FRIDAY SURPRISE: Boy, that sure would make a good movie!


I just came up with a hot idea for a film script. We take an archeaologist who is obsessed with the Holy Grail, and we set him out on a search for it...and we'll throw in some evil Nazis who are just waiting to get it for themselves! Wouldn't that make a great movie??

Drat. Turns out that
not only is my idea not my own, it's also been done already.

Day late and a dollar short...

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

A different "Stupid Criminal" story


I probably should have waited for the Friday Surprise for this one, but I just couldn't help myself...

The local news is buzzing with the story of a recent liquor store burglary. Yes, burglary - not robbery.

Seems our erstwhile rumrunner broke into a local adult beverage emporium a couple of weeks ago, bringing his own large-size garbage can to carry off the loot. He first raided the cigarette shelves, then proceeded to the liquids of his choice.

Allow me to digress for a moment to explain my strategy in such a situation. First, I don't smoke - never have - so the tobacco products would not interest me. No, were I to find myself alone in a liquor store at o-dark-thirty, trick-or-treat bucket firmly in hand, I would make my way to the single malt shelf. I would then proceed to gingerly (and with all due respect to the golden liquid contained therein) place the bottles in my basket. Starting, of course, with the Islays and working my way inland.

First to go would be the Lagavulin, then the Caol Ila, then (in no particular order) the Bowmore, Ardberg, and Laphroaig. That should easily fill up the 33-gallon can that this fellow toted, but should there be any room left a few bottles of Highland Park would easily fill any gaps. That is what
I would do.

This fellow? He spent all that time alone in an adult candy store stealing
Jack Daniels. What a waste. The man should be publicly flogged for terminal stupidity and a profound lack of good taste.

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

A reloading press perspective


It's been a while since I've written anything about reloading. Given the upward spiral of ammunition prices, though, it's probably about time to revisit the topic.

I presented my opinions on
progressive reloading presses some time back. Recently I found a great piece by one Aaron Burns that directly compares the Lee Loadmaster, Dillon 650, and Hornady AP. His analysis is extensive, fairly objective, and in general my experiences mirror his. (Warning: it is a PDF file, not an html page.)

Terrific reading for anyone contemplating the jump into "rolling their own." If the expense of shooting is starting to cut into your range time, you should consider reloading. It's easy, rewarding, and many find it a relaxing adjunct to the shooting sports.

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

Welcome, USCCA readers!


For those not "in the loop", last week the lead article in my
"Self Defense, Stopping Power, and Caliber" series was reprinted in the U.S. Concealed Carry Association's newsletter. It generated a lot of interest, and some very nice comments from people as diverse as career police officers and ER physicians. Thanks, folks, for the kind words!

For those USCCA members who have visited, I hope you'll find the Revolver Liberation Alliance interesting enough to put on your reading list. This blog is updated just about every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I generally try to keep things on topic (revolvers, shooting in general), but on Fridays I go a bit further afield - concentrating on non-related things I like, things I find interesting, or things that just annoy me. (If you prefer an RSS feed, you'll see a link for that option in the left-hand panel.)

Of course, please feel free to use the comment and voting options for each of the blog posts. Also, check out the archives (on the left) and some of my more important articles in
The Library.

Thanks again for stopping by!

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

FRIDAY SURPRISE: Do you have the drive?


Last Friday I linked to an article that described what I don't like about my home state of Oregon. Today, I'm linking to a
terrific Dark Roasted Blend article on something I truly treasure about Oregon: our great scenic drives.

I must say that this article is a surprise. We're so used to reading about "great" drives along the California coast, when we know that our coastline is both more beautiful and more accessible. It's great to finally get some well deserved press, not to mention being ranked among the world's most beautiful roads!

(Did you know that the Oregon coast is open to everyone? That's right - the entire coastline is public property, and there are very few spots that are not easily accessed. Take that, California!)

Terrific article, great pictures. Thanks for the plug, Avi!

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

The MSM takes note


I don't have to tell you that things are getting more expensive. While the "official" inflation rate hovers in the mid-four-percent range, look at your own expenditures versus last year. I'll bet you're spending at least 14% more than you did in 2007 - perhaps a lot more.

For a shooting hobbyist, ammo prices factor into that increase, and
the mainstream media has finally noticed. I'm sure that the average lightweight yuppies reading the article are recoiling in horror that anyone would need to buy "so many bullets", but it's nice to be mentioned at least somewhat favorably. For once.

