Mexican drug-gangs, rarely attack us where we are strong. We select our enemy’s method/place of attack by being unprepared, in our case, intentionally unprepared. He will predictably attack our undefended/unarmed rear areas. Courageous Soldiers and Marines who voice concern about this clear and present danger are venomously ridiculed, both within, and outside, the System.

Under the current regime, nothing will ever be done to fix this, even after it actually happens, as we’ve now seen with the Ft Hood incident.

And then, these risk-adverse cowards have the audacity to pose and posture at Fallen Heros ceremonies, a disgusting joke!”

Comment:

“‘Security’ is mostly superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. In the long run, avoiding danger is no safer than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

Helen Keller, 1950

“The budget must be balanced. The Treasury must be refilled. Public debt must be reduced. Arrogance of officialdom must be tempered and controlled. Assistance to foreign lands must be
curtailed, lest Rome become bankrupt. Citizens must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.”

Cicero, 55 BC

So, what have we learned in 2065 years, in the case of Cicero, sixty years in the case of Helen Keller?

… evidently nothing!

/John

13 Apr 10

Rifle Sight Adventures:

My new Berrett REC7 came, as do most military rifles these days, with a full-length rail on top. Forward of the receiver, there are also rails on the bottom and both sides.

On the top rail I immediately plunked Yankee Hill Iron Sights, front and rear. The rear is the standard “flip” rear sight (YHM9680). The front was the “gas-block-mount flip-sight” (YHM9584). The “gas-block” front sight is extra high, as it is intended to go on a railed gas-block of an AR, which is slightly lower than the main rail.

Then, the fun started!

When subsequently sighting in the rifle at the wonderful H&H Indoor Range in Oklahoma City, the furthest I could shoot was twenty-five meters. At that range, I shot a nice, tight group, one meter low!

The REC7’s top rail is level all the way, and my “gas-block” front sight was thus way too high, and way beyond any adjustment in the sight post. I’m not sure why I didn’t see that when the sights first went on, but it was pretty obvious as, on the range, I subsequently looked at the egregious mismatch.

In any event, I went over to H&H’s resident gunsmith and replaced the too-high front sight with the standard “same-plane, flip front-sight” (YHM9627), which I should have had to begin with, and then re-sighted the rifle. With a few minor adjustments, I was soon dead-on.

Then, more excitement:

I asked the folks at Safe-Direction to send me an Aimpoint T1, already mounted on a LaRue LT660, which is LaRue’s famous quick-release mount in the “tall” configuration, designed to get the T1 the proper height for co-witnessing standard, iron sights on an AR.

When it arrived, I plunked it on the REC7’s top rail, way forward (as is my preference), just behind the front sight, thinking it would surely harmonize nicely (co-witness with) my existing Yankee Hill Iron Sights. How disappointed was I when I discovered that I had, once again, miscalculated!

The T1 was too high, and my iron sights were not sufficiently in-line to make them useable through the optic.

So, I then had to ask Safe-Direction to swap it out for LaRue’s LT660HK, which is the “medium height” quick-release mount.

Finally, perfection! The T1 is now in-line with the YH iron sights, and I have a “happy family” at last!

I mention all this mostly to spare my readers and students similar misadventures!

Rifle sights have to work well together, and in harmony with weapon and Operator. Plunking things on rails is easy, but it is folly to assume it is all automatically going to run perfectly the first time you get everything where you think you want it.

Again, test your theories, each in turn. And, don’t be surprised when you’re surprised. Like me, you may not be nearly as bijou as you like to think you are!

A “happy family” is more elusive than many of us assume!

/John

21 Apr 10

Pistol Ammunition:

This is the way I currently rank pistol ammunition, based on my personal experience:

Cor-Bon DPX
Federal Tactical
Cor-Bon PowerBall
Speer Gold Dot
Winchester Ranger
Remington Golden Sabre
Hornady XTP

DPX is, by far, the best performer, expanding and penetrating more consistently than all others. It’s what I carry.

Federal probably has the best quality-control in the industry, and their “Tactical” line rarely fails to perform as advertised. Good choice!

Gold-Dot, among conventional hollow-points, is near the top of the List. Another good choice.

Golden Sabre usually performs well, but not as consistently as the foregoing.

XTP also does well in most cases.

Any of the above are fine choices by fine companies, and I’ve carried them all at one time or another, with no compunction.

But, I’ve ranked them as I see them.

/John

21 Apr 10

Sling Issue:

At an Urban Rifle Program on the West Coast last weekend, a student brought an AUG, set-up for left-side ejection.

The rifle itself ran fine for the duration, but his sling was attached in front, directly on top of the gas vent. After heavy firing, vented gas cut through the sling, and what was left was only a thread or two. The rifle nearly fell off his shoulder!

This is a potential problem with all most gas-piston rifles, but the AUG’s layout makes it likely and may necessitate a change in the front sling anchor-point, as it did in this case.

The real point here is that this issue would never have reared its ugly head, had we not run the rifle and Operator hard, shooting rapidly and from many different postures.

Only through hard training, can we be assured that we, and our gear, are good to go!

