The Gunner's Blog

The Israeli shooting method is controversial in America. It is taught at some American gun ranges, demonstrated and discussed on YouTube, written up in shooting publications,  never losing its ability to spark discussions as to whether it does things all wrong. The controversy centers on the Israeli practice of carrying the pistol with the chamber empty, loaded magazine inserted. You rack the pistol as you present it, which readies it to fire. Some Americans insist that this is sure to get you killed, though a lot of live Israelis could tell them otherwise if asked. But let us leave aside, for the moment, the question of carrying chamber empty. It is only one part of the Israeli technique. Some Israelis in particularly tense duty assignments have taken up the practice of carrying the holstered pistol with a round in the chamber. It saves them less than one half of a second to the first shot, in an emergency draw-and-fire scenario. I suppose every little bit helps. When y...

I notice that since November I have reported on three new .357 Magnum revolvers with SA/DA lockwork, three-inch barrels and compact frames.  Kimber was first, with a thumb-cockable version of their K-6, previously produced as double action only. Then came Colt's King Cobra, the up-gunned magnumized version of the new model Cobra .38. Ruger just introduced an LCRx in three-inch .357 form. It is a trend I approve. A gun in this general format is a very good balance of power and portability, range, and practical accuracy. It's a town-and-country gun useful for personal protection or for woods tramping. Each of these newly introduced guns has smooth lockwork that produces lighter double-action trigger pulls than older types, another development I heartily approve. I can shoot the old school Smiths and Colts and Rugers and so on, with their heavier triggers, but less pull weight doesn't hurt anyone's shooting ability. Not everyone will like the recoi...

New from Ruger, a .357 Magnum version of their popular kit gun, 3" barrel, adjustable sights. Capacity is five shots. Spec sheet:  https://www.ruger.com/products/lcrx/specSheets/5444.html  . This gun has proven popular in .38 Special and .22. The .357 version should prove a very capable and useful sidearm for those who want a bit more power. A very good feature of the LCR design family is its smooth, light double action trigger pull, lighter than previous generations of Ruger's DA revolvers. The LCRx type is both double and single action so you can thumb cock it if the occasion seems to call for that.

A visiting canny Canadian remarked: "If you cannot kill it with a .303, perhaps you should not be bothering it."

From the Sun-Sentinel: Gov. Ron DeSantis removed Broward Sheriff Scott Israel from office Friday, replacing him after 10 months of turmoil spawned by the slaughter of 17 staff and students in Parkland. The governor replaced Israel with  former Coral Springs Police Sgt. Gregory Tony , 40, who has a background in active-shooter training. . . Israel vowed to vigorously fight the suspension, accusing the governor of carrying out a political mission because the sheriff had spoken out against gun violence. “This was about politics, not about Parkland,” Israel said. . .   read more: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-ne-ron-desantis-scott-israel-decision-20190110-story.html

New from Colt, the .357 Magnum King Cobra, shown here. I applauded the new model Colt Cobra .38, introduced in 2017, for updating the Detective Special with a lighter DA trigger pull, a more comfortable grip frame and much better interchangeability of parts. Noticing the Cobra's strong construction, I supposed when it came out that a magnum version would be along if the basic gun sold well. Tah-DA!  I had rather hoped the magnum version would have a 3- or 3.5-inch vent-ribbed barrel and adjustable sights. Perhaps that is in the works, but what Colt has come up with is more utilitarian, with no vent rib on its 3-inch barrel. Sights are fixed but the front one can be swapped out easily. On the web:  https://www.colt.com/series/COBRA_SERIES

Judge rejects embattled school deputy's claim he had no duty to confront Parkland gunman: CBS "A judge has rejected a deputy's claim that he had no duty to confront the gunman during the school shooting in Parkland, Florida . Refusing to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the parent of a victim, Broward Circuit Judge Patti Englander Henning found after a hearing Wednesday that ex-deputy Scot Peterson did have a duty to protect those inside the school where 17 people died and 17 were wounded Feb. 14. " Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marjory-stoneman-douglas-shooting-judge-rejects-officer-scot-peterson-claim-he-had-no-duty-to-confront-gunman/ This is, I think, going to take a while for the courts to sort out. What is the particular duty of a cop on the scene?

