Other People's Money - revisited

As you may have read before, all my guns have been bought with other people's money - bonuses, stock options, awards, and the like.

The company I work for has offered an end of year bonus, if we meet certain goals, which we are on target to achieve. If my performance matches last years, I will make enough in bonus to build a new AR-15. That's my goal.

But I was thinking this through the other day, and I realize, as I've said before, that adding a new gun like an AR-15 means adding a new caliber of ammo for me to buy.

So, I've decided to amend this goal. I decided to take the bonus and make my first foray into the world of reloading. Then, if I have enough left over, I'll build the AR. At worst, the AR will be my next project after that.

I've never been a great one for deferred gratification, but what's working for me is the economic analysis. It's sweet that I can shoot for half the price by reloading. And, if I buy the reloading equipment using other people's money, it's even sweeter.

Movie Rule of Thumb 4: Never Take Your Shoes Off At a Christmas Party, or When There Are Terrorists in the Building

Source: Die Hard, my favorite Christmas movie.


WARNING: Harsh language!



Lesson: it’s never really okay to let your guard down. I covered this once before in my post about awareness. Always maintain a state of alertness, whether things seem normal or not.

Always be alert. Always be in Condition Yellow. Can we ever relax, then? Yes, but with caution and alertness.

In the movie Die Hard. New York police detective John McClain, played by Bruce Willis, goes to California to visit his wife for the holidays. He arrives at her office during the Christmas party. Someone he meets along the way gives him some advice on how to relax after a long trip - take off your shoes and scrunch your toes in the carpet. John does this in his wife's office, and it seems to help. But just then, a group of terrorists take over the building. Now John has to fight a building full of terrorists in his bare feet. Mayhem ensues.

Now, if John McClain had kept his shoes in his hand, ready to put back on, things would be have gone differently. Not for the bad guys, but for certainly for John.

The Rule started out as “Never take your shoes off when there are terrorists in the building.” But this implies that we can know when there are terrorists in the building, or a mugger around the corner. So I added the innocent phrase “at a Christmas party.”

Yippee ki yay, Mister Falcon.

Upside, Downside

Part of the benefits of being a member of the GSSF and attending matches is the factory armorers are there. They will check out your Glocks and replace any parts that are worn. Now, even though I'm a trained and certified Armorer, I like to have my guns looked over at least once a year by the pros. An upside is that the factory guys are not very reluctant to change parts, so your Glocks always stay factory fresh.

So, after checking out all three Glocks, the only thing they did was replace the trigger bar on my G17. I had noticed some scratches on the top of the cross piece, and I guess he thought it was enough to warrant replacement. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.

Then, when time came to put the slide back together, I noticed he also replaced the rear cover plate. I think it was because he had misplaced the original. I was sad. This was an original piece from 1992. Now I am left with the frame, the slide, and the barrel.

Now, as a downside, this meant that part of my cleaning routine on Sunday was a 5 cent trigger job, just an abbreviated version of the 25 cent trigger job. All I had to do was polish the new trigger bar.

I dry fired a bunch since then and I can't tell much difference. That's an upside.

Glock Annual Shoot 2011

R. Lee Ermey and Travis Tritt pose with the GSSF MatchMeisters prior to the Gunny Challenge. Note the orange "Guns Save Lives" button from GeorgiaCarry.org that the Gunny is wearing.


This past weekend the Glock Annual Shoot XVIII was held at the South River Gun Club in Conyers, Georgia. This is the culminating match for the Glock Sports Shooting Foundation, or GSSF, and, as in previous years, it certainly lived up to its billing.

The match consisted of the normal GSSF match I've written about before, plus the Gunny Challenge VII. The Gunny Challenge, named for Glock's celebrity spokesman R. Lee Ermey, is a special match pitting the winners of GSSF matches around the country against each other, vying for a first prize of $5,000.

The Gunny Challenge was won, for the second year in a row, by Butch Barton. Bryan Dover took second, followed by 2009's winner Dennis Kirchoff, and David Knight in 4th.

Here's the finals, from my Youtube channel:



Here's Butch receiving the Gunny Trophy:

After the Gunny Challenge came a special head to head match between the Gunny and country music star Travis Tritt. Gunny won, 5 - 0.

The Gunny squeezes of a shot from the Gen4 G35, with GSSF Director Chris Edwards acting as RO.

