Les Jones

4th generation Glocks

Sunday, November 15th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 5 Comments |

Lots of info here and here. New features:

• Ambidextrous Slide Catch Lever
• Interchangeable Back Straps
• Beveled Magazine Well
• Reversible Magazine Release
• New Sights
• New Disassembly Routine (no more dryfiring to disassemble)
• New Texture
• New Recoil Spring Assembly

Things That Will Not Be Seen on Gen 4 Glocks

• magazine disconnect safety
• external safety lever
• grip safety
• ambidextrous magazine release (button on both sides rather than interchangeable)
• slide serrations forward of the ejection port
• metal frame

Hat tip to Unc.

Tags: glock

Glock vs. 1911

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 3 Comments |

“A Glock is like that son that goes to college, gets a decent paying job, and is just a normal person. That kid that always does the right thing, doesn’t ask for much attention, and you sometimes don’t show enough attention to because it isn’t very exciting. But that’s why you love it, you know it’s fine and you did a good job picking it out.

A 1911 on the other hand… that’s the son that acts out in school, doesn’t make it through college, never holds a good job, and never really acts right. He might even dress different, have his own style, and be more refined in appearance than the other 1911 sons. You still love it, even though it is a pain in your butt most of the time.”

– iiibdsiil

Previously

• “Put down that walnut-gripped 1911 sissy pistol and getcher self a Glock”
• Glock vs. 1911 Shootoff

Tags: 1911, glock

The economics of custom guns

Sunday, November 8th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 4 Comments |

Tam and Chris have great posts about the economics of customizing guns. Bottom line: custom build a gun if you plan on keeping it and using it. Don’t imagine you’ll ever get your money back out of it. If you want a high end gun, buy one to begin with. You’ll be more likely to get your money out of it when time comes to sell it.

Small customizations - like trigger jobs or bedding jobs - can make the piece better. You won’t get all of your money back out of it when it’s time to sell, but you won’t lose your shirt, either. I’ve never regretted paying for a trigger job or custom trigger, even for the one time I later sold the gun. The sights and the trigger are the two most important parts of the gun’s user interface. You can’t be happy with the gun if you aren’t happy with those two parts.

What about buying customized guns?

The reverse of Tam and Chris’s advice is that buying customized guns can be a bargain. You get a lot of value for very little money, assuming the gun is what you want.

Here’s a customized Smith & Wesson 686 I bought through Gunbroker five years ago. The previous owner was an attorney in Grapevine, Texas who had the gun customized to shoot NRA Silhouette. I’m going to brag on it, in the interest of illustrating a point, natch.

The red dot electronic sight and mount are obvious extras, but not really customizations per se. The Elmer Keith Bill Jordan grips are cut to fit the scope mount. (FWIW, the grips didn’t work for me. Way too big. Elmer Keith Bill Jordan apparently had enormous hands. I like Jerry Miculek grips much better for S&W revolvers, or just plain old rubber Hogue monogrips.)

The removable Jarvis underlug beneath the barrel adds 10 ounces out front to reduce muzzle flip. To accommodate the Jarvis underlug and red dot sight the owner had a custom Prezine leather speed holster made. The holster is a gorgeous work of art that had to cost the previous owner several hundred dollars, but he threw it in as part of the deal.

Dallas gunsmith Lynn Patton did the trigger work. The double action pull is 9 pounds, 3 ounces and the single action pull is 2 pounds, 9 ounces. The chambers have been chamfered for quicker reloading.

How much did all of this cost me? I’d rather not say, since I may want to sell this one day, but the price I paid is about what a run of the mill used 686 would normally cost. Even in 2004 that was less than the cost of a new 686 and many S&W fans prefer the parts and workmanship in these older models.

Geez, I need to go shoot it. It’s been too long.

Newspaper admits it was wrong to oppose concealed carry

Monday, October 26th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | No Comments |

(Jefferson City, MO) News Tribune - Felons learning hard lessons:

Sheriff Greg White is a proponent of the conceal and carry law, passed by lawmakers in 2003 after Missouri voters rejected a similar law in 1999.

