news

Randi Rogers joins Team S&W

Posted on by Caleb

Today’s big news in the shooting sports is that Randi Rogers, the marketing manager at Comp-Tac and formerly of Team Glock has been signed with Team Smith & Wesson as the newest member of their shooting team.

Randi will join Team Captain Julie Golob and fellow team mates Jerry Miculek and Doug Koenig in representing Smith & Wesson in the action shooting sports. Randi has an excellent track record in IDPA and USPSA, and this year began to expand her shooting into 3-gun as well, competing in the AR15.com Rockcastle ProAm match, one of the most popular 3-gun matches in the nation.

Randi Steel Challenge Day 3

The timing couldn’t be better for Randi to join Team Smith & Wesson, as she brings a breath of fresh air and new blood into a team that was once the most dominant team in the shooting sports. Many shooters remember the halcyon days of Team S&W during the mid 2000s, as their large group of sponsored shooters racked up titles, category wins, and awards left and right. They were also one of the most pioneering teams on social media, using those titles and wins to grow a large and dedicated fanbase that served as an excellent marketing and promotional network for the (at the time) new M&P pistols.

Randi is in the midst of an impressive 2013 shooting season, winning the first ever Ladies’ category in Production at Bianchi Cup, finishing 3rd lady in Open at Steel Challenge, and winning high lady at the 2013 Carolina Cup and 2013 S&W Indoor Nationals. While there’s no official word yet, it’s a safe bet to assume that Randi will be campaigning one of Smith & Wesson’s M&P Pro pistols in 9mm for the upcoming IDPA Nationals next week in Tulsa, OK where she’s the favorite to win High Lady at that match.

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news

NSSF Issues Statement on Successful Recalls of Colorado State Senate President Morse & Sen. Giron

Posted on by Caleb

NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation today issued the following statement after the successful recall elections on Tuesday of State Senate President John Morse and State Sen. Angela Giron:

When legislators fail to represent the beliefs of their constituents, it is up to the voters to fire them. And this is exactly what happened Tuesday in the Colorado Springs district of John Morse and the Pueblo district of Angela Giron. Sens. Morse and Giron chose to forget about their constituents. Instead, Sen. Morse led the hasty effort that led to the passage of a series of highly restricted gun control laws that will do nothing to improve public safety but that did reflect the wishes of national anti-gun organizations, including the one led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Sen. Giron was a key vote in this ill-considered effort.

On behalf of our members, we congratulate the grassroots effort of the Coloradans who stood up for their Second Amendment rights against a well-financed effort that poured a massive amount of money into the effort to save these seats. Congratulations, too, to Bernie Herpin and George Rivera, who now join the Colorado State Senate and whom we are certain will work diligently to represent the will of their constituents, not forgetting all those who worked so hard to put them in office.

About NSSF®
The National Shooting Sports Foundation® is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 8,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, visit www.nssf.org.

Editor’s note: I want to take a moment and thank all the hardworking local volunteers on the ground in Colorado, you guys did the impossible and today you are heroes of the gun-rights community. Congratulations, and give yourselves a well deserved day off. You’ve earned it.

Uncategorized

A balance of speed and accuracy

Posted on by Caleb

I saw this humorous little bit today on Facebook:

Gamertard: “hahaha none of you tacticaltards can shoot just because you can’t shoot as good as us!”

Tacticaltard: “That will get you killed in a gunfight!”

– Jay

Sadly, that’s an accurate summary of just about every conversation between dedicated tactical shooters and dedicated competition shooters basically ever. While the more savvy competitors realize that there’s value in the tactical community, and vice versa from squared away tactical guys, billions of pixels have been slaughtered having these discussions.

But let’s talk about value for a second. Obviously, for tactical shooters there is value to be had in shooting faster and more accurately, which are the goals of competition shooting. Similarly, competition shooters who also carry guns for self-defense can benefit from learning about practical applications of their shooting skill, because let’s be honest – if I ever get mugged again, I’m probably not going to be carrying a Limited gun in a Ghost race holster. Life isn’t Triple Tap, after all. You don’t come across a robbery while driving your GT-R back from the IPSC match with your open gun in the trunk, and if you do, well you have a very interesting life indeed.

The reason then that this post is titled “a balance of speed and accuracy” is to address that key point, and something that I as a competition shooter frequently forget: there are a lot fewer competition shooters than people who carry concealed. USPSA and IDPA have about 20,000 members each, with best guest estimates at 20% active crossover between the two organizations.

Meanwhile, there are quite literally millions of concealed carry permit holders out there just looking to be better equipped to defend their families. To these people, the amount of time necessary to shave 0.5 seconds off their draw isn’t a good investment of their time, unless they’ve made shooting their hobby. But there are lots of other hobbies out there, and things that compete with people’s time.

