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The Sky Is Falling!: A New Jersey sheriff has discovered that the
Professional Ordnance Carbon-15 Type-97 pistol does not appear to be a
firearm when viewed in an airport-security X-ray machine. The gun fires
233-caliber (sic) ammunition. "This a nasty weapon," Fontoura told The
Star-Ledger of Newark. "That's the ammunition we're using in Iraq. If
we're not alert, this could go right past security." (Yes but how about
the radio-opaque ammunition, without which the gun is worthless?)
http://www.wnbc.com/news/9066052/detail.html
---
Rebecca Peters On Civilian Disarmament: The head of the International
Action Network on Small Arms celebrates the tenth anniversary of
Australia's Port Arthur murders as the catalyst for nationally uniform
restrictions on firearm ownership in that country, which she ties to the
worldwide struggle to disarm civilians.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18950038-7583,00.html
---
From Force Science Research Center: Transmission #43 deals primarily
with the distinction between clear commands (alpha commands)) and
ambiguous commands (beta commands) and the tendency for police officers
to lapse into beta commands during violent encounters, (Again, while the
information is reported in terms of law enforcement, it is applicable to
private citizens as well.)
http://www.forcesciencenews.com/home/current.html
---
From John Farnam:
23 Apr 06
G19 Extractor
During a training program last weekend, a student using a G19 started
experiencing numerous failures to extract. Suspecting a broken
extractor, I locked the slide to the rear and looked at the extractor
from above. It looked normal.
I then field-stripped the pistol, removed the spring assembly and barrel
from the slide, turned the slide upside down, and then looked at the
extractor from the under side. Sure enough, the tip of the extractor
claw was broken off. It looked like a chipped tooth. Difficult to
discern from the top, but obvious when viewed from underneath. Upon
replacing the extractor, the pistol was returned to useful service and
resumed functioning normally.
With Glocks, few parts break regularly, but the tip of the extractor
claw does break now and then. One must habitually field strip the
pistol and examine the breech from the under side. Merely locking open
the slide and looking at it from the top will divulge little.
/John
24 Apr 06
Detonics 9-11-01
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to wring out my copy of the new
Detonics 9-11-01 Pistol. It is a full-sized, all-stainless steel, 1911
pistol, in 45ACP, of course. It feels good to be carrying a Government
Model again!
This is a serious, heavy-duty pistol, designed for daily carrying and
heavy use. It is easily a 30,000 round gun. Loaded with Cor-Bon DPX,
it makes a formidable package. It functioned flawlessly, as expected.
Detonics pistols have none of the various Swartz interlocks, nor are
they fitted with the Colt trigger interlock. They are pretty much the
way Browning designed them, except that they have no barrel bushing.
Not much to go wrong.
This is a serious, hard, robust heavy hitter. Recommended!
/John
(Emotion is a powerful motivator. In private correspondence, John has
expressed agreement with me that that the 1911 platform is obsolescent.
Perhaps it is nostalgia that leads him to recommend it.)
25 Apr 06
Comments on chipped extractors on Glocks, from instructors:
"Chipped Glock extractors can be largely prevented by:
(1) Regularly cleaning powder fouling from the extractor and bolt face.
The extractor needs to be clean and dry.
(2) Replacing weak magazine springs
(3) Replacing a weak extractor plunger spring.
(4) Not using steel-case ammunition."
"I had the same problem with my G19! I chose not to switch over to my
back-up gun or replacement pistol and continued training with my broken
G19. I found that I quickly mastered the art of reducing malfunctions!
It turned into the best training I ever received.
Too many people get upset when their gear breaks. Instead, one should
use it as an opportunity to learn how to work through a problem. In a
real fight, gear might break. As a result, one can mistakenly lapse
into an impotent mindset, eg: 'I can't go on now, because my gun isn't
working correctly.'
Instead, training should engender a 'Find a way to win, regardless of
circumstances' mindset. Once one stops feeling sorry for himself, he can
focus on the task at hand, whether gear wants to cooperate or not.
Thus, intentionally training with gear that doesn't function properly
actually bolsters one's attitude. As you might say, Recommended!'"
/John
(It's fine to continue training with equipment that is no longer
functioning optimally, so long as doing so does not predispose it to
greater breakdown. However, if it is known that use of steel-case ammo
is a risk factor for chipping extractors, I would forgo its use as I
cannot predict when that damage would occur.)
25 Apr 06
Knoxx Stock:
A company called Knoxx is making a recoil-absorbing, replacement stock
for Remington and Mossburg shotguns, as well as other weapons. I had
two of my 12ga pumps fitting with them, after seeing the product at the
SHOT Show. It provides a useful pistol grip, and it permits fast
follow-up shots, as the barrel comes back on target quickly. Here are
comments from an institutional user:
"Shot the 870 with the Knoxx stock last weekend. Functioned flawlessly!
While not 'removing' recoil, it does move most of it into the pistol
grip, so that my shoulder is not punished nearly as much as with a fixed
stock. The shotgun also recovers and reacquires the target much more
quickly than with standard stock.
I like the pistol grip. It makes transitioning from your AR, to
shotgun, to pistol nearly effortless. Trigger finger naturally stays in
register. No 'funny feeling' when going to the shotgun from the AR or
pistol.
