Check out the new link in the side bar, to Custom 1911 Grips. And hey, they’re having a giveaway so you can trick out your 1911 with a set of custom Watchmen 1911 stocks.
Indiana House Democrats up to their old tricks
Yesterday in the Indiana House, Indiana House Democrats decided to go back to their old tricks and take actions that are an attempt to scuttle HB 1065, the Emergency Powers and Parking Lots bill. What happened was after the bill passed the Indiana Senate, it went back to the House where the bill author Bob Bischoff (D) was expected to file a concurrence which would have propelled the bill to Gov. Daniels desk.
He didn’t do that. Rep. Bischoff and the House Democrat leadership decided to file a dissent instead, which sends the bill to a reconcilliation committee where members of the Senate and the House attempt to reconcile the bill. The problem is that they’re not going to do that, they’re probably going to let it die there and ignore the voices of their constituents and the millions of Hoosier gun owners.
Indiana Democrats have essentially betrayed gun owners here. While there are many NRA A and B rated Democrats, as long as they continue to vote for Pat Bauer for the House Speaker position, they’re clearly not interested in supporting our right to keep and bear arms.
Here’s what we can do – if we’re going to die (figuratively) I want to die in a pile of brass. We need to let the Indiana House Democrats know that as long as they continue to roll over for Pat Bauer and his anti-gun agenda that even the NRA “A” rated Democrats aren’t safe. If you’re a gun owner in Indiana and you’ve ever kept a shotgun in your vehicle on the opening day of deer season, this affects you. If you’re a permit holder, this affects you. Take a look at the list below of NRA A and B rated Democrats, and let’s BLOW UP THEIR PHONES AND EMAIL with complaints about this. I refuse to go quietly on this one, and if the Democrats are determined to skunk us, let’s make sure they know with whom they’re messing!
- Craig R. Fry (Mishawaka)
- Scott Pelath (Michigan City)
- Dan Stevenson (Highland)
- Sheila Klinker (Lafayette)
- Scott Reske (Pendleton)
- Clyde Kersey (Terre Haute)
- Dave Cheatham (North Vernon)
- Dennie Oxley (Taswell)
- Phil GiaQuinta (Fort Wayne)
- Russ Stilwell (Boonville)
- Paul Robertson (Depauw)
- Bob Bischoff (Greendale) (THE BILL’S AUTHOR)
- Terry Goodin (Austin)
- Kreg Battles (Vincennes)
- Sandy Blanton (Orleans)
- Peggy Welch (Bloomington)
- Phil Pflum (Milton)
- Vern Tincher (Terre Haute)
- F. Dale Grubb (Covington)
- Terri J. Austin (Anderson)
- Dennis Tyler (Muncie)
- Ron Herrell (Kokomo)
- Pat Bauer (South Bend)
The lowest rating on that list is a B-, and that belongs to Pat Bauer who doesn’t really deserve that high of a rating. We need to send a loud and clear message to the State House that we will not tolerate Indiana Democrats turning their backs on law abiding gun owners in this state. It’s an election year, and a lot of the people on that list need to lose their jobs as Representatives. It’s time that Indiana gun owners had representatives that stand up for their constituents.
TAPCO AK74 30 round magazines
A couple of days ago, I mentioned that one of the problems with the AK74 (in my opinion) was getting quality aftermarket magazines at a reasonable price, as the 5.45×39 magazines were generally more expensive than the 7.62×39 magazines available for the standard AK pattern rifles. It seems the internet is determinded to prove me wrong, which I’m actually happy about!
TAPCO just introduced their new 30-round AK74 magazine, and if price point is an issue, the new TAPCO AK74 magazine is only $15.99. For that price, you can afford to buy a pile of them and toss one out if it breaks.
FTC Disclaimer: TAPCO did not provide me with a promotional consideration for publishing this.
Taurus 24/7 G2
My buddy Steve has some info on the new Gen2 Taurus 24/7. It’s no secret that I have a soft spot for Taurus semi-automatic pistols, but I always avoided the original 24/7s like the plague as they were beset with reliability issues in the early runs. I hope that the new 24/7 G2 pistols will be able to effectively address those problems.
The power factor problem
So you want to shoot competition, but all you have is a Ruger GP-100 with a 4 inch barrel and some speedloaders. You’re not going to go buy a new gun because the GP-100 is your home defense and carry gun, and you’ve decided you want to compete in IDPA with it so that you can gain the benefits of actually having used your carry gun in a simulated stressful environment.
After buying all the necessary gear for your gun, including speedloaders, holsters, a shoot me first vest, you’re left with getting ammo to compete with. You hear a bunch of seasoned shooters talking about “power factor” and throwing numbers around like “125”, or saying stuff like “major” and “minor” – but like I did when I started playing these games, you have no idea what they’re talking about. Power factor is actually pretty straightforward, it’s the weight of your bullet in grains times the muzzle velocity in feet per second divided by 1000 (IDPA doesn’t divide by 1000, but for the sake of typing ease I will here). So that means that if you’re shooting a 125 grain bullet at 1000 fps, your power factor would be “125”. Or take for example the average 158 grain lead round nose .38 Special load, which is moving around 750 fps: that load has a power factor of 118.5 (or 118500 in IDPA parlance).
Since the Ruger GP-100 competes in Stock Service Revolver division, the power factor for that division is 125…and you can immediately begin to see the problem, as a lot (and I mean a lot) of factory .38 Special loads don’t make that power factor. Now, for club level matches or local matches, power factor isn’t a big deal. I’d be shocked if they were using a chronometer at a local fun match, so for those matches you can use whatever blasto-ammo is cheapest from a place like Lucky Gunner or Cheaper than Dirt. The problem arises however when you start getting into sanctioned matches, such as the upcoming IDPA State Championship. These matches will always have a chronograph to make sure people are not running super light loads that don’t meet power factor.