Interesting video that proves what many assume. Buckshot pellets are lethal far beyond the range at which the pattern is still holding together in a tight clump. See also:  https://shootery.blogspot.com/2013/09/riot-gun-part-1-what-ammo-is-best.html This information should both warn and reassure. It should warn you that the pellets are dangerous a long way downrange, making you very attentive to Rule Four , and it should reassure you that you are not altogether helpless if you must defend yourself with buckshot at a distance. Your pattern density will be appalling, truly hit and miss, but the pellets are dangerous if they hit. You can increase your effective pattern density with multiple shots at the target. That is a "spray and pray" tactic and not very good, but it does exist and is worth knowing about.  

It is engaging and covers the main points. Hat tips to  A/V Geeks for resurrecting this from the archives and  Gun Culture 2.0  for bringing it to my attention. Its gently amusing tone is a reminder of simpler long-ago times.  

John Lott writes: Of the 97 countries where we identified mass public shootings, the U.S. ranks 64th per capita in its rate of attacks and 65th in fatalities. Major European countries, such as Norway, Finland, France, Switzerland and Russia, all have at least 25 percent higher per capita murder rates from mass public shootings.   While Americans are rightly concerned by the increased frequency and severity of mass public shootings, the rest of the world is experiencing much larger increases in per capita rates of attack... More at:  https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-mass-shooters-russia-public-shootings-thousand-oaks-mercy-hospital-chicago-1121-story.html  The broader thrust of the article is to say that gun-free zones invite these atrocities. That is, though, an international phenomenon, not something particular to America.

   The newest version of Kimber's K-6 has an external hammer, unlike previous models; you can cock it to fire single-action if you prefer. It is offered with 2" and 3" barrel lengths. It holds six shots and is made without a superfluous keyhole.  I have not gotten this version in hand yet, but Kimber's double action only gun impresses me with its very smooth and fairly light double action pull, which cycles through without noticeable "stacking" toward the end of the trigger stroke. I would expect the same great DA pull in the new model. Size and heft are similar to the old Colt Detective Special or the new model Cobra. The Kimber, though, is chambered for .357 Magnum. I suspect many owners will load the Kimber with .38 Special, for stout loads in small revolvers produce more shooting excitement than a lot of people want, but you have the option of shooting magnums if something calls for it.   https://www.kimberamerica.com/pistols/revol...

You have 18 months, so do it now so you don't forget. What you get is a free trigger replacement if your rifle has the old style Remington 700 ("Walker") trigger or a certain version of the X Mark Pro trigger. To have Remington fix your gun for free, go here and follow the prompts to file online: http://remingtonfirearmsclassactionsettlement.com/ The guns covered are Remington Model 700, Seven, Sportsman 78, 673, 710, 715, 770, 600, 660, XP-100, 721, 722, and 725. The problem is some examples of these guns firing when the trigger is not pulled. Surely you do not want that to happen. Quit using your Remmies. Send them in for the free overhaul. Background on this story:  https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/24/remington-rifle-settlement-is-official.html More: http://www.captainsjournal.com/2018/10/24/the-remington-rifle-settlement-is-final/ I gave this story some coverage in the past, saying that I would send in my rifle, but also pointing out that media...

Sometimes I feel surprised at how old I have become. I am not sure when I aged. I was too busy to notice it happening, but here I am. Waiters and clerks ask me if I get the senior discount. I do: But at least they are asking not assuming. One of the things to astonish me is that the "Modern Technique of the Pistol" is now antiquated, at least in the eyes of marksmen priding themselves as au courant.  When I learned the technique, Col. Cooper and his methods were state of the art, and very influential upon police and military training programs. I feel a bit old fashioned when I put one foot forward, raise the pistol in a two-handed push-pull grip and catch view of the front sight as the gun rises.  Here is the thing, though. It still works. Because I am habituated to the process, it is probably what I will do if I need my pistol in earnest. About the only thing I do that is not Antiquated Modern Technique is that I now prefer guns without external safety cat...

"As you raise your pistol, you shift your focus back to pick up the front sight..." Many have tried this and pronounced it useless foolishness, but there is a detail they miss. "As you raise your pistol" is an important part of the instructions. Before the gun makes it up to eye level, the front sight is visible above the rear sight. If you pick it up then, you have no trouble finding it, and no trouble keeping track of it as the gun rises. You lock your gaze onto the front sight while there is no interference from the rear sight to doing so. I have on another page suggested "shark sights" for fast shooting at short range. That is much the same idea, but when using that method you intentionally hold the gun slightly low so the front sight is always clearly visible, standing proud of the rear notch. The sight picture resembles an inverted letter "T." In the flash sight picture technique, that inverted "T" is what you see for a ...

