(October 2010 Quips)
1 Oct 10 This sage advice to women, from a female LEO and instructor, with many years of practical experience: “Purses/handbags are issues unto themselves! I am a woman, and I do not carry a purse. I did as a young girl, but even shoulder-bags were a hassle. I always carry a wallet. My keys […]
(September 2010 Quips)
1 Sept 10 Of Cops and Rifles… For as long as most can remember, American police have been armed with pistols. Pistols, both exposed and concealed, have gone hand-in-hand with American policing for at least the past one-hundred years. Shotguns, and more recently, rifles, have always been perfunctorily referred to as “secondary,” “back-up,” and “supplemental” […]
(August 2010 Quips)
2 Aug 10 Interesting comments from a friend in the Phillippines with regard to looming changes in the law and potential work-arounds: “Even ‘practice’ ammunition here in 357SIG is expensive, and not nearly as available as is the case with other calibers. High-performance ammunition in 357SIG is really hard to find and preposterously expensive when […]
(July 2010 Quips)
4 July 10 We celebrated Independence Day in the most appropriate manner: A day at the Range! One of my Urban Rifle students used a SIG/556. The rifle ran fine for the duration, as they always do. But it was equipped with a forward-mounted vertical forend, an accessory supplied by SIG. Integral with the vertical […]
(June 2010 Quips)
3 June 10 Gelatin Tests: Last weekend in PA, I was witness to a series of gelatin tests of various pistol rounds. We shot assorted brands of factory ammunition from pistols we were actually carrying at the time, and most were concealed and thus compact. All ammunition was chronographed first, then shot into gelatin blocks. […]
(May 2010 Quips)
4 May 10 Additional on batteries, from friends at Aimpoint: “AA Lithium batteries, at low temperatures, render performance superior to all others. I recommend to all military units deploying to cold climates, to include those operating at altitude in Afghanistan, to purchase USA-manufactured AA Lithiums. Our Aimpoint CompM4 and CompM4S will operate for ten years […]
(April 2010 Quips)
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, […]
(March 2010 Quips)
1 Mar 10 Lost Flower Children? “Washington Ceasefire,” another dreary anti-gun group, has stated publically that allowing guns (open carry) in coffeehouses robs local residents of “societal-sanctuaries.” “People go to Starbucks for an escape, so they can get peace, but people walk in with openly-carried guns, and tranquility is destroyed,” say them. I wonder if […]
(February 2010 Quips)
2 Feb 10 “In banking, when you’re right one-hundred percent of the time, you’ll make money. Right ninety-nine percent of the time, you’ll break even. Right ninety-eight percent of the time, you’ll lose money. Right ninety-seven percent of the time, you’ll go to jail!” Banker’s Axiom In our Art, as in banking, boldness and caution […]
(January 2010 Quips)
4 Jan 10 On pocket-pistols, from a friend in WA: “I picked-up a used Kahr PM9 late last year. Its prior owner was frustrated with its occasional hiccups, but I know many Kahr-owners who say all Kahr pistols require a ‘break-in’ of between two-hundred and five-hundred rounds. They’re right! After spending a day at Marty […]
(December 2009 Quips)
1 Dec 09 WA Incident: The motive of the suspect who murdered four police officer in WA last Sunday morning is unclear. It is also unclear whether or not the perpetrator targeted police officers in general, or these officers in particular. Nor am I speculating that this incident necessarily represents a new trend. And, as […]
(November 2009 Quips)
2 Nov 09 SIG Academy We just completed an Urban Rifle Program at the SIG Academy in Epping, NH. It’s been several years since I’ve been there, and I need to say that SIG deserves a great deal of credit for maintaining and continually improving this superlative facility, along with its first-rate Staff, capably headed […]
(October 2009 Quips)
2 Oct 09 Battle Rifles: I received this morning a note from a subscriber with regard to rifles with which he would equip his unit. This person puts together teams who do security work in exciting places. He indicated that, for his money, the AR/M4 (in 223) tops the heap of currently-available battle-rifles. He agrees […]
(September 2009 Quips)
4 Sept 09 They’re not impressed: On 1 Aug 09, Tom Siebel, a CA billionaire (Silicon Valley) touring in East Africa (Tanzania) was injured during an attack by a wild elephant. He is expected to mostly recover, but he suffered multiple broken bones and lacerations. Siebel indicated that he and a guide were peacefully observing […]
(August 2009 Quips)
1 Aug 09 American in 2009, no good deed goes unpunished: Last Wednesday, a teller working at a Seattle, WA bank was confronted by a robbery suspect. The 29-year-old suspect, a slovenly, unkempt, perpetually-unemployed “transient” (what we used to call a “vagrant”), with a lengthily criminal record, and at the time under the supervision of […]
(July 2009 Quips)
1 July 09 Comments on current developments, from an active consumer and Instructor: “I am starting to see the feeding-frenzy subside, albeit only slightly. Inventories of military rifles and serious handguns are improving. There are actually ARs, SIG 556s, XCRs, FALs, M1As and other good rifles, along with SIG, Glock, SA, Kahr, S&W, Beretta, and […]
(June 2009 Quips)
1 June 09 Losers always have a plausible excuse for doing nothing. This comment on the last Quip: “The description of the home-invasion makes me believe that, even with training and guns, there probably would not been much that these two could have done. By the time he knew he was in danger, there already […]
(May 2009 Quips)
1 May 09 M&P Problems in CA, from a friend with the LASO: “The few S&W M&P Pistols we currently have in the field have all been abruptly pulled from service. Since first approved for Department use at the end of last year, of fifty pistols, we had one that would not eject at all, […]
(April 2009 Quips)
1 Apr 09 Buffalo Soldiers: Black infantry units, lead by white officers, first saw the light of day during the American Civil War. When that War ended, the American Navy became fully integrated, with black and white sailors serving alongside each other! The Army was not quite so enlightened, but black cavalry units, called “Buffalo […]
(March 2009 Quips)
2 Mar 09 At a Pistol Course in TX last weekend, a student brought several hundred rounds of 45ACP hardball that he had acquired from a Web Page called “Rguns.” It was advertised as having been manufactured in Israel. Upon examination, I noticed that ten percent of the rounds had the bullet visibly seated too […]
Gun industry legends Dave Spaulding, Massad Ayoob, Mike Boyle, and John Farnam join Fernando Coelho to dive deep into the history of the gun industry, shedding light on how firearms and firearms training have transformed over the decades. They discuss the dramatic shift from traditional print reviews to the digital age of internet forums, social media influencers, and YouTube personalities of the industry.
