Tactical Talk

Recently, I came across a Facebook post by, let's call him, John. John runs a firearms training school and has tapes / photos of an actual knife-gun interaction. Maybe not this gun or knife Here's what he has to say ( italics) : First actual, legit, no joke defensive knife use I have ever seen caught on camera, and the lesson it teaches is that a knife is a really sketchy defensive tool and I don't recommend them as defensive tools almost ever. It's only in films that security cameras take great photos or they can be 'sharpened' Pic 1: armed robber jumps off the back of the moto with a gun in hand. Defender accesses his knife and hides his right hand. A gun is clearly visible in AR's right hand. The hidden knife? Pic 2: robber approaches, gun in hand, to take defender's property at threat of his life. Counter attack with knife Is that a sheath on D's right side belt? Pic 3: Armed robber closes distance to take property, and when he gets ...

So What Is it?

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 bul...

Ricochet

Of the three pistol ranges I have available to me, one is my favorite and I prefer to do all my shooting there. The area is well bermed, open and airy with early morning and late afternoon shade. What’s especially attractive about the range is the backstop is mostly mudstone and at least 40 feet tall. The green stuff on the backstop isn't the top; it's what's growing out the side of it. Mudstone is relatively soft. Soft compared to granite that is, but not as soft as mounded dirt. Bullets, from .22LR to .30 caliber rifle hit the stone, damage it and are in turn deformed, robbing the bounce back of substantial amounts of energy. This makes for relatively safe shooting, but even considering this we require eye (and ear) protection. Pistol bullet marks in soft mudstone. The marks are shallow but wide craters. Mushroomed .45 ACP. Most of the mass is still present. However, we recently brought out some st...

Weapon Care

I just finished watching Pat Rogers’ Basic Carbine DVD. I recommend it as a training supplement even if I can’t get into his kneeling positions. I believe Pat would agree: you and I need to get out and do the activities he suggests. In one scene he’s holding what looks like a petrified dog turd covered in mud. It’s not. It’s the bolt carrier for one of his ARs. He wants to make the point that the gun will run dirty as long as it’s well oiled. Don’t do that. I had recently removed my dot from one of my ARs and replaced it with a scope. This required that I re-zero the weapon. I was about half way finished when the gun started to jam. Examination of the bolt showed the locking lugs at a 45 degree angle to the rifle axis. I had broken my bolt at the bolt cam pin. If you can see it, there is a annotation saying Shiny Spot. That should have been my first warning that the bold was wearing funny. The fo...

The Cardboard Whisperer

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

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