VLTOR has come out with a new line of accessories for the FN SCAR platform.
ar-15 stock adapter
Modular rail system extension. Looks great for those who shoot the SCAR in 3-Gun!
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NEW Magpul shotgun stock
Magpul has come out with a new line of stocks and forends for shotguns. It looks like it’s for the Remington 870, but they might make it for the Mossberg too. Their booth was packed beyond belief, so I snapped this grainy photo through a window 
Looks cool to me, I might just have to do another 870 project!
Add a pellet gun upper to your AR lower
This has got to be one of the coolest things at this year’s SHOT show. It’s from Crosman, and it’s called the MAAR, or Modular Adaptive Air Rifle. Pop it onto your AR lower and you can use your trigger, controls, etc. as a pellet gun. Holds 10 rounds in a rotary clip (NOT a magazine, an honest-to-goodness CLIP), and it’s bolt action. Also has a MIL-STD flattop rail if you want to mount an optic.
Crosman seems to be marketing it more towards NRA Air Rifle shooters, but I think it’d be awesome for 3-Gun training in the backyard. It’s real easy to hose through short-range paper with some Dueck Defense sights, but not so easy when you have to settle down and make a 400 yard shot. Take a 4” plate out to 50 yards and practice trigger control! Set up a course and work through different positons!
Right now the price is set at around $600, but I suspect that will change. Or not, I honestly don’t know what a good PCP air rifle costs.
Posted in 3-Gun, AR-15, SHOT show, Training
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C-more Competition M26 M.A.S.S.
Yet another cool shotgun here at SHOT Show.
It’s the C-more Competition M26 M.A.S.S. magazine-fed 12-gauge. It is a slide-action as opposed to a semi-auto, but it doesn’t use a conventional forearm-style pump. Instead it has a charging handle on the left side of the receiver. That’s because it’s designed to do this:
That’s mounted beneath an M4, for breaching doors. I think it’s been adopted by the military in this form, but I’m not sure. The underbarrel/Short Barrel Shotgun version has been around for several years, but has only been available to military/law enforcement customers. This year, they’re selling to the general public. You can get the one of the 18″ models, or apply for a tax stamp, wait a few months, pay $200, and get an underbarrel/SBS model.
future plans
C-more does plan on making a semi-auto version, which really has me stoked. The C-more guys are competitors (they make the most popular red-dot for competition) and I am told that their will be a 3-gun optimized variant.
IPSC Shooters at SHOT
Blogging from the Main Floor:
Julie Golob and I at the S&W booth. She also signed a copy of her new book, Shoot!
Randi Rogers and I at the Glock booth.
Max Michel and I at Sig
Travis Tomasie demonstrates a good draw and reloads. This is him starting off slow (I’m not kidding!
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Major Power Factor
At the Crimson Trace booth. Nifty laser adjustable for ranges out to 250 meters. How you see a laser dot at 250 meters is beyond me.
Airsoft
At the Palco Sports booth.
Tanfoglio licensed CO2 airsoft. Pretty much a clone of Eric Grauffel’s (possibly the best IPSC shooter in the world) open gun. Dang nice trigger, especially for an airsoft. I got to run it on their reactive target range, with The Man himself looking over my shoulder!
The target system is pretty neat. You program a sequence (or just use a random one), hit the button, and a small LED lights up in the center of the target. Hit the target and the next one flashes. Slick. The whole system runs from $1000 to $1400, depending on the amount and type of targets you want.
This could be a really useful training tool for police departments that don’t have a lot of range access or training budget. It’d also be fun for airsoft stores that let you “try before you buy”.
Firebird akdal mka1919
At the RAAC booth, SHOT 2012
Also has a left side charging handle, which comes in handy with less-lethal munitions that don’t cycle the action.
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SHOT show blogging
Testing the wordpress IPad app that I will be blogging on at the SHOT show.
Photo test
USPSA Single Stack Spartan
I built this STI Spartan for the Utah State USPSA Championship raffle. It drew the majority of the tickets, and brought a fair bit of profit to the club (I can’t remember how many we sold).
I set this gun up to be the perfect gun for USPSA Single Stack division. And really, it wasn’t that hard (It only took me one evening). All it takes are good aftermarket parts.
Custom Work
The Spartan is STI’s budget 1911, coming in at around $700.00. It’s basically a Rock Island .45 (or 9mm) imported from the Philippines, but with STI internals. All it needs to become a Single-Stack racegun is:
- A great trigger,
- Grippier grips,
- A nice, wide magwell,
- A bright, thinner front sight.
