Some bad, some good.  A mixed bag.  It takes time, especially when dealing with people who have been taught that they are God.

Eventually, most of the current gun control laws will go down in flames except for the NFA.

I was just looking at lever action rifle optics tonight.  Scopes are just expensive, almost no matter what type, brand or power.  For lever action guns I’m looking towards the low power end of things (1X4, 1X9, etc.).

However, I confess I had never heard of the 7-30 Waters before.  I’ll be darned if you can find them anywhere (the guns, that is).  I’d certainly be interested given the ballistics of the cartridge.

He has a nice lever action rifle collection.  He’s obviously spent some time and money on that collection.

Unlikely buddies.

He says, “What is that?”

Hey, that’s good fishing Eagle!

Dang that bear is big!

These look like fun family handgun exercises or for an Independence Day cookout with friends. These drills are functionally important, and a challenge with other shooters is an opportunity to sharpen your skills.

Have you been to the range in a while? If you have, did you do any fun drills or did you just stare at a paper target and dump ammo downrange? A lot of us don’t go to the range as much as we should because life just gets in the way. Work and other activities make it hard to find time, but the cost of ammo is also a contributing factor.

I remember buying ammo by the case and shooting until there were blisters on my finger. But that was back in the day when ammo was about the same cost as candy. Now, ammo is equivalent to little gold coins that make you cringe every time you pull the trigger. I recently sighted a hunting rifle and every time I fired the gun it cost me $1.50. That adds up quickly when you’re not paying attention and get the trigger jitters.

But the good news is there are plenty of fun drills you can do that don’t burn through gobs of ammo. Getting some quality training, having fun, and not spending all your money sounds too good to be true, right? It’s not. You just need to spend a little more time setting up the range for various drills. Drills and exercises on the range are designed to improve specific skills. This could be accuracy, weapon control, speed, or a mixture of them all. And the good thing is most of them do not require a ton of ammo. Let’s look at some fun drills you could be doing this summer.

Mag Change Drills are discussed along with transition drills, but what he calls the Big-Little Drill can be important. It’s good to train your mind in a few things when shooting targets of various sizes and distances. One aspect of handgun shooting distance is to train your mind that the target is just smaller, not further away. The distance challenge can change the mind’s perspective on handgun shooting and cause less accuracy than simply viewing it as a smaller target at the same range. Also, our perception of a threat not standing squarely to us, presenting a quarter turn or only their side, can change our perception of how to hit the target when we can simply view it as slimmer; center mass is center mass. Those are some mental things to consider for practice; it may help.

Here’s the Big-Little Drill, you can always improvise or modify targets as resources dictate:

I have no idea if this is a real drill or if my drill instructor in the police academy made it up, but it’s fun. For this drill, you can use metal targets or random bottles and other items laying around asking to be shot at. This is an accuracy drill, so you start out with the largest item on the left and move to the smallest on the right.

Mixing the sizes up or shooting from the outside in or inside out for subsequent rounds is a good idea.

I set mine up at 25 yards to make it more fun. I normally use a pop bottle or milk jug followed by a 16oz bottle or something comparable. Next a pop can and then a shotgun shell for the smallest item. If you want to add more items in there, go ahead. The idea is to start with the biggest item and move to the smallest. This drill will also work with rifles, you just set it up further out.

I have metal targets in different sizes, but there is something more satisfying about watching the bottles fly through the air when you hit them. I like to run this drill with my lever action rifle at 50 yards and 75 with my AR-15. One of my old instructors would use the drill at the end of the day so we could shoot at the bottles and cans from our lunch break. Golf balls are also fun to shoot at if you want a really small target.

Check out his other drills at the link, and remember, gun time is a fun time.

I don’t think it should be hard at all – just be honest, tell the truth, and be true to your oath.  Be prepared to find another job if you need to.  It’s better to bag groceries or load trucks at Lowe’s than to answer to God for malfeasance.  But here is his story.

It was 2007 and I was assisting a call with an officer I’d never met before. He was from another team working overtime. Right in front of me he broke a kids nose with a punch. The septum was clearly deviated and blood was everywhere. The kid was handcuffed and the officer enquired of me “what should ‘we’ arrest him for?” “What did he do?” I enquired. “He called me a name.” he said. After 20 mins of him trying to persuade me we should fabricate a crime he had to let the kid go. “We need o do notes, get our story straight” he then told me. I don’t need assistance in writing what happened. I found a quiet place and wrote the facts. As I wrote I was joined by a female A/Sgt who knew this officer. She spent 20 mins trying to convince me this kid was a “shitbag” & my notes should ‘reflect the danger he posed’. I was disgusted. We don’t behave this way.