/John

22 Apr 10

2010 ILEETA Conference in Wheeling, IL

We’re attending the wonderful ILEETA Conference. Attendance is up from last year, despite exciting economic times!

Here are some observations from the Vendor’s Area:

SIG garnered much attention when they had on display a 226 “E-Squared” They have reshaped the grip to make this pistol more compatible with small hands. Vicki commented, along with several other women, that she was able to reach the trigger and thus use the pistol much better than is the case with the standard 226. I’m told the “E-Squared” enhancement will be available for the 229 also, very shortly! SIG’s “short trigger” is now “standard equipment.”

I notice driving simulators now feature a mild jet of air in the operator’s face, in order to combat the progressive nausea that has been common with this training device. Seems to work!

Taser’s 12ga shotgun round was on display, along with their X12, which is a Mossberg pump shotgun that will fire the Taser round, but will not chamber live ammunition. Range is five to thirty meters, and the rounds cost $150.00/copy.

Advance Training System’s “Ranger” automated target vehicle is amazing! It operates on all terrain. When a mounted target is hit the pre-programed number of times, the vehicle stops where it is, and the target falls down. Packed with features, and half the cost of similar target systems.

Ruger’s LCR is a popular revolver. Trigger is smooth, and it doesn’t beat-up the shooter’s hand as much as does other snubbies. Ruger has done a nice job with this little gun!

Dave Young’s CAPS video simulator is now usable with laser and Simmunition pistols, as well as live-fire. When you buy a CAPS System, you get over eight-hundred filmed scenarios. You’ll never get bored! Simple system. Easy to run, and relatively inexpensive.

More to come.

/John

22 Apr 10

Comments on the AUG, from a Student:

“The shortness of the AUG makes carrying and living with the gun easier than is the case with traditional military rifles, but muzzle awareness is critical. The AUG is so short, you can easily point it at yourself. In fact, the AUG is significantly shorter than an M4 with the stock telescoped all the way in, all without sacrificing velocity

The AUG’s ability to quickly remove and install barrels makes the gun easy to ship, pack, and modify.

The AUG has a storage area in the stock that can be used to stash away all spare parts necessary to keep the gun running.

However, shooting the AUG left-handed, positions the two-point sling directly over the gas vent, as you mentioned. This issue was resolved by moving the sling swivel to the left rail.

The AUG’s manual of arms is significantly different from most other military rifles. Accordingly, when an AUG is your main rifle, you’ll have to train hard with it.

When shooting the AUG, one cannot shift shoulders on the fly. I developed work-arounds for this, but none are completely satisfactory. It is not an ambidextrous system.”

Comments on the AR, from another student:

“I am impressed with the relatively high reliability of the AR-15 rifles in attendance at our Course

Most historical problems, loose gas-keys, failed extractor springs, failed extractors, magazine issues, and lubrication/fouling problems, have been largely eliminated by the manufacturer, or adequately addressed by the Operator.

Many now come the D-Rings already installed, and, coupled with the knowledge that these rifles run best when liberally lubricated, most typical problems have been dramatically reduced in both frequency and severity.

The AR-15 platform, with all of its strengths and faults, is now well understood by most of us, and we all have a good idea of what it takes to keep it running. Given their ubiquity, combined with current fiscal issues, I think we’re going to see this platform around for some time to come.”

My comment:

Any rifle you can name has negative issues. None are perfect, and none are perfectly bad!

We see lots of ARs in Classes, and, in all fairness, most run just fine for the duration. We see an AUG now and then too, and I’ve yet to see one that does not run well.

It seems everyone is now also manufacturing a gas-piston AR look-alike. Barrett’s REC7 runs particularly well, as does Ruger’s system, and most others.

In my experience, most rifle problems we do see are magazine-related. Don’t use chintzy magazines, and you’ll be spared much heartburn!

/John

23 Apr 10

ILEETA Conference, 2010:

I participated in the Panel Discussion, masterfully moderated by my long-time friend and colleague, Mas Ayoob, and I also attended a number of classes, but by no means all, as there were so many.

The recurrent theme this year was echoed at virtually every class, presentation, demonstration, lecture, and armorer’s class:

“Get ready for the fight of your life!”

Every instructor, including me, urged our fellow LE trainers to redouble our efforts to inspire our officers and trainees to prepare while we can.

With inadequate numbers and resources, we are, and will continue to be, challenged as never before.

We have to be better than we’ve every been, better than we ever thought we could be.

… and pray that is sufficient!

/John

25 Apr 10

Polite Society, 2010

I just completed the two-day 2010 Polite Society Event, this year (as last) at the well-equipped and expansive USSA Range Facility in Tulsa, OK.

There were three, live-fire events: (1) a “Skills Demonstration,” “Car-jacking Scenario,” and a “Building Search.”

In the latter two, all targets were three-dimensional, reactive, fully-dressed mannequins. All were excellent challenges for even the experienced among us!

In addition, there were numerous range and lecture Classes, including scenario-based training (Airsoft), instructed by my friends and colleagues, Mas Ayoob, Paul Gomez, Rob Pincus, Bill April, Tom Givens, Skip Gochenour, and a host of others.

