Tag: Conceal Carry

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Brass, Barrels, and Bureaucracy #13

I know the equinox is around the corner, but the trees are already turning. With how dry New England has been, I doubt we’ll see much vibrant foliage this year, which probably means fewer leaf peepers, and that’s fine by me.

To folks who haven’t seen it before, I suppose it is still cool, but it’s not as bold and vibrant as it can be. It’s just been too dry of a summer.

Recent political events have left many of us feeling buried. I’ll admit, I’m worn out. This is one of those moments you will remember exactly where you were when you first heard the news. It is a tragedy any way you slice it, and my heart goes out to Charlie Kirk’s family. While it is of no consolation, they caught the suspect and charged him with aggravated murder. Prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty.

It has also made me reassess my everyday carry. For years I kept a firearm in my backpack, mostly because of workplaces that did not allow firearms on the property. It worked, but I recognize it was far from ideal. Now I have returned to carrying on the hip, which forced me to reevaluate both gear and wardrobe. At thirty, with my metabolism in the rearview, I have found OWB much more comfortable than IWB.

I have been very happy with this holster produced by Craft Holsters. Very comfortable if you like Out Side the Waistband Carry

After Aurora, I decided that a Ruger LCP was not enough for daily carry, and I needed to move toward a compact. This led me to the CZ-2075 RAMI-P and eventually to my current HK 45CT. I am making similar changes again. A button-down shirt over a T-shirt conceals well enough here in rural Vermont. I carry my HK in a Craft Holster OWB thumb-break leather holster on a Bigfoot Gun Belt. It is bulkier than I would like, but I enjoy shooting that pistol, which is a criterion for me when choosing a carry gun. I have also been considering an HK P2000SK, which would keep the fire controls similar to the larger HK pistols while slimming everything down.

Bigfoot Gunbelts is another company that made a really good product but has gone out of business. I am in the market for a new belt, not due to wearing out my old one, but rather a waist that has unfortunately outgrown it’s current belt.

My kids recently learned that both my wife and I carry. When my son saw my holstered pistol for the first time, it sparked a conversation about why I carry and why it is not something to mention in public. It was not a talk I expected to have so soon, but it turned out to be necessary.

Like many of you, I am uneasy about where this country is headed. Nothing we could have done would have changed the outcome of recent events, but they serve as a reminder that the world is unpredictable. The best thing we can do is stay trained, stay equipped, and keep our families prepared.

Website Updates

Nothing new on the website this week, we have been chipping away on a few projects to stay tuned.

We did have a new subscriber ask a really good question, that I think everyone will enjoy. It’s one of those questions that can really make you think. I used to have a “Mail Bag” section but to be honest, I didn’t have a lot to put into it and I wasn’t sure if it was just cluttering up the webpage, so I moved it to the archive.

Anyway here’s the question.

Jay
I’m reloading for a 505 Gibbs with Hornady 525 both solids and softs.
I settled on 142 gr H1000 for 2150fps.

I have two questions one seems to turn the way I understand physics on its head.
First the simpler one would a faster powder loaded to same 2150 fps kick less? This 11.5lb gun kicks the snot out of me now.

The more interesting question is how can a .458 caliber 500 gr bullet be propelled at the same 2150 fps with roughly half the powder charge and half the recoil as the larger caliber similar weighted projectile?
Thanks

Mark B.

I’ve already provided an answer, but what would your answer be?  I’ll post my response next week, and if anyone else has a question lay it on us. Marc and I would love to take a shot at it.

Time at the Bench

Finally some 338 Spectre

I am working on 338 Spectre, finally circling back around to that cartridge. Looking at developing a few test loads. 300gr Sierra Matchkings, Barnes 225gr TTSX (minus the tip), some Hornady 225gr SST, and I think I have a few other random 338 Bullets I might work a load up in.

I still need to mount an optic on the rifle, and figure out the range situation here in Vermont, but at least I’ll have the ammo loaded and that’s half the battle. I am queuing up to have a bunch of loads that need testing.

