ProArms News & Views

This week I attended the AcuSports dealer booking show.
Monday they had an afternoon at the range, for new firearm testing.
A couple of things stood out.

Glock GEN4

Shot the Gen4 Glock mod 22. The Gen4 has a different grip frame than
the previous products from Glock.
The grip frame has been reduced in size much like the slim frame
versions of the 10mm/45acp frame. The gun comes with two additional
back strap covers for lack of a better term. The grip enhancers clip
into the bottom of the dust channel and are retained by the trigger
housing pin at the top. Glock does provide a longer pin for the
thicker and slightly wider grip additions.
We did not get to try the guns with the different grips installed, but
in it’s smallest configuration it felt very good in my hands.
The magazine release is different in shape and is reversable. Old mags
will work with the new frame as long as the release stays on the left
side of the gun. To Glocks credit the guns will be coming with (3) mags.
The recoil spring has been changed to a dual captive spring like on
their compact models G26, G27, G30 ect.
The dual recoil spring and adjustable grip size really helped to
reduce the recoil impulse of the 40S&W cartridge.

Taurus

The new 738TCP (Taurus Compact Pistol) is a winner in the tiny .380
pocket pistol market. The sights are a little larger and wider than
the LCP/Keltec offerings. The pistol felt slightly larger in my hand
and I mean slightly. I did not have the opprotunity to directly
compare the TCP and the LCP. The 738 shot great 5 rounds touching at
about 7 yards.
Had the chance to shoot the Taurus 709 Slim for the first time and
think it is a good gun for the money. Very slim, compact and in
9MM!!!!!! It is not a Kahr P9 but for the cost it is a good buy.

Ruger

They intruduced the compact version of the SR9 the SR9c. About the
same size of the M&P and XD compacts. It comes with a standard flat
bottom magazine but has a finger extension in the case along with a
full size mag with a grip adaptor on it.
Shooting the compact was very comfortable with both the flat bottom
mag and one with the finger extention. Ruger reps told me they have
been working on the trigger in the SR9 series and it showed on the 9c.
It was the best trigger pull I have felt on an SR9 yet.

SIG Sauer

Shot the full size P250 in 9mm. Very nice. SIGis also shipping the
combo kits now with a full size firearm and an additional subcompact
grip, slide assy and mag.

Smith and Wesson

The new 2.5in barrelled J-frames are nice. More positive ejection and
the longer sight radius make them easier to shoot. Also available this
year will be 38spl J-frames with the cylinder machined to use full
moon clips for reloading. I guess now we will see M&P340’s being shot
in enhanced service revolver at IDPA marches. Asked but no mention
of one in 9mm yet (darn it)
The new M&P’s wil be available with night sights from Smith again and
are supposed to have an upgraded trigger like the M&P Pro.

Shot the Walther P380, nice shooting, would be great for the recoil
sensitive. The gun is a little large for a .380 which makes it a pussy
cat to shoot. Hope to see a compact version in the near future.

FNH

SCAR will be out in .308 shortly. That should be a hoot.
The 45 Tactical felt really good in the hand and shooting.

Winchester is expanding the PDX1 line of personal defence ammo. New .
380, .410 for the Judge and a 12ga with a slug and buckshot in the
same cartridge.

That is it for me. Hope to be hearing about more products in the next weeks
with the SHOT Show starting on Monday.

There is a great write up of the Gun Rights Radio Network this week on the AmmoLand website.  If you haven’t listened to any of the Podcasts you’re missing a lot of good information and don’t forget the GRRN forum where you can interact with all of the Podcasters and other listeners.

Our Podcast, The ProArms Podcast is on hiatus due to a server crash but is expected to be up and running in its new location just in time for the SHOT Show so stay tuned for more great news from the SHOT Show and then it’s back to our regular fortnightly podcasts.

This has been an exciting year for the team at ProArms and Johns Lawn Equipment. We really launched ProArms last
November with the move into the new building at Johns Lawn Equipment. The new building and the new business has been an
exhilarating experience to say the least. We have not been able to make as many of the local matches as we wanted with the adult
responsibility thing going on and the added work load, but we have been blessed in this venture. We have had a tremendous amount
of support from friends and the community.

