"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." - Col. Jeff Cooper

Thursday, March 26, 2009

How many mags?

I see this question all the time on different gun forums. How many mags should I own for each gun? Well, there is no right answer to this question to be honest. However, that has never stopped me from answering it. The honest answer is that it depends on the gun, how often you shoot and how much you can afford to spend. However, I do think that there are some good guidelines to follow.

First, I think if you ask someone who lived through the 10 dark years of the '94 Assault Weapons Ban this question you will get a VERY different answer than if you ask someone who was either too young to remember or wasn't into firearms at the time. Those of us that remember having our rights stripped away are much more wary of it happening again. Those of us that remember gun show vendors charging $100 for a Glock magazine will think we need more than someone who did not go through that. As of right now, the momentum toward passing a new AWB seems to have dwindled, but that does not mean we should let our guard down. Personally, I prefer to have too many mags so that if that day ever comes again, I won't have to pay the gouger prices as my old mags wear out.

Ok, now to the original question. Let's break it down into types of guns.

Type 1 - Plinkers and Range Toys. By this, I mean a gun that was bought just for the fun of shooting it. It is not intended to be used in a self defense role. It won't be lying on your nightsand ready to defend the home and it won't be carried concealed. For most people, this would include a lot of .22's.

For these guns, it is not as important in my opinion to have a lot of mags. If you shoot the gun often, get more mags since it will make range sessions more fun. If it sits in the safe and looks good, get a few and be done. For me, it depends on how often I shoot the gun, how hard it is to reload and how expensive the mags are for it. I always like to have at least a couple of spares so I'd say minimum of 3, but more if you shoot the gun often.

Type 2 - Self Defense Handguns. My hard and fast rule is a bare minimum of 5 mags for any gun that could be used for self defense. My one exception to that is my Ruger LCP. The reason is that the gun is unpleasant to shoot often and is not built to be shot a lot. I have 4 mags for that gun and I doubt I'll ever put more than that through the gun in a single range session now that the gun is broken in. For all others, at least 5 but I prefer 8.

Type 3 - Self Defense Rifles. This would be a gun like an AR-15 that could be used for home defense or to hold of the hoardes of zombies. I like to have a minimum of 15 mags per rifle. More is always better. If you have an AR-15, more is definitely better. There are a lot of other semi-auto rifles out there than use AR-15 mags so having a good supply of those is a definite plus. I know of people that have 400 or more AR-15 mags. I don't go that far, but I like to have a good supply of them. They do wear out and you never know if you will be able to replace them.

To summarize, the important thing to remember is that you never know when legislation or supply will make it difficult or impossible to replace mags as they wear out. Without them, your guns are single shot devices or paper weights if the have a mag safety. Buy as many as you think you are likely to ever need, now.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The joy of a new toy

For me, and I think for most gun enthusiasts there are few things that bring us as much joy as the purchase of a new gun. It's like Christmas came early for us. I got the extreme pleasure of having this feeling last week. However, this one comes with an interesting story as a bonus.

Back in 2001 - 2002, I took a part time job at a very large gun shop in Charlotte, NC. I ended up spending far more money than I earned, but it was a fun job. One of the guns that came in while I was there was a Fabarm FP6 imported by HK. This is a pump action, tactical/LE style shotgun with a carbon fiber finish. I liked it a lot but it was $700 for a pump and I just could not justify that.

Fast forward to present day. I had my XD-40 up for sale in the classifieds of a regional gun forum. I had decided to sell it to reduce the number of handgun calibers I had in my collection. After bumping the ad for the night, I sat down and watched an episode of Best Defense (great show on Outdoor Channel hosted by Michael Bane) on my DVR. Rob Pincus was showing a tactic for taking corners in your house with a shotgun and I noticed that the shotgun he was using was a carbon fiber HK/Fabarm FP6. I recognized it immediately because of the unique look. I had been wanting to get a good home defense shotgun for a while and that made me start thinking that the HK would be a good choice. However, HK stopped importing for Fabarm in late 2002 so finding one would be near impossible.

