I picked these nuggets up in 4 decades of working around firearms. These articles are for deep divers who are really into guns, and want to know more. This Esoteric Firearms Knowledge (“EFK”) might not save your life, but it might save your skin if you’re down to your underwear playing strip Trivial Pursuit.
This article is about different holsters and associated leather gear the Air Force procured for their S&W Model 15 revolvers in the 1960s through ’80s. It also contains historical data about the USAF’s proprietary PGU-12/B ammunition, and my first felony collar.
This article examines how American military close-combat at the end of the 19th through the first part of the 20th centuries greatly influenced the evolution of handgun trigger actions. In particular it delves into the US experience in the Philippine Islands. It also lists different US military revolvers of the era.
“Point” and “area” targets are military concepts that are directly applicable to active violence and counterterrorism. You should know more than just the difference between them, which is not rocket science. You should know how to avoid having a target on your back, be it the point or area variety. Some of this article was excerpted from a password protected summary of a site security survey I conducted at a high school in Arizona.
This posting, partially from notes I took during the Thunder Ranch Old Rifle course, briefly addresses the development of bayonets, my limited experience with them, the sad demise of bayonet training, and attempts to use the pistol as a substitute close quarters tool.
This article explains and gives examples of why it’s vitally important to learn tactical skills right from the git-go, rather than starting with marksmanship-based, square flat range training and then trying to make a slow fire bullseye shooter into a fighter. We also tell you how to unlearn bad habits, if it’s too late for you to start the right way.
Most Americans believe we won the Revolutionary war by sniping at the Redcoats from behind trees and boulders. Not true. Our troops did a lot of that, especially in the opening days of the war, when we were losing. Such …
Baron von Steuben and Well Regulated American Volley Fire Read more »
They Used to be Hard to Get. In the Soviet section of my library, an old wind-up Russian alarm clock and Red Army belt with 5-sided star buckle gather dust on a shelf in front of the books. Both were …
Ever been issued a rifle or SMG that had a 3-round burst? You were probably told it was there to keep you from spraying and praying. Poppycock. Three-round burst was created to disburse bullets, not to improve accuracy or controllability. …
Second only to the USAAF crews who climbed into lumbering, bomb- and fuel-laden B-17s and B-24s and flew to places like Schweinfurt and Ploesti, the Tunnel Rats of Vietnam may have been some of the most courageous warriors who ever lived.
This article outlines the history of long guns in police service during the past century or so, especially the last 50 years, comparing and contrasting the different types. Although there are some important lessons for the long gun armed citizen throughout, the article concludes with information specifically for rifle armed citizens (or those who are wondering if they ought to be). Originally published in February, 2021, this article was significantly revised in September 2021.
We often hear those in the know referring to ARs as “carbines.” But doesn’t AR stand for Armalite Rifle? What’s the difference? Carbines were originally short rifles issued to cavalry troopers. Troopers generally fought from the saddle with a …