Texas Readers-

Aaron at Weapon Blog is asking you contact your elected officials regarding HB 2756 (Open Carry).

For the Ladies

As a brother and a fan of ladies in general, I'd like to see them stick around.

Shooting Diva's has released a free pdf download of the Diva Defense Guide.  It's a great little primer on where to start, and packed full of useful tips.

Pass it along to the important women in your life.

M&P40 Review

From Robb Allen over at Guns, Holsters, and Gear.  It looks like Robb drank the Kool-Aid, and found it quite tasty.  More than a few chuckles, and a great review of a popular product.

His findings are pretty much right on line with what I've found with my M&P9, although I haven't had any issues with the sights (mine has night sights) and I have the thumb rests (er, "external safeties") to prevent me from inducing a slide lock failure (the key reason for switching from the SP2022 to the M&P.)

I should be slightly offended by how he describes the grip sizes though... I use the  ‘Wow, can you palm a basketball with those meat-hooks?’ size, but my hands aren't that big... just my palms.  My fingers aren't that long, but the added bulk of the Large grip fills my palm nicely (much like the arched mainspring housing on 1911s.)

Heh.

The girl mentioned last time she went in to her credit union, the first thing she noticed was the "No Firearms" sign on the door.  (UW Credit Union... typical "icky guns" syndrome from University people I assume.)  The corruption, er conversion, is coming along nicely.

(In all fairness, we'll be going to two Brewer's games this weekend.  I've never really gotten into organized team sports before, but it's fun to watch her get excited, so I'm playing along.  It's starting to grow on me.)

Hmm... Not in the "Big" News Sources...

 Apparently this happened earlier today-

Almurisi, described as a burly man, emerged from a bathroom in the back of the plane and "walked briskly" toward the front, where he began yelling unintelligibly and pounding on the cockpit door, police and witnesses said.

 "He was walking very fast all the way up to the front," said Angelina Marty, 35, of San Francisco, a passenger on the plane. "He kept walking faster and faster and faster. He was screaming something, and the lady in the row across from me who had spoken Arabic said, 'That's Arabic,' and she had translated it and said it was roughly, 'God is great.' "

(bold added for emphasis)

Ah, good old political correctness.  I guess printing "Allahu Akbar" would just be in poor taste.

At least it sounds like everything worked out, although I wonder how long it'll be before we hear he was on the "no fly list," yet they let him on the plane to help "build the case..."

New Shooters

A couple blurbs involving novice shooters.  One blogger takes a frightened novice out and conquers her fear, and a neuroscientist takes a reporter out shooting simply because everybody should do it.

He doesn't hunt. Rifle practice is just another way to mentor his students. "I try to teach them about life," he says. "How to shoot a gun is something you hope you never need. But, whatever one feels about gun ownership, everyone should know how to use one."

Sounds good to me.

(h/t Unc)

75k

Neat.

Sure, they didn't stick around long, but it's still pretty cool.

3rd(?) Annual "Balls Am I Out of Shape" Ride

It's never a long one, but it's always an eye opener.  It's also not an official anything, simply the first time each year I manage to make it out to one of my choice single tracks and thrash my own body senseless.  I only rode for about a half hour today before calling it quits since it's going to be getting dark soon.

On the upside, one of those single tracks is a mere half a mile from my new apartment.  I will be taking advantage of that as much as humanly possible this summer, now that it's actually looking like spring around here.  The downside is that it's on a small island in the Wisconsin River.  Most of the trail was underwater last month, and it's still pretty soggy (actually there's a few spots where it's always wet...)

Apparently my current tires, some Specialized Sport Tracks, are the suck when it comes to the Island's sticky mud.

Traction is lacking when your treads are that clogged.  May have to look into that...

On the upside, despite being muddy and bruised (and maybe bloody... hard to tell under the mud...) I'm pretty darn happy, even if feeling like a giant sack of lard.

Just enough time to shower, eat something, and report in for the night shift...

Squee!

That is all.

Minotaur ITW Mag Pouch

The other day I mentioned I had found a new mag carrying solution.  Here in Wisconsin, where concealed carry is forbidden, Open Carry is the only way to go about being properly prepared.  Thankfully, this only applies to the gun itself, and spare ammo can be carried any way you see fit.  For the most part I've been carrying my spare magazine in some sort of OTW (outside the waistband) pouch, either a Raven Concealment pouch, or a Galco mag holder.

