humor

On this day

Posted on by Caleb

1862 – Congress creates the Medal of Honor, our nation’s highest military award.

In the 140+ years that the medal has existed, it has been awarded 3,464 times, with 19 recipients receiving the decoration twice. The Medal of Honor has been awarded in every major military conflict in which the US has been involved, starting with the Civil War in 1862 and continuing through the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993 and up to and including both the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There has been only recepient of the award from the fighting in Afghanistan, and four from the fighting in Iraq. Here is LT Michael Murphy’s, USN citation of the Medal of Honor:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life and above and beyond the call of duty as the leader of a special reconnaissance element with Naval Special Warfare task unit Afghanistan on 27 and 28 June 2005. While leading a mission to locate a high-level anti-coalition militia leader, Lieutenant Murphy demonstrated extraordinary heroism in the face of grave danger in the vicinity of Asadabad, Konar Province, Afghanistan. On 28 June 2005, operating in an extremely rugged enemy-controlled area, Lieutenant Murphy’s team was discovered by anti-coalition militia sympathizers, who revealed their position to Taliban fighters. As a result, between 30 and 40 enemy fighters besieged his four member team. Demonstrating exceptional resolve, Lieutenant Murphy valiantly led his men in engaging the large enemy force. The ensuing fierce firefight resulted in numerous enemy casualties, as well as the wounding of all four members of the team. Ignoring his own wounds and demonstrating exceptional composure, Lieutenant Murphy continued to lead and encourage his men. When the primary communicator fell mortally wounded, Lieutenant Murphy repeatedly attempted to call for assistance for his beleaguered teammates. Realizing the impossibility of communicating in the extreme terrain, and in the face of almost certain death, he fought his way into open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call. This deliberate, heroic act deprived him of cover, exposing him to direct enemy fire. Finally achieving contact with his headquarters, Lieutenant Murphy maintained his exposed position while he provided his location and requested immediate support for his team. In his final act of bravery, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded, gallantly giving his life for his country and for the cause of freedom. By his selfless leadership, Lieutenant Murphy reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.[8]

Never forgot that many of the servicemen who have been awarded this medal performed their acts at the cost of their own lives – if you live in the Indy/Metro area, take some time this week and stop by our Medal of Honor memorial, and pay your respects to some of the greatest men to ever serve this nation.

self defense

A waste of money

Posted on by Caleb

Joe has a link up to a company that’s selling Concealed Carry Insurance, a policy allegedly designed to provide liability coverage in the event of a negligent discharge or a defensive use of a firearm. It’s not worth the money you’d spend on it, and I really could not advise that you purchase this policy. This is not legal advice, mind you, but rather the friendly counsel of someone who when not doing podcasts and writing about guns works in the insurance industry.

The policy in question is underwritten by Lloyd’s of London, the largest underwriter in the world of what are referred to as “surplus” lines. Surplus lines are insurance for things not covered by regular insurance, such as the hands of a piano player or J-Lo’s stern. The thing about surplus lines is that they are generally expensive, as the companies that sell them and underwrite them are taking a significant risk in writing the coverage.

The problem with this coverage is that with a few exceptions I noticed, it’s largely redundant coverage. For example, in the event of an ND in your home, your liability coverage on your homeowner’s insurance or Umbrella policy will cover you for that. In the event of a defensive gun use, most jurisdictions will not hold you liable in a civil court for actions performed in self defense or defense of others.

So what you have here is an extremely expensive policy that doesn’t provide a significant increase in coverage, but costs a lot of money. I’m not saying it’s a total rip-off, but I sure as hell wouldn’t buy it.

revolvers

Removing the single action notch

Posted on by Caleb

It has been asked in comments why a person would want to remove the single action notch from the hammer of an otherwise perferctly functional DA revolver such as the SW 625 or 646. The reason for doing this is actually two-fold, as there is a mechanical and competitive reason for the modification. The mechanical reason was stated in comments to the previous post, in that by removing the SA notch and polishing that area of the hammer, you can smooth up the last portion of the DA trigger pull just a little bit.