Of course, all this was a side show to the real attraction, the Glock Annual Shoot. This event has grown just about every year, and this year there were 1,025 entries in the various categories. This made it the largest action pistol match in history, breaking the old record of 744 entries, set last year by the Glock Annual Shoot XVII.

Fortunately, there weren't 1,025 people there, since the rules allow shooters to enter multiple categories. But it was definitely a crowded venue.

I shot on Saturday, arriving at the range about 10:30 AM. Already, the bays were crowded, so once I signed in and received my stickers, I signed up for what looked like the 3 least crowded bays. Not that it mattered - I still had to wait about an hour at each one.

My shooting was okay. I shot Glock the Plates first, leaving no plates, with times in the mid 7's. Not really fast, but I was determined not to leave any plates. Missed plates carry a 10 second penalty.

Glock M

My second stage was Glock M, and I shot it with times in the 8's. Again I had no misses, and was only 4 shots down, meaning I had only 4 shots out of the A-B main scoring range. All those shots were on the farther targets, which I should have taken as foreshadowing.

By then, the Gunny Challenge was getting close, so I had lunch and watched the match. I also shot video of the Gunny Challenge, and I've posted the finals on my Youtube channel, along with video of two of the stages, Glock M and Glock the Plates. No, those are not me shooting. Next year I'll bring a tripod.

After the Gunny Challenge, I took advantage of the lull in the action and shot the 5 to Glock as soon as I could. I shot in the 7's, but I missed 4 targets, all on the farthest one. Looking back, I realize I should have gone to a safe area and dry fired a little while to get back the trigger feel.

All in all my score, with penalties, was 160 and change, which is a little worse than I shot at Dawsonville earlier in the year. Oh, well.

+++

One thing was missing from this year's Glock Annual Shoot - the Glock shooting team. Usually, they have been on hand with product demonstrations, autographs, and just plain shooting fun. But with the recent departure of Dave Sevigny, the remaining Team members Randi Rogers and Tori Nonaka were not in attendance. Hopefully next year we will see them again, maybe with a new team member.

Because of the GSSF rules which award random prizes based on the number of entries, there will be 41 Glocks awarded. Maybe I'll win one - I did in 2009, that's where Liberty, my G19, came from!

One more thing - I heard that the last 26 entries had to have their paperwork filled out buy hand, because the staff found out their software didn't support over 999 entries. I'm sure they'll have that software problem worked out by next year. But it's a nice problem to have.

Shooter Ready?

I've been spending the week preparing for the biggest GSSF match of the year, the Glock Annual Shoot at the South River Gun Club in Conyers, Georgia, this weekend. My prep has been a little more focused this year.

I did a deep clean of my G17 last weekend, and cleaned and inspected all my magazines. I have enough magazines to shoot the whole match without reloading now, so that will make my day easier.

I have been doing the Wall Drill for ten minutes every evening, and I can only trust that this has helped. It sure seems like the front sight is a lot more stable than when I started.

Yesterday, I went to the range at lunch, and shot my 100 round GSSF practice routine:

Using a 1/3 scale NRA D-1 target from GlockFAQ:

From the ready position, I come up and shoot one round into the A or B ring. Repeat for a 16 round magazine.

From ready, come up and shoot 2 rounds into the A or B ring. Do this for 2 16 round magazines.

From ready, come up and shoot 2 rounds into the A or B ring, then transition to a second target and shoot 2 rounds. Repeat 3 times.

From ready, shoot 2, transition, shoot 2, and continue to transition until the magazine is empty.

I was careful to use good form with follow-up, as I learned at my training with Tom Givens.

I also shot my Buck Mark a bunch. The work I did last weekend paid off. I kept the targets, but the first photos I took didn't come out well. From 7 yards, shooting 1 round a second, I was able to shoot a ragged hole. At 10 yeards, I shot 20 rounds as fast as I could, and all 20 were in a 3 inch circle.

I also had zero failures to extract, which had been a source of annoyance for us at the range the last time we went. Part of the work I had done involved removing the extractor, cleaning it well, and polishing it with the Dremel buffing wheel.

On thing I noticed was the Browning extractor had sharp edges all around, unlike the factory Ruger extractor on my 10/22. I assume Browning's manufacturing process involves cutting instead of stamping. In any case, the extractor was very nice, especially once I smoothed it up with the buffer.


I plan to shoot Saturday at Conyers, in the morning. If any of you plan to be there, email me and we'll get together.