I decided I wanted to cut down on the amount of "outside" stuff I use for daily carry, since quite often I remove my holster because I can't bring my gun somewhere.  Also I'm starting to stock up on more CCW friendly equipment (I'm an optimist.)  I'd heard good things about Comp-Tac, and was looking at stuff on their site one day, and found the Minotaur IWB Mag holder, and decided to give it a go.

I decided to go with the "c-clip" option, and got it in a natural finish.  I'm a sweaty guy when the weather gets warm, and don't want dye seeping into my clothing, plus the natural shade of leather is quite appealing.

The ordering process was quite painless, and Comp-Tac sent emails at every step of the process.  Production time is only a couple days, a welcome change from Raven, and the pouch was in my hands within a week of ordering.

The pouch itself if very well made.  Clean and straight stitching, even color, and a smooth feel.

This is by far the most comfortable magazine pouch I've ever used.  The leather comes up high enough to keep the magazine from digging into you, but is short enough that it doesn't interfere with drawing the magazine.  It conceals quite well, the girlfriend didn't even know it was there until I mentioned it.  The c-clip is nice, as it's unobtrusive on the belt-line, and on my belt I can remove the pouch without taking said belt off.  It provides plenty of support for a fully loaded 17 round M&P mag with 124gr loads.

The only problem I've had with the pouch is that with the single belt loop it has a tendency to rotate forward a bit.  It never goes so far as to dump the mag out or let it drop below my waistline however.

Overall I'm very pleased with this pouch.  Now hopefully the people down in Madison hurry things up and I have an excuse to try out some of Minotaur's IWB holsters.

Stats Show More Women Buying Guns

"I feel more independent, more safe, more of a stronger woman," Powers-Spurlock told Nashville's News 2.  "Never again am I going to ever let any man run me over like that."

Despite what Eric Heyl has to say on the subject.

There's a reason the Colt of old was known as "The Great Equilizer."

Charges Dropped Against Madison 5

For immediate release: 

Last fall five Wisconsin Carry members were peacefully enjoying dinner at a Madison area Culvers restaurant. Like thousands of Wisconsin residents, they carry a sidearm for self-defense as a daily practice in the only manner currently provided by Wisconsin law. After a 911 caller inquired as to the legality of open-carry, Madison police arrived en masse and illegally demanded identification from all five. Two members who politely declined to provide ID were wrongfully cited for obstruction of justice. (Wisconsin, a free state, does not require you produce identification when you have done nothing wrong.) Those citations were rescinded 2 days later and all 5 were mailed citations for disorderly conduct despite no evidence of a disturbance. Details of that initial incident are available on Wisconsin Carry's websitewww.wisconsincarry.org. Click on the "Sept. 23rd 2010" blog heading for details including the audio of the 911 call. 

Wisconsin Carry filed a federal civil lawsuit against the City of Madison and Police Chief Noble Wray on September 29, 2010. That lawsuit can be viewed here: http://www.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/Ma...nComplaint.pdf

Wisconsin Carry also retained, on behalf of our members, notable defense attorney Chris Van Wagner, principal of the Madison law firm Van Wagner & Wood http://www.vanwagnerwood.com/ to contest the wrongfully issued disorderly conduct citations. 

Today, Wisconsin Carry is pleased to announce that Attorney Van Wagner has informed us that all of the charges against the "Madison 5" have been dismissed. According to Attorney Van Wagner "The Madison City Attorney agreed after a full review of the police investigation and 911 call that there was absolutely no disturbance created by our members and that the disorderly conduct citations were inappropriate". Van Wagner also added that "The ONLY disturbance created on that Saturday evening was by a mass of uniformed Madison police officers and squads arriving to investigate law-abiding citizens having dinner" 

Questions about this incident and subsequent actions by Wisconsin Carry and our attorney may be directed to Wisconsin Carry or Attorney Chris Van Wagner. Wisconsin Carry will shortly be filing a second civil lawsuit against Madison Police Chief Noble Wray and the City of Madison to obtain damages on behalf of our members for their wrongful detainment and costs associated with disposing of the citations. 

Wisconsin Carry, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the ability of law-abiding Wisconsin residents to legally carry in the manner of their choosing (open or concealed). 