The law requires people to attain a standard of proficiency with weapons before they are permitted to carry a concealed gun. Proponents of the law believe it offers a greater sense of security and decreases crime by prompting felons to consider the consequences of armed confrontation.

We confess to harboring some reservations about the concealed carry law. Our fear was an increase in guns in public would result in more guns being displayed prematurely and/or more accidents.

White said recently: “All the fears over conceal and carry have never manifested.”

We concede the point. Anecdotal evidence does not suggest an increase in accidents or unprovoked gunplay.

The evidence, however, does show people defending themselves from harm. The message being sent to felons is don’t bring a weapon to a crime unless you’re prepared to accept the risk.

Tags: ccw

Bedding a 10/22 barreled action

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 4 Comments |

Bookmarking this for reference. Last summer I used sandpaper and free time on the porch to freefloat my Ruger 10/22 barrel (picture above). A dollar bill wrapped around the barrel slides freely from the muzzle all the way back to the action. There are no contact points as the barrel heats up to shift the point of aim. Now I need to glass bed the action.

Hat tip to Suburban’s Domain list of 10/22 mods via Steve’s Firearms Blog.

Tags: ruger 10/22

Mark Twain’s Smith & Wesson

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 | Guns, Quotes | Permalink | No Comments |

“My brother had a Colt’s Navy revolver, which he carried uncapped for safety. Mister Beemis had an Allen pepper-box revolver. And I was armed to the teeth with a pitiful little Smith and Wesson seven-shooter, which shot a ball the size of a homeopathic pill. It took all seven to make a dose for an adult.”
– Mark Twain, “Roughing It”

That little Smith & Wesson No. 1 is the subject of Tam’s Sunday Smith & Wesson.

Double Barrel Pump Shotgun, Mk II

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | No Comments |

There was the original Moe Syzlak Special - AKA the Remington 1740 - a left-ejecting Remington 870 and a right-ejecting Remington 870 joined together to make a double barrel pump action shotgun.

Now there’s a Mark II version.  The stock, pistol grip and bead are now centered between the receivers. It appears to use an AR stock. The pistol grip looks familiar, but I can’t place it.

Looks like it needs some work in the reliability department, but it’s a step forward in the evolution of the Ultimate Zombie Gun. Next step: a pre-made 1740 kit you can buy to cojoin your 870s.

When shotgun silencers are outlawed, only Anton Chigurh will have shotgun silencers

Thursday, October 1st, 2009 | A&E, Guns | Permalink | 4 Comments |

SayUncle links to some real-life shotgun silencers.

Tags: no country for old men

A survival plan everyone needs

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 | Economics, Guns | Permalink | 11 Comments |

Tam on James Wesley Rawles’ new book:

It’s very well organized and focuses on plenty of seemingly mundane and practical things, like food, medicine, communications, dealing with neighbors and forming strong communities, unlike a lot of other “survival manuals” that are five chapters of gun wanking sandwiched between an introduction, two pages about beef jerky and astronaut ice cream, and the index. (Incidentally, my roomie, super radio alpha geekette extraordinaire, found no major nitpicks in the section on communications…)

Remember: Preparedness isn’t just about being prepared for Armageddon, it’s about being prepared for almost anything: blizzard, blackout, hurricane, job layoff… This book is an excellent look at the proper mindset and preparations for being ready for life’s curve balls.

Didja notice that one wild, out-there scenario - “job layoff”?

It’s amazing how many “survival” plans don’t make any arrangements for something as common as not having a job for six months. In this wildly unlikely apocalyptic scenario a mere mortal might be expected to somehow accomplish the heroic feats of not having the power cut off, reigning victorious against the forces of not having his car repossessed - not by shooting the repo man but by not getting behind on his car payment to begin with - and defending the sanctity of the family domicile by not having the mortgage company righteously and legally foreclose on his deadbeat ass.

Some online survivalists find it easy to rationalize mis-allocation of funds. “The UN invasion of the U.S. could happen simultaneously with a bird flu epidemic and an F10 earthquake. I’d better max out the credit card and buy a generator, 50 cases of MREs, another AR-15, and 10,000 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition.”

