Virginia Tech Families Lobby For Infringements: Omar Samaha wore a suit
to talk to state lawmakers yesterday. It was the same suit he wore to
his younger sister Reema's funeral in April after she and 31 other
students and teachers at Virginia Tech were shot and killed by Seung Hui
Cho...Across from Samaha, sitting on the dais, was his state senator,
Ken Cuccinelli II (R-Fairfax). Cuccinelli, a strong supporter of gun
rights, had just come from the firing range where his daughters practice
archery, not far from where he shoots skeet. Cuccinelli has helped
defeat the very gun legislation that Samaha and other victims' family
members came to ask lawmakers to approve. He, like the other lawmakers,
listened in silence.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/05/AR2008010502541.html
---
Good Enough For The Army, Not NYPD: On the day after he completed a
one-year sentence at the Rikers Island jail, Osvaldo Hernandez walked
into an Army recruiting office in Elmhurst, Queens. He was a felon with
a plan to change his life. It was late in 2003. Mr. Hernandez had been
convicted of possessing an unregistered pistol the year before. The
Army, struggling to meet its recruiting goals, granted him an enlistment
waiver for the crime and soon swore him in..."Basically they told me,
word for word, 'You're good enough for the Army, but you aren't good
enough to be a police officer,'" Specialist Hernandez said, describing
an exchange with a police recruiter on the department's recruitment hot
line. "They said, 'You need more moral stature to be a police officer.'"
(In most of the country, his offense would not have been a felony.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/nyregion/06soldier.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all
---
From John Farnam:
31 Dec 07
Good lessons relearned. From a friend and Instructor:
"I participated in a 'tactical' rifle match down South Saturday. Yes,
they're a bunch of cold-range gun-apologists, but it still gives me the
opportunity to shoot under pressure on a course I didn't design.
I used my Robinson Arms XCR (223) with a forward-mounted EOTech, flip-up
iron sights by Yankee Hill, and a Vickers two-point sling. It's set
up exactly like yours, per your recommendation. Rifle, optic, and sling
ran perfectly, and I discovered that I can easily and quickly achieve
good hits on human targets from contact to two-hundred meters with this
set up while avoiding the clutches of tunnel vision.
But, there were challenges:
At the first stage, I had a sun-glare problem, as the rising sun was
just a few degrees directly over my target. I could not find the red
dot in my EOTech. I dithered around trying to adjust the brightness of
the reticle. No joy! After a few seconds, I just used the red doughnut
as a giant 'ghost ring.' I managed to make marginal hits on the
25-meter silhouette with this method. Afterwards, during a 'V-8
Experience,' I realized I could have just flipped-up my iron sights and
engaged the target precisely. I'd heard about this
'sun-glare phenomenon,' but I have to admit, the whole episode made me
feel like a dunce! I ran the rest of the stages with the EOTech but
with the front iron-sight post up (rear iron sight down), and that is,
from now on, the default condition for my rifle. I had no other
difficulties with my EOTech.
At another stage, I was making a magazine change while running, and I
neglected to seat the magazine fully. Sure enough, seconds later as my
target came into view, I experienced the classic bang-'click' syndrome,
as I unhappily discovered I had a chamber full of thin air! When I
hastily attempted to strike the bottom of the magazine, I, of course,
discovered the magazine was not there, but was rather on the deck ten
meters behind me. It had jettisoned itself without my notice. When
administratively loading the rifle, I always briskly insert the
magazine, push up until it seats and locks, and then pull down on it in
order to assure that it is properly locked in place. Why don't I adhere
to the same procedure when tactically reloading? Another embarrassing
lesson learned!
The exercise allowed me to confirm that my current setup works, and
works well. What I need to practice was blatantly brought to my
attention, and my attention it shall get. I found what I need to
improve and what I need to practice in order to maintain. I'll go back
in the spring and reevaluate my practice regimen. Maybe I'll do the
whole thing with iron sights!"
Comment: Serious rifles need to be run and run hard! That is the only
we can enjoy at least some confidence that they are going to serve us
well at the critical time. Faults, when discovered, should be cause for
rejoicing! When important lessons are firmly learned, and the only
price we have to pay is a little personal embarrassment, it is a grand
day indeed!
"I am a free man, regardless of what set of 'rules' surround me. When I
find them tolerable, I tolerate them. When I find them obnoxious, I
ignore them. I remain free, because I know and understand that I alone
bear full responsibility for everything I do, or chose not to do."