Trigger Job
The trigger job I did came in at 2.5 lbs., drop in. I will detail that in a separate post, since it’s pretty noteworthy. The total parts cost came to $71.00
Grips
The grips I used were the AlumaGrips that are used with the TechWell I added to the gun (See Below). The checkering is a nice sharp machine-cut job, 16 Lines Per Inch. In the future, I will treat some grips with a gritty epoxy mixture of AcraGlas gel and Extra-Coarse Aluminum Oxide. The grips and the magwell are priced below.
Magwell
My favorite accessory for a Single Stack 1911, either for competition or tactical use, has got to be the TechWell. It’s a magazine well that fits into a slot under a specially made pair of AlumaGrips or Mil-Tac G10 grips. They’re offered 4 sizes (I got the SP) and in a variety of colors, but Brownell’s only carries Black and Silver (only on the TGO model). It’s really wide and blended right into the frame of the Spartan. The Techwell SP cost $160.00 from Brownells. The price seems a little high, but remember it includes the grips as well (which I’d probably buy anyway, they’re nice grips!). They also fit in the IDPA box, making it legal for CDP division (or ESP in 9mm).
Front Sight
The front sight on the spartan is a very weird one. It’s pretty thick and the fiber is located near the bottom of the post (not centered like most sights). I found that distracting when I brought the gun up on target. I also prefer a thinner front sight for a USPSA gun, say .100 wide. Dawson Precision offers one that’s just right for $40.00
Conclusion
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve noticed that I just built the perfect USPSA Single Stack gun for only $971.00 and an evening’s work. The actual cost for this gun was less because I didn’t add the front sight (didn’t know about the weird factory one in time) and because sponsors graciously gave us a reduced price.
Special Thanks To
STI International, Who gave us a great discount on the gun for our raffle. They also make the best stock 1911s on the planet.
Brownell’s, Inc. Larry Weeks, a USPSA CRO and Brownell’s Marketing Director, graciously offered to provide the parts at no charge. Unfortunately, I didn’t give him enough notice and so I had to order the parts myself. My fault.
Shooter’s Connection/Mike Foley They offer a discount for members of the Brian Enos forum. I ordered some of the parts from them (I cannot remember which) and saved some $$$. Thanks!
James Bond never had this problem:
My mother, who just got her Concealed Carry Permit, went out with my Dad today to try some different options for carry guns. Among them a Ruger LCP, Kel-Tec PF-9, his Kimber Stainless II (9mm), and a Beretta Tomcat (the gun James Bond used in the earlier books).
When she tried the Beretta Tomcat .32 acp, this happened:
From Beretta’s web page on the Tomcat :
“ Contoured Tang. Top of the grip area is precisely curved and relieved to snugly accommodate the shooter’s hand, thus protecting the thumb web from being pinched by the slide and increasing the pistol control upon firing.”
Back to the drawing board on that one, eh guys?
As an aside, she tried the SIG P238 at Sportsman’s Warehouse and really liked it. Now she has to pick which finish she wants.
Custom Carry 1911s
1911s are winning guns.
What do I mean by that? Well, they’ve been around for over 100 years now, fought in two World Wars (which we won) as well as countless other conflicts, and is probablyy the winningest competition pistol ever. My Dad and I have both used 1911s (and high-capacity 2011s) to reach a relatively high level in competition.
Carry Concerns
So why not carry one? Well, for me it’s more of a legal question (congress apparently doesn’t like the idea of teenagers packing heat), but for most it’s a question of size and weight. A “standard” (if there is any such thing) Government-size 1911 weighs in at a little over two pounds unloaded. Compared to something like a Glock 19 (29 oz.), it’s a little on the heavy side. Also, at 1.3 inches, the grip is a little fatter than the Glock (1.18”). And the Glock isn’t exactly a skinny gun, holding 15 rounds of 9mm in the magazine.
Another issue that made my Dad reluctant to carry the 1911 was the trigger pull. A “standard” 1911 trigger (again, if there is any such thing) from a reputable manufacturer is between 3.5 and 5 pounds, (down to under 2 lbs. on a custom gun) always with very little pre- and over-travel. Compare to a Glock 19 which comes stock at five ‘n a half pounds and a long, almost revolver-esque trigger. Glock also sells the “New York” trigger gizmo that can bring the trigger pull all the way up to 12 lbs. (depending on which one you get).
For me, the light trigger is a non-issue. As long as you “keep your booger hook off the bang switch” the gun ain’t going off. And you’ve got at least two safety mechanisms to keep the gun from going off in the holster (besides, any holster you should even consider for use will protect the trigger from outside objects.
