One of the more aggravating things to have to deal with in the gun trade are the aphorisms that are repeated Ad Nauseum from people coming in to buy, sell, trade, shoot guns. Pithy pronouncements such as: “The pistol is what you use to fight your way back to the rifle/shotgun you left behind” or “If I knew someone was coming to do me harm, then I would carry a rifle/shotgun, rocket launcher, etc”. Seemingly, these nuggets of wisdom are usually uttered by either a morbidly obese individual, who sweats just talking to you or some geeky, socially inept gun store/range rat, both of whom seem to be buying stock in 5.11 Tactical to judge by their sartorial splendor. Irony being lost on much of the gun toting crowd, they can’t seem to appreciate the intent of the axioms to highlight the compromise one has to make in being legally armed without drawing attention. With legal concealed carry being a longtime fact in many states, reality and practicality have worked their cognitive dissonan

    Living as I do in Southern California, there are very few opportunities or places to shoot a rifle. Most ranges will be of the indoor variety and by virtue of that you mostly see pistols and the odd home defense shotgun. To shoot a rifle means taking it out to one of three outdoor ranges that are within reasonable driving distance, that said, once you press the trigger on a rifle and see your shot impact some 200 yards downrange, it’s hard not to get hooked. Sitting down and thinking about it, it’s not very likely that I’m going to reach out to a 1,000 yards because of the restrictions on time, equipment and money. Long range shooting is simply not going to be practical.     I find it odd that a lot of sniper rifles are sold. Just so we are clear, I am not referring to heavy barreled varmint rifles in the various .22 bores typified by calibers like the .220 Swift. .223 Remington or .22-250, but rather synthetic stocked rifles in .308 Winchester, .300 Winchester Magnum, 6.5 Cre

    Living in Southern California for most of my life; I have had more than my share of experiences with natural and man made disasters. Earthquakes, flash floods, forest fires, high tides and riots. It would be a fool who didn’t make some kind of sensible preparations beforehand for most likely scenarios. Experience, brings knowledge and in most cases banishes undue fear. That being said since the start of the Survivalist movement of the 70s, which I think was more an indication of distrust of the government, I have seen an industry built on and driven by people’s fears and ignorance. You will not, I repeat, will not be ready for everything that can occur. Who could have foreseen the speed in which the Rodney King verdict would devolve. Earthquakes come when they come and you will never know their size or strength.     Everybody is getting in on the action. Home Depot, Walmart all have some ready made backpack stuffed with subpar junk that they sell to people who haven’t thought

    Some forty years since the mass migration of the police community from revolvers over to semi-automatics, the wheelgun is still with us. Outside of contract security guards that are mandated by their companies to carry a revolver or some dinosaurs in the law enforcement community who carry it in preference to anything else, the revolver has lost the prominence it once had. Given current developments in technology, tactics, training and practice; it’s a safe bet revolvers aren’t going to unseat semi-automatics.     I like revolvers, having come to them late in my shooting career; I have come to appreciate them not only as a viable tool for defense but also as a statement of values by the person who carries one, which is to say practical and romantic all at once. Running a revolver is akin to driving a standard transmission in a road full of automatics; you can do it, but you need to ask yourself why?  As a tool, a decent semi-automatic pistol has it all over the revolver. The o

         Let me state right off that while this is about reloading, it also isn’t about the mechanics so much as my approach and attitude to the craft. Few topics are as intimidating to a shooter and gun owner as the subject of reloading. Thing is, if you have a few guns and if you shoot on a more or less regular basis, you quickly realize one of the biggest costs associated with shooting is the ammunition. The standard reason given for reloading is one can shoot a lot cheaper than if one bought factory ammunition. For me that hasn’t necessarily been the case. I reload because it gives me the option of shooting more. I like being able to make my own ammo should the need or desire arise. I can tailor the ammunition to a certain task, whether it’s for mild target practice or for more powerful hunting ammunition. To my way of thinking, if you own guns for preparedness reasons and if you don’t have the ability to make your own ammo, you are going to need to stockpile ammunition and that

    In an earlier article I talked about having two pump shotguns fall into my lap for something like $300.00 and was forced to re-think where the defense shotgun fills a niche for me. The Howa 3000 was outfitted as a basic room broom with only very basic concessions made to making the gun more useful as far as a sling and carrying some spare ammo. Let me reiterate that for me the shotgun works best as a short range weapon in defense of a static position. I am not trying to use it as a substitute for a rifle.     This next shotgun is a basic Mossberg 500 that I was lucky enough to get with the short 18 inch barrel right off. For some reason the previous owners had a thing for pistol grips, placing a premium on storage and concealability over being able to hit a target. Having owned Mossberg 500s in the past I have some take off parts. The first order of business was to put a proper stock on it. I cut the stock to fit me and ground the recoil pad it came with to fit, waste not and

    Life is funny. As a lifelong gunwhore; I have had to balance my penchant for acquiring guns with a desire to simplify my life and get rid of things. Earlier I had stated I no longer run shotguns as a part of simplifying logistics when it came to reloading components and as a response to what I term the gunsumerism that wants to separate you from your money. Well, two shotguns dropped into my lap in fairly short order after I wrote those words and my gunwhore side won out. Seriously, how do you turn down two perfectly good pump shotguns for less than $300.00. One I am keeping mostly stock and the second will be outfitted in a manner that is appropriate to the limited role I see for a defense shotgun. In brief I think defense shotguns are at their best in the role of short range defense of a static position and in close quarters. To that end; I think the manual of arms, tactics and techniques should be simple and the weapons themselves light and maneuverable.     The first shotg

    Recently I’ve been given a pen by a colleague who knows I have a thing for them. It is a Tactical pen. Think on the concept for a bit. Okay, time’s up; a tactical pen is an impact device/pain compliance tool disguised as a writing instrument. I like pens, fountain pens and ballpoints, I’m not particularly picky as long as they write smoothly and lay down a good line of ink. I have never seriously had a thought to use them as a weapon. Yes, you see them used in any number of action movies, where they are either a weapon of convenience or last resort. My objection to such things isn’t because they aren’t well made. I was looking over the offerings from such companies as SureFire, CRKT and Benchmade just to name some of the better offerings. My beef with the damn things are this: they are expensive, they play to juvenile fantasies, they are another symptom of “Tactical” mindset that has as one of its hallmarks this strange urge to weaponize everyday objects.     In my search an