R Heinlein
/John
1 Jan 08
A point to consider, from a friend and Operator currently deployed overseas:
"Over here, we regularly use both Aimpoints and EOTechs, to great
effect! We like 1X optics, because they are fast, and we can see so
much around the aiming point. However, I teach all my teammates with
optic-equipped rifles, to still keep their backup-up iron sights (BUIS),
both front and rear, up and deployed all the time!
In fact, we have little use here for any species of fold-down sights.
They will always be folded down and unusable when you desperately need
them. With iron sights always deployed, when the illuminated reticle on
your optic goes south, all you have to do is drop your eye a quarter of
an inch, pick up your iron sights, and continue to engage as if nothing
had happened. The transition requires no hand motion, and can be
accomplished instantly. The move, of course, needs to be practiced
regularly.
I submit that 'full-time' iron-sights, as a complement to your 1X optic,
is the best way to go!"
Comment: My friend's comments are, as always, founded on extensive
operational experience. However, with rifles other than the AR-15/M-4,
flip-up iron sights may be the only BUIS available. And, when they are
always up (deployed), they are in danger of being broken off. They are
far more durable when folded down and out of the way.
The issue of the "clutter" contributed by always-deployed BUIS is one
that I suspect is highly individual. As one who is poor at
multi-tasking, I don't like clutter in my optic. Stadia lines,
range-estimation aids, stock-quotations, and everything else
incorporated into rifle optics these days are counter-productive, as
least for me, when I'm trying to concentrate only on my aiming point.
Based on my friend's advice, I'm going to drill both ways. Depending
upon the equipment we're using, we will all have to be well practiced in
instantly switching from electronic reticle to deployed BUIS. We may
also have to be adept of instantly deploying flip-up sights that are
normally folded down!
/John
(It's been nearly years since I've handled any of these newfangled
sighting devices. The last time that I did, I was still concerned about
the signatures they project downrange, also know as "target indicators"
for your assailant. I'm willing to be updated if this is no longer an
issue.)
2 Jan 08
Glock issue.
This is old news to many of us, but it is still critical for every Glock
owner:
"John, I had a disconcerting moment at the range today. I attempted to
fire my G19, which I just acquired, used, from another LEO. It went
"click," but it wouldn't fire! I bought the gun several days ago used
and, at that time, it appeared to function normally. Not today! Today,
it was a good deal colder than when I first test-fired the pistol, and
that should have been a hint!
When examining the recalcitrant rounds, I noticed that the striker was
leaving only shallow and unconvincing dents on the primers. I have seen
this problem before, and, in every case, the culprit was a
striker-channel and spring that are gummed up with green-colored gunk.
This is usually caused by owners who generously (and repeatedly)
'lubricate' the striker-channel, spring, and striker itself, in direct
contradiction to Glock's literature which advises to keep the channel
bone-dry.
When our armorer broke the weapon down all the way, that is exactly what
we found! Shame on me for not asking our armorer to break it down and
inspect it first thing. Once the striker-channel, striker, and spring
were all clean and dry, the pistol fired normally, even in the cold,
with nary a hiccup."
Comment: Advice to used-gun buyers: Spend the time and money to have a
armorer/gunsmith detail dissemble your new acquisition and
inspect/clean/adjust/replace parts, as necessary, BEFORE putting the
weapon into serious service. Glocks are normally extremely reliable,
but even they have issues, as we see.
"'Luck' is merely probability, taken personally."
/John
3 Jan 08
Comments on 1X optics:
I am persuaded that a military rifle, equipped with 1X optics, forward
mounted, makes an excellent compromise for the independent rifleman and
general, defensive purposes. That is the way most of my serious rifles
are now set up. Specialized purposes may be served by magnifying
optics, but seeing "a-lot-of-a-little" comes at a price!
I find EOTechs and Aimpoints to both be acceptable, but neither is
perfect. Here are some "imperfections" that are curable, and a few that
are probably not, from my own experience and contributed by a host of
colleagues and friends:
(1) Loose mounts: Legion are complaints about optics coming loose and
falling off rifles upon which they were thought to be securely
mounted. Best to have a gunsmith install the optic and lock-tight it
down. Even that is no guarantee, but "finger-tight" screws will not
stay tight for long!
