August 31, 2010
Image by silverxraven via Flickr
There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you will still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everyhting
-Tsunetomo Yamamoto
August 29, 2010
Another interesting post over at Vuurwapen Blog…Cleaning your AR-15 is Pretty Much a Waste of Time.
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And yet, the “clean your AR-15″ mantra is repeated over and over, in gun stores, online, at shooting ranges, in military training, and so on.
Over the past few years, I’ve fired a number of ARs (and a number of other weapons, for that matter) for thousands of rounds without any sort of cleaning whatsoever – in most cases, I just kept adding lubricant to the weapon. Recently, as you can see right below this post, I fired close to 3000 rounds through a 5.45 AR-15 without cleaning or lubrication.
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After reading what he has to say I kind of have to agree with him; but that agreement is entirely on an academic level, because I religiously clean my weapons every time I use them. The Army kind of hammers that into you very early on; and to be honest, I get a meditative enjoyment out of doing it. However, the proof is in the doing and the author has posted video of weapons being fired for thousands of rounds without issues.
Personally, I don’t think that the carbon build-up from firing is so much the issue as are the environmental factors. Dirt, moisture, mud, sand etc. in combination with lubricants and carbon can’t be doing your weapon any good. But that’s not what the author is saying here.
August 27, 2010
Image via Wikipedia
Then check out Wright’s Carolina Karate Center. Sensei Wright is a high school classmate of mine (a LONG time ago now) and has been dedicated to the martial arts for as long as I can remember. Checking out what he has to offer would be worth your while.
He has a blog at: http://senseijameswright.wordpress.com/
August 24, 2010
Image by joiseyshowaa via Flickr
By this time I’m sure that most of the folks who read what I put up here have noticed that I have taken an extended jaunt into the “gun nut” side of the house. I appear to have started a cycle of “weapon centeredness” and have decided to just post what I’m currently doing vs trying to cook up some more “cerebral” stuff to mix things up.
My interests and training/workout focus seems to ebb and flow between topics as the season goes by. I’m guessing my current direction is due to the influence of warmer weather, more outdoor activity and the approach of hunting season. When winter sets in you will most likely see the trend move back towards more philosophical and opinion centered posts.
August 24, 2010
An interesting post from a new (to me) blog I am following. Vuurowapen Blog.
Accuracy can be subjective.
For example, if I said that I had a pretty accurate rifle, but did not clarify that statement, one listener might think that I had a rifle that could shoot .5 MOA (1 MOA = 1.047″ at 100 yards), while another might think that I had a rifle that could shoot 2 MOA. The first guy might think that I based my statement on a single three shot group. The second might think that I fired ten shots.
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Check this blog out if you are a shooter.
August 24, 2010
Take a look at Black Rifle Works Ltd.
I only ordered a few springs and a Magpul baseplate from them, but I was impressed with their prices, availability (they say “if it’s on the site it’s in stock”) and speed of delivery.
For shipping USPS Priority Mail, I had the stuff on my desk as fast as or faster than stuff I have ordered through the “Big Name” suppliers that came FedEx or UPS. Worth a look if you are in the market for stuff. I have them on my list of trusted suppliers.
August 20, 2010
I currently own a Bushmaster Carbon 15 M4 style carbine. The carbon fiber receivers and it’s lack of a dust cover and forward assist make this model not everybody’s “cup o tea”, but I enjoy it; and for what I have been using it for it has been a dependable, lightweight and entirely sufficient tool.
I have been adding a few “upgrades” and components here and there over time. I have changed forends a few times, tried various vertical foregrips, and replaced the pistol grip. The one decision I had a tad of “buyers remorse” over was my stock replacement.
I wanted a fixed stock so I put an ACE ARFX-E entry length stock on it with a 1/2″ recoil pad. I like to run my carbine “nose to charging handle” and with the buttstock closer to the center of my chest with a squared up stance vs in the shoulder pocket and a more bladed stance. This short stock worked nicely when shooting this style, but I found that it was way too short for me to make any other position work efficiently.
In order to increase my length of pull a few additional inches I decided to replace the recoil pad with the beefier 1″ version. I also discovered the DPMS Buttstock Extender. This piece of Aluminum (with included buffer tube extension) added another 1″ of length. This put me (more or less) in the same neighborhood as an A1 stock.
A word of advice from a guy who apparently can’t learn a lesson. When I put the fixed stock on the first time I forgot that the buffer retention pin is spring-loaded and when the extension tube is threaded out it can shoot across a room quite expediently. Well, when I was putting the DPMS extender on guess what happened again. Yup….sprrrrooooinnng!
August 18, 2010
August 14, 2010
Let me preface this by saying that I discovered the plans for making this from the Box of Truth website.
I have been thinking about building a portable target stand for a while and I finally decided to make myself one. So off to the local hardware store I went.
1-10′ section of Schedule 40 PVC pipe 1-1/2″ diameter
2-PVC L Joints
2-PVC T Joints
2-PVC End Caps
1-Can PVC Cement
Total: $20.21
Things I forgot to get: Firring Strips
Cut the PVC pipe into 7 16″ lengths. And start gluing things together.
VIOLA! Thats pretty much it. All you have to do to set up is stick the last two sections of PVC into the T-Joint uprights and put your firring strips in. Its light and portable. It is a bit too light so be prepared to fill it with sand or stake it down if wind is going to be an issue.
Just for display purposes I put some 5′ lengths of PVC in and propped up a piece of cardboard. I think I am going to fabricate a cross piece of PVC and L-Joints to go across the top of these thinner pipes so I can hang bowling pins or other reactive targets from it.
At $20 apiece, I may just have to make a few more…word to the wise though, if your hardware shop will cut pipe to fit take advantage of it. Hacksawing the PVC into the 16″ lengths was the most difficult part of the whole project.
August 13, 2010
If you are a military/firearms/tactical buff you have probably heard all sorts of terminology applied to types of targets and methods of fire; point targets, grazing fire, plunging fire, indirect fire, area targets, etc. etc. etc.
For todays lesson I am going to cover the two most basic types of small arms target engagement; point targets and area targets.
This is typically a military issue. There is a difference between targets that you can hit directly and targets that your weapon is capable of striking even if you cannot.
The difference is very simple. Point Targets are when you are directly engaging an individual target. You see what you want to hit. You take up a sight picture and you engage the threat.
Area Targets are usually defined as those that are beyond a weapons range or capability to engage individual point targets or to be able to hit them effectively. This can also be expanded to include the shooters ability to strike targets at a given range. To engage an area target the firer typically aims for an “Area” that covers a group of targets, an area that is being suppressed for maneuver elements,or an area where incoming fire is coming from. Projectiles are then directed at that area in enough volume to hopefully strike one or more targets or at least suppress their ability to move or shoot back at you. This is a common tactic in the use of crew served weapons such as machine guns and grenade launching devices.
If you look up the data on any specific weapon you will see the ranges it is typically capable of. For example, the M4 carbine has the following defined range capabilities.
Which means that it’s 5.56 mm projectile can travel as far as 3,600 meters. In theory a soldier with enough skill and the right equipment like optics (and a dose of luck IMO), should be able to select and strike a point target as far away as 500M. Between 500 and 600M a soldier should be able to select an area target and be able to land rounds on it. Beyond 600M the ability to control where the rounds land is a crap shoot.
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