I also want to thank all of you for your support both in the store, through the podcast and the forums. The support we have heard
thru the forums and your comments at the matches are all much appreciated. We hope we can continue to provide you with good products, good advice and hopefully good entertainment.

I personally want to thank some people that have made this venture possible:

Terri Strayer – She has put up with my short temper at times when things have not been just right, took on a lot of extra work that came along with the new business and the expansion of the Johns Lawn Equipment and been there to support me through everything that we have undertaken.

Mas Ayoob – His advice and mentoring in so many ways. He is such a wealth of knowledge it is unbelievable. Mas thank you.

Gail Pepin – Gail is the one that has taken care of all of the techno work. If it were not for Gail there would not be a ProArms podcast, website or blog. She has worked tirelessly to keep the podcast and all of techno stuff in order.

Herman Gunter – Herman is a long time friend who has mentored me in firearms, personal protection and life in general. Herman and I have spent many a Friday evening at the range shooting and solving all of the worlds problems. Herman is the one who introduced Terri and myself to Mas back in 1998 at the first class he taught in Live Oak.

Steve Denney – The manager of ProArms and the podcast host. He has put in a lot of extra time to get both of these endeavors going. Plus his knowledge of self defense. It all comes through at the counter of the store, in the concealed carry classes, the personal protection classes or at the range.

Chris Christian (GOF) – Everybody needs one. Chris has been the one that will grab me by the throat and stop me from going in the wrong direction. I know you have all heard he and I go back and forth during the podcasts. Exchanges like those can only happen between family and Chris is a brother to me.

I can not go into all of the things that these people mean to me in this short blog post, it would fill a book. These are not just friends these people are family.

From me and the entire ProArms Team

May all of your hits be down zero and all of your times be personal bests.
Stay safe and keep up the good fight.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

–
John Strayer
Johns Lawn Equipment Inc.
ProArms Inc
www.proarmsinc.com

The Pro Arms Podcast website (Podbean.com) has been down for at least a week, with no indication of when it will be functioning correctly again.  In the meantime, Gail is working on a new website for hosting the Podcast, so stay tuned.  For additional information, please check out the Pro Arms Podcast section of the GRRN Forums at:

A lot of women will tell you that if someone was going to do their child bodily harm, they would defend their children. Then you ask them, if they were harmed or killed would not that cause harm to your child also?  But when you ask them how they would carry out that defense, everything changes.

Do you carry a gun? Do you carry a knife and know how to use it? Do you have any hand to hand training?

That brings up another question, are you aware of your surroundings? Will you have time to react should trouble come your way?

I found discussing actual events with people where the victim either did not react or did not have the ability to react (gun, knife or physically), really brings self defense to the forefront for women. It makes people think about what happened: How could I have prevented this? How could I have defended myself?

Some excuses:

• “My husband always carries a gun.”
• “I have a gun in the car or in the house.”

Are you always at you husband’s side?
What about a girls’ day out or the gym?
Do you take your car in the store with you?

Have you ever thought about how long it would take to get to your car from inside the mall or just the convenience store when there is an attacker between you and your car?

Your wife has made the choice to carry a firearm for self protection? Guys, we need some help here. We need to practice and learn to be proficient with the chosen firearm. You’ll encounter excuses here, too. “Too much to do (taking care of the entire household is damn near a full time job in addition to work).”  “The house needs cleaning, there are dirty clothes stacking up, there dirty dishes to be washed, dinner to prepare, etc.”

How about a little help around the house to free up a little time to get to the range and not be thinking about all that is waiting for her at home? That will create an opportunity to focus on learning the marksmanship skills that are needed.

Now that we have the time and mindset of learning to shoot this is going to bring up a difficult subject:

Teaching Your Wife to Shoot

The dreaded words, you’re teaching your wife to shoot. Yes it is better if you can get someone else to teach your wife to shoot! But maybe there are no good teachers around your area. Maybe the cost is a major issue.  Whatever the reason, now it is up to you.

I have watched my husband teach women and he is great at it, but when it came to me he SUCKED.

Think of it like a date. When you took your wife out the first time you wanted her to have fun and hopefully, get another date. Or to put it more in your perspective (the man’s) get past first base… and hopefully score. Well, take your wife on a date to the range. Make it fun. Do not bark orders. Slowly show her the right way to do things to get better results. If it feels good and does not hurt her she may want to keep doing it. As she improves she will be willing for more.