The Custom Solution
There are a lot of super-light, super-small factory 1911s out there. Stick with a reputable manufacturer and your 1911 will bring you years of comfort, enjoyment, and security. However, if you really want to get just exactly the right carry gun for you, then a custom gun is in order. Now when I say “custom”, that doesn’t mean a multi-thousand dollar gun that you have to wait months for. The 1911′s super-customizable and it’s been around for more than a hundred years. There’s plenty of work that you can do yourself.
A couple custom CCW guns I’ve built. My Dad’s Kimber Stainless II and a Citadel “Officer’s” model .45 (CeraKoted by Justin Sip)
Reducing Weight
There are plenty of lightweight parts out there for a 1911, polymer grips, triggers, and the like. But in the end, the best way to get a lighter 1911 is to get…a lighter 1911. Several manufacturers make guns with aluminum (or other alloy) frames. Smith & Wesson’s 1911PD is a nice, very lightweight .45 with a Scandium frame, and Kimber offers quite a few aluminum framed guns in both .45 and 9mm. Caspian also offers their frames in titanium, if you plan on building a gun from scratch. My Dad’s carry gun, based on a Kimber Stainless II, weighs 26 ounces. That’s two ounces less than a Glock 19.
My Dad’s carry package: a custom Kimber Stainless II, a Milt Sparks “Summer Special”, and a Crusader Tactical FIFP folder.
If you can’t get yourself out of a fix with these tools, you need a tank.
Another way of lightening a 1911 comes from competition gunsmithing. We mill holes, slots and scallops out of our slides to cut down on the mass coming back at us during recoil. This cuts down on muzzle flip and the overall weight of the gun.
This Citadel .45 was lightened by Tony Berry of Berry’s Mfg. The slide on the bottom is from my custom STI Eagle and weighs nearly 1/4 lb less than a full slide.
Taking weight off the slide also lets you mount a red-dot sight without adding too weight.The Trijicon RMR in this picture was a christmas gift for my Dad that will go on his carry gun’s slide when it is sent off to a gunsmith.
Cutting back on size
If you’ve read this far, you’d guess I’m a fan of the 1911. But the standard (5” barrel) “Government” model is a little uncomfortable to conceal. When I build a carry 1911, I usually start with either a “Commander” or “Officer” style gun. The Commander is basically a standard Government frame with a shorter slide and a 4.25” barrel. The Officer is the 1911 equivalent of a sub-compact gun, with a 3” or 3.5” barrel and shorter grip area.
To cut back on the width, I fit it with a pair of “slim” grips. This type of grip is so slim (more than a tenth of an inch slimmer than a standard grip) it requires a different bushing on the frame. My personal favorite pair of grips are “Alumagrips”. They’re called that because they’re made of, you guessed it, aluminum. They’ll never crack and you can get them in different colors, with different types of engraving and checkering.
This particular Alumagrip has “flattop” checkering. It’s less sharp, which is nice for carry, but still very grippy.
Internal Parts
Some weight can be taken off by using lightened parts. Most factory 1911s these days come with a skeletonized hammer, but depending on the manufacturer it may not be of the highest quality. I’ve seen 1911 sears and hammer hooks (generally in foreign made guns) with cast marks down the middle, or uneven edges. That leads to a less than stellar (i.e. terrible, gritty) and possibly unsafe trigger pull. Also, you may want to replace the factory thumb safety with an ambidextrous safety (or vice-versa, depending on your feelings about them).
You have to be careful about installing new internals on the 1911, though, since “x” safety might not work with “y” sear, etc. though. In my experience, an EGW sear coupled with either an STI or Wilson Combat hammer will yield a darn good trigger pull (about 3.5 lbs.) out of the box, and work with most any factory safety. If you want to replace the safety, you will need some fine files and patience, since they are built to be over-sized.
Final Thoughts
I hope I’ve given you some thoughts about carrying the 1911 and on the options available to customize it. For more information, try reading Patrick Sweeney’s “Book of the 1911″ and “Gunsmithing Pistols and Revolvers”.
Area 2 Desert Classic Championship, 2011
Got back late last night (or early this morning?) from the 24th annual Area 2 Championship (Desert Classic) in Mesa, AZ.
I took High Junior in Limited Division, High Junior Overall, and 21st Overall (out of 127). I had 930.2902 match points, 70.19% of Match Winner Nils Jonasson.
Jacob Hetherington won High Junior Production Division, and Christopher Ooisthuisen (I probably butchered that last name). Good shooting guys!
This was my first year shooting the Desert Classic, and It’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had at a match.12 interesting stages, super-friendly RO’s, and an awesome prize table.
The club that’s put it on for the last 24 years, the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Club, has a nice facility and plenty of resources. For instance, they have the scrapped airframes of a couple Vietnam War helicopters (unfortunately they weren’t used in the stages this year). One year they built a long track and made you shoot from a speeding mine cart. This year we got to shoot around and under two cars, and shoot strong hand/ weak hand hanging on to a grab bar. They also put on a big Multi-Gun match, the “Superstition Mountain Mystery 3- Gun” that looks pretty cool.
The prize table was super-rich as well. They literally had stacks of Springfield XDs, GI 1911A1s, Rock Island 1911s, and NAA .22 revolvers. They didn’t give out a prize for High Junior, but as 21st Overall I still had my pick of an XD subcompact, Caspian 1911 Slide/Frame fit, NAA folding mini-revolver, and a Sun Devil Manufacturing Billet AR15 receiver set (I chose the receiver, which will probably become part of a 7.62x40WT or .300 BLK build.
A big thanks to all the staff and sponsors, especially those that helped my Dad when he had some medical issues (more on that in a second post).
Browning A5
Browning has announced a new-ish shotgun, the A5.
Gun people might recognize it as the old “Auto-5” or Remington model 11. But inside, it ain’t. Instead of a “long recoil” mechanism where the barrel and bolt recoil together (operated by the recoil from the shot), the new A5 operates with a “short recoil” system where only the bolt recoils. The “short recoil” system is what Benelli sells as an “Inertia Driven” system.
I kind of like the way Browning made a Benelli look like an Auto-5. Now if only they’d make a Direct Impingement B.A.R. 
James Bond’s Guns
Steve at TheFirearmBlog posted this video from a BBC documentary the other day.
I’ve read all Ian Fleming’s James Bond books, but I haven’t seen Goldfinger. I thought this clip was pretty interesting because it shows how “gun people” were back then. Nobody really cared if you shot a pellet gun inside, you weren’t yelled at for saying something like “lady’s gun” on TV, and nobody had an aneurism when you shot at your cameraman with blanks (except maybe the cameraman).
I also chuckled when Mr. Boothroyd talked about the “armalite rifle”. Not the AR15, the AR-7. That Gene Stoner guy really was “with it”.
German Bundeswehr adopts new DMR
…And it looks like a Ninja ate to much pimpmygun.com and threw it up into real life.
It’s called the G28. Based off the HK 417 (the .308 version of the 416), it weighs in at 17.4 lbs. with all the optics and loaded 20 round magazine. Pictured optics look like a really big scope, night vision device, and a backup red dot riding piggyback on the big scope. Plus a bipod and vertical foregrip. And of course a tac light for when you feel like doing some CQB weight lifting at night.
DMR stands for “Designated Marksman’s Rifle”. The idea behind the Designated Marksman is that he (or she) is a highly trained member of the squad capable of laying down accurate, rapid fire at ranges beyond that of the typical infantry rifleman. The U.S. Army has filled this role with modified M16A2 rifles built by the Army Marksmanship Unit custom shop (I got to shoot one at the USAMU Junior Camp one year). That rifle in .223 probably couldn’t make it out to 1000 yards, but it sure could knock down 6” plates out at 100 and 200. I’ve used a .223 with a 4x ACOG and a 16” barrel to hit plates out at 600 yards. And the rifle didn’t weigh as much as a light machine gun.
Nationals
News from the Nationals (a little late, I know, been busy with school)
Some good news, some bad…
Good news:
High Junior, Limited Division. I also scored a Caspian Hi-Cap frame and a $200 Safariland discount from the prize table!
Bad News
The gear was stolen!
At the awards ceremony at the Riviera hotel/casino, several cars belonging to competitors were broken into, and gear stolen. They broke the left rear window on our truck and got both dad’s and my range bags and luggage, guns, gear and all. The only thing they left was my tool bag.
Luckily our insurance covers both the truck and items, but now we have to get all the claims squared away, hopefully before Multi-Gun nationals.
B.A. Baracus called…
…and he wants his firearms training school back.
Side note: that was a reference to ”The A-Team”. Another post title considered was “Save up to 30% when you book your tactical training at Priceline!”
An jaw-dropping display of safety violations, and weird tactics/drills. What was that where the two guys did that weird spin thingy?!
H/T Caleb
Dawson Precision has the new XDM 5.25!
