Today on the PT1911 Torture Test, I run the Taurus 9mm through the 10-8 Performance function check. The 10-8 Performance function check allows users to check their 1911-style pistol’s operation to verify whether or not the pistol is fit for duty or concealed carry. If a pistol fails any portion of the test with duty/carry ammo, it should be considered unfit for carry.
Trigger-nometry
Lately the US military’s push for a “Modern Handgun System” (aka MHS) has come under some fire from Capitol Hill for absurd levels of expense. It’s worth noting that MHS has been floating around in some form or another for about a decade now, and as yet without result. Although it looks like this time they are actually going to solicit samples and a number of manufacturers have already introduced potential candidates for the contract. You can expect at least one more potential candidate to debut at SHOT.
This latest article happened to hit the news about the same time that the Navy Special Warfare Group’s decision to adopt the Glock 19 hit the web. Most of the units in JSOC have actually been using Glock sidearms for quite some time, and even MARSOC has brought the Glock 19 on board as an alternative to the customized Colt 1911 pistols that they bought in 2012. 
This has led many people to ask why the military as a whole doesn’t just adopt the Glock 19 and be done with it. It’s a reasonable question and there is certainly a sizable amount of DOD bureaucratic nonsense involved…but there are a couple of really good reasons, too.
Yesterday CNN ran a piece on a report about the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s upsurge in unintentional discharges with their recently adopted Smith & Wesson M&P pistols. The LASD issued the Beretta 92FS for many years prior, as had several other major LE agencies in California. The Beretta 92FS is, as you probably know, a traditional double-action semi-automatic pistol. This means it has a long double action trigger pull for the first shot, and the action of the slide cocks the hammer for subsequent shots giving a single-action trigger pull from that point on. The Beretta 92FS also has a combination decocker and manual safety that, when activated, completely disengages the firing mechanism from the trigger.
The S&W M&P as adopted by the LASD, on the other hand, is a striker-fired pistol with no manual safety and a relatively short, relatively light trigger pull. The M&P can be had with a manual safety, but for whatever reason the LASD opted not to adopt the safety-equipped version of the M&P pistol. The LASD’s uptick in accidents after transitioning to a striker-fired gun with a relatively short, relatively light trigger pull is not at all unprecedented. The very same thing has happened at a number of departments that have made the transition to striker-fired guns.
The simple truth of the matter is that every handgun on the market has a certain margin of error that results from its design.
In other words, certain designs are more forgiving of handling mistakes than others. The Beretta 92 with its long double-action trigger pull, manual safety, and method of disassembly has a relatively wide margin of error. The Glock 17 with its relatively light, relatively short trigger and a requirement to actually pull the trigger to field strip has a much narrower margin for error.
Let me make this concrete. Removing the slide from the Beretta 92:
As you can see, removing the slide on a Beretta requires pressing the button on the right side of the gun, and rotating the lever on the left side of the gun, at which point the slide assembly moves right off the gun. If someone ignores the manual’s prescribed procedure and neglects to properly clear the weapon before attempting to field strip it, an accident is extremely unlikely because they don’t need to pull the trigger. It’s possible to remove the slide assembly from a Beretta 92 style pistol with a round in the chamber and I’ve seen people do precisely that when they forgot to properly clear the chamber of the pistol on multiple occasions. The indication of a failure to properly clear the chamber on the 92 comes when you remove the barrel from the slide and find that there’s a round sitting in the chamber. Oops.
If, however, someone ignores the Glock manual’s prescribed procedure and neglects to properly clear the weapon before attempting to field strip it, the indication of a failure is going to be a gunshot because you have to pull the trigger to field strip that weapon. That’s a much bigger and much more consequential oops. If the exact same person makes the same handling mistakes with both weapons, it’s only with the Glock that a bullet gets launched.
When it comes time to field strip the weapon, the Glock family of pistols has a much lower margin for error than the Beretta 92 family of pistols.
The same disparity is present when we discuss other handling situations with both weapons. The Beretta’s longer, heavier trigger pull gives a larger margin for error if someone is not following proper safety procedures and has their finger on the trigger at inappropriate moments. It’s certainly not impossible to fire a Beretta 92 on startle response alone, but the Beretta’s trigger gives more of an opportunity to realize that you are doing something wrong than a Glock’s trigger does…and when people are handling weapons under unfamiliar levels of stress that margin of error can mean the difference between a close call and a gunshot wound.
