Thankful Thursday - Twister Edition

So, a bunch of jokes get thrown around down South about tornadoes. And yes, they do kind of sound like a freight train going through.

So, early Monday morning an F3 tornado that was ten football fields wide tore through my county.

Amazingly, the only fatality was a goat and an unknown number of chickens.

And for that I'm very, very thankful. My parent's house was spared. But barely. We're talking feet.

In addition to the fortunes that befell my small town that morning, I was reminded of why I love this country and living in an area that prizes self reliance yet still has a strong since of community.

When the sun came up; the sound of a hundred dozen chainsaws could be heard.

No need to wait for international aid, the Federal Government, or hell, even the National Guard when you got your own generator, a good saw, and a four wheel drive truck. I think Hank Jr sang about that.

My cousin rode up and down the main highway, where the damage was the worst, with his chainsaw and a bunch of bottled water. I was coming but still an hour a way and kind of hungover. Monday was supposed to be my day off.

The damage was kind of bad. Some folks are homeless. But no one died. The Guard is there, and hell, most everyone has power again.

And after running my saw out of bar oil once and running it out of gas a handful of times, the chain decided it was done. Yeah. Gotta go to a professional for that. What's funny, is my Dad, Father in Law, and cousin all looked at that and said some variation of "I've never seen one do that before."

I took that as a sign and went home. The secretary at work said that I really couldn't leave for three days in a row again.

Tuesday Training

Training Under Quarantine-
By Pudge

During the quarantine I figured I might as well be a little constructive with my time. So, I set about figuring out the best way to work on my handgun skills while not getting to hit the range as much as normal. So yep, you guessed it, I really began to focus on dry firing. (Probably should have been doing this more anyway!) The difference now is that I’ve incorporated a laser training device and yet another one of those endless apps on my phone. I actually feel like this app is useful and will make me better though. I’m a cheapskate so I’m using the free app version recommended with the laser cartridge that I have. It is not bad and does everything I was looking to get out of it. (I’m using the G-sight 9mm laser cartridge and the G-sight app on iOS.)

A great way to take dry firing to the next level.

 

I’ve mostly been focusing on using my SpaceNAG. I’ve really been working at getting better with a red dot through proper grip and draw stroke. It is amazing what happens when you incorporate a red dot when you’ve used irons for so long. I’m sure any of you who have used a red dot before, probably spent at least a little while ‘searching’ for the dot as you got used to it. This has allowed me to really work on my draw and presentation. Since doing this I very rarely have to search for the dot because I’m actually being consistent with my draw and presentation. Before, I would make minute adjustments as the irons came into focus and not even realize it. With a dot this isn’t possible. You have to have a consistent grip, draw, and presentation for everything to line up correctly. In turn, using a red dot as increased my proficiency with iron sights as well, because now I am minimizing any extra movement needed to bring my handgun into a proper firing position.

My accuracy while dry firing has already seen improvement as well as my speed to get the handgun into action. It definitely can’t hurt to spend time dry firing and it is fun finding ways to incorporate it during my daily routine. I’ve recently been doing some drills while working out. It has helped out in both realms due to me really having to focus on my breathing. I like to get my heart rate up then do the dry fire drills during what would normally be my rest period between sets. It has also helped break up some of the workout routine monotony.

Hopefully soon I’ll get to see how much will translate into live fire. If nothing else, it has helped me in my draw stroke and proper presentation. And it is enjoyable, which is worth a lot to help keep my sanity.

Film Friday - 6 Days

 Today, we are gonna do something a little different in that we will have joint movie review from both Pudge and myself. Six Days is currently streaming on Netflix.

Pudge writes:

6 Days Movie Review
I just wanted to throw some quick thoughts down about the movie 6 Days that is streaming on Netflix. The movie is about the Iranian Embassy Siege in London from 30 April to 5 May 1980. If you have any interest in how the UK and the US for that matter, respond to hostage situations, like history, or are just plain bored during your lockdown, watch it. There are some small spoilers below but nothing that should keep you from watching the movie. (Or go watch it now then come back and read the rest of this post.)

