XS Range Report

So I got hte gunsmith to put the XS Sights on my Commander.  Here is the range report, as promised.  There was some trepidation going in that the sights are too gimmicky and 'sloppy'.

See?  The rear sight has no notch.  Bit of a sway back.  You might wander that big front sight around in that shallow saddle and not line it up with the post to make a perfect lollipop.  Also, that front sight is BIG.  It covers a lot of the target.  You aren't going to aim at a bad guys left eye and decide against that and shift to the right eye when he's 20 yards away.  You know what?  I'm not good enough to do that anyway.  So the problem the sights present are a bit moot.

Plus, they glow in the dark.  They almost back light my face they are so bright.  That's an improvement, so if performance is not too negatively impacted, the switch to XS will be considered a good thing. 

Anyway, here are the targets:

I aimed at the lower right shoot n' see first for quite a few mags to warm up.  You can see the usual T-Bolt shooting flaw with 'flyers' outside the target area, but still some good-for-me work otherwise.  I relaxed and shifted to the top left target.  There I concentrated on gripping tighter and just feathering the trigger to break the shot.  With noticeably better results if still low and right.  I'm getting better at that light trigger work, and can do it on demand most times.  I don't know if I could under stress without a lot more habit forming trigger work.

Here is the second target.

I started at the upper left shoot n' see.  Then I did one mag each at upper right and lower left.  All those and the previous target were at 25 feet.  But for the lower right I pushed the target trolley out to 60 feet and shot the last 16 rounds.  Since the sights aren't as good at distance, and I'm not that good at shooting I expected disaster.  I was pleasantly surprised I shot as well as I did.  That green encircled area is only 10 inches wide at the widest.  

Verdict...  XS Sights are a keeper and I'm glad I got them.  

On a side note, I am slowly 'getting' my trigger pull.  And about time.  I need to accelerate my establishing of pathways with a better trigger pull so it's second nature.   

Another side note, gripping 20% tighter leads to more blisters.  One on my left thumb from where it rests on the safety.  One on the left palm where the mainspring housing rests.  Poor baby...

Check out the spam!

In the previous post comments.  Apparently it wasn't airplanes that hit the World Trade Center, it was 3 thermonuclear explosions.  I coulda swore I saw airplanes on the TeeVee.  Here I thought the Truthers were finally starting to fade.

Source of this revelation is Egyptian and Russian sources.  You think we do conspiracy theories well in the US?  We are amateurs compared to Egypt.

Things Tam Taught Me

Hey.  Lotsa people admire Tam.  She is a great blogger, been on the internetz forever, and is super knowledgeable.   Just reading her stuff and her comments here is like a cheat sheet before the big exam.  I've learned a bunch from her through long term osmosis, and I bet a lot of you have.  For instance:

- Pull straight back smoothly from full reset on a DA trigger on a revolver.  One continuous motion.  Just commit to the trigger pull when you have the sights on. 

- Tritium sights are good with most any firearms.  Especially when dealing with shambling zombies in low light situations at dusk or what not.   If you have sprinting zombies you want a red-dot optic of some sort.

- Got a 1911 jamming on the second round?  Did you load 8 rounds in the mag?   Might be that, causing it.   Load 7 next set, see what happens.

- Sunscreen.  And gloves on high round count outdoor training.

- Don't keep messing with it.  Leave it in the holster.  Playing with it as if it were a toy is a way NDs happen.  Minimize handling.  You know what a pistol is, you don't need to fondle it every chance you get.  Act like you been here before.

What has Tam taught you?  If not Tam, what is the best lesson you've absorbed from the posted experiences of another blogger/internet-source?

Zombie Products

From Neatorama.

Holster

Is your holster snug?  Does it try to rack the slide when you put your non-safetied semi-auto gatt in there? 

What do you do about that?

I guess when reholstering you can seat it by pressing the slide with the meat of your palm instead of pressing with just the grip.  And as the holster breaks in it will be smoother, but you may want a tight fit anyway. 

Is there something I'm missing?

Prep, UK

Well, Bristol England, it is good you are prepping for the Zombacalypse, but your country is going to have have some major rights reforms on individual self-defense if you want any chance of a good result.

But they have codewords for radio and TV broadcast to disseminate info to authorities without causing a panic.  Like we used "Doctor Redbird" at the hospital to alert staff to a fire.  If you ever heard a PA system at the hospital ask for Doctor Redbird and then a buncha janitors ran past with fire extinguishers, that is why.  Or "Hey Rube" as the call of Carneys to indicate there is trouble at the county fair.

Dual Wield

The Beard, work friend, wants those undersleeve wrist attached extender holster thingies for his future CCW work.