The military units carrying Glocks currently are generally elite forces. They have extremely demanding standards of admittance, and an exceptionally high level of accountability for their personnel. They also conduct far more training with their sidearms than other groups in the military. This combination of factors means that the Glocks are currently being issued to individuals who:
- Are selected for, among other things, how well they can perform under extreme levels of stress
- Exist in a small-arms centered atmosphere where training is frequent and of extremely high quality
- Live with exceptionally high levels of accountability for their behavior
In other words, if I was going to issue a weapon with a low margin for error, it would be to those guys because they train often and they do not screw around when it comes to safe handling of firearms. Ideally that description would apply to everyone who is issued a lethal weapon as a part of their job, but unfortunately it’s just not the case.
The general public believes that police and military personnel are trained experts with small arms but in reality a lot of what passes for training for police and military personnel in the United States is really not very good. (It’s often even worse in other countries) The accountability for behavior with lethal weapons is also nowhere near what it needs to be. I know of multiple instances of police officers who unintentionally discharged their sidearm when engaging in unsafe handling practices and receiving absolutely no sanction for doing so because, and I quote, “Well, nobody was hurt!” To my thinking, it would be much better to enforce proper handling practices before somebody catches a bullet…but that’s just me.
It’s worth noting, here, that your average police officer receives more training with a handgun than your average member of the military. The military as a whole does not take handgun training seriously nor do they have top notch accountability for handling mistakes across the board. If the military started issuing Glocks in these circumstances it would lead to a spike in accidents, only on a much larger scale than what the LASD experienced.
The antidote for this, of course, is training and accountability. (This isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned that, by the way) The LASD attacked their problem by conducting more training with their officers and the fact that they kept careful track of what was happening shows that there’s serious interest in accountability within the department. Kudos for that…but the training and accountability are expensive and resource intensive both in terms of time, man hours, and institutional will. For an institution like the LASD, the handgun is an extremely important piece of equipment. For many in the military, though, it just isn’t…and the resources needed for quality training on the handgun is seen as resources better used for training on other weapon systems and tasks that have a much higher strategic level of importance.
It’s worth noting, though, that in the modern world of green on blue incidents and attacks on military personnel at various military installations it might be time to seriously reconsider estimations of the pistol’s strategic importance.
I don’t think sticking Glocks into the current big military environment would be a great idea. I don’t really think that the MHS dropped into the current big military environment is all that great an idea, either.
A new (or perhaps slightly updated) sidearm that is designed around the inevitable human factor and that comes as a part of a program ensuring that everyone in the military who has access to a handgun is able to use that handgun safely and effectively to defend themselves and their colleagues, on the other hand, sounds like a splendid idea.
Taurus PT1911 Torture Test Part 2
The Taurus PT1911 went over the 500 round milestone with no mechanical issues this week. As of today, it’s fired 606 rounds of mixed 9mm ammo, with one failure to extract coming on round 606 exactly. With that one exception, the gun has run like an absolute champ, and even that failure to extract came on the last round of the magazine, which meant it didn’t really tie the gun up in a meaningful way.
Magstorage Solutions AR-15 Mag Holder
I recently saw this AR magazine storage device on the DVOR website (Which is a wonderful website for finding all variety of gear you didn’t know you need), it seemed to be well made but it was manufactured by a company was one I had never heard of – Magstorage Solutions. I did a little research, looked at the photos several times I decided it was something I could use. A short transaction later, it was on its way, bought on my own dime. I am pleased to say, having installed it and done numerous mag insertions and extractions, that I feel it has legitimate value.
First things first, what is it? A polymer, wall mounted, AR mag storage device. It allows you to store 6 mags, loaded or unloaded, on a vertical surface. Now I fully recognize that many people just lay their mags down, but my organizational OCD keeps me from doing that.
Does it work? Yes! I haven’t tried the retention in a vast variety of temperatures but I don’t foresee that being an issue. The unit has six slots, each of which holds a single mag under light tension. The mags snap in and out with ease and are secure when installed. In short, it works as advertised.
As the photo shows, I tried several different brands and types of 30 round mags – Magpul, C-Products, a surplus G.I. unit and a single Magpul 20 round mag.
