About First Shots

When it comes to learning about handguns, shooting and firearms ownership, not knowing how or where to start can be an intimidating hurdle for newcomers. First Shots® provides opportunities to get started and the support to continue in handgun shooting.

At a First Shots seminar, you will get:

• an educational introduction to the safe, recreational use of handguns
• a clear understanding of the local requirements for owning and purchasing a handgun
• individual and group training and shooting range access for continued participation
• shooting sports opportunities for all levels of interest

Join the millions of Americans who enjoy the shooting sports.  Come to our First Shots seminar and give handgun shooting a try.

Visit the First Shots website for more information

Bump one: hosting issues.  Hang in there, folks. Our PrEditor (producer/editor) Gail is working hard to get all fifty or so of the past podcasts re-posted so folks can download them. Look for them at http://proarmspodcast.com  She can’t be editing and posting new ‘casts until the old ones are reformatted and uploaded, yes, she’s making them smaller.

We’ve long had a potpourri format here, see-sawing between the eight-person round table with the core podcast group – Host Steve, PrEditor Gail, and Terri & Jon, Mike, Chris, Herman, and me – and interviews with the fascinating people we all run across in our regular work in the industry. Shows have been heavy on the latter lately, if only because events like the SHOT Show, the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association conference, and the National Tactical Conference/Polite Society match have given us a rich mine of knowledgeable people for us to bring to you.  Today, as I write this, Gail and I are in Chicago preparing to interview the last of the four named plaintiffs in the landmark Supreme Court gun rights case McDonald v. Chicago, and Lt. Bob Stasch, a veteran of fourteen gunfights. That’s the sort of resources you don’t get other places; we know we can get the eight of us together most any time.

Soon, though, we’ll get back to the round-tables we all enjoy doing. Listener feedback indicates that they miss those, too.

Remember to support the Gun Rights Radio Network! They host us, and many other podcasts that our group enjoys listening to, and of course GRRN hosts a lively and fascinating forum at http://gunrightsradio.com. Join in, and share the fun!  We’re having a contest to raise money for GRRN. If you subscribe for at least one year, or donate an equivalent amount ($24) or more, send an email to contest@massadayoobgroup.com, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win $800 worth of training from Massad Ayoob Group. We have courses all over the country and should have one within striking distance of you. The winner will be drawn on October 1, 2010. It’s a small step toward repaying GRRN founder Mark Vanderberg, who busts his butt for no profit to bring a huge amount of knowledge and entertainment to us all.

Share the fun, and the knowledge. We hope you enjoy the Pro-Arms Podcasts as much as we enjoy putting them together for you.

Best to all,

Mas

There are options for correcting sights that you just can’t see, and quickly align. New “high tech” sights are one, and the gun industry loves that approach because you spend money. A lower tech (but often more effective approach) is to simply paint the sights with colors you can quickly see.

The low tech approach is often surprising effective…. and darned cheap. And, you don’t even have to go through the hassle of removing the existing sights and installing new ones. You just paint what you have to something you can see. It’s not hard to do.

I’ve been painting sights for years. Part of that is that my 60-year old eyes don’t see plain black sights in the same manner that my 20-year old eyes did. To put it bluntly, my elderly eyes suck at black sights. Another reason for painting sights is that close range defensive pistol shooting doesn’t requires the same level of precise sight alignment one would need to achieve a Master classification in NRA Outdoor Pistol (bullseye shooting for the initiated… which I did achieve at age 23).

Whether you are putting holes in cardboard IDPA or USPSA/IPSC targets, or fending off a home invader, the operative word is: “solid COM hits – real fast!” In this situation (normally at ranges inside 15 yards) a 9 Ring hit is just as good as a X-Ring Hit. If you can make that 9 (or even a Ring hit really fast… you are very much ahead of the curve.

Highly visible sights can help you achieve that, and the simplest way to get them is to paint them yourself.

The key to effective handgun shooting, at least at close range, is to get the front sight locked into focus – fast! Some sight systems lag in that area. One of the most common is the ubiquitous “white three dot” system. In my opinion, this sight system sucks because you’re juggling three dots of the same color to get a proper alignment. I don’t like it, and solve that problem by painting the front dot a different color than the rear dots. That gives you a fighting chance of finding the front sight fast.

