(April 2000 Quips)
1 Apr 00 Sellier & Bellot 223 ammunition: At an Urban Rifle Course today in Texas, a student brought a case of S&B 223 ammunition for his AR-15. The case was sealed when he arrived. It was new, factory ammunition. Right away, he had problems loading and unloading his rifle. It took a while for […]
(March 2000 Quips)
1 Mar 00 Clarification: A number have asked why I used 90gr 9mm ammunition instead of what I have often said I prefer in that caliber, 115-124gr bullets. The reason is that in a suitcase one can get more rounds in the lighter bullet weight than would be the case with heaver bullets. Sometimes non-tactical […]
(February 2000 Quips)
3 Feb 00 What’s hot? What’s not? As is my habit at the beginning of every new year, I quizzed retail gun store owners in Florida and Texas (where I’ve been doing courses the past three weeks) with regard to which guns are hot sellers and which are dogs. Here is the general consensus: The […]
(January 2000 Quips)
2 Jan 00 This from a friend in the Midwest: “I just participated in a local IPSC match. The pistol match was nothing remarkable, but there was a ‘side shoot,’ a ‘close range’ rifle match. I had not planned to shoot a second match, but since there WAS a rifle in my car…….. The course […]
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23 Dec 99 I just received this from a friend who is a Trooper with the State Police. All Troopers with this agency have been issued rifles (AR-15s), but they are supposed to be kept in the trunk of the beat car. Here is his solution: “I must have spent over a half hour experimenting […]
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11 Dec 99 This from a senior training officer with a large State Police Department: “From 1993 to this year our agency used 40S&W Beretta 96D (self-decocking), NP3-finished pistols, each issued with three, ten-round (metal baseplates) magazines. This year, those pistols were replaced with Beretta 96D Brigadiers, each issued with three, eleven-round (polymer baseplate) magazines. […]
Follow-up
9 Dec 99 A follow-up from a friend in the federal system: “I had something similar happen to me during a student demonstration on the subject of pistol reloading. I was using a Browning Hi-Power, and this was overseas, so all the equipment we were using was old and poorly maintained. In this case, the […]
Catastrophic failure
8 Dec 99 This is from a friend who is one of my range officers in a Midwest police Department: “Last week, one of our officers was shooting our qualification course with his Beretta 92F. During a reload, he popped the flap on his magazine carrier and, when he went to pull the magazine out, […]
From a LEO friend on the East Coast
24 Nov 99 This is from a LEO friend on the East Coast. It shows that rational behavior on the part of erstwhile normal people is something upon which you can never depend: “While working in _______ Maryland, we got a call that an individual in the back of a pickup truck was waving a […]
It works!
23 Nov 99 Good individual tactics work! This is from a friend in the Northwest who just completed one of our Courses: “I was at an intercity gun shop. As I stepped outside the building, I noticed two men slovenly dressed and grimy, nonchalantly leaning up against the building. As I walked past them and […]
S&W P99
22 Nov 99 I have a chance to work with the S&W P99 pistol. The copy I have is a significant improvement over the Walther model upon which I commented earlier in the year. Most notably, the link is much shallower, now very similar to that of a Glock. I think this pistol may have […]
Incident in the Philippines
20 Nov 99 This just in from a friend in Manila: “Two armed robbery suspects were flagging down and subsequently robbing produce trucks on the highway that leads into the capitol. An elite police team, tasked with handling such serious crimes, confronted the two as they plied their trade on an isolated stretch of highway. […]
Even more on aftermarket parts
20 Nov 99 More on titanium parts from a friend who is into pistol competition: “What we have learned about titanium gun parts while playing IPSC: 1. Titanium firing pins are very short-lived. Without exception, they promptly peen down until they are underlength, causing endless misfires. 2. Titanium hammers dimple at the point where hammer […]
More on aftermarket parts
19 Nov 99 Some follow-up from friends on after-market gun parts, particularly those made of titanium: “The whole idea of a titanium striker, supposedly to shorten lock time and thus improve accuracy, is fantasy anyway. Lock time might be of some consequence to a benchrest rifle shooter, but not to a defensive handgun shooter. If […]
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18 Nov 99 From a friend who is a Glock enthusiast: “Both Ralph and myself have experienced the same titanium striker failure in our Glock 22s: The part of the striker that is exposed on the underside of the slide (and which catches when the slide cycles, setting the trigger) has sheared off during a […]
Observations
16 Nov 99 At a Defensive Handgun Course last weekend on the East Coast, we used a local Sheriff’s Dept Range. The Department Training Officer assisted us during the program. His Department uses SIG 229s in 357SIG caliber. He showed me a new slide modification SIG has quietly invoked, as the result of at least […]
The German Parachutist’s Creed
7 Nov 99 This is from “The German Parachutist’s Creed” dating from WWII. This is put very well. This is from people who had a very clear conception of their purpose in life: “Never surrender. To you, death or victory must be a point of honor” “Your weapons must be well cared for. Submit yourself […]
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3 Nov 99 Glock update from a friend at the company: “The Glock 19 mentioned apparently came with an ‘extended slide stop.’ This is an optional part. This new, extended slide stop (with the protruding tab) is now standard on Glock competition models, and optional on “C” (compensated) models as part of a ‘competition package.” […]
Shooting grip
2 Nov 99 From a friend on the East Coast: “I took my brand new Glock 19 out for a test run (175 rounds) on Saturday. I experienced several spontaneous and unintentional slide locks. My thumbs-up shooting grip caused the problem by inadvertently pushing the slide lock up. This was a surprise, because the same […]
Optics
2 Nov 99 From a friend on the East Coast: “At our Weaponcraft session, we began with Urban Rifle. Our starting position is always with the longarm slung. Several of the participants used ‘tactical’ sling systems, into which one must climb before it is useable. One must then climb out of them to get free […]
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.