The next day, I got an offer on my XD for cash and arranged to meet they buyer the following afternoon. I collected the cash ($440) and decided to head down to Charlotte to browse the shelves of the gun shop I used to work at for a new shotgun. When I arrived, I talked to a buddy of mine that is the manager there. I told him I wanted a new shotgun and had he ever ran across one of those cool carbon fiber shotguns that HK used to import. He laughed and said he ran across one just the other day and it was still on the wall. He looked up the inventory number and it turns out is the SAME shotgun I saw when I worked there. Somehow, it had been there all that time and had never been sold. As large as their inventory is, it probably got rotated to the back to make room for something else and forgot about for a long time.

I talked to the owner and ended up getting the shotgun for $440 OTD. My buddy says he can't be sure after all this time, but he thinks I probably got it for less than they paid for it.

Anyway, I just thought it was rather weird that I got reminded of a gun I wanted all those years ago by a TV show and then happened to find that VERY shotgun on the shelf and haggled the price down to the exact amount I had just received for my XD. It's a strange strange world and apparently I was just meant to have this shotgun. I ordered a magazine extension tube for it which arrived today. Installing it was a pain, but I got it on eventually. Now I just need to find some ammo and me and my new gun can head to the range.

Stay safe out there... and watch your six.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Never pick out a gun for your spouse!

I can't count how many times I've seen this post on one of the gun forums I spend time on. "What gun should I buy for my wife to conceal carry?". First some disclaimers... I am a guy and I am writing this from a guy's perspective, but this could just as easily be about a wife not picking out a gun for her husband. Also, in this post I'm going to voice MY OPINION about some brands of guns. This is my opinion and should not be interpreted as a fact. Ok, hopefully I just avoided a libel suit when I get around to calling a Hi-Point a pile of steaming poo.

There are a lot of guys out there that love to shoot, but have wives that just aren't into it. Those guys usually end up trying at some point to get their wife into shooting. This is done out of love and a desire to keep their wife safe. It is an admirable goal, but guys usually go about it wrong.

First of all, you will hear all the time about what is the right gun for a woman to shoot. This is B.S. There is nothing that makes one gun better than another for a particular gender. There are guns that are better for people with smaller hands and there are guns that are better for people that are more recoil sensitive. In general, a higher percentage of women probably fit that bill, but you can't make that assumption about someone you don't know. When these questions get asked on a forum, we have no idea what the poster looks like. For all we know, his wife could be the starting linebacker on a semi-pro football team and he could be so small and dainty he makes a male figure skater look macho.

Second, no one can choose a gun for someone else. There are a few features that are universal. Yes, you want a gun that is reliable. Yes, you want a gun in a caliber that will do the job. However, you also want a gun that fits the shooter's hand and the only way to determine that is to take the shooter with you and let her try a variety of guns and decide what fits her the best. We may think that a Glock 19 (just using that one as an example) is the greatest gun that was ever made and that Gaston Glock was feeling the inspiration of the lord almighty when he designed it. That doesn't mean it will fit your wife's hand.

I'm not saying you sit back and let your wife pick out that pink and gold Raven .25 as a carry gun. If you are an experienced shooter that knows about which gun companies make good stuff and which guns aren't worthy of being tossed in a dumpster you should impart your knowledge on your wife so she can make an educated decision. Certainly steer her away from the Hi-Point / Jennings case and down to the Glock / Sig / HK / S&W / Colt / Ruger / Taurus / Browning / FN /etc... cases. However, if she chooses a quality brand that fits her it does not matter if you like that gun or not. It's NOT FOR YOU! If you want her to get into your hobby then let her pick her gun.