Take the time to EXPLAIN why to do it this way. PATIENCE! Then give her time to adjust to that. Remember when you started shooting you did not always have the perfect stance-grip-sight picture-trigger squeeze. So be patient, if you have her working on one thing don’t bark out other commands. Wait then slowly add to the work in progress.

Also remember that everyone is different. What you think would work best may not always be the case. Then stop and do some easy fun drills. Then stop. Remember you want to get lucky tonight.  Go to dinner. Go home. Cook on the grill. Sit down and spend time together. Then she just might be willing to go on a second date.

Tomorrow is the 7th annual National Ammo Day. The goal is for everyone to buy at least 100 rounds. Now some of you might say hasn’t that been going on all year? Hasn’t everyone already bought all the ammo they could get their hands on? Well yes, maybe.

Most calibers are still hard to find most places around the country including right here at ProArms. We do have ammo in all of the popular calibers except maybe .380. You may not find as wide a selection as in the past but this week is the time to buy at least 100 rounds and buy it preferably from your local stores, not the big boxes. If you can’t find that favorite 9mm or .45 load, get some shotgun shells, get anything you can use.

Christmas buying season is coming upon us. Kill two birds with one stone by purchasing ammo as “small gift” items for friends who own guns. It’s always appreciated, and those small, rectangular boxes are easy to wrap!
We keep hearing that ammo is becoming more available, but I have not really seen it while traveling around the country, and I visit gun shops everywhere I go. The ones that seem to have a good supply of ammo either stockpiled it early, like my friends at Maxon Range in DesPlaines, IL and mete it out in reasonable amounts so no one hoarder can buy it all up. Then there are some other places (who shall remain nameless) that have plenty of ammo but sell it at gouging prices. I hope everyone remembers who they are when this ammo crisis is over.

National Ammo Day is also a good time to let your representatives know what you are doing and why, and let them know how you support the Second Amendment and hope they will, too. There is a link on the National Ammo Day Website for contacting your representatives.

Pro Arms has a pretty good selection of ammo this week. Stop by the store and see what we have that you might be able to use!

A small sampling of  what is available at Pro Arms right now.

We finally have a few of the new Ruger Light Compact Revolvers (LCR) available in the store.  Both the regular grip and the Crimson Trace Laser Grip versions are in stock.  These are still in short supply, so stop by now if you would like to see why this innovative Ruger design is setting a new standard in the world of  small, lightweight revolvers.

I know in CCW classes people get tired of hearing teachers repeat the 4 major safety rules.

1. Treat all guns as if they are loaded.
2. Keep finger off trigger until ready to shoot (the gun is on target).
3. Never point it anything you do not want to destroy (that includes your body parts).
4. Know your target and what’s beyond (also around) it.

But it only takes a fraction of a second for something to go wrong. If by chance you do mess up and cross yourself, if you have your finger off the trigger then life is still good.

If moving from point A to point B and you trip, if you have your finger off the trigger, life is good.

If your finger is on the trigger but the gun is pointed in a safe direction when it goes off, life is still good.

Just because you have been handling guns for a long time it does not mean an accidental discharge will never happen to you. The only way to be sure it does not happen to you is to never pick up a gun.

We have been to major matches and seen and heard of it happening to good shooters, Safety Officers and Range Officers, etc. National champions, even.

At your local matches you go and pay your fee and shoot. And at most all they ask of you is for you to help paste and maybe tear down a stage. But they (the hosts) have taken the time to plan the stages and taken the time to set up the stages and then during the match run the stages. They watch you and run you through a stage safely. Then they may shoot the stages.

They then have to clean up and make sure everything is put up. Then someone has to post the scores and do the paper work. They do not get paid. They do get fussed at, at times. They hardly ever get a “thanks”. They did all this just to shoot like you did.

So you can see even with their experience, if everything is not “front and center” they also can screw up. I believe this is a good reminder that safety must always be first. So if experienced shooters can screw up now you know why we press safety with new shooters.

You learn what you practice.

So, practice safety first. And always remember it CAN happen to you, but as long as you followed the rules you probably only embarrassed yourself.

