No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.5.1/327 - Release Date: 4/28/2006 The Sky Is Falling!: A New Jersey sheriff has discovered that the Professional Ordnance Carbon-15 Type-97 pistol does not appear to be a firearm when viewed in an airport-security X-ray machine. The gun fires .233-caliber (sic) ammunition. "This a nasty weapon," Fontoura told The Star-Ledger of Newark. "That's the ammunition we're using in Iraq. If we're not alert, this could go right past security." (Yes but how about the radio-opaque ammunition, without which the gun is worthless?) http://www.wnbc.com/news/9066052/detail.html --- Rebecca Peters On Civilian Disarmament: The head of the International Action Network on Small Arms celebrates the tenth anniversary of Australia's Port Arthur murders as the catalyst for nationally uniform restrictions on firearm ownership in that country, which she ties to the worldwide struggle to disarm civilians. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18950038-7583,00.html --- From Force Science Research Center: Transmission #43 deals primarily with the distinction between clear commands (alpha commands)) and ambiguous commands (beta commands) and the tendency for police officers to lapse into beta commands during violent encounters, (Again, while the information is reported in terms of law enforcement, it is applicable to private citizens as well.) http://www.forcesciencenews.com/home/current.html --- From John Farnam: 23 Apr 06 G19 Extractor During a training program last weekend, a student using a G19 started experiencing numerous failures to extract. Suspecting a broken extractor, I locked the slide to the rear and looked at the extractor from above. It looked normal. I then field-stripped the pistol, removed the spring assembly and barrel from the slide, turned the slide upside down, and then looked at the extractor from the under side. Sure enough, the tip of the extractor claw was broken off. It looked like a chipped tooth. Difficult to discern from the top, but obvious when viewed from underneath. Upon replacing the extractor, the pistol was returned to useful service and resumed functioning normally. With Glocks, few parts break regularly, but the tip of the extractor claw does break now and then. One must habitually field strip the pistol and examine the breech from the under side. Merely locking open the slide and looking at it from the top will divulge little. /John 24 Apr 06 Detonics 9-11-01 Last weekend, I had the opportunity to wring out my copy of the new Detonics 9-11-01 Pistol. It is a full-sized, all-stainless steel, 1911 pistol, in 45ACP, of course. It feels good to be carrying a Government Model again! This is a serious, heavy-duty pistol, designed for daily carrying and heavy use. It is easily a 30,000 round gun. Loaded with Cor-Bon DPX, it makes a formidable package. It functioned flawlessly, as expected. Detonics pistols have none of the various Swartz interlocks, nor are they fitted with the Colt trigger interlock. They are pretty much the way Browning designed them, except that they have no barrel bushing. Not much to go wrong. This is a serious, hard, robust heavy hitter. Recommended! /John (Emotion is a powerful motivator. In private correspondence, John has expressed agreement with me that that the 1911 platform is obsolescent. Perhaps it is nostalgia that leads him to recommend it.) 25 Apr 06 Comments on chipped extractors on Glocks, from instructors: "Chipped Glock extractors can be largely prevented by: (1) Regularly cleaning powder fouling from the extractor and bolt face. The extractor needs to be clean and dry. (2) Replacing weak magazine springs (3) Replacing a weak extractor plunger spring. (4) Not using steel-case ammunition." "I had the same problem with my G19! I chose not to switch over to my back-up gun or replacement pistol and continued training with my broken G19. I found that I quickly mastered the art of reducing malfunctions! It turned into the best training I ever received. Too many people get upset when their gear breaks. Instead, one should use it as an opportunity to learn how to work through a problem. In a real fight, gear might break. As a result, one can mistakenly lapse into an impotent mindset, eg: 'I can't go on now, because my gun isn't working correctly.' Instead, training should engender a 'Find a way to win, regardless of circumstances' mindset. Once one stops feeling sorry for himself, he can focus on the task at hand, whether gear wants to cooperate or not. Thus, intentionally training with gear that doesn't function properly actually bolsters one's attitude. As you might say, Recommended!'" /John (It's fine to continue training with equipment that is no longer functioning optimally, so long as doing so does not predispose it to greater breakdown. However, if it is known that use of steel-case ammo is a risk factor for chipping extractors, I would forgo its use as I cannot predict when that damage would occur.) 