Also, don't try to force her to go with a caliber larger than she is comfortable with. If she doesn't feel that she can control a .45 and likes a 9mm, I don't care where you fall in the caliber debate. Let her get the 9mm! If you force her to get the .45 she won't enjoy shooting it so she won't shoot it and all the time and money is wasted. There does need to be some balance here. Feel free to strongly discourage her from a .22 or .25 for concealed carry. You've got to use some logic here and find that balance.

Also, while we are on the subject... husbands should not teach their wives to shoot. Get a friend that is an experienced shooter to help or spring for a professional class. I have seen a lot of husbands try to teach a lot of wives to shoot and it almost never works. In fact, I see a husband that attempted that every time I look in the mirror. It just doesn't work. I was lucky that I have a friend that is a much more patient teacher than I am that helped my wife break some bad habits and clean up her technique when we all went shooting together. Ego gets in the way when you are teaching your wife. Also, most of us aren't qualified to teach regardless of what we THINK we know.

Ok, my rant is over. I hope you took it to heart because it will save you a lot of grief and will make the likelihood that your wife will enjoy shooting a lot greater. Stay safe out there... and watch your six.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Mouse guns

You will hear many people in the firearms industry say "Friends don't let friends carry mouse guns." Before I go into the argument about whether or not a mouse gun is an acceptable choice for self defense, let me define it for those of you that don't know what it means.

Generally speaking, a mouse gun is any gun chambered in a caliber smaller than a 9mm Parabellum for pistols or a .38 Special for revolvers. The most common calibers would be .22LR, .25 ACP, .32 ACP & .380 ACP. In the last couple of years, as concealed carry has become more popular, there has been an explosion of small, light, concealable guns in .380 ACP. Now that there are several quality options in .380, I see no reason to consider going to any smaller caliber. If you can't conceal a Kel-Tec P3AT or a Ruger LCP with what you are wearing, you can't conceal any gun.

When you carry a gun for self defense, you are doing so knowing that if you have to use it, it will mean that your life or the life of your loved ones is in immediate danger. This means that you should want the gun that is the most powerful gun you can shoot comfortably and control that is reliable and has sufficient capacity for the job. So, if you can get away with carrying a full size combat handgun, do it. However, there are times when that just isn't possible. There are times when due to how you have to dress for an event or the weather, you just can't conceal a gun that big. For those times, I'd rather have a mouse gun than no gun.

On a daily basis, I carry a J-frame revolver loaded with .38 Special +P. I know I can hit what I'm aiming at within a reasonable distance and it will be powerful enough to end the fight with proper shot placement. As a side note, I plan to start carrying a Glock 19 when my mode of dress will allow it once I get the money saved to buy one and a quality holster for it. However, there are times (especially in the summer) when I can't conceal a gun that big. That is when my Ruger LCP comes out of the safe and into my pocket. I could conceal an LCP wearing a pair of swimming trunks and nothing else with no problem. It is so small and so light that it just disappears in a pocket.

Mouse guns also have another excellent feature. They are small enough and light enough that when you are carrying that big, full power pistol, you can carry a mouse gun in your pocket as a backup. Remember what the all wise Clint Smith said... "2 is 1 and 1 is none."

One last point... I mentioned a couple of times in this article about carrying in a pocket. If not done properly, that can be dangerous. There are two things you should ALWAYS remember when carrying in a pocket. First, do not put anything else in that pocket. That pocket is for the gun and the gun alone. All you need is to draw the gun after a pen or a pocket knife slipped through the trigger guard and you end up shooting yourself in the leg (or worse). Second, do not carry without a holster. There are tons of options for pocket holsters out there. A pocket holster will insure that the gun is in the same position you left it in when you have to draw it in a hurry. It also covers the trigger which helps prevent anything touching the trigger that shouldn't.

So remember, friends don't let friends carry mouse guns when they can carry something better. Also remember that when the proverbial fecal matter hits the oselating air displacement device, any gun is better than no gun. Stay safe out there... and watch your six.