Otherwise, look for some video on my Youtube channel, probably Sunday evening.

Half Way Around From Where I Started

Six months ago today I got a wild hair, and clicked on a link on the top of someone’s gun blog, and started my own. That was as easy as it got.

Picking a name was no problem. I’ve been using Fill Yer Hands for 4 years or so on the various gun forums. I just fleshed it out.

Lots of people have encouraged me and given me pointers and ideas. Thank you to all.

For those of you interested in these things (JP), my most visited pages are my ammo reviews. Not surprisingly, “usa ammo review” is the number one Google term that’s gotten people here.

I’m having a ball at this. I hope you've gotten something out of this too. Thank you everyone!

More on Common Sense

Linoge at walls of the city also visited the recent FBI Crime Report, that I wrote about before. However, he crunches the numbers into graphs, which, being a graphical person, I really liked.

When he started talking r factors, I got downright hot.

Linoge said we could link to his graphs and data, but it might be better for you to read it in his words. Take a look.

The Wall Drill, a video

My Quest for C Class


In a recent post I talked about the Wall Drill. I've been doing these fairly regularly for about 4 weeks now, and I have found my performance is improving. The sights hardly move at all as I break the trigger.

I was surfing the instructional videos on the interwebz, and I came a cross a really good video on the Wall Drill, presented by its inventor, MSG George Harris of the US Army Reserve, who is also Director of the SIG Academy. It really helped to see it in action.

Common Sense

The most vocal of the anti-gun crowd would love nothing better than to see the complete confiscation of all handguns. But, knowing that this goal is very likely out of their reach, they instead chant the mantra of "common sense gun laws."

Their version of common sense goes like this: since everyone knows that guns are dangerous, and everyone knows that ordinary citizens can't be trusted with guns, and everyone knows that guns cause crime, it's just common sense to limit the availability of guns to ordinary citizens. And, in their minds, I'm sure that limit approaches zero.

Any time there is a high profile shooting, like Virginia Tech or Gabriella Giffords, this case gets driven home by the anti-gun crowd, using the most emotional images possible. The total nut-caseness of the shooters is ignored. After all, it's the gun that kills.

But, sometimes a monkey wrench gets thrown into this anti-gun concept of common sense: the truth. In this instance, that monkey wrench comes in the form of the FBI Annual Crime Statistics for 2010, released on Monday.

According to the figures released today by the FBI, the estimated number of violent crimes in 2010 declined for the fourth consecutive year. Property crimes also decreased, marking this the eighth straight year that the collective estimates for these offenses declined.

The 2010 statistics show that the estimated volumes of violent and property crimes declined 6.0 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, when compared with the 2009 estimates. . .

Each of the four violent crime offenses decreased when compared with the 2009 estimates. Robbery had the largest decrease at 10.0 percent, followed by forcible rape with a 5.0 percent decline, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter with a 4.2 percent decrease, and aggravated assault with a 4.1 percent decline.

The sticking point for the anti-gun crowd is that gun sales and CCW permits issued are both up. For those who have trouble keeping both concepts in mind, this means that crime went down while the number of guns and the number of lawful concealed carry holders went up.

I'm no statistician, although I have played an engineer on TV, but it seems like this negative correlation flies in the face of the "common sense" the anti-gun crowd spouts.

The truth is, more guns in the hands of more lawful citizens means less crime. That's because guns don't cause crime, criminals cause crime, and those criminals are deterred by the threat of armed victims.

So, the next time someone cries for "common sense" gun laws, explain to them the real definition of common sense. Then ask them Just One Question:

Can you demonstrate one time or place, throughout all history, where the average person was made safer by restricting access to handheld weapons?

No one has yet answered this "yes."

The evidence is clear. Guns aren't the problem. Criminals are the problem. And that is real common sense.

Is It That Time Again?

Last week I went to renew my Georgia Weapons License. This is the eighth time I've gotten, or renewed, a concealed carry license. Time flies.

As permits go, Georgia's was rather simple to get. I filled out a form at the Cobb County Probate Judge office, paid them my money, and went down to the basement to be fingerprinted. They have the same woman doing fingerprints who was there the last time I did this, 5 and 10 years ago. I talked to her a little while she rolled my hands across their glorified photocopier, and in 5 minutes we were done. In a couple of weeks I will get my new license in the mail.

We talked a little about my experience with the application and renewal processes in the places I've lived. By far the easiest renewal I ever had was in Alabama, probably 18 years ago. At that time the license had to be renewed once a year. The initial license took a month or so for the background check, but the renewal was something else entirely.

I went in the Sheriff's office, and the clerk had me fill out the renewal form, and took my $5. Then she called out "Sheriff!"

The Sheriff stuck his head out of his office, and the clerk told him my name, and said, "He's here to renew."

He looked at me closely, and then said "Nope, I haven't run into you this year. He's good." And I got my permit right there.

There is currently a bill before the Congress to compel the states to recognize gun permits issued by all other states, just like they do with drivers' licenses. As long as the Federal reach ends there, with direction to the states, I'm good. If we mess up and let the Feds into the permitting process beyond that, we're screwed.

Ultimately, I believe all states should allow concealed carry to all citizens who are not otherwise restricted from gun ownership, just as Alaska, Vermont, and Arizona currently allow, without a permit. Permits are a holdover from the Jim Crow laws, meant to prevent freed blacks from taking up arms. Beyond that, they are revenue sources - my Georgia permit cost $75.

As I was leaving the fingerprint office in the basement of the Cobb County Courthouse, I told the Fingerprint Woman I would see her in five years, unless Georgia went the way of Vermont. She smiled and said she was fine with that, she'd find another line of work.

It would be fine with me, too.

Good Weekend

My weekend started well. I shot the monthly Action Pistol match at River Bend Gun Club in Dawsonville, Georgia. This match consists of three stages that are moderately challenging, involving a mix of steel and paper targets.

This month there were over 60 participants, including a group of Cadets from The Military College of Georgia, located at North Georgia College and State University, shown above. They shot in full combat gear including loaded rucks - talk about Train as you Play. Fortunately for me, they were shooting Limited to my Production. I felt unworthy.

I finished fifth out of ten in Production, 0.01 points back of fourth and 0.38 points behind third. Looks like my two weeks of dry fire practice is paying off.

+++

After the match, the club served a free hotdog lunch, then I was on the road home. I made it home at halftime of my alma mater Georgia Tech's game against Kansas. The Yellow Jackets pulled away in the second half, winning 66 - 24.

+++

Sunday was a cleanup day. Next week is the Glock Annual Shoot at the South River Gun Club in Conyers, GA, the largest GSSF match of the year. To get ready, I completely detail stripped and cleaned Bruce, my G17, and the Duke, my G21, since I plan to shoot them in the match.

I also detail stripped Bucky, my Browning Buck Mark .22LR pistol. Between Bucky and my 10/22 Captain America I've shot over 1,500 rounds of ammo, without cleaning Bucky at all. To say the gun was dirty is an understatement. I spent a lot of time with gun scrub spray and buff pads.

I also did a little internal work, mostly polishing, that I read about on Rimfire Central.

One thing I know, if I am going to compete with Bucky, I will need to install an extended magazine release. I was not blessed with normal thumbs, and pressing the release now requires me to shift the gun quite a bit. In fact, while practicing mag changes, I found I needed to use my off hand to hold the gun around the trigger guard, then shift my hand to press the release. I can't imagine how this will work in a match, with a hot gun, and the adrenaline flowing.

I tried drilling and tapping the existing magazine release button, but I found the material is too hard for me to do a good job. I will likely buy one off the interwebz.

I also played around with different sighting ideas on my 10/22 and Buck Mark. Right now I have a 2 - 6 x 40mm scope on the 10/22 and a red dot scope on the Buck Mark. In a .22 match, I would need something quick on the rifle, and I think I can make do with the scope at 2x. I tried the red dot, and that would work, but it leaves me with iron sights on the pistol. I might spring for a reflex sight for the pistol, which would be quicker to use than the red dot.

I may also buy a 45 degree offset Weaver base for the 10/22, and mount either the red dot or a reflex sight on it, and set the scope to 4x or similar. It would still be fast to use.

It's a busy week ahead.

Podcast of the Week: Handgun World Show

The Handgun World Show, www.handgunworld.com, is a podcast hosted by Bob Mayne, who is a man after my own heart. He’s not law enforcement, not military, not a firearms trainer, he’s just a regular guy who likes guns.

Why does Bob carry a gun? Because he can’t carry a cop.