Carry On, 
Nik Clark Chairman/President - Wisconsin Carry, Inc. nik@wisconsincarry.org www.wisconsincarry.org

 (bold emphasis mine)

This is good news indeed.

Yet More Mystery Bird

Gear Scout has it on pretty good authority that the crashed helicopter (mentioned here and here) was a modded and kitted out MH60.

WI Constitutional Carry Bill!

It has been authored and introduced for co-sponsors.  WCI says the following-

Greetings in Freedon:
Today the authoring was completed on Constitutional Carry legislation in Wisconsin from Senator Pam Galloway and Rep Jeff Mursau.
Here is the bill that has been authored.  The bill has not yet been assigned a number, it is being circulated for CO-SPONSORS.
www.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/bills/LRB-11-2007-1.pdf
Please contact your legislators TODAY and ask them to CO-SPONSOR the constitutional carry proposed legislation.  (I believe you can reference it by the Legislative Reference Bureau number: LRB−2007/1)
TODAY THERE WAS ALSO 2 shall-issue permit type legislation bills authored today and circulated.
These alternative bills have a myriad of fee's and other mandates to go along with them.
Here are those bills:
www.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/bills/LRB-11-2027-1.pdfwww.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/bills/LRB-11-2033-1.pdf
PLEASE contact your legislators today and ask them to support constitutional carry for Wisconsin.  Your right to carry doesn't require taxes/permits/fee's/registration/government mandated training class, etc.
Its interesting to note that the constitutional carry bill is 19 pages.  The other 2 bills which create a massive amount of new legislation/requirements/fee's/fines/permits/registration, etc are THREE TIMES as long.  Freedom really is less complex than more government isn't it?
Carry On,
Nik ClarkChairman/President - Wisconsin Carry, Inc.nik@wisconsincarry.orgwww.wisconsincarry.orgwww.youtube.com/wisconsincarrywww.twitter.com/wisconsincarryhttp://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=340160200214

That last paragraph got me.  All too true.

Overall, it's about dang time this has been introduced.  Key points of the Constitutional Carry Bill include altering and repealing the (in my opinion) unconstitutional vehicle transport restrictions, as well as altering numerous state statutes to the point that "gun" and "firearm" do not mean "handgun" (this should keep the DNR people happy with their anti-poaching mindset (the reason for the poor vehicle transport law in the first place.))  It also fixes the 1,000 foot school zone law.

More Whirly Bird Stuff

Just to add to the conspiracy fun, there's a growing thread on ARFCOM in regards to the mystery tail I mentioned yesterday.

Lots of speculation and the usual ARFCOM stupidity abounds, but there's a couple mock-ups of what it could have looked like.


3D rendering of the object in the photo






















































There's also a possibility it was part of a Paki bird that got too close to the action.  If it is in fact a new stealthy chopper, I doubt we'll get the full story for years.  Still interesting stuff.

Ahh...

As a stark counterpoint to yesterday's snow, it's currently 57 degrees and climbing, and feels warmer due to the completely clear sky and bright sun.  It nice to enjoy driving around aimlessly in the work car with the windows down for the first time since October (it's also great to enjoy a daytime shift after a month of nights...)  Thankfully I'm done at 3, so bike riding shall occur before it gets cold and dank again tomorrow.

Also on a more positive note, tomorrow looks to be the last night with below 40 degree temps at night, at least for the foreseeable future.  This is important so the water in the small lakes around here can warm up.  Last Friday the girl and I went up to Gander Mountain and ended up driving back with something on top of my car...

It was on sale well below her budget, and I'm all sorts of jealous, since it's 10 times nicer than my little boat.  (Although I can't complain too much... mine was free after all.)

It's looking to be a fun summer... assuming it ever gets here.

OC Works

"I was observing the yoot as he followed us. He was close to bad breath distance, and observed Unc's openly carried Glock 30. He then noticed my Smith & Wesson J-frame, also openly carried, and that's when he veered off sharply and started walking at a pace that could be described as "brisk", except that the rate at which he left us would make "brisk" seem like a slow amble..."

It's not just a political statement.

MHI TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Larry's sold the rights for MHI to be made into a TV show!

New Black Chopper?

Defense Tech raises the question and has some photos of the alleged wreckage of the bird that "had a hard landing" during the raid and had to be destroyed in place.

