Guns

Disappointed

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

I’ve got a RINGS Blue Gun. It’s a basic dummy gun that replicates my carry gun, and is useful in many training and practice applications.

One thing I’ve wanted was some dummy magazines. Sure I can practice with spare magazines, but why put them through the abuse? Furthermore, one advantage of the BLUEGUNS is they are distinctive in their look: solid blue. They do not look like firearms and it’s highly unlikely to mistake them for the real thing. It would just be terrible to be practicing reloads and accidentally reload live ammo. Of course, you can avoid that situation, but then you’re using empty magazines… and they don’t have the same weight as a loaded magazine. So you can attempt to put in dummy rounds but the cost of those add up… or if you reload you can make dummy rounds but again you better be sure their look is distinctively different. Bottom line: it’s about being able to practice as real but as safe as possible. To get some weighted dummy magazines is a good thing in my book.

Trouble is, it’s hard to find the magazines for sale anywhere, especially the weighted ones. But just give RINGS a call and they’ll take your order. So me and a few other guys pooled our wishlists together and I put in an order.

We waited and waited. The weighted mags are custom made. So we waited.

Eventually we got them.

I tried out 2 XD-9 magazines. Immediately a problem: the magazines weren’t staying in the gun. Reason? The hole in the front of the magazine where the mag catch catches? It wasn’t there… well, you could see a faint imprint from their mold, but it wasn’t enough to actually catch. I called RINGS and asked. They apologized because there should have been a cut made by the worker after the mags came out of the molds (and they took my name to look up my order so they could talk to the tech that made them). But I could fix it by using a knife and making a slit or using a Dremel and making some room.

So I was just in the garage Dremeling notches in 2 of the mags. One worked great! The other kept sticking. I saw a small rise on the back, so I took sandpaper to it. Still stuck. I pulled out my calipers. A proper XD-9 magazine is 0.80″ thick. This bluemag? 0.82″ at the base (a little less towards the top). Thus why it was sticking… it’s too big! I checked the other 4 XD-9 mags that were ordered. In total, 4 of the magazines were OK (save for the lack of mag catch), measuring maybe 0.78″ or so thick. Then there was the too-thick one, and then there was another that had some odd seam/bulge in it. So that’s 2 that are just flat bad and unfixable by me.

A bunch of XD-45 mags were ordered as well. I don’t know the thickness of a proper XD-45 magazine, but measuring these showed a host of differences so it’s going to take trying them in an XD-45 to figure it out. When I get together with my buddy’s that bought them (hopefully within the next few days), we’ll try and see.

I had also ordered 2 AR-15 weighted mags. They were expensive. And they don’t work. One doesn’t latch at all… doesn’t catch… just falls right out. The other latches, but then rides too high and my bolt won’t close. 0 for 2.

Needless to say, I’m disappointed.

I’m not ready to give RINGS too much crap yet. I want to get together with my buddies and let them try in their guns and see how things go. Once we get all the duds figured out I’m going to call RINGS back and see what I can see. They previously sounded like they’d be happy to remake and replace them, so that’s good. But IMHO, given the amount of money spent and the fact this was their defects not my changing of mind or just not wanting them any more well… I don’t want to pay for all the shipping of this. Because to be honest, I’m nervous I’ll get a replacement batch and they too will have problems and I’ll have to do this again… and pay more out of my pocket for someone else’s mistake.

But we’ll see.

Nevertheless, I don’t want people to take this as being turned off by using such products. They have a place and are good training tools. I’m just hoping RINGS will do right.

Edged Weapon Defense I

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

While I may have put regularly scheduled empty-hand training on the backburner for a little while, that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped practicing martial arts. Yesterday I took part in a seminar on Edged Weapon Defense.

Continue reading →

Surviving Gunfights

/ hsoi

A friend sent me a link to this article on surviving gunfights.

Of course the best way to survive a gunfight? Don’t be in one. Use everything that you can from awareness to mindset to avoidance to descalation. Avoid the gunfight.

But Higginbotham’s article isn’t about that. It’s about actually being in one. Higginbotham’s credentials are well-established, so he’s worth listening to.

The notion of “center mass”, yeah… I’m now of the mind that it’s a silly concept. I mean, I see where it comes from, but look at what “center mass” is of a human. Putting your shots in the center of that mass put them somewhere in the abdominal region. That’s not where you want to put things because there’s nothing vital there.

Realize as well that again, all pistol calibers suck. So what do you need to do? Keep shooting until the threat has stopped. But realize, some people may not know they’ve been hit, some people will keep on truckin’ for quite a while after having been shot even if the shot was in the right places. There’s no guarantee.

Head shot? If you can do it, great. But try some Force-on-Force training and see how many head shots you can get off.

Moving? Good thing. It was Tom Givens that convinced me that even the side-step motion is good (I used to consider the side-step silly in a “real” gun fight and more something done in classes and at the range due to range and administrative realities). That is, while drawing, just step to the side. Givens likes to call it a “WTF? moment” because it’s something that the attacker didn’t plan for and it causes them to reset their OODA loop… a “WTF?”, which could be enough to give you advantage. It also gets you off the line. Sure all sorts of things like j-hooking and other sorts of movement are great if you can, but at least just side-step when you do things like draw, reload, and so on. If you can’t practice that at the range, then make sure you do it when you dry fire.

The only thing about the article that bugs me a bit is how Higginbotham downplays all the caliber stuff, then he gets right into the caliber stuff. So which is it? Does it matter or does it not matter? The reality is it doesn’t matter a whole lot and there’s no guarantee. They all suck. Pick what you can shoot well, fast and accurate, that allows you to practice. Modern expanding ammunition helps. Skill trumps equipment.

Still, a good read.

Glock dreams

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Ever wake up and know that you had some sort of crazy dream, it was so vivid, so many details… but yet, within moments of waking up you can’t remember much about the dream except one key aspect?

I had one of those last night.

All I can remember is somehow I got a free Glock. I think it was probably a G22 (.40 S&W, standard size) because I do remember mentioning in the dream wanting a G17 or G19 (9mm, standard or compact) instead.

And I actually liked it. Well, at least I was enjoying shooting it. The fact Glock’s still feel kinda “cheap Tupperware” in my hand didn’t change. But I was happy shooting it.

My guess? Somehow stems back to last weekend, because I got to shoot a stock Gen4 and actually liked it.

Crazy. 🙂

Note: the reason this is surprising to me is because I just don’t like Glocks. I don’t like how they feel in my hand. I don’t like the trigger. I don’t like the sights. I don’t like how they point for me. I just generally don’t like them. I grant their reputation and aftermarket, and that’s a huge plus for Glocks. But I just haven’t liked them. But that Gen4 wasn’t horrible. I did like the “stipple” on the grip, and while the trigger wasn’t ideal it did have good “feel” to it. Sights… they’d be changed immediately. But really… it wasn’t so horrible.

You don’t mess with a Daddy’s daughter

/ hsoi

Man defends his daughter against an abusive ex-boyfriend.

After yelling at Fuches to stop choking his daughter, the 56-year-old man got his gun and fired a shot out the window.

When that didn’t stop Fuches, the man climbed out the window and jumped down the hood of his car, which was parked in the driveway.

According to police, the man approached Fuches, who was still choking the woman, and hit him with the weapon. As the attack continued, the man shot Fuches in the leg.

Police said Fuches then turned on the man, coming at him with a large rock he’d picked up from the ground. The man fired again, this time hitting Fuches in the groin.

Neighbors told 3TV that they heard screaming and a struggle followed by gunshots. That’s when they called 911.

The father, who also called the police, rendered aid to Fuches until paramedics arrived. Fuches’ injuries reportedly were not life threatening; he is expected to recover.

Investigators at the home said the woman suffered injuries consistent with being choked and dragged through gravel. She was treated at the scene, but was not taken to the hospital.

The incident is under investigation.

Fuches is facing assault charges, but at this point, the woman’s father has not been charged with anything. Police said it’s not yet known if charges will be filed against him.

A Good Daddy™ defends his Little Girl at all times. Period.

Trouble is, if you’re going to start using a gun you’ve entered the realm of deadly force. It’s rather unwise to fire warning shots and other such things. If you don’t want to use deadly force, don’t use deadly force. That warning shot? That bullet has to come to rest somewhere, and hitting an innocent person or destroying someone else’s property is just opening up another can of worms you don’t want. And just because you shoot someone in the leg doesn’t mean the person won’t die.

I can’t fault the man for doing what he did, especially because it was in defense of his life and his daughter’s life. Just be aware of how things were done and learn something from it.

Concerts and self-defense

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

Going to the Motörhead show last night, I had to decide what I was going to do in terms of self-defense.

The reality is, every show and venue is different. Some venues I just walk into with no problems. Some venues might have “no weapon” policies but they’re there more because of their lawyers. Some venues might have 51% signs or true 30.06 signs to prohibit concealed carry. But then they’ll have no frisking. Or I’ve been to some shows where I’ve been frisked heavily and wanded down. It’s always a crap shoot.

I don’t expect to have problems. Most people go to concerts to have a good time. But the reality is, there’s lots of people, lots of testosterone, lots of alcohol (and probably other drug use, tho I don’t worry much about the stoners), and there’s always a chance for something to happen. Fights do break out from time to time. I’ve read news stories of people being knifed at shows. And we cannot forget about what happened to Dimebag Darrell. In my younger years I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about my safety at shows, but I’m older, wiser, more conservative, and so now I think about these things.

So last night having no idea how Stubb’s ran their show, I mostly disarmed. But I did what I could. Steel toed boots, not only good because drunks stumble and inevitably step on your toes but they’re useful for kicking. I wore a belt with a large buckle… no knife or anything hidden there, just would suck to get hit with it being swung around. And, I took my cane.

But the biggest thing? Mentality.

It’s about keeping aware of things (e.g. I stood with my back against a railing so it’d be difficult for someone to come up behind me, plus it was useful for leaning against when I got tired of standing for so long). It’s about watching the people. It’s about being aware of your surroundings, where are the exits, where’s cover, and so on.

And it’s about Always Being Cool.

However, I wish there was a way to know what I would be up against. Am I going to be frisked? It’d be nice to know that before I left the house. It’d be nice to know if a venue had particular policies, be it their own policy or something like 30.06 or 51% notification. It’d be nice to be able to be properly prepared. Granted, the mindset is you have to be cooler about things than usual because there are lots of people and you know a lot of people are just going to be alcohol-fueled so it’s even more reason to just be cool. And should someone get stupid, to just keep your cool and don’t take it personally and find other ways to deal with it.

Still, I can’t help but think about situations at shows where it did turn truly ugly. I just hope to not be around when that happens again.

If it fits, it ships

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

The US Postal Service has their flat rate Priority Mail service. You get a box for a flat rate, and if your stuff fits into that box it ships in that box for that flat rate.

I always wondered about that.

If I had a clump of feathers that fit in there, it’d cost the same as a clump of lead that fit in there. While the volume may be the same, the weight certainly is not. I wonder how much USPS’s price determinations take such things into account.

The Postman just stopped by my house. He needed help with my delivery because well… it weighed a lot.

I really wonder about that “clump of lead” part… because what I received was my shipment of 9mm 115 grain FMJ bullets from Precision Delta. 🙂  Lead indeed.

Never used PD bullets before, but without question they were inexpensive, especially when ordered in bulk. They seem to be well regarded and reviewed so hey… why not? Part of reloading is for the cost-savings. My 9mm recipe seemed to fair the same regardless of bullet used, so we should be good to go here.

We’ll see how it goes.

Going faster

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

The Rogers Shooting School is one of the top shooting schools in the nation.

Claude Werner used to be the chief instructor there.

Check out the description of the minimum required to attend their intermediate class:

Is for those who are experienced handgun shooters but have never been to the Rogers Shooting School. To qualify to take the Intermediate course a student must already possess the skill to be able to draw a center fire handgun from a concealed carry position or a duty type holster and reliably hit a man sized target at 10 yards in less than 1.5 seconds.

Not an unrealistic minimum, but certainly challenging. I ran some tests this past weekend and was hitting a 10″ (or could have been 12″) steel target at about 10 yards in 1.6-1.7 seconds. So I’m on the cusp. I know what I need to do to improve this, and I’m getting there. It’s a combination of 2 key things: 1. getting on the trigger sooner (currently working on this, but it’s not ingrained in my muscles yet), 2. seeing less but still seeing enough. In fact, I distinctly remember the first timed draw I did was 1.7 seconds. On the second draw I distinctly remember seeing less but still hitting the target. I’ll get there.

I dig Rogers’ philosophy. They strive to make you shoot faster on smaller targets, and from tougher situations like 1-handed shooting. Self-defense shooting isn’t easy to do, and they strive to work towards that end.

One cool thing? Claude has a YouTube channel that shows some of the Rogers tests. Sorry, can’t embed them here, but go watch, especially Test #7.