I like it! It doesn't perform miracles, but it makes it possible to
comfortably fire a good deal more rounds during training than is the
case with a straight stock. Anything that makes shotgun training more
palatable than it currently is should interest all serious trainers!"
Comment: This is a product that merits a close look!
Knoxx Industries
PO Bx 2848
500 Linne Rd, Ste A
Paso Robles, CA 93446
877 465 6699
805 227 4099
805 238 2069 (Fax)
/John
26 Apr 06
ILEETA
The International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association
(ILEETA) is currently holding its annual conference in Arlington
Heights, IL. Vicki and I attended the vendors' area this morning.
This, the newest of the three big LE trainers associations, is putting
on a big and well attended and organized event. Ed Nowicki, the central
personality (and long-time friend), is, once again, showing us all what
a suburb organizer and diplomat he is!
Of all the vendors there, several new products caught my eye:
The "Shocknife" The shocknife is a training blade that electronically
duplicates the sensation of being cut! It is absolutely amazing. When
Jeff Quail, the inventor, dragged the blade across my arm, I had to look
to convince myself I had not just been sliced open. The sensation made
my blood run cold! This will prove a valuable training tool when
instructing students in knife fighting and knife defense. Excellent
product. I'm going to get a copy!
Jeremy Ross has invented a product called "FirstLight." Instead of
attaching a flashlight to the gun, FirstLight attaches to the shooter's
support hand. Attached to the back of the support hand, it doesn't get
in the way, but when the pistol, or longarm, is grasped normally, the
light is exactly on the boreline! The shooter can reload, reduce
stoppages, and move normally, and the flashlight and gun can be joined
together and employed immediately. Just as quickly, they can be
separated, and the flashlight can be used independently, so the shooter
is not automatically pointing a gun at everything he illuminates. I'm
going to get a copy of this too. Quite an idea!
Several video simulators were on display, but Dave Young's CAPS System
is still my favorite, because it is designed to be used exclusively on a
live range. Students use their own guns, their own ammunition, their
own accouterments. I've used Dave's system at the S&W Academy indoor
range, and it was consistently the most popular part of my programs there.
FATS, another video simulator has cleverly eliminated the gas-tube
tether that has been heretofore necessary in order to get high-pressure
gas to the gun/simulator, so that the slide can be made to reciprocate
normally when the trigger is pressed and normal discharge is simulated.
Tethers can be a nuisance, and they sometimes retard normal, tactical
movement. With the new generation of FATS simulator pistols and rifles,
the gas supply is actually in the magazine, much as it is with Airsoft
guns. Now, shooters are free to move any way they want, and weapons can
be "loaded" and "reloaded" normally. This represents a significant
advancement in simulator training, and FATS deserves a lot of credit.
My friend, Tom Marx at Blackhawk, is now marketing the "Harkins Triton"
knife. It is a pocket knife, with a four-inch blade, a blade that both
appears and disappears at the flick of a switch! I'm not sure how it
works, but the blade shoots out of the handle, locking in place. It
shoots back in just as fast! As a one-hand blade, this will be hard to
beat for speed of deployment. I'm definitely getting a copy!
Jeff Quail
ShockKnife
866 353 5055
Jeremy Ross
FirstLight
217 356 6600
Dave Young
CAPS
514 696 8591
Gary Thomas
FATS
800 813 9046, Ext 3293
Tom Marx
Blackhawk
800 694 5263
/John
(I'm a charter member of ILEETA. Unfortunately, since I don't fall under
the provisions of LEOSA, the location of the annual conference in
no-carry Illinois keeps me from enjoying the greatest benefit of that
membership.)
27 Apr 06
Six days ago, a 33-year-old meth-addict in OR attempted to commit
suicide by firing a carpenter's nail gun into his head, multiple times!
Most of the fired nails entered the side of the skull near the eye
socket, from both sides (he was apparently ambidextrous)!
Later in the day, Goofy showed up at a local ER, fully conscious and
ambulatory, but complaining of a "headache!" X-Rays of his skull
revealed twelve, embedded two-inch nails, which were subsequently
removed, one by one, with what amounts to a pair of pliers. Goofy not
only survived, but his prognosis was characterized by "no lasting
effects."
The lesson here is:
Unless the brain stem is substantially destroyed, a missile that strikes
the cranium, even penetrating the skull, even penetrating the brain
itself, is unlikely to produce substantial short-term debilitation, much
less, anything that could be described as an instantaneous shutdown."
Accordingly, adhering to the sage advice of my good friend and ER
surgeon, Don Gunn, we don't teach "head shots." Instead, we
teach"brain-stem shots." Easily accomplished with rifles, but a tall
order for pistols, owing to most pistol bullets' limited ability to
fully penetrate bony, facial sinuses and nasal turbinates. Another
reason I routinely carry DPX!
When viewed from the front, the brain stem is directly behind the middle
of the nose. Of course, it can't be seen directly. It and its location
must be visualized by the shooter. In our courses, we now do several
drills that are designed to aid this three-dimensional imaging process.
/John
(For those who may not yet have read it, I have a discussion of the
IACP's recommendation of the use of head shots on suspected suicide
bombers posted at
http://www.spw-duf.info/emperor.html#head%20shots.)
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