That works for some shooters, but I go further. I favor the SIG Bar-Dot system. This is a bright, highly visible front sight, that rests over a small soft white bar laying at the bottom of the rear notch sight and extending from only one side of the rear notch to the other.

For me (and my 60-year old eyes) stacking a bright front sight directly on top of a subtle rear bar is about as fast and accurate as my eyes can see. And, I do have a pile of current trophies on my “ I love me” wall to prove it.

There are a number of paints designed for sights. I’ve played with a lot of them. I don’t favor them. All I have tried are too soft and wear quickly; requiring frequent touch ups. The paints that have worked well for me are plain old Ace Hardware store brand white primer and fluorescent orange spray paint. A can of each will last a lifetime and cost less than $10 combined. You’ll also need a couple small artist brushes, Mineral Spirits to clean them (Ace has those too) some Q-tips, rubbing alcohol, and a business card or two.

Start by cleaning the front sight with alcohol/Q-tip to remove all oil and grunge. Put the gun in a fixture to hold it upright. A couple of boxes of ammo at the grips works. Spray a bit of white primer on a piece of paper, let it sit for about 30 seconds, then use an artist brush to coat the front sight. The white primer helps the paint stick and also helps brighten the fluorescent paint that will follow. You’ll likely spill some over onto the sides of the sight. Just fold a business card and scrape it down each side of the sight while the paint is still wet. That makes a clean job.

Let the primer dry 20 minutes, and repeat with the fluorescent paint. Let that dry overnight. Don’t rush it.

That will give you a full orange sight blade. If you just want to ‘orange’ an existing front white dot, it’s simpler. Clean the sight with alcohol, forget the primer (the dot is already white) and just slather on orange paint. Run the business card along the sides… and up the front of the sight. That’ll remove all paint except for that filling the recessed dot. You’ve now got a orange dot.

If you have a three-dot system and can live with two white dots flanking the front orange one, you’re done with the job. I prefer the rear bar, and that’s more work.

I start by painting out the rear dots with matte black paint. Once that’s dry I carefully cut small pieces of tape and insert then onto the rear sight to come right… exactly… to the edge of each side of the sight channel and extending down to the base of the sight. That is important because you want the white bar to just fill the distance between the open sight channel and no further. Once the tape job is done, a toothpick applies the white primer to the open area between the tape, just below the sight notch. I use the matte primer, and not gloss paint, because I don’t want reflected light – just the soft, matte, white bar.

Once the primer dries (give it a couple of hours) pull the tape and you should have a clean white bar just under the sight notch. It sounds low-tech. But, perching that bright orange front sight (or you can use fluorescent green if you prefer) right on top of that white bar is the fastest sight alignment I can achieve.

Done properly, this is cheap, effective, and really doesn’t take much time other than the time required for the paint to dry. Touching up worn paint is equally simple. But, you now have sights you can acquire quickly – and that’s the key to success.

5% off our already low prices on all in-stock firearms currently priced at $300 or more.

Special prize drawings throughout the day.

10 AM and 2 PM Free Seminars on Concealed Carry. Have your questions ready! Pre-register at the shop for a guaranteed seat!

Members of the Pro Arms Podcast Team will be on hand during the day to answer questions about guns, gear and the Pro Arms Podcast.

Massad Ayoob will be available for questions and to autograph copies of his books, the Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry and the Gun Digest Book of Combat Handgunnery, which are for sale in the shop. We might even have copies of the soon to be released, Massad Ayoob’s Greatest Handguns of the World.

And, as always, there will be the customary food and fun that John’s annual event is famous for. Stop in and visit on our BIG DAY!

It all depends on one’s needs. But one thing I will say is if you do decide to get a dog for protection, remember that it is a living thing. With a gun you can purchase it and never pick it up again. If you need it, it may or may not work out for you because of lack of training. If this is the case it will be your own fault, and hopefully never accidentally hurt anyone. But with the purchase of a dog it will need proper love and caring. You cannot purchase him, then leave him alone, expecting him then to be loyal and ready when you need him. Yes, they can be loyal to the worst owners. We have all seen their love and loyalty to people who have abused and mistreated them. But an effective protection dog is more than just a dog who loves you unconditionally.

