Awesome Thought of the Day

So talk of Mk19s against zombies lead to the mention that it's not the ones without a top half you need to worry about, but the ones with no bottom half.  They're down there crawling around on the ground, under all the regular Roamers, and next thing you know, biting your ankles. (Did I mention my girlfriend's pretty awesome?)

So the light bulb came on, and now these have been added to the anti-zed needs list.

CMMG Ambi AR Upper

Packed full of modularity-

Target price of $135 including two panels.  Very unique concept, I hope it works out well.

Canucks Makin' Coffee in A-Stan

Harsh Language Warning*

More SA-20

Mossberg has them listed on their site, MSRP $510, and 1.5lbs lighter than the 930 SPX.  My only complaint is the 20" cylinder bore barrel; I'd rather have it either minimum legal length(HD) or threaded for chokes (comp).

However I still think it'd make for a great novice gun for smaller shooters (ladies feel free to weigh in on that!)

Mossberg Tactical Semi 20ga

I love my big 930 for blasting, but I also highly respect the 20 gauge with the right load, especially for smaller shooters who may be more recoil sensitive or have issues with the weight of a full size 12ga (the G&C 930 beastly gun is, well, beastly.)  The little 20ga 870 I snagged not too long ago has quickly won a close place in my heart, not only for being so darned cute, but for being such a lightweight and handy little gun.  I also feel a semi-auto shotgun are a good idea for home defense, especially for those less prone to actually practice.

So I'm pretty excited to see that Mossberg is going to be offering a "home defense" version of their SA-20 semi-auto 20ga shotgun.

My only complaint, offhand, is that they've got 20" barrels. I'd prefer the shortest legal length for a house gun.  However, ghost ring sights, optic rail, and light ready tri-rail up front are perfect ideas.  I'm going to have to keep my eye out for one of these.

Jit-t-t-t-t-t-t-ery

I'm in the middle of a stretch of overnights at work, and it can be a rough time.  Tonight I brought along my Bailetti Mocha Express and some cheap, but strong, fine ground beans; and filled up my nice leak proof cup with about 10 ounces of espresso and 6 ounces of hot water to concoct some insanely strong coffee like substance, or my "Americano from Hell."  The upside is I'm not feeling like I'm about to crash into a brick wall at 30mph (which would probably anger my boss...) but at the moment I think my eyeballs are vibrating.  I do need to get some quality espresso beans though.  Might have to try some of this stuff.

First Timers

Noticed a couple blog posts around the intertubes regarding first time shooters, and more importantly, how much fun they had.

It's no stretch to say that introducing new people to the shooting community is by far the most fun I ever have at the range (and that's coming from somebody who's spent quality time with Ma Duece and a full can of government funded ammo...)  The overwhelming sense of accomplishment in helping show that guns are fun, and not scary, helping someone gain the self confidence and empowerment of an effective means of self defense, and, most rewarding, that giant ear-to-ear grin that comes after that first shot with a serious gun.  All fantastic feelings.

I think I'm overdue for taking some newbies out to the range...

Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911

100 years ago today, the US Army adopted JMB's .45 caliber automatic pistol as the standard sidearm for it's soldiers.

The M1911 has since evolved, however the basic design remains one of the most (if not the most) pistols in use today.  Not too many other designs can claim that sort of a following (and the bulk of the ones I can think of are JMB designs of some sort...)

Not much else to say that hasn't already been said about it, so I'll just toss up some 1911 porn from the blog archives.

Rip Shears

Saw these over on SSD, it's a seatbelt cutter that attaches to a pair of EMT shears-

Solidly in the "why the hell didn't I think of that?" category.

It just really caught my eye since I'm trying to figure out a good way to pack all the crap into this new fangled CLS bag the army issued me, including two pairs of those type of shears and a separate Benchmade safety knife.  It would be pretty nice to just have one of those attached to the pair in the front tear-away pocket on the bag...

Taurus Conversions on the Horizon?

A little tidbit of info from Guns, Holsters, and Gear:

"Although Morrison said he would not reveal any of the new products, later while he was talking about ammo price increases, he made mention of being able to shoot .22 LR ammunition in Taurus pistols with the same trigger pull, etc."

I don't have any Taurus handguns, but I think the idea of a .22lr conversion kit is a good one.

"The First Avenger"

Looks better than I expected.

300 BLK Barrels

In 9" and 16" AR and 16" Remington 700 flavors.

Possibly the Coolest Stage Ever...

That just looks like way too much fun.

Looks like fun.

Icey mountian climbing with Surefire suppressors.

Colorado Senate Shoots Down Constitutional Carry.

Better luck next time boys, don't give up!

Don't try this at home.

Surefire Hi-cap mag (x5) and a slightly modded M4 (heavy barrel and non-standard gas tube.)


A regular gas tube would melt into a pile of molten goop after that.

