Spec Ops Brand Gear

Last week around Wednesday or Thursday I sent an email to Spec Ops gear telling them about my Youtube channel, and the articles I've written for AR Guns & Hunting magazine, and told them there are a couple of their products I'm interested in trying and reviewing for my Youtube channel.  So, Friday morning I hop on my computer to check emails, and there was a reply.  Whenever I see reply's to gear queries I always get a bit giddy, because usually if they reply it's because they are interested in you reviewing their stuff.  

So, I click on the message, and it's from the Director of Marketing.  He starts with telling me he's checking out my videos and has read my articles.  Then he tells me they're starting a new website, and how would I like to be a guest blogger?  IN EXCHANGE FOR GEAR.  Woooohooooo!  Do you ever feel like you've struck gold.  I love Spec Ops gear -- it's great stuff.  Durable, looks great, tough as nails, works great, and priced well -- so the average Lcpl Grunt can afford it.  They make practical, well thought out stuff.

This is a marriage made in heaven.  Robb's writing + outstanding gear.  It doesn't get any better than this.

SOG Knives

You know I'm a big fan of the Gunny. I'm also a big fan of SOG knives. So it only fitting that they come together:

It also just so happens, the gents at SOG were so kind as to send me a couple of their awesome knives: The Trident Desert Cam, and the Aegis Digi-Cam.  Both have the SAT (SOG Assisted Technology), which means they open fast.  I'm in the process of using them for EDC, to get a better feel, so I can do my youtube review.  So far, I'm REALLY liking them.  They're sharper than Condi Rice and built like brick poop-house.

M1895 7.62 Nagant Revolver

I've owned this thing for almost a year now, and just shot it for the first time last week.  The gun cost me $79, and the only place around here that carries ammo for it had it for $49 per box -- that's almost as much as the gun!.  That's almost $1 per round.  The gun shows had boxes for $35, but that's still too much.  I ended up finding ammo for it, as I've previously posted, for $21 per box.  THAT'S much better!  It shot pretty nice -- it was pretty accurate at 15 yards.  The recoil on it felt like I was shooting my Ruger MkIII .22, but it did have much more muzzle blast.

As you cock the hammer, the cylinder moves up to press against the barrel, and the way the cartridge is, the case forms a tight seal with the barrel, so all the gas goes out the front of the barrel, which explains the muzzle blast.  This makes it the only revolver in the world that can be silenced with a suppressor.  It also makes it REALLY easy to clean!

The Nagant was designed by a Belgian, adopted by the Russian military in the 1895 and carried until, I believe, WWII.  At that time it was mostly phased out by the Tokarev semi-auto.  You'll recognize the name Nagant, as it was developed by the same guy, Leon Nagant, who co-developed the Mosin-Nagant rifle that was the issue rifle for the Russian and Soviet Armies for the first half of the 20th century.

Ruger LC9: First Shots Down Range

I got in the Ruger LC9 today.  What a sweet little gun.  I put 150 rounds down range and not one hiccup.  I'll tell you though, if you're looking for a sweet shooting handgun that you can spend all day at the range shooting, the LC9 is NOT the gun for you.  It is not a beginner's gun, not your wife's first gun, and it is not a gun you buy to get your kid into shooting.  It's got some feisty-ness to it.  It's a self-defense gun, plain and simple, and is not "smooth shooting."  I fired 150 rounds in about 10 minutes, and my hand and forearm were ringing.

I love it, though.  I can't wait to take it out more.  I Shot Winchester USA, UMC, and Wolf ammo out of it.

The 2 day pointless "cool off period" wait

The LC9 came in today from Ruger for me to test and do a review on.  So, I had to fill out all the paperwork, and now wait 48 hours.  Just so I have a couple of days to "cool off" and not go out and shoot someone.  WTF is the point?  I can understand if someone is a first time gun buyer.  HOWEVER, I am not, I have quite a few firearms in my safe.  If I REALLY wanted to go out and shoot someone, I would grab one of those, NOT go to Cabela's to buy a new one.  So what's the point?  Just another stupid handgun law that means nothing and does nothing but make bureaucrats feel good about themselves.  What a pointless waist.  Sorry for the rant

