How Many Rounds Do You Carry?

And why that many?

A couple weeks ago MandaFern took her CCW course (provided free through Wisconsin Carry, Inc.) and I tagged along, both for morale support, and because (generally) any training is good training and I treasure gathering viewpoints and training techniques from any source I can.

At a few points throughout the course, the instructor (an avid 1911 fan) voiced his negative feelings towards people carrying wonder-nines with super-high capacity magazines.  One of my typical carry guns is my M&P9, fully stoked with 17 rounds in the mag, and a spare 17 round magazine on my support side.  Amanda knows this and nudged me a little when he mentioned it the first time.

I grabbed my pen from my pocket and scribbled down on her notes "'Coyotes' travel in packs" semi jokingly.  While this is a valid point, my other standard carry piece as of late has been my Smith & Wesson 442 J-frame revolver.  Typically with a speed strip of five rounds in my watch-pocket of my jeans and a speed-loader in my coat pocket.  That loadout has less rounds total than one magazine in my M&P.

Do I feel undergunned carrying that few rounds?  No, not really.  Despite my coyote comment, we live in a small enough town that large gangs of thugs are not really a threat.  .38spc+P is a proven round, and the most likely threat I'll ever face around here is an overzealous convenience store robber or the like.  I don't ever see myself being sucked into a running gunfight through downtown Stevens Point.

So why carry 34 rounds of 9mm when I carry the M&P?  Why not save some strain on my belt and leave the spare at home?  I should be able to deal with any likely threat with 17 rounds, right?

Simple.  The biggest Achilles's Heal of any semi-auto weapon system is the magazine.  Add to that the fact that just about any malfunction drill on a semi-auto pistol involves stripping the magazine out to relieve pressure on the action.  If something goes south inside my gun, it's much easier to grab that spare mag, where I know it is, than look all over for the half a mag I tossed in the dirt while fixing my gun.  And since I'm going to carry that second magazine, I may as well fill it up to capacity.

December Sets Record for Gun Sales

With a few days left in December, the FBI reports the number of background checks has already topped the previous one-month record -- set only in November -- of 1,534,414 inquiries by gun dealers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System also known as NICS. Almost half a million checks were done in just the last six days before Christmas.

Neat.  Also of note-

Data recently released by the National Center for Health Statistics shows that in 2008, the number and per capita rate of firearm accident deaths fell to an all-time low. There were 592 firearm accident deaths (0.19 such accidents per 100,000 population) in 2008, as compared to 613 accidents (.20 per 100,000) in 2007. (h/t SayUncle)

Yup.  Gun ownership way up, gun accidents way down.  The Brady Bunch is probably rocking back and forth in a corner sniveling...

Shelley on Holsters

More importantly, what she looks for.

I've got to agree, a quality holster is a great thing.

Tuesday

Those Blasted New Fangled...

...Single-point Slings.

What's old is new.

Next few days

May be light around here.  Will be traveling for family get-togethers and the like.

In case I don't get a chance, Happy Holiday from G&C.

More Magpul Shotgun Pics

From Magpul themselves.  Guess they gave in since they made enough of a splash and put them up on the site.  Currently they're only for 12 Ga. Remington 870s.



Stock



Forend

I'd definitely want to handle the stock before buying one, but the forend looks pretty good.

Prometheus

I'll be there.

20 ga. for Home Defense

Beyond Buckshot - A Look at 20-gauge Rifled Slugs for Self-Defense in the Smoothbore Shotgun

Well worth a read.  One of the reasons I picked up a 20 gauge is knowledge similar to this quote-

When compared to a 12-gauge, the 20-gauge delivers 75% of the lead with a recoil that is 40-50% less.  This is equivalent to the ballistic force of being hit with two .44 Magnum rounds simultaneously.  In addition, the reduced recoil of the 20-gauge is conducive to accurate, rapid shots.

The Hobbit

First official trailer is out-



I've always like The Hobbit more than the trilogy.  It seems more "story" and less "history text."

