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Fifteenth Anniversary Approaches For Pivotal Texas Shooting: The
massacre at a Luby's cafeteria in Killeen eventually led to the creation
of CHL's for Texas residents. Article reviews the requirements to obtain
one.
http://www.kdhnews.com/docs/stories/story.aspx?sid=11857&cid=4
---
The Plot Thickens: Portland police now believe that the intruder who was
manually strangled to death the the 51-year-old nurse he attacked in her
home was not a simple burglar but a hit man hired by the woman's
estranged husband.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C214120%2C00.html
---
Head Shot, With A Knife: Article describes how close to blindness or
death a man came when a thrown knife went through his eye socket and
into his brain.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C23599%2C20422829-2%2C00.html
---
Pistol Purchase, Inside Look: A while back a link was shared to a a news
report that S&W had landed a contract to replace the aging 4006 pistol
of the California Highway Patrol with the 4006 TSW. Here is the CHP's
rationalization and explanation of that contract.
http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/pistols.html
---
From John Farnam:
12 Sept 06
Beretta CX4
After surgery to remove superfluous material, my copy of the Beretta CX4
is in service. We used it in OH last week, during a battery of
courses. Ran just fine!
It is designed to be rapidly convertible from right-side ejection, to
left side. The bolt handle can also be moved from side to side. Nice
feature for use within a department.
We found it to be amazingly accurate, effortlessly delivering consistent
brain-stem shots at twenty meters. Of course, it shoots 40S&W pistol
ammunition, but it is light, smooth, short, handy, easy to maneuver, and
easy to use. Excellent car gun!
/John
(Brainstem shots are much easier on stationary paper targets than on
moving people. Granted that, at closer ranges, a carbine is a better
choice for this challenging role than a pistol, we should not not
delude ourselves that we really have a high likelihood of reaching the
brainstem with a pistol-caliber bullet. A higher velocity rifle bullet
at least has the potential to sever the brainstem from the upper brain
as it liquefies the latter in its passage through the brain cavity.)
12 Sept 06
On magazine safeties, from a friend and student:
"I remember you once said that you removed the magazine safety from all
your S&W pistols as soon as you got them. Did you accomplish this by
completely removing the appropriate plunger and spring from the slide?
I've had a gunsmith do this on my S&W CS45. However, I am now wondering
if having an open hole on the bottom of the slide (that communicates
with the firing-pin channel) is a problem. My gun runs fine, but I'm
wondering if this modification will increase fouling in the firing pin
channel and create problems when the gun gets dirty."
My reply:
Removing the magazine safety on any S&W pistol will not create
problems. S&W deliberately makes the process easy, knowing that serious
gunmen will want nothing to do with magazine safeties. All who use
these guns for any kind of serious purpose remove them. Little fouling
ever makes its way into the firing pin channel. Get rid of it! Your
pistol will continue to run just fine.
/John
(I'm not sure what a "serious gunman" is but there are many people out
there who have been involved in shootings and their aftermaths who feel
that it is not worth the potential liability in an ensuing civil action
to risk removal of a factory installed "safety" device. If a
magazine-disconnect safety is that much of a problem to you, it may be
worth selecting a pistol that does not come with one from the
manufacturer. As my former teaching partner was fond of saying, "It's
your gunfight.")
13 Sept 06
On Kalashnikovs, from a friend in SA:
"We ran an Urban Rifle Course here last weekend. A student (complete
amateur) arrived with a dirty, rusty, beat-up, bone-dry, Chinese AKM and
nine-hundred rounds of steel-case, Russian ammunition, dated 1963. It
was all badly corroded, and I was skeptical, but, in the end, allowed
him to use it anyway. Out of nine-hundred rounds, not one failure to
fire! He had three failures of feed, as the cases involved were rusted
to the point where they no longer fit in the chamber."
Comment: Even under the worst conditions, Kalashnikovs, no matter where
they were manufactured, usually come through. Rude and crude, by
American standards, the Kalashnikov still proudly claims the title of a
significant milestone in firearm history!
/John
(David Hackworth, like John Farnam, was not happy with the M16. In his
book About Face he told of discovering an enemy body that had been
buried in mud for about a year, along with an AK-47. Hackworth jumped
into the pit, grabbed the rifle, and fired off the full magazine,
full-auto. This is a good example of the difference between building a
firearm for target accuracy versus building one for maximum reliability.)
13 Sept 06
Many have asked about my recommended modifications to the Beretta CX4.
Here is a summary from my riflesmith, Colby Adler:
"The pistol grip should be cut flush with the actual magazine well to
allow normal seating of a magazine. The back of the pistol grip can then
be radiused for appearance and comfort.
Cut the stock loop off with a hacksaw. You can then profile the stock
with a wood rasp or coarse file. Don't worry about making the stock
perfectly smooth, as you will have to fill in voids with epoxy or
fiberglass anyway, and then file off the excess.
I also trimmed one-third of the bolt-lock/release lever. As it comes
from the factory, the lever is too long. When you trim some of it off,
there will be less likelihood of the bolt locking to the rear
prematurely when the shooter uses a thumbs-up grip.
John's copy of the CX4 also had a spacer in front of the recoil pad.
Unless you have unusually long arms, get rid of it! The recoil pad just
snaps on, and the spacer can be removed with one screw."
Comment: These relatively simple modifications make this handy carbine
even handier and easier to use. Recommended!
/John
(I have to wonder why Beretta could not have thought of these things.)
15 Sept 06
Spot-on comments on rifle selection, from a friend in the Phillippines.
Some truths resurface continually!
"In the early 90s, a Russian delegation came over here to demonstrate
various Kalashnikov platforms to Philippine Military and LE agencies.
By this time, reserve stocks of serviceable M16 rifles were running low,
and the US State Department was dragging its heels over export permits.
The Russians saw an opportunity for a big sale!
The weapons, as you noted, functioned well. Yes, sights are crude, and
the selector is anything but handy. Still, they offered to sell our
government AK rifles at an extremely attractive price. Equally
attractive, the Russians would also ship manufacturing equipment so that
the rifles could be made in-country. This would allow us to use mass
production to remedy issues with sights and selectors. The offer to
bring in equipment and components to locally manufacture ammunition was
also made. Apparently, after the Cold War, 75% of these machines were
idle and so giving them away was an easy way to sweeten the offer.
But, the deal didn't go through. In the end, the Philippine military
wanted to look like their US counterparts, even if that meant having to
make do with weapons that were worn out. Today, military and LE units
are equipped with a mixture of rifles. Many are Frankenguns, cobbled
together from an assortment of spare parts. In retrospect, we should
have taken the Russians up on their offer!
The lesson here is this: WE CANNOT FALL IN LOVE WITH OUR GUNS.
Something that works now is far better than what we want, but cannot
have. Musashi
learned to fight with any sword, even wooden ones, and still won!
"Battlefield ppickup" drills are incorporated into DTI classes
precisely to stress this point. I see why! We need to be taught to
rise to the situation, not wait for perfect solutions to magically appear!"
Comment: Put another way, WE NEED TO SPEND OUR TIME FINDING A WAY TO
WIN, NOT LOOKING FOR AN EXCUSE TO LOSE. We see examples of this truth
everywhere!
/John
(How many people, including John, retain a sentimental attachment to the
obsolescent 1911 platform? Personally, I see no reason to use that
95-year-old technology when the 107-year-old technology of my revolvers
works just fine. While the earlier remarks about the Kalashnikov seem
spot-on for the Philippines, perhaps some of us develop a love for those
guns that we feel best fill a role for us.)
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