However, the primary reason to entirely remove the ability of the revolver to fire in single action mode is to pass the trigger weight test for NRA Action Pistol production guns. The rules for Bianchi Cup state that the trigger in Production division may not be “less than 3.5 lbs. in any mode”. What that means is that if you have a nice action job on your DA revolver that drops the DA trigger to a slick 8 lbs, the SA mode cannot be less than 3.5 lbs for Production, and 2.5 for Metallic. By removing the SA notch, you ensure that even with the slickest DA trigger on Earth, your gun will still pass the trigger test for Production division and be legal to shoot.

ammo/Beretta

On my desk right now

Posted on by Caleb

As you can see, I’m playing with the mobile upload functionality on the WordPress app right now. That’s my beloved Jetfire in the picture, sitting on top of a box of Winchester SuperClean NT ammo in .40 SW. The ammo came last night, but in my excitment over the iPhone I failed to check the front porch to see if it had arrived yet. The rounds from Winchester are non-toxic and lead free, but their main appeal to me is that it’s a 140 grain bullet at about 1100 fps, which means it will shoot very soft, and still hold a relatively flat trajectory out to 50 yards. Hopefully I will be able to test them out in the 646 this weekend to make sure they run well with the Rimz polymer moonclips I have for the gun.

I have had the misfortune of discovering that the factory moonclips for the 646 can be at best described as “wretched”, due to their inability to hold the rounds as stable as .45 ACP clips do. With the factory .40 clips, there is a lot of wobble in the rounds with several different brands of ammo, which slows reloading significantly. That has put me in search of an aftermarket solution to my problem, which lead me to the Rimz moonclips after reading a favorable review of the 646 clips at The Firing Line. Normally, a review from TFL wouldn’t mean diddly, but this one was written by Tam, who might know a thing or two about SW revolvers.

1911/Beretta

Marine Corps looking to replace 1911 frames

Posted on by Caleb

Don’t worry 1911-fanboys, they’re replacing them with more 1911 frames.  Apparently the frames that they’ve been using for the MEU(SOC) guns have finally started to wear out, which is saying something when you think about how old these guns are.

On a related note, a few months ago I was talking to a guy who works down at Crane (the Naval weapons center in Indiana) who was telling me about the absurd round counts that were being put on standard Beretta M9 aluminum frames.  IIRC, they were getting guns in at Crane for reconditioning that were north of 100k rounds on the frame, and were still running.  Now I’m certianly not looking to start a Beretta vs. 1911 flame war here, because that’s a horrid dark hole, but I have to say that 20 years after its introduction as the US armed forces’ standard service sidearm, the Beretta has held up remarkably well, giving good service in 3 major conflicts (Iraq I, Afghanistan, Iraq II) as well as the countless brush wars and other military actions we’ve seen in the past 20 years.

For better or for worse, the M9 and the M9A1 are definitely here to stay as well – if you remember during SHOT ’09, Beretta announced that the military had ordered 450,000 new pistols from Beretta, the largest handgun contract in US history.  Looks like the M9 will be sticking around for years to come.

blogs

A new era of mobile blogging

Posted on by Caleb

So I’m messing around with the iphone’s app for WordPress, and I have to say that it’s pretty awesome. I can upload photos straight to GunNuts.Net from here, and with the new interface I can even bust out the html a lot faster than I could on the crackberry. Hell, I can even link to posts using this. So far, the iPhone is pretty pimp.

revolvers

S&W 625 Update

Posted on by Caleb

Yesterday, I dropped my 625 off at the gunsmith to have some minor tune-ups done. Because it’s the model with the pinned front sight, I decided it would be a better idea to let a professional install the new HiViz fiber-optic. While it’s there, I’m also having the charge holes chamfered to aid in reloading.

It’s currently wearing a set of Pachmayr stocks designed for L-frame guns, the effect being a small stock with an exposed backstrap and easily reached trigger. Later on, I’m going to have the single action notch taken off the hammer and convert the gun to DA/only. Once I get it back with the new sights, it will be all set up as the perfect gun for IDPA Enhanced Revolver Division.

As for the 646, I’ve ordered a set of Pachmayr stocks for that as well, and as soon as my ammo shows up I’m going to actually shoot the thing. It is a little weird in that the trigger is heavier on the Performance Center 646 than it is on the “stock” 625, which is apparently because N-frames have better triggers in general.

After my bought with the gunspaz yesterday, I’ve come to my senses and will not be buying a 686. What I would like to get would be either another 625, or a 610 to add some redundant back-up systems to my arsenal. Plus, I really like the way the 5 inch 625s handle.

gun control

Liar

Posted on by Caleb

So this guy decides to write a letter to the Senate, saying that he’s a gun owner but he hates the NRA and thinks the NRA sucks and wants to let everyone know that he thinks gun owners should support Sotomayor.  Normally, I wouldn’t have any problem with that, because it’s a free country and if you want to make an idiot of yourself on the public record, go right ahead.  Here’s the letter itself for you to read.  Here’s my problem though – in addition to the guy being a major Democrat donor and Obama supporter, he’s also a straight up liar.  In his letter he says:

Here in Idaho where I live there are no NRA basic firearm training programs even though this is a great outdoor sports state.

If you are going to lie about stuff, at least use Google first.  I found an NRA Basic Pistol course, SpudGuns.Net which offers a whole whack of NRA Courses, an article from 2008 detailing an Eddie Eagle visit, and as mentioned elsewhere Idaho also has notable long-range marksman and NRA member Joe Huffman.  So when you said “there are no NRA basic firearm training programs” what you really meant was “there are no NRA basic firearms training programs except for the several dozen that can be found in 10 seconds by searching google?”

I get that you’ve got an agenda to push, Lawrence Gebhardt, but if you’re going to just make stuff up wholesale, it makes you look like an idiot in public.  I noticed you don’t really disagree with any of NRA’s points about Sotomayor either, all you do is take potshots at them…potshots which can be demonstrated as categorically false.

Let me help you write your next angry letter, Lawrence.  www.google.com before you send anything to the US Senate.

handguns

FN Five-seveN Standard Model

Posted on by Caleb

Steve at The Firearm Blog links to pictures of FN Herstal’s new model of the Five-seveN pistol, which features standard 3-dot fixed sights as opposed to the adjustable sights featured on the USG version.  This model is so new, that as of this writing it’s not even up on FN’s website that I can find.

I’ve always been fascinated by this gun.  I don’t know what it is, maybe it was too much Counterstrike in my formative years, but this is a gun that I have always desired to own, but have been scared off by the nearly $1000 price tag on the retail models.  Hopefully the new Standard model will street price for around $800, which is a price where I almost might maybe consider laying down the cash for one.  The problem with the 5.7x28mm cartridge though is that I can’t use it for anything – it’s not legal for IDPA, IPSC, Steel Challenge, and it would be lousy for bowling pins.  I would essentially have a gun that I would only use to carry for self-defense, that wouldn’t share mags with any of my other guns, uses a weird and expensive cartridge, and does not share a manual of arms with my other guns.

Sure, I still want one, if for no other reason than it makes Sarah Brady cry.  I won’t buy one unless IDPA makes a new “sub-caliber defensive pistol” category, but it’s fun to dream.

Speaking of guns from FNH, I have been hearing anecdotal reports from friends in the shooting sports that their FNP line of pistols are pretty sweet.  They’re all DA/SA polymer framed guns, available in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP – and while everyone else is running off and buying Glocks, M&Ps, and XDs, the FNP pistols are quitely starting to grab their own share of the market.  Michael Bane really like his .45 ACP version, and the price on these guns in any caliber is really quite reasonable.  If you’re looking for a full-sized polymer framed defensive gun, you might want to check out the FNP guns.  The FNP-9 and the FNP-40 are also both approved for USPSA Production Division, so there is the potential for additional use there.