Dawson Precision has the new XDM 5.25 in stock and it comes with a free set of DP grip tape!
I’ve heard good things about the new XDM, and I think I’ll be seeing quite a few more out on the range soon!
side note: Dawson’s Grip Tape…Awesome. It sticks really well and feels just like a $100 epoxy treatment.
2011 MGM Targets Junior Shooter’s Camp
This year’s MGM Junior Shooter’s Camp was the best yet. I’ll say that right now. I’ll also apologize for the lack of photos in this post, but I was kinda busy shooting! Most of the photos here were stolen from Molly Smith’s blog.
The Instructors
Unfortunately, the Army Marksmanship Unit wasn’t able to host the camp this year, so this year’s camp wasn’t held at Fort Benning, but in Parma, Idaho. And the instructors weren’t AMU team members, but a collection of excellent shooters and instructors from outside the Army.
The Cadre:
- Max Michel, Team Captain for Sig Sauer and former AMU team member (and World Speed Shooting Champion)
- Manny Bragg, Instructor for the Universal Shooting Academy and holder of many USPSA Area titles
- Matt Burkett, 7-Time MGM Ironman Champion, 3-Time World 3-Gun Champion, and Rifle Instructor Extraordinaire
- Randi Rogers, Team Glock member, numerous National and World titles in USPSA, IDPA, and Cowboy Action Shooting (SASS)
- Phil Strader, Team S&W member and wielder of the Rod of Justice (his beatin’ stick).
- BJ Norris, Team S&W member, Steel Challenge World Record Holder and USPSA National Champion
Obviously the instructors this year are just as decorated as the Army instructors. And this year, I think that the instruction was a little more advanced, covering everything from the right way to shoot a swinger (I was doing it wrong!) to BJ Norris’ class on draws (his fastest of the camp was .62 of a second!). Matt Burkett gave an awesome class on rifle shooting, with ammo generously provided by Hornady (12,000 rounds of Steel Match ammo!).
The Instruction
The class that I think will help me the most in the future was Phil’s class on entering shooting positions (ports, boxes, etc.). I have a tendency to get into a position and then bring my gun up to shoot. Phil taught us to bring the gun up and pick an index point (on a wall, target, whatever) and keep it there while moving. Deviations from this were quickly addressed with his beatin’ stick:
Photo stolen from the Molly Minute
Phil’s class will help me the most in a match, but the class where I actually learned the most was Matt’s rifle class. I don’t practice shooting the AR at longer ranges (or at any range, really…), so when I shoot the occasional 3-gun match, that’s usually where I’m behind. Matt taught us ”Approach Shooting”. Basically, you swing the rifle into the target and press the trigger. We ended on Matt’s station on the first day, which meant that we had time for a few Shoot-Off’s amongst the squad! I did fairly well, placing second. Thanks to Hornady for the ammo, PWS, Matt Burkett, and the Gibson family for supplying the rifles!
Molly Smith shooting Matt’s Tactical Optics AR.
Manny Bragg also taught an excellent class on swingers. I learned to shoot swingers by catching them at their apex and whacking two shots at them before they take off again. Manny taught us to shoot by tracking them with the gun. It makes it as easy to shoot as any other stationary target. I also won the Shoot-Off here, with the most A-zone hits on a swinger, earning me a nice Universal Shooting Academy hat signed by all the instructors.
I learned the most at Phil’s, Matt’s, and Manny’s classes, but I learned something at every station. Max Michel taught shooting around barricades, BJ Norris taught me a new draw that brought my average time (of three draws) down to .95 of a second, and Randi Rogers fixed my reloads (I was holding my gun too far from my face).
The Match
This year, my squad went with Max Michel, who guided us through the stages. We shot some of the stages of the MGM Grand Nationals as well as two field courses set up for the camp. I didn’t do very well, for some reason I kept missing poppers! Maybe it was because I was shooting my Dad’s gun (mine’s still non-functional after the slide broke at Area 1.
I did manage to take 3rd overall, congratulations to two of my squadmates, Hayden Hixson (winner) and Jacob Hetherington (2nd). The rest of the squad did pretty well with Kolby Hunter finishing 5th, Danny Rice taking 6th (with a single-stack), Keith Neher taking 9th and Dontae Gardner finishing 12th out of 45 shooters.
Thanks
Thank you Mike and Rhonda Gibson for all the time, effort, and financial support they’ve put into the camp from Day One.
Thanks to all the instructors and sponsors, especially Remington (who gave each junior 500 rounds for the camp!) and Hornady (for supplying rifle ammo).