Going in debt to buy crap is not really a great plan for securing your family’s future. I’m all for reasonable preparedness, but preparedness involves insuring against events based on their likelihood and the cost of insuring against them. A power outage or a blizzard that lasts a few days aren’t uncommon events and they’re cheap to insure against. The End of the World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) is unlikely and it’s expensive to insure against.

A better bet for a rational person is to live in the economic reality they’re most likely to face. What’s your plan if you lost your job tomorrow?

• Do you have credit card debt and can you service it without a job?
• Could you make the payments on your car using your unemployment benefits?
• Could you pay rent or make the payments on your house with the money in your savings account?
• Could you keep up with other expenses such as gasoline bills, utilities and phone bills with your emergency fund?

If you answered “no” to any of the above you’ve got more pressing problems than surviving TEOTWAWKI. Act accordingly.

Previously -  Where do you put money if you’re concerned about bank failures?

Tags: preparedness

More photographers use right eye than left when taking pictures

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 | Guns, Photos | Permalink | 3 Comments |

That’s from an online survey by Digital Photography School. The results were 57% right eye and 37% right eye, with another 7% looking through the viewfinder with both eyes (I assume they meant sometimes one and sometimes the other, but see below).

I know from shooting a gun that I’m right eye dominant. I’m lucky in that I’m also right handed.

When your eye dominance and hand dominance are different you have cross eye dominance, which can create some problems when shooting. For instance, if you mount a rifle so that you can pull the trigger with your right hand you’ll have a hard time craning your neck over far enough to look through the sights with your left eye. If you put the rifle in the other hand you can look through the sights, but may have trouble working the bolt and other controls with your off hand, even if the rifle is set up for a left handed shooter.

Some cross dominance shooters get around that by learning to shoot with both eyes open. For pistol shooting the isosceles stance bypasses the problem by putting the gun in the centerline of the body. Other tricks here.

Here’s a simple test to determine if you are right or left eye dominant. Until I read Wikipedia I didn’t know what it was called.

The Porta test. The observer extends one arm, then with both eyes open aligns the thumb or index finger with a distant object. The observer then alternates closing the eyes or slowly draws the thumb/finger back to the head to determine which eye is viewing the object (i.e. the dominant eye)

Tags: guns and cameras

AK-47 manufacturer Izhevsk may go bankrupt

Monday, September 21st, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 2 Comments |

You’d think they’d be recession-proof.

I knew Izhevsk as one of two major Soviet small arms arsenals. According to Wikipedia they make or have made everything from cars and motorcycles to cutlery and lathes.

Hockey pucks for bolting gun safes to the floor?

Saturday, September 12th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 5 Comments |

From a thread on The High Road:

Put your anchor point through pre-drilled hockey pucks. I used 5. The hockey pucks are very dense; hack saws bind up in them; sawz-alls melt and bind. The inch gap allows compression with the bolting plus air flow. DO NOT bolt directly to concrete, subfloor, etc… the safe RSC will rust and stick to the floor. Hockey puck work great, provide air space, and compression.

Safes need to be bolted to the floor and/or wall. Using hockey pucks around the bolts sounds interesting. More airflow, and something else that would have to be cut through. Does anyone see any flaws in the idea?

Bonus! - 6mmBR’s Gun Safe Buyers’ Guide

All those articles by reporters going shooting for the first time

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 | Guns, Media Behaving Badly, Quotes | Permalink | 1 Comment |

“WTF? 39% of americans are gun-owners; 67% report having fired a gun. It’s not that unusual of an experience! By contrast, only 4-10% who are vegetarian, about 5% who are gay. How come there are no WaPo articles about what it’s like to eat organic cous cous for the first time? Or the first time cruising a truck stop?”
– Abdul on Reason

Too funny, though all of those articles about reporters firing a gun for the first time have been incredibly beneficial for gun owners. The experience tends to change the perspective of the reporters forever, and they almost invariably portray shooting in a positive light.

And the truck stop thing is stereotyping, which is wrong, except when it’s about white Southerners when they vote for Republicans.