It could be that I grew up watching the classic animated one, but I'm really happy to see it coming back to the big screen.

Madison 5 Awarded $10,000 Judgement Against City of Madison/Madison PD

For immediate release:

On September 18, 2010 five law abiding Wisconsin residents were peacefully
having dinner at a Culver's Restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin. These 5
individuals, who were legally openly carrying as provided by Wisconsin law had
finished their dinner and were preparing to leave the restaurant when they were
unlawfully detained by a mass of Madison police officers.

Despite the absence of reasonable suspicion or probable cause of any crime or
violation, Madison police illegally demanded identification from the men under
the threat of arrest if they did not comply. 2 individuals who chose not to
comply with the illegal action of the Madison police were subsequently arrested
and cited for obstruction. 2 days later those unlawfully issued citations were
rescinded and all 5 men, even those who complied with the officers illegal
demands were issued citations for disorderly conduct.

On May 5th of 2011, the frivolous disorderly conduct charges against all 5 men
were dropped.

Wisconsin Carry, Inc. a non-profit corporation dedicated to protecting and
advancing the right of Wisconsinites to carry in the manner of their choosing,
open or concealed, filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Madison and the 5
Madison Police officers who participated in the unlawful detainment and
treatment of these 5 individuals. A copy of that lawsuit is available here:

http://www.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/Madison5/lawsuit.pdf

Today a judgment of $10,000 against the City of Madison and 5 Madison police
offers was agreed to by Wisconsin Carry, Inc. and our 5 co-plaintiffs. This
judgment will be entered into the record of the Federal District Court, Western
Wisconsin.

A copy of the judgment agreement can be viewed here:

http://www.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/Madison5/Doc_10_Acceptance_of_OOJ.pdf

Wisconsin Carry will continue to employ and "all of the above" approach to advancing and protecting the right to carry in the manner of one's choosing in Wisconsin. Included in those methods are lawsuits, grass roots legislative activism, public education/awareness, free concealed weapon license training, and every other effective measure.


Carry On,

Nik Clark
Chairman/President - Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
www.wisconsincarry.org
nik@wisconsincarry.org
www.facebook.com/groups/wisconsincarry
www.youtube.com/wisconsincarry
www.twitter.com/wisconsincarry

Magpul Shotgun stuff??

Something sprung a leak...

Guess I may be back to my 12ga 870 watch.

Random Gun Pron

Always a good time.

I'm part of the 1%...

...of Wisconsinites who applied for their CCW Permit in the first six weeks.

 In less than six weeks, 56,000 people applied for a permit under Wisconsin's new concealed carry law and thousands more bought handguns, swamping the state agency handling the required background checks.

The applicants so far amount to about 1% of the state's population, and very few of them have been rejected for a permit. The number of state background checks for handgun purchases is also up more than 50% for the year - another sign of the large numbers of people taking advantage of the new concealed carry law.

Kim Jong Il is Dead

The Norks have officially announced it.

Stickman Website Launched

Amazing gun photog and fantastic gear reviewer Stickman has launched an official website.

Right now it's just a simple splash site linking to his Facebook and Flickr account, but it's worth checking out if you like awesome pictures of awesome gear.

Mo' Molle, Mo' Problems

EMT meets MilSim



Genius.

Cold Weather Shooting

From Haley Strategic



Being an Operator who regularly operates in pretty cold weather (hey, it's in my Army job title... 12N-Heavy Equipment Operator) I'd say he makes some pretty good points. It's all about the right mindset, and good techniques. Buscuits and gravy make a fantastic pre-cold weather ops breakfast.

Also, the Nissan Thermos Backpacking Bottle tends to keep coffee drinkably warm for upwards of 6-8 hours in my experience, and it's leakproof. I just need to find a Molle pouch it fits in...

Ruger LCR-22

That's right, .22lr!

Photo from, and more information at GunsAmerica.

Now if S&W would make a .22lr version of the 442 for a similar price...

Egyptian Contract FN-49

G&C contributor, range buddy, and all around cool guy Cro picked up an Egyptian Contract FN-49 and was kind enough to trust me with it for a week or so to take some photos.

