Category: Guns and Gear

Indoor Shooting Ranges

Yesterday I went to an indoor shooting range with a couple of my friends. I’m reminded today why I prefer outdoor ranges to the indoor ones. Although outdoor ranges close when the sun goes down most of the time indoor ranges means you get to keep breathing all the fun and exciting expulsions from the various firearms. Although these ranges are generally ventilated there is only so far that ventilation goes and frankly my throat is rather sore from the event.

Cold Weather Carry

It’s winter and that means heavy coats are back in season. This comes as a double-edge sword for those of us who carry because a large coat offers better concealment of our firearm but also makes getting to it more difficult. For example it would be damned hard for me to draw my .45 sitting inside my inside the waistband holster while I’m wearing my greatcoat. Since cold weather preparation is important I thought I’d bring up some points to consider when carrying in the winter.

Last year I purchased a Ruger LCP because I wanted a small pocketable pistol. Most people want a small gun for carrying in the summer as higher heat usually means shedding of clothing making concealment of larger firearms more difficult. I really have no issue concealing my Glock 30SF in the summer and wanted the pocket pistol for a different season, winter.

My Ruger LCP fits perfectly inside the front pockets of my greatcoat meaning I have something at hand while walking around in the winter. As I said there is no practical way for me to draw my primary gun while wearing my coat but I do have constant access to my front pockets. I could probably fit a larger firearm in there but then I’m dealing with having a gun that works well for winter and really nothing else (I also carry my LCP when I have to wear a suit as my suit pants are large enough to accommodate a pistol and I often find times where I have to take the suit coat off). Thus I’m an advocate for purchasing a pocket pistol for use during the winter in Minnesota.

Another thing to remember is shooting with gloves on can be difficult. I have some cheap knit surplus gloves that I wear in the winter because they’re fairly warm and thin enough that I can get my gloved finger into the trigger guard of my pistols. If you have very large gloves to note you may not be able to get your finger on the trigger while wearing them. Thus it’s important to head to the range and test your winter gear as it relates to carrying because an attacker probably isn’t going to give you time to remove your gloves in order to shoot him. Another option are mittens with the flip up from that exposes your fingers. These are popular with hunters but once again I question being able to get my fingers exposed quickly if I’m in a self-defense situation.

Basically we’re back to the basic rule of carry, test your setup with all your different clothing options.

How Not to Do Something

A lot of people complain about the grip of Glock pistols. Because the grip is an unmodifiable part of the gun the only way to change it is through destruction of the grip. Some people can do a half way decent job of modifying Glock grips while others do not. Presented in this link is an example of how not to modify your Glock’s grip.

Calling a Bluff

Although I’ve never played for any extent of time I understand a big strategy in poker is to call somebody’s bluff. This is a great strategy in many regards but it’s also dangerous. Case in point Olin Corporation (they manufacture Winchester labeled ammunition) is moving it’s manufacturing plant after a union vote to refuse a pay freeze.

Basically members of the union thought Olin was bluffing and called them on it. Here in lies the example of why bluffing is dangerous, your opponent may very well be telling the truth. Personally there are a few things I’ll gamble on, my job isn’t one of them.

Coliseum Gun Show

Well there was a gun show at the Coliseum at the State Fair Grounds in St. Paul this weekend. Due to events I got roped into I was only able to make it for the last couple hours on Sunday. Needless to say some people were already packing up so I didn’t get a chance to see a heck of a lot of things.

I did get to hold and mess with a FN SCAR though. After holding it, playing with the controls, and getting a general feel of the gun I question what makes it worth $2,700.00 (price tag the seller had on it). The gun just screams pointless retrofit of the AR-15 platform. My main complain is the height at which the optics are mounted. There is an entire assembly above the SCAR’s bolt that appears to be solely for the ambidextrous charging handle. The mounted iron sights also set high above the top rail which made it very difficult for me to get a good cheek weld and see through the sights (my head was sitting about a inch too low when properly welded to the stock). All this weight above the bolt also made the gun feel pretty top heavy to me.

Needless to say I wasn’t impressed. When I say I wasn’t impressed I don’t mean I wasn’t impressed for the value dollar-wise to what you get. I wasn’t impressed period. Even if the SCAR was only $800.00 I’d chose a traditional AR-15 over it just for the fact that I don’t like the feel of the SCAR at all. Yes it has hacked together ambidextrous controls but they feel exactly like that, hacked together.

I guess I’ll never manage to be an elite super cool mall ninja operator. Hell I still think the M-14 and AK-47 are pretty awesome guns.

There isn’t much I can comment on in regards to the rest of the gun show simply due to the fact I wasn’t able to make it there until a couple of hours before closing. I’m sure there was some cool stuff there that was all bought up before my arrival.