Firearms training in Nashville?

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 1 Comment |

Someone asked me if I knew of any firearms training classes in the Nashville area. She’s interested in getting her carry permit after learning about the horror of the Christian-Newsom murders.

Can anyone recommend a trainer in Nashville?

“A vote for gun control is a vote for thunderdome”

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | No Comments |

Marko:

Every martial art that involves direct unarmed hand-to-hand fighting has weight classes. This is done because a bantamweight boxer will get his clock cleaned by a heavyweight ninety-nine out of a hundred times. Sending a 115-pound fighter up against a 220-pound fighter is simply not an even contest, because the heavyweight can deal (and absorb) much more powerful punches.

Let me repeat that little factoid: even a trained fighter in prime shape has no realistic chance of winning an unarmed fight against a heavier opponent.

Now, would you consider it fair if we took the bantamweight out of the ring, and replaced him with a 60-year-old grandmother with diabetes? How about a 110-pound college student who’s never punched anything or anyone in her life? Or maybe a 50-year-old, short-sighted convenience store clerk? A 28-year-old bank teller who’s eight months pregnant? Would those opponents be a more even match for our heavyweight? Would you consider any of those pairings a fair fight?

Read the whole thing. And if you haven’t already take a minute and read Marko’s Why the gun is civilization.

The Obama-inspired gun-buying rush is over

Sunday, July 26th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 4 Comments |

Last November Barack  Obama was elected president. Obama’s official platform included a renewal of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and he was widely (and accurately) perceived as being anti-gun. His election set off a massive gun-buying spree that saw record numbers of gun purchases. That, in turn, led to empty shelves and inflated prices, not just for guns but for complementary goods such as ammunition.

Now people on The High Road are asking is the panic buying over? I think so. It peaked a month or two ago and now it seems to be going in the opposite direction. The best data I have for that is the Colt 6920, a popular AR-15 model.

Colt 6920 price history

A week before the 2008 election someone was selling thirty Colt 6920 AR-15s on Gunbroker for $1,200 a pop, which was a bit under the usual price. A few weeks after Obama won those same 6920s soared to $1,800 or more.  (GunBroker’s auction search only goes back 90 days, but here ’s an April auction for $1,750.)

Since then I’ve been watching Clyde Armory, which lists Colt prices on its Web site. Over time I’ve seen the sticker drop to below $1,600, then to $1,449, then to $1,349 last week, and to $1,249 today. An identical gun on GunBroker sold for $1,050 a few weeks ago.

The Obama-inspired gun-buying panic is over. Everyone who wants an AR-15 rifle and can afford it has one, at least until another ban looms. (Well, except me, but I’m not all that fired up about buying an AR-15. I bought a lower and some 30 round magazines last fall as insurance against a ban, but I refused to pay those inflated prices for a complete gun.)

Tags: obama

Smith & Wesson trivia

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 1 Comment |

When I used “breathalyzer” in this post my Spidey sense told me it was probably a brand name that I should capitalize. I looked it up and sure enough, it’s  a proper name that should be capitalized. The surprise was that it was originally a Smith & Wesson product.

A breathalyzer (a portmanteau of breath and analyzer) is a device for estimating blood alcohol content (BAC) from a breath sample. “Breathalyzer” is the brand name of a series of models made by one manufacturer of these instruments (originally Smith and Wesson^[1], later it was sold to National Draeger), but has become a genericized trademark for all such instruments.^{[citation needed]} In Canada, a preliminary non-evidentiary screening device can be approved by Parliament as an approved screening device and an evidentiary breath instrument can be similarly designated as an approved instrument. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration maintains a “Conforming Products List” of breath alcohol devices approved for evidentiary use, ^[2] as well as for preliminary screening use.^[3]

I sort of doubt S&W manufactured it in house since it’s pretty far away from their competency. On the other hand I’m not surprised at all they would have marketed and sold it. With their reach into the law enforcement market S&W has marketed all sorts of things over the years with their brand name, from handcuffs to identi-kits for creating police sketches of suspects. Again with the Wikipedia:

Smith & Wesson markets gun accessories, handcuffs, safes, apparel, collectibles, knives, tools, air guns, and myriad other products under its brand name, including cologne and handbags.

