Shooting Illustrated:

NRA member and Marine Corps veteran Dave Elliot was a fan of the 1911 chambered in .45 ACP, but dreamed of .357 Mag. performance and greater capacity from a semi-automatic handgun. In the early 1980s, John Ricco developed the 9×23 mm, which came close to the .357 Mag., but it could not accommodate heavier bullets. It also operated at high pressures.

Elliot decided to cut some 9 mm Win. Mag. cases to the length of the 10 mm Auto and load them with .357—not .355 (9 mm)—diameter, 140-, 158- and 170-grain bullets. He then designed a chamber around these cartridges. To test the concept, he cut some .357 Mag. cases to the same length, and starting with 60-percent .357 Mag. loads and the QuickLoad program, slowly worked his way up. Elliot figured his new cartridge (the .357 Ring of Fire) would be excellent for police, combat and hunting—especially with its potential for added capacity. You can actually cram 18 rounds of .357 Ring of Fire into a Glock G20, 10 mm magazine.

Based on the real-world performance of the .357 Mag., I was intrigued. Regardless of which so-called stopping-power theory you subscribe to, the effectiveness of the .357 Mag. on the street cannot be denied. Elliot had created a semi-auto-pistol cartridge nearing that level of performance. So, I asked him to send me a gun and some ammunition for further investigation.

I received a Glock G20 with a ported 5.5-inch barrel and 100 rounds of ammo. The ammunition was comprised of five different loads, using bullets between 125 and 200 grains in weight. I found I could indeed get 18 rounds into a Glock G20 magazine, which, when fully loaded, weighed almost 1 pound. This brought the gun’s total weight to 2 pounds, 12 ounces, with a round in the chamber.

I started with the 200-grain, lead-round-nose loads. At 920 fps, theBut y replicate 200-grain .45 ACP external ballistics and were very comfortable to shoot. Up next was the 170-grain Sierra FMJ loads at 1,060 fps. These were just as comfortable and quite similar to common.40 S&W 180-grain loads. Yet, the first round of the 125-grain Nosler load really got my attention. It was not the recoil that surprised me; it was the ring of fire that appeared in front of my face when the pistol went off. (Now I know where Elliot got the name.) At 1,335 fps this load duplicates the best .357 SIG offerings.

That same fireball was present with the 140-grain Hornady XTP and 158-grain hollow-point loads. At 1,430 fps the lighter load is indeed the equivalent of a .357 Mag. As for the 158-grain hollow point, the hottest .357 Mag. loads will exceed 1,400 fps, but 1,200 to 1,300 fps is much more common. Surprisingly, recoil with both was still extremely manageable. I’m sure this was due, in no small part, to the ported barrel.

So this is a wildcat round that probably exceeds SAAMI pressures for the 10mm chamber/barrel, but it being shot from a 10mm gun nonetheless.

I can see the desire for something like this, although I’m just fine and happy with shooting my 230 grain ammunition at greater than 1100 FPS from 450 SMC cartridges.  I may also investigate the 460 Rowland with a ported extension.

But in order for these cartridges to be very successful on the market, engineers are going to have to do the calculations and testing to ensure safety and endurance over protracted chamber and barrel lifetimes.  I like the fact that engineers at CMMG have done this for the 450 SMC.

David Codrea:

Curiously, the go-to guy AP went to for ATF input was retired agent Bernard Zapor, who made the profitability of smuggling guns south of the border sound lucrative enough to make AP’s case for them. The guy knows something about gun smuggling—he was in charge of the St. Paul Field Division when “Operation Fearless” resulted in an agent’s guns and a machine gun being stolen.

I highly doubt that this would have been their only choice.  I suspect that there are current ATF agents who want to see this as a pretext for the disarming of Americans.  After all, most of the AT F employees who were with that abominable organization during the Holder years are still there.

The spirits of Obama and Holder speak from the grave through the current statists among the FedGov.

BRVTVS gives us this video on some .45 ACP testing.

A few comments.

First of all, it’s just wrong to say that the lighter rounds lack penetration.  The data shows otherwise.  On the other hand, I agree that I’d never recommend PD ammunition for protection against large predatory animals.  Ball ammunition (jacketed) is the way to go.  Expansion is your enemy when you’re trying for maximum penetration and organ damage against a large quadruped.

For jacketed .45 ACP, I’m now focused on purchase of Browning flat nose 920 FPS cartridges.

If I’m in the bush, I’ll carry my S&W E Series 1911 for which I’ve installed a 22# spring, and shoot 450 SMC.  That’s my main complaint with the video.  He doesn’t cover the big hitters in these guns, whether 450 SMC or 460 Rowland.  It’s easy to install a 22# spring, and the 460 Rowland conversions (that include a compensator) aren’t that expensive.