(Don't fret - I'm sure next week they'll be back to painting all gun owners as ignorant rednecked hicks, racists, and criminals. After all, they have a job to do!)

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

The "Holster of the Week" Club


Last week I promised a story. I heard this from "the horse's mouth", and if you knew this particular horse the story would not surprise you...

Anyhow, I happen to know a fellow (I'll call him "Ted") who, back in the '70s
, was a Detective in a very large eastern police department. He had just been promoted from patrol, which meant that for the first time in his career he got to dress in plainclothes.

Ted and his more experienced partner were headed to lunch one day. They worked in a not terribly good part of town, and picked a restaurant in the vicinity of their last call. They pulled up in front of the restaurant, just behind a taxicab.

As they were exiting their unmarked vehicle a male climbed out of the cab ahead of them. He drew what Ted described as "a chrome-plated automatic", and started firing at another person who was still in the back seat of the cab.

(Allow me to digress as I explain that Ted, taking advantage of his now much looser dress requirements, had taken to wearing all manner of holsters. He alternated between a shoulder holster, crossdraw, strong side hip, appendix, and even ankle. He made the decision about which one to wear almost on a whim each morning. I'm sure you're beginning to see where this is going.)

Ted, who was exiting on the curb side of the vehicle, was in direct line of sight of the suspect. Being the gung-ho young cop that he was, he yelled "police, freeze!" as he reached for his gun. The perp turned toward the source of the command, and seeing two witnesses in suits raised his pistol in their direction and started firing.

Here's where the story gets interesting: Ted habitually reached for the spot where his uniform belt had always placed his gun. Of course, it wasn't there! I wish I could convey the level of comical panic that he did, but the gist is that he started patting himself all over, trying to find his gun while at the same time diving for cover behind his car door. "I couldn't remember where my gun was," he exclaimed to me. "I suddenly had the horrible thought that maybe I'd left it on my dresser!"

In the meantime his older and wiser partner simply drew his "snubby" revolver from the crossdraw holster he always used, and proceeded to drop said perp in his tracks. Ted found his gun just in time to help clean up the mess.

Ted told me that this incident convinced him to carry his gun in the same holster and in the same place every day. His advice to me was that I should do likewise - and I always do.

A firefight, gentle readers, is not the time to try to remember where you put your gun, or where your bullets are landing relative to your sights. Standardize on your load and your holster, and practice regularly so that you can quickly draw and reliably put your shots where they need to go!

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

FRIDAY SURPRISE: It's not my fault!


I'd planned to introduce today's topic with a short essay on the state of Oregon, about its natural wonders and its recent societal changes. No matter how I approached the topic, I couldn't help sounding like a malcontent.

You see, I'm an Oregonian - a proud member of SNOB (Society of Native Oregon Born.) I was born here, lived my entire life here, and hope to die here (not right away, you understand.) I love this state, but
even my love has its limits.

I will add only this: Portland is not like the rest of the state. More precisely, the rest of the state is not like Portland, for which I am eternally grateful!

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

Self defense, stopping power, and caliber, Part 9

(For convenience, you can access all the installments at this link.)

Stick with what works

You've all heard of the "Gun of the Week" club, right? That's the term used to describe an "enthusiast", the guy (gals are too smart to engage in such nonsense) who carries or competes with a different gun every time he goes out. (Closely related is the "Holster of the Week" club. I'll post an amusing story about that, soon.)

There is also the "Bullet of the Week" club. Some folks read the gun magazines assiduously, loading up with the latest and greatest "stopper" from the current issue. The next issue (or possibly a competing magazine) tells them about yet another new bullet, and off to the gunstore ammo shelves they go!

There are problems with this approach. Aside from the fact that one is unlikely to see any major performance differences between modern designs from major makers, there is a reliability issue. If you're shooting an autoloader (an affliction which elicits my sincere sympathies), you need to fire a minimum of 200 rounds of your chosen ammunition to ensure reliability. That's a lot of ammunition to buy and shoot every time you change loads!

Even with a revolver, you should shoot a full box of that ammo to ensure ignition reliability in your gun, especially if you've had action work performed.

The other issue is with the sights on your gun. Fixed sights, as featured on both revolvers and autos, will not shoot all ammunition to the same point of aim, necessitating on-the-fly windage or elevation corrections. Trying to remember whether this week's ammunition choice shoots up or down, right or left, relative to the sights is hard enough. Imagine trying to do that with someone lobbing rounds into your personal airspace!

