http://store.magpul.com/product/MAG233

In a move to enhance safety for responsible citizens, military, and law enforcement alike, Magpul Industries is now shipping the PMAG 40 GEN M3. Several years in the making, the PMAG 40 was delayed while GEN M3 technology was perfected to insure the highest quality product and full compatibility with the USMC M27 IAR. With the same compatibility as the 30-round GEN M3, the PMAG 40 provides 10 more rounds of capacity before requiring a reload—which could be a lifesaving difference. This new “safe capacity” offering is ideally suited for those who may need to respond to multiple threats without extra rifle magazines carried on their person, or for military members looking for an extra margin of safety in high-tempo operations. Just 2 1/8″ longer than the 30-round version, the PMAG 40 is just as reliable, durable, and compatible as the PMAG 30. The optimized magazine spring can handle feeding at cyclic rates over 1150 rounds per minute, so the extra 10 rounds of safety comes with the ability to more than keep up with platforms such as the M249 SAW and the M27 IAR. Designed for and tested in the most demanding environments. Available and suitable for all responsible civilian and military applications.

Available now from select retailers and distributors – they are already on the way to those locations today, with full production underway. Also, to beat the July 1st deadline for ownership in Colorado, a small portion of the first batch of PMAG 40s will be available from the Boulder Airlift Program for direct sale to CO residents, regardless of previous orders. Limit 2 per customer for direct sales.

CO Residents order Here: http://store.magpul.com/product/MAG233-BLK

CO Residents not already registered can sign up for the Airlift here: http://www.magpul.com/colorado.html

While I still love the GI 20 (and look forward to trying out a few Magpul PMag twenties when I can find some), choices are great and I’ll pick up a few of these for no other reason than fuck you, that’s why. But for the AR user who isn’t going looking for trouble and isn’t going to spend hours refining their reload technique or carry additional magazines on their person, a 40 makes 25% more sense than a 30.

And can we take a moment to appreciate what a great company Magpul is? Not only are their products genuinely great, reasonably priced, well constructed and unhesitatingly supported, the organization seems top to bottom populated with shooters dedicated to the right of civilians to keep and bear arms. I’m proud to give them my money.

Protip: You want a gen-u-whine dry fire program that’s guaranteed to improve your shooting and was developed by industry professionals and champion competitors? Here you go! And it’s free!

First up and of immediate importance, NC HB 937, our restaurant carry bill which recently sailed through the House, is coming up to a floor vote this week. But wait, there’s more! Not only will it remove NC’s prohibitions on carrying firearms in restaurants that serve alcohol, as well as sporting events and movie theaters, but the Senate version will also end our Jim Crow era pistol purchase permit system, adds some limited school property carry and new privacy protections for permit holders, and lots of other goodies. Check out SDS for the details.

Needless to say, NC gunbros, let’s get this thing passed. Call and email your state Senator today! GRNC has done a fantastic job rallying the troops on this, please drop them a coin.

Another item of note is a recent announcement by Rockingham County’s economic development board that a “major firearms manufacturer” is scouting the area:

MAYODAN, N.C. — An “industry-leading” firearms manufacturer is considering the Mayodan area for an expansion, officials with the Rockingham County Partnership for Economic & Tourism Development announced Tuesday.

Officials have not disclosed what the company is, but Graham Pervier, president of the RCPETD, said it is not Remington Arms.

Pervier could not say how many jobs would be created as a result of the possible expansion, but he said it is “a substantial number.”

So who could it be? A friend did 5, maybe 10 minutes of exhaustive investigation and has an answer! FWIW, I agree with him.

I do hope to see more companies evacuate inhospitable states and bring their jobs to America. Why is Colt still in CT?

A weekend at gun school isn’t a cheap proposition. Apart from the course fees, there is also ammo, travel, lodging, food, and time off work or leisure time lost. It can be difficult to leave all that behind, especially since the atmosphere of most range weekends creates a lot of peer pressure.

