Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

A take-down box-fed 12ga that handles like a light carbine.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

A day’s worth of targets in one hand.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

Older versions of Camera Raw had a setting for changing midtone brightness (gamma) during the image import. I don’t see a way to do that now other than with curves — but curves do not work with gradations or paintbrush adjustment tools. Does anyone know the workaround for affecting just the midtone brightness?

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

Pump shotguns  and collimator gun sights have been around since the 1890s. Sound suppressors, since the following decade.  Putting it all together on a skeet gun had to wait till the 21st Century. Not traditional enough for the purists? Forget it, any complaints about technology ruining sport shooting and the struggle for moral purity have been invalidated by the transition from flint to percussion ignition with shorter lock time…everything since then has been just arguing about the appearances.

Sports have always been about having fun while training for something serious. Why not train with the tools that you would use for real, be they a custom Remington 870, a UTS15 or a phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range?

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

Terrific friendly, knowledgeable people — thousands of them from all over the world.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

When I lived in the Soviet Union, I heard people say that they didn’t need or want capitalist excesses of choices or resources. The notion that being poor but proud conferred an intellectual superiority is held by a few in America as well. It manifests itself often during discussions of automatic firearms. “Full auto is inaccurate and wasteful of ammunition”, people say. I say: “Stop trying to rationalize the lack of access to modern technology as a benefit of some sort!”

The rifle above is a CMMG M47 Mutant, an AR15 designed to work with an AK47 magazine. In select-fire form, it has a cyclic rate of around 500 shots per minute. This means that a quick trigger press yields single shots. A slightly longer press gives a 2-3 round burst with excellent control. The idea that automatic weapons are uncontrollable comes mainly from 50 year old examples with drop stocks and high-power calibers, or from machine pistols that were designed to work specifically with sound suppressors for balance and recoil moderation. A 1940s STG44 is fairly controllable in automatic mode. A 2015 M47 or Keltec RDB, also with cyclic rate around 500rpm, are both very steady shooters. Due to the restrictions on automatic arms, we are in the position of estimating their usefulness by the performance of obsolete examples, a bit like saying that digital cameras are worthless because 1997 examples were very limited in capability.

Let’s talk about accuracy first. From 15 yards standing with 5.56mm RDB, I get three shot dispersion of about two inches. With M47, it was about four inches the first time I handled the rifle. My experience with it was limited to firing ten rounds, and yet I was able to control it adequately for the purpose of self-defense. Plus-minus two inches from the point of aim is quite adequate for the purpose of self-defense inside a home. The longest firing distance in my home is about that far. Some people could, after extensive training, shoot almost as fast in semi-auto — but it’s a great deal better if the defender can concentrate on other aspects, such as taking cover, minding other family members and watching the invader actions instead of having to pay attention to the trigger reset under stress.

Self-defense usually happens up close and fast. Even at full cyclic rate, a standard 30-round magazine would last about two seconds — a very long time in close quarters combat. Used more realistically, in 2-3 round bursts, one single magazine would give about ten seconds of fire superiority over a typical violent criminal looking for easy prey. There’s a good reason why presidential bodyguards have automatic rifles and submachine guns. Those are precisely the tools that enable effective close-range stopping of threats.

Properly designed automatic weapons are controllable at ranges of interest to civilian self-defense. Further out, past 25 or so yards, automatic fire still has a use: suppressing an ambush in order to provide safe exit for family members or to stop a rioting mob from overrunning a disabled vehicle. If automatic fire is not needed, almost all weapons have a semi-auto mode. The few guns lacking it have such slow firing rates that single shots are available by releasing the trigger.

Another benefit of automatic mode is that open bolt design submachine guns have far less recoil than closed bolt carbines. That is especially pronounced with advanced ignition designs like the Uzi. That means slightly built or fragile defenders, precisely the kind of victim sought out by criminals for victimization, can defend themselves more effectively. With closed bolt designs, smaller caliber may be used with multiple hits to compensate for each individual bullet being smaller and slower.

Please stop carry the water for our enemies, the government regulators. Every imposition, even if it involves a technology you consider useless, weakens us in the long run. And some technologies are not nearly as useless as we’ve been led to believe.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

Just returned from the least stressful, most productive SHOT show in my career. I got to meet many friends from all over the world. Got to look and try a wide variety of arms and accessories. Bringing back tremendous amount of publishing and advertising work.

Oleg Volk. Tatiana Whitlock of ID Target Systems, Michelle DiCianni

Much of the success can be directly attributed to the sponsorship of www.CZforum.com run by Richard Neihaus. Chard was incredibly generous with his time and resources, taking care of most of the planning and logistics. He also enabled my self-defense trainer friend and fellow writer Michelle DiCianni to attend. Upon arrival, we were further surprised with a number of technological aids from him which made the navigation of the show easier and more efficient.

Gun Digest and Harris Publications took care of my show and range day access. Chard made the rest of the process almost entirely transparent for me, for which I am most grateful!