Here's what's believed to be the tail rotor-

I like helicopters, and pay a bit of attention to them.  I can't think of a single bird that has a tail like that.

It seems the two best guesses are a new MH-60 variant that's heavily stealthed, which would help explain how we penetrated Pakistani airspace (the "Beast of Kandahar" may have also helped there...)  The other option is a whole new secret airframe.  I'm leaning towards the first, as the first photo that came out looks very much like an MH-60 tail section hanging over the wall.

Interesting stuff...

Seriously?

Mother Nature? Snow? In May?

Walther P22

I took some photos of mine and posted them yesterday.  Now that I go back and look, I realize just how beat up that poor little gun is, and it's simply amazing that it's still running.

I purchased that piece in spring 2006.  I was at Gander Mountain with Dad waiting for him to do the paperwork for a little Ruger .22lr pistol all of us children had pitched in to get him for Father's Day, and the little Walther caught my eye, and felt good for such a tiny gun.  I often joked it was so cute it followed me home.

Since then I have come to despise the plastic sights (seriously, there's no hope in Hell of it holding a zero, the rear stripped out years ago, and the front one pops out if you look at it crosseyed... at least it did until I super-glued it in place.)  The slide wear from the trigger bar and slide stop on the usual spots, and I'm amazed it hasn't cracked in half yet.  It's often just tossed in the top of my range bag going to and from the range, or in a pocket on one of the tacticool rifle cases, so the finish is beat to snot, and the polymer frame is knicked and chewed up all over the place.

It often fails to strip the next round from the mag, and the slide locks back on an empty mag about 40% of the time.  However I clean the thing about as often as I change the oil in my car, that is to say maybe every 3,000 rounds; and even then it still cycles about 90% off of random bulk .22lr.  That's simply amazing for a semi-auto .22lr anything.

I could probably count the number of range trips the little thing hasn't come on with a single hand, and I couldn't even begin to guess how many people have shot that very pistol as their first pistol ever.  It's also taken a handful of rats from my grandpa's scrap pile (probably the best snap-shooting practice I've ever had.)

But even though it's pretty rough and blooded, it's still kind of cute after all these years.  Now if somebody would just make decent aftermarket sights...

P22

Apex Tactical J-frame Kits

Looks like the myth of the ".38 snubby beast from Hell" is slowly being chipped away.  Caleb reports Apex Tactical announced a drop in trigger kit to smooth out the little gun's pull-

This thing completely changed the dynamic of the pull on the J-frame, instead of being super heavy and stacking towards the rear, it just rolled straight through with a clean, easy break.  It was much more like the trigger on my tuned up 625 than any J-frame trigger I’ve ever seen.

Word is they were selling them for $20 at the NRA show, I'd watch for them soon on Apex's site.  If it's anything like their M&P parts, it'll be a no-brainer to drop this into your J-frame.

ETA: Apex Press Release

Good Riddance

Source

So after a short night's sleep (for some reason I was a bit keyed up after my shift ended at 11...) and some time for reflection on last nights announcement, I'm still giddy as a school boy with a new BMX.

The big thing; a strong reminder to the bad guys that these sheepdogs don't back off.  We get your scent, you're going down.  It may be a few years, but we don't back down.  I can only hope there's some guys holed up in caves losing even more sleep now.

The big thing in my mind, assuming it's really truly him, is what's going to happen with Pakistan.  As just about everyone with an ounce of sense has been saying, there's not a snowballs chance in Hell they didn't know he was there at some level.  If you needed more proof that Pakistan's military's got issues:  This. Is. It.  Combine that with the knowledge that he was in a relative mansion, not cramped up in some dank cave, and I know I'm less than happy with Pakistan at the moment.

I also wonder how much notice we gave them about going in, and how much "asking" for permission there was compared to just telling them.  Perhaps the prior point weighed heavily on that decision.  "You dun' effed up, and we're gonna fix it.  So sit down and shut up."

Tactically, this doesn't change a thing.  He'd been so busy hiding and so far removed that he was no longer in the approximation of a chain of command they operate with.  It is, however, a massive psychological blow to Al Qaeda, and just as massive of a morale boost to our guys and gals if facebook statuses are anything to judge from.  Just like I told Cro, keep your heads up (and don't party too much!)

Bin Laden Dead?

(Just going to update this post for now...)

Just breaking... damn I hope it's true.

