Kydex Part II

Fobus Holster and Mag Holder

(part of my Kydex-type review series)
My first foray into kydex, er plastic, just like many out there I'd expect.  Fobus pretty much defined the plastic gun holder genre.  Made of injection molded plastic, their stuff is affordable ($20 neighborhood) and is very durable.  The standard setup comes in either paddle or belt loop variety, and uses simple passive retention.  The holster is molded to the contours of the gun, and has primarily grips the front of the trigger guard.  It has a slight forward cant, which I like (some may not).  There is an adjustable roto version available for a bit more.  Overall it has an even matte finish, and only comes in black as far as I know.

The paddle is pretty comfortable, and is secure, although it could be a little shorter.  It's textured on the front, and has a thin rubber coating on the inside to keep it from moving around.

The holster snuggles up to your body pretty well, and carries the gun pretty well.

The draw is smooth, the inside is mostly slick(more on that in a second) and has a nice wide sight track, and reholstering is not much of a problem, the inside half of the holster is slightly flared at the top helping to funnel the gun into the holster.  The holster grips the gun pretty well when it's inside, it's difficult to actually pull the gun out if the holster's not on your belt, and it tends to bind up if the gun is not pulled straight out, aiding in retention.  The mag holder could be a little tighter for my tastes for the single stacks though (no experience with their double stack holders.)

The downsides of it are of course the lack of any active retention (may or may not be a big deal for you) and, at least on the 1911 holster, due to the "one size fits as much as possible" way they're made, the front end of the gun, including the front sight, is exposed on a full size 5" barreled 1911 since the holster's made for 4" or 5" guns.  Fobus holsters are also known to mar the finish on some guns, like my Kimber for example:

It turns out the model number is molded on the inside of both halves of the holster.  I don't know if Fobus has gotten around to doing anything about it, seeing as it's a pretty well known problem in the gun community, but I picked mine up three or four years ago.  I also have one for my Walther P22, but the finish on that gun is holding up just fine.

Overall, I'm not disappointed with the Fobus goods.  They're fantastic for their price, and make great range holsters if nothing else, let alone as a spare just incase your primary holster goes down for whatever reason.


Part III - Blackhawk! Serpa
Part IV - Raven Concealment Systems
Part V - Conclussions

Kydex Comparisons and Reviews!

Part I
Well, Kydex like... equal parts plastic, carbon fiber, and kydex to be specific.  Anyway, They are just around the corner.  I just shot a bunch of picks, and will be shortly putting up some reviews and comparisons of the three big name kydex holsters and pouches I've used over the last few years.

I'm gonna cover the standard Fobus, Blackhawk! Serpa, and Raven Concealment options, as well as mag holders from the same.

I'm not going to get much into the concealment aspects of them however, since I live in the great state of Wisconsin and that sort of thing is forbidden and I don't have any experience dealing with it.  However I have used all three for open carry as well as range time.

You'll possibly notice that all the options are sporting the paddle option available for each maker, something also due to my location, since I am frequently removing the holster to go to class or other places I can't carry. I'll be going over the ups and downs of each makers paddle design.

Kydex vs. Leather
Of course one of the biggest thing that comes up when looking at a kydex rig is why should I go with kydex and not leather?
It's a pretty good question.  Leather has traditionally been the top holster material, being very rugged, yet good looking.  A properly fitted leather holster will snuggly support and protect your gun wonderfully.  Plus they look great.
What's the downside? Well made leather holsters are expensive.  There's a lot of work involved in making a nice leather rig, soaking and forming, shaping and tooling, gluing and sewing... a good leather holster that fits your gun nicely is going to be essentially a custom job.
Leather also needs to be cared for.  It can get dried out and crack, or being an organic material, can start to rot.  It needs to be moisturized and cleaned, and it's not suggested you leave anything steel in it for any extended period of time, as that moisture can lead to rust.

Kydex(and it's similar synthetic brethren), on the other hand, is much easier to work with, and generally cheaper in it's raw form than leather.
Kydex is also incredibly durable.  I've scrapped mine along stuff that would have put quite an  ugly scratch in some leather, and only lead to some paint transfer on the plastic.  It also holds it's form, regardless of weather there's a gun in it.  His can aid in reholstering, especially in an inside the waistband setup.
Kydex is also much more stable than leather.  It's not going to dry out and crack, or get too wet and start to rot and degrade.  If you leave it out in the sun too long the UV radiation can start to break it down, but same goes for leather (see earlier mention of cracking...)
The downside of course, is that leather just looks so much better, and some kydex has a tendency to mar the finish on some guns, something leather is much less likely to do.
I kind of think of Kydex as the working man of the holster world, it's tough, and great at it's job, but lacking in the style department.