Handgun World is a fast paced mix of information, reviews, competition advice, interviews, and general gun stuff. Bob Mayne is a salesman living in San Antonio, and his sales territory covers a lot of central Texas. So, he gets to record a lot of his shows in the car. I admit I may steal his idea some day.

I just discovered his podcast, and I must say I’ve enjoyed every episode. Bob is a big fan of the Glock 19, but he’s not afraid to air episodes about other guns. Since he competes regularly in IDPA, a lot of his shows cover competition, practice, and lessons learned. He also shares a lot of practical information on concealed carry, which makes sense, given his line of work and his background. He recently did a show on concealed carry for business that I found very informative.

He has also interviewed a lot of firearms trainers. I especially enjoyed his interviews with Gabe Suarez, and with Suarez International trainers Don Robison and Jon Payne.

The Handgun World Show is available for subscription on iTunes, and it's a welcome addition to my afternoon rides.

Be Prepared, Part 8 - Every Day Carry

This week on Tom Gresham's GunTalk Radio, Tom presented a retrospective of the September 11 attacks. The focus of the show was people who survived the ordeal because of how they were prepared for emergencies.

To me, the most compelling story was from John Tucci, an undercover NYPD officer who was buried with others in the debris of the fallen towers. He told how they were being suffocated by a large plate glass partition, until a fellow officer managed to get his Glock 19 free and shoot the glass. John was then able to find his way to safety, in the dark, because he carried a flashlight.

This got me thinking about what I carry every day. I know that, compared to some, I'm probably a lightweight. Massad Ayoob, for instance, carries multiple of just about everything, including cell phones.

As you can see from the picture above, here's what I carry, from right to left:

In my right front pocket:
- My car key on a ring with the door fob for my office and a shopper card from a local grocery store. The shopper card is for identification if my keys are lost. And, this is where I shop the most, so I carry the card.
- Cash in a money clip. I never carry cash in my wallet.
- A pen. I'm an engineer. I used to carry pens in my shirt pocket. With a pocket protector. Really.
- A knife. Most of the time it's a 20 year old Swiss Army Tinker model. Sometimes it's a folding knife I can open with one hand. I don't clip it to my pocket, unless I'm camping. No need to telegraph anything.
- A Glock armorer tool. I took to carrying this a year or so ago when I was doing a lot of armorer work for friends. It's probably my least used piece I carry, but it's light.

In my left front pocket:
- My wallet. It's a nylon police wallet, with a full view ID window. I carry my drivers license, my Georgia Weapons License, insurance cards, my debit card, one credit card, a few membership cards, my lawyer's card, and some business cards.
- An LED flashlight. This isn't an expensive tacticool Surefire, just an aluminum AA flashlight. I keep the batteries fresh, and I use it all the time.

In my left rear pocket:
- A notepad. Again, I'm an engineer, and I take notes all the time.
- A spare magazine for whatever gun I'm carrying. I practice mag changes with it there.

Not shown - a cell phone, that I either carry in my left front pocket or in my front right watch pocket, and a pistol.

Not much, but it works for me. The one thing I may add is a whistle.

Now, what I don't carry:

I don't carry a hundred keys on a caribiner clipped to a belt loop. I don't use many keys enough to warrant the bulk. I keep a key ring in my car with my other keys, and there's a home key in my get home bag, in case I get home and the power is out so I can't use the garage door opener, or if I want to go in through the front door. A spare key to my back door is kept in a secure place on my property.

I don't carry my cell phone in a holster on my belt. My pocket is fine.

I also don't keep a hundred shopper cards on my key ring. They're on a spare ring in may car, if I need them I take them in, then put them back.

I don't keep money in my wallet. I went to college in downtown Atlanta, and I worked it out then that if I were mugged, I could throw the money to the right and run to the left. Then I'm not giving up my ID or credit cards.

I don't carry all my life's work in my wallet. I have a separate portfolio I carry in my briefcase, where I carry membership cards and coupons and all the other stuff, and if I need something, I get it.

I don't carry an expensive flashlight. The one I carry is sold 2 for $4 at the local tool store. It's bright enough to light up the living room, or the back yard. I have a dozen of them around the house. My kids carry one in their school backpacks, and I have one on top of both gun safes. The flashlight is probably the most useful thing I carry, and a week doesn't go by that I don't help someone connect a computer under their desk or check a furnace filter.