If you have fixed sights, you should regulate them to match the load you'll be using - then use that load, and only that load, for "serious" use in that gun. If for some reason you change the standard load for that gun, have the sights adjusted to shoot to point-of-aim for that load.

That's why I say "stick with what works." Pick a decent load that proves itself to be reliable in your gun, have the sights regulated properly, and just use it. Constantly switching between different bullets gains you nothing, and may in fact cost you in a dynamic self-defense incident. Pick one load, practice with it, and use only that bullet in that particular gun.

I go even further - I've standardized on one load for all my .38/.357 guns, and I've regulated all of them to shoot that load. That way, I don't have to maintain a huge stock of ammunition to fit a bunch of different guns.

I think this finally does it for the "Self defense, stopping power, and caliber" series. I'm just about "talked out"! I hope that it has given you some insight into the task of selecting a gun/cartridge for your self defense needs.

Stay safe, make sensible choices, and practice. It's all you can do - but, as it happens, all you can do is enough!

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

Self defense, stopping power, and caliber, Part 8


(For convenience, you can access all the installments
at this link.)

"So, smarty pants - what gun should I get?"

I receive many emails asking, in essence, what the "best" self-defense caliber might be. (Those emails, in fact, have served as the motivation behind this series.) The correspondents are probably expecting sage advice, the wisdom of years, a sort of Ballistic Oracle. What they get is a non-commital "it depends!"

If you take nothing else from this series, take this: there is no such thing as "best" - there is only "suitability for purpose."

Why is that? As we learned in the first parts, there is a pretty large envelope - caliber, weight, and velocity - of performance criteria that have shown themselves to work well. Thus, any cartridge you select within that envelope is likely to do the job, as long as you do yours.

That's the most important part: that the gun in question enables you to do your job. It is the first place you should start. You need to be honest with yourself, accurately assess what you can and cannot handle. Remember that a self-defense scenario often will call for multiple, rapid, precisely-placed shots. Can you do that with the guns that you're considering?
Really? Be honest with yourself!

I see many people who are talked into a gun that is touted as a "better stopper", but who are unable to handle it to the standards given above. Most of this is technique, and technique can be learned, but everyone has some upper limit. Remember: only accurate hits count, and you should strive to maximize your hit potential. As we've explored, power is irrelevant if it doesn't get to something important!

Once you've passed that hurdle, the choices almost make themselves. In any given cartridge, if you pick a hollowpoint load in the middle of the caliber's normal weight range, you'll generally have most of what you need. There are exceptions, of course: at the lowest ends of the energy spectrum (say, standard .38 Specials) penetration becomes an issue, so you should tend to the heavier rounds. At the other end (the heavy magnums), the more powerful loads often need lighter bullets to limit penetration and enhance expansion.

For everything else, stay away from the lightest and heaviest bullets, pick a decent hollowpoint, and you'll most likely be just fine.

The most important part of this whole selection process is to practice with the load that you've chosen. If the cartridge/gun combination is "too much" for you to do so, that's a sign that you need to pick something else. You need to practice with your safety/rescue equipment, and if you can't or don't want to, then you will be less prepared to face a deadly encounter. The old trick of practicing with Specials while carrying Magnums on the street has been thoroughly discredited, because it doesn't allow the user to get used to the dramatic difference in handling between the two.

(This isn't to say that you have to do all your training this way; I do a lot of work with light loads when I'm diagnosing a trigger control issue, or to help develop a specific skill. When I've got them down, though, I switch to my carry load and train extensively with that.)

So, what do I carry? Most of the time, I load up the trusted and proven .38 Special +P 158 grain all lead semi-wadcutter hollowpoint. I've spoken with many people who have actually used this load against an adversary, and to a person they were all very satisfied with the ballistic effect. Massad Ayoob tells me that his research showed police agencies who switched from that load to hot autoloading cartridges did so not to get "better" bullets, but to get "more bullets." I'm confident in it's abilities, and in my ability to handle the cartridge from any gun under any conditions.

This is a tradeoff for me. For instance, I really like the .44 Special. It's a great round, but in a concealable gun I just don't handle it as well as other calibers. I'm honest with my limitations; increasing joint pain, particularly in my elbows, is beginning to limit what I can handle, which means that the sweet .44 Special is no longer a good choice for my primary caliber.

In fact, a hot .357 Magnum from a Ruger SP101 is easier for me to control than a .44 Special from a small gun, and the Magnum has become to be too much for me in a normal range session. I like the .357 too, but I have to admit to myself that if I want to live relatively pain free, I can't shoot it from my carry guns any more.

The result is that I've picked the most effective round that falls within my limitations, and practice with it extensively. I think that is the most rational way to approach this whole topic!

Next time, we'll explore some less obvious considerations when picking your "ideal" self defense cartridge.

<--- Click here for the previous episode ..................... Click here for the next episode --->

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

FRIDAY SURPRISE: Drat - what luck!


So, imagine you're a geologist searching for diamonds in Namibia. You haven't found any. You're disappointed; perhaps, you think, you should reconsider your chosen profession.

Then you trip over a shipwreck filled with gold, silver, and artifacts.

Think you'd feel better? I sure would!

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

More info on the new Taurus revolver


Back in my
February commentary on this year's SHOT show, I made mention of a new Taurus 6-shot revolver. I also made mention that I couldn't find it on their website, which isn't at all surprising - the latest entry on their "news" page is from October 2006!

However, reader Dave McDaniel had enough time (and tenacity) to scrounge through their site and find the information for us. (He did note that it wasn't easy. No kidding!)

856SS2
Courtesy of taurususa.com

The new model is coined the 856, and comes in three delicious flavors: blue, stainless, and magnesium. (No "Total Titanium"? Hmmm...I thought that was their claim to fame in the lightweight handgun derby.) Here are the direct links to the products:

Model 856B2 (blue)
Model 856SS2 (stainless)
Model 856HL2MG (magnesium)

According to Taurus, what they've done is to take the "J" frame-sized "85" series and shoehorn in a 6-round cylinder. If there is no noticeable increase in overall size (other than cylinder diameter), this will beat even the late Colt Detective Special for size efficiency! I had hoped that it would actually be a .357 gun, and the fact that it isn't may hurt sales, but I'll settle for a true, readily available compact six shooter that is +P rated. I'm also happy to continue seeing blued versions available.

Of course, there are hurdles yet to clear: first, Taurus has a bit of a reputation for vaporware - announcing products that just never seem to make it into production (or at least take so long that you can't tell the difference.) They're promising the 856 for "third quarter", though of what year they are not specific.

Second is their lack of quality control, about which I've made my feelings quite clear. If the quality is typical of Taurus, the thing might not be worth owning. However, even I acknowledge that the 85 series has generally been their best revolver product; it's mature, well engineered, and generally pretty well fitted. So, there is hope - though I will remain uncommitted until one is actually in my hands.

Third, even if it does make it into production and it is worth owning, Taurus is also well known for discontinuing products at the drop of a hat, even before they can build sales momentum. If the first two hurdles are crossed you'll hear it here first; after that, it's up to you to snap one up before Taurus decides they don't want to make them any longer.

I'm pulling for Taurus on this one. I'd like to see them hit a "home run" for a change, and this is the product that could gain them serious "street cred" amongst devoted wheelgunners. Hopefully they won't screw it up, like they did the last time they had this opportunity (I refer, of course, to the late and shoddy "445" series.)

Stay tuned!

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

Series index: "Self defense, stopping power, and caliber"

Here's the whole series for your perusal!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
|

Self defense, stopping power, and caliber, Part 7


(For convenience, you can access all the installments
at this link.)

There Is No Such Thing as a Magic Bullet

What does that mean, you ask?

One of the last bastions of the snake oil salesman is in the field of ammunition promotion. Claims that would make Professor Harold Hill blush are the norm, and are repeated in gunstores, shooting ranges, and deer camps across the country. They sometimes even make their way into magazines and the internet - though the latter's instant exchange of information has helped to quell the worst of the hyperbole.

Still, many hold on to their belief in "magic bullets", hoping that there really exists something that will transform their .25ACP into an elephant killer. (I exaggerate, of course, but one ammo maker used to claim that their product for the little .25 had the same "one shot stop" percentage as a .45. That, my friends, is a true belief in magic.)

Like many fables, the legend of the Magic Bullet has its roots in reality. As Arthur C. Clarke said, "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." In the bullet world, that advanced technology is the hollowpoint bullet.

The hollowpoint, as we've learned, is a good mechanism to control the penetration and wound profile of any given cartridge. Sometimes, it can work what seems like a miracle - transforming an otherwise unremarkable cartridge into a respectable "stopper."

One of the best examples of this is the .30 M1 Carbine cartridge. Many servicemen had experience with the little Carbine in World War II and Korea, and they either loved it or hated it. Those that hated it often complained about a lack of "stopping power" - enemies who were hit often didn't go down with alacrity. (Some even claimed that the rounds "bounced off" the heavy wool coats worn by the opposition. That wasn't true, and was easily shown as such, but when someone is running toward you screaming his head off, a lack of convincing ballistic effect makes the distinction unimportant.)

