In this video Massad Ayoob shows the differences in 12 gauge and 20 gauge shotguns for home defense.  It may surprise you that the 20 gauge really doesn’t give up anything to its big brother.  If you have one of these in the closet, it would be ideal for a conversion like our SM-1 package.  Email for details.

This is a great time of year to do an evaluation of your equipment needs and allow Santa to bring you some of those things you have been putting off.  specifically, it may be time to get a new holster for your duty, backup or CCW gun.

One of the things that makes no sense to me is when you see a person with a $500 gun and a $5 holster.  When you decide to buy a holster consider the fact that it must serve your purpose well.  Whether that is to provide retention or to provide stability you should consider all your options.

Kydex has made the process a little easier because you can get a stable platform that functions well without breaking the bank.  I have several Kydex holsters I have been very pleased with.  Beware though, because not all Kydex is created equal.  You can feel the quality differences easily.

For CCW I like to have several options at my disposal.  I will often buy a Kydex paddle holster, leather belt holster and an inside the waist band holster for any gun that is going to get serious carry.  This allows me to choose what will work best.  As far as stability it is a belt holster.  As far as concealability it is inside the waist band.  If I am going to be in places that don’t permit the CCW that day the paddle holster works well.

If you haven’t thought about this lately, ask those special people in your life to help you out for Christmas by getting you some gear that will really work for you.  After all, you don’t want to be fooling around with the foam holster if you ever really need it.

It was bound to happen.  Trade your clunker fleece for a cool one.  For a limited time, Blackhawk! is allowing you to trade in your old fleece to get 50% off on a new fleece.  You can trade as many as you want, and they will even reimburse the shipping back to you.  It is definitely worth checking out if you have some old, ratty fleece lying around.  Just in time for Christmas.

If you have a gun safe, especially in an area that is not regulated by your heating and air system, you should invest in a simple dehumidifier to protect your investment.  Dehufmidifiers keep the temperature inside your safe to a constant level with no more energy than that of a small light bulb.  By doing so they will keep condensation from happening on your firearms, which as we know can cause terrible damage.

Most safes will have a knockout in the back, or a pre-drilled hole that only requires drilling through the fire-retardant material for installation.  Once you have installed the dehumidifier you simply plug it up, and you are finished.

I have been using the GoldenRod dehumidifiers for several years with no complaints.  They retail for about $20 so it isn’t a costly protection for what you get out of it.

To properly store your guns, give them a light film of oil from a cloth and store them out of cloth cases in the safe.  This will keep moisture from accumulating on your guns and should provide a rust free environment for storage.

This year has been a wonderful year for so many reasons.  We have seen more and more of you come to the website and participate with us.  The blog has been growing steadily which has provided much satisfaction.  Many of you are now first time gun owners as of last November.  All in all a good year.

As I look back on 2009, I am pleased that we have introduced a few new things to you this year like the Ruger SP101 conversion.  We are sometimes asked to do things just like this that have become so popular they just stay with us.

We have also tried hard to keep you in the loop with good information on a variety of topics that included many different product reviews.  I have been most interested to see all of your interest in the Taurus Judge.  Does this mean more and more of you are buying shotgun pistols, or are you just casually interested?

Well, here are some things to watch out for in the coming weeks and months as we get ready for 2010:

1. AR-15- there are some big things happening here with the AR-15 platform.  Things are falling into place after a 5 month process.  We love the platform, and think you will love what we will be offering.
2. More product reviews.  Woolrich has been so good to us this year.  They have consistently responded with product for us every single time we have asked for it.  Right now we have requested products from Blackhawk, 5.11, and Eotac for a tactical polo round up.  Hopefully we will have something for you soon.
3. New variations of the SM-1 package.  If you have an M-3 light, we have something cool for you.
4. More information on competitive shooting sports.
5. Finally, we are trying to work out the beginnings of Mossy Creek Training Academy, to begin offering the CCW permit for the State of TN.