In October 2002, Smith & Wesson announced it had entered into a licensing agreement with Cycle Source Group to produce a line of bicycles designed by and for law enforcement. These bicycles feature custom configurations and silent hubs ( for ’stealth’ cycling ), and are available for purchase by ‘civilians’.^[17][18]

Smith & Wesson flashlights are available to the general public. They are designed and produced by PowerTech, Inc, in Collierville, Tennessee. Smith & Wesson also has a line of wood pellet grills. They are named after various pistol cartridges, such as .22 Magnum, .38 Special, .44 Magnum, .357 Magnum, and .500 Magnum.

Smith & Wesson has entered into a licensing agreement with North Carolina based Wellco Enterprises to design and distribute a full line of tactical law enforcement footwear.^[19] The Smith & Wesson Footwear range is available in the UK exclusively via the police and security equipment supplier, CopShopUK Ltd.^[20]

That’s what the world needs - Smith & Wesson cologne.

Tags: smith and wesson

5 Brilliant, Innovative Handgun Designs …

Monday, July 13th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 1 Comment |

That Performed As They Were Supposed To, But Sucked Anyway. I knew of the existence of all five, but learned something new about each one. Good stuff. That Machinegun HDH is like an Edwardian supergun from a steampunk novel.

Via Uncle. I just realized I have James on my blogroll, but not in my RSS reader. Gotta fix that.

Word of the Day: German Silver, Britannia Silver, Sterling Silver, Sheffield Plate

Monday, July 6th, 2009 | Economics, Guns, Word of the Day | Permalink | No Comments |

I had always heard of German silver in relation to antique firearms. I just recently realized German silver doesn’t contain any silver at all. From Wikipedia:

Nickel silver is a metal alloy of copper with nickel and often but not always zinc. It is named for its silvery appearance, but contains no elemental silver unless plated. Other common names for this alloy are German silver, paktong, new silver and alpacca (or alpaca).

Britannia metal is a pewter-type alloy favoured for its silvery appearance and smooth surface. The composition is approximately 93% tin, 5% antimony, and 2% copper.

Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.

Britannia silver is an alloy of silver containing 95.84% silver, with the balance usually copper.

This standard was introduced in England by Act of Parliament in 1697 to replace sterling silver as the obligatory standard for items of “wrought plate”. The lion passant gardant hallmark denoting sterling was replaced with “the figure of a woman commonly called Britannia“, and the leopard’s head mark of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths replaced with a “lion’s head erased”.

Sheffield plate is a layered combination of silver and copper that was used for many years to produce a wide range of household articles. These included buttons, caddy spoons, serving utensils, candlesticks and other lighting devices, tea and coffee services, serving dishes and trays, tankards and pitchers, and larger items such as soup tureens and hot-water urns. Almost every article made in sterling silver was also crafted by Sheffield makers, who used this manufacturing process to produce nearly identical wares at far less cost.

Tags: antiques

Single shot .22 LR pistols

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 1 Comment |

Someone on The High Road asked about a single shot .22 LR pistol as a trainer for his granddaughter.

Accessing the old memory banks I recalled the Savage 101, a Colt Peacemaker look-alike with a unique single shot cylinder:

and the Stevens single shot target pistol

The first one can be had cheap. The second one can get a little pricey.

Photographing inside gun barrels

Monday, June 29th, 2009 | Guns, Photos | Permalink | No Comments |

Vote for David has the how.

Tags: guns and cameras

There is no “official handgun permit badge” in TN

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | 4 Comments |

Knoxville News-Sentinel - Knox County man charged with posing as officer:

With his official handgun permit badge, official-looking clothes and at least two unmarked undercover-style vehicles complete with flashing headlights, an alleged police imposter preyed on at least two unsuspecting Knoxville motorists last week.

A couple of clarifying points. There is no handgun permit in Tennessee. There is a handgun carry permit, which is what I guess the reporter means.