40 S&W Missing Barrel

So about 18 months ago I bought an H&K VP40 with the intent to use it as a host platform to do some tinkering with 357 Sig. Yes, I really like my H&K pistols, no I don’t consider it a “problem”. I bought a threaded 357 Sig barrel from Rim Country Manufacturing, and I have proceeded to do nothing with it besides installing the new barrel in the gun. At which point I decided I needed to put the old 40 S&W barrel for that gun in a place that must have only made sense to me at that moment in time. Two moves, later and I cannot for the life of me figure out where I put it. So, I am now sitting on a bunch of 40 S&W ammo I have loaded, and I don’t have a gun to test it in.

I’ve bought a few HK related parts from Rim Country Manufacturing. Have always had a good experience and I’ll likely pick up the replacement .40 S&W barrel from them. Bonus, it’s a standard thread, no metric weirdness.

There is a bittersweet side to this: I get to have an excuse to buy a new barrel. I’ll pick up a 40 S&W barrel, either made by H&K or from an after-market manufacturer like RCM. It’ll be threaded so if I ever decide to pick up a .40-cal suppressor, I’ll have something to put on. In my sleuthing of looking for a replacement barrel I came across the fact you can purchase a conversion barrel that will take your H&K VP40 and effectively turn it into a 9mm. No new recoil spring, no new mags, just a new barrel.

A VP40 to 9mm Conversation Barrel is a VP40 barrel that has the outside dimensions of a VP40 barrel but has a 9mm bore and chamber. A VP9 barrel has a slimmer profile and will not work in a VP40 Slide.

The VP40 slide is beefier than the VP9 slide, so it may result in a softer shooting 9mm? I don’t know. Either way, that is now on my “to buy list”.   Sometimes losing a barrel leads you down unexpected paths.

Lights for Everywhere

This has been a fantastic addition to my 550, only issue I have had if if I am using standard lock rings on the die, sometimes they are a bit too thick for the light to slide in.

I have discovered the joy of having more light on the bench. It started with a lighting kit for my Dillion 550 press and now has moved to two different adjustable lamps at both benches and even has moved to a small ring light around the quill on my drill press. I do not know if it’s just that I have gotten older and my eyes appreciate having things lit up like a Christmas tree.

I’ve clamped one of these to a shelf that sits above my bench. I can position it so I have the light right where I want it, and if I need to pull it down to get a closer view it’s right there. Not a bad deal for $50.

LED Desk lamps really make a difference, and they don’t act like light heaters, like the old incandescent, or halogen bulbs. For checking to see how high the powder charge is, or for just inspecting cases, I have found that a well-lit work bench really does make it a bit more enjoyable to reload.

Industry and Legislative News

NOE Closing Shop

Credit goes to Mark K. to bring this to my attention. (As a side note, I have an abundance of Mark’s who subscribe or who contribute in some way to this site, I would like to thank all of them but also recognize the statistical anomaly for what it is.)

For those who are not familiar with NOE, they are, or rather were, an awesome bullet mold making company located in Provo, Utah.  They had probably the largest selection of bullet molds, and configurations of molds of any bullet mold maker out there. They also took suggestions from hobby guys like me, and their minimum run quantity was low. If you could get ten people on board purchasing a mold they would likely run it. It is how myself and one other guy go the cast bullet mold for the 300gr 338 Mold designed specifically for the 338 Spectre into production.

315gr 338 Cal mold for the 338 Spectre, the bullet I helped design, and NOE brought to life. That’s almost 10yrs ago

They have announced they are closing up shop and they are blowing out the rest of the inventory. I don’t have any insight on why they are closing their doors, if it was a retirement of Al Nelson, or if they are the victim of the poor economy. Either way we are losing a great company that really made some fantastic products for the casting and reloading hobby. NOE’s closing is only the latest casualty of what is presently endemic in the industry.

Industry Slowing

To put it bluntly, the industry continues to slow. Year over year revenue is down 9.6% on average across all shooting related companies and product lines, with firearms being down 11.5%. This is also born out in NICS data which has shown a marked decline.  For most of us this is not news, we have been feeling the effects of it if not being direct contributors to the decline.

I know I have bought less hobby related things this year than I have in years past and that is not because I am any less engaged. We just have less room in the budget to spend. Rising housing and food costs, rising energy costs, without appreciable increases in pay, and honestly the cost of powder and bullets has gone up. Primers have come down in price some but nowhere near what they were pre-COVID.

A few more companies have recently closed shop. SSCY Industries, makers of affordable subcompact pistols, closed in May. Anderson Manufacturing closed its doors early this summer. The Fiocchi of America is now fully owned by the Czechoslovak Group (CSG). CSG and Vista Outdoors are now consolidated under the Kinetic Group.

You got to hand it to them, they really pulled out all the stops on the engraving. Very nice, a bit over the top for my taste though.

Ruger has recently gone through a restructuring and the headcount at Ruger has dropped by about 5%.

These are normal responses to a soft market. Companies that are unable to weather the storm close up shop or get bought out. Larger companies look to cut costs, sometimes that means cutting workforce, as unfortunate as that is, and other companies are looking to diversify their product offerings. Trying to find niches of the market segment that might be seeing growth.  I.E the double stack 1911 market.

I would not read too much into it, other than a soft market means there will be change. While some might be referring this as the Trump slump 2.0, I don’t think it’s near as bad. Plus, on the bright side it may force the market to be more competitive, I may be optimistic, but I’d really love to see primers drop below $50 a brick of 1000. I need some large pistol primers.

Open Carry is Now Legal in Florida

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down Florida’s ban on open carrying of firearms. I think the surprise, for many of us, is that it was not already legal. Either way it looks like the state’s Attorney General is not going to appeal this ruling, saying “It is now the law of the land”.

If you choose to open carry in Florida or anywhere else, please do so in a dignified manner and professional manner, that does not paint everyone else as complete dufus.

New Jersey Upheld “Sensitive Places” Restrictions

In the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, a three-judge panel ruled that the New Jersey Legislature can define so called “sensitive places” and prohibit open and concealed carry within those places. As anyone who carries regularly knows, these “sensitive places” are almost always areas where it ends up being very inconvenient for those who choose to carry.

You want to pick up the mail at the post office? That’s felony to carry inside a post office.

You need to drop by an see your relative in a nursing home, or in a hospital. That’s a sensitive area, you can’t carry it there.

Libraries, Museums, parks, beaches, zoos, the list goes on. These all end up being “no carry zones”. So, you are left with 2 choices, obey the law and leave the firearm in a vehicle. Or break the law and carry regardless. Concealed is concealed right? That is a very personal decision, and I do not advocate for either.  The point is, lawmakers are finding any excuse they can to make lives difficult for those who wish to exercise their constitutional right to self-defense. This court ruling upheld the lawmakers’ intent to do that.

New Guns and Gear

MDT Timber Core – Rifle Stock

I am a sucker for a traditional looking wood and metal gun. I like the WOOX stocks, I like some of the wooden stocks and grips you can find on AR’s, and this MDT stock caught my eye.  It’s maybe a little less traditional in style, more akin to a mashup of their chassis and traditional wood stock, but I can get behind it. It offers many of the same features you might get in a chassis gun, v-block bedding, free floated barrel, and a bottom metal that works with magazines.

I have at least one bolt action rifle that I might consider refinishing and using a stock like this on. That is a someday project.

Steyr ATd and ATc Pistols

Steyr has announced a new line of pistols the ATd which is focused on self-defense and the ATc which is focused on competition.  I have to admit the competition guns are handsome looking. They are hammer fired which is a departure from the norm with Steyr. A lot of people have speculated these are a rebranding of Slovenija arms maker AREX. I see the similarities and both companies are now owned by Czech Republic’s RSBC Investment Group.

Steyr has an import facility in Alabama so it would make sense if AREX guns are imported that they come in under the Steyr name which is a more recognized brand in the US Market. The MSRP is said to start around $1,170, and I am sure they will go up steeply for some of the competition models. Specs are about what you’d expect for a 9mm. 18rnd magazines, DA/SA trigger, and optics ready. They do advertise that the system is easy to tune, and that there is some modularity of parts. It is also noteworthy that it is an all-metal frame.

An all-metal frame gun in 9mm is usually a recipe for a good time at the range.  

If you have questions, comments, or ideas, we’d love to hear from you.

Jay – jay@theballisticassistant.com

Marc – Marc@theballisticassistant.com

If you’d like to support this website, please use the affiliate links. We get a small commission whenever you purchase something through a link regardless of if it is the product that was linked or not. This is at no additional cost to you. 

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Brass, Barrels, and Bureaucracy #12

This week was a whirlwind. Work was especially busy, and I got hit by the migraine freight train one day and a cramped up back the next. It’s been exciting, on the bright side, fall weather is setting in, which is much appreciated. Despite the cooler weather, the leaves haven’t begun to turn yet. At least I haven’t seen any trees with yellow leaves yet. We can expect that to begin at any day now.

I took my daughter out to fly her airplane and that did not go as well as I would have liked. I think I finally understand what it means to be tail heavy and why it is so devastating to fly a plane that is tail heavy. It seems like a simple concept but for some reason I couldn’t quite grasp it, until I launched her plane and it kind of just clicked, about two seconds before it completed a flip and nosed dived into the ground.  

I’ve always gotta be careful going to events like these, as I might end up as an attraction, right there in between the goats and the sheep.

My wife and I plan to visit the Tunbridge World’s Fair, I enjoy watching the horse and oxen pulls along with seeing the old engines and machinery. It’s been awhile since I have had the chance to go to that fair but I am looking forward to  it.

Website Updates

When Marc wrote his article on the chronographs it got me thinking about how people generally use their chronographs. I often do not hear much about Standard Deviation, or discussion around how shooters apply that to their loads to figure out if “good enough” is “good enough”. Statistics can be a deep and dark well to dive into especially if you don’t have a background in math or engineering. So, I thought it might be useful to try and explain it in the simplest terms I could muster so folks might get the benefit of using their Chronograph not only to measure what is, but also “what might be”.  See the article below and let me know your thoughts.

A Handloaders Guide to Standard Deviation

Time at the Bench

I opted to switch my Dillon 550 over to rerun that .223 Remington where the COAL was a touch too long. It turned out better than I had thought it would be. Most of the rounds were fine, it was just a couple of lots that I needed to go through. It’s a pretty darn quick process. One die to set the bullet back about .025 and a second die to reapply the crimp.

So close, the tips would just catch on the inside of the mag.

You could argue that I shouldn’t need to reapply the crimp, especially since I am not crimping especially hard. However, I felt it helped the rounds gauge a little better, as does just tuck in the case mouth and prevent it from hanging up. It’s not much, but it’s noticeable.

New Cartridge (for me) 7.62x39mm

Some steel cased Wolf 7.62x39mm I bought several years ago. I have no idea how it got wet, but the box on the left was so corroded it’s probably not worth saving. The two boxes on the right survived unscathed. A personal reminded not to store ammo without some moisture protection.

This is a new cartridge for me. I have been collecting components for a while with the intent of loading ammo for that VZ-58 I built a few years ago. I had some left-over components from some experimentation I did with the .303 British. Both cartridges have a bore diameter that can range from .310 to .312. The bullets I had were some Sierra 125gr Soft Points measuring .311in.

About 8 years ago I was playing with extremely light loads in my .303 British. I still have an assortment of 90gr and 85gr .32 cal bullets that I never used up. The loads worked, velocities were impressive but the accuracy wasn’t there.

I had a few different powders I could have used for this load, but I decided to use H335 as I have an abundance of it at the moment. This powder is on the slow side for what will work, but I don’t mind that. Case fill will always be 100% and I don’t run the risk of overtopping the service pressure.  My big holdback on getting the rifle sighted in will be the trigger, it’s horrendous. I’ve got to figure out how to fix that.