So the question is, how do we as competition shooters help with that balance? While our numbers are small, we are frequently ambassadors for the shooting sports because of our great passion. We have frequent opportunities to introduce people to the shooting sports in meaningful ways to encourage long term participation and even more importantly, political engagement. What is the best way, to your mind, to do that in an effective manner?

Caracal

All Caracal C pistols recalled

Posted on by Caleb

Caracal has issued a recall of all Caracal-C pistols. If you have a Caracal-C please read and take note:

Caracal Model C Pistol Product Safety Warning and Recall Notice
Caracal International LLC previously instituted a recall of Caracal Model C pistols on March 28, 2013 for batch numbers from SC188- to SC222. Caracal is now issuing this recall of all Model C pistols in all markets, following the completion of a full investigation. Caracal is initiating this voluntary recall of Model C pistols because the safety of its customers is paramount. This recall affects all Model C pistols, including but not limited to those with serial numbers which start with the following letters: HM, AA, AD, AG, CA, CB, CC, CD, CE, CF, CG, CH, CI, CJ, CK, CL, CM, CN, CP, CR and CS. If you own or have access to a Caracal Model C pistol, PLEASE DO NOT LOAD OR FIRE YOUR PISTOL. Please contact Caracal customer care immediately to arrange to have your Model C pistol returned. Caracal will provide you with a full refund of the purchase price of your Caracal Model C pistol or vouchers for other Caracal products. Unfortunately, the potential safety issues cannot be addressed through a repair of the Model C pistol and all Model C pistol’s must be returned for refund.

Step 1 –Please contact customer care in accordance with the below details and provide your name, address, telephone number and details of your purchase.

For USA Customers
Contact us at +205-655-7050 or [email protected]

For International Customers
Additional numbers will be published shortly; however please contact us on [email protected] in the interim.

If you have sold or transferred your Caracal Model C pistol to any other person, we ask you to please contact us in any event and provide us with the name and contact information for the person to whom you sold any Model C Pistol so that we may also notify that person of this recall.

Step 2 – Customer care will contact you to arrange for a refund in accordance with the above.

We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause and thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Thank you.

CaracalInternational LLC

This is a pretty disastrous recall for Caracal, coming just on the heels of rolling our their new product line online. While the full size F pistols remain safe to use, having to recall and refund every Caracal-C that went out to the market is going to be a pretty expensive proposition. It remains to be seen what impact this will have on Caracal’s future, but the US consumer pistol market will likely not respond favorably.

ammo

What have you got against .40?

Posted on by Caleb

The number 2 complaint that I’ve received about yesterday’s post on the 10 Greatest Handgun Cartridges is “why no .40 S&W?” The number 1 complaint is why not .22LR, but that’s simple – no rimfire cartridges allowed. But back to the .40 S&W, which was excluded from the list because it’s just very great. Look at the other cartridges on the list – the .357 Magnum, the first magnum cartridge. The .455 Webley, which served the British Empire, then the Commonwealth for just as long as the .45 ACP served our nation. They’re significant, they’re historical. The .40…is not.

Gen 4 Glock 35 Arredondo

We’ll start with ballistics, because that seems to be what everyone talks about. There is nothing you can do with a .40 S&W in terms of terminal ballistics that you cannot do with either a 9mm or a .45 ACP. Modern hollowpoint ammo such as Winchester Ranger or Federal HST are all designed to do much the same thing, which is penetrate over 16 inches of gel after defeating common barrier materials. That’s it. That means that your .40 S&W loaded with Ranger JHP is going to do the same thing as a 9mm loaded with Winchester Ranger JHP. Sorry, .40 fanboys. The truth hurts.

Now, let’s talk about historical significance. You could argue that the .40 is historically significant because for a time it was the most popular cartridge for law enforcement in America, and I’d be willing to entertain that argument. However, that still makes it less historically significant than the .38 S&W, which was the standard issue cartridge of the British Commonwealth, and less interesting than the .380 ACP even. It’s really more of a historical footnote – a remnant of a time before agencies and shooters began to understand that “handgun wounds are pretty insignificant in any caliber, so maybe we should worry about shooting better.” It represents the evolutionary dead-end of the 10mm, which is actually an interesting cartridge because of its magnum-esque characteristics and current, dedicated following. But the .40? Well, it’s just sort of here. If it hadn’t been for namby-pamby government bureaucrats, we’d probably never have been saddled with the .40 as is.

There is one thing that the .40 is good and notable for – and that’s making USPSA Major Power Factor while still having a significant ammo capacity advantage over guns chambered in .45 ACP. I find it tremendously amusing that the cartridge most often loved by tactically obsessed shooters finds its most useful roll in gaming.