But safety is that important.

A casual, lackadaisical absence of safe gun handling is just as alarming as the attitude of “We’re too tactical for safety!” at Big Boy Rule places. Sloppy doctrine leads to sloppy technique, which leads to sloppy handling, and then disaster strikes.

How many times do we need to reiterate this? The Rules are not conditional. It isn’t okay to waive Rule 2 just because you think the gun is unloaded. It is never okay to point a gun at something you aren’t willing to shoot, and the excuse of “Oh, it’s okay because it’s empty” is setting yourself up for future disaster.

As I’ve said before, safety is always, always, always important, and this goes double if #DEITY forbid, you find yourself in a real fight. Do you think you’ll be able to recover from your gun going off unexpectedly before your opponents are able to take advantage of your confusion?

To demonstrate techniques when good visibility to the students may violate Rule 2, legit instructors will have inert blue guns available. But even then, it is only good manners to check with the students first so that they know what to expect.

In our age of firearms training organizations sprouting up around the country like mushrooms, attention to safety remains the first and best indicator of a quality establishment. If they don’t take safe gun handling seriously, then they don’t deserve your money. It’s as simple as that.

First up is the 2-gun match and needless to say, I’m itching to burn down some targets with AR #1. Even though the match is still 2 weeks away, I’ve been futzing around with my long-dormant ninja gear and seeing if it still works for me.

It’s pretty much the same rig I wore to Carbine Class lo all these years ago, except that I’ve had to add a small strip of webbing in the back because I’m apparently more of a fatso than I was back then. It’s a Tactical Tailor 2 piece MAV with the optional X-harness, with 2 3-cell Condor (bletch, but I haven’t broken one yet) 30 round magazine pouches. I also added a pair of G17 mag pouches on the left side because I had them on hand.

Holding my G17 is the previously review’d Safariland 6378 on a 5.11 Instructor’s belt and a Blade-Tech double magazine pouch.

No, the match never requires this much ammunition. So why carry so much? Because I can.

Dry manipulations at home have worked out well with my rifle. I was concerned about the giant donkey dingus of a QD knob on the Aimpoint mount poking me in the chest or getting hung up on things, but the rifle dangles from the sling without getting hung up on me or my gear.

I know I’ve harped on this in the past, but if you’re combining a traditional belt holster with some kind of chest harness, please make sure you can draw and reholster your pistol safely with your ninja rig in place. I like the MAV a lot because it’s cut high enough to avoid any interference. If I was going to buy all new gear from scratch, I’d probably order up something like a FirstSpear SIC, a BFG Ten Speed or a PIG UCR and be done with it. They’re all under $100 and come set up with some mag pouches out of the box. I’m also intrigued by the grab-n-go goodness of the Battle Belt concept, recognizing that they’re probably not as comfy for an all day thing like something that hangs off your shoulders.

Due to a killer sale around Christmas time by London Bridge Trading, I am finally able to realize my dream of one-bagging it to the match. My LBT “Warfighter Load Out Bag” can not only hold my AR, my vest, my belt and pistol gear, but a bunch of magazines, spare ammo in boxes, and my entire range bag (with eye and ear pro, parts, tools, lube, range badges, chamber flags, staple gun, sharpie, pens, paper, etc) and a cooler with some water. The drawback to putting as much stuff into this bag as it can hold, is that it’s barely moveable and I wish the damn thing had wheels. I might have to compromise and put my loaded mags and ammo in a different bag to make it more manageable, but it’s still simplified compared to my first match, which required three trips to the car (I’ve since given up on shooting two rifles).

Anyway, check out your local gun forums or shops and see what’s shaking in your area. Brand new, virginal gear looks dumb, get off the couch and get it dirty.

[update! If you too want to get your mall ninja on, Tactical Tailor is having a 50% off sale on everything in ACU camo pattern! It's a screaming deal if you don't mind the colors.]