Surefire has done some mods to the design to hopefully get better reliability in more ARs (they were originally designed around Colt M4s.)  Unfortunatly this means the release date is pushed back to the end of June.

(h/t Gear Scout)

Tiny Sniper Rifle

is Tiny.

It's popped up in a few places around the blogosphere this morning, but it's too cool not to mention.  I mainly like it because my Dark Heresy character has the 40k equivalent.  (Started with a "Roth Pattern Lasgun," which is a bullpup, and payed the Thrones to have it upgraded to a Long-las.  Yes, I'm a geek.)

Bore Snakes

On sale at Amazon.  I tend to keep a couple of the major calibers in my range bag, and .223 type ones on board my ARs (plenty of room in an A2 stock, and the Magpul ACS stock has just enough room to cram one in.)  It's nice for blasting a little CLP down the bore and following up with the snake.

Weather...

Freezing rain, sleet, and lighting so close it scrambled the radio in my car on the way home.  I had to chip off at least a quarter inch of ice on the windshield just so I could get going, and thankfully I made it home before it got too covered again (the wipers are still under about an inch...) And I have to work at 7am.  Welcome to spring in Wisconsin.

Tactical Tailor Mini-MAV

A while back I was looking for a small rig to carry a few AR mags and a couple handgun mags.  Nothing complex, just a way to carry ammo and avoid the gear overload a full out load bearing vest can generate.  A good chest rig.

A while back I snagged a Chinese AK chest rig for under $10.

It's the best photo I can find... but it's a rather ubiquitous item.

It's a great set-up, in theory.  Three 30 round AK mags, and four grenade pouches.  I don't regularly carry grenades, so those pouches are usually empty though (except when I dressed up as an Afghan for Halloween. Then they were great for my wallet and cell... Man-Jammies don't have pockets...)

Most importantly, it's simple, and hold just enough for a quick response scenario.  I actually tend to keep it in the trunk of my car, as a WASR makes a great trunk gun.  My only complaint is that there's no way of swapping out at least a couple of the grenade pouches for a couple pistol mag holders of some sort without extensive modification of the rig (OK, not that extensive, but not MOLLE convenient.)

So I decided that I wanted a small rig for 3-4 AR mags, in single holders (ever try going prone with double pouches?) and at minimum, one spare double-stack 9mm mag.  MOLLE is great, since modularity is dang nice, and if I were to switch from an AR to something else, I would only need to swap pouches instead of the whole rig.

So I poked around the ol' interwebs, and in a mildly round-about way, came to the Tactical Tailor's web store.  Tactical Tailor was not a new name to me, and I doubt to many others.  They've built up a good reputation for putting out quality American made gear, and backing that gear with great service.

What was new to me was their "Mini-MAV" chest rig platform.  A simple MOLLE platform slightly smaller than the trusty Chinese rig, but sporting a ton of improvements.  So I ordered me up some Multicam goodness and looked forward to the brown truck of happiness dropping it off in a couple weeks.

First impressions are everything, and the Mini-MAV did not disappoint.  Read more after the jump-

Happy Spring!

My state missed the memo...

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Mosin Nagant KB

Looks to be a fault in the metallurgy in the receiver.  Shooter's fine.

Wish in One Hand...

Despite how much you hope, there don't seem to be magic elves that are nice enough to come edit photos for you while you're sleeping.

Went and Screwed With "Perfection"

Apparently the new generation of Glock pistol has some bugs.

Never thought of it that way...

Charging money for a CCW permit is akin to a "coat tax."

Agreed

As Uncle says, the "correction chart" target is always worth mentioning.

"Snort!"

Hey, CNN, since this war was half your idea in the first place, can't you at least go 72 hours before switching sides?

So glad I didn't have a mouthful of coffee at that point...

Shiny!*

Apparently Raven Concealment Systems have made some improvements since my last order.

First impressions - the profile of the M&P makes for a much more secure feel to the holster than the Sig (more bits on the left side of the gun to provide texture) and the soft loops are a massive improvement over the "paddle clips" of old.

I'll get some more pictures and more words in the next couple weeks at some time, but to sum it up, at first impression, the wait was well worth it.

*Been watching a bit of Firefly as of late...

1911 the Official Utah State Firearm

Until this week, Utah had 24 state symbols, from tree (the blue spruce) to insect (the honeybee) to even cooking pot (the Dutch oven).  Now it's added an official state firearm -- the John M. Browning-designed M1911 pistol, becoming the first state in the nation to have one, according to the state legislator who sponsored the law.  Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed the new symbol into law this week.

"Always Have a Knife"

Robb Allen is finally learning the lesson my Grandfather taught me nearly 20 years ago, the title of this post.  I can forget my phone or wallet at home, and it's a mild inconvenience, but I feel naked if I don't have my pocket knife.  Needless to say, I hate flying (how am I supposed to open the dang peanuts!)

There's just too many reasons to carry a good pocket knife.