News from The Far Side:

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens on Thursday said that high court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, who Stevens once lauded in one of his books, does not belong on the Supreme Court.

Speaking to a crowd of retirees in Boca Raton, Stevens, 98, said Kavanaugh’s performance during a recent Senate confirmation hearing suggested that he lacks the temperament for the job.

The same man who said this.

That support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons, increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of firearms. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.

Concern that a national standing army might pose a threat to the security of the separate states led to the adoption of that amendment, which provides that “a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Today that concern is a relic of the 18th century.

I collect, cull and communicate the data.  You’re smart enough to decide.  On a positive note, it’s nice to hear that mankind is no longer affected by his sinful nature and his only intentions are good, all of the time.

Who knew?

News from Alaska:

Admiralty Island, Alaska — A female bear and her two cubs mauled and killed a young man working at a remote mine site on a southeast Alaska island with one of the highest bear densities in the state, authorities said Monday.

Anthony David Montoya, 18, a contract worker from Oklahoma, died at a remote drill site accessible only by helicopter, according to Hecla Greens Creek Mine and authorities. Mine officials said workers receive training on how to deal with bears because of the large number in the area.

[ … ]

The silver mine is on Admiralty Island, which is about 18 miles southwest of Juneau and where an estimated 1,500 brown bears roam, said Stephen Bethune, a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Tours to the island that’s largely uninhabited by people tout bear-viewing possibilities.

[ … ]

Workers are taught, for example, ways to prevent bear encounters, including proper disposal of food. Bear spray is available to carry between buildings and trained personnel use bean bags to scare away bears from established areas.

The mine also has videos on bear behavior. In remote locations, bear spray is among the tools employees generally bring with them in the case of bear encounters, Satre said.

Bear spray.  I don’t think I would work in a place with that kind of bear density and not be allowed to carry a firearm for self defense.

In other news where people are not made in God’s image and animal life is more important than human life, a judge unilaterally decided to protect the bear sleuth.

“We stand behind our scientific finding that the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear is biologically recovered and no longer requires protection under the Endangered Species Act,” the FWS said in a statement.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen overturned the Service’s decision to delist the bears Sept. 24. He based the ruling, in part, on the FWS failure to consider the impact delisting the bears in the Yellowstone region would have on other, still not recovered, bear populations around the United States, according to the court order.

[ … ]

“There are only a couple grizzly bear populations that are viable in the United States,” said Wendy Keefover, the native carnivore protection manager at the Humane Society of the United States, one of the organizations that sued to stop the delisting. “In 50 years, we’ve not had one individual make it between them. There are just these tiny islands of grizzly bear populations left. They need far more protection, not less.”

I’m wondering if The Alaskan wants to invite them in for dinner?  Or maybe he wants to be dinner for these poor critters?  After all, they need protection and sustenance.

News from the Northeast:

Sensing controversy, Gov. Phil Scott privately asked Vermont lawmakers to drop a limit on the size of gun magazines from a package of firearms regulations that was about to pass the Legislature this spring.

The governor was unsuccessful, and in April he signed the magazine limit along with other firearms laws.

“I advocated for them to consider taking that out because I knew that it was going to be a hot-button issue for many,” Scott said in a recent interview. “But I wasn’t persuasive enough for them to take it out. We’ll live with that.”

[ … ]

Scott has distanced himself from the magazine ban during his re-election campaign, saying in one Republican debate that the restriction “wasn’t my idea.”

Scott now says he has no plans to seek a repeal of the magazine ban if he wins re-election.

“I think we’ve had enough of the gun discussion at this point in time,” Scott said.

Ah, I see.  You wanted to get in bed with the controllers.  But you now regret it because you’re afraid you might lose power and don’t really have any scruples at all and believe nothing.  Therefore you regret the decision.  But not enough.

So let’s just forget all about it.

We’ve discussed guns enough.  Bless your heart.  Is that how you think this works?

Via Codrea, this:

Authorities say a baggage handler at Portland International Airport stole six guns from checked luggage.

Court documents filed Friday show that 26-year-old Deshawn A. Kelly was arrested on suspicion of theft, being a felon in possession of a firearm and attempting to tamper with or obliterate the serial number on a firearm.

Remember what I said?

Let’s face it, folks.  Since we are dropping off the luggage and we are picking it up, the only necessity for the luggage to be locked up is what happens behind the wall.  The only good of locking up the gun is theft by airport employees.  We know it, the TSA knows it, and the airlines know it.  It’s the truth.  None of this has anything to do with security.  It’s all about airport theft by airline or airport employees.