Industry and Legislative News

Rest in Peace Charlie Kirk

This is a news story that has hit closer to home than usual. I lived in and around Orem, Utah for 10 years, and I went to school at Utah Valley University. So, to see the tragedy happen not only in a city I knew well, but at the college campus I knew well, it’s hard to watch. Charlie Kirk was not someone I had in my regular rotation of podcasts but I have heard him speak on a few occasions and I have always appreciated his wit and stalwart defense of the Constitution and of Christian values. It has been absolutely heart breaking to see this unfold.

To those who are not familiar with the area, Orem and Provo Utah are basically one city with two major colleges. Utah Valley University (UVU), and Brigham Young University. Like much of Utah, the community is between 30 to 50% members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the interest of full disclosure, I am part of that community, having been a member of the church all my life. The crime rate for both cities is lower than the national average.

Utah is unique in that if a school receives state funding, then they must also allow individuals with Conceal Carry Permits to carry on campus. That is true for colleges as well as grade schools. Many people, including myself, regularly carried a firearm while attending UVU. No doubt many of the attendees at Charlie Kirk’s tour were also carrying. It is of no surprise to me that security could be considered “lax”. Charlie was speaking to a large but very friendly crowd, and even the people protesting were tame when it comes to university protests.

Charlie Kirk was standing immediately behind the enclosed walk way that is behind the reflection pools. This is known on campus as the “Hall of Flags” as every flags from every country around the world is hanging.

The campus is set up, like many modern campuses, with large outdoor spaces. However, you could get pretty much anywhere you wanted to go through long corridors. Many of these corridors were also terraces on top and served as additional walkways. Elevated positions, and lots of open spaces, it is everything a sharpshooter could ask for. I wish very much I was not having to write about this, as it is a true tragedy. I suspect it will not be long before the culprit is apprehended. A surplus Mauser .30-06 has already been recovered, and investigators have released pictures of a suspect who remains at large. Whoever the shooter is, the death penalty will likely be on the table.

 Even still, Charlie left behind a wife and two young children, and a conservative movement that happens once in a generation. Whatever punishment or justice is granted it will not replace the truly a good man we lost, and it makes me genuinely concerned about the future of our country. If we can no longer have discourse about ideas, even those which may be unpalatable to some on the left, right or center, then we have lost the Republic.

DOJ Considering Restricting Gun Rights to Trans individuals

With the shooting two weeks ago, and with the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk. The discussion around gun control and gun rights is still very much in the forefront of the public discussion. Reports indicate the Department of Justice is internally deliberating whether or not individuals suffering from Gender Dysphoria should be stripped of their gun rights. This stems from the fact that several of the most recent mass shooters claimed to be suffering from gender dysphoria.

I am somewhat upset that I have to be put in the position of “If you do it to them, then you’ll do it to us.” Literally millions of Americans struggle with mental health issues, including Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Many of our veteran struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which go hand in hand with depression and anxiety.  So, if we begin to strip rights from individuals with mental health issues, where does that line get drawn? Are we putting our rights into the hands of the American Medical Association, who have been vehemently antigun?

I find it unlikely that any such restriction is going to be held up in court. There are processes to adjudicate individuals as mentally ill, and there are legitimate arguments over that process, and how the Rights are restored to that individual when they recover. This whole “Transgender” issue has irked me in more ways than one, and it irks me a bit more that I am put into a position of “Yes, they are mentally ill, but no you cannot strip their gun rights from them”. If the shoe was on the other foot, I have little doubt that I would be thrown wholesale to the wolves.

Delaware Judge Strikes Down Age Requirement

The minimum age to purchase a handgun was moved to 21 as a response to the Columbine shooting. Since then, there have been many arguments that this was unconstitutional, as the age of majority in the country is 18. Why should we give some people the majority of rights at 18 but withhold the remaining rights at 21?

There have been several lawsuits and verdicts upholding this requirement but now we have at least one instance where a judge found it was unconstitutional, from Delaware of all States. Expect this ruling to be appealed. There are other courts cases in the works dealing with the same thing, and there has been a push in some states to include so called “assault weapons” under the 21 or older requirement.

