June 2014

Buying your first AR-15 used to be a lot easier, if only because of the lack of options. A good base model would get you only you needed, and then you could add on extras and swap out parts to make the rifle more functional. The various scarcities (and shifts in political power) meant many bought whatever they could get and at artificially inflated prices. We’re past that now, at least for a while. Deciding which AR to buy is much more complicated now, as there are so many makers making many variations of guns that essentially do the same thing. In this market, you can take your pick of rifles and options. You don’t have to start at the bottom. And some rifles, like the Diamondback DB-15 B, represent a real value. The DB-15 B is an upgraded gun at a base model price, and it is a buyer’s market.

How would you like to vastly improve your shooting skills without firing a single shot? I’ve been shooting for decades, and I can never recall a period when I felt that ammo was considered cheap. Today’s market is certainly among the most challenging we’ve had, but even if it broke loose tomorrow, it still costs money to put rounds down range. Laser Ammo offers products that are specifically aimed (pun intended) at those of us who want to increase our trigger time without increasing our ammo expense. Here is a look at three of their tools: The SureStrike laser cartridge; The Personal Electronic Target; and the Glock TJ Sight.

What’s most impressive about the new 9mm Springfield Armory Range Officer is that it’s a gun that’s just easy to shoot well. I was at the range doing some drills at 21 feet and asked a friend if he’d like to shoot it. He’s relatively new to shooting and had never shot a model 1911, but he was eager to give it a try. He took careful aim and put his first shot into the center of the bullseye. His comment? “I like this gun. I really like it!” That about sums it up for me too.

Shot timers aren’t the sexiest addition to your shooting gear. Most are bulky, a bit boxy even. If you’re not a serious competitor, using a timer might even seem a bit pretentious, like you think there is something that needs to be timed. Yet a timer is one piece of gear that marks you as a serious shooter. A good timer implies that you’re serious about competition and serious about improving your speed. And now, thanks to the Shotmaxx from Double-Alpha Academy (DAA), the shot timer has gotten more functional, more stylish and a whole lot smaller.

Heckler & Koch is about to begin shipping the VP9, its latest striker fired pistol, and the reports coming in could not be any more positive. From the adjustable grip panels to the trigger, the VP9 is taking a familiar platform and making some serious improvements and doing it at a competitive price.

With the ever-growing popularity of the modern sporting rifle platform (I call it a platform because there seem to be an infinite number of configurations), there is a growing trend toward carbines and short barreled rifles (SBR’s). Since these are used for fast, dynamic, short-range work, non-magnified electronic dot sights and backup iron sights work well on these rifles. Smaller and lighter has become the trend, which is good as long as the sights are functional and reliable.

The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that the government can enforce the Straw Sale rule even when the person it is being bought for is lawfully allowed to own a gun. Several different Federal Circuit courts had previously ruled on both sides of this issue, prompting the Supreme Court to hear the case. The Supreme Court, is a five-to-four decision, adopted a narrow interpretation of the law, saying the “actual transferee/buyer” must acknowledge that he intends to resell the gun when he buys it, even if the eventual owner is legally entitled to own a gun.

Have you ever been driving along on the highway and realized that everyone going slower than is an old lady and the everyone going faster than you is a maniac? It is the same thing with what you believe, at least when it comes to “conspiracy theories.” Anyone who believes less than you believe is “asleep” and everyone who believes more than you believe is a nut.

There is a famous saying: “The police are only minutes away when seconds count.” That happened recently to a family in the Tampa Florida area when they were the victims of a home invasion. As you can hear on the video below of the actual 911 call, the caller first gets voicemail when he calls 911, with a recording to call 911. Then the people who just robbed them return to the house, when he finally shoots them, ending the threat.