Like the NTI in PA, the Event is designed to bring together LE trainers and non-LE CCW folks together in a free-wheeling exchange of information and skills-testing.

All ranges are hot! Lots of cops attended, but there were many non-police too and cross-pollination was rampant! We all learned much from each other.

As at last week’s ILEETA Conference, everyone was training in earnest!

Much credit goes to Tom and Lynn Givens for organizing and orchestrating this wonderful event.

Go to rangemaster.com

No to be missed!

/John

26 Apr 10

News from the Windy City, from friends there:

“It is mildly amusing that many in Chicago are now publicly crying for National Guard assistance in light of our recent spate of violence.

Local pundits and political gas-bags alike are predictably blaming everything in the world, except the obvious problem:

Chicago’s discredited gun-ban.

When guns are banned in a ‘free society,’ criminal violence always thrives. We see the phenomenon repeated in NYC and in Washington DC.

But, today most pundits, along with most politicians, are little more than sleazy thugs and criminals themselves, a long and dreary tradition in Chicago. And, like thugs everywhere, they simultaneously hate and fear good and decent people, because they themselves are neither.

They thrive only on dependancy and victimhood, and they never want that grand, old ‘tradition’ to change!”

Comment: “So long as free citizens do not exercise freedom, who lust to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and devote themselves, in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to placing chains on sleeping men.”

Voltaire François Marie Arouet

/John

27 Apr 10

Dependancy, as a way of life:

The unspoken goal of government-run “healthcare” is not to make the sick well, but to keep the sick, sick… forever! That is precisely the way it “works,” everywhere it has been tried.

Just as with virtually everything ever-meddling government does, problems are never “solved,” and improvement/advancement are never goals. Rather, problems are “milked,” keeping busy untold numbers of erstwhile unemployed bureaucrats who make certain neither improvement nor advancement ever see the light of day. In fact, there is only one thing any bureaucracy does well, and that is promote itself!

This is precisely why, personal self-reliance, personal initiative, and personal integrity are perpetually arch-enemies of tyrants, who thrive on citizens’ dependancy and victimhood. Thus, all autocrats claim to love the “poor,” but only so long as they stay poor. They likewise claim to love “small business,” but only so long as it stays small.

To such despots, modern and ancient, we exist only to serve them, while they, living in luxury themselves, have it as their incessant goal is to keep the rest of us in perpetual fear, poverty, and virtual slavery.

Naturally, the notion of citizens being armed, trained, and prepared is unthinkable! It smacks of personal worth, personal magnificence, liberty, and independence, all poisonous thoughts to any good “Populist.”

In six thousand years of human history, nothing much has changed. Western Civilization represents an historically brief respite, but apparently, not for long!

“For one, I prefer dangerous liberty to peaceful slavery.”

Thomas Jefferson

“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men, they predictably create for themselves (1) a legal system that protects it, (2) a political party that enshrines it, and (3) a ‘moral’ code that justifies it.”

Frederic Bastiat

/John

28 Apr 10

EOTech battery issues, from a friend and retailer:

“I sell a lot of EOTechs. Many are now being returned, with customers complaining that the unit will no longer turn on.

The cause is nearly always the same:

Factory-supplied AA batteries are leaking in the battery compartment and subsequently corroding the contacts. AA batteries supplied by EOTech are Energizer “Industrial.” Such heavy-duty batteries are known to leak just prior to going completely dead. It is a common occurrence when the EOTech is put into storage with batteries in a low state of charge.

Since first seeing this problem, I have been recommending to all purchasers that they immediately discard factory-supplied AA batteries and install alkaline batteries instead (which do not leak as much, nor as often).

In any event, keep fresh batteries in your EOTech, and it will be running when you need it!”

Comment: Batteries surely represent a maintenance headache, but much of our civilization is now dependant on them. Battery technology will doubtless improve, but, in the interim, replace them often and check/test your serious gear regularly!

/John

29 Apr 10

Residential burglary, from a friend on the West Coast:

“My home was visited by thieves last night. I was not home at the time, but even so, they got no further than the garage, and my truck, but they did their best to steal what they could.

My M4 was locked inside a bed-mounted tool-box, and they were not able to get it open.

My M1A is behind the seat, and, to my relief, I found it there, still resting in its place, with the heavy-duty cable-lock securing it to the seat frame. The M1A is easy to secure via cable, because it has such a large breach opening, and heavy-duty cables easily pass through.

At least in this case, cable-locks work!”

Comment: Thefts and attempted thefts of guns will continue to increase as more and more find their way into the hands of naive consumers who have never owned them before.

I recommend gun-safes, cable-locks, truck-vaults, and most other security devices, but all have limitations. And, in the end, all any of these measures will do is require of thieves more time and effort than they are willing to expend!

No security device is absolute. All can be breached, so long as thieves are willing to pay the price and take the time.

For sure, adequately secure your guns, but anonymity, stealth, radar-avoidance, and deception continue to be your best allies.

Become expert at being invisible!

/John

29 Apr 10