Monthly Archives: February 2014

Rock Island TAC 2011 VZ: 10mm 1911 Joy

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One of the most influential gunfight Jedi masters of modern history was Colonel Jeff Cooper. Cooper was known to believe that the Model 1911 handgun as invented by John Moses Browning was the combat handgun of its time. Further, the Colonel helped invent a super-fast round, the 10mm Auto, in which he placed a lot of trust. Well, an affordable10mm Model 1911 has finally come to us from the Philippines and it is the RIA TAC 2011 VZ.

Back in the 1980s, after a lifetime of shooting and instructing, Jeff Cooper designed what he felt to be a great round. A fan of the .45ACP (who isn’t?), he felt that the short and fat bullet could benefit from better ballistics. The maximum pressure for a .45ACP round is only about 21,000 psi to stay safe. With that in mind, he cut down the old 1900’s era .30 Remington rifle cartridge case to 25mm, added a 130-200 grain bullet to the top of it, and called it a day. Capable of operating at up to 37,000-psi worth of pressure, this cut down rifle round was smoking.

The result was the super-hot and fast 10mm Auto. It was so fast, in fact, that many shooters shied away from it due to recoil and perceived muzzle flip issues. In the end the round was ‘dumbed down’ and made not quite as spicy, which resulted in what we know today as the .40S&W.

Few guns in its time were chambered for the 10mm, notably the ill-fated Bren 10, the S&W 1006, and the Colt Delta Elite. The Elite was a standard Colt 1911 80 Series gun that was built from the ground-up to fire 10mm. It’s a beautiful thing, but being that it’s a Colt and its been made in very low numbers over the past twenty years, they usually run about $900 for a used one. If you can find a new one for less than a grand, you stumbled on a deal.

Thats where the RIA VZ 10mm comes in at…

rock-island-2011-tactical-series

Read the rest in my column at University of Guns.com

100 years of German snipers

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Sniper of the Imperial German Army circa 1918...

Sniper of the 2-million man Imperial German Army circa 1918…

Two German snipers of the now 60,000-man Deutsches Heer in Afghanistan in 2013...

Two German snipers of the now 60,000-man Deutsches Heer in Afghanistan in 2013…

Ok, well its not quite 100-years, but you get the point…..

The ins and outs of Glock Magazines

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Since Gaston Glock came down from his Austrian hilltop and gave forth to the world his polymer framed joy in the 1980s, shooters have been looking for extra magazines for them. There are a few basic tips and tricks to these things so sit back and let us talk for a bit.

Always remember that caliber, not model number, drives Glock mag interchangeability. For instance, a 17-round magazine for a
G17 will also fit the smaller framed G19 and G26 as well as the tactical/practical G34. The only caveat to this rule is that mags made for short guns will not fit into full sized ones (i.e. a G26 mag won’t work in a G17) since they are too short to reach the chamber.

Then there is the generational divide. Many people think that older Gen 2 and 3 mags will not work in a Gen 4 gun of the same caliber. This is a mistake. A Gen 4 gun will take all older mags unless that gun was swapped over for a left-handed magazine release.

Glock mags are hard to wear out. I have had several 2nd Gen mags that are pushing 20 years old that haven’t suffered from worn out springs yet. However, I have had some go south in as little as five years of hard ware. The beauty is that this is usually fixed by replacing the spring. Factory OE springs run about 80-cents each while nicer Wolfe type run just a few cents more.

If you have mags, buy a pack of springs for later down the road. Better to have them and not need them than need them and
not have them….

Read the rest in my column at University of Guns.com

glock mags

Care and Feeding of 1911 Magazines

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The Springfield 1911 series of pistols is by far one of the bestselling and most loved handguns of all time. You only have to look as far as our forum logo to see an example of this. The thing is, probably the most important step to keeping that Springer ticking like a clock is in proper magazine maintenance.

Before you check out, give me ten minutes of your time. You can thank me later.

m1911-01-49
Read the rest in my column at Springfield Forum.com

US Navy DDGs arrive in Spain to begin ABM Watch over Europe

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Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) launches from the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) as apart of a joint ballistic missile defense exercise. The new ABM capable DDGs carrying the SM-3 will provide a limited missile umbrella over Europe and North Africa

Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) launches from the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) as apart of a joint ballistic missile defense exercise. The new ABM capable DDGs carrying the SM-3 will provide a limited missile umbrella over Europe and North Africa. Click to embiggen

NNS140211-05. USS Donald Cook Begins Forward Deployment to Rota, Spain,

From Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

ROTA, Spain (NNS) — The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) arrived at Naval Station Rota to begin her forward deployment to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations, Feb. 11.