It’s more difficult to judge an operation on doctrine and instructional quality from a distance, which is why I try to only highly recommend people I’ve actually taken a class from. I have a short list of people that I’d like to train with, but I can’t recommend them unhesitatingly to others until I’ve actually been. But looking at the recurring themes and language of an organization, you can make certain judgements, especially if they publish instructional books or videos.

And from his own materials, I can judge that Rob Pincus and his “Combat Focused Shooting” is a bullshit scam. Pincus is very good at marketing and self-promotion. He is the Zig Ziglar or Tony Robbins of firearms instruction, people pay him money not because he tells them what they need to hear to become better shooters, but because he tells them what they want to hear to justify not working on their skills.

The CFS doctrine is carefully constructed to avoid any and all repeatable, objective measurement of performance or improvement while hiding behind the unassailable rhetoric of real world relevance. Things like shot timers and participating in competitions are denigrated as gamer nonsense that will get you killed “on the street”. It all has the air of the strip mall dojo where the wheezy fat sensei never demonstrates or spars, but still manages to surround himself with sycophants by occasionally intoning something that sounds like wisdom.

Of course this sells! Becoming a better shooter is hard. It requires discipline, work and time, and at least some physical fitness, none of which are popular concepts in our Rent-A-Center world of instant gratification and needy affirmation. CFS panders to this with the concept that your practiced skills will vanish in a gunfight (or Critical Dynamic Incident(tm), nothing says legit like runaway buzzwords), so don’t even bother developing them or practicing.

Much like we’ve discussed previously with the recurring infection of point shooting, firearms training is not valuable because it’s a rote rehearsal of a gunfight, but because it’s building the foundation of skills required to prevail. Is there silliness going on in pistol competition? Sure, subjective yet mandatory use of cover and prophylactic reloading when threats are still visible are two of my personal irritants. Regular organized competition is the hands-down best way to build competence in the areas of gun handling, marksmanship and ammunition management. Most people can’t afford to take a high intensity, high round count class often enough to maintain competence, and pistol shooting is a highly perishable skill. Regular competition is the best, most economical way to hone your skills under pressure, and people who denigrate it for financial gain are the worst kinds of scum.

Rob Pincus and CFS is emblematic of what’s wrong with firearms instruction in America today, but sadly I don’t see them going out of business any time soon. Needless to say, I cannot un-recommend them enough. If you are interested in becoming a better shooter, CFS cannot help you. And oddly enough, they proudly admit it.

But as Erin Palette unhappily discovered with the scam artists at R-Guns, there’s another problem. Businesses that ship low-grade parts also tend to have low-grade business practices! This mirrors my experience with Palmetto State Armory. I placed an order for two uppers before the panic, but neglected to notice PSA’s warning that a 10% restocking fee applies to all returns and cancellations! That should have been a clue.

PSA charged my card immediately, then six weeks passed with no email, no replies to emails, or contact as to when to expect my parts. I called their 800 number a few times, but nobody picked up. Then I sent a final email at 9AM demanding that they ship my order or I’d initiate a chargeback. My uppers shipped at 5PM that evening.

I suppose the good news is that I got my uppers. The bad news is that I got PSA uppers, and while they have a reputation for very good barrels by FN, and the gas system was correctly pinned and aligned, I have zero expectation of any customer support should something go wrong, and they have considerably less resale value than uppers from a legit manufacturer.

I really should have spent the extra dough and gotten Bravo Company uppers like I had intended to. The $300 I saved seems fairly paltry now. I ordered my bolt carrier groups from BCM post election, and not only did they ship the same day and were in my greedy hands a weekend later, they also threw in a bunch of awesome stickers, catalogs and other goodies. If you browse BCM’s retail site, you will notice that many things are out of stock. But the items that are listed as in stock are actually in stock! and will ship immediately. This is the difference between buying on price or buying on what you get, and I wish i didn’t have to keep relearning this lesson. I blame my Swedish ancestors.