As a current member of one of the US Special Forces Crisis Response Forces I thought they did a very good job showing what would have been going on prior to the assault on the Embassy by the 22 SAS. What impressed me most was the little subtleties or wording thrown in throughout. The very first thing the SAS did was get alerted and in route created their emergency plan for if they had to assault right away. Once they were on ground and began to let the situation develop, they continued refining their plan. This was to be there deliberate plan if they were allowed to choose the timing. I really enjoyed the movie demonstrating how thorough these special Soldiers are. They did everything they could to create a perfect mockup to practice. They wanted to make sure that when going into the Embassy everything would be second nature. Bringing in the curator, who told them about the incorrect building layout, was amazing. Always know someone’s worth. The guy you may look down on may in fact be the guy who has the keys to the castle. Knowing how and where to find these people are key. At that level of the profession it is the milliseconds and inches that matter, not minutes and feet. The way they practiced the bus assault was also very inspiring to see in the movie. It again demonstrated how it is milliseconds that can differentiate between a successful mission or a failed mission.

I’m sure after watching it some may wonder why they treated everyone as suspect and laid them all face down outside until they could verify each person. If you are ever in this situation it may suck but please follow what you are being told. This is used to identify a sleeper terrorist. It sure would suck to sit through all that, get rescued, then get killed because each person wasn’t verified of who they said they were. In the actual events, this is how the last terrorist was identified.

Really the only complaint I had against the movie is how slow they moved inside the building. During hostage rescue it is no longer about the safety of the assaulters but the safety of the hostages. They would almost be running through the building and would flood as many people as possible inside.
I would definitely recommend this movie. Hopefully I can find some more good ones to pass on. I’m also open to any suggestions in the comments

Mack's thoughts:

Good movie. Well paced and certainly entertaining. My biggest qualm from the tactical side was that the raid was depicted as having barely half a dozen SAS men. Operation Nimrod hit the embassy with like 24 operators give or take. And as Pudge said, the raid was over in an instant. 

Minor quibble would be that according to the film you'd not be mistaken in thinking the 22nd SAS was a Scottish Regiment. That would be akin to having everyone in the 75th having a mid west twang. 

I give it two thumbs up. (Mainly because of old school MP-5 goodness)

Let us know if you have any other films you'd like one subject matter expert and one washed up frat boy to review. Thanks for stopping buy. 

Talk About It Tuesday

AARs
By Pudge

No, we aren’t going to talk about Mack’s feelings today. Sorry buddy. But what we are going to talk about today is AARs. What is an AAR and why should you be doing them? AAR stands for After Action Review. It is a thorough review that is normally used by us in the military following an operation. I believe they should be conducted for everything you are trying to get better at. My very first post talked about mindset and asking myself, “what did I do to be a warrior today?” They can be that simple. Asking that question to yourself on the drive home and reviewing your day. They can also be as complex as discussing the intricacies of a raid that your team just conducted. A detailed AAR should cover everything you did from start to finish, both good and bad.

Conducting a post raid AAR. Notice the notes in my hand to keep me on track.

 

Different units conduct their AARs to varying degrees. My Team takes pride in the way we conduct our AARs. That is a piece of the puzzle that helps separate us from other units. It is extremely important during this time to have thick skin. We never rag on anybody but do our best to provide constructive feedback for every member of my Team, myself included. I’ve found it is best to choose one person to run it. That person controls the AAR. They follow an agenda so that every part is covered and nothing left out. Start discussing what you are reviewing from the beginning with others providing input where necessary. It doesn’t matter if you are the senior guy on the team or the junior guy who showed up yesterday, your input is valuable. It is important during AARs that everyone is provided the ability to share their thoughts and opinions. We hold them after every training event or operation so that the next one is better.

Not quite an AAR but a Before Action Review (BAR) can also be very helpful. These are not as in depth but can be a quick refresher prior to planning to make sure you cover every part of the plan meticulously. They are also very beneficial for those instructors out there to use at the start of class to gather students’ expectations of what they hope to gain from the class they are about to begin. This will greatly help you focus or adjust your training style. (Remember those square pegs in round holes we’ve discussed here before?)