The .30 Carbine, as it turns out, is a penetrator. Its sleek bullet usually went straight through the target, making a quick-closing wound and doing little damage along the way. (Sound familiar?) After the war, one of the ammo makers got the bright idea of stuffing a semi-jacketed hollowpoint into the casing. When they did that, the entire complexion of the carbine changed.

The penetration was now more controlled, and the expanded bullet had a much larger frontal area that did more damage along its path. So changed was the round that Jim Cirillo, the famous member of the New York Stakeout Squad, proclaimed it one of the two most effective weapons in their entire arsenal - the other being the formidable 12 gauge shotgun. High praise indeed!

He wasn't the only one who made note of the "enhanced" Carbine. The late Gene Wolburg, wound ballistics expert and one of the most knowledgeable people in the field, once said that his home defense weapon of choice was the M1 Carbine loaded with that semi-jacketed hollowpoint.

It may have seemed like magic to the servicemen who had bad experiences with the round, but the effect of the hollowpoint loading was simple physics. It did its job better - it just happened to be a lot better.

A "magic bullet", in contrast, appears to violate the laws of physics, or so skews its sales copy that you think it does. For instance, magic bullet purveyors play up the "energy" of their load, to the exclusion of everything else.

Now, understand that energy is the result of multiplying the mass of the projectile by the square of it's velocity. Without boring you with the math, what that means is that a small change in velocity makes a big change in the energy of the projectile. In other words, if you drop the projectile weight you can up the velocity, which will make a huge increase in energy figures. Sounds great, right?

Well, as we've already studied, energy isn't everything. A light projectile might be moving very quickly, but when it contacts solid matter it loses velocity quickly. That translates into shallow wounds. (Remember the last installment, where we looked at the .357 Magnum? Same thing, only worse.) The projectile needs weight as well as velocity in order to penetrate well, and if you sacrifice enough weight for more speed, you'll fail at the First Task: reaching something important.

Exotic bullets that claim to do something others can't should set off your B.S. detector. Any cartridge that proclaims a "massive energy dump" as the wounding mechanism or pushes velocity over everything else is probably vying for a magic bullet award. Personally, I'm not going to trust my life to that kind of ammo!

What I'm getting at (and have been for this entire series) is that there is nothing mysterious, nothing magic about the way a bullet works. It has to get to something important, and it has to do rapid and significant damage when it gets there. That's it. Any claims that seem to skate around the topic should be looked at with great skepticism, for there is truly no such thing as a "magic bullet."

<--- Click here for the previous episode ..................... Click here for the next episode --->


-=[ Grant ]=-
|

Whew! Am I glad THAT'S over with!


Sorry to be a bit tardy...I've spent the last 3 days down for the count with "food poisoning" (norovirus.) I'll spare you the gory details, but if you've ever had it you know it isn't pleasant. If you haven't had the pleasure, trust me - it sucks. I'm glad it's (pretty much) over with.

I'm still a little weak, though, and am told I won't be 100% for a few days yet. Compared to the last few days, however, it's paradise!

-=[ Grant ]=-
|

FRIDAY SURPRISE: The Big Five-Oh


The
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently turned 50. What's DARPA, you ask? Well, it is the agency that invented the network upon which you are reading this missive.

DARPA was founded to do fundamental, high-risk research into science and technology that could be used for military purposes. Today that sounds ominous and vaguely sinister, but in the 1950s it was exciting and patriotic.

One of their projects was called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), intended as a way for DARPA staffers and researchers to disseminate information and share computing resources. It introduced email, file transfers, and even voice protocols into common use, all made possible through the magic of packet switching - another DARPA innovation. This groundbreaking computer network would, with their guidance, evolve into what we now call the internet.

(Funny, isn't it - the internet upon which you can read anti-military and anti-American rants until your eyes launch themselves from their sockets is the product of an American military project. Euro-weenies will no doubt point out that the World Wide Web was the invention of an Englishman working at a Swiss lab, but his contribution - important as it is - was simply a way of easing access to information on the already vast internet. His work would not even have been necessary had it not been for DARPA.)

The computer network wasn't DARPA's only development, of course - the magnificent Saturn V rocket and the computer mouse both came from the think tanks at the agency. How's that for a wide ranging legacy?

Happy Birthday, DARPA - keep up the good work!

-=[ Grant ]=-
|