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Hybrid!

Posted on by Caleb

No, not some silly coal powered car – a hybrid holster. I have a couple of different holsters for my N-frames, but for competition I always use either my Blade-Tech or my Safariland. I prefer the Blade Tech for IDPA/USPSA as it holds the gun better, but the Safariland is “faster” for Steel and other sports because it has much less tension on the gun.

The only drawback to the Safariland is that it positions the gun up kind of high for my stubby little T-Rex arms to get it out in a hurry. The solution? A little WECSOG modification, using my Blade Tech Tek-lok and the offset paddle to lower the holster out and away from centerline. Here are the lame iPhone photos so you can see how the attachment works.

The advantage here is that I get the notorious stability of the Blade-Tech rig, but with the easy release from the Safariland holster. A couple of gamer items: this holster is all kinds of illegal in IDPA, and is borderline illegal for Bianchi Cup Production Division. But for USPSA/ICORE/Steel Challenge, dropped and offset is good to go.

Beretta/handguns

Own a piece of internet history

Posted on by Caleb

I mentioned on Sunday that I’ve got a couple of guns for sale, one of which is the now (in)famous Beretta Jetfire that I’ve been pocket carrying for a while now and was used in conjuction with a hot cup of coffee to fend off a potential mugging.

I’ve gotten a couple of questions as to why I’m selling the Jetfire; despite any sentimental attachment that I may have with the gun.  It’s complicated, but the biggest reason was that I wanted to carry a little bit “more” gun on a daily basis than a 9 shot .25 ACP.  While you’ll never hear me repeat any of the silly .25 ACP canards like “if you shoot someone and they find out they might be angry”, the .25 isn’t exactly in the same spectrum as a .38 Special when it comes to terminal performance.

However, stopping power alone isn’t the main reason why I’m changing up my regular carry gun.  It was actually because I got to thinking that I compete exclusively with double action revolvers these days.  In IDPA I shoot a 625, in ICORE, Steel Challenge, and Bianchi Cup I shoot either a 627 or a 686+.  It makes sense for my carry guns to have the same action type as guns that I’m going to shoot 20,000 rounds through this year.  Ultimately that’s why I went to the j-frame platform.

This isn’t to say that the Jetfire is a bad gun – I think it’s a great gun, and it fills the niche of “tiny pocket gun” better in my opinion than than the LCP/Kel-Tec designs.

Shot Show

SHOT SHOW kicks off!

Posted on by Caleb

While the show itself doesn’t officially start until Tuesday morning, today is “media day” at the range, where a host of manufacturers and companies host writers, radio, and TV to get an exclusive first look and some trigger time with some of the new products.

Our good friend Steve at the Firearm Blog is on the show floor this year, and he’s promised to feed us some information on the new M&Ps from Smith & Wesson as well as a couple of other surprise items.  Additionally, on tomorrow night’s Gun Nuts Radio (live at 9pm eastern time at www.blogtalkradio.com/gunnuts) we’re going to have representatives from Crimson Trace, as well as ToddG of Pistol-Training.Com to give us an inside look at what’s going on at this year’s show.

Finally, if you’re at SHOT, whether you’re a manufacturer, writer, or just some guy wandering the show, if you have an item, a story, or something that you’d like to get in front of our regular readers, just send an email to me at [email protected] with the header “SHOT SHOW” and I’ll get it up on the blog!

2010 should be a great show as manufacturers bring an increasing number of new and exciting products to the floor while competing for an ever tightening marketshare.  The items I’m most interested in are as follows:

  • New Pro Series M&P Pistols from Smith & Wesson
  • The M&P-22 pistol from Smith & Wesson
  • New products from Crimson Trace (which we’ll be discussing live tomorrow night on Gun Nuts Radio)
  • Those little surprises that you never see coming

All of our SHOT SHOW coverage past and present can be found by following the category tab that these posts are under!