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

When I lived in the Soviet Union, I heard people say that they didn’t need or want capitalist excesses of choices or resources. The notion that being poor but proud conferred an intellectual superiority is held by a few in America as well. It manifests itself often during discussions of automatic firearms. “Full auto is inaccurate and wasteful of ammunition”, people say. I say: “Stop trying to rationalize the lack of access to modern technology as a benefit of some sort!”

The rifle above is a CMMG M47 Mutant, an AR15 designed to work with an AK47 magazine. In select-fire form, it has a cyclic rate of around 500 shots per minute. This means that a quick trigger press yields single shots. A slightly longer press gives a 2-3 round burst with excellent control. The idea that automatic weapons are uncontrollable comes mainly from 50 year old examples with drop stocks and high-power calibers, or from machine pistols that were designed to work specifically with sound suppressors for balance and recoil moderation. A 1940s STG44 is fairly controllable in automatic mode. A 2015 M47 or Keltec RDB, also with cyclic rate around 500rpm, are both very steady shooters. Due to the restrictions on automatic arms, we are in the position of estimating their usefulness by the performance of obsolete examples, a bit like saying that digital cameras are worthless because 1997 examples were very limited in capability.

The distance between her and the door to the room can be covered in half a second by a motivated home invader. Subtracting roughly 1/6s for the defender’s reaction time, hat’s time for a 6–7 round burst at distances diminishing from about 7 yards to 1 yard. Hard to miss at this distance, and the lack of match accuracy doesn’t matter. Rapid incapacitation of the threat with multiple hits does matter.

Let’s talk about accuracy first. From 15 yards standing with 5.56mm RDB, I get three shot dispersion of about two inches. With M47, it was about four inches the first time I handled the rifle. My experience with it was limited to firing ten rounds, and yet I was able to control it adequately for the purpose of self-defense. Plus-minus two inches from the point of aim is quite adequate for the purpose of self-defense inside a home. The longest firing distance in my home is about that far. Some people could, after extensive training, shoot almost as fast in semi-auto — but it’s a great deal better if the defender can concentrate on other aspects, such as taking cover, minding other family members and watching the invader actions instead of having to pay attention to the trigger reset under stress.

Self-defense usually happens up close and fast. Even at full cyclic rate, a standard 30-round magazine would last about two seconds — a very long time in close quarters combat. Used more realistically, in 2-3 round bursts, one single magazine would give about ten seconds of fire superiority over a typical violent criminal looking for easy prey. There’s a good reason why presidential bodyguards have automatic rifles and submachine guns. Those are precisely the tools that enable effective close-range stopping of threats.

Properly designed automatic weapons are controllable at ranges of interest to civilian self-defense. Further out, past 25 or so yards, automatic fire still has a use: suppressing an ambush in order to provide safe exit for family members or to stop a rioting mob from overrunning a disabled vehicle. If automatic fire is not needed, almost all weapons have a semi-auto mode. The few guns lacking it have such slow firing rates that single shots are available by releasing the trigger. Automatic capability doesn’t mean that people shoot at unidentified noises. It doesn’t mean hosing down areas. It only means not having to concentrate on trigger manipulation when dealing with a short-range self-defense event. Most such events happen at under ten steps and within two-three seconds, exactly the area where rapid fire is needed and would be effective.

Another benefit of automatic mode is that open bolt design submachine guns have far less recoil than closed bolt carbines. That is especially pronounced with advanced ignition designs like the Uzi. That means slightly built or fragile defenders, precisely the kind of victim sought out by criminals for victimization, can defend themselves more effectively. With closed bolt designs, smaller caliber may be used with multiple hits to compensate for each individual bullet being smaller and slower.

Please stop carrying the water for our enemies, the government regulators. Every imposition, even if it involves a technology you consider useless, weakens us in the long run. And some technologies are not nearly as useless as we’ve been led to believe.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

Updating the military classic for practical field use

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

As if there was any doubt that “gun control” is just a misnomer for people control, we have more evidence of the new direction on the part of the disarmers of lawful Americans. That direction is Soviet-style punitive psychiatry as well as a vast expansion of the category of “prohibited persons” through retroactive addition of punishments to old convictions.

Forget about AR15 rifles! The single-shot Crickett above would be off limits to anyone who gets disqualified, even if the disqualification happens in a commie state like New Jersey and the victim of the process later moves to Idaho or Montana. The newest Federal efforts are in line with the 1938 Nazi law changes which made gun ownership nominally less restrictive for the general population but designated politically motivated categories of prohibited persons — precisely the people who were later gassed or shot by German troops and police.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

People recommend training as you would fight, yet many train with 38Spl and carry with 357Mag. That’s because full-power 357 ammo hurts to shoot in all but the largest revolvers. Coonan automatic weighs the same as a 45ACP 1911 and makes even high-velocity 158gr ammunition quite pleasant to fire (other than the noise of the report). That’s why I like my Coonan and shoot it far more often than the 4″ S&W 686 I also have.

While the velocity loss due to the cylinder gap isn’t great (50fps or so), the escaping gas adds to the noise of the report. That’s especially evident with revolving long guns or longer barreled revolvers. Flame cutting when firing from retention is also a concern.