I wouldn't say one is necessarily better than the other, they both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Part II - Fobus Holster and Mag Holder
Part III - Blackhawk! Serpa Holster and Mag Holder
Part IV - Raven Concealment Systems Phantom Holster and Mag Holder
Part V - Conclussions

Looking for a Chest Rig

Looking for a very simple chest rig to hold 4 AR mags and 2 double stack pistol mags, not really much else.  I've got a full out tactical load bearing vest with all sorts of crap on it, but I want something more streamlined for range use and whatnot, and of course within the means of a generally broke-ish college student.

Any suggestions?  Oh, and Multi-cam would be teh cool these days.  Most of my stuff is tan of some sort, and that's so last year.

Libertarianism

Say Uncle has some good points on it.

You meet someone, discuss Libertarianism with them and they’re all cool with the end the drug war and lower taxes stuff. But when you tell them that you’d end Social Security and Medicare, that you’d let gay dudes get married, people should own machine guns, and let the banks run amok, then you lose them. People like the cool parts of Libertarianism but not that other icky stuff that goes with it.

 Kinda sucks that people just don't want to take the time to actually figure out what it really is.

Shotty

My arm looks huge!

USP Thoughts and Impressions

Dan picked up an H&K USP 9mm for a good price brand new, so he was willing to overcome the whole "you suck and we hate you" thing and buy it.  He almost didn't because of that, but he likes how it feels anyway, and they are pretty decent in quality, so more power to him.

I'll admit, it's a decent looking gun.

Look, Tupperware!

Overall, the fit and finish is quite nice, as you'd expect from something with H&K stamped on it, and it fit both of our slightly over-sized hands pretty well.  It came with fixed sharp three dot sights, and handles and points pretty well.  We didn't really do much accuracy testing, just a roughly kill zone sized target at up to 25 yards. (it was an impromptu evening range trip primarily to just blow of some steam... pretty well accomplished aside from the poor AR bolt...) Boils down to if it were a goblin, it would have been hurting.

Down to my opinions on it.  I'm pretty meh.  The checkering on the front strap is a bit too course and sharp for my likes (it's cut, er molded, at like 8 lpi...). The front strap has to be my biggest complaint.  It sure provides a pretty aggressive grip, but just holding the gun hurt my fingers to the point of distraction. The grip is also much boxier than my Sig, and the muzzle flip is pretty snappy, more so than my Sig even without the light.  (My only major complaint about the Sig.)  On the other hand, Dan has been a revolver guy up till this point, so he didn't really notice the flip at all.

No malfunctions were experienced in the 100 or so rounds shot through it, where my (albeit much much dirtier) Sig had 2 stovepipes in the same amount of rounds.  She needs a good scrubbing.

Another down side is the proprietary H&K rail, something Sig went away from by the time they got around to the Pro2022 series in favor of a 1913 standard rail.  I'll never fully understand why some makers insist on their own system when there's a fantastic industry standard out there... and I'm not at all surprised H&K is one of them.

Warm and Fuzzy II

80 year old kills armed intruder early this morning in Chicago.
And of course being Chicago, there's the possibility of the elderly vet being charged with possession of a handgun.  Thankfully:

A high-profile Chicago attorney has already stepped forward offering to represent the man pro bono if he faces charges for possessing a weapon.

"Self-defense isn't just a right, it's a duty," said attorney Joel Brodsky. "If this man is prosecuted for saving his own life it's not just a travesty, it's justice turned inside out." 

Warm and Fuzzy

A piece of scum gets what he deserves.  Complete with a post beating mugshot.

The fight soon moved outside, where Nguyen's mother continued to batter the attacker's face with the shotgun. To, the mother, kept up her barrage until the man gave up and neighbors came helped keep him on the ground until deputies arrived. 

And in Alabama, some more victims double it. (More pictures!)

The victims noticed that Taylor’s gun had no magazine in it and so was unloaded, Barnett said. They then decided to fight back, he said.