I don't carry a fighting knife, because I've never trained to fight with one. I carry a pocket knife, because I used the screwdrivers and tweezers a lot. If I need a bigger knife, I carry two.



I did a quick poll of the people in my office, and I found that a lot of guys carried pocket knives, but few had flashlights. Two had flashlights in their briefcases, but if they didn't have the case when the power went out, where were they?

A lot of people also moonlight as janitors or jailers, judging from their key rings.

Give some thought to what you're carrying. Will it help you survive in an emergency?

Remembering What You Can't Remember

I spent most of the day on Sunday, September 11, remembering. I watched some of the documentaries on what happened that day, because it's important to know, so we can stop it from happening again.

I didn't watch too much of any of the observances, the speeches, the tributes. Those are important, but I think I do that every day, by committing to protecting myself and my family. Before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, my self defense commitment was spotty at best. Now, it's every day.

The two things the TV shows and retrospectives and tributes couldn't capture were the two things I felt the most on September 11, and in the days and months that followed.

The first was the incessant bombardment of what had happened. The American media doesn't report any more, they beat us over the head with news events. After the first two hours, there seemed to be nothing new to report, yet the new outlets kept reporting it. Over and over. The same thing, all the time.

What could not be remembered, therefore, was the incessant stress and fear and worry we all felt, for the days and weeks and months after the attacks. Part of me is glad we can't get that back, because it sucked to live like that.

The second thing I felt in those months after, was anger. When I think about the attacks, I continue to feel it. I let some of this out on my son yesterday, and I owe him an apology. He didn't deserve that.

I'm angry that we responded to this attack by fighting back on the terrorists terms, instead of by using the best of what America has. We've corrected that a little, with the use of unmanned drones and the like. But we still fight them on their turf, on their terms.

The rantings of one person does no good, though.

So, I did what I could do. I cooked pork barbecue, and I cleaned my guns and did an ammo inventory. I didn't get a chance to shoot, thanks to the length of time it takes to cook good barbecue.

But I enjoyed what I could. And for that, I am thankful.

When the World Changed - Part 2

Yesterday, I told about how things at work changed on September 11, 2001.

When I got home that day, things changed, too.

We had moved back to the Atlanta area a few months before, and we were renting a friend's house until we decided where we wanted to buy. We hadn't personalized this house very much. But when I got home that day, the first thing I did was put up a flag pole on the front porch, and fly an American flag. I left the porch light on to illuminate it at night.

When we moved into our new home a few months later, I installed a spotlight to shine on the flag. It flies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I've replaced it three times in 10 years, and only one flag has been worn enough to warrant disposal. I've kept one flag, and I've given the others to the local Boy Scout troop.

I also fly a flag from my mailbox to honor my brother Michael, who serves in the US Army. I started doing that when he enlisted 19 years ago. These smaller flags only last about 9 months on the mailbox before I have to replace them. I keep the best of the old flags to fly in my yard on national holidays, like in the picture above.

(I don't know if my brother reads this blog, but I'm going to give away a secret - when my brother retires from the Army in 6 years, I'm going to box up all the old flags I've been flying and send them to him. I'll tell you more about him at a future time.)

Does this mean I've become more patriotic since September 11? I don't think so. I think I've stopped taking that patriotism for granted. I'm not a covert patriot now, I am overt.

I've also made changes to how I look at personal security. I now carry a gun just about everywhere, not just "when I think I might need it." Like most people, my concept of "when I might need it" changed on September 11.

Do I worry about terrorist attacks now, after September 11, and Mumbai, and the other attacks since then? I don't worry about them or change what I do because of them, per se. I know it sounds corny, but if I change how I live my life, then the terrorists have won. And I know that's not true.

Maybe it's just being 10 years older. I know I am 10 years wiser.

When the World Changed - Part 1

On September 11, 2001, I was plant manager of a specialty chemical plant in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. This plant used railroad car quantities of very hazardous materials, but like most plants in the industry, our safety programs made it a pretty safe place to work, and the record proved it.

That day there was supposed to be a regularly scheduled plant managers’ meeting at the home office, two hours’ drive away. When it was obvious that the planes were part of an attack, I turned around and returned to the plant. We had no idea if this was part of something much larger, and how much of America was targeted, and I needed to be there instead of in a meeting.

The thing I remember most about the drive back to the plant was the lack of police cars. I was able to drive as fast as I needed to, since all the local police were obviously going elsewhere.