There is in the Greek chorus of Internet gun didacts a claim that revolvers are not reliable; usually this buttresses with too much enthusiasm, not enough fact, the idea that automatics are plenty reliable: why, they're really more reliable than revolvers! Hmmm. Big hmmm. If you know how to do a preflight inspection on a revolver, and if you keep a small wire brush handy to deal with a few known problem areas where revolvers need to be kept fairly clean to work, the things are as reliable as doorknobs. Yes, sometimes doorknobs fail to work, but for reasons that are obvious matters of wear, parts breakage, or accumulated detritus (crud). A revolver combines two simple mechanical principles, those of the ratchet and the trip hammer, and works via the mechanical energy supplied by the hand of the user, not the firing of the cartridge, so you can spot arising difficulties by inspection. With an automatic, you sometimes need to shoot the gun to see what is wrong. The p...

It was a close-run thing, but the outcome was as I predicted. Yet, there is something further to look at here. In the process of trying to sabotage Kavanaugh,  Democrats gave us a chilling insight into what the party has become. In the end, the case against Kavanaugh came down to thought crime. We the people were supposed to infer that this judge was, at heart, a beast. Several women said so--did that not prove his inward misogyny? The Democrats' failure here may signal the end of #MeToo eruptions, which have been so fashionable of late. Here was a notable failure of accusation to equal guilt. All's well that ends well. The constitutional originalists get another player in their dugout and the other side got caught pitching spitballs. Play ball.

United States Senators and Representatives have  ironclad immunity for anything they say in the course of their actions when serving as such. They can't be held to account for slander, for example. ...for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. On some level that is a good idea. It frees them from worry that they are going too far in speaking their minds, so presumably they will not hold back when something needs saying. That should help them to pursue the nation's business without fear or favor. The Kavanaugh hearings have turned over that rock to show what scurries about underneath. Groundless allegations and innuendos have been flung at the nominee, or whispered in corners, to the keen interest of a news and social media audience that may not recognize the groundlessness. Kavanaugh's only remedy, if it can be called as much as that, is to be a terrific Supreme Court justice. For I do not think the smears wil...

YouTube is a silly place, at least when you are there looking at the channels about guns and shooting. Oh, there are some good ones here and there, but a lot of it is pompous bloviation. A case in point: A chap practically raving about how bad the Weaver stance is and why you should not use it, but use instead the competition-proven isosceles. His demonstration is a Weaver stance so bad that it amounts to a parody of the real thing. Well, if that were really what the Weaver is, I certainly would not recommend it either. The Weaver stance, provided that it is correctly executed, is a good one for recoil control. You appreciate it more with pistols that kick hard. (I do not think any of the common self-defense rounds, when fired in full sized pistols, kick hard.) It also improves trigger control when pressing through the long heavy cycle of a double action trigger. Moreover, the Weaver's body geometry comes naturally to riflemen, so that they have less to learn or remember when o...

The well-written and well thought out op-ed I have linked below points out what the gun control crowd are getting wrong. They are steering their part of the debate in an unproductive direction. They are oblivious to the problems with society's first lines of defense, strict legal requirements that still fail sometimes to keep unsuitable persons from buying guns. They are hostile toward any use of that last line of defense a homicidal shooter must cross. If any of the potential victims is armed, you see, he (or she) turns from victim to a possible victor. The situation ceases to be a hopeless one. I'll take those odds. - -------------------------------------- Existing Law Didn’t Protect Victims From the Jacksonville Shooter. It Left Them Defenseless. Amy Swearer /   @AmySwearer   /   August 28, 2018   / . . . Court documents reveal that the suspected shooter was  involuntarily committed  to mental health facilities on six di...

It has been a long while since I wrote anything about strategy for personal, that is individual, self-defense shooting. I have had little new to say. In any case, few readers are interested in my take on the topic. Instead of fashionable and exciting run-and-gun my approach is more nearly described as hide-and-bide. What I have that is new to say, or new for me anyway, is an endorsement of red dot sights on rifles. A decent quality dot sight increases your hit probability when shooting fast. To briefly recap, the points I like to raise about defensive shooting are three. Fight from an ensconced defender position. Or at least, find the best cover you can. Use a weapon that maximizes your hit probability. That is where the dot sight comes in.  Use the advantage of surprise if at all possible. I still endorse the shotgun as a better weapon than a rifle, for the self-defense scenarios that are most likely. Its hit probability is better. Many peopl...