Month: June 2010

14 things about me

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

I am looking at a legal form. It’s an “Eligibility Affidavit”. In order to become a Concealed Handgun Instructor in Texas there are 14 preliminary eligibility requirements listed under 37 TAC Chapter 6 and Chapter 411, Texas Government Code. Because I can answer affirmatively to all 14 statements, here are 14 things you can know about me:

  1. I have an established legal residence in Texas for at least 6 months.
  2. I’m at least 21 years of age.
  3. I have not been convicted of a felony.
  4. I am not current charged in any jurisdiction with the commission of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or an offense under §42.01 (Disorderly Conduct) Texas Penal Code, or of a felony under an information or indictment.
  5. I ma not a fugitive from justice for a felony or a Class A or Class B misdemeanor.
  6. I am not chemically dependent.
  7. I am not incapable of exercising sound judgment with respect to the proper use ans storage of a handgun.
  8. I have not been convicted in any jurisdiction of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or an offense under §42.01 (Disorderly Conduct) Texas Penal Code in the past 5 years.
  9. I am fully qualified under applicable federal and state laws to purchase a handgun (and that’s a whole other set of qualifications in and of itself)
  10. I have not been finally determined to be delinquent in making child support payments
  11. I have not been finally determined to be delinquent in the payment of taxes or other money.
  12. I am not currently restricted under a court protective order or subject to a restraining order affecting the spousal relationship.
  13. I have not in the past 10 years been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony.
  14. I have not made any material misrepresentation or failed to disclose any material fact, on my application.

Maybe you can say those same things about yourself. Great.

My point?

Look at the sorts of things one must go through – as a preliminary minimum – in order to be a CHL instructor (or hold a CHL) in Texas. Looks like you have to be a pretty sound and law-abiding good citizen.

Furthermore, if you can know this is what it takes (in part) to obtain a CHL, then when you come across someone who is a CHL holder (at least here in Texas),  you instantly can know a good deal about a person and determine what sort of person they are. You mean some Joe on the street… is he a good guy or a bad guy? You discover that Joe is a CHL holder, it’s a reasonable assumption Joe’s going to be a Good Guy.

Desert Deuce Surplus

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Never heard of Desert Deuce Surplus before, but I wanted to order a couple of pairs of Tru-Spec 24/7 shorts and Desert Deuce came up as a place with them in stock. Submitted an order.

Well, a week went by and I hadn’t received any sort of information about the handling of my order, other than it was received and the money was taken. I phoned, left a message, 24 hours and no callback. I phoned again, got someone on the phone. She looked up my order and was obviously puzzled as to why my order hadn’t been fulfilled. She took my phone number and said she’d call back in 10 minutes. I went about my business and about 30 minutes later she calls back saying my order was going out right now.

So I’m waiting for my order to arrive. It seems the lack of fulfillment was an oversight and I was happy to see it promptly dealt with. We’ll see how things go once the order gets here. But so far, well…. while I’m not thrilled at what went down, I’m willing to let it slide and I’d consider ordering from them again. If nothing else, they’ve got an interesting selection of products — including parts for M35 and 5 ton military trucks!

Updated: The package arrived. Contained 100′ of 550 paracord and the Tru-Spec shorts.

The rope is… well… paracord. Useful stuff.

As for the shorts, I’m pleased! They are pretty much the same as the Tru-Spec 24/7 pants that I like so much, except in shorts form. I haven’t had a chance to pull out the shorts and the pants to side-by-side compare, but I did notice one difference: the side leg pockets. On the pants, the rear bottom corner is pleated (is that the right term?) such that when you have a lot of cargo in the pocket the pocket expands. Thus, the pocket can be VERY roomy. Sometimes that’s good (e.g. picking up lots of range brass), but sometimes it’s annoying because of how the gear can flop on your leg. On the shorts, that corner of the pocket is sewn to the leg so there isn’t as much expansion in the pocket. I think for shorts that’s a good thing.

Anyway, I’m pleased with the shorts!

As for Desert Deuce, they did what they said they would. Again, I didn’t get the best first impression of them, but they made things right and did so promptly. I wouldn’t be against using them again.

Coming full circle

/ hsoi / 10 Comments

My snub revolver (a S&W 442) came with Uncle Mike’s boot grips.

I changed them to Pachmayr Compac grips.

I decided to try out the Werner Carry system. With just the Barami Hip Grips, my carry loads hurt like hell. Then the Tyler T-Grip arrived. Shooting with the T-Grip was much better than without the T-Grip.