Read the rest of the thread here.

Oh, but you do indeed behave that way.  This is a Canadian cop and he has all the proof in court documents, but it’s the same in the U.S.

As for all of those “constitutional Sheriffs and Deputies,” it’s important to know where they really stand.  Here is a good analysis of what likely really happened at that gun store in Montana.

Guess what?  The Great Falls, Montana, PD provided perimeter security for the IRS and ATF [5:48 in the video].

There you have it.  Even in Montana, the cops have been corrupted.  The Great Falls PD should have arrested the IRS and ATF agents when they showed up in the city limits.

First: Saving Our School Children from Tennessee Politicians

Tennessee politicians left our students defenseless, and we have to save them. A celebrity-seeking mass murderer killed students in a Nashville private school. That should be a wakeup call that the Republican controlled legislature and Governor have failed us again. We need angry parents to change the status quo and save our kids. As grim as this sounds, there is plenty of good news. We also know how to reduce and to prevent mass murder in our schools. Tennessee parents have been ignored for too long.

[…]

More parents want their children protected at school than want them unprotected. You might think that volunteer defenders at school are rare, but you would be wonderfully wrong. It surprised me too, but we found a higher fraction of teachers who were willing to be armed first responders than the fraction of people who carry concealed in public. (18 percent of teachers vs. 8.0 percent of the general public).

Much more at the link.

Next: (A poll) Tennesseans Want Dangerous People Removed from Community Instead of More Gun Laws

According to a poll published by co/efficient, most Tennesseans would prefer that dangerous people are removed from society rather than removing guns from the hands of potentially dangerous people.

“In the poll, Tennessee voters dramatically retreat from their soft support of proposed Red Flag Laws and do not see this as the solution to their safety concerns when informed that Red Flag Laws merely take guns away from dangerous individuals but do nothing to prevent them from causing harm by some other means. Red Flag Law support erodes even further when informed that there are existing laws to take threatening individuals out of the community right now,” the poll said. “Tennesseans largely support recently passed legislation that puts police officers in schools and believe enforcing the current laws on the books is an effective solution to keeping their families, communities, and state safe.”

Polls can be made to mean anything, but more is at the link.

Cornered Cat:

Words mean things. For example, the word “training” does not mean the same thing as the word “education.” In the same way, the word “practice” does not mean the same thing as “training”, and neither one is the same as “testing.”

Education, training, practice, and testing are all needed for robust physical skills development. But none of these words means the same thing as any other.

The word “training”, in particular, has so often been abused by shooters that it has all but lost its actual meaning. This is too bad, as it expresses a really important concept.

What is “training”?

Let’s look at the word’s meaning in other domains:

Driver education happens in a classroom. It is followed by driver training. Driver training happens on the road, with a teacher watching carefully from the passenger seat as you perform the skills you discussed in class.

College education also happens in classrooms. It is often followed by on-the-job training, which is supposed to involve a qualified other showing you the practical realities of doing the job you studied in school. The observer should look at the work you do and give you feedback on how you are performing the skills the job requires you to perform.

Proper definitions are always important; in them are the details of learning. The article covers training, practice, and testing. Read it all.

Prior, on ticks and Lyme disease.

Summer is here, and with it, four-legged critters, but they aren’t the only things in the woods that can harm you. The thing about snakes is they can be just about anywhere when it’s warm.

Important factoid: Most snake bites are strikes to the hand; check the area before working or grabbing things.

Source:

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am a medical toxicologist and emergency physician at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. I have treated 600+ snakebites and direct one of the busiest snakebite services in the U.S.

I also love snakes and consider myself a member of the herpetology community. And I want to help prevent any bad outcomes (for both humans and snakes) if a snake-human interaction goes awry.

I hate snakes, especially Cotton Mouth Moccasins which can range widely in color and markings.

These are the recommendations for pre-hospital treatment. I will have a different post dealing with hospital management.

Found at the link: Snakebite Management (in hospital) – Pit Vipers.

If you get bitten by a snake you suspect is (or may be) venomous:

1. Get away from the snake. No need to hurt the snake just because you’re angry, and you don’t want to incur additional injury.