(2) Be able to get rid of the optic, fast: Optics are best mounted on
quick-release bases, so that you can get them off your rifle and out of
your life in an instant. When your optic cracks or frosts-over, you
need to be able quickly get it off your rifle, so you can default to
your BUIS. Mark LaRue makes, by far, the best quick-release mounts.
Highly recommended, but Mark's bases need to be firmly affixed, or
they'll come loose just like any other!
(3) Battery life: Aimpoint has an advantage here, as it consumes only a
minuscule fraction of the power required by EOTech. Aimpoint users
should replace batteries once a year, just to play it safe, but it is
probably not necessary any more frequently than every five years. The
aiming dot is always "on." In fact, turning it off is
contra-indicated. It just stays "on," and will be there when you need it.
EOTech's power supply needs to be much more closely monitored, and
batteries replaced much more often. The illuminated reticle turns
itself off automatically after four or eight hours, to conserve power.
That feature is both good and bad. Battery life is extended, but the
unit may turn itself off at an inconvenient moment! My advice to
students is to adjust reticle brightness no less often than once per
hour when in the field. That will reset the turn-off clock and keep the
system "on" while the rifle is being carried. The practice constantly
assures the active Operator that his EOTech is "on." Springs in
EOTech's battery compartment can fall out without you noticing. A hint
will be intermittent power! Fortunately, newer EOTech versions have
now largely eliminated this issue.
(4) Too much clutter, too bright: EOTech's 65MOA circle and central
aiming dot (four dots on some models) is difficult to see past when
brightness is set too high. Aimpoints and some models of EOTech have
only one, central aiming dot, and that is what I prefer. That way, when
reticle brightness is set too high, the optic is still useable, and you
find yourself adjusting brightness a good deal less often.
(5) Anti-Reflection Device (ARD): This is a cover that fits over the
objective lens in order to cut down on the optic's downrange glare
signature. However, with a copy installed, it is extremely difficult
to pick up your front sight, rendering your BUIS all but unusable.
(6) Forward-mounting: Get the optic out of our face! Neither Aimpoint
nor EOTech are eye-relief critical, and my preference is to mount the
optic well forward on the rifle's forend, giving me a minimum of thirty
centimeters of eye-relief. That way, when the rifle is mounted, I can,
of course, sight through the optic, but I can also SEE AROUND it! With
close eye-relief, the optic becomes your whole world. Not recommended!
1X illuminated optics are here to stay, and offer serious riflemen
significant advantages. Keep the foregoing in mind, and your optic will
serve you well.
/John
(Note comment on "ARD's.")
4 Jan 08
Another ND! Damage limited by Safe Direction:
"John, very glad you introduced me to Safe Direction pads!
My father, retired from the USAF as an E-8 in 1974, was handling my
Taurus 1911 yesterday. I had given him a Safe Direction pad and
instructed him in its use, and I insisted he use it! Good thing!
He was checking the Taurus before going to the range. Assuming it was
unloaded, he put the muzzle against the Safe Direction pad, and pulled
the trigger in order to 'confirm' the pistol's condition. He was
eminently successful! The pistol discharged once, and he was so
startled that he pressed the trigger a second time. The pistol, once
again, functioned normally! Ammunition was Hornady 230gr JHP+P TAP.
After the two NDs, he finally got control of himself and unloaded the
pistol.
Total damage: Startled and unhappy wife! Ears ringing! However, no
damage to home, furniture, nor neighborhood. No police involvement.
Safe Direction pad functioned as advertised! Both bullets, completely
flattened, were stopped and contained therein.
Dad is today being recalibrated on 'assumptions' and guns, and we have
a new Safe Direction pad on order!"
Comment: We've all heard about these unhappy episodes. They happen
every day! The cause is always the confluence of (1) Exhaustion, (2)
Distraction, and (3) Poor Procedure. We are also reminded by the
foregoing that the time you are most likely to experience an ND is
within two seconds of your last ND! NDs tend to come in pairs,
sometimes in multiples.
Safe Direction pads are an integral part of every professional gunman's
ensemble. They are, in fact, highly recommended for every gun owner,
professional or otherwise. I know many of us naively believe we would
never be "that stupid." Dream on!
/John
(We are creatures of habit. The military makes habit of using "clearing
barrels," filled with sand, for troops to verify that they have cleared
firing chambers.)
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