WROL/SHTF: Choosing the Right Self-Defense Weapon

I've become interested in the WROL (Without Rule Of Law) and SHTF (S%!t Hits The Fan) topics, and there's quite a bit on the internet.  For those that don't know, someone who takes an active and serious role in preparing for such catastrophes -- be it man made or natural disaster -- are called "preppers."  I'm learning that a prepper has taken things a bit further than someone who is a survivalist.  I'm not sure, but I think the term "prepper" is fairly new. It's a pretty interesting world, and I've been watching a lot of Youtube videos on the topic.  I've always been someone who mentally prepares for something like that happening, and I know I have most of the gear/food stores/ammo to survive, but a prepper takes it a step further and actually stages the gear for easy/quick access.

One of the topics, and the topic that I want to touch on, is the choice in firearms to choose as your WROL/SHTF weapon.  Of course, you have the guys who are all about the AK, and "It's the best weapon ever because you can do anything to it, and it will work, and the 7.62x39 Soviet round is the best as a man stopper"  And those that have the big revolvers in .357 because that's the most reliable handgun, in a great caliber.  And of course you see a lot of guys who choose 1911s, and Glocks in .40 S&W.

I agree that the AK is the best choice if you're looking for something indestructible, and the revolver is the most reliable choice.  And I'm certainly not going to argue the effectiveness of any of the above mentioned rounds.  HOWEVER (draws long breath), I am going to argue that those choices are a bit misguided.  In my humble opinion, you shouldn't choose your weapon by brand or model, but by caliber.  Of course, if you don't own a lot of guns, you have no choice to use what you have.  But, if you do have a choice, your order of importance in picking out a weapon should be, 1. caliber, 2. reliability/durability.

In choosing calibers, there's really only a few choices.  In handguns, the number one choice is 9mm.  In rifles, .223/5.56.  If you want a high powered rifle, .308/7.62.  You could argue until your blue in the face about the effectiveness of these caliber choices, but it doesn't matter.  Is the 9mm the most effective pistol round?  No.  Is the .223/5.56 the most effective rifle round? No.  But I will tell you this: a handgun that you have in 9mm, with ammo, is more effective than a .40 S&W Glock without ammo.  And no matter how many thousands of rounds you can store up before WROL/SHTF, depending on the circumstances, you do not know how long WROL/SHTF will last, and you will eventually run out of ammo, or become permanently separated from your ammo.  So you will have to scavenge.  And since 9mm and 5.56 are our military standards, as well as the standards of the entire Western world, you will always be able to find those rounds.  If you lived in Russia, the 7.62x39 would be the best choice, but you don't, so it's not.

Sure, the chances of WROL/SHTF lasting more than a few weeks, or months is low -- like New Orleans after Katrina, but if you're a prepper, you need to prare for WCS (Worst-Case Scenario).  I would say, probably worst case scenario is Somalia.  A complete and utter collapse of government -- a true anarchy.  Or perhaps Rwanda-type situations are even worse, when there is genocide.  My point is that in those situations, especially Somalia, there has been WROL for over a decade.  Even if you had 10,000 rounds, in that amount of time, you would have either ran out, or perhaps been separated from your ammo.  So, you definitely need a caliber that you can readily scrounge up.  And the 9mm and 5.56 you'll be able to find on or near any military base.  You'll also find it on bodies of military personal that you stumble upon, or even in abandoned military vehicles.

For handguns, I would say seconds are the .40 S&W, and the .45 ACP.  A majority of law enforcement agencies/departments use the .40, some use the .45 (and also the .45 was our previous military standard -- and it's the most popular handgun cartridge in our country -- so there's a lot of that around.)

In sum, while there are better choices for self-defense, there is no better choice for availability.  As the saying goes, Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics.  And in talking about WROL/SHTF that could potentially last for an extended period of time, resupply will be crucial.

Slow Day

Not a lot going on in the realm of shooting.  For my birthday, my wife got me four 1-hour sessions at a local indoor range, so I'm looking forward to using those.  For the most part I don't mind the cold weather when I'm shooting, but the last week was brutal with -15 degree days and such.  That's a little too cold.  I've actually been wanting to take her shooting, so that might be a great opportunity to take her and she can be indoors and warm.

Otherwise, I'm trying to patiently wait for the Ruger LC9 to get here.  It shipped Wed, so I'm thinking Mon or Tue it should be here.  I'm looking forward to givin' 'er a whirl.