Second, there’s no official handgun permit badge or handgun carry permit badge. If the alleged perpetrator had a badge - as in a piece of metal - it’s something he bought in a store that carries all the legal weight of an official bikini inspector badge.

In Tennessee a handgun carry permit is a piece of plastic the same size as a Tennessee driver’s license. The driver’s license and HCP are both produced by the local DMV and use the same photograph, colors and background. The most obvious difference is that the driver’s license is laid out horizontally, while the HCP is laid out vertically.

Anyway, I’ll bet he had an “official driver’s license,” too, but no one is freaking out over that.

Curiously, the article never mentions whether he presented a firearm, or whether the police found one when they arrested him.

Deli owner clinging to guns, religion gives robber $40 and loaf of bread

Friday, June 5th, 2009 | Guns | Permalink | No Comments |

Consumerist:

It’s been a busy few weeks for Mohammad Sohail, a Pakistani immigrant who owns and operates a Deli in Long Island, NY. On May 21st a masked man tried to rob him, but Sohail pulled a rifle on the guy. Then he made him promise to never rob anyone again, and handed him $40 and a loaf of bread. Although not every news report mentioned this detail, he even got the robber to convert to Islam, albeit perhaps temporarily.

Betcha didn’t see the Islam angle coming. ‘Course, you probably didn’t see the next part of the story coming, either:

The same day Mohammad Sohail’s big heart earned him nationwide fame, his store in Shirley, L.I., was one of seven businesses raided by town investigators.

Pipes and bongs were seized from Shirley Express on Tuesday night, and the 46-year-old was charged with breaking Brookhaven town codes, a civil violation.

He does not face criminal charges, but will likely have to pay a hefty fine.

I don’t know about completely ending the war on drugs - crack cocaine for one is truly awful - but can we at least come to peace with marijuana?

Which 3 camera lenses?

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 | Guns, Photos | Permalink | No Comments |

If you’re to be stranded on a desert island, which three camera lenses would you want to have? Thom Hogan gives his answers and his readers’ answers.

It’s interesting to see the range of choices and how they reflect different photography styles. Some people are more interested in telephoto, some wide angle, and some macro. Some are content with mostly consumer grade 3.5-5.6 apertures, while some demand 2.8 or faster apertures. Some people like zooms and others want their primes. A few people are very keen on a quality lens in the 85mm to 105mm range for portraits.

Me, I’m still working up my kit. I’d definitely want my 70-300mm telephoto for wildlife and portraits. Beyond that my choices are a  lot less certain.

I take most of my pictures with the 18-55mm kit lens that came with my camera because that focal range is so useful. With good light it works fine, but in poor light the exposure times go long and with no anti-shake technology like VR or IS the pictures get dark and/or blurry. I’m looking for a replacement or supplement that offers more range or a faster aperture.

I have the new Nikon 35mm 1.8 AF-S on order to take care of low light and shallow depth of field applications. I’m curious to see how much of my photography I can do with a prime. I’m a bit skeptical.

I have no experience with macro or ultrawide angle. Macro appeals to my inner natureboy, but it sounds time-consuming, what with the tripods and the rails and the bellows and the flavin! I’m leaning towards buying a close-up filter for the 70-300mm and going semi-macro for now. I’ll take up real macro when I have more time, like when  my pre-school kids learn to feed themselves, cook for themselves, buy their own groceries, and drive themselves to the grocery store with the money they earned from the good jobs they got after graduating college. So that might be a while.

Wide angle looks interesting, but a little pricey on the zoom side. I’m knocking around the idea of renting a Nikon 10-24 or 12-24 for our next vacation to make sure I like it, but I reckon I will.

P.S. Added a “guns and cameras” tag. The desert island hypothetical reminds me of the gun board scenarios like “which three guns” and “what if you could only have one handgun and one long gun?” I especially liked Kim du Toit’s Crossing America scenario.

Tags: guns and cameras

Since when is a law giving people rights a bad thing?

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 | Guns, Media Behaving Badly | Permalink | 2 Comments |

Unc catches the Ass. Press in a slip.