I have been out of the group for over 12 weeks. The reason being, I just had a planned litter of 8 Rottweiler pups. When I have a litter (and yes, I said when I have a litter) all my time and time I do not have is spent with the mother and her pups. Yes even my husband now knows he is on his own. I have to say he is very good about this. Even though he has gone through this before, I have to thank him for all his support. Even a preplanned trip we had, he took alone while I stayed home. I may go a little overboard, but I feel it was my decision to have this litter and I make sure that they have the best possible start in life. I am with the mother 24 hours before delivery, during delivery and until they are a couple weeks old. They are taken total care of until they are ready for their new homes at 8 weeks. I am very proud of how the vet, the new owners, and everyone is impressed at how well all 8 look and are taken care of.

The joy I bring to the pups’ new families says it all. This is what I work for on every litter. But now it’s their time to spend looking after and caring for their new member to the family. Time schedules will change, trips will be canceled, shoes will be chewed if not watched, potty training, walking, feeding, just to name a few. So before you get a pet make sure you are willing to take the time to love and care for it for many years. If you are I hope they bring you years of enjoyment as mine have. And if it is one for protection all the more benefit for you and your family. Now after more than 10 weeks I was able to go shoot some, get some rest, and give more love and attention to my other dogs, and also to my understanding and loving husband.

What I discovered was enlightening. The current ammo shortage did not start in October 2008, that is just when it it finally hit the consumer in a hard way. The shortage had started over 18 months before that.

What I learned was that with the on going war in the middle east our country’s military ammo stock pile around the world had been depleted.

Since the government does not produce any ammo any longer, that production has been taken over by the private sector. The military demands created a heavy burden on production by itself. Along with our military demand one of the major ammo manufactures landed a very large foreign contract. This kind of contract could not be filled piecemeal  but had had to be shipped whole. I could not find out the amount of ammo in the contract only that it was a VERY large order.

With the strains already placed on the ammo manufactures for military production, civilian inventories were already very low. Now one of the major ammunition suppliers has to divert most of it’s production to fill a large contract. At a time when production is running at almost full capacity and 30 to 40 percent of the ammunition is diverted to someplace else, the rest of the manufactures can not compensate for the domestic loss of product.

The industry line is that we are producing ammo as fast as we can. This I believe is true, but there are some factors that are out of the ammo companies control.

Being in the outdoor power equipment industry for 27 years I have been able to visit a number of the factories that produce mowers, trimmers, chainsaws, ect. The ability to produce whole goods or loaded ammo relies on the raw goods suppliers as well.

When Winchester or ATK (Federal, CCI, Speer and Blazer) decide to ramp up production they can probably go at it for a little while with existing inventory of raw materials. When these raw materials are depleted they have to wait for more. In today’s world manufacturing inventory is managed in an on time delivery schedule, meaning that we do not stock pile product that is not sold anymore. This does not only apply to completed goods but raw material all the way back to the supplier of raw goods.

When an ammo company wants to increase production they have to rely on their suppliers to provide them the raw materials for that production. Folks this is not something that can happen in a week or even a month it takes time.

Now with such a hole sucked in the supply it is still going to take awhile to refill the pipe line. The best estimates I heard for the supply of ammo to return to normal levels was 12 to 18 months. Now with Winchester supplying up to 200 million rounds to the Department of Homeland Security, the civilian and domestic law enforcement market is taking another hit in ammo supplies.

Another factor is the media, seems like it was back in September somebody notified MSNBC that there was an ammo shortage in the commercial market. This happened at a time when we as a retailer were starting to see a little better supply of ammo. MSNBC was only about eleven months late in report. The report started another feeding frenzy by people not aware yet of the ammo shortage and depleted any product that was starting to build in inventory.

Tie a knot in your rope and hang on, hopefully we will be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel in the coming months. When the firearms started filling the pipeline it filled up fast. For those of us that shoot a lot, lets hope the same happens for ammunition.

