Too many people are out their without a clue of what they are doing.  You can help by giving new shooters tips on safety.  If everyone would take someone under their wing it would make a big difference.  In this video the guy shooting is unfamiliar with a fully automatic Glock 18.  The accident that follows is crazy.

NY Daily News Photo

Trijicon has been a household name for many of you for a long time.  I have used their stuff for years, and until this week I was unaware they added a Bible Verse inscription to their scopes.  It has generated a lot of heat.  One commentator called it proselytizing.  I certainly think they are within their rights to do so, because they are a private company.  I guess more than anything this story cracks me up because it really doesn’t seem like it should be news.  They are great scopes, and you don’t have to buy from them if you don’t like their views.  There are plenty of companies I choose not to buy from because of their views, political and moral.

Here is the NY Daily News story and a picture they ran with it. By the way, John 8:12 says, “. . . I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” NIV

We recently did an SP101 package where we bobbed the hammer and converted it to Double Action Only.  There are a couple of reasons to do this:

1. Pocket carry is much easier because the draw motion is simplified.
2. No worry about the Single Action Mode.  The Double Action Trigger Job we do makes it really easy.  Besides, you aren’t going to have time to manually cock the gun.

We also chamfered the cylinder for easy reloading.  Add the XS Big dot sight and you have a great gun.  Check out the pictures below.

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.

Massad Ayoob is considered to be one of the leading trainers in the world.  He trains law enforcement and civilians, but what makes him different is that he can actually back up everything he says with his shooting.  In fact, he holds the master ranking in all 5 IDPA classes.  Since we have been getting so many revolver questions lately, we thought it might be helpful to see go over the best reloading techniques out there.  Hope this helps.

There exists a wide gulf in my house when it comes to the clothing that I wear.  My wife and I were headed out to dinner Friday night with some family members.  We weren’t going to go anywhere out of the ordinary, and it wasn’t designed to be a really nice dinner either.  Something along the lines of O’Charley’s or Applebees.

As we got ready to leave I heard the dreaded phrase . . “are you wearing those pants?”  I have a little bit of a cynical side, so I really wanted to say, “Actually this is a figment of your imagination,” but I showed restraint.  What she was alluding to were the pair of Woolrich Elite Series Discreet Pants pictured below.

I replied that I wasn’t wearing tactical pants.  Notice that there are no pockets for knives, AR Magazines, medic kits, or any of the other cool things that you might normally find on a good pair of tacticals.  However, my wife pointed out that regular khakis don’t have a key ring sewn onto the front belt loop, and that the back pockets are normally not cut in a wierd shape.

I started to argue, but then thought better of it, because she was right. Which leads me to this.  Why not offer the Discreet Pant that is actually discreet?  5.11 doesn’t offer one, Woolrich comes close, but in the end they are simply tactical pants.  I love these pants, but they could be a little more refined with the subtraction of the two things my wife mentioned.  I’m not looking for Polo chinos, but something in between would be perfect.  Who knows, maybe they will design a pant like that and call it the MCC pant, and you can all say you heard it first.

As I am sure you know, the weather affects many things in shooting.  A cartridge left in the sun during the summer will build pressure adding another variable to the shot.  This is why so many precision shooters keep dope books (not that kind, dope means information in the shooting world) for every rifle that they have.  They want to know what bullet is going to do on a cold bore or a rifle that hasn’t been fired.

Now that the weather is getting colder you need to make sure you know how your weapons systems will respond.  It is good to test your ammo again.  It might be important to test your lubrication methods.  I have a friend in Alaska who generally uses a dry lube because about this time of year it starts getting seriously cold.

Cold weather also may mean gloves for those of you behind the shield.  I always wore a Kevlar glove to prevent sticks.  I can’t over state the fact that you need to practice with the gloves on.  Make sure they give you enough dexterity to operate your weapon.

Finally, the cold weather brings out jackets which make your CCW options exponential.  I guess for many this is the most wonderful time of the year!

Several years ago I purchased Combat Handugnnery by Chuck Taylor.  It covered the basics of choosing a handgun, shooting, defensive tactics, and how to properly choose a CCW system.  A new updated edition of the book, written by Massad Ayoob is now available from Krause Publications.  Ayoob is the founder of Lethal Force Institute, and is widely respected in the firearms industry as solid teacher and expert witness.

The updated version of the book is a great read, and can be found in most major bookstores.  If you are new to handguns or considering expanding your knowledge on their use you should check out the book.  Ayoob covers everything from the basics to CCW and Open Carry.  You will definitely enjoy the read and be better becuase of it.