Tactical Talk

I always wanted a Walther P38. Part of that came from being one of the iconic guns often seen in 'Man From U.N.C.L.E. ' The major part was that it was the first practical double/single action pistol. That’s pretty cool when you think about it. Here is a partial list of double/single action handguns including Beretta , Sig Sauer, CZ75, and HK we have today. But the P38 was the first, and its influence spread far. The double-action trigger and new breech-lock system were just two of its innovations. Our two heros with Walthers, but Solo seems to have some weird birdcage on his. "Without the P38, the development of military handguns would doubtless be much different," from Gene Gangarosa P.38 Automatic Pistol Carl Walther Waffenfabrik developed it. Yes, the same company that developed James Bond's weapon, the PP and PPK. Sadly, these are no longer in production. There are several features I ...

How About Some Pie?

Do you like pie? I know I do. Maybe you even have a favorite pie. But what about tactical pie? Unlike Superman, we can’t look through walls to see if anyone is hiding on the other side of a corner. We need to peek around the corner and see them and their ambush before they see us. This technique is called pieing a corner. What we’re trying to do is to see part of a potential target before they can see us. Unless we’re a smoke ninja, this is remarkably hard. Oh it’s easy enough with paper or steel targets. Doing it with people who shoot back is a real kick in the crotch. There are plenty of websites, videos and bloggers who will help you with this, but you’ll only get the abstract foundations unless you go out and practice it. Let me recommend the blog “The things worth believing in” entries called tactical preschool. Read them all, but for pieing corners, I’d read THIS and THAT first. A...

Zero Land

One of the things I like to do is check my rifle zero several times a year because things change. It may have been a new lot of ammunition, or maybe when I checked the scope retention screws something shifted. More likely I've changed. Different trigger pull, different breathing, all kinds of reasons. It's a 100 yards from my mat to the two black squares When I used to shoot bullseye, we used to say, "The gun shoots better than I do." And frankly, that’s the truth. But if the gun isn't functioning right, if the ammunition isn't feeding right, or you think your sights are off, your scores and accuracy go to hell. Just the other day, my friend was shooting a high-end gun, but his reloads had bulges and defects. Nothing ran well for him. He'll be able to fix that, but in the meantime, uncertainty has crept into his mind. And until he can convince himself everything is right, he'll have troubles. When I do my part, the gun..w...

Editorial: Guns in books

So, you want to be a paperback writer? Great! I've got a little something for all the writers out there. If you've been to the range in the last month or follow my blog, I'm not going to say anything new. Go cut the grass or have drink with friends. Nothing here for you. But if you’re a writer, established with publishing houses or just trying to get noticed, this is for you. Sit back and let's have some fun. Firearms are often misused by your characters. Sometimes it's how you are driving your story, but when they make a glaring mistake, you go down a notch with those of us who know better. From the amazing team of Preston and Child we read, "-popped the clip from the gun." That tells us the character has a semiautomatic handgun. Clip is the wrong term, it should be magazine, but it’s a tiny "oops" and we'll ignore it. Especially in light of this: "Empty. That left him only two shots in the chamber…thirteen roun...

The Cardboard Whisperer

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