“HOW CAN THEY GET AWAY WITH THAT!!!!” we all scream. Well, there’s a simple reason they can get away with that, and that’s because they own the ink and paper. And, once in print, many accept their cr*p as fact. In many cases, the Mainstream Media (MSM) they could care less whether or not the printed material is factually correct as long as it fits their liberal template, and the private ownership of guns is not high on their list of favorites. Expect them to be anti-gun.

You can yell, scream, beat the dog, use the paper to wrap fish or line the bird cage, get onto a Forum and rant (I call that “preaching to the choir”), or just stew about it. Or, you can respond via a Letter To The Editor.

The latter can be far more effective than you may realize, since it can acquaint the readers with the fact that the paper “screwed the pooch” on the truth. Just venting, however, may not get your letter published. It needs to be done properly. And, there is a bit of art, and some degree of science, involved in getting a Letter To The Editor that criticizes the newspaper  actually published in that newspaper. I know that because at one time I was well paid by various conservation groups to write Letters To The Editor to refute liberal fallacies impacting these conservation/outdoor recreation groups. Having spent (by that point in time) 20 years as an Outdoor Editor for a Times-Mirror newspaper, I knew what would capture the attention of the Editorial Page editor, and… literally… force them to print a letter that called them incompetent.  Here’s how I did it… and how you can do it.

Step 1:

Let your blood pressure return to normal and then calmly analyze the piece for the FACTUAL ERROR. There is often at least one. This becomes your focus, and what will become the basis for your response. These factual errors may be blatant, or subtle. An example of blatant is “One person in the United States dies every 10 minutes from gunfire”.  Do some research on FBI statistics and you can refute that with fact. An example of subtle might me “More people die of gunshot wounds every year than in automobile accidents”. Same research…. Google it… refute it.

Step 2:

Once you have your ERROR… look for a second… it will often be subtle…

Step 3:

Once you have both of those, look for “snarky comments”… liberals in opinion pieces or Letters To The Editor cannot help but make them (check the Pro Arms Podcast archives for Dwayne Waldens piece in the Suwannee Democrat newspaper… it’s a classic example of liberal condescending “snark”) … file that away for latter inclusion.

Step 4:

Writing your Letter to the Editor.

1. Check the newspaper itself for their guidelines. In most cases they want Letters To The Editor to be 350 words or less, although they may run a truly well written 500 word letter. Abide by that! Don’t ramble… don’t rant… be concise. Consider this to be a Sniper shot instead of a shotgun blast.
2. Begin your letter with the proper format: example…. To The Editor; I read with interest your (identify the piece you are complaining about properly… if it was a news article, state so. An opinion piece, same, an Editorial, same, Letter To The Editor, same… positively identify the particular piece, the publication date) an example would be…. To The Editor, I recently read your 4 June Opinion piece by Butthead Liberal, “ Why Only Cretins Own Guns”, and found factual errors within it.” THE KEY IS FACTUAL ERRORS… if that is in your lead sentence you WILL have the editor’s attention, even if they are a flaming liberal. FACTUAL ERRORS is the biggest scare you can throw into a local newspaper editor, and they will read your letter… and are likely to publish it even if it gives them heartburn.
3. Once you have the lead, make your first paragraph about the most blatant factual error… refute it with facts… provide reference documentation. BE VERY POLITE… NO LIBERAL SNARK… BE AN ADULT…. BAD LANGUAGE, OBSCENE COMMENTS, CHARACTER DENEGRATION… ALL WILL GET YOUR LETTER TOSSED!
4. From there, second paragraph on the other less blatant errors, or on the snark. You can, politely make fun of the typical innuendos.
5. Close with a declarative statement (but not an antagonistic one)…. example: “As concerned citizens we would all like to see violent crimes rates decrease. But, misinformation, as seen in (yadda yadda article) does little to solve the problem, and only muddies the waters. As a loyal reader I would expect more facts and less inflammatory opinion. (avoid using liberal, whacko, etc… to describe the opinions… liberals do that… we deal in facts)
6. Sign your letter with your name, and your home town (the latter is BIG with Editors… inflates their ego as to how far and wide their mullet wrapper is actually read). Then, expect a phone call from the newspaper to actually confirm that you are the one who wrote this, and do live where you say you do. Don’t lie… not in your Letter, or in your phone conformation. Liberals do that cr*p. We don’t need to.

