(March 2002 Quips)
3 Mar 02 Update on Africa from my friends there: “West Africa is bad news. Angola’s Dr Savimbi was just murdered by Israeli and Portuguese mercenaries. US oil companies operate in Angola, and Savimbi did not want to deal with them anymore, a fatal mistake as it turns out. The CIA dropped him a few […]
(February 2002 Quips)
1 Feb 02 “The state that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting by fools.” Thucydides 4 Feb 02 I visited a friend this afternoon who owns a large, retail gun store and indoor range in the Midwest. The hottest sellers are still Glocks-in all […]
(January 2002 Quips)
1 Jan 02 Warm greetings from a friend and trainer in South Africa: “All the best from your far-flung and ever-striving cadre of instructors over here. Our history is being written in blood, the blood of innocents and the blood of our untrained and poorly equipped police officers, who, nonetheless, go forward and try to […]
(December 2001 Quips)
4 Dec 01 I just completed a Rifle/Shotgun Course in Atlanta, GA last weekend. One of my students was using a Robinson Arms RA-96. Despite my recommendation against it, he had a large quantify of Wolf 223 ammunition he wanted to use. As his rifle got hot during a high-volume exercise, a case stuck in […]
(November 2001 Quips)
1 Nov 01 From a friend at Glock: “Of all new law enforcement orders: 85% are for pistols chambered for 40S&W 1% are for pistols chambered for 357SIG. High ammunition prices are retarding this round’s popularity- both in and out of law enforcement. 9mm and 45 ACP split the last 15%. 9mm is becoming less […]
Nice police work in South Africa
28 Sept 01 Nice police work by one of my instructors in South Africa: “Monday, were driving a beat car through one of our local industrial areas. I noticed a suspect being pursued on foot and then tackled by a unformed, private security officer. I stopped my vehicle and exited. My partner also exited and […]
Gun sales in California
28 Sept 01 From a friend with the LAPD: “In the last two weeks the state of California has had a 42% increase in gun sales, especially in the sales of shotguns and rifles.” Not surprising! /John
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24 Sept 01 This is from a friend who is a civilian employee of DOD. He is scheduled to deploy overseas with his military unit, as he is an integral part: “I pointed out to my military superiors that civilians (like me) are not covered by SGLI (or any other kind of life insurance for […]
Kalashnikov System from Alex Robinson of Robinson Arms
24 Sept 01 On the Kalashnikov System from Alex Robinson of Robinson Arms: “I haven’t seen many Norinco or Polytech rifles which did not work. I must say that I’ve not shot the ‘Hunter’ edition. The only AKs which I’ve seen that don’t work consistently are the Romanian SAR-3s in 223 Cal. The fire control […]
Norinco Guns & Ammo
23 Sept 01 From a friend and student: “I purchased a ‘Norinco, AK Hunter’ (sporterized stock on a Kalashnikov, with a two-position, flip-up rear pistol-type sight) years ago, so that I would have a weapon capable of firing 7.62 x 39 ammunition. I shot the rifle upon first obtaining it and found some reliability problems […]
Taejon, Korea, July 1950
22 Sept 01 Taejon, Korea, July 1950 As we can see from recent events, America has a bad habit of losing the first battle of every war. Arrogance and naivete seem always to conspire to produce a disastrous defeat at the beginning, every time. In the summer of 1950, not even five years since the […]
Mini-14s
21 Sept 01 From an LEO friend in Texas on Mini-14s: “We recently received several Ruger Mini-14 rifles that were donated by a group of local businessmen. While shooting these rifles in training, a couple of things were discovered that may benefit others. First, lubricating the rifle according to the Ruger instruction manual is not […]
Latest from LAPD
10 Sept 01 Latest from LAPD: “Our Narcotics Group has been using Benelli Super-90 shotguns and AR-15 rifles in its warrant/entry operations since 1996. Prior to 1996, our SWAT guys did their ‘high-risk’ warrants. But, there got to be too many warrants for SWAT to do. So, a separate unit was created within the Narcotics […]
From a friend with the Cape Town Traffic Police
7 Sept 01 From a friend with the Capetown Traffic Police: “A gang of fourteen, heavily armed (AK-47 rifles) men attacked an armored bank vehicle in one of our local suburbs last week. The armored vehicle was rammed from the side, causing it to overturn, a common tactic here. As gang members swarmed over the […]
Shotguns
7 Sept 01 During a Defensive Shotgun Course in Ohio the past two days, a student (state agent) was using a personally-owned 1201 Beretta riot shotgun. I have two of the same model, and they have always been reliable, with very little maintenance required on either over the last several years that I have owned […]
Croatian sensation?
3 Sept 01 Last weekend during course in Atlanta, a student used an HS pistol in 9mm, made in Croatia. It’s the first one I’d seen, although I was told that it has become popular in certain areas. It basically a Glock-17 look-alike, right down to the double-trigger safety system. It functioned without any problems […]
(August 2001 Quips)
1 Aug 01 My Kind of Woman! The “Taliban” are a group of militant Islamic fundamentalists who effectively constitute the present government of Afghanistan. Their agents are noted for their anti-western activities and their harassment of all who do not subscribe to the party line. They are the ones who are currently hiding and protecting […]
(July 2001 Quips)
2 July 01 A friend with the NJSP has the latest on the S&W P99 debacle: “Last week, ALL of our S&W P99s and associated gear was turned in. The latest word is that this time we will not be getting them back. They are gone for good. Our frustrated ‘leaders’ kept sent samples of […]
(June 2001 Quips)
1 June 01 From a friend in the publishing business. This trick may be widely known, I, for one, didn’t know about it! “I have a solution to the problem glasses fogging on the range. It really comes in handy here in the damp Pacific Northwest. Always have on your range a pump bottle of […]
(May 2001 Quips)
4 May 01 Latest on the situation in the Philippines, from my friend there: “Our government is actively pursuing people it believes are behind inciting crowds to storm the palace in Manilla. They declared a ‘State of Rebellion’ (whatever that is), which they say will be lifted on the seventh of this month. Between then […]
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.