That leaves you with two options:
- Reloading
- Finding ammo that meets power factor
Now, say that hypothetically you’re not allowed to reload because you’ve almost blown the house up three times, that leaves you with finding ammo that makes power factor. Your best bet to do that is to find 158 grain +P defensive ammo, as it’s usually around 850-900 fps. The Aguila ammo pictured, while not marked +P (because it’s pressure rated by CIP and no SAAMI or something) is running at 900 fps, according to an email from their factory rep.
The bottom line though is that you don’t have to worry about power factor if you’re just shooting the local games, but if you’re going to get into sanctioned matches, you’ll need to find ammo that’s running with enough velocity to keep you legal.
Riddle me this, Batman
I’m looking at ballistics tables for .38 Special ammo, and I’ve discovered something curious. Most of the “factory” .38 Special 158 grain lead round nose ammo is loaded to about 750-770 FPS according to the manufacturer’s websites. This is stuff like your cheap American Eagle, Winchester White Box, etc ammo. The problem with this ammo is that it doesn’t make minor power factor for IDPA/ICORE competition (although ICORE has an exception for certain factory loads).
Here’s where it gets weird. According to several different companies, they offer Cowboy Action .38 Special loads with a 158 grain flat point lead bullet that are loaded hotter than the factory stuff. As an example, both Winchester and Magtech offer cowboy loads with a 158 grain bullet that according to the factory specs is making 800 FPS. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why the cowboy load would be doing 50 fps more than the standard pressure load. Thoughts?
Gun Nuts last night: Indiana Politics and Luke Messer
We were pleased to be joined by Luke Messer on last night’s Gun Nuts Radio, where we discussed his run to unseat incumbent Representative Dan Burton in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, as well as a couple of interesting news topics including the recent resignation of Evan Bayh from the US Senate. Click here for the full episode and some insightful commentary on the state of government in both Indiana and the US at large. The episode is also available in .mp3 format for ease of listening.
Luke is a candidate in the tight 5th District primary, and as he mentioned on last night’s show is seeking to bring some new blood to Washington, DC to represent Indiana. You can hear the candidate in his own words describe himself and his main opponent, Dan Burton by clicking the link for Gun Nuts Radio with Luke Messer. The show is also available for download on 
by clicking the button.
Big thanks to the guests and sponsors of last night’s show – the race for Indiana’s 5th District represents on a small scale what’s happening nationwide with this election, namely a wave of anti-incumbent sentiment. Dan Burton has been a reliable friend to Indiana gun owners, so it’s interesting to see if this wave will sweep him up as well.
Speaking of Dan Burton, in two weeks time on March 9th, he’ll be joining us live on Gun Nuts Radio! This is the first time we’ve had the opportunity to interview a sitting US Representative, and I’m personally proud that we were approached by Rep. Burton’s staff about an interview. March 9th will be a great show, and a great opportunity to hear what a long term Congressman has to say on multiple issues! Don’t miss Gun Nuts Radio, every Tuesday night at 9pm Eastern time – your number 1 source for shooting sports news and info, and an insider look at Indiana politics!
Indiana Major Match Calendar
Interested in dipping your toes in the pool of major match competitions, but don’t want to travel to do it? You’re in luck, as Indiana has a vibrant action shooting community and several major matches this year to accommodate shooters. Here’s a breakdown of the major action shooting events this year.
- April 10-11th: Indiana Single Stack/Production/Revolver Sectional
- June 5th: Indiana State IDPA Championship
- June 25-27th: Indiana USPSA Sectional Championship
- Oct. TBD: Indiana State Steel Challenge Championship
That’s four major matches, all within easy driving distance of 90% of Indiana. That doesn’t even take into account matches within easy distance in Tennessee or Michigan. If you’re looking to get into the major matches and maybe take home some trophies and prizes, check out one of these matches. All the entry fees are reasonable, and major matches are a great chance to see where you stand in a much deeper field than club level matches.
This is why we have pocket holsters
So that guns don’t just “go off” in your pocket. Of course, the gun didn’t just “go off”; in fact I’d be willing to bet dollars to pesos that when the person in question retrieved her hung coat from the tree limb that their finger or some fabric got bunched into the trigger guard, resulting in the negligent discharge. If you carry a pocket gun, get a pocket holster for it.
With pocket guns, the purpose of the holster changes from weapons retention and transportation to primarily being there to prevent NDs. The trigger guard should be covered by a proper pocket holster, and most importantly don’t put anything else in the gun pocket. If there’s a gun in your pocket, it (and its holster) should be the only occupants of that pocket.
Gun Nuts Radio tonight: 5th District series
Tonight on Gun Nuts Radio at 9pm we continue our four part series on candidates for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District. Parts 1 and 2 featured Rep. Mike Murphy and Dr. John McGoff respectively, and tonight’s show at 9pm will feature candidate Luke Messer. The four part series will wrap on the March 9th show, as the sitting US Representative Dan Burton will be joining us in a live interview!
Tonight’s interview as mentioned above features candidate Luke Messer, a former “A” rated State Representative and Executive Director of the Indiana Republican Party. Luke’s interview was taped Saturday, and will air tonight at 9pm at www.blogtalkradio.com/gunnuts the leading show for shooting sports and Indiana Gun Rights information.