It takes some time, and some thought, and the proper procedure, to get a newspaper to print a letter that clearly states their content is not factual. But, if you do it right they will. They really won’t have a choice.  And,… everyone who read the original piece will now see your response. That’s pretty cool, especially since you’re using their own ink and paper to get out the truth that they choose not to print.

In the February 2010 edition of the American Rifleman, an article lists nine .380ACP (9-mm Short, 9-mm Kurz) offerings from several manufacturers.

I was always skeptical of the little 380.  Back in my days on-the-job, the 9-millimeter wasn’t doing all that well, absolutely more the fault of the FMJ ammo available at the time than the cartridge itself.   So how, I pondered, would the lesser powered 380 be?

I once bought a Mauser HsC from a retiring officer.  It looked so cool, made in Germany!  I took it to my dad’s home to try it out, he then lived in rural Staten Island.  I can’t remember which ammo I bought, but it was of FMJ design, 90-something grain bullet.  I tried it out on an old junker Ford Falcon which we had in the yard.  I was sadly dismayed at the total lack of penetration on the car door, or ability to puncture the old bias-ply tires the Falcon had.  My “lowly” service revolver in 38-Special did better.

Later, I bought a Manhurin 380, a French copy of the Walther PP.  Had more-or-less the same lackluster results from it.  Eventually both these steel-frame semi-auto were traded for something else.

Now, I’d owned a couple really small “hide-out” guns along the way.  I had a beautiful Baby Browning, a Colt, and an LWS Seacamp in 25 ACP. Thought I was going around armed I did!  Heck, most cops I’d worked with, myself included, carried a snub-nose 38 “off-duty”, and that was IT!  No speed-strips or loose ammo for a reload.  Thank goodness for the new training and awareness courses that show the need for these.

It was an odd belief, truly a conundrum.  Most all uniformed cops bemoaned the lack of stopping power and capacity of our 38 Spl. revolvers even with our twelve to eighteen available rounds to reload, yet were completely at ease with a 2-inch snubby.  Go figure.

I began in this fashion in retropect of what I used to carry versus what I now carry.

Now, I have several handguns which can firmly be said to be in the “major” caliber corner.  I’ve competed with and carried the big bores;  the 45’s, 10-mm’s & 40 S&W’s, 44-specials, and the 41-Magnum.  Certainly in regard to brute power I’d give the nod to the 10-mm.  But, in the case of the Glock models 20 and 21, they are large pistols.

But, it seems to me, even with all the available calibers and handgun sizes and configurations available today, (indeed there is something for everyone), my default or “go-to” combination is a Glock model 19, backed-up with an S&W model 442 in 38Spl.

I rely very much on Dr. James Williams’ excellent study, “Tactical Anatomy“, which clearly demonstrates the wound channels of the “major” players in self-defense handguns.  While I can see there is some small differences in the 9-millimeter projectiles (the 38-Spl/357-Mag/357-SIG, 9-mm Luger) to the 10-millimeter ones (the 40 S&W and 10-mm) to the 11-millimeter (well actually 11.45mm, the venerable 45-ACP and the newer 45-GAP), and there just isn’t that much to speak of.  The key of course, and it is no secret, is proper placement.  And, it’s just that friggin’ simple.

So, to me, and understand this has been a long and well travelled road for me, I’ve come to a point in my life where I feel comfortable and confident carrying the “nine” (thanks to the  ammunition available today, specifically the Winchester Ranger 127-grain +P+ load or similar) and my ol’ reliable, trusty 38 (loaded with the tried-n-true 158-grain lead, semi-wadcutter, +P hollowpoints.)

These two handguns are light enough to carry comfortably 12 to 14 hours a day if need be.  I prefer an IWB for the Glock (a Ted Blocker LFI-rig) and one of the pocket-holsters for the 442.