I love the inclusion of the pictures.  Hopefully some more stupid pieces of crap decide to not take the chance to end up looking like them after reading about it.

(h/t Say Uncle)

The Debate That Won't Go Away.

Fox News on the "M4 Debate," complete with a "fact box" "comparing" the M4 and AK.  Of course throughout the article they mention that the M4 is far more accurate, and that the AK is not the threat that they're worrying about at extended ranges.  But I guess comparing the M4 to the AK makes for a better read or something.  Of course they've also gotta make me cringe in the first paragraph:

The AK-47 uses a larger bullet, which leads to more kickback upon firing.

At least they didn't follow that up with how big the "clips" are...

The article also links to an Army Times article on the issue, which brings up the issue with barrel length and it's effects on the 5.56 ballistics.

“Unfortunately weapon engineers shortened the M16’s barrel to irrational lengths,” Fackler said. “It was meant for a 20-inch barrel. What they’ve done by cutting the barrel to 14.5 inches is that they’ve lost a lot of velocity.”

Something I've been saying for years.  I think the Marines are on the right track with their M16A4s and heavier bullets.

For a more amusing read though, The Firearm Blog brings us yet another article from Fox (really, is this like this weeks "mess with the interns" subject? How many articles do you need?) that seems to have been "researched" by said interns in a drunken haze.  Fox's "military analyst" brings us this gem:

Scales said the U.S. military simply needs to engineer a better weapon – he said the M8, a weapon that was under development before being halted several years ago, could be revived and improved for Afghanistan.

You mean that XM8 abortion of a rifle that fires the same 5.56x45 round out of a whopping 12.5" barrel in the basic configuration?  I think Fox needs to reconsider asking Mr. Scales for his opinions on small arms.

 I think this is one of those issues, that no matter what they decide on for a solution, there's still going to be an interweb full of Keyboard Generals tearing into the decision.  7.62 will have too much recoil, 5.56 is only making .22cal holes, if they pick 6.8 everyone will scream they should have gone with the 6.5... etc.

I'm going to wait and see how much effect the XM25 has over there before I really put too much thought into it.

Flash

It's a little blurred (it was getting dark out) but the timing was too good to pass up.

Pic of the...

Week? Yeah... need to get back on the wagon. Anyway, Dan and his new H&K USP 9mm.

Broke mah bolt.

Busted a bolt in my mid-length tonight.  Sheared off the two locking lugs closest to the extractor.  I've put about 1,000 rounds through it, mainly Wolf, so I'm sure the steel haters will blame that.  My uneducated eyes say it's a fault in the metal though, as those are no doubt the weakest lugs on an AR bolt, and the way they sheared just seems too uniform.

Thankfully my MOE grip has the spare bolt core, so I wasn't boned for the night.  Dan said I took it quite well, just kind of a "Huh. That sucks." and tossed in the spare bolt.  Good idea to have a spare on hand.

Will I keep shooting Wolf?  Yeah.  I've got a bunch of it, and my A2 has had a bunch more through it with no issues.  I'll probably end up getting a slightly higher end bolt to swap in there though.  Chrome plated and MP tested might be a good idea...

More Girls with Guns

Via Breda.

I'm all for it, heck, my most viewed post to date is all about girls and shooting.  I'm all for this trend to continue.

Over 10,000!

At some point last night the counter rolled past 10,000 visits.  Cool.  Of course I added that thing a few months (maybe even a year?) after I started this thing, so I'm sure the true 10,000th visit happened a while ago, but still, cool.

Alternative to sleeping mat chunks and 100mph tape.

Riser Stock Pouch for the M14/M1A.  The M14's on my short list of "need but damn that's expensive" and I would have a hard time not setting it up as a SDMR.  Plus it has a mag pouch on one side, and a see-through holder on the other side for your notes.  Pretty good looking and handy design, if a little on the pricey side.

Shooting spree at Gun Range

I don't think the targets were "unsuspecting" though.  They had it coming and they knew it.(I mean really... it's their whole purpose in life...)

Mil-spec Baking

ENDO brings us a link to the .pdf of the official DOD standards for Oatmeal Cookies and Chocolate Covered Brownies.  So if you want tasty treats just like our troops get, there you go.

Personally, I like brownies way too much to want to read it...

Gun sales up...