And it wouldn’t be an AR post without an AR picture, so here’s an updated pic of AR-dos wearing it’s new Magpul MOE fixed stock and a straight GI 20. I do have a Blackhawk! buttstock magazine pouch for it, but right now I’m enjoying the lightness.

SayUncle Says:
May 7th, 2013 at 9:28 pm

Well, MS paint your own damn memes! :)

Kind regards to Imgflip.

Okay, so I’m hitting high, but I was using a dead center hold and I presume the sights are regulated to make the most out of the .30 WCF’s trajectory. While a decent group for standing, what this picture doesn’t capture is the way in which the ’94 produces this group. It practically levitates up to your shoulder. Your cheek falls naturally to the stock. The sights are already on target. The trigger is short and light. The lever smoothly pulls the spent shell out and over your shoulder without drama, and chambers the new round without resistance. Recoil is a pleasant thump, just enough to let you know something happened.

It’s obvious from examining the 1894 that its designer was a once in a generation genius (I could watch the little locking block go up and down all day), but shooting it makes it clear that Browning (pbuh) was a genius who shot and understood shooting, and how to make firearms friendlier to use. Like Col Cooper kept trying to tell us about, it’s not the numbers on the spec sheet that matter, but how the features add up and work together, and that’s not something you can understand any other way than via direct experience.

Does this mean that I could give up modern rifles for the 1894? Well, no. In particular, the 1894′s stock sights are tiny and dim, and only usable in direct sunlight on light targets. The low sight height over the barrel means that only a few rounds in quick succession produces enough heat mirage to distort the view of the target. More than a box of ammunition in rapid fire will heat the barrel up to where a cookoff is possible. So my ARs are in no danger of being displaced for general emergencies, but if I had to carry a carbine all day in poor terrain and had to prepare for shooting fewer things fewer times, I’d have to stop and think about it. 6 and a quarter pounds is a lot less than 10.

So adding to my seemingly never-decreasing list of Gun Projects I have on the boil, I put in a back order for some .30-30 reloading dies, and started hunting around for some cast lead bullets and suitable powder to reload my newly empty cases. The irony of finishing up a pair of cutting-edge defensive carbines and then pivoting to work on a hundred year old lever-action gun is not lost on me.

Somewhat related, after our last car was t-boned into scrap by an inattentive driver, we replaced it with a 2004 Chevrolet Impala, my dreams of a BMW or Subaru wagon with a stick-shift dashed by fiscal limitations. The Impaler pretty much maxed out the “big” vs “cheap” chart and though I initially resented selecting a “Grandpa” car, it grew on me. Fast. It’s huge on the inside. We managed to pick one with the 3800 V6 instead of the asthmatic 3.4L, so it’s fast enough. Parts are cheap and available in a way that only fleet-service ubiquity can bring, and after we got the infamous intake gasket problem licked, it’s been reliable. It’s a marvelously comfy ride that devours thousand mile days, with both kids and all our junk in the trunk without discomfort. It’s one of the best cars I’ve ever owned, yet it seems like just yesterday I was making fun of Geezers for buying them.

On a further tangent, late last year I was nursing the last of my Gillette Super Xtreme Umpteen Blade razor cartridges along while I googled around for a cheaper alternative. After unexpectedly reading this entire 32 page long thread at pistol-forum.com on the intricacies of straight and double-edged safety razor shaving, my initial reaction was “Y’all are a bunch of faggots”. But being out of options and curious, I won an Ebay bid on a 1975 Gillette 2-tone handle and bought a bunch of blades and puck soaps from these guys. And wouldn’t you know, once I had gotten over the initial learning curve (do NOT choose the Japanese Feather blades as your first blades), I was getting the best shaves I’d ever had for less than what I would have paid for my next pack of gimmick blades, while shaving like my Grandfathers had.

So what other secrets are our elders hiding from us? What truths have they understood all these years that we’ve rejected out of hand? Should I go ahead and get sized for my Members Only jacket?

…what will I think of my Glocks when my 1911 finally comes home?

D: