Tactical Tuesday

 The forward assist is bad, okay? And here is a story as to why:

Georgia Southern University, 2009

As punishment for my sins, as a prior service enlisted cadet, I found myself helping to run a rifle range, On a Saturday. For nursing program cadets. Yeah, about that.

So, anyway, we were shooting for score at our little 25 yard range. Which for ROTC cadets, was a test score.

And I'm walking up and down the range, nursing a hangover and a Gatorade.

BOOM!

I may or may not have hit the dirt, rolled off the line, and started ripping towards my thigh for my non existent sidearm. 

A cease fire is called and I collect my senses. One of the junior girls is huddled over, crying; the tattered remnants of a M-16A2 at her feet. 

Wrapping her in a bear hug and easing her away from what was left of her rifle; I knelt down to see just what in the hell had happened. 

So, our nursing cadet, defaulting to her level of training, had used the forward assist to close the bolt after a misfeed. 

And in the process, lodged a live round behind the bullet of a previous malfunction that she thought she had cleared. The extractor ripped off I'd say around the bottom half to 3/4s of the round that failed to fire, leaving the actual bullet in the chamber.  Which was preventing the next round from chambering. 

Which she rectified by mashing the forward assist until the weapon went into battery, 

A matter of inches stood between her missing a hand and not. It was gut wrenching.

For the record, a number two pencil makes the same size hole as M855A1 in a 25 meter zero target. 

Everyone qualified and we all went home, with all fingers and hands intact. 

God, the forward assist is dumb. 

Thanks fo stopping buy.

Weapon Light Wednesday

Weapon Mounted Lights on Handguns-
By Pudge

How much of our life is spent during darkness? Is it ever dark inside a house, hallway, or building you frequent? Even during daytime is it possible to find darkness? Because of these questions and the answers that they elicit I’d like to discuss weapon mounted lights or WMLs on handguns today.

There are so many options out there that it is hard to know where to start, yet, at the same time it also means there is almost no reason not to add a light to your daily blaster. Brand and size are up to you. However, I will caveat the last statement with this; make sure the light is from a reputable brand and will not fail you when you need it to work. As far as brands go, I have had very good luck with both Surefire and Streamlight and am currently in the process of testing some Olights and it is looking good. I am using each brands’ full-size handgun weapon lights but each makes multiple compact versions that I have heard good things from as well. I prefer the full-size handgun lights as I tend to carry a slightly larger gun and want all the lumens that I can get. The biggest decision is what type of button/switch operation you prefer as all three of these brands are similar, yet different. I’m partial to the Surefire system but that is more than likely due to the fact that I use Surefire lights for work and have more time with them.

Full-size lights for full-size blasters.

Now that brands and sizes have been ever so slightly touched on, why do I carry a light and why you should as well. I carry a light on my handgun because you really never know when you’ll encounter a threat during periods or areas of darkness. So, what is wrong with just a pocket light? Nothing…but I never know when I may have to manipulate my handgun one handed. I may only have one hand because of injury, grabbing/holding my son, opening doors or a variety of other reasons. Having a weapon mounted light means I can still have light on the threat and my gun ready even if the other hand is busy. Depending on the holster it can still be easily concealed without adding any discomfort so why not. All of that said, a weapon mounted light does not mean you shouldn’t carry a handheld in your pocket. I know myself and Mack use our handheld lights everyday for a whole range of tasks where it would not be acceptable to pull out our handguns and point them at whatever we may be needing light for.

Weapon mounted lights on handguns definitely take some extra training to get proficient with but the cost is easily worth the reward gained. Find a light that fits your gun and lifestyle and get busy with those reps necessary for proficiency.

Slinging Lead Saturday

It's been a wild last few weeks for both Mack and myself but we are both still kicking no matter what the world has tried to throw at us. I wanted to make sure everyone knows we are still alive so I thought I'd post a few short video clips for everyone's viewing pleasure.

The Eleanor +1 Drill I discussed the other day.

Low-light Eleanor Drill

NVG handgun

A stage at a recent handgun match.