Nothing mind blowing here. We all discuss and think about things that have happened. This is just another way to frame it and learn from it. Now go get talking!

Weapons Wednesday

Tupperware Regatta-

By Pudge

I’m going to start with a disclaimer: yes, I have tupperware guns, yes, I can shoot them quite well, no, I still don’t like them but they do have their place. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the subject at hand. I picked up a butchered G17 the other day for an absolute steal so I figured since I’ve always disliked Glocks but understand their merits, why not try my hand at shaping plastic or what is called ‘gunsmithing’ on real guns. After I finished perfecting perfection, I decided to do some hillbilly testing between my NAG19 (my G19 sized P80), my SpaceNag (G19 sized P80 with Agency Arms 417 Compensator), and my new tinkered on chopped grip G17 with (G17c) and without a ported barrel. I really just wanted to see why everyone talks smack on ported handguns. I also figured if I had questions and was wondering some of these things then there had to be others out there with the same questions. We’ll discuss my ‘scientific’ findings and then discuss some compensator and porting myths.

The finest tupperware party gathering.

 

I did my testing with 115, 124 and some 124+P ammunition. Another disclaimer: I know that the testing may be slightly askew because I don’t have all factory guns to test but sometimes you’ve just got to do what you can with what you got, just like my man Burt Gummer. And if anyone wants a more exact test, please let me know and I’ll gladly take your money to purchase stock guns. On to the testing. The first thing I did was shoot all handguns in no particular order with 115 gr. After initial thoughts I essentially put them, based on what I thought, into a bracket to compete. Then I conducted the same side by side comparison with the 124 gr followed by the 124 +P.

I really just wanted to know how effective the porting and a compensator actually are on these guns. I know 9mm is already a sissy caliber and some people will call me a wimp for wanting to make them softer shooting, but if you could shoot a 9mm like a .22 then why in the world wouldn’t you. I’m pretty darn good at what I do but I still like to stack the odds in my favor whenever possible. I never try to go into a fair fight because that’s just dumb. Anyway, after this first test, I would put them from harshest muzzle flip to least in this order: G19, G17, G19 with compensator, then G17c. However, if using +P I would switch the G17c and the G19 with compensator. It appeared only the +P ammunition was engaging the compensator to the fullest. There was still a difference with the other ammo, just not as noticeable.

Now that I had tested the recoil impulses, I decided to test them by running them as fast as I could to see any difference they would have during rapid fire. The porting and the compensator didn’t really change the recoil, but greatly reduced muzzle flip allowing for an easier time tracking the sights. I ran a few timed drills with each handgun and the porting didn’t make me any faster, the average split times were actually the exact same on all but the SpaceNag. (more on this in a little bit) But it did perceive to allow me to remain a little more target focused, due to lack of muzzle flip, which is a very good thing. The G17c definitely ran flatter with the ported barrel. I was able to achieve faster splits with the SpaceNag but only because I wanted to experiment with a flat trigger and it definitely made a difference. Thank you Serpico Performance (read Monday's post for the review on this trigger). Prior to changing the trigger though, I’ve ran this same drill and had the exact same split times as I got today with the other handguns.

On to some myths and BS about ports and compensators. The first is that they will ruin your night vision. False! I’ve ran low-light competitions and I train extensively in dark environments whenever I can with my SpaceNag and I’ve never once been blinded by the excess flames. Just think about all those guys running giant brakes on the ends of their rifles and for some reason no one tells them they are going to blind themselves. There are other reasons to not run them on your rifle but that’s not the topic today. Second, retention shooting is going to maim you. Wrong again. I’m not saying I want to do it a lot or that I’m going to choose it all the time. What I am saying though is even though you may crisp your side ever so slightly more than a regular barrel, you will be ok and it will heal. Let’s think about wheel gun shooters. You understand some of that blast comes out between the cylinder and barrel, don’t you? Hmmm, so why all of a sudden is it bad to shoot something similar the same way? Third, the extra slide cuts and porting or compensator are going to get full of gunk and cause your gun to seize up at an inopportune time. I’m going to call BS. I’ve ran mine in some really dirty/sandy/wet/muddy conditions and haven’t had issues due to the extra slide cuts. I’ve carried a worn-out Beretta in A-stan and even with its exposed barrel it ran fine in some crappy situations. Lastly, the loss of velocity with a ported barrel. (Doesn’t really apply to compensators.) I didn’t have a way to test this one but have done a lot of research on the subject. Yes, you will lose some velocity. However, it is not very much in the scheme of things. A G17c and G19 will run the same ammo at about the same velocity. So, if it is ok in a G19 then why would you worry that it is ever so slightly slower than a standard G17. If it was effective ammo in your G19 then it will be effective in your G17c.

After all that blathering on, I am extremely confident in throwing both my G17c and SpaceNag into my grab in case of emergency column. I wouldn’t worry about using them in the harshest or darkest conditions. (The red dot on the SpaceNag actually allows me to run it with night vision very effectively with no need for white light. Even with the compensator on it. Who would’ve figured?!) Me and my blow your face off ported and compensated handguns are going to keep on shooting the way we do without worry so you should too no matter what you carry.

Modular Monday

Serpico Performance Trigger Review-
By Pudge

I’ve been debating trying out a flat faced trigger for a little while now. There has been a large surge in companies offering flat faced triggers, both standard as well as aftermarket, so I wanted to see what all the hype was about. So, after some quick globe galivanting I decided to see what I could find. Since I’m a cheap bastard and wasn’t sure if I’d like it, I did some searching for a reasonably priced trigger to test out. I can’t justify spending over $100 on a trigger but I figured for $30 I was game. I tested out my google fu and found Serpico Performance.

I was only able to find a couple of reviews/videos on these triggers and what I did find appeared to be an older style trigger. However, the price was right and the trigger shoe looked like some other more expensive companies so I figured I’d give it a try. I picked up the Serpico Bravo ABS Flat Face Trigger Shoe and I am very glad that I did.

 Making my SpaceNAG even better with Serpico Performance.

 

I recently did some testing between different versions of some tupperware guns and this new trigger shoe made a noticeable difference in both speed and accuracy. We will discuss speed first. Now, my trigger finger isn’t the fastest but it isn’t a slouch either. With every handgun that I own the fastest splits I’ve been able to get between shots has been right at .18 seconds and every so often I will get a .17. After installing the trigger shoe, I was getting splits between .13-.15 seconds and reaching into .12 every so often. For me that is a huge change especially for solely changing out the trigger shoe and making no other changes to my handgun. The design of the trigger gets rid of most of the overtravel and seemed to reduce the take up as well. It also made the trigger seem to squeeze easier. I think this is due to the way my finger sits against it versus a standard trigger as seen on most polymer guns. This easier squeeze meant less pressure applied and in turn resulted in the ability to move my finger in the opposite direction to reset and start squeezing again.

Now with the blowing of ammo quickly out of the way, lets talk accuracy. I was more accurate than I’ve been before with this gun. Even when giving all my focus during dry firing I can see my front sight or dot ever so slightly shift to the right as the trigger breaks on my stock guns. Part of this is due to the extra pressure needed to squeeze the trigger and some is due to the angle at which my finger sits on most plastic fantastics. I’m still accurate but know I’m not reaching the full potential that my guns are capable of. As stated before, the design of the shoe seemed to help me pull more naturally straight back versus like a hinge from the frame. This, and what felt like an easier pull combined to allow me to keep much tighter groupings at all distances. It additionally removed all quiver from my sights during dry fire practice.

Since writing the above two paragraphs I’ve been able to put another 600ish rounds through the gun with this trigger. Every time I squeeze off a round I like it more and more. I ran a lot more rapid fire with it and this trigger is helping me break through walls that have been holding me up for a while. I started out this second session of shooting by conducting a 25m bull. I’m kind of ashamed to admit this, but this may have been the first time I’ve ever kept all 10 rounds in the black with a plastic gun. Definitely the highest score I’ve shot with tupperware. At this point I’m about 1,000 rounds into this trigger and I am looking forward to many more.