Here is what we need from you: ideas, products to review and of course interesting projects.  The ideas can be about anything gun related.  The products to be reviewed can be sent to us anytime your company would like.  The interesting projects are always welcome.

You may remember that we profiled an application recently to help shooters determine critical information to making long distance shots using an iPhone or an iPod Touch.  We found another application today at the app store that might keep you out of trouble as you travel.

Utah Legal Heat is dedicated to providing information regarding the your CCW rights in the U.S.  This application cost $1.99 and provides information on reciprocity and prohibited places of carry.  They also rate each state based on their perception of firearm carry.

As usual, these things are not exhaustive (remember TN just had a pro CCW law struck down last month), but it will give you the basics for your needs.

I have been shooting more and more competitions this fall, and have decided that it might be time to start reloading again.  The volume of shooting makes you think that it might be cheaper to do this yourself, thereby allowing more time on target.  If you are a shooter that doesn’t shoot but a few boxes a year, reloading is not for you.  The time and expense of machinery will not yield a benefit to you.  However, you may decide you simply enjoy it, and the cost isn’t a real issue because you like having the hobby around you even when you aren’t shooting.  That is fine, but I thought I would run some real numbers to help you know if it might be time for you to start reloading.

The first thing to know is that one pound of powder has 7,000 grains in it.  This will help you determine how many loads you can get from one can of powder for your application.  In my case, I use Vhitavuori powders that cost about $30 a pound.  With my 9mm load I can get 2,121 rounds.  With 45 ACP I can get 1,400 rounds loaded.  So here is the breakdown.

9mm
Powder $.015
Primer  $.03
Bullet    $.056  Lead Bullets/Berry’s Plated bullet is $.07

Total      $.10 per round/$.12 with Berry’s

So you can see that the 9mm will cost around $10 per hundred if you are a brass scavenger and don’t have to pay for your brass.  I personally don’t buy brass for the 9mm or the 45 ACP, because you can normally find it at the range, or you can start by saving your brass from factory loaded rounds.

45 ACP
Powder $.02
Primer  $.022
Bullet    $.087 Lead bullet/Berry’s Plated Bullet $.12

Total     $.13 per round/$.16 with Berry’s

Once again $13 per hundred if you are a brass scavenger.  This represents quite a bit of savings for the person who will shoot several thousand rounds per year.  With 45 ACP going for about $40 per hundred it would be easy to save about $250 reloading with the Berry’s load.  This either puts money back in your pocket or lets you shoot around 1,500 more rounds per year for the same money as the person who doesn’t reload.

Whatever you decide, do the math.  You might find you could be saving some money or shooting more.

Many of you may not be familiar with the term “dry fire” if you are not from a competitive shooting background, but the benefits of this exercise go far beyond the competitive shooter.  I have used dry fire exercises for many years to work on things like drawing, presenting, and reloading my pistol for competitive purposes, but also as a Law Enforcement Officer to keep my skills as sharp as possible.  Another application that comes to mind are those of you who have just entered gun season for hunting.

Dry fire is where you practice aiming and taking the shot without any live rounds in the gun.  To do this, UNLOAD YOUR GUN, point it in a safe direction and start working on the fundamentals fo the type of shooting you will be doing.  I like to post a 3×5 card or something similar on the wall to have an aiming point.   If you are a hunter, you should try to replicate the firing stance you will have.  For instance, if you will be in a tree stand, sit in a chair, or if you will be stalking, shoot from standing or prone positions.

The results you will see will surprise you.  While it’s not the same as firing live rounds, it does work on the fundamentals.  Things like grip, breaking the shot, and reloading will all become fluid to you after dry fire practice.  So don’t wait to go to the range to get better, start getting better at home with dry fire practice.

Note:  One tool used in dry fire by many people are dummy rounds.  You can purchase these at many places, but here is a link to Brownell’s website.  Dummy rounds allow you to load and eject rounds without worrying about playing with real ammo, which is an absolute NO NO in dry fire practice.  Never load or have any ammo near you when you are dry firing.  That is an accident waiting to happen.  Only load up at the range or when you are in the woods ready to hunt.