You know those cowboy movies where the gambler kept a derringer on the end of an extendable contraption attached to his wrist?  Those are COOL, right?  I think the latest movies I've seen with an example are Jeff Goldblum's in Silverado and in Kevin Kline's in Wild Wild West.

The Beard wants 2.  So he can dual wield.

Like this, but with a small pistol:

Ok, he isn't exactly serious about it.  But it is an intriguing CCW option.  Intriguing, I said.  I'm not too sure about the wisdom of that rig.

Regardless, I can't seem to find a commercial version available today.  I magine law enforcement frowns upon them and the LAW may well, too. 

I'd figure they'd still exist as a costume or cosplay prop for folk, if not with actual firearms.  Any sightings out there?  Googling 'wrist holster' variations or 'sleeve holster' variations, with or without the word derringer, gives me bupkis.

And how bout this... If unwise to have a gun on your wrist, what about a wrist attached, spring-loaded, spare magazine holder for your reload?  Huh?  THAT'D be something.

CCW Safety II

Yes, yes, I was being sarcastic.  Mandating DA-only universally is insane.  Silly. 

Odd thing is, I shoot BETTER DA than I do SA with my carry-gun selection.  But I am broken.  You all know that.  Policy shouldn't be centered on my abilities, certainly. 

I just hit more with the 5 rounds of DA than I do with 7 rounds of .45 SA.  And I think less when I'm doing it.  If you promised me I'd put a threat down with my .22 conversion kit I'd carry a 1911 with 15 rounds of .22.  But that's not realistic, is it?  Though I'm getting better with the .45 when I have a chance to think about it.  Someday, it will all come naturally.  Until then, 5 rounds of .38+p or 12 rounds of DA Kellerman .40.

It still strikes me as odd that I shoot that DA comparatively better.  It just shouldn't be.  But I won't argue with it in the meantime.

But cops should definitely go old school with Model 10s.  There would be fewer no-knocks if that was all they had.

CCW Safety

Im my humble opinion, all CCW pistols should be handguns with 10 pound or greater DA triggers. For greater safety.  We should all voluntarily comply, but if a nationwide law was passed requiring it, I'm almost OK with that.  Discuss...


Also, all cops should be armed with S&W Model 10 .38s with 158gr SWCHP rounds.  Only.

SERPA ND

I totally understand the misgivings of the Serpa button on their retention holsters.  When under stress, in a hurry, when fine motor functions are out the window, I worry my finger would migrate to the trigger too easily. 

I LIKE the Serpa holsters and own a couple, but I am still concerned. 

5.11 is coming out with a thumb release retention holster.  It's not up for anything but Glocks when I checked the site (though I hear there are others already out there, just haven't found them online), but 1911 and SIG P229 varieties can't be far away from release.  I will get one to try when they do.  Maybe the 5.11 types will be more resistant to getting jammed up with gravel, too.

But that didn't stop THIS ND, either.  His issue was with a thumb release and then his thumb migrating to the safety, releasing it.  His finger was already near the SA trigger, and a bad result happened.

So that's food for thought for ANY retention holster.

A Serpa would be a similar problem if the safety was disengage inadvertently while still in the holster.

Retention holsters address a valid issue.  They make it harder to be surprised and disarmed in an Open Carry situation.  Does that outweigh there two things going against retention holsters, relative ease of getting the finger close to the trigger, and the fiddly bits getting munged up making it impossible to draw at all?  And this applies to ALL the retention holsters, not just Serpa and 5.11.  I dunno.  I dunno.

I think I'll stick to using the Serpa (and probably should switch to thumb-release 5.11) just with the Sig P229 right now, because of the DAK trigger.  I have 1911 Serpas that I feel more hinky about as time goes by.  I think I prefer, in an Inside the Waistband or a Paddle holster than my 1911s ride in leather with a snap retention.  For IWB with the Sig, the Milt Sparks works just fine. 

A thumb release in leather for 1911s, AND a thumb release 5.11 Paddle for the Sig has the advantage of similar release methods for commonality of training.

My ideal future is getting good enough, to my satisfaction, with 1911s that I don't even consider the desire to carry the Sig.

XS installed

I went ahead on put that funny XS sight on my Commander, despite misgivings from knowledgeable advisers.  Why?  I want to see for myself. 

I'll keep my full size 1911 with more conventional sights.  So I won't be out of a 1911, certainly, if the new sights are a disaster.

My Commander, ideally, is a future carry gun.  And I wouldn't use it for stuff WAY out there, where the XS sights might not perform as well.

But the proof is in the pudding.  I report back with a range report. 

I DID need to get SOME sort of tritium sights on the Commander for low light application.  And I already know I like the lollipop style sights, despite my initial prejudices.  So I am hopeful.

Update:  Range tomorrow, prolly.

Dangit

Some guy named Tom in South Dakota won MY Kriss carbine. 

.223

There is sentiment, online and off, that, "Gee, T-Bolt, a .223 rifle would be awful handy if the SHTF because it will be a very common and easy-to-find find ammo."

Yup, agreed.  But if a National Guard platoon or cops in a police cruiser leave their vehicles unsecured because a zombie ate them then I'll have access to their ammo.  I'll have access to their rifle too, since they'll have adopt their own incisors as their go-to weapon of choice.  As Sam Elliot, as Sergeant Major Plumley, said in We Were Soldiers, "Sir, if the time comes I need one, there'll be plenty lying on the ground."

But...  it's be nice to be familiar with an AR pattern rifle of some sort, I agree.   Just to know how to field strip one without thinking about it, to start.

also: 


"Good Morning Sergeant Major!"


"How do you know what kind of gott-dem day it is?!"

Cal

I always liked Calvin Coolidge.  Read this and get a sense of why.

Perfect Food Gun

Saw the perfect food gun for sale at my local gun store.  A Savage Drilling. 

Well, not a drilling, I guess.  Just a combo gun.    My brain just thinks "Drilling" when I see a long guns that shoots rifle and shotgun.  Which is wrong of my brain.  Drilling comes from the German word for 'three'.  Drei.  Three barrels.  This was 2.

It was very simple.  Just a break open single shot machanism long gun.  Top barrel is .22 long rifle, bottom is .410.  With those two you can eat any critter this side of the Mississippi.  I know you can take deer with a .410 slug.  Ducks and such with different shot.  And .22 for miscellaneous 'other' woodland cuties..

Only one trigger.  So load .22 or load .410 or waste a round when you pull the trigger and double down on the bang.

I don't know why, but I kinda covet it.  I admire that simplicity and utility.  Bricks of .22 and shotshell reloader and you have meat for a Robinson Crusoe life. And I also like these.

Update: Link to a fan page of the Savage 24.

SCOTUS sez

Video extrapolation about the decision to allow realistic simulated anti-zombie training for today's yutes.



"I would love for my child to learn how to massacre zombies. This is a valuable life skill, and you never know when it might come in handy."

Nowt Ah Toomah

Itz nowt ah toomah!

I tried to get Caleb to get Markos to say "Git tu da choppah!" on a podcast once.  What can I say?  I was drunk.  Sorry Herr Kloos.

But a tumor that regulates if you die or half die?  Here I thought zombies were probably caused by a virus.

AR? Huh?

I don't have an AR.  Maybe someday.  But it'd be a hassle.  I'd have to stock a whole new type of ammo and whatnot.  Plus I never have gotten over the whole use of a semi-auto .223 when I have .308 just lying around. 

I'll get over the reluctance someday.

Hmmm.

You know I keep coming back to the old impractical pistol carbine.  You see where I'm going with this? 

What about my FIRST AR being a .45 carbine?  I have .45ACP stocked.  Intriguing...  While I'm at it, put a suppressor on there.   Ooo, now we're getting fun. 

Yeah yeah, pistol caliber carbines aren't 'in' right now.  But it's not like this is the goto gun for social purposes.  It's a fun gun.  A souped up Marlin Camp Carbine.  With a suppressor on the subsonic round it would fill a niche, yes.  It would scratch that carbine itch I've had for ages, and permanently.  I'd spend as much on making a custom lefty bolt .45 with a suppressor as I would for a AR setup, and with the AR I can still have access to a boat load of accessories (not as much as a .223 variety, but still jillions.)

Points against it... Man, but that's unconventional behavior for me. 
 

What does a 1st Amendment ruling

Have to do with the Second Amendment?

A good deal, apparently, when shooting down sillier social 'sciences.'

Short version: the gun/weapon you own makes you more prone to violence?  Yeah SCOTUS is calling some shenanigans on that idea.

(Yes TWO sets of shennanigans on one Saturday.  While other bloggers do light posting on the weekends, I double down for you loyal readers.  All 4 of you.)

CDC Shennanigans

I wish the Center for Disease Control would go back to concerning themselves with health issues, rather than carry the Joyce Foundation's water on rights restrictions.

A cure or inoculation against Zombie infections would be a much better use to taxpayer resources.  That way it would only be a waste of money rather than a waste AND contributing to civil rights violations.

Murder is bad.  It's not a disease, and out of your purview, CDC.  Mind your own bidness.  Be less cockamamie about it, too.