Donald Cook is the first of four Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers to be stationed in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations, and will be joined by other guided-missile destroyers, USS Ross (DDG 71), USS Porter (DDG 78) and USS Carney (DDG 64), over the next two years.

The purpose behind these destroyers’ forward deployments is to enhance the security of the European region. While in U.S. 6th Fleet, these ships will perform numerous missions, including NATO ballistic missile defense, maritime security operations, bi-lateral and multi-lateral training exercises, and NATO operations and deployments.

Ross is scheduled to join Donald Cook in Rota later this year, with Carney and Porter arriving sometime in 2015.

Meanwhile, Somewhere in Brazil

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Why yes Monte, that is a 1900’s era Danish made Madsen Light machinegun that in that picture all the way to the right, thanks for asking.

meanwhile in brazil MADSEN

No more furcaps for Russkis

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When you ask people to describe one sure-fire part of the Russian soldier’s kit that has remained the same for the past few centuries, its the fur-lined, flap-eared ushanka hat.

This thing has been around from the time of the Tsars, evolving from the fur-lined dolmans and Cossack papakhas

soldiers-tsarist-army

To Stalin and the Great Patriotic War

ushanka

To today and Tsar Putin

191149662

But no longer. The classic mad bomber cap is going the way of the dodo bird.  More here

The Amazing Evans Repeating Rifle

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Built in small numbers just after the US Civil War, the Evans repeating rifle was a very interesting rifle whose unique magazine design gave it a very impressive 34-round magazine capacity. And no, that is not a misprint.

In the 1870s, the US was awash with good quality rifles such as the Sharps carbine, the Henry and Winchester lever action repeaters, and the Spencer carbine. These guns were handy and some, like the Henry, carried an impressive 15-rounds in their under barrel tubular magazines. However, one Dr. Warren Evans, a Maine dentist, thought he could do better.

Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk

This 1880s Apache warrior is perhaps the best equipped of any soldier anywhere in the world at the time of this picture between his top break S&W revolver and his Evans repeater holding 34-rounds

This 1880s Apache warrior is perhaps the best equipped of any soldier anywhere in the world at the time of this picture between his top break S&W revolver and his Evans repeater holding 34-rounds

Have a cup of Joe to go with that babysitting there, Bosun

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Josephus Daniels

Josephus Daniels

Mr. Josephus Daniels was a newspaper editor and publisher from North Carolina who was appointed by Woodrow Wilson to serve as the 41st United States Secretary of the Navy in 1913. As such he was the head of an organisation that he knew next to nothing about. He ended the beer ration, substituting it for coffee (which is where the term ‘cup of joe’ comes from).

Magazine cartoon lampooning Daniel's efforts for temperance in the Navy in 1914. Click to embiggen

Magazine cartoon lampooning Daniel’s efforts for temperance in the Navy in 1914. Click to embiggen

He asked naval commanders to simply their traditions, calling for left and right rather than port and starboard among other things. He was one of the most unpopular SECNAV’s of all time and if not for the fact that a young, knowledgeable, and very energetic Assistant Secretary of the Navy by the name of Franklin D Roosevelt was running around putting out fires, the US Navy in World War One could have been very different from what it was.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt firing and handling a Springfield M1903 at the Marine Corps’ rifle range at Winthrop, Maryland in 1917.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt firing and handling a Springfield M1903 at the Marine Corps’ rifle range at Winthrop, Maryland in 1917.

All of this makes the below picture of Frank Daniels, the young son of the Secretary of the Navy aboard the USS Dolphin all the more special. You see Daniels in 1913 observed the target practice of the US Navy at Hampton Roads from the decks of the gunboat– along with his wife and family. Commanded by Lt (later Fleet Admiral) William Daniel Leahy, the 256-foot long Dolphin was an elderly gunboat used mainly to carry around dispatches and was pressed into service by the Secretary as his flagship that spring day. By the way, Daniels ordered that the term “Target Practice” be hereby abolished and that of “Gunnery Exercises” substituted while he was in office.

You can just see the joy on the old bosun mate’s face in being tasked with making sure young Frank stays healthy. The sixteen years worth of service stripes on his sleeve must have been worth it.

Doesn't he look happy

Doesn’t he look happy

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