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I hope you have much to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for all of my students and clients - whom I also consider friends - who subscribe to this newsletter and support this business. I am cautiously optimistic about the potential for a very Second Amendment friendly administration and cheaper ammo prices if some of the conflicts American munitions makers are supporting cool down.
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BINARY EXPLOSIVE TARGETS
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This year, parts of Eastern Idaho have been rocked by loud, thumping explosions in the evening. Rumor has it, this is being caused by some amateur blasters setting off Tannerite in various locations - including large quantities, up to 100 lbs or more.
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While most of us can appreciate the entertainment value of exploding targets (and some of us make a living in explosives work), I cannot advise strongly enough against carelessness with binary explosive targets. I have seen how even professionals can become complacent with explosives. The record seems to show that the casual user of binary explosive targets tends to have a much higher risk tolerance, and less controls to provide a margin of safety.
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These targets have the same hazards associated with their use as commercial and military explosives, even if they aren't quite as powerful. They generate fireball, blast overpressure, hazardous fragments, impulse noise, and potentially toxic gases.
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Placing exploding targets inside hard containers (like any number of YouTube videos showing Tannerite targets in everything from microwave ovens, to refrigerators, to vehicles), is very risky. Fragments from these explosions can injure or kill at significant distances.
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When people have the quiet of their evening shattered by the noise of explosions, they tend to complain to the authorities and eventually to their elected officials. A number of destructive wildfires have also been caused by misuse of exploding targets. Your State Fire Marshall can make policies banning the use of Binary Explosive Targets by declaration (which happened in Ohio, by the way) and agencies like the BATFE are only too happy to be cooperative enforcing such bans.
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I am an advocate for shooting safely and being a good ambassador for the Second Amendment. Please do the same! Be cautious and courteous with exploding targets.
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SOME THOUGHTS ON 1911s
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The 1911-style pistol, designed by John Browning over a century ago, remains popular among enthusiasts for its classic design and very successful marketing campaigns. However, it does come with several disadvantages and challenges, especially in training and self-defense scenarios. Now before you let your blood pressure get out of control - take a breath and take the benefit of my experience.
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1. Manual Controls and Training Complexity
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One of the most significant drawbacks of the 1911 is its manual safety mechanism. Unlike modern striker-fired pistols, the 1911 requires the user to engage and disengage the safety manually. This can be challenging for new shooters and even experienced ones under stress. In high-pressure situations, the need to remember to deactivate the safety can lead to critical delays.
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Name-brand 1911's can cost, on average, 2-5 times as much as modern, polymer-frame, semi-automatic pistols.
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3. Limited Magazine Capacity
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Most 1911s are designed for .45 ACP ammunition, which typically holds 7 to 8 rounds in the magazine. In contrast, many modern semi-automatic pistols can hold 15 rounds or more, providing a significant advantage in a defensive encounter.
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The 1911 is a larger and heavier firearm compared to many modern handguns. This can make it less comfortable to carry for extended periods and more challenging to conceal.
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1911's can be very ammunition-sensitive. Some makes may not feed hollow-points reliably and extraction issues are common. All tend to be sensitive to magazine quality and maintenance. There are some makes that have a better reliability record, but these are typically small-batch guns like Heirloom Precision (for example), and not the brands typically advertised in the supermarket gun magazines.
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If a shooter is going to rely on a single-action semi-auto for self-defense, like a 1911 or Browning Hi-Power, realize these guns are more finicky, require more TLC, and require more frequent handling and practice to maintain proficiency. In over 15 years of instructing, most of the 1911-style pistols I have seen brought to class have had some kind of problem: magazines falling out, sights falling off, springs breaking, or general reliability issues. The other problem I have with 1911's is more of a philosophical one. Your self-defense firearm is a tool. It needs to be reliable, simple, and shouldn't be a fashion accessory. A carry gun gets holster wear, it gets beat up getting into and out of vehicles, it gets sweaty, and it should get a high round-count from training and practice. Oh yes, and if you ever have to use it - it's going to get confiscated. Don't invest your ego in your firearm. If you want a 1911 as a collection piece - that's up to you, but I would think twice before relying on one as a defensive firearm. Only about 1% of shooters (in my opinion) maintain adequate proficiency to be effective with single-action semi-autos under stress.
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“You should not have any special fondness for a particular weapon, or anything else, for that matter. Too much is the same as not enough. Without imitating anyone else, you should have as much weaponry as suits you.” ~ Miyamoto Musashi
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ARMORY
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Complete Upper - 20" Rifle Length
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These upper receiver groups begin with a T-marked government-contract M-4 upper receiver laser engraved with our logo. Barrel flanges are lapped and "trued" for top-notch accuracy. Builds feature mid-length Adaptive Defense Armory handguards and gas blocks with black nitrided gas tubes. Uppers are headspace checked and test-fired.
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- Barrel: Chrome-lined and phosphated 1-7 twist HBAR profile.
- Bolt: No bolt, Phosphated mil-spec bolt, Nitrided "enhanced" bolt
- Charging Handle: No charging handle, USGI, or Adaptive Defense Co-branded \"Rack\" charging handle by Battle Arms Development.
- Flash Hider: None, USGI A2, or Adaptive Defense "Rook."
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Complete Upper - 18" Rifle Length
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Barrels are Mk12 SPR/DMR contour 18\" nitrided stainless barrels with a 1-8 twist.
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- Bolt: No bolt, Phosphated mil-spec bolt, Nitrided "enhanced" bolt
- Charging Handle: No charging handle, USGI, or Adaptive Defense Co-branded \"Rack\" charging handle by Battle Arms Development.
- Flash Hider: None, USGI A2, or Adaptive Defense "Rook."
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Complete Upper - 16" Midlength
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- Barrel: Chrome-lined and phosphated 1-7 twist Government Profile, Chrome-lined and phosphated 1-7 twist HBAR profile, Nitrided Stainless 1-8 twist medium contour.
- Bolt: No bolt, Phosphated mil-spec bolt, Nitrided "enhanced" bolt
- Charging Handle: No charging handle, USGI, or Adaptive Defense Co-branded \"Rack\" charging handle by Battle Arms Development.
- Flash Hider: None, USGI A2, or Adaptive Defense "Rook."
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LATEST PRODUCT REVIEWS
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Last weekend I went elk hunting here in Idaho with excellent guidance from one of your fellow ADC students. I managed to get a shot at a nice cow elk and now have almost 160 pounds of steak and burger in the freezer. Some hunters might get long, patient shots at stationary, grazing elk where they can take their time, but apparently those are not the kind of shots I am fated to have.
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This elk made me follow at a run until I could get a clear shot, and I had seconds to assume a steady field position and take aim at a moving target at unknown distance. I took the shot at 186 yards (which I originally estimated to be closer to 300), while the elk was jumping a fence. The bullet connected mid-air. Some might say it was a lucky shot - I might even say that myself - but luck is usually what happens due to the convergence of factors like fitness, skill, experience, and good gear.
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If you want to know more about the good gear, I have some reviews posted on spotterup.com from new items I used on this hunt. Here is a review on the new Meindl Eurolight Hunter Boots I used on this trip. A review on the Benchmade Anonimus Bushcraft Knife I used will be posted later this weekend.
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Washington DC, October 3, 1863
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By the President of the United States of America.
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The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
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In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
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Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
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No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
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It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
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In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
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Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.
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By the President: Abraham Lincoln
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William H. Seward, Secretary of State
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