Like I said.

Bad Advice:

Bear spray is a great option outdoors. It will deal with any dangerous animal, two-legged or four. It’s what I carry when I go play in Baja, Mexico. (You can’t take a gun across the border.) Combined with my two dogs, I feel that it satisfactorily handles my safety. You don’t really need to aim bear spray—it hangs in the air as a shield even if you miss your target. It also won’t look out of place or scare people if you carry it around.

But bear spray canisters are too large to carry day-to-day, away from outdoor activities. The nonlethal solution my fiancée (who also carries a handgun, for the same reasons I do) uses is a Kimber Pepper Blaster II. Small, slim, and light, it’s easy to carry in a purse or pocket (there are also plenty of holster options) and employs a unique percussion-fired pepper gel design that gives it a couple unique advantages. Pressurized canisters like bear spray can leak if left in a hot car or just due to age, but this nonpressurized design remains inert until fired. Also, the shotgun-like blast of pepper gel isn’t affected as much by wind and can’t blow back on the shooter, making it more foolproof in action. You get two of those blasts, which stain an attacker’s face bright red for later identification and have a range of up to 13 feet. The wide shot pattern also ups your odds of actually hitting your assailant as much as possible during a highly stressful situation.

The thing with a nonlethal option is that you’re able to take action if you feel threatened, but without risking a life. This is hugely empowering: you get the ability to decisively deal with a threat free from the burden of making a life-or-death call.

Yea, don’t listen to this idiot.

It’s simple, yes?  The decision not to engage in life or death decisions – just use bear spray.  It works great!  Except when it doesn’t work.  Dogs are wonderful, and readers know I recommend that everyone have them.  Have many of them.  They are great protection against men, protection against some predators, great companionship, and significant responsibility.

But dogs can’t stop bears, boy.  The author is purveying dangerous advice.  Always carry means of self defense.  God expects and demands it.  For you are made in His image.

Survival Blog:

Back in August, I warned SurvivalBlog readers about an upcoming FCC rules change.  Well, the ban did indeed arrive, on Monday. As of September 24th, 2018, the FCC banned the importation of some quite capable dual band models of inexpensive Baofeng ham radio handie-talkies:

     FCC Enforcement Advisory No. 2018-03

Because of this new FCC “enforcement advisory” ban, I predict that fewer and fewer these particular hand-held ham radios will clear Customs. Then, Amazon and eBay listings for them will soon disappear, probably in just a few weeks. The window of opportunity is closing quickly, folks!  Note that no license is required to buy these radios.

I strongly recommend that SurvivalBlog readers stock up on these dual band radios, NOW, while there are still some available at a reasonable price! Grab a five-pack, or perhaps two five-packs, so that you will have some extras available to trade at a later date.  Remember:  “Buy low, and sell high.”  As I’ve described in detail in the blog before: Bans almost always lead to higher prices!

JWR wrote about this earlier and I’ve been thinking about this.

The Baofeng radios he’s recommending come with baggage.  The real radio guys pan this stuff.  The clubs won’t go within a mile of it, and the scuttlebutt is that if you don’t buy after-market antennas for it, as soon as you walk around the next building you lose signal.  Parts fall off, the radios don’t work for long, etc., etc.

Furthermore, it’s said that you must have your certification to use most of the frequencies on these radios.  Frankly, I don’t know what to think.  I believe it’s important to have at least minimal comms equipment, but I also believe that we don’t all have to be Ham radio operators in order to have this minimal capability.

On the other hand, these are fairly cheap, and getting your certification is said to be easy.  Furthermore, they aren’t going to be available for long.

So here’s a bleg for readers.  How about someone with some comms capabilities (Pat Hines?) weigh in and give us a lengthy assessment of this whole matter?  I’m not thinking about stationary radios.  I’m talking about highly portable comms equipment.

NJ.com:

The U.S. District Court, in a ruling handed down late Friday, said New Jersey’s law doesn’t “prevent ownership of any type of gun and does not restrict the quantity of ammunition a gun owner may possess.” Rather, it “merely restricts the quantity of bullets a magazine may hold.”

The decision continues: “To illustrate, a citizen who owns a gun, 30 rounds of ammunition, and two 15-round magazines prior to the (new law’s) enactment will be permitted to retain his gun, ammunition, and three 10-round magazines.”

Be thankful, peasants.  Love your bondage, ye scum.  You can still have your 30 rounds.  So says the black robes.

And anyone who thinks that the priesthood will be their salvation is a fool.