That day, I learned the value of knowing the people who worked for me. One of the things I had done when I took the job as plant manager was to read everyone’s personnel files, and I paid particular attention to those with prior military or law enforcement service. So I knew I had several trained former servicemen working that day. One of our plant operators had been an Army Ranger in Desert Storm. We had another operator take his place in operations, and I had him walk the plant perimeter fence, looking for signs of intrusions.

One of my supervisors had been a Navy SEAL in a previous life*, so I asked him if he would man the front gate. Normally, the front gate was open, since there was no way to drive straight through into the plant without someone opening another gate in between. On 9/11 that changed, and that gate has been closed and manned every day since.

He asked me if it was okay for him to move his personal car up by the gate. I knew why he was asking, since I also had gotten to know people well enough to know who kept guns in their cars. Since I did, I didn’t see any problem with others doing so.

I told him to do what he needed to do, and I asked him if he thought he might need an assistant at the gate. “Not if I can get to my car, I won’t.”

Other than the sense of fear, anger, and uncertainty that everyone felt that day, at the plant we had no problems, and we never really had any problems after that. I did hold a quick plant meeting that afternoon before shift change, to remind everyone to keep their minds on their jobs, for safety reasons.

The chemical industry eventually instituted a lot of extra security measures, some of which were needed, and some of which probably were not.

For me, the lesson driven home was to know my people and their backgrounds, and to train everybody in how to protect themselves and the plant. One thing was sure – things would never be the same.





*A lot of people claim to have been a Navy SEAL. One advantage of reading people’s personnel files is it included their form DD214. This guy really had been a SEAL.

Gunsmithing or Something Like It

When I took the Glock Armorer course in 2009, I had the fantasy of using that class to springboard myself into a new and exciting (pronounced "lucrative") second career, that could perhaps sustain me in my retirement years. When I was was growing up, I would spend my summers at my great uncle's house in Florida. He was an engineer at Eglin Air Force Base, and he also had a gunsmithing business that he ran on the side, out of a wonderful little shop behind his house. I remember seeing all his tools and the guns his friends would bring him.

So, after all these years, I started thinking about becoming a part time gunsmith myself. However, I quickly learned a few things about gunsmithing.

I don't have anywhere near the range of experience to make any money be any good at it. True gunsmiths study their craft for years and years, many times as an apprentice under an active gunsmith. If I had started (mumble, mumble, mumble) years ago, I might be there by now. But I did not.

It would be difficult to make any decent money as a gunsmith specializing in Glocks. I recently wrote a blog about the extensive work I have done to my Glocks to make them reliable. Getting someone to pay me to do the same to their Glock is another matter entirely. Yes, there are companies that specialize in aftermarket parts for Glocks, and they are profitable, but this requires volume.

Working on any gun involves calculated risk. After all, you are then asking the owner (me) to shoot the gun, and trust that your work was done correctly and safely. Getting to this level of trust with the gunsmith (again, me) involves years of study.

Having said all that, I have done some work on guns for people, successfully. In truth, most of what I have done should really be described as Armorer work. That is, I've replaced parts, cleaned and polished internals, and made some easy modifications. My most requested service is a Glock trigger job, which I have gotten quite good at. I've also replaced sights and internal parts.

Now, since Federal law requires that a gunsmith possess a valid Federal Firearms License, or FFL, if they take money for their services and hold guns overnight to do work, I've made sure not to take any money for my work, or hold the guns overnight. Lord knows, I don't want to get in trouble with the ATF.

Mind you, I have done some work that I would consider gunsmith work. I say that because the advice most often posted on the interwebz about the work I needed to have done was "seek out the services of a trusted gunsmith." And I found that with the right tools, a steady hand, and instructions that came with the part in question, or on the interwebz, I've been able to do a decent job.

One example was with my Mosin Nagant. The front barrel band came loose the last time I was shooting, and I found that the wooden handguard had shrunk over time, so that the barrel band holding it on was very loose. Now, the makers of this famous Soviet rifle made sure that the barrel band would not be overtightened or allowed to become too tight as the barrel expanded during use, by including a stop on the band, tow pieces of metal that hit each other and stop you from overtightening. But, this same stop now made it impossible to tighten it enough to hold the handguard in place. So I used a small grinder to remove some material from the stops, until the barrel band just held.

