Tag: Miscellaneous Gun Stuff

Practice Your Draw

I found this one via my friend Alexi:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBfASVV1eCU]

Ha! Remember to practice you draw and be aware of your surrounding.

EDIT 2010-10-26 20:01: When I first viewed this video I didn’t realize the officer was shot in the head. I was thought he just fell to the ground and rendered himself unconscious.

Realizing now what I didn’t when I posted this I’m scratching the “Ha” out as this isn’t a laughing matter. I’m not actually that big of an ass as to laugh at a person being murdered, I just didn’t realize that’s what happened.

Because You Need More Crap to Mount on Your AR

You’ve already attached an EOTech, Surefire light, green laser sight, red laser sight, backup iron sights, a vertical foregrip, a mount of your iPhone, and even a bayonet to your rifle so you ask yourself what more could you possibly want? How about a HD video camera to record all that awesome you do while at the range practicing your tactics?

A copy called Tachyon has announced a 720p helmet camera that also has the ability to mount to a rifle rail. Now you can shoot a movie both figuratively and literally. “Yo dawg we heard you like to shoot so we put a camera on your rifle so you can shoot while you shoot.”

Also notice the rifle they have it mount on in the picture… yup an M1A. I wonder what the heat tolerance of that camera is.

Firearm Safety Rules

I’m sure almost everybody reading this site know the four rules of firearm safety. In case you don’t they are:

  1. All guns are always loaded (until you establish whether they are or not).
  2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. Keep your gun pointed in a safe direction at all times: on the range, at home, loading, or unloading.
  3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target (and you are ready to shoot).
  4. Be sure of your target. Know what it is, what is in line with it and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you haven’t positively identified.

This four rules are not to be questions because they were delivered down from Jeff Cooper himself. Alan over at SnarkyBytes is questioning the word of God Jeff Cooper.

He certainly has a point if the rules are to be treated as absolutes and always followed. I say this because it’s impossible to follow rule one while cleaning many firearms. In order to disassemble my Glock I have to pull the trigger. This violates rule one as I’m pulling the trigger in my domicile and thus not treating the gun as if it were loaded. Dry fire practice is the same thing.

It’s a good read and Alan makes a valid argument. Go over and read it.

Child Proofing My SOCOM 16

After the three gun competition yesterday I’ve decided I need to child proof my M1A SOCOM 16. Why? Because unlike most intelligent creatures on the planet I apparently have not learned to associate burning and pain with not doing something.

Case in point, after the final rifle stage I did the stupid thing I often find myself doing, grabbing the rail attached to the barrel of my rifle. Unlike a hand guard attached rail, the barrel attached rail on the SOCOM 16 seems to exist only to move heat to an easily contactable surface so the user can burn their hand. As this is the 157th time I’ve made this mistake I think it’s about time that rail comes off and a standard hand guard goes on. Heck it’s not like I can really utilize that rail anyways as I’ve always been concerned anything I attached to it would be completely cooked after a few magazines.

I also think it’s high time to replace that fat front sight with something that doesn’t completely cover a 10 inch target at 100 yards.

Three Gun Competition

Yesterday I partook in my first three gun competition. For my maiden voyage I accompanies a friend and a group of his friends down to Holmen, Wisconsin. First I must say the competition was a ton of fun. I shot heavy metal using my Glock 21SF, Springfield M1A SOCOM 16, and my friends bright yellow Remington 870.

The pistol potions gave me little trouble thanks to USPSA. Shotgun portions provided me some trouble as reloading an 870, like most shotguns, is tedious. I feel I did so-so on the rifle portions except for the last stage where a combination of a really fat front sight, small targets at 90 yards, and my lack of ability to shoot caused me some headaches. Most of the people there agree the stages were all design by a sadist but honestly I found them to be incredibly fun. It was certainly a challenge and I can’t wait for the next one. I’ve only found one downside to three gun and that is the price; it’s going to cost me a lot of money in the future.

I also learned a couple of lessons. First make sure you don’t place your body anywhere near those clay pigeon throwers activated by falling steel plates. If the plate falls and hits you in the shoulder it’s going to suck really hard for the rest of the day. The second lesson is the fact that the laws of thermodynamics haven’t changed so grabbing the top rail on the SOCOM after shooting a lot of rounds is going to lead to a burning sensation in your hand. Finally I learned that continuing to shoot a 7.62x51mm battle rifle when your shoulder is already very sore is not a sound tactical choice.