Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
Performative EDC [2026]
A topic worthy of discussion. There are more than eight billion people on the planet. I wonder how many of those people even have what we gun folks call an “EDC”? How do all those people possibly survive every day without paracord bracelets, hidden handcuff keys, and cigarette lighters even when they don’t smoke?
If you can’t get over the idea of being without your EDC gear, maybe you can use the idea of carrying a Minimalist EDC as a baby step.
Thoughts On The Effective Police Firearms Instructor – Part 1
If you only have your state’s one-week firearms instructor cert, you are unlikely to be an effective police firearms instructor. If that fact hurts your feelings, read Hearne’s article here and fix yourself.
After you read the article, you might also want to check out another article John shared on his company’s Facebook page. It’s well worth your time to read and understand if you are hiring and training police officers.
TFB Armorer’s Bench: Complete AR15 Disassembly – Bolt Carrier Group
Millions of people have purchased AR-15 rifles for the first time in the last few years. You new AR owners should learn to take your bolt carrier group apart for cleaning and routine maintenance.
Loaded Magazines vs. Downloaded: What You Need To Know
Massad Ayoob gives us some info about a topic that isn’t often discussed. I have four points to add.
1) You should have fired your gun enough to know if it is 100% reliable when completely loaded. If it isn’t 100% reliable when fully loaded, but is reliable when downloaded by one cartridge, download the gun.
2) As Mas mentioned, some full mags are very hard to insert if the chamber is already loaded. If that’s the case, download your mag. Why do you think the military traditionally loaded 28 rounds in a 30 round M-16 magazine? Before P-Mags, fully loaded AR mags were difficult to easily insert into guns with loaded chambers.
3) It might make sense to download a shotgun magazine tube by one shell to facilitate an easier “select slug” drill if your shotgun isn’t equipped with a magazine cut off.
4) If you do regularly carry a less than fully loaded magazine in your pistol, make sure responding cops know that fact if you get into a shooting with that particular gun. I once investigated a police shooting where two different officers each had downloaded magazines. We assumed their mags were full and wasted hours scouring the scene for spent bullets and brass that never existed.
Guns That Disappointed Me
I have a lot of experience with some of the guns he mentions and generally agree with his assessment. My department ordered six T&E USP handguns from HK with the intention of replacing our duty pistols with the new HK weapons. Three of the six had hammers that actually dragged against the slide, causing 20+ pound DA trigger pulls. When I called HK to request new guns, they refused to send them and told me there was nothing wrong with their pistols.
I’m glad to hear that someone else hates the Benelli M4 collapsible stock as much as I do. Those SIG rifles suck. My former department has an original full-auto Thompson. I had unlimited access to it when I was the training officer and fired thousands of rounds through it. I liked it for the history, but it wasn’t nearly as cool as I wanted it to be.
Does Temperature Affect Bullet Point of Impact?
Temperature affects velocity. Velocity affects point of impact.
Terminal Ballistics 1: How Pistols “Stop” Bad Guys
Do yourself a favor and read this. Then watch the associated video.
Warning Shots Left Him EMPTY When It Mattered
There are exceptionally few situations where warning shots are a good idea. In most scenarios, an outcome like this is more likely than you driving away any potential attackers by shooting into the ground near their feet.
The King of Defensive 00 Buckshot: Federal’s 8 Pellet FLITECONTROL
The eight-pellet Federal 00 buckshot load is a superior defensive round out of a 12 gauge shotgun. It may not function reliably in some semi-autos. If your gun doesn’t feed it well, try the Hornady Critical Defense or Tap Semi-auto rounds. The Hornady wads are similar to the Federal wads (both designed by the same person). The Hornady will open up faster than the Flite Control outside of 15 yards, but it’s clearly superior to any other defensive shotgun loads.
If you can’t find or afford one of those two rounds, pick a good 00 buckshot load from any other manufacturer. Just realize your pattern will be significantly larger and your maximal effective range will be about 15 yards. Beyond that range, most standard 00 loads will begin opening up so rapidly that not all of the pellets will hit the target.
For more information, read Just Say No To Number 4 Buckshot (For Home Defense).
Is 38 Special Underpowered?
A detailed analysis of this often maligned cartridge. You will also want to read Caleb’s follow up 38 Special vs 357 Magnum as well.
Zeroing Your Shotgun’s Dot
I’m seeing red dots becoming more popular in my shotgun classes. Here is Erick’s list of best practices for zeroing your shotgun optic.
Fretting About Pistol Red-Dot Zeroes Is Silly
A couple more red dot articles for you this week. First, from the link above:
“It’s crazy to think about the fact that we’re discussing differences in points of impact between 1 and 1 ½ inches. These are tiny measurements in considering everything else pertaining to handgun shooting. In fact, think about how even proficient shooters would likely struggle to consistently shoot a “100” on a standard NRA B-8 target with a typical red-dot equipped pistol. And the 10-ring on a B-8 is 3.36 inches in diameter!”
You’ll also want to read Does Red Dot Window Size Matter?
You Can Improve Your Shooting Almost Anywhere…Even At An Indoor Range
An article explaining how can you make progress if you have to train on an indoor range with lots of restrictions.
War HOGG Skill Builder #23: Pistol Light Switch Manipulation
Speaking of training, when is the last time you worked on shooting with the weapon mounted light on your pistol (if you have one)?
What Makes A Good Handgun Holster?
I see lots of crappy holsters being worn. If you don’t know the difference between a good holster and a bad holster, please read this article. Here’s a hint: If the holster came in a package deal with the gun, it is probably nearly worthless.
Alarms, Blood Trails, and Broken Doors
Lessons learned after the author attended an FBI active shooter trends conference. I stopped going to these conferences. Cops refuse to learn the lessons or be proactive and integrate the information they receive in a manner that is effective. Why are we still talking to cops about fire alarms during active killer events. We learned about fire alarm tactics in school shootings that occurred more than 25 years ago.
I wrote an article about best practices on this topic back in 2015. I wrote a followup article about the same topic in 2018. Why don’t people understand this? It’s all just more Beating my Head Against the Wall.
Self-Defense and the Law: Cases Where Magazine Capacity Limits Cost Lives
Documented incidents where magazine (or cylinder) capacity mattered.
Gun Owner 101: Choosing a Carry Gun
Excellent advice for choosing a CCW gun. You may also like the author’s article Narcan and Choices.
People are strange
One of the biggest issues I see with crime victims is that they assumed their assailant would think and act rationally.
What If the Gun Community Isn’t Really This Divided?
“Reasonable people usually don’t generate hundreds of comments.
Outrage does.
So the loudest people become the most visible people, and the most visible people start looking like the majority.
They usually aren’t.”
Quote to Ponder (to support the thesis in the link above)
“Social media amplifies extreme views as though they were representative of most Americans, and many of us are losing our sense of what other people are really like.
Many seem completely unaware that their hold on reality is being steadily undermined by what they are seeing online, and that the business models of these platforms, as well as livelihoods of countless “influencers,” depend on our continuing to gaze, and howl, into the digital abyss.
Read good books and real journalism.
And enjoy your life.”
Some of the above links are affiliate links. I earn a small percentage of the sale price from qualifying purchases.