As an IDPA Safety officer shooting at least two matches a month, I’m often asked by newer shooters whether or not they should start reloading. My answer is always an emphatic “Maybe!”… or “Maybe Not”.

That’s not being facetious. It’s actually factual. Not every shooter will benefit from reloading, and not every reloader will realize all of the commonly assumed benefits. It all depends on what you shoot and how you shoot it. To keep things simple, I’ll just talk about handguns here, since there are significant differences in the “whys” of reloading handgun rounds as opposed to rifles.

For starters, a gun owner who has one or two handguns kept for self-defense and fires just a box or so of practice ammo each month doesn’t need to reload. It’s very ill advised to carry reloaded ammunition for self-defense, so factory fodder works there. And, a box of lower priced practice ammo a month isn’t going to break the bank. This shooter isn’t going to improve the performance of their ammunition, or save any money, be reloading.

Add a few more guns & calibers, get into competitive shooting (or just a heavy practice schedule to improve skills) and reloading becomes viable.

The first consideration is cost. Reloading equipment and components cost money. That will require some amount of time to recoup via ammo savings. How fast that occurs depends upon the cartridge case – it is the most expensive component of a loaded round, but also the only reusable one. If you have a source of inexpensive brass you can cut your ammo costs by half, and recoup your equipment investment fairly quickly if you are shooting regularly. There is one range that I shoot matches at that allows people to pick up range brass after a match. In 30 minutes I can collect 400-500 9mm cases (most of it once fired Win White box). That makes sense. Other ranges only allow you to pick up your own brass. That doesn’t make dollar sense. You can buy brass, but if you go that route your savings will be noticeably less. If you’re thinking about getting into reloading to save money, figure out where you’re going to get your brass before you take the plunge.

Another commonly assumed notion is that reloaded ammo will outperform factory fodder. That’s not always true. It’s very difficult to equal the consistent accuracy and velocity of premium factory ammo. The best the reloader can hope for it to get close to it. With the less expensive factory practice ammo, you can equal it and sometimes beat it, but not by a significant margin.

The performance advantage achieved by handloading is in allowing you to tailor your load to a specific task. I’ll use the 9mm in IDPA/USPSA competition as an example. Both organizations require a 125 minimum Power Factor. That number is determined by multiplying the bullet weight x velocity and dividing the resulting figure by 1000. To make the 125 PF a 115-grain bullet must hit 1095 fps, a 124 grainer needs 1010 fps, and a 147 needs 851 fps. The two lighter bullets need more powder to hit those velocities than the 147 does to reach its required figure and they actually recoil more. They also, despite their velocity, do not knock down steel targets as reliably as the heavy bullet. So, the 147-grain bullet at 851 fps produces a softer load that hits harder. That’s one reason why the majority of top competitors use it in their 9mms.

The problem is that most factory 9mm 147 loads hit 950 – 990 fps. More powder & recoil than you need, and some of the advantage is lost. There are a couple of 9mm147-grain “match loads” offered that clock about 900 fps, but they are expensive. A reloader can equal their performance for considerably less cost.

If you shoot a .38 Spl in competition (as I often do) you almost have to be a reloader because there are only a few factory .38 revolver loads that will make the required 125 PF. Yet, a reloader can make them easily and this is one case where you can beat the accuracy of factory loads. I have a couple of .38 competition reloads that are softer shooting and noticeably more accurate than any factory .38 Spl 125 PF load.

The same thing extends to the .40 S&W and .45 ACP for competition. You can soften recoil and equal, or increase, accuracy. And, if you can handle the brass acquisition, you can do it for half the price.

There are advantages and disadvantages to reloading (the time factor is a minus for many). Whether a shooter needs to reload… or will see any benefit from it… comes down to what they need to accomplish by reloading.

We went to another range and shot an IDPA match. The US Training Center in Moyock N.C. The subject came up again about how nice and helpful everyone is at these matches. From the guards at the gate,the Match directors, the IDPA Regional Director, to the competitors. Since IDPA is about practical shooting in a self-defense scenario, I believe this has a lot to do with everyone’s helpfulness and politeness. Shooting with a good group of people with the same mind set, The right to bear arms. An ARMED SOCIETY IS A POLITE SOCIETY. Thanks to everyone, it was a great match.