BBC, Fox...

Waiting for a press conference from the Pres...

Appears that he was killed outside of Islamabad, located through the use of good human intelligence, and was nailed in a drone strike a CIA(?) moved in and got into a firefight, killed him, and secured the body.  The body is in our hands and DNA has been confirmed....

LA Times is calling it a "CIA-led operation"...

Pres is saying it wasn't a drone strike, but face to face firefight, no losses on our side.  Ballsy... I mean admitting that we sent guys in... that could be interesting in the long run.  No casualties on our side.

If that team is ever in Central Wisconsin, I'll gladly buy them a round or 3...

I'm going to go celebrate a little before bed... expect more tomorrow.

Seems People Don't Forget Some Things

Like stupid PR moves.

Sorry, can't come in to work...

Trapped under a fierce tiger, I don't dare wake him.

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Just Days Away...

From a new Smith & Wesson, and it's probably not what anybody thinks.

S&W M&P22

It's up on the S&W site, msrp $419.

It's go to know a price.  Hopefully I'll be picking one up this summer.

Is the 9mm THE Round?

That's the question over at The Truth About Guns.  The super-compact 9mm is quickly eclipsing the tiny .380 for the small CCW piece, and I tend to agree with the idea.  If you can make something controllable and reliable at a similar size in a "real" caliber, fantastic.

So, is the 9mm the round?  And I'm not talking just for tiny CCW guns, I'm talking for the "go-to" carry round.

My daily carry piece is a full size Smith & Wesson M&P9.  One of the reasons I went with the M&P is that the two largest law enforcement agencies in the county where I live (both the city police dept, and the county Sheriff's Office) carry M&Ps.  However, they both carry .40S&W models, and I still stuck with the 9.

Why?  The .40 has proven to be a great fight stopper, one of the City boys put two into a goblin's center mass a couple years back and he was done before they even got to the hospital.  (This was after he'd be tazed a couple times, yanked the leads out, and been OC sprayed.  Also had a known violent background, especially against LEOs.)  So why did I go with 9mm Parabellum?

There a couple reasons.  The first, availability.  9x19mm is the single most common handgun cartridge in the world by some accounts.  Just about anybody that carries pistol ammo carries 9mm.  To go along with this, 9mm is also noticeably cheaper than .40S&W, .40's pushing close to .45acp in price.  I figure if I'm going to pay .45 prices, I may as well shoot .45.  But I like to practice, so paying 2/3 the price for standard ball is going to win me over any day.  9x19mm is still the cheapest centerfire ammo I know of.  It's pretty well agreed that shot placement trumps bullet type every time.  More practice equals better shooting, and more consistent shot placement.  Price is important.

The constant criticism of the 9mm comes from stories on the frontlines.  Soldiers apparently regularly shoot tiny middle-easterners (really, they're little guys) with a full mag, only to watch them shrug them off like mosquitoes and keep coming.  While I don't doubt this may have happened with a highly motivated and drugged up insurgent, I don't think the fault lies solely in the diameter of the bullet.

The US military has long limited themselves to FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) loads of 115 grains 124gr loaded to +P speeds.  This load tends to go really fast, and the fully jacketed ball does not expand.  Even if it slightly deforms it will be prone to over-penetration, and a bullet that goes through your target and continues downrange is just wasted energy.

I regularly shoot 115 gr. FMJ at the range.  It's cheap and plentiful, and doesn't beat the shooter up.  But when I leave the range, I switch back to 124 gr. JHP (Jacketed Hollow Points.)  You can get 9mm loaded all the way up to 147 grain, but I like the 124 grain for the balance between mass and velocity.  The 124s tend to travel faster, which can aid in more consistent expansion, which is the entire concept of hollow points.  In my M&P, I can carry 17+1 of them (I always just carry 17 though due to WI's stupid laws.)  If I can't take care of it with 34 rounds of that, I done screwed up.  The data I can find for the rounds I have show a regular penetration of about 12" and expansion to over half an inch.  I feel pretty confident in that.

So do I think 9x19 is the be-all-end-all of handgun cartridges?  Maybe, but something better could always come along, and it may not fit your exact needs.  Most importantly though, I trust it.  I don't feel under armed when I'm carrying my gun (well, I'm much more comfortable with a rifle, but that's another matter.)  It may not work for you, but it works just fine for me.