I need to make it clear that Magstorage Solutions advertises this for use with 30 round magazines, but I am happy to report that the 20 round mag fit quite nicely and was secure.
So, do you “need” it?
If you are OK with clutter and you leave your loaded mags lying around, then probably not. If you are Rambo, with 10 loaded mags in a plate carrier, ready to battle the ghost of Saladin; this probably isn’t for you.
If you are short on storage space or appreciate items being located precisely where you expect them, this is for you. I also suspect 3-gunners would like this, given all of the gear they keep.
In the end, I love it and think it was money well spent.
You can find them here: Magstorage Solutions
Single mother buys gun, makes it on TMZ
Okay, I know I’m like a month behind the times on this, but I’d bet most of my readers didn’t know that TMZ spotted former child star Hilary Duff buying a Glock in Culver City back in November.
When I found this story this morning I didn’t know what to make of it. My first thought was “so what” and that’s reflected in the title of the post. Apparently, Duff just went through a divorce and is now a single mom, and to my world there’s nothing irrational about a recently single mom buying a quality handgun, presumably for personal protection. I mean, look at the circumstances: her ex-husband is a former professional hockey player, she filed for primary physical custody of their son, and she’s still a relatively high profile person as evidenced by the fact that TMZ is still stalking her. So to us, buying a gun makes a ton of sense.
It’s hard sometimes to remember that we live in an unusual sub-culture as firearms enthusiasts. To us, nothing in this story seems unusual, but to the public at large, it’s apparently worth at least 100 words on TMZ. However, to you and me, a recently divorced single mom buying a Glock makes perfect sense.
So the real question is, what kind of Glock did Hilary Duff buy? I hope it’s a Glock 19, because that’s the best Glock ever. Being famous and relatively wealthy, she’ll also have access to training and quite likely the connections to get a CCW permit in California, which is frequently beyond the reach of mere mortals. Hopefully she’ll be a responsible gun owner and do that, get the training necessary to effectively use that (hopefully a) Glock 19 if the dire need should ever arise.
Did Taurus buy old Colt machining to make their 1911s?
While I’ve been working on the PT1911 Torture Test I have come across an interesting bit of internet folklore regarding Taurus’ 1911 production. Apparently, some people believe that Taurus bought old Colt machining when they started making their 1911s. I thought this was a fascinating rumor, so I decided to run it down.
First things first, I popped over to Taurus’ website and checked out their history page. It mentions the Bangor Punta era, it mentions the Beretta factory in Brazil, but there’s no mention of Colt. Nothing on Colt’s website either, and other sources don’t turn up anything about it either. I’m actually 100% comfortable calling this one “myth busted,” because there aren’t any credible sources that say it happened.
The big reason I’m calling it myth busted is because of Taurus’ website. On their website they reference when Taurus and Smith & Wesson were both owned by Bangor Punta, and they also mention the famed Beretta contract that lead to the Taurus PT92. For a bit of a history lesson for my readers, way back in the day, a company named Bangor Punta owned both Smith & Wesson and Taurus. Both of the companies were separate, but you can see the influence of the joint ownership in some of Taurus’ legacy revolver designs. The Beretta story is a lot more interesting – Beretta won a contract to provide 92-series pistols to the Brazilian military, but one of the contract stipulations was that the guns had to be built in Brazil. So Beretta built a factory from the ground up in Brazil, and when the contract ended, sold the whole thing, lock stock and barrel to Taurus. This resulted in what is still Taurus’ best gun, the PT92.
As I mentioned, Taurus mentions both of these facts directly on their website, so if they’d somehow acquired Colt machinery, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t call that out as well. The second big reason that I don’t buy the Colt/Taurus link is because Taurus owns two important things: its own MIM production facility and its own forge. In fact, Taurus is one of the largest supplier of MIM parts to the firearms industry, and you’d likely be surprised to know where some of those parts end up. Taurus’ forge also produces all their own 1911 slides and frames. But not all of the slides/frames that come out of that forge end up with Taurus stamped on the slide. Many are sold to domestic 1911 manufacturers who then finish the parts, install their own internals, and stamp whatever logo they want on the gun. Again, the names on that list might surprise you.
When you look at those two facts, Taurus buying old Colt machining to build their 1911s just doesn’t quite add up. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but you have to remember that there’s no such thing as a special “1911 building machine.” It’s all just cutting metal and installing parts, so a company that can manufacture their own CNC machines doesn’t really need to buy someone else’s tooling.
Army’s Modular Handgun System to cost over $1 billion dollars
The Army is currently deep in the weeds in the process of trying to replace the venerable M9, which has served the US for nearly 30 years. The initial estimates placed the cost of the replacement program around $300-500 Million dollars, however a new report shows that the cost to taxpayers will likely be over a billion dollars.
Sen. McCain puts the total value of the MHS at not $350 million, or even $400 million, but a whopping $1.2 billion for the winner.
The big factor here is that the Army’s RFP calls for the gun and ammo to be manufactured by the same company/partner companies. That means if, for example S&W won the gun contract, they’d need to also produce the ammo. Interesting, S&W is set to do this, by partnering with General Dynamics to offer a joint RFP to fill the potential MHS contract.
Another company that would clearly be in the running would be Sig Sauer, with their (pictured) P320 modular handgun. Sig also produces their own line of branded ammo, meaning that they also have the capacity to meet the RFP’s requirements. Sig is also the apparent front-runner in the FBI’s new handgun acquisition, which if selected might, or might not, help it in the Army’s MHS competition.
Of course, the real issue with the MHS is “why?” Even if the program continues on its current pace and hits its milestones, you won’t see a new pistol in soldier’s holsters until late 2017/early 2018, and I’d sadly expect the cost to balloon even further. What’s deeply frustrating about this process is how the military, of which I’m proud to be a part of, can manage to make the per unit cost of a $500 handgun balloon up to $1,000 per unit before the ammo cost. It’s just silliness.
What do you think? Do you think the MHS is an unnecessary waste of taxpayer dollars? Or do you think that the Army, and eventually the military at large really need a new handgun?
Taurus PT1911 Torture Test Part 1
Here’s the first installment in the PT1911 torture test. If you want to sit through 22 minutes of me shooting a gun, feel free to watch the video, although it’s pretty stale. Some quick notes from the testing below the jump.
Teach Your Children Well
Kids. They can make you laugh one minute and make you want to choke them the next, but you always love them. Parents are not perfect – I know I am not – but we owe it to our kids to give them the best tools possible, so they flourish and ultimately build a better world than they are getting handed to them. I believe it is long past time that we, as a society, get our kids involved.
Before I go any further I must note that I have boys; as such, this will seem slanted to boy subjects, but the intent is without gender.
So what do I mean by “get our kids involved”? I promise you I don’t mean sports. I have zero problems with youth sports (pro sports are another story). Youth sports can be great; but, it also the first thing people think of when it comes to ‘getting kids involved” and as such, it is it is well represented. In fact, some parents take the whole youth sports thing too far. You can see this on YouTube with videos of parents fighting in the stands or screaming at the referee’s.
So what do I mean by involved? This is a gun website and I would be remiss if I didn’t include firearms related activities in my list, but let’s look at the bigger picture. What skills do you have that are worth passing down? We are trying to make responsible adults, but in our quest for advancement we (society) have cast some critical skills aside for the new and shiny promise of technology. We have a real opportunity to ensure skills and traits that are worthy of processing are passed down.
To see a prime example of this casting aside skill based teaching one only needs to look for a shop class in middle school. A mere 25 years ago I was twelve years old and in wood shop. My teacher was a war veteran; gruff and old he didn’t suffer fools, but he also knew how to teach and when to give praise. At the time I didn’t know it, but looking back, I learned a lot about life from Mr. Gosney. He ran his shop class like it was his own company and we were his workers – his team. He made sure we knew how and when to do the task and he offered praise when earned, but only when truly warranted. We got no award for participation. Now shop class is becoming a faint memory in a lot of school districts, turned away by lack of budget, fear of liable, a drive toward tech and sadly, a cultural disdain for making a living with your hands.
But teaching our kids well isn’t limited to woodworking; if you shoot (I presume you do since you are reading this blog) and you think your kids are ready, then show them how. I welded up a simple metal target for my kids to shoot with a pellet gun (no BB’s) and then a 22LR rifle. It offers a great opportunity to teach them patience, marksmanship and most important – gun safety. As an added bonus they’ll create memories that will last a life time.