And now… I think I may be going back to the Uncle Mike’s.

The Uncle Mike’s provide almost the same form factor as the Werner system. That is, the width/thickness is about the same, the frontstrap “fill” is about the same, and the backstrap remains bare. The only major differences are the Uncle Mike’s are “rubber/textured” and there’s no hooking, whereas the Hip Grip and T-Grip are smooth and the Hip Grip provides a hook (there are some minor differences, noted below).

While I dig the hook for the carry mode, it’s never 100% comfortable. Yes yes, “carry gun should be comforting, not comfortable”, but having a snub muzzle at 2 o’clock digging into your femoral artery all day gets old. Trying to shift and find ways to adjust it isn’t panning out either. My bit of belly flab doesn’t help either… either how it forces the gun to sit or then affects the ability to draw. So I’m conceptually hip to the Werner Carry System, but it’s not working out. I’ll revisit it after I drop a few pounds. 😉

When I have been carrying the snub, it’s been in a pocket holster. The Uncle Mike’s are a hair slimmer in their profile because they lack the grip hook jutting out. Plus the textured grip provides a little more tack. As well, there’s a little “northward extension”… I don’t know how else to describe it, but check out the pictures in this post. That little “ear” at the top of the Uncle Mike’s looks like it’s just enough to shield/cushion the web of my hand, but that remains to be seen. See, just a few days ago I ran 50 rounds of WWB 130 grain .38 Special (not +P) FMJ through the snub with the Werner System on it. After shooting I realized that where the upper-left edge of the backstrap contacts my thumb webbing, the skin had been taken off. When I put the Uncle Mike’s on, that little ear is right where the skin came off, so hopefully it will shield my skin from future wear.

Another thing is after shooting that box of 50, I noticed the Hip Grip and T-Grip were loose. I’ve done my best to tighten them down, but there’s only so much you can do because it’s not a 100% perfect fit. Next time I use them I’ll use some blue Loctite, but even if that keeps them from coming loose, the lack of a perfect fit means there’s still a bit of wobble.

So, will I keep the Uncle Mike’s? I don’t know. It’s just the latest iteration. I’ll try it for a while and see how it goes. Need to see how it carries, need to see how it performs in practice. I do like the Pachmayr Compac grips the best, but they really kill the concealment factor; they’re great to have when you do a lot of shooting, but I ideally should practice like a carry.

We’ll see.

Today’s self-defense PSA

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

If someone is attacking you, yes trying to shoot them in the kneecaps is still considered deadly force.

If you can actually succeed in this, you’re a far better marksman than I am (again, assuming this person is in process of attacking you thus they are moving, you are moving, fur is flying, your heart is pumping, adrenaline is flowing, etc.).

Why am I bringing you this public service message? Let’s just say the topic came up today.

Lobster joy

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Took the family to Red Lobster last night.

Yeah, it was expensive… seafood generally is.

But watching Oldest having the time of his life as he ate his first whole lobster (shell-cracking and all)? Worth every penny. He even wore the bib. 🙂

How to avoid shooting yourself in the testicles

/ hsoi

Man shoots himself in the testicles at a Lowes.

The man’s handgun, which was in the waistband of his pants…

and we can stop right there.

If the news article is correct and if I can be allowed to make some assumptions to fill in the gaps, it sounds like his gun was just loose in his waistband, not in a holster or using a proper waistband restraining system (e.g. a Hip Grip). That means, it’s free to move around and fall. Then something manage to get its way into the trigger guard and depress the trigger, possibly bypassing mechanical safeties (if any). Yes, I’ve heard of a couple of cases where someone was carrying in a manner similar to this and clothing and squatting down was enough to make the gun discharge.

But my guess? Gun was loose, he was adjusting or catching it to keep it from falling, when he grabbed it his fingers went into the trigger guard, clench the fist to grab the gun, and bang.

Lessons learned:

  • Use a proper holster, with a proper belt. Don’t skimp, buy quality.
  • When your gun is in the holster, leave it alone.
  • If the gun is falling, let it fall and do not try to catch it.
  • If your gun has mechanical safety(s), be sure to use them. Consider as well that certain guns lacking additional external mechanical safeties (e.g. Glock) are not ideally suited for “loose” carry. For example, I wouldn’t recommend a woman carry a Glock 26 loose in her purse. Get a purse with a dedicated holster (e.g. Galco’s selection); helps avoid stuff getting into the trigger guard (be it fingers or stuff in the purse) plus ensures the gun is in a constant and known position/location for improved speed of draw.