Ken Nelson

I think mocking and humor, like this, will get libertarian and conservative issues farther than engaging liberals in shout fests on talk-TV/radio.

 
Example of firing in a “direction”
Unrealistic simulation of something unlike the actual situation

Correct behavior?

Johnson drew his own handgun and returned fire in the direction of the suspects, who fled the scene.

Not in my book. I fire at a specific spot on a specific target. Suppressive fire, in a neighborhood, isn’t part of my self-defense plan.

It is hard to get the entire situation out of news reports, but as it reads, I would have handled it differently.  Bullets fly miles and can kill out of eye sight. Each shot needs to be accounted for and you should train so you can know when you can and can’t make a shot.  Shots should end in bad guys or in identified safe backstops behind them. Period.

Ready to race out of the box

Brian has written a review STI’s GP6-C pistol. It is their offering for USPSA Production and IDPA Stock Service Pistol classes:

The GP6-C is race-ready out of the box. There’s no need to spend a lot of money on a heavily customized SIG, Glock or XD, nor go to the trouble of installing aftermarket parts. Even with hundreds of dollars in aftermarket triggers and components, you will only come close to the single-action trigger on the GP6-C, probably its most outstanding feature. It is a new gun, so accessories are scarce, but I’ve found three suitable holsters and magazine holders. I’m very impressed with the GP6-C, and you’ll see me shooting it in IDPA competitions in the coming months.

I shot it as well and liked it.  Especially the SA trigger, with an extremely crisp 3lb trigger and next to no reset.   I’ve got my G34 pretty well slicked up, at a cost of about $1100 dollars if I add it all up (and I DON’T usually!).  Some of that isn’t in the gun still, you have to try stuff and see if you like it.

The GP6-C offers race ready, no-hassle performance, for $600-$700 bucks. 

It is also light and a pretty decent home defense / carry gun.

But hey… read the review, he covers it in detail.

While in Phoenix recently I dropped by the Dillon Precision factory store. While there I purchased a Dillon Leather by Mitch Rosen leather inside the waistband clip on holster.

After a week or so wearing it in, I can say this is a very comfortable and easy to get on and off holster. 

How comfortable?  I find myself at home, after taking a nap, working on the computer, and I have to feel my waist to see if I’m packing my full sized Glock 22.  It is very comfortable,and I can feel it getting more so as it wears in and fits to my body.

I had been using my 1911 Commander sized CrossBreed holster. It, too, is comfortable, but it is quite difficult to get on and off, and while the G22 “fits” it isn’t as protective of the trigger as I liked. So I decided to give the Mitch Rosen leather a try.

It is easy to get on and off and the clip works from dress belts up to my 1.75” Wilderness belt.

I recommend this holster heartily, especially if you choose to carry a full sized pistol.

Barbie for men

Bob Owen says that reports of the collapse of the AR-15 market are premature. That matches my experience too.  Obama fueled a crazy rush on them. And he still may again, as I suspect should he get a second term that firearms will be a target.

In fact, gun buyers that purchased ARs for the first time in the past year seem to have fallen in love with the design. Instead of buying a second basic model, however, they are returning to the market in search of more refined and specialized variants, or variants in other calibers. The market, instead of collapsing, seems to be transforming.

But the market has transformed. I own two of them, and will sell one, plus some other guns, to get a gas piston version specialized for the 3-Gun competition my son and I enjoy.

The firearms market has always been cyclical. The Obama rush plus veterans returning and eager to own an M4 variant in civilian life peaked the market a year ago. Now it cools, but remains strong.

As to the rifle… I love it.   Two is plenty, though.

 
John Salter is seated on the left
I wonder how stupid the idiots in back feel today, if they are alive.

I found the picture above while searching for John Salter. I’d found him mentioned at the Volokh Conspiracy in a post about armed community activists.

Later, I worked for years in the Deep South as a full-time civil rights organizer. Like a martyred friend of mine, NAACP staffer Medgar W. Evers, I, too, was on many Klan death lists and I, too, traveled armed: a .38 special Smith and Wesson revolver and a 44/40 Winchester carbine.

The knowledge that I had these weapons and was willing to use them kept enemies at bay. Years later, in a changed Mississippi, this was confirmed by a former prominent leader of the White Knights of the KKK when we had an interesting dinner together at Jackson.

Modern liberals don’t like regular folk to be armed. I suppose that is because liberals know that they, being in charge now, are likely to be the targets of protests.

As some readers will know, I became concerned about the reliability of my 1911 Smith & Wesson 1911PD. Not so much that particular gun as the 1911 design itself, which is fussy and must be religiously maintained.  I’d experienced jams in recent matches with it out past 80 rounds or so without cleaning.   Now, as a carry gun that is fine I suppose. I don’t expect concealed carry situations to go beyond 2 or 3 rounds. BUT I like to compete with what I carry because it helps me get better with it. AND the jams to provide a nagging “will it work when I need it” concern. 

So I’ll be selling the 1911PD to someone more savvy with 1911’s.  And a shopping I went.

After review of guides and reviews, I narrowed the field down to the Sig P226, Glock 22, and the HK USP, all in .40. 

I liked all three guns, but the Sig and the HK felt heavy and bulky and I didn’t like their initial double action trigger.  The Sig was $750, the HK $680 and the Glock $450.

So I went with the Glock.  And later today I shot it for the first time.

It shot… like a Glock.  Compared to my race Glock and my other customized guns the trigger was long. It shot dead on, or maybe slightly left, but not enough I wanted to drift the sights over.  Without a bench to hold it super steady I couldn’t be sure, but I could hold it in a 4 inch circle freestyle at 15 to 20 yards.

And a pleasant surprise awaited me… it fits my SuperTuck holster I got for my 1911PD. So no new accessories are needed. I’m typing now with it on, and it is noticeably lighter than the Smith.  And… I don’t have to carry an extra magazine and I still get 16 rounds of .40.

All I have to do now is put some night sights on it, and skate tape for the grip and it will serve me fine for many years…. with few to no jams and very little cleaning required.

Just the ticket for a mechanically challenged fellow like me.

So the carry plan going forward is… in shorts and untucked shirt carry the Glock 22. In Sunday clothes the LCP.

Doesn’t go boom                     Does go boom.

I recall reading an article about Kareem Abdul Jabbar, who owned a fancy 12 cylinder Jaguar. The article mentioned a truism that went something like if you own 5 Jaguars you will also own a mechanic.  They were, and are, fine cars but required constant love to keep running.

That is how I feel about 1911 pistols now. I love them. They feel right in my hand. And they hit where I aim.  But, for me, they don’t go boom all the time. Instead they don’t go to battery, or the magazine falls out, or the rounds feed oddly, or… shall I keep listing the maladies?

Today, in our squad of 10 or so shooters we had four 1911 shooters. One of us did not finish on the 5th of 6 stages because for some reason when he pulled the trigger, the hammer didn’t drop.   My 1911 dropped a magazine on the 1st stage, this is after I did my customary tug on it to make sure it was seated. I figured, well, maybe I didn’t check right.  But on the 5th stage, it happened again – twice.  And on the 6th stage my gun wasn’t going to battery and I had to do emergency tap bang drills on the final 10 shots.

I know people that CLAIM to keep their 1911’s running. But, frankly, I think they are also fisherman and are used to telling tall tales.

My 1911, a Smith and Wesson 1911PD, is a fine gun. I will sell it confidently that is is a quality 1911. And it will make somebody, that can keep it happy, a fine gun.

As to me… I’ll go back to Glocks. They aren’t quite the pinnacle of a perfectly running 1911, but they go boom every time – even if you haven’t cleaned them in a 1000 rounds.  And they can shoot better than me, which really is the test.

I may  hunt for a more powerful carry gun that is thinner than a Glock but as simple and reliable. But til then I’ll carry my LCP comfortably knowing that it too goes BOOM.

Afterthought…. don’t email me with tips on keeping the 1911 happy. I know them all. I run Wilson Combat magazines. I clean it religiously. No, I didn’t hit the mag release button.  Yes, the recoil spring is the correct weight and new. No I wasn’t limp wristing it….  (-:  

1911’s are fine guns for those mechanically inclined to keep them running. And I may keep this one for carry, I’m sure it will run for 20 rounds. But in competition, where I’m doing 150+ rounds rapidly and without cleaning it, it just isn’t working for me.

Michelle Cornelson, owner of the Coeur D’Alene, ID “Sunshine Expresso” got a nice Christmas gift from her husband – a Kel Tec 9mm pistol. We’ve seen that piece before at KenNelson.com….

When an armed robber tried to hold her up she took advantage of a distraction and:

Cornelson quickly whipped out her 9 mm Kel-Tec firearm — a Christmas present from her husband — scaring the teen off before calling police.

I don’t know the details of why she didn’t shoot him. Using a gun to scare rather than shoot can be trouble, especially when the opponent is armed.  If the issue was lack of comfort with the new pistol, then competitive shooting in IDPA or USPSA might have helped her get an accurate shot or two off and Idaho’s future would have been more secure from this teenager’s likely future crimes.  There are IDPA and USPSA clubs in Spokane, a reasonable drive west of Coeur D’Alene (which by the way is about as hard to spell as Albuquerque) .

Anyway, well done Mrs Cornelson, let’s hope that this is the last time that Kel-Tec has to be whipped out (pun intended) (-:

Kel-Tec P-11 9mm

An Anderson, IN Pizza Hut delivery guy capped an armed robber on Christmas Eve:

The report said Simmons pointed a .25 Raven Arms semi-automatic handgun at the store’s cashier and demanded money. The cashier loaded about $720 into a small bag.

According to the report, Shaker gave Simmons a verbal warning but Simmons “lifted and swung his gun up towards” Shaker. Shaker fired one round from his personal 9mm Kel-Tec, hitting Simmons in the back of his head, the report said.

Excellent! One robber stopped. And no pizzas harmed.

In general, I don’t recommend defending other people’s money. But, that said, I’d probably have done the same. Only a .45 ACP headache cannot be solved with aspirin!

Math teacher in Brockton, MA 

A teacher at a school in Massachusetts that recently had a school shooting writes into the Boston Globe:

Although this removes potential hostages and makes it nearly impossible for the shooter to acquire preselected targets, it unfairly rewards resourceful children who move to safety off-site more shrewdly and efficiently than others.

Uhmmm… so let me get this right. You are SO interested in fairness that being equally at risk of getting shot matters to you?  A valid procedure that reduces the casualties in a school shooting should not be done because it rewards resourceful children?

Oh… and how about this jewel:

But as a progressive, I would sooner lay my child to rest than succumb to the belief that the use of a gun for self-defense is somehow not in itself a gun crime.

His silly ideals are more important than his child. But he probably doesn’t have a child, so he is quite happy to play roulette with yours.

Wonder who he voted for??

I did not know this, but car crashes kill more woman under the age of 35 than anything else. Why? Multi-tasking:

“We’re simply trying to do too much behind the wheel,” says David Strayer, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of Utah and a leading researcher on what’s called “distracted driving.” “Everyone thinks she is a brilliant driver. But when we studied people’s driving abilities while multitasking, 98 percent of them failed.” Y

I can barely text while sitting in a chair, so texting and driving is verboten for moi. I use the kids instead. I hand them the phone and dictate the texts. And if driving solo… I don’t even try.

The link above, to Glamour Magazine, has tips that are pretty obvious… no dialing while driving, and ABSOLUTELY no texting. They also say don’t eat or drink… but I don’t really have a problem with that if on the highway or someplace with no stops and starts.

They also suggest driving a little slower. Please do, as long as you are BEHIND me.

So do the Swiss have an absurdly low crime rate because they have hundreds of thousands of military weapons in homes through out their country?  Or because they have a population that can be trusted with such hardware?  Or maybe because they have a government that trusts the people with machine guns?   I suspect it is a combination of all three with strong feedback between each reason.  In other words they have such a government because they have such a people that can have machine guns and use them responsibly and so on…   

It turns out that one expert think it is a bad idea to use a gun to defend an oil super tanker from pirates:

As Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at London-based think-tank Chatham House, says, "You’re sitting on a huge ship filled with flammable liquid. You don’t want somebody with a gun on top of that.

Instead they suggest non-lethal approaches:

And hey, I’m all in favor of not turning the boat I’m riding on into a fireball….

BUT the article report that the pirates are armed with RPGs and guns. And it even covers that the last tanker attacked used guns to defend themselves:

According to a statement from the US 5th Fleet, when a pirate skiff approached the ship, the security team on board responded with evasive maneuvers, and blasted them with Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) and small-arms fire. The pirates then broke off the attack.

It seems odd to not list firearms as a valid approach WHEN IT JUST WORKED!

Sure, an interviewed expert said no firearms, but IT WORKED. IN. REAL. LIFE. Maybe its time to ask another expert or two….

Is this an example of some liberal journalist, who wants to be the next Karl Woodward, but is stuck earning a paycheck at a trade rag but still injects liberal bias?  I don’t know. I’ve only known one trade rag journalist, and that description fit him to a tee.

I just got off the phone with a friend who called asking for pistol recommendations.  He wanted one for his home, not for concealed carry.

I suggested a shotgun for his wife (who wasn’t a big pistol shooter) and these pistols for him:

Glock 22 40 S&W or Glock 21 .45 ACP
XDM .40 S&W or XDM .45 ACP

These guns are simple, easy to maintain, and extremely reliable.

I didn’t recommend 9mm as it doesn’t hit as hard but does go through more home walls than the .40 or .45.

I also strongly suggested that he and I get together for some quick training on basic pistol operation, shooting and safety, or that he get training from a competent instructor. Additionally, for the home defense part I recommended these video series and book:

The Best Defense
Introduction to Home Defense by Clint Smith also at http://www.thunderranchinc.com/store.html

Personal Protection & Home Defense

The videos and the book take a practical approach to home and self-defense, relying on things you can remember and execute under stress. They also stress preparing and avoidance as the best techniques.

Finally, since he has children in the home, I recommended a pistol safe that is plugged in but has battery backup.

What he will learn as he studies the topic is that home defense is as likely to be needed when he is away. He will probably want to work with his wife and kids on techniques and weapons they can use when he can’t defend them.