Gun Nuts Media

Sorry, that was the best McDonald pun I could come up with. That being said, today is a pretty big day for gun rights. Alan Gura looks to protect his undefeated record at The Big Show (aka the Supreme Court) while advocates for the City of Chicago argue that it’s totally okay to deprive people of their civil liberties as long as they equally deprive everyone. I’m not kidding, that’s basically their argument.

The NRA will also be there, having been granted time to present another angle on the incorporation argument. Should be very interesting. I’ll be updating the Gun Nuts Radio Twitter feed periodically as I get updates, so make sure to check that out.

Good luck to Alan Gura and everyone arguing for our right to keep and bear arms!

Sometimes we take safety too far and progress into doing things that are unsafe in the name of safety.  Todd is talking about hot/cold ranges and makes a great point:

I simply take a different approach towards teaching and towards safety. From my standpoint, if you can’t be trusted with a loaded gun in your holster, you can’t be trusted with a loaded gun in your hands.

Word.  I understand cold ranges from a liability standpoint, and I understand them from USPSA/IDPA’s point of view on them as well.  However, after the last couple of years, I’ve really started to believe in the Gunsite philosophy on hot/cold firearms, depicted at left in signage.  A holstered pistol is a safe pistol, and keeping yours in the holster whether it’s hotted up or cold is the safest thing to do.

I actually agree with Todd in that if you can’t be trusted with a loaded pistol in your holster then perhaps you shouldn’t be on the line training yet either, as you’ve clearly not mastered the fundamentals of firearms yet.  I’ve been on ranges where people have had hot guns and I’ve been fine with it, and I’ve also been on ranges where people have had hot guns and it has made me uncomfortable because of the person with the loaded gun in the holster.

Ultimately though, I’m in favor of “loaded guns in holsters” provided that you’re not touching the gun while it’s in the holster.  That’s the safety issue.  Constant administrative loading and unloading of guns without proper safety protocols can lead to sloppy gunhandling because “I’ve done this 1000 times before”.  Running a class with hot guns is perfectly safe, provided the instruction is up to snuff.

The official name for what I’ve come to affectionately refer to as Red Racer, it’s a custom hand made leather holster for my S&W 627 Pro Series specifically designed to meet the holster requirements for Bianchi Cup Production Division while giving the maximum speed and ease of draw possible.  Custom built by Michael at the Holster Site, the holster is hand stiched with Kevlar thread, and is double stiched down the spine and the underside for additional strength.  The red dye is also hand rubbed, and it really gives the holster a great appearance.  When I said “can you do fire engine red”, I had no idea he’d actually deliver something that perfectly met my description.

The one problem I’ve discovered is photographing the thing!  Flashes bring too much glare, and unfortunately I’ve not had a nice sunny day in quite some time to get a decent picture of it.

That being said, it’s truly an excellent holster.  It’s well made and perfectly execute the design intent, which is to draw faster while still retaining the gun.  Yesterday at the range I compared draw/first shot times from that holster to my Blade-Tech kydex rig, and I found that with the Red Racer I was usually about 0.2 seconds faster.  I even had one or two 0.98 draws, which is the first time I’ve gotten back under 1 second since switching to revolvers.

If you’re looking to get some custom gun leather made for a special project, every day carry, or competition, give Michael at The Holster Site a buzz.  You certainly won’t be sorry, as the quality of workmanship and customer service that goes into these holsters is absolutely excellent.

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Despite the fact that there’s a 40% chance of snow for tomorrow, they are holding a bowling pins match at Marion County Fish and Game.

Our Bowling Pin Shooting match will be next Saturday, February 27th at 1 pm. We will begin setup at 12:30 pm, and we’ll need help from volunteers. We will have a shooters’ meeting (required for new shooters) at 12:45 pm to explain the rules. At 1:00 pm sharp, we will begin shooting. We’ll be charging $3 per bracket for club members and $4 per bracket for non-members, with all money going towards the club or making the competition better. Youth (under the age of 18) shoot free with a paid adult.

Pin matches are what got me started in competitive shooting, and still hold a place of fondness in my heart.  They’re cheap to shoot, and when it’s this cold out, the pins kind of explode when they’re hit with a lot of force.  Should be AWESOME.