I still won’t go drop $100 plus per trigger or change all my 1911s to straight style triggers but I can tell you that Serpico Performance will be getting some more orders from me and from others in my line of work. I plan on outfitting all my tupperware pieces that have origins in Austria with these triggers. Serpico Performance themselves were very easy to deal with and shipped quickly. The trigger shoe I bought is top notch quality and I look forward to spending more time with it and seeing what it is truly capable of.

Weapons Wednesday

Hello, everyone. Thanks for stopping buy. Today we have a post from Pudge concerning his newest toy. It took him a while to find one. So I decided to keep the article in scheduler limbo just to  torture  practice some enhanced interrogation. Somewhere down the road I need to write up the trip that involved the first gun show listed below. - Counter Jockey

CZ Scorpion- Because everyone needs a sub gun

Well everyone, I finally did it! After a very long stint of reasons why I didn’t have one, I finally picked up a CZ Scorpion Evo 3 S1. And let me tell you right up front that I am so glad that I did. This thing is awesome in every way. From the way it shoots, looks, and takes down and goes back together. Mack knows the trials and tribulations that have plagued me attempting to get one of these guns. And I know that whenever he is having a difficult day, he thinks back to our first joint gun show venture and my search for this beauty and realizes that there is always something to laugh about. ( The only good that came out that gun show was the hot dog I had. - Ed.)

I love making Mack cringe when I talk about my sweet shooting Hi-Point Carbine but finally figured it was time to grow up and get me a decent sub gun. After much research I decided I wanted a CZ Scorpion in the 7.75” barreled variety with a nice folding SB Tactical brace. Lots of factors, including price, style, parts availability, shootability, ability to suppress, etc, led me to this over the Sig MPX, AR9s, or MP5 variants. I can tell you right now I am super pleased with my decision. In a few months, when my buddy currently over in A-stan gets done dropping bombs for a little bit, I’ll be able to give a good comparison between the CZ and the MPX. Until then, I’m very pleased with my choice.

The CZ is a blowback operated semi auto 9mm. The bolt is heavy as I’ll get out but that is where most of the weight is in the gun and it is positioned just right. This thing is extremely maneuverable yet very easy to control in rapid fire strings and multiple target engagements. With the stock folded it is just a hair over 16” long. A perfect backpack/go gun. As far as features go, it has a last round bolt hold open and the rest of the controls feel just right. I will add that you can load a mag and slap the bolt home just like an MP5 which is very much giggle inducing. The charging handle is of the non-reciprocating type and is easily swappable from right to left if you prefer that configuration. The trigger isn’t terrible but could use a little work. (I’ll have to bring out the Youtube gunsmith in me.) It ran great with both 20 and 30 round magazines, brass and steel cased ammunition of all variations. Of course, now I’ll have to pick up some more mags and ammo to keep it fed. Maybe I’ll be able to acquire a nice drum mag for it. (MagPul is produing after market mags as well but the CZ OEM ones aren't terribly expensive. Looking at you SiG and H&K. -Editor)

Eventually I’ll get a red dot for it but the irons work really well. I fell in love with the rear sight the first time I picked the gun up. It is similar to the dual aperture M16 sight many of us are used to, except this version gives us 4 apertures to choose from. Both it and the front sight adjust like the aforementioned weapon system so there is nothing wonky to learn. It comes with a threaded barrel for both 1/2x28 and 18x1 with a flash-hider-ish thread protector.

With all ammo types it definitely takes the sting out when suppressed but really shined when I shot 145 (What the hell? - Ed) and 158 gr through it. I think, and after much research many agree, that this would make quite the bedside gun. It suppresses really well and easily compared to a lot of other 9mm carbines I’ve tried out.

I’m excited to continue blasting away with this thing and will keep everyone updated. It may soon become my bump in the night gun after I add some gucci attachments for running it at night. Also, because of its size, I’ve already got great visions of making it my boy’s first centerfire oh crap gun.