Steps Towards Conceal Carry National Reciprocity

We have had at least one pending ruling that has the potential to erode the barriers towards the goal of National Reciprocity. At the end of August, it was ruled in Higbie v. James that New York must allow nonresidents to apply for concealed carry permits. This does not exempt them from the state’s extensive requirements, but it’s a step in the right direction. The more concealed carry is normalized, and the more restrictions that are struck down in court the closer we are to getting national reciprocity.

To that end, New Hampshire has joined 24 other states in asking the U.S Supreme Court to review Massachusetts’ onerous permitting requirements. To highlight the severity of the issue, gun owners have to be hyper vigilant when crossing state lines. An arbitrary line on the map is the difference between being law abiding and being a felon. It is not theoretical, in many areas you can go for a walk on a street at the beginning of your walk you are perfectly legal, by the middle of the walk you are a felon. Given the Right to self-defense is a National Right, and not a State Right, then that right should apply regardless of State lines.

Tennessee Mandating Gun Safety Classes in All Grades

One of my biggest frustrations about school is that they do not teach skills that transfer into the real world.  Skills such as:

  • Managing money, what is a credit score, what and how to manage debt, how to file for taxes
  • How Insurance works, what is a deductible, and what it means to be in-network
  • How to vote in local, state and national elections, how to be engaged civilly
  • How to rent an apartment, what tent rights are, how to read a lease, what is a security deposit.
  • First aid and basic health literacy, CPR, when to go to the ER vs. Urgent care,
  • How to write a resume, interview for a job, negotiate a salary, and avoid the pitfalls of internships

This list is probably a mile long, but it’s things we as adults have to figure out on our own. Well in Tennessee, they are going to be teaching gun safety, something that used to be taught nationally through programs like the NRA’s Eddie Eagle.

This guy is still around, it’s really a decent program, but most schools don’t want to touch anything with the NRA’s name attached to it. Which is too bad.

New Guns and Gear

Taurus 66 Combat

Taurus recently announced a new 7 shot 357 Magnum Revolver. This is a medium framed revolver with a double action only hammer. Clearly this is targeting the folks who like to conceal carry a revolver, as the hammer has been bobbed and the barrel is a short 3in. This all but guarantees that the flash is going to be extraordinary and blinding when shot in low light conditions. It does come predrilled and tapped for an optics plate if you’d like to mount a red dot, that is handy.

Wilson Combat SFT9

While not a “New” product it is something Marc was able to put his hands on this week. Wilson Combat announced and released this pistol back in August of 2022. I would deem it a modernized 1911, eliminating the grip safety, as well as offering it in a double stack 9mm. Marc reports that it feels very comfortable in his hands and over all he was impressed with the fit and finish of the handgun. The only thing I would change is the front barrel bushing, while it is iconic 1911, a reverse plug like found on a double stack in 1911 just makes servicing these guns a bit easier.

Hi-Point HP-15

A new addition to the entry level AR-15’s, the HP-15. Honestly, I am like everyone else, when we see a new MSR hit the market, apathetic. Most of us know Hi-Point for their very inexpensive and ugly as sin pistols. Yes, they work, yes they will never win a beauty pageant, even if they are the last contestant standing. Apparently, they have seen a hole in their line up and have decided to make the bold move of offering a budget AR-15. Now to be completely fair, the specs read to be just fine. 1:8 Twist 16in Nitrided barrel, 15in Free Floating M-LOK handguard, M16 Full Profile Bolt Carrier, etc.

The price tag is fair, at $499.99 you’re not going to break the bank. It’s probably just fine for someone looking for their first AR. It’s just a very crowded market right now. AR’s are a dime a dozen, Andro Corp Industries AR-15’s are regularly on sale for $369.99, which is about as low as I have seen an AR go for.  So I am not sure why a company would be looking to launch budget ARs in this market. Yet here we are.

If you have questions, comments, or ideas, we’d love to hear from you.

Jay – jay@theballisticassistant.com

Marc – Marc@theballisticassistant.com

If you’d like to support this website, please use the affiliate links. We get a small commission whenever you purchase something through a link regardless of if it is the product that was linked or not. This is at no additional cost to you.