But you need not stop there. If you like to garden, that is a wonderful thing to pass on (and is a subject I wish I knew more about). You say your passion is sewing; then pass it one. Take them fishing. Take them mountain biking and go camping. Show them how to fell a tree, split a log and build a fire. Teach them how to unplug a toilet that is stopped up and show them how to clean a floor. Let them get dirty helping you change the oil in your car and cleaning the gutters.
Show them how to treat their spouse with love and respect!
The list of constructive, tangible, and valuable skills you can get their little minds engaged in is virtually endless. It never ceases to amaze me when a grown ass man is bewildered by my ability to fix a basic plumbing problem, mend a fence or replace an electrical outlet. I wonder about their childhood; which leads me to wonder about the future of a today’s youth.
Of course I am not suggesting you keep them from being kids. My kids play outside, ride bikes and even play mom and dad approved video games. They are average kids. But ultimately you are the parent; not the electronic device you purchased and not the neighbor you left them with. You have to be willing to make (and standby) a decision you know they will hate! You have to say NO and break their hearts sometime. You need to be willing to teach them what you know, and to teach them well.
In my job I get to see a lot of resumes and interview candidates. We see a growing number of college graduates that honestly believe they are entitled to some great job with a huge salary just because they have a new degree. It is becoming an epidemic; but, they grew up being told college will get them a good paying job. Anyone over 30 realizes this is not the case. Were they taught the value of hard work? The necessity of experience? Have they ever heard the word NO? Getting your kids involved and teaching them other skills makes them a deeper individual, a better asset in the job market and ultimately, a better member of society.
I’ll end this diatribe with some questions for all the parents out there.
What are you doing to get your kids more involved and become better adults? Are you raising someone with a multitude of usable skills? Will they be self-sufficient and not afraid to put in the time and effort to do what is right? Will they be better prepared to lead tomorrow and raise their own kids?
Troy Di-Optic Sights
Four or five years ago I decided to ditch my A2 carry handle and put a Troy BUIS on my AR. Being new to the AR platform, I thought it would be a good idea to purchase the Troy BUIS with the Di-Optic Aperture (DOA) instead of a standard A2 aperture. Fast forward to 2015 and I have put enough rounds down range comparing the two apertures that I feel confident in offering an experience based opinion.
Yes, I know Troy Industries has made a lot of people mad with the hiring and appointment of individuals with polarizing backgrounds, but they still make a good product. I’ve found many of the people who say they’ll never send another dime to Troy are often the same ones that don’t bat an eye purchasing crap made in China by an oppressed people under a communist regime.
What is the Di-Optic Aperture? I’ll let Troy Industries explain:
“The DOA™ key design strength lies in its rhombus-shaped aperture, which centers the eye on the front post instantly and effortlessly. In a heartbeat, the shooter zeroes on the target and is ready to fire. Circular apertures simply cannot produce this effect. The DOA™ optics, coupled with Troy Industries™ legendary battle-ready toughness, provides a dramatic advance in shooting speed, accuracy and reliability.”
Sold! I can safely say, after shooting a standard A2 carry handle and the DOA side by side, that my eyes prefer the standard A2 Aperture. As for ruggedness and quality, the Troy BUIS is solid as a rock and works as advertised.
I had two main issues with the DOA, issues that were also noticed by some friends that shot my gun with the DOA sight installed.
- The white lines are visible and rather distracting when you bring the gun up and look through the sight. I am not sure the purpose and I used a Sharpie to darken them, which helped, but…
- I found the diamond shape to be completely distracting. The human eye is really good at centering the object in focus and for my eyes the round aperture of the A2 style sight just “melts” away, leaving a clear front post view. With the DOA, I couldn’t get that Diamond shape out of my peripheral vision; as a result I found myself chasing the front post with each shot. It actually had the opposite effect! It made me slower and less accurate; which is not something I look for in a sight.
In a nutshell, the Di-Optic Aperture made it harder for me to make accurate shots and I damn sure wasn’t any quicker on a timer. I can solidly recommend the Troy BUIS for their durability, but in my opinion, stay with the standard A2 aperture and your training time and money can be used to improve other skills, instead of learning a new sight system.
As for me, I am selling the Di-Optic and sticking with the A2 unit in the photo.