editorial

I DIDN’T WANT TO DO THAT!!

Posted on by Tim

There has been a lot of “discussion” (by which I mean silly people talking complete spinach) about the use of lethal force lately. In these “discussions” people with very high opinions of themselves theorize about how these incidents go down and the motivations, thoughts, and feelings of the people involved in them.

It’s almost always absolute crap.

When police shoot someone who is the wrong color, or who has a potentially sympathetic story (even if the story is a complete fabrication) the “discussion” proceeds along on the assumption that the cop involved is some sort of degenerate who gets his rocks off by killing people. Like police officers here in the States as a matter of policy shoot first and ask questions later and are happy to do it…especially if the person who ends up shot is black. You’ll note that the people offering these opinions have never been even close to a life-or-death situation in their lives, but that doesn’t matter: They went to the right schools, you see, and have all the right opinions…and deciding what is “justice” in these situations is something they can easily accomplish from the comfort of their brunch table.

…but you know me, I like to actually test assumptions to see if they hold up. So how about we actually carefully examine a police shooting to see if we can find evidence of this undercurrent of racism and brutality that the intellectuals in our society are able to so easily discern:

 

The background on that shooting: The police officer was called to that church by the pastor (as you can hear the pastor himself say in the video) because the deceased young man had threatened to kill a woman at a wedding being held at that church. The officer arrives on scene, finds the guy he’s looking for, and takes steps to try and secure him before anything bad happens…but the deceased young man had other ideas.

Now for a lesson in the power of video editing…the embedded video above is a chopped version of the full video released by the police department. I want you to follow this link and watch the video there as well:

http://www.tulsaworldtv.com/WARNING-Graphic-content-The-complete-9-min-video-of-Muskogee-Police-officerinvolved-shooting-28417963?vcid=28417963&freewheel=91468&sitesection=tulsa

In the full video you can hear the officer’s heavy breathing…he’s feeling the effects of the adrenaline and a heart rate that’s got to feel like the organ is about to punch through his chest wall at any minute. At about the 6:00 mark you can see the officer’s reaction to the shooting as he comes out of the shock of the event. He slams his fists into a nearby cruiser out of frustration and emotion. A fellow officer collects him and is going to take him to the station…and at the 7:00 mark you hear the police officer say “…Why did he have to do that?”

Why did he have to do that? I ask you: Does that sound like the statement of somebody who wanted things to happen that way?

Of course, police officers aren’t the only ones who get this treatment. Anyone who owns a firearm for personal defense is often classified as some sort of degenerate looking for an opportunity to kill someone and get away with it. They often refer to the “sick fantasies” or “violent fantasies” (just ask Mother Jones or the Daily Kos!) of so-called “gun nuts” (yes, I appreciate the irony of complaining about the use of that term while writing for this site) and since those people are WAY smarter than any of us (just ask them!) it must be true, right?

 

That video is the sort of thing that the enlightened people of our society allege does not occur. The idea that some machete wielding maniac is going to kick in your front door to kill you is supposed to be another one of those “violent fantasies” harbored by “gun nuts” who are just itching to kill somebody…and yet there it is. A machete wielding nutcase really did kick through that door so he could murder the occupants. The “gun nut” in his own house was forced to shoot the nutcase to save his life and the life of his loved ones in the dwelling.

…but does he sound pleased about that? When you listen to the aftermath of that shooting, what do you hear in the home owner’s voice? Listen again from 1:50-1:59. “I DIDN’T WANT TO DO THAT!!”

“I DIDN’T WANT TO DO THAT!!” is the story of lethal force in self defense. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a police officer or an average joe, they don’t want to shoot somebody. They didn’t want to be in a situation where their life was in such peril that they had to kill or grievously injure someone else just to stay alive.

This is the piece that’s missing from the tiny, closed minds of the Mother-Jones-At-Brunch set. They have to make everything into good vs. evil for their silly world view to have any legitimacy…and so the person who arms themselves must be some sort of moral degenerate because their limited understanding of the universe cannot account for a person who acknowledges the reality that they might have to kill someone to stay alive without having any desire to actually use the gun they are carrying. 

The reality, as you can literally see with your own eyes, is very different.

 

 

 

 

 

Smith & Wesson

Revolver Tour #8: Smith & Wesson 625

Posted on by Caleb

smith & wesson 625

This isn’t my first 625. It’s not my second, either. This gun marks the 3rd time I’ve saddled up for one of these N-frames, and it will be the last time…because I’m not going to sell this one a fit of stupidity like I did the other two. My current foray into 625-dom is someone’s once-loved USPSA gun, sold when USPSA revolver killed the 625 by allowing 8 shot minor guns (a decision I support, btw).

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Ruger

Even good manufacturers let a bad one through

Posted on by Caleb

I talk a lot about why we buy guns from reputable manufacturers a lot. The primary reason is to lower the end user’s risk of getting a poor quality gun. This is especially important if the purpose of the gun is for something serious, like self-defense or putting meat on the table. I’m careful to point out however, that even quality manufacturers let a bad gun slip out sometimes. I had just never been on the receiving end of that…until yesterday.

Ruger Blackhawk rusty trigger face

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Smith & Wesson

A revolver tour #7: Smith & Wesson 640 Pro Series

Posted on by Caleb

Smith & Wesson 640 Pro Series cylinder open

I have talked about this gun a lot on the blog, and there’s a good reason for that. It’s a really good gun. It’s probably one of the best examples of a carry revolver that you can buy right now; although it is too heavy for pocket carry. But it’s great too shoot, and so long as you have a quality holster, you’re in good shape. Of course, the best thing about this gun? No lock.

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holsters

Raven Concealment Systems Eidolon holster

Posted on by Tim

Once again it’s the week of the SHOT show, the trade show where the firearms industry gathers together in Las Vegas to show their wares. New firearms, new optics, new lights, new wonder lubes made from angel tears and Chuck Norris spit…you name it and it’s at the SHOT show.

This year Raven Concealment Systems is debuting a new holster system called the Eidolon. (Pronounced, I’m told, Eye-DOE-lon) Last week they kindly sent me a pre-SHOT sample for testing. I was first introduced to Raven Concealment’s products **inaudiblemumble** years ago at a class with Ken Hackathorn. They made some holsters for us on the spot while the class was ongoing and I was sufficiently intrigued with their modular approach to place an order myself. The concept of having a holster that could work inside the waistband or outside the waistband easily by just changing a couple of pieces of hardware seemed very appealing and once I received my first “Phantom” holster I found that it was quite comfortable in either role to boot. The Phantom’s ability to change from an OWB holster to an IWB, and to have adjustable ride height, proved to be pretty useful.

The new Eidolon takes that idea of a configurable holster Raven originally debuted in the Phantom and steps it up several notches. The basic concept is to have a holster shell to which you affix various attachments in order to work as either an IWB holster or an Appendix Inside the Waist-Band holster…and one that will work for either right or left hand carry. It’s a rather ambitious goal for a holster. So ambitious, in fact, that a healthy dose of skepticism is certainly warranted. I like multi-taskers as much as anybody, but it has been my experience that gear which claims to do several things often doesn’t do any of those things extremely well.

Opening the box reminded me of when I was a kid and my parents bought me one of those Lego sets for some sort of vehicle that I could never quite build right because I never actually looked at the instructions. I should note that the nice folks at Raven Concealment shipped perfectly legible instructions with the Eidolon, but in keeping with my genetic predisposition for instruction manuals I immediately tossed them to the side and started playing with the parts to figure out how it works. (Note: I don’t recommend this as a general practice in life)

Note that the overhooks have a hole in them that allows the hook to pivot if you want it to...which can come in handy.
Note that the overhooks have a hole in them that allows the hook to pivot if you want it to…which can come in handy.

I wanted to set the Eidolon up for right-hand AIWB carry so I installed one of the stabilizing winglets and one of the bumper pads on the holster straight away. One of the keys to a good AIWB holster is the ability to tuck the butt of the pistol into the body so that there isn’t this odd gun-shaped protrusion visible through your covering garment. The trick is finding just the right amount of tuck…too much and the pistol digs into your flesh. Too little and it prints. Different body types, modes of dress, and types of handgun may combine to require different levels of tuck for different individuals. The winglets and the bumper pad can be installed together to get the maximum amount of tuck, or used individually to get a bit less. I like as much tuck as possible so I installed both and for me it makes my Glock 17 disappear under a closed-front garment like a polo shirt or a 1/4 zip pullover as well as my other good quality AIWB holsters.

The Eidolon I received shipped with Raven’s new tuckable overhooks which I’ve been hooking on to the waistband of my pants rather than my belt. I’ve found that they grip aggressively enough to keep the holster attached to the pants even with the most aggressive draw strokes. This also has the unexpected side effect of making the holster print slightly less than my other AIWB holsters because there’s no bulk added by strong belt loops that can show as a very slight bulge under the right circumstances. The tuckable overhooks hold so well they even work with my gym clothes, to the point where I’m seriously considering retiring my belly-band holster and using the Eidolon.

I’ve been tinkering with the configuration of the Eidolon since I received it last Friday afternoon and I’ve been carrying my Glock 17 in the holster every day in as many situations as possible to get a good read on how it works for AIWB carry. I’ve changed the ride height, tuck, the placement of the overhooks, the number of hooks installed on the holster and I’m going to tinker with the winglets in the next few days as well…but in all that tinkering I’ve found the holster to be comfortable. Set up properly it does a good job of concealing the pistol and it does so with comfort. It’s difficult to compare the Eidolon to the comfort of my other AIWB holsters like the SME because I’ve carried in the SME every day for about two years now and I haven’t had the Eidolon for even a full week yet. I’m still working through how I want to set the holster up and where exactly on the waist it needs to ride for you-can-barely-feel-you’re-carrying level comfort…but it’s performing well enough so far that I’m willing to put in the work to get it dialed in.

At the moment as I type this I’m wearing the Eidolon with the single overhook around the trigger guard, the right-hand bumper pad, and the winglet just as it appears in the picture. It’s comfortable and sufficiently invisible that none of the hipsters in this coffee shop have any clue that I’m carrying a Glock 17…although I’m tempted to actually use the Glock to silence whatever electronic device they have pumping this hideous hipster lumberjack music into the store. (NOTE: This is a joke. Humor. I would not actually pull a handgun and shoot a hipster’s stereo…but I think we can all admit that the world would be a better place if I did.)

Getting used to new gear always takes some time and there are always little quirks you find along the way. One of the things I like about the Eidolon is the adjustable retention feature. It’s pretty slick and tensions only on the trigger guard. The quirk to that is when you’re reholstering you meet some resistance right as the pistol is about to be fully seated in the holster. My AIWB-conditioned brain reads a code-red emergency when I feel a sudden increase in resistance during the reholster…especially with a striker-fired pistol like my Glock 17. Ingraining what “normal” feels like will take some time so for now I’m reholstering with exceptional caution and care just because the feel is different than what I’m used to. The upside to the design is that you clear the retention tensioner right at the beginning of the draw stroke and the rest of the draw is fast and slick.

So the big question: Is this worth 99 of your hard earned dollars? My experience so far says yes. It works even when I’m not wearing a belt, and it allows switching to left-handed carry readily. I’ve had issues with my right shoulder and tendinitis in my right arm to the point where I could barely make a fist, much less effectively draw a handgun. With the Eidolon I have a holster that will let me carry left handed AIWB comfortably if I can’t use my right arm properly. Instead of having a dedicated lefty holster I rarely use, I can have an Eidolon that fills multiple roles for my carry needs. It’s apparent that RCS put a lot of thought and engineering into the product and the result is a multitasking holster that is likely to offer good utility for most people.

Right now the Eidolon is only available for the Glock family of pistols, but I would expect that in the relatively near future RCS will expand their offerings to other guns. When they do I’ll likely order one for a Beretta and a 5″ 1911.