Reloading is also a bit faster with the automatic. Speed loaders help, but lining up the bullets with the chambers is a finer motor skill than guiding a magazine into a chamfered grip opening.

Revolvers have certain advantages, such as nearly automatic dealing with misfires (just pull the trigger again). But they are more sensitive to high primers, have more openings for ingress of dirt, and there’s a reason why they’ve passed from military and police use. I shoot revolvers for fun and training, but would prefer my Coonan when firing for effect. Your preferences may differ, but I have fun explaining mine.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

People recommend training as you would fight, yet many train with 38Spl and carry with 357Mag. That’s because full-power 357 ammo hurts to shoot in all but the largest revolvers. Coonan automatic weighs the same as a 45ACP 1911 and makes even high-velocity 158gr ammunition quite pleasant to fire (other than the noise of the report). That’s why I like my Coonan and shoot it far more often than the 4″ S&W 686 I also have.

While the velocity loss due to the cylinder gap isn’t great (50fps or so), the escaping gas adds to the noise of the report. That’s especially evident with revolving long guns or longer barreled revolvers. Flame cutting when firing from retention is also a concern.

Reloading is also a bit faster with the automatic. Speed loaders help, but lining up the bullets with the chambers is a finer motor skill than guiding a magazine into a chamfered grip opening.

Revolvers have certain advantages, such as nearly automatic dealing with misfires (just pull the trigger again). But they are more sensitive to high primers, have more openings for ingress of dirt, and there’s a reason why they’ve passed from military and police use. I shoot revolvers for fun and training, but would prefer my Coonan when firing for effect. Your preferences may differ, but I have fun explaining mine.

PS: I just noticed that my photos of Coonan pistols are now on their web site. So is my high-speed video showing 7500 frame/second experience of firing their pistol.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

CZ SP01 is a delightfully well-balanced pistol. Nice hat from CZ Forum, too.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

Both vz58 and “Pure Estrogen” AR15 are light, short and have good triggers. Neither has much kick. On the other hand, the last couple of women I encountered favored M1A, SKS and FS2000…so much for trying pick shoes, handbags and rifles for other people!

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

Ten months ago, I compared Keltec PLR22 and Crickett. Now, rimfire ammo availability is improving but everyone has a set view that it’s unavailable…at least for the prices they’d want to pay. That tips the balance towards the omnivorous Crickett Hunter with its long barrel and simple bolt action.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

A smiling redhead?

Or the clip-fed 9mm revolver, the favorite fodder of pulp novel writers of the 1970s, in her hand?

Photo for Kangaroo Carry.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

Henry Firearms says: “Consider this American Beauty as a present for your lady.” A pretty good thought, in my opinion. Just make sure to include some ammunition with it.

See Henry site for the close-up of the receiver engraving. And yes, the sight picture she has is correct for the degree of the stock drop. The young lady in the photos is very good rifleman.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

Has anyone tried 60-95 grain bullets in 9mm Luger from carbines? What kind of accuracy, external and terminal ballistics should I expect?

Has anyone shot 22TCM into gelatin from a rifle? Photos?

I should have a chance to test these eventually, but would be curious as to the experiences of others.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

Let’s look at one of the simplest, least powerful guns on the market, a Crickett Hunter. Manually cocked bolt action design dates back to 1820s, nearly two hundred years ago. Rimfire ammunition is uses postdates the action by only twenty years, and even the more modern .22 Long Rifle cartridge dates back to 1887. The telescopic sight on it is an equally old invention.

While it can be used for sport shooting, the main purpose of the Crickett is hunting small game. That, in itself, is a bad thing to many of the mostly left-wing prohibitionists, as it makes individuals less dependent on government handouts of foodstuffs.

The telescopic sight in particular scares them because, having unclean conscience, every prohibitionist considers himself worthy of assassination for cause. The suitability of the Crickett to the game not much bigger than a hare doesn’t matter to them, as such trivial technical considerations are beneath their dignity to consider. The same people who wish to ban “assault rifles” for supposedly being too inaccurate for hunting also wish to ban anything with optics for being too accurate for their peace of mind.

In the end, the training matter more than the weapon. With that in mind, German laws prohibit training kids, severely restrict training of minors up to the age of 25 and completely prohibit defensive training of adults. Playing Airsoft is considered war training.

Since even single-shot manually operated firearms that cannot be easily concealed are too scary for the prohibitionists, I don’t think much of a compromise is possible. They might claim not to be after such simple, low-powered arms but they don’t bother hiding their efforts to expand the definition of “prohibited persons” as much as possible, or their efforts to prohibit acquisition or defensive use of any weapon, however antiquated, in areas where they have control, like Washington DC. The perennial bills to prohibit private ownership of body armor serves the same nasty goal: a complete fire superiority of the elected and unelected bureaucrats over the rest of the population. And their angry reaction to such a non-military firearm as a single-shot smallbore pistol for hunting small game is a clear tip-off to the wise.

Originally published at VolkStudio Blog. You can comment here or there.

The combat-ready Bantam