Later

My 1911 video

I had to post this video -- I think it's my best production of a video yet.  Check it out:

Ammo!!!!!

The ammo I ordered from Aim Surplus came today.  Commie stuff.  Have I ever told you how much I love getting new ammunition?

This is the primary reason I ordered ammo, the 7.62 Nagant.  The revolver cost me $79.  Ammo for it around here is hard to find, and when you do, they want $50 per box.  I can't see paying almost as much for a box as I did for the gun.  Aim Surplus has it for $22 per box.

This stuff here sells for $20-25 per box around here.  That's crazy.  You can get a surplus can of 1000 rounds for around $80.  Of course, that's corrosive stuff, but you get my point.  Aim had this for $16 per box.

Last is a couple of different types of 9x18 Makarov ammo.  Once again, the stuff around here is $20-25 per box.  I got this for $9 for the FJM and $11 for the Hollow Point.  The stuff around here is nice brass case stuff.  I don't need that -- it's a Makarov -- the steel case will do just fine.  That's what it's designed for.

The HP stuff:

Take a look at this pic, tell me what you notice:

To me, Russian ammo is so interesting (and we've already established that I'm a gun geek).  Actually, their whole mentality towards manufacturing is interesting to me, and ammo/guns is just a microcosm of their whole manufacturing industry.  Their stuff is manufactured so crudely, yet it works.  The ammo on the left is manufactured by BarnauL, and is their Silver Bear line of ammo.  You see how NOT-uniform their Hollow Points are?  And this wasn't handpicked as the worse, these were random rounds pulled from the box -- there were worse in their than this.  The lead is smeared on some, the copper malformed on others.  The stuff on the right is Hornady .380 ammo.  It's almost perfect.

As I said, yes, I do realize I am a nerd.

BTW, check out aimsurplus.com

Marine's open new Combined Arms Training Facility

This is incredible. I would have loved to have trained there during my 3 years at the Stumps.

What's In My Pocket.

In my pocket: this is a pretty typical day for me.  Wallet & money clip (with $11). Cabelas's gun shaped bottle opener (still in my pocket from the Super Bowl, I normally carry it on my keychain), lip balm, Fisher Space Pen, Gerber Evo folding knife.  And of course an iPhone 3GS with a Case-Mate.

The lip balm is Cocoa Butter, made by Cococare.  It's the best there is, and I'm an expert -- my lips are addicted to lip balm.  Yes, that can happen.  The Fisher Space Pen is the bomb.  I've had it for 3 years on the same tube of ink.  I love that it's compact, no way it can open in your pocket (and get ink all over), yet it is full size when you put it together.  The Gerber -- I've had that for over 3 years, too.  I would have had it longer, but this one is a replacement for the Evo that got stolen from me in an armed robbery.

Shopping Cart Disaster

MST3k says: Packers win the Super Bowl!

Funny video. I love the line, "Why don't you all just go back to your drinking." He must know us up here.

SUPER BOWL CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to be honest -- there were three times this year when I wrote my team off.  The first was Grant and Finley going down.  The second was Barnet and Matthews going down. (Matthews fortunately only missed one game).  The third was when we got beat by Detroit and Rodgers went down.  Then our second string QB went on to almost beat the Patriots, and I though, "You know, we might be OK."  The rest is history, and we are now S.B. champs.  I could not be happier for Aaron Rodgers, who handled the whole "Brett Farve" thing with nothing but class.

Congrats to the G.B. Packers.  You DESERVE this.

Second, I HAVE to give props to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I know this was a tough loss, and I know what it's like, after we got beat by Denver in '97, but let me tell you, you are NOTHING BUT CLASS.  Under Cower, and now Tomlin, you have ALWAYS been nothing but class.  Even though you didn't get #7 tonight, you will eventually.  And you have already earned your way into one of the best, and classiest organizations of all time.

Beretta 87 Cheetah

Check out my new video.  I upgraded to the iMovie2011, and in the process added music to my video intro.