Are there better choices? more powerful choices?  Sure, and they’re fine-n-dandy.  But, consider carrying a big Glock model 20 or a Colt Government model – concealed.   Can it be done?  Yes, I’ve done it.  Was it as comfortable?  I’d have to answer no, not really.  Go further and consider recoil management.  Even loaded with the +P ammo, the nine is very gentle in the recoil department.  Actually, I feel more of a recoil impulse with the Airweight Smith.  The 10-mm and the 45’s recoil more.  The 40 S&W in a Glock model 27 has noticible recoil to me.

I like to practice.  I enjoy it.  I’m fortunate to be able to shoot locally; paper targets, steel plates and Pepper-poppers.  I reload most all of my target and practice ammo.  Store-bought ammo is expensive and self-defense ammo is becoming exhorbitant.  Nine mil and 38 special are less expensive to purchase and an absolute bargain if you handload.

In a very real sense, coming up on 38-years of “packin’ iron”,  I’m putting my trust in my choices for concealled carry options.  With my combination I feel I’ve done my homework, (I’ve used and carried many others), and looked at some good information and believe these will do-to-ride-the-river-with.  But, that being said, I will not use anything less than a true 9-mm Luger or 38-Special.

I know this is my own subjective opinion, but I cringe at much of the stuff being touted in the self-defense media.  Three-eighty’s and thiry-two’s are pretty lacking.  And, I can’t quite swallow how a load of 410 bird or buck shot, fired out of a very brief  pistol barrel, is somehow superior to a decent 38?

Human beings are tough and very resiliant.  In the worst case scenario, please give yourself a fighting chance of survival.  To paraphrase a popular commercial, “What’s in your holster?”

Thanks for the oportunity to offer my experiences and opinions.

Stay safe, & let’s look out for each other,

Mike

It was Sharp and useful.

It also was a male magnet, unfortunately I was getting married.

After marriage I bought a PINK metallic Ford Probe. It also was Sharp and maybe not as practical. But for me and my husband it was great and all we needed.

It attracted men and women.

When it got wrecked (not by me) I bought a Purple Mustang.

Sharp it was.

Maybe not as practical to some, but we had no kids and when we traveled it was great.

It was a women magnet. I do apologize to the friends who bought it. You see he was a college student but also he was spoken for already.

Sorry to his now wife for all the women it attracted. Now I drive a white SUV. Now we could not get all our stuff and everyone else that usually goes places with us in a car. But with the SUV we can all go together at times. Plus all the times we have to carry so much stuff.

It is also sharp and practical.

So getting to the styles of guns that attract different people.

We all have different taste.

Different likes and dislikes.

So what style gun you like is different from me.

BUT THEY ALL MUST BE PRACTICAL AND USABLE FOR THAT PERSON.

I always purchased the vehicle then picked the color. Buy the gun then pick

your options that are available if they have any.  Now getting to the

big fuss about marketing and PINK. Yes pink sells.

Also Hot babes sell. It can also be overdone and stop a sale.

As most of you know we are also in the lawn equipment retail business. Yes they have ads with women on mowers and with chainsaws. And there is no way they could use this equipment with what they have on or don’t have on.

If all the ads are this way it can turn women to another brand.

You would be surprised at the women who purchase and use mowers and chainsaws. They sometimes can be the determining factor if their husband is able to make a purchase. Now getting to the point of advertising and  stereotyping.

Women who shoot, mow use a chainsaw are rough-tough and non feminine.

If women shoot they shoot pink guns or they are rough and tough.

Maybe they are single, or husband is disabled, or no longer with them, so they have to mow, clean the yard, learn to shoot.

They want and need what will work for them when needed. This does not mean design and color can not be added, as long as it does not take away from it being reliable and usable for the person who has to use it.

I personally want to see the ad with the Tarzan man in a lion cloth, or Rambo in colored g-strings with the tanned body shooting the decked out 1911 with faux pearl grips with gold inlaid on the slide. Alligator holster and magazine pouches.

Or the XD with blue flames.

Just my opinion.

Terri