The danger, of course, is that the rifle will expand as it is shot, and the barrel band won't (not as much, any way) and there's a chance the wooden handguard would be squeezed in between so hard that it would crack. I will definitely pay close attention to this the next time I shoot.

I've also done some work on my SKS, most recently replacing the factory gas tube cover with an aftermarket piece that matched my new stock. This just involved drilling out a pin and reinstalling it with the new piece. A drill press came in handy.

Thinking about it, there's really not much I wouldn't at least be willing to try, at least on my own guns. But, my hopes of turning this into a second career have withered in the light of reality.

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Just as I was getting ready to post this, I remembered something my grandfather once told me. He was a professional auto mechanic, and his advice was to be able to do all my own work on my own car, but not to do it for a living.

Good advice, even for a gunsmith.

Glock Gen4 Recoil Spring Swap

Glock sent notice to all its active Armorers that they will now swap the recoil spring assembly (RSA) on any Gen4 Glock. I had heard before that this would be done on a case by case basis. Apparently Glock has decided that all Gen4 guns that want one should get them.

Personally, I have not had anyone come to me with RSA problems. On the other hand, you can read about them on just about any shooter forum. I've heard they happened mostly with the G17, large frame 9mm. I know shooters with G35s and G19s who told me they don't have any issues.

If you have a Gen4 gun and you want the RSA swapped out, just contact any certified Glock Armorer and they can do it, but they will need to order the part from Glock so don't expect While-You-Wait service. On the other hand, you can take your gun to any GSSF match and have it done immediately by the factory Armorers. I only hope they bring enough new parts to the match.

The notice also says "Agencies or Consumer’s wishing to participate in the exchange program at no charge are urged to call 1-877-745-8523 to order their new RSA," so I assume individuals can contact them if you wish.

I will continue to monitor the situation, as they say, and let you know what I hear.

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Update: to learn more about the Gen4 recoil spring issues, take a look over at pistol-training.com. ToddG has been doing a Gen4 G17 endurance test for quite a while and explains it all.

Weak Hand Shooting is Only Weak Hand if Your Hand is Weak

My Quest for C Class

I've been doing the Wall Drill for almost a week now, and when I did it one handed with my left hand, I was reminded of something I already knew, from training class, and from USPSA classifiers where I had to shoot with my left hand - I suck shooting one handed with my left hand. It really is my weak hand. The gun looks like I have some kind of muscle control issues.

I've never thought of my left hand as particularly weak, but the truth was staring me in the face.

So, one day last week I decided to take some action. I was out of the office to call on a client, and I happened to be about an hour early for my appointment. As fate would have it, my client's office was one exit down from a big box sporting goods store. There I found the Everlast Hand and Finger Strengthener. It has separate spring loaded posts for each finger, and a backstrap that looks a lot like a pistol grip.

I've been using it while I work, and I'll report how my Wall Drill results fare.

Dry Firing as Training

Photo courtesy of pistol-training.com

My Quest for C Class

I've learned enough in this world to know that it's all been done before. I'm not going to invent anything new on my road to shooting improvement. The best I can hope for is to take what has already been revealed by the best, and make it my own.

So I started my quest with some research on the interwebz by looking at what the best shooters were doing to improve. Naturally, Caleb Giddings' Quest for Master Class drew my attention. Caleb pointed me to a great post by ToddG at pistol-training.com, where Todd builds a month-long training routine around the venerable Wall Drill.

The Wall Drill takes the simple dry firing act and isolates the firing action itself, by removing all focus except the front sight and the trigger. Quoting ToddG:

Holding your unloaded pistol in a normal shooting grip and stance, press the muzzle to the wall until it just barely makes contact, then back off about an inch. Because you are using a blank wall as your backstop, you effectively have no target. There is nothing for you to focus on except your front sight.

From this position, practice your trigger manipulation. The goal is to press the trigger straight back with consistent pressure until the “shot” breaks without disturbing your sight alignment throughout the process. Remember, that is the key to accuracy — a proper trigger press that doesn’t mess up your sight picture.

He then builds several training routines around this drill - with both hands, strong hand, weak hand, from retention, from the holster, with movement, and while clearing jams and malfunctions. Taking about 10 minutes to perform, these drills don't take up much time, and most importantly, they're too short for me to get bored.

So, I started from the beginning, and I've completed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I practice in a paneled office, so I taped a sheet of plain paper to the wall to take away any point of focus.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, said the Master. I've take three.