(June 2004 Quips)
1 June 04 On “custom” pistols, from an affiliate instructor: “A student arrived at the range last week, showing off his shinny, new SA ‘Custom Operator’ 1911 pistol w/light rails. He told of the months he had to wait to get it from SA’s custom shop and went on and on as to how it […]
(May 2004 Quips)
5 May 04 Manual Decocking: Last weekend we had a woman join us for a Basic Defensive Handgun Course in MI. She brought with her a S&W 3913LS (“Lady” Smith). The single-column 9mm pistol fit her hand well, and it was light enough for her to carry it comfortably in a belt holster (Comp-Tec “X-Draw”). […]
(April 2004 Quips)
1 Apr 04 Addendum to Carjackings in SA: “An add-on to your carjacking posting: We just had another highly publicized incident here. A family, moving from Johannesburg to Cape Town, was forced of the road. The husband/father was shot immediately. He is currently clinging to life in the hospital. His wife and her fourteen-year-old niece […]
(March 2004 Quips)
2 Mar 04 “Polite Society” My good friend and colleague, Tom Givens, hosted the 2004 “Polite Society” defensive shooting seminar and clinic last weekend at his wonderful Ringmasters indoor facility in Memphis, TN. I spoke at the event, along with Doc Gunn, Skip Gochenour, Keith Jones, Jim Yeager, and Tom himself. Doc Gunn and I […]
(February 2004 Quips)
3 Feb 04 On serious pistols, from a friend in the Philippines: As you know, I am one of few foreigners here allowed to carry concealed firearms legally. Like so many, I love the 1911, but give me a Glock when I have to fight in the mud, the blood, the beer, and maybe even […]
(January 2004 Quips)
3 Jan 04 From a friend in SA who owns a gunshop: “Just had a seven Australian Army SpecOps guys in my shop. They raved about how we are able to own such great stuff here in SA: knives, pistols, batons, pepper spray, etc. I found it strange coming from military men, of all people. […]
(December 2003 Quips)
2 Dec 03 This is a portion of note sent by an active-duty friend to his junior officers. They will be deploying shortly: “For those ‘who don’t know what they don’t know,’ I offer the following explanation: 55gr FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) is the old M193 ball ammunition that we used to issue before the […]
(November 2003 Quips)
1 Nov 03 From a friend in the LA area: “Just saw on local TV newscast footage from LA of man shooting at an attorney with a handgun (looks like a five-shot snubby revolver) at pointblank range. The victim, wearing suit and tie, was struck at least once, but the hit(s) appear to be peripheral […]
(October 2003 Quips)
1 Oct 03 The 6th Commandment Many friends and students have been troubled by the admonition in the Sixth Commandment, ie: “Thou shall not kill.” It is time this confusion be put to rest. Research through Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and several different translations of The Old Testament is helpful. The clause in question is found […]
(September 2003 Quips)
1 Sept 03 A “stealth failure” from a friend in UT: “A customer stopped at a Seven-Eleven after leaving my shop and a subsequent desert shooting exercise with his prized DSA FAL, which he placed in his Chevy Blazer between the seats, sticking straight up in plain view. Someone at the Seven-Eleven saw it and […]
(August 2003 Quips)
3 Aug 03 From an LEO friend in the Midwest: “We had a fatal shooting here on 22 July. The (dead) suspect was probably trying to commit suicide. In any event, he was a construction worker who was hanging around one of our local banks late in the afternoon. Using a pistol, he kidnaped a […]
(July 2003 Quips)
2 July 03 City Stick! I’ve been interested in walking canes, as a cane is something one can openly have with him in just about any circumstance, without garnering the attention of others. A number of my friends and colleagues routinely fly with canes now and carry them as they travel. To that end, I […]
(June 2003 Quips)
4 June 03 At a LEO Program in Michigan earlier this week, we had a small-statured student who was using a department G22. He had before never shot so many rounds in such a short time. After several hundred rounds of normal cycling, his pistol started to suffer from failure to eject. The problem grew […]
(May 2003 Quips)
1 May 03 From a friend in AZ: “Today’s front-page lead, Gone Without a Trace. Eight hundred registered sex offenders in Arizona have ‘disappeared.’ That is, they failed to check in as they’re supposed to, so nobody knows where they are or what they’re doing. When questioned about this ‘problem,’ Val Biebrich, supervisor of the […]
(April 2003 Quips)
1 Apr 03 From the NRA: Holders of NRA Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor’s certificates now have a continuing education requirement. All certificate holders will now have to take instruction every year in order to renew. We are honored to learn that DTI Courses qualify for such renewal instruction. /John 1 Apr 03 A friend […]
(March 2003 Quips)
3 Mar 03 1911s We just completed a defensive pistol class in Oklahoma City, OK. OKC is “cocked-and-locked country,” as is much of Oklahoma and Texas. Most students had Kimbers, and all worked well. Two had Glocks. What didn’t work well was the eight-round magazines used by many of the 1911 shooters. There were several […]
(February 2003 Quips)
1 Feb 03 I’ll be flying to Capetown, South Africa on Monday, 3 Feb 03. I’ll be returning on 23 Feb 03. While there, I’ll be teaching and hunting, but I’ll be unreachable by phone, cell phone, or e-mail. Full report when I return. I’ll catch up with all messages then. Vicki is looking after […]
(January 2003 Quips)
6 Jan 03 The Age of Kings winds down: The War of Spanish Succession, 1701-1713 Louis XIV claims the longest reign of any sovereign in Western Europe, before or since. He was King of France for sixty-two years, from 1653 to1715. Like most kings of the time, Louis was conceited and vane, but he was […]
(December 2002 Quips)
10 Dec 02 “D” Ring My colleague Jeff Chudwin, brought the “D” Ring to the attention of all of us earlier this year. I have now, belatedly, joined him in his endorsement of this product. All military rifles have issues, and the AR-15 is no exception. One real weak point of the AR-15 system has […]
(November 2002 Quips)
4 Nov 02 Rifle information from a friend in the Philippines: “Over here, the M16 series continues to enjoy respect. Government units equipped with the M16s still have the old variant with the slow twist rate. All use the M193 ball round. Contact distances remain well under 200 meters, with the vast majority of encounters […]
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.