25 Apr 06 Knoxx Stock: A company called Knoxx is making a recoil-absorbing, replacement stock for Remington and Mossburg shotguns, as well as other weapons. I had two of my 12ga pumps fitting with them, after seeing the product at the SHOT Show. It provides a useful pistol grip, and it permits fast follow-up shots, as the barrel comes back on target quickly. Here are comments from an institutional user: "Shot the 870 with the Knoxx stock last weekend. Functioned flawlessly! While not 'removing' recoil, it does move most of it into the pistol grip, so that my shoulder is not punished nearly as much as with a fixed stock. The shotgun also recovers and reacquires the target much more quickly than with standard stock. I like the pistol grip. It makes transitioning from your AR, to shotgun, to pistol nearly effortless. Trigger finger naturally stays in register. No 'funny feeling' when going to the shotgun from the AR or pistol. I like it! It doesn't perform miracles, but it makes it possible to comfortably fire a good deal more rounds during training than is the case with a straight stock. Anything that makes shotgun training more palatable than it currently is should interest all serious trainers!" Comment: This is a product that merits a close look! Knoxx Industries PO Bx 2848 500 Linne Rd, Ste A Paso Robles, CA 93446 877 465 6699 805 227 4099 805 238 2069 (Fax) /John 26 Apr 06 ILEETA The International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA) is currently holding its annual conference in Arlington Heights, IL. Vicki and I attended the vendors' area this morning. This, the newest of the three big LE trainers associations, is putting on a big and well attended and organized event. Ed Nowicki, the central personality (and long-time friend), is, once again, showing us all what a suburb organizer and diplomat he is! Of all the vendors there, several new products caught my eye: The "Shocknife" The shocknife is a training blade that electronically duplicates the sensation of being cut! It is absolutely amazing. When Jeff Quail, the inventor, dragged the blade across my arm, I had to look to convince myself I had not just been sliced open. The sensation made my blood run cold! This will prove a valuable training tool when instructing students in knife fighting and knife defense. Excellent product. I'm going to get a copy! Jeremy Ross has invented a product called "FirstLight." Instead of attaching a flashlight to the gun, FirstLight attaches to the shooter's support hand. Attached to the back of the support hand, it doesn't get in the way, but when the pistol, or longarm, is grasped normally, the light is exactly on the boreline! The shooter can reload, reduce stoppages, and move normally, and the flashlight and gun can be joined together and employed immediately. Just as quickly, they can be separated, and the flashlight can be used independently, so the shooter is not automatically pointing a gun at everything he illuminates. I'm going to get a copy of this too. Quite an idea! Several video simulators were on display, but Dave Young's CAPS System is still my favorite, because it is designed to be used exclusively on a live range. Students use their own guns, their own ammunition, their own accouterments. I've used Dave's system at the S&W Academy indoor range, and it was consistently the most popular part of my programs there. FATS, another video simulator has cleverly eliminated the gas-tube tether that has been heretofore necessary in order to get high-pressure gas to the gun/simulator, so that the slide can be made to reciprocate normally when the trigger is pressed and normal discharge is simulated. Tethers can be a nuisance, and they sometimes retard normal, tactical movement. With the new generation of FATS simulator pistols and rifles, the gas supply is actually in the magazine, much as it is with Airsoft guns. Now, shooters are free to move any way they want, and weapons can be "loaded" and "reloaded" normally. This represents a significant advancement in simulator training, and FATS deserves a lot of credit. My friend, Tom Marx at Blackhawk, is now marketing the "Harkins Triton" knife. It is a pocket knife, with a four-inch blade, a blade that both appears and disappears at the flick of a switch! I'm not sure how it works, but the blade shoots out of the handle, locking in place. It shoots back in just as fast! As a one-hand blade, this will be hard to beat for speed of deployment. I'm definitely getting a copy! Jeff Quail ShockKnife 866 353 5055 Jeremy Ross FirstLight 217 356 6600 Dave Young CAPS 514 696 8591 Gary Thomas FATS 800 813 9046, Ext 3293 Tom Marx Blackhawk 800 694 5263 /John (I'm a charter member of ILEETA. Unfortunately, since I don't fall under the provisions of LEOSA, the location of the annual conference in no-carry Illinois keeps me from enjoying the greatest benefit of that membership.) 27 Apr 06 Six days ago, a 33-year-old meth-addict in OR attempted to commit suicide by firing a carpenter's nail gun into his head, multiple times! Most of the fired nails entered the side of the skull near the eye socket, from both sides (he was apparently ambidextrous)! Later in the day, Goofy showed up at a local ER, fully conscious and ambulatory, but complaining of a "headache!" X-Rays of his skull revealed twelve, embedded two-inch nails, which were subsequently removed, one by one, with what amounts to a pair of pliers. Goofy not only survived, but his prognosis was characterized by "no lasting effects." The lesson here is: Unless the brain stem is substantially destroyed, a missile that strikes the cranium, even penetrating the skull, even penetrating the brain itself, is unlikely to produce substantial short-term debilitation, much less, anything that could be described as an instantaneous shutdown." Accordingly, adhering to the sage advice of my good friend and ER surgeon, Don Gunn, we don't teach "head shots." Instead, we teach"brain-stem shots." Easily accomplished with rifles, but a tall order for pistols, owing to most pistol bullets' limited ability to fully penetrate bony, facial sinuses and nasal turbinates. Another reason I routinely carry DPX! When viewed from the front, the brain stem is directly behind the middle of the nose. Of course, it can't be seen directly. It and its location must be visualized by the shooter. In our courses, we now do several drills that are designed to aid this three-dimensional imaging process. /John (For those who may not yet have read it, I have a discussion of the IACP's recommendation of the use of head shots on suspected suicide bombers posted at http://www.spw-duf.info/emperor.html#head%20shots.) -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .