Tactical Talk

I’ll give you hint. Bull's-eye shooters know better than to store this in oak boxes or this happens. It’s a badly corroded lead .22 bullet. I took the photo at 35X with a Scanning Electron Microscope to show the crinkly surface. It’s lead carbonate. It should be metallic lead. . This one is in great shape. I can even see my reflection in the bullet. So what happened to this happy-go-lucky little .22LR? As Ricky use to say “You got some ‘splainin’ to do Lucy!” But I’ll let the Navy conservators do it for me: “The chemical process is: Acetic and some other acids, in the presence of carbon dioxide, (in the air) catalyze with lead to produce lead acetate and lead hydroxide. Lead acetate and lead hydroxide together react with carbon dioxide and form lead carbonate. Lead carbonate then releases acetic acid and the process becomes self-sustaining. ” I used to hate those ads for genuine Civil War battlefield bullets. The ad shows some fe

Cookin' with Kydex

Shortly after the invention of the handgun the early shooters must have asked the question “Where the heck do I put this thing when it’s not in my hand?” Some of the early answers were to tuck it in your belt or pants. Whatever problems arose from that carry mode led to the idea of a holster. This question continues to plague us today. We’re still asking how do I carry this thing when I’m not using it? The word holster seems to have some connection to the Norse hulstr or sheath. Early holsters were little more than leather funnels. Other materials were tried. Witness the classic wooden holster for the broomhandle Mauser. I can’t find the reference, but I remember reading about J.D. O’Meara who carried two triggerless slip guns in specially tailored leather lined pant pockets during the late 1890s and early 1900s. An excellent, but limited reference is John Bianchi’s “Blue Steel and Gun Leather” for a mid-20th century history of holsters. I have to wonder what he w

Cowards?

Are snipers Cowards? It is easy to understand that point of view when you or your loved ones are injured or killed by a sniper. It is probably true when it occurs outside of a war zone by a VCA. Let me get this straight from the start, I never served. I never spoke to those that did and served as a sniper. All I ever did was read “American Sniper” as well as “Marine Sniper” about Carlos Hathcock. Frankly, after reading about the training, about the skill, the discipline and the dangers involved, it is hard to believe any military sniper on any side is a coward. While I may not agree with their politics, it is hard to imagine a coward going out day after day to confront his enemy with a price on their head. Read about the sniping duels between the Russians and Germans in WWII and one word that never comes to mind is coward. However, this is America. A place where you can express your view, just as I am expressing my view. I am not surprised by M

The Secret to the IDPA SO Test

IDPA is changing. The International Defensive Pistol Association has changed and not for the better. Accompanying this change is the requirement that current SOs test out on the new rule book. IDPA should be about shooting your best tactics and having fun. IDPA has tightened the rules in an effort to eliminate cheating and level the playing field. This has lost IDPA the sense of wonderment that came with a sport that let you try out your tactical skills and compare them to other shooters. The comment “Good tactics!” from an experienced IDPA shooter meant more than winning first place. Now it’s about points, power factors, challenging the scores and rulings and legal dissection of distances, word meanings, management levels, and being a five gun master. There was a time when we asked each shooter if they understood the course of fire and if they didn’t, the safety officer would re-explain it. Not anymore. That question is not part of the offi

The Cardboard Whisperer

Stay....Stay.....Easy boy!...

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