The Gunny

Just by saying that, you all know who I'm talking about.  If you don't, "Why don't you chuck on over to mambi-pampi land, you Jack-Wagon!"  R. Lee Ermey.  Do a search for him in Youtube, and judging from the video comments, there are few people more admired than him.  He's one of my favorite people.  One of my Marine buddies has shot with him at the Camp Perry matches -- lucky guy.  I have never met him, but it's become a tradition that when fans meet him, they ask him to berate them.  How frickin' cool would that be.

Here's a of vid (it's the Gunny, so yes, there is some cussing involved.  Do not watch if you're a child, or your ears are sensitive to explicit language):

9 mil

I have recently come to the conclusion that I do not own enough 9mm handguns. In fact, I only own one. It's a good one --  a Beretta 92FS -- but it's only one.  I blame my "lack of 9mm" revelation on Ruger and their announcement of the LC9. VERY drool-worthy. 

There are a couple of classics I'd like to add.  I've always loved the lines on the CZ 75, especially one in stainless.  Then there's the FN/Browning Hi-Power. This is the handgun, not the 1911, that John M. Browning felt was his masterpiece.  Most of the rest of the world agreed with him.   Here, many are biased against cartridges named after metrics.  More on that later.  I was recently tempted by a good deal on a Walther P1. I love the milsurp stuff.  Mostly because you can get high quality hardware at a great price.  Speaking of milsurp 9mm, who wouldn't want to own a Luger, if you could afford one. 

One the newer 9 mils that is tops on my list is the FN FNP-9.   I've wanted one for quite awhile now. I'm a HUGE FN-Herstal fan.  Also, in keeping with my recent convert to a Ruger fan, I’d also like to get my hands on an SR9.  I saw a pretty sweet one up at Cabelas with an O.D. Green lower receiver.  Also sweet is the price: under $500.  I’ve heard nothing but good things about Ruger.

Back to the metrics.  I’m wondering if the 9mm had been named .356 Luger, I wonder if it would have faired better in America.  That has a ring to it.  But why is that?  I think it has to do with in the 80s when the government was trying to incorporate the metric system into the US.  I remember, we were supposed to be a dual system for awhile, and the standard system would eventually go away and we would just use metrics.  Except we never got that far.  I guess a lot of people felt it was the Europeans trying to impose their way on us, and we had already told the them a couple of centuries ago that they’re not going to push us around.  It’s weird to, because in the military we use a lot of metrics.  Meters, clicks (1000 m/ 1 km), kilometers, etc.  I can see the benefits to both systems.

One last thing, is it just the military, or do civilians call it the “9 mil” instead of “9mm.”?  I don’t think I’ve ever heard a civilian call it that.

Semper Fi

Snow!!!

No shooting today.  Yesterday I spent the day prepping for the storm, and today unburying from it.  We got quite a bit.  Actually, we didn't really get that much snow, maybe a foot or so, but it drifted really bad.  I had a drift outside my front door that reached up to my chest.  Same in the back yard.  The ol' John Deere snow thrower got a workout today.

Then halfway through clearing my driveway, the village idiot -- 3 houses down -- decides to drive her little 2 wheel drive car down the street to get lord knows where (everything was closed).  Since the plows hadn't been through yet, the bottom of her car was lower than the snow.  She ended up getting stuck right in front of my house.  So half the men on my street showed up to get her out, since the plows wouldn't be able to get through with her car in the middle of the road.  After half an hour, we finally got her out.  I have no idea what was going through her mind that she could drive out.

 My snow thrower handled the snow like the horse that it is until I did the back sidewalk and hit the dog chain (actually a wire).  Stripped both shear bolts, through the auger axle off, and made the belt jump.  Then of course the snowplows came through and buried the entrance in a 4 foot high wall of snow. Thankfully my neighbor came over with his snow thrower and helped me out.  What a great guy.  So, after making a run to the local J. Deere dealer, I got some more shear bolts and got her up and running for round 2, whenever that hits.  Now tonight and tomorrow is supposed to be -20 to -30, so no more snow for awhile.

Never a dull moment.  I did manage to pick up Mac OS X Snow Leopard today, so I can upgrade my video editing for my Youtube channel (youtube.com/762x51n8o).  I'll probably trek out to the range tomorrow to see if there is anything even sticking above the snow.  If they didn't have a "no explosive target" policy, I would take my reactive Star Target out to clear some snow for them.



Peace out and GO PACKERS!!