...crimes down.  Sure, it's purely anecdotal, but it's hard to ignore, and it seems to happen pretty regularly.

LCR KB

Picture and theory over at the Firearm Blog.  The instructor believes it was neither user nor ammo induced, but possibly the cylinder misaligning and causing the bullet to strike the forcing cone off center and crack the barrel.

I don't know how much difference the construction of the LCR has to do with it, to that I mean if a traditional metal shroud over the barrel would have prevented the breach of the barrel.  I think any revolver would suffer damage if the timing was off that much.  It may not have blown out like it did in this case, but at the same time, a metal shroud could have failed the same way and sent metal shards spalling out across the range instead of lightweight plastic chunks.  Six of one, half dozen of the other I suppose.  Then again, I'm not all that versed in revolvers.  Either way, sounds like nobody was hurt other than the gun, and the student switched guns and finished the class just fine.

It will be interesting to see what Ruger has to say about it, especially with the .357 version on the horizon.  Just remember, it's not "revolvers never malfunction," it's more like "revolvers just malfunction differently."

Whoo.

Army hasn't changed much, still lots of sitting around and waiting to do something.  I gather it's not quite like that for the higher ranking guys (like E6+) but still lots of that for us enlisted pukes.

But between standing around doing maintainence on humvees and taking the kayak out again, I seemed to have burned the back of my neck and arms/shoulders a little... stings a little now, but I usually tend to burn once pretty good early in the summer, and then not much after that.  Glad I'm getting it out of the way earlier than usual this year.

Of course, now that school's out for summer, hopefully I'll get some more range time, especially on the weekdays when regular people are working and I've got the range to myself.  I guess I'm saying look for a little bit of an increase in gun content in a few days or so.

So cold........

Finals are done, so that's great, but I've gotta be in the Army tomorrow, so I shaved for the first time since... August?  And it was over a year before that time... So yeah, second time clean shaven in as many years.  Feels weird.  And shaving still sucks massively.

Self Portrait

A doodle/photo deally I made last night during Rogue Trader...

Feels kinda self portrait-y, with finals week and all. High school senior year was so much more fun.

Brady update:

Been a few weeks now... still at $20.  Simply beautiful.

More about Army approved rifle painting.

I mentioned the other day that there's a pdf out about painting rifles, looks like Soldier Systems has a few good comments about the process.  I put up my post late at night/early morning, and didn't really put too much thought into things, but I do have my doubt as well as to CLP's paint stripping abilities.  Of course it wouldn't be the first time The Army has put out some not quite right info on stuff.

Good point.

Did you know that there is no prize for being the first person with their gun back in the holster? It's true.

Not only does Tam's trademark snark make me giggle, she's got a really good point.  It's rarely a life and death situation anymore when you decide to put the gun back in the holster, so take your time.

It's kind of a fresh issue in my mind too, since I've switched from the Blackhawk! Serpa to a Raven Concealment Phantom for the Sig.  It's great since I can carry with my light attached, but that's a lot more stuff hanging off the front end of the gun, and the light's bezel sticks out well past the muzzle on my 2022.  Just more stuff to get hung up on the holster when you're putting the gun back.  Not a big deal, just need to practice more so I can do it without looking at the holster so much.

It's going around...

But it's a pretty good quote:

When 13 year old kids are afraid to play outside, the gun controllers don't protest in front of the gang and drug houses. They protest in front of gun stores, Starbucks, and NRA meetings.

And that is why I will forever question the motives of the gun controllers. They claim to be working to prevent gun violence, but you never see them anywhere near those who are committing the violence.

Lens cups...

Well, coffee cups that look like lenses (and thermoses too.)  A bit pricey, but very fitting for me.

Granted they're styled after Canon lenses and I'm a Nikon kind'a guy, but I guess that would keep me from trying to screw a coffee cup into my camera...

Rifle painting - Army Style

PEO Soldier has up a pdf showing the "proper" way of doing things, including plenty of pictures of the masking procedure.  Looks like they put a lot of thought into where you should sacrifice some camo for ease of stripping when it's time to turn it in.

Arithmagic

I was typing up my notes sheet for my Stats in Geography final tomorrow, and somehow mistyped "arithmetic" and ended up with "arithmagic," thus fitting an entire semester of stats into one single word.

Woot.

Took the boat out.  Then went for a bike ride.  I'm sore... pretty much everywhere... but pretty content.