Beretta/Shot Show/shotguns

Beretta adds Tx4 Storm shotgun to the "Storm" line of products

Posted on by Caleb

This gun is so new it’s not even on Beretta’s website yet! Here’s the press release on the new Tx4 Storm shotgun from Beretta:

ACCOKEEK, MD — New for 2010, the Beretta Tx4 Storm represents yet another solution in Beretta’s line of home-defense options. The shotgun incorporates decades of Beretta’s experience perfecting the gas operated semi-automatic design. “The reduced felt recoil, a characteristic of the gas operating system, is complemented by the infallible reliability Beretta shotguns are known for”, said Gabriele de Plano, Vice President of Tactical Marketing for Beretta USA Corp.

Weighing under 6 ½ pounds, the compact Tx4 Storm shotgun, with its 18″ barrel, is very maneuverable, while maintaining a 5+1 round capacity. Like the Cx4, the shotgun’s length of pull may be adjusted with ½” spacers (one included), while the soft rubber grip inlays on the stock and fore-end ensure a firm grip in all situations.

A metal Picatinny rail is mounted to the receiver to accept a variety of optics or the included rugged and fully adjustable ghost ring sight. Adopting Beretta’s new Optimabore HP choke tube system, the included choke may be replaced with several optional accessories. Like the rest of the Storm family (Px4 Storm pistols and Cx4 Storm carbines), the Tx4 may be accessorized to meet the demanding needs of today’s shooter.

Beretta, established in 1526, is the oldest industrial dynasty in the world tracing its roots through 16 generations of continuous family ownership. Firearms bearing the Beretta name have been sold for almost 500 years. Beretta USA Corp. was founded in 1977 and supplies the standard sidearm to the U.S. Armed Forces. Today, Beretta manufactures, distributes and markets a complete line of firearms, accessories and apparel. Beretta also owns and operates six retail Beretta Gallery stores worldwide. For additional information, visit www.berettausa.com

Looks pretty interesting. Nice to see that Beretta is starting to take the civilian self defense market seriously again; admittedly not quite as much as other companies, but this still looks like a pretty sweet gun.

handguns/Smith & Wesson

New Smith & Wesson M&P Pro Series .40

Posted on by Caleb

New for 2010 from Smith & Wesson are not one, not two, but three new pistols in the Pro Series line of M&P pistols. From Shooting Industry Magazine (which should change their format so people can link to articles, come on) we see S&W’s announcement of the following new Pro Series M&P Pistols.

In .40 S&W, Smith is bringing out two pistols, a 4 inch Pro Series gun and a 5 inch “longslide” gun. The Pro Series guns come from the factory with either Novak or Warren Tactical sights, fiber optic front sights, no magazine disconnect safety, and the excellent factory trigger we’ve come to expect out of these guns.

Also for 2010, the M&P Pro Series adds a third new gun: a 4 inch 9mm to complement the 5 inch longslide gun. While the 5 inch models have been very popular, there are some people (myself included) that prefer the balance and feel of the 4 inch pistols.

The new guns should be on display at SHOT SHOW, and I’m working with our inside guy to get some pictures as soon as we can for you!

shooting

Thumbs forward pistol grip

Posted on by Caleb

I got a couple of emails from people asking me what I meant when I said “thumbs forward hold” on an autopistol.  This image below is of the “thumbs forward hold”.  The thing about this grip is that it’s very easy to teach, as it utilizes the body’s mechanics to lock down on the gun.  Those hands in the picture belong to a woman with small hands, who was able to assume a proper thumbs forward hold on my .38 Super with about 10 minutes of instruction.

Note that both thumbs are indexed on top of one another, and both are pointing towards the shooter’s intended target.  This allows the gun to come back faster on target in recoil (nevermind the big ol’ Wilson Accu-Comp on the gun) which will lead to faster splits in matches…or when your life depends on it.

The thumbs forward grip isn’t just for 1911 patter pistols, either.  Top level competition shooters such as Dave Sevigny use it when shooting Glocks, Julie Golob uses it on her S&W M&P, and the list goes on.

Of course, this is not “the way”.  It is “a way”, that I’ve found works very well for me, and for most people that I’ve helped along.  Again, while it’s not the only way to hold a pistol, it is the most common way you see competitive shooters hold their guns.