 

2. If you (or someone else) can safely and quickly get a picture of the snake, great, but don’t waste time or risk a second envenomation. Ultimately, pit viper (rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths/water moccasins) envenomations are diagnosed clinically. As are coral snake bites, but most people can identify those. Just pray you have a doctor who knows what he or she is doing (see below)

If you can take a picture, you can shoot it first. Just sayin’. Pro tip: birdshot in .410 for a handgun. Outdoor Life lists several options with pros and cons for each. It may be illegal to kill snakes in your area; 3S treatments may apply.

3. Remove constrictive clothing and jewelry

4. Position the affected extremity appropriately. This is a little controversial, but some things are clear. For pit viper bites (which account for > 95% of the venomous snakebites in the U.S.), DO NOT PLACE BELOW HEART LEVEL. Almost all pit viper bites cause local tissue injury, and placing the affected extremity below heart level will cause the venom to collect in the extremity and will increase the hydrostatic pressures in the extremity. This will increase the potential damage to lymphatic vessels and increase the likelihood of some degree of permanent injury, such as post-exertional swelling. For copperhead and cottonmouth bites, in which local tissue is highly likely but the likelihood of systemic toxicity is low, I recommend placing the affected extremity ABOVE HEART LEVEL. In rattlesnake bites, it is reasonable to keep the affected extremity AT HEART LEVEL.These variations are for pre-hospital management. Once in the hospital, the affected extremity should always be elevated. This is emphasized in the unified treatment algorithm.

5. Get to an appropriate hospital. If you are having life-threatening signs and symptoms (e.g. airway issues, low blood pressure) get to the closest hospital for stabilization. They can then transfer you if needed to an expert. Otherwise, proceed directly to a hospital with a snakebite expert. If you interact with snakes a lot or are outside in snake-endemic areas, you should investigate your regional hospitals to locate one or more specialists. I can help you with this. It’s a pretty small community.

6. Avoid dangerous and/or stupid interventions:

• DO NOT cut and suck. All this does is make a wound worse and potentially introduces bacteria into the wound

1. • DO NOT apply a tourniquet. There is no benefit in cutting off an extremity’s arterial blood supply unless the patient is bleeding to death.
   • DO NOT apply any sort of constriction band or pressure immobilization for pit vipers. For the same reason that we do not place the affected extremity below heart level. The American College of Medical Toxicology has a position statement on this.
   • Pressure immobilization IS reasonable for coral snake bites.
   • DO NOT use electrical shock treatment. It does not “neutralize the venom” or whatever nonsense advocates claim. But it is a good way to cause permanent injury.
   • DO NOT apply heat.
   • DO NOT apply PROLONGED icepacks. A few minutes at a time is okay (say, 5 minutes on, 10 minutes off) but prolonged cryotherapy is bad for the tissue.

7. DO NOT use one of those commercially-available suctions devices. They don’t remove venom. They just suck. See the best-titled editorial ever here.Do not bring the snake to the hospital. A dead snake can still envenomate you, and I hate when people kill snakes. And as much as I like snakes, I do acknowledge it becomes a logistical difficulty when someone brings a live snake to the ED. And, as I said before, we don’t need to see the snake to provide appropriate treatment.

I love when people kill snakes.

Here is his recently published paper.  If you don’t want to read it and want the dime summary, here is his discussion.  BLUF: Semiautomatic firearms, including Ar-15s, cannot be banned under the constitution.

While I have carried a .44 magnum before, I’ve advocated use of the .45 handgun all along for big predator defense.  But not just shooting any ammunition.  First, watch this video by Chuke’s Outdoor Adventures, where he advocates use of the HK USP 45 because it can handle 45 Super, then I’ll comment on the .45 Super versus the 450 SMC.

Just to make sure what I’m telling is correct, I’ll check one of several boxes of 450 SMC I’ve got.  Yep, checking the box of Double Tap ammo, it says 230 grains, 1130 FPS (5″ barrel).  I shoot it with a 1911, but with a 22# spring rather than the customary 16# or 18# spring.

Here is the magic.

In the late 1980s, gunwriter Dean Grennell took .451 Detonics Mag. brass and trimmed it to the same overall length as the .45 ACP cartridge case, thus creating the .45 Super. Grennell wrote an article for the February 1988 issue of Gun World Magazine, discussing his new version of the .45 ACP, which was capable of pushing a 185-grain bullet to 1,300 fps. In the August 1988 issue of Gun World Magazine, a second article about the .45 Super—written by Tom Ferguson—appeared. Ferguson was interested in Grennell’s concept cartridge, but he wanted to take things a step further. He took a handful of .451 Detonics Mag. brass and a 1911 pistol to Ace Hindman of Ace Custom 45s. Hindman came up with the idea of heavier springs in the 1911 to make it more suited to the higher-pressure cartridge.

In 1994, Fernando Coelho—owner of Triton Cartridge—reached out to Garey Hindman, Ace’s son, who was still converting 1911s and even some Smith & Wesson Model 4506 pistols to accommodate the.45 Super. The problem with the cartridge was a lack of suitable brass. Coelho had recently started Triton Cartridge and felt that with his background in load development, coupled with actual in-house pressure testing, he would be able to come up with reliable, factory-loaded, .45 Super ammunition. A deal was struck and Coelho reached out to Starline Brass to get the ball rolling. The folks at Starline worked with Coelho to establish correct internal case-wall dimensions, web-area thickness and overall hardness of the cartridge case.

But, just like the .300 BLK found fame because of its name, the.45 Super—as a commercial cartridge—was doomed because of what it was called. You see, when Ace Hindman passed away, his son trademarked “.45 Super.” When Triton made factory-loaded .45 Super ammo, Garey Hindman would get a royalty, which was something a bit unusual in the ammunition business. Because of this, no major firearm or ammunition manufacturer would offer .45 Super guns or ammunition. There was also the concern that a shooter might load and fire .45 Super ammo in a vintage .45 ACP revolver or an old 1911 and get an unpleasant surprise.

All this led to the birth of the .450 SMC. Coelho was fed up with the inherent issues of the .45 ACP/.45 Super cartridge case and the damage being done to the potential growth of the .45 Super. One of the case problems was primer flow; you could experiment with different brands of primers and powder, but most of the time primers would flow back around the tip of the firing pin. The solution: switch to a small-primer pocket and utilize a small-rifle primer. Coelho reached out to Starline again, asking the company to make .45 Super brass with a small-primer pocket. That solved the primer-flow problem and Triton Cartridge soon began offering factory-loaded .450 SMC ammunition. It was loaded to a maximum average pressure (MAP) of 32,000 psi, which is slightly higher than .45 Super pressures, but still less than the 37,500 psi pressure of the 10 mm. The new name—.450 SMC—solved the trade-mark problem, and Triton had two loads: a 165-grain bullet at 1,450 fps and a 230-grain bullet at 1,150 fps.

When Triton went out of business in 2003, it looked like the .450 SMC was doomed. But, another new ammunition company stepped up to offer one of the most potent and practical magnum-category, .45-caliber, defensive-handgun cartridges ever created. Mike McNett of DoubleTap Ammunition recognized the usefulness of the .450 SMC and his Cedar City, UT-based company now offers six .450 SMC loads.

Comparatively speaking, the hottest factory 185-grain .45 ACP load you can buy will generate only about 1,140 fps, and the fastest 230-grain offering only about 1,000 fps. Essentially, what you get with the .450 SMC are 10 mm velocities with a .45-caliber instead of a .40-caliber bullet.

Of course, since no one is manufacturing .450 SMC handguns, what you’re probably wondering is what you have to do to shoot .450 SMC in your .45 ACP. Well, a .450 SMC cartridge can be fired in any .45 ACP handgun. However—and this is a big however—it should only be fired in full-size .45 ACP handguns that have a +P rating. (A 20- to 22-pound recoil spring in your favorite 5-inch 1911, or a 21- to 23-pound spring in a Glock.)

Given the primer problems with the 45 Super, the 450 SMC is the clear winner in this contest.

As I’ve told the 10mm guys before, you can shoot your smaller bullets at over 1100 FPS, or you can shoot 230 grain bullets at over 1100 FPS.  Take your pick.

As for the HK pistol, the advantage would be that its magazine is double-stack and holds 12 rounds.  The 1911 I shoot holds 8 rounds.  Here is the upshot of the 1911 design – with a Wilson Combat or Chip Mccormick Speed Mag, you can increase the magazine capacity to 10 rounds.  The downside is that you have to get used to the bit of additional interference with the extended magazine.

The downside of the large bore revolver cartridges such as the .44 magnum is that the punch from a short barrel handgun (I consider 5″ to be short) is rather painful, especially when using something like Buffalo Bore loads.  Pain when defending your life is irrelevant, but it’s not irrelevant on the practice range.

In any case, I consider 450 SMC to be a legitimate big predator defense round.  If you want to use the HK or a Glock pistol for that purpose, that’s user preference.