The Gun Blogs

Working at a gun shop gives me some wonderful oppertunitys to try stuff I otherwish would not have. At time I am very impressed, other times not so much. This time was both, and a learning experince to boot. I took home a brandnew Taurus 650 CIA (carry it anywhere) mine is a .357 magnum, 2' barrel, Double action only. Now I am ussaly a fan of having the option of the single action; however where I to be involved in a gunfight with this gun, I would not be using single action! So I am training myself to shoot double action, as most of the handguns I carry daily are either double action only, or double action first shot. There are rumors that DAO shooting is inaccurate, and diffcult. While it may take more concentration to fire in DA mode this is not a bad thing as it helps us to concentrate more on a consistant trigger squeze.
I like the little 2" revolvers because they tend to be there by my side when not other firearm will quite do the trick. Add to that the performance of the .357 Magnum caliber, and you have yourself a great little combo. I drive a pickup that the desighn of the seats allows me to afix a holster inbetween the drivers seat and the center consul. This is where I prefer to have a revolver. I cannot readily reach my holstered weapon the gun-in-the-seat meathod is wonderful. With the small CIA all I have to do is put the gun in my pocket when I leave the truck, which not only secures the firearm, but also provides me with a great back up gun.
Anyone reading this must note that although these meathods work for me they may not be ideal where you are. I live in Alaska, and it is simply a differant kind of enviroment. We have cold weather, animals, remote wilderness areas, and the usual assortment of drunk, vandals, and criminals. No, the truck never leaves the driveway with out at least one rifle, and one handgun. Here it is dark half of the year so it is impertive that one should learn to shoot a firearm in darkness. I think that this is a must have skill for anyone who takes their personal saftey seriously. If you think about it most crimnals will not attack you in daylight downtown, but add darkness to the picture, and suddenly the other person has concelment.
Constant darkness is one reason why I do not carry full power .357 loads in the Taurus. When testing the gun in darkness the muzzle flash from this little gun was enough to blind me to the loaction of the target for almost 3 seconds. To any of you who have been in a gun fight you will know that three seconds can very well spell life or death. I also know that it is unlikely that an assailant will stop their attack INSTANTLY after my first hit. With that in mind I choose firearms that are able to fire without essesive muzzle blast. So I carry the .38 special +P loads, and a speed loader.
Bullets do not do the shooter any good unless they impact their target. We must test our carry guns first for reliably and second for accuracy. It works. I am not going to tell you that you can hit a gopher at sixhundred meters. I was able to relably hit the head at 25 yrds on a standard size siluette target. long range is not where the real shine is though, its the personla distance shooting that will make or break the gun. I was able with very little practice shoot fist sized groups at 10 yards. These groups where all point of aim.
So on the stevedcross scale of gun testing I would give this little bugger a 6. I would have scored it higher, but there was a problem. This gun willnot work with Cor-bon ammo. I have no ideal why, it just does not work. It works with other ammo of the EXACT same power leval, but not the corbon. Now this is important to remember because had I not tested my ammo I would have been in for a rude supprise had it come time to use it. I will work on this though and let everyone know when I fighure it out. Meanwhile I would advise you not to shoot Corbon in Taurus revolver as I am not the first one to have this problem.
Good luck and stay safe
stevedcross

Rules of Gun fighting

1 Have a gun.
2 Bring your friends who have guns.
3 If it’s worth shooting, it’s worth shooting again, and again, etc.
4 Only hits count. Front Sight Squeeze; Repeat as necessary
5 Any hits count for something.
6 If they are throwing mortars at you, shoot them! (see rule #3).
7 If you can see them you can shoot them; So do it ( personal experince)!!!
8 Proximity negates skill.
9 Always Cheat.
10 If not shooting you should be communicating, reloading and/or moving.
11 Someday, Someone may kill you with your own gun, but they will have to beat you to death with it because; it will be empty.
12 Have a plan.
13 Have a back up plan because the main plan will fail.
14 Flank them, don’t get flanked.
15 Be aggressive.
16 The faster you finish the fight the less chance you have of getting shot.
17 Tactical reload, as soon as possible.
18 Be polite, be paranoid.
19 The only things that matter are you living and them dying.
20 Bullets go through walls
21 Bring extra ammo.
22 Women and children can and will shoot you. Trust NO One!
23 If you do get shot, shoot back, relax, and don’t panic.

This is not original to me, just figured that I would share, pass it along, some I have added from personal experience, but again I am not the first person to say this. Add some of your own, and we can try and get the 50 best or something. So comment and I will edit the list to include good ones.

SO they come out with a new gun and they tout how it is so safe and one of those "safe" features is a loaded chamber indicator. This really annoys me, I mean what really does this do? Have we all forgoten that all guns are to be treated as loaded? If someone (IE not a "gun" person") picks up this gun that does not know the "All guns are loaded" rule, do you really expect them to know what a loaded chamber inticator is, and how to use it?
As for the gun savey population, they should know that the gun is loaded, or at least how to properly check the weapon. Now If you where to say to me that it is for "operators" to be able to feel instantly if their weapons are loaded, well missy let me tell you that I an't gonna belive some little tab to tell me if I have a weapon ready to go into leathel combat. First off those little things can get a little grit on them and then they stay "loaded" all the time. So if the indicator says that there is a round in the chamber does that mean I still have to check it before going out to check something going bumb in the night>?
I belive that it was said that somethings are brilant soultions to non-exitent proplem. This fits in that cadogery. Some Airforces did something simular, in that they painted a false cockpit on the underside of the aircraft. well it seemed like a great idea, until people had an ephiny and said "hey if they are close enough to see it, then they are close enough to not be fooled by it.
As far as gun safety, its really easy. Most Americans memorize many many numbers, phrases, and such in their lives. How had then is it for a persom to learn a few very simplE rules about gun handeling,
1 EVERY GUN IS LOADED!!!!!
2 DO NOT POINT A GUN AT ANYTHING YOU DO NOT WISH TO KILL/DESTROY!!
3 WHEN BEING HANDED A FIRARM FROM SOMEONE ELSE, YOU FIRST CHECK THAT THE WEAPON IS UNLOADED.
So I belive that if a person cannot learn, and abide by those rules, they should be taken to a group home where they help those with limited mental assets.

New Sig 556 rifle review
AHH.
I brought home a new baby. A brand new Sig 556 rifle. Forward grip, stream light tactical light, HALO sight. What a wonderful piece of engineering! I have as of yet not done any formal accuracy testing, but during the basic sight in session, the rifle was easy to shoot, minimal recoil, very steady, and shot well. At 25yds it was easy to shoot overlapping groups from offhanded. With its thin barrel the rifle does heat up, however unlike an AR-15 none of the heat is felt by the user because of the well vented large handguard‘s. This first sight-in session was at night and I was very impressed about the lack of an overwhelming muzzle flash. the basic M-16 flash suppresser works very well indeed.
I suppose the last time I fired an M-16 style flash hider at night, I was in a small house in Mosul, with other things on my mind! Overall the I am very impressed by the weapon, if I was to compare the Sig 556 to anything I would have to say that it handles like an M249 SAW. The pistol grip even feels close! The piston system does an excellent job of reducing recoil, and to me it is more comfortable to shoot than my AR-15.
As for reliability testing I was again impressed. Normally when I had acquired semi-automatic rifles they might hick-up in the first few rounds. Not the Sig; Insert Magazine, rack bolt, pull trigger, repeat as needed. Of the 7 mags I used in the first shoot (30 rounders) not a single problem. Simply pull trigger, and repeat as necessary. That is what a tactical rifle is suppose to do.
Since that first play time I have exercised the rifle at 200 yards and I was having little difficulty hitting paper plates at that distance. Another 500 rounds and still not one malfunction. Playing with the rifle more I believe that it is slightly heavier than I would normally choose, but not to the point of being unmanageable. I am also calculating the weight based on end-user, IE what shooters actually put on these types of weapons.
I don’t think that I will stop using my AR-15, but I do think that this is a better rifle. I also don’t think that it will become as popular as the ar, if only because of the price. There is always room in the gun cabinet for new types of weapons, and cool new gadgets. The Sig will not supplant the AR in the regular sense of the word but I do believe that the gas-piston system will become a prominent feature in future combat rifles.