It really is a gorgeous looking gun.

The FN-49 began life just prior to WWII, and the designer, Dieudonne Saive, fled to England when the Nazis invaded Belgium.  Saive took the plans with him to prevent them from falling into the Germans' hands, and finished the project after Belgium was liberated and FN got back on its feet.

The rifle is a gas-operated semi-auto battle rifle, with a long operating rod and the system is adjustable to compensate for varying loads.  The rifle was originally chambered in 7x57 Mauser, and was eventually produced in 30-06, 7.65x53 Argentine, and 8mm Mauser (as pictured in this article.)

Take-down is pretty simple, and the rifle can be field stripped without the use of tools (a small screwdriver is required to remove the handguard as shown below.)


The fit and finish on this example are quite good, with some wear on the bluing present, however no rust or pitting that I noticed.

The safety is interesting, at least to Cro and myself, as it slides in a machined groove in the side of the trigger itself.














The magazine is a 10 round fixed box magazine, and the feed lips are machined into the receiver rather than the magazine. 

This being an Egyptian Contract rifle, many of the markings are in Arabic, including the serial number and range markings on the rear sight assembly.

On the range, the rifle handles well.  It balances where a rifle should, and looks good doing it.

Recoil is not as bad as I'd expected, no doubt due to the long operating rod and the system being adjusted for the particular ammunition we were shooting (Romanian surplus.)  It was a bit hazy out, and the smoke was lingering.

I fired a few groups from the bench to get a feel for accuracy...

...but we quickly realized we needed to back off to 50 yards to figure out where the rounds were going.  After moving to the shorter range, we found the rifle to be shooting about a foot low at 50 yards on it's lowest setting, and a bit left.  We adjusted a little for windage, and brought the rear up a few notches and moved back over to 100.



 Not the prettiest group, and one still managed to slip between the two sheets, but pretty typical of what we were getting most of the day.  I'm certain the gun is capable of much better groups if you had the right ammo, a better zero, and better range conditions.  I think next time some warmup time on the 10/22 and a little less coffee (heresy!!!) may be in order.

All in all, I'd say it's a pretty nice addition to Cro's collection.

Expendables 2

Has potential...

Gun Mats

For cleaning with exploded diagrams of various guns.

Good assortment of long guns and handguns, and not bad prices either.

AotPR

Magpul Dynamic's newest DVD set is available from DSG Arms.  (Blue-ray coming soon.)

Ear Pro

Peltor ear pro at Amazon for $50, plus another 30% off at checkout, so about $35 for electronic ear pro that works pretty well.  I paid about double for mine a couple years ago, and I'm half tempted to get another pair.

Stocking Stuffers

From Oleg on CTD's blog.

Defending Yourself With a Knife

Sometimes you find yourself in a place where you can't have a gun, and we know the stupid little signs don't stop the bad guys from being violent, so what can you do with another common EDC tool?

Breda posted this link on facebook, and it's well worth a read (and bookmarking as she suggests.)

Morning Recoil Therapy

Some range time and coffee time with Cro this morning.  Also finished off all the photo ops needed to take a good look at his Egyptian FN-49 (so if that interests you, should have that up towards the end of the week, a crapload of photos to edit...)

Also, RRA NM AR-15A4 is all sorts of sweet.  And ringing steel at 100 yards with the M&P15-22, standing, offhand, is too much fun for my own good, even if I only hit the target 1/3rd of the time.

Follow that up with lots of gunny talk in the very hippie-vibbed coffee shop... hehee...

AHH!! COLD!!!

Take one J-frame, stash it in a car for an hour in December in Wisconsin, then insert in your Super-Tuck without an undershirt on.  Stupid rules...

Costa Ludus goes live

As of Noon Eastern time, Chris Costa's new training company's site went live- Costa Ludus

A few months back Costa/Magpul announced he was following Travis Haley in leaving Magpul starting his own training company.

Woot!

MandaFern just ordered her first gun! Going with an M&P22.