Try before you buy! Enter Vulcan Circle!

We at The GunDivas always believe in the try before you buy philosophy when it comes to firearms and firearm accessories.  You are spending hundreds, even thousands of dollars on your equipment, so you want to get the right equipment the first time. 

This is not always easy.  Not all gun ranges have rentals.  Or they may not have the exact model you want to try out.  And trying out accessories is even worse.  Your only experience with accessories, such as optics, is limited to handling the product in the retail shop, if your local shop has the model you want to try.  Your only other option is opinions you find on the Internet.  Personally, I find most Internet reviews sketchy at best.  You find some people who love the product, others who hate it.  Who do you believe?

Well, the good news is, the industry is starting to come around and help out consumers, at least in the optics department. 

Enter VulcanCircle.  A paid membership service that allows you to borrow an optic for 3 months.  This allows you to mount the optic to your rifle and take it for a real test drive in real world conditions.  Truly test out the optic as it is meant to be used.

Looking for a new 3-gun optic?  Check one out and take it to competition for 3 months and see how it performs.  If you don’t like it, return the optic by the due date and check out something else. 

Want to compare different red dot sights?  Now you can try before you buy. 

Some may balk at the cost.  I ask, what is more expensive, a few hundred dollars in subscription fees?  Or purchasing an optic that you does not meet your needs?  That you end up being stuck with or sell at a loss. 

Now other than their existence, we at The GunDivas have not tried VulcanCircle.  We just found out about them ourselves. 

If we decide to obtain a subscription ourselves, we will do a follow up article at a later date.

It is good to see the gun industry starting to provide better customer service to the gun community. 

I personally hope the rest of the industry follows suit with the same or similar trial programs and helps customers find and buy the right products for them. 

By: Mez

8/26/2018

Range Night - DOT Torture Success!!

On the heels of GunDiva's recent post on shooting buddies, I scooted off to the range with my best friend for a little pew pew therapy and a stated goal to clean DOT Torture at three yards. The goal was to accomplish that with the Ruger 22/45 and Sig P320 Compact in 9mm. I'm pleased to say that the results were much improved from my last outing.

Ruger 22/45 at 3 yards

This was almost a perfect run. As you can see, I dropped 1 shot in the 3 dot when I anticipated the shot allowing the barrel to dip just enough. Other than that, I'm pretty pleased with that performance. It's also helpful to know what I did wrong that kept it from being perfect.

Sig P320 Compact 9mm at 3 yards

This could be a little tighter, but it's clean and that's what matters to me. YAY ME!!! Next goal is to clean the .22 at 3 yards and move both back to 5 yards.

The rest of the range session included a couple of mags through my buddies Springfield Armory 5" 9mm 1911. Allegedly, it's a TRP model, but there are some doubts on that subject. It could be a modified Loaded model given that he bought it used off a competition shooter. The trigger was typical 1911. This one was equipped with Bomar style adjustable sights.

SA 5" 1911 at 5 yards

 First shot was the 8 ring hit at roughly 11 o'clock using a center X hold. Adjusted the point of aim progressively to 5 o'clock in the 8 ring, and that's the rest of the shots.

SA 5" 1911 at 7 yards

Here again, point of aim was roughly five o'clock low. I can't complain with those results.

Sig P320 Compact at 3 yards

Ruger 22/45 at 5 yards

Ruger 22/45 at 5 yards

Ruger 22/45 at 5 yards

Ruger 22/45 at 5 yards - Target transitions left to right and back

Sig P320 Compact 9mm at 5 yards - Target transitions left to right and back

Frankly, I don't remember what I was doing or at what distance.

Sig P320 Compact 9mm at 5 yards - Target transitions left to right and back (getting better) 

Ruger 22/45 at 10 yards

Ruger 22/45 at 15 yards

Target transitions - Ruger 22/45 at 5 yards - point of aim 1" red pasters

Target transitions - Ruger 22/45 at 5 yards - point of aim red line between targets

Target transitions - Ruger 22/45 at 5 yards - point of aim 1" red pasters

Time and energy were turned into smoke and noise. A good time was had by all. I didn't embarrass myself, and it beats a day at the office any way you slice it.

The Importance of Shooting Buddies

Until the day I die, I will recommend that people learn to shoot from a qualified instructor. Not a friend, family member, or roommate's brother's uncle*.

A qualified instructor.

*Unless, of course, your friend, family member, or roommate's brother's uncle is a qualified instructor. 

Having said that, shooting buddies are absolutely invaluable. 

When I first started shooting for real, instead of just plinking around with friends, I took a concealed carry class. I thought I knew about shooting from my plinking, but I knew next to nothing. Lucky for me, I can usually pick things up pretty quickly and didn't lag behind the class for too long. I learned an incredible amount about gun handling, drawing from a holster, shooting on the move, and shooting from cover.

The very next day, I took myself to my first defensive pistol competition. I knew no one. Not a soul, but I had a new gun, and fresh knowledge (less than 24 hours old). How bad could it be?

Holy hell, I was immediately in over my head, but back then the local defensive pistol competitions were still very small - about a dozen people total - and I met several people who were willing to help me along. I knew just enough to steer clear of the idiots who thought it was 'cute' that a 'little lady' was coming to shoot, and listen to the ones who immediately treated me with respect. They couldn't possibly treat me as an equal, because I wasn't. But they treated me as they would any other new shooter, welcomed me, and gave me pointers without being condescending before and after each stage.

They made me feel welcome enough that I went back the next month, and the next, and the next. Before I knew it, I had a tribe of shooting mentors. A few of them became close friends and we ended up going shooting outside of competitions. We had amazing 'marathon shooting days' where we'd go through thousands of rounds.

While the classes I've taken taught me the fundamentals, the shooting buddies I made taught me so much more. They were all much better shooters than I, with years and years of experience, while I was the FNG. 

It's easy to want to turn your shooting buddies into your personal shooting coaches, but don't. It's not fair to use your friendship that way. If you need help with something specific that they are good at, let them know you'd like help when you're setting up your shooting date. Offer to buy the ammo or bring the food if you're asking a favor of them, but asking for favors should be few and far between. If you need that much help, pay for a class.

Otherwise, plan on going, shooting a lot, and having fun. Fun for me involves impromptu competitions and a lot of smack-talking. There will be nuggets of gold hidden in the shit-talking, I promise. I heard things like, "if you'd stop thinking so hard, you wouldn't suck so bad," or "go ahead, keep picking your head up, I'll shoot clean up" or "you just can't miss fast enough, can you?". 

I am a much better shooter thanks to my shooting buddies. The classes taught me the fundamentals, my shooting buddies taught me how to shoot.

I learned to take risks. 

I learned to laugh at myself when I messed up. 

I learned to try again. 

I learned to take shit, and give it.

But most importantly, I learned to never give up. And when you don't give up, you learn and grow.

 Without these guys and gals, I wouldn't be half the shooter I am today and I am eternally grateful.
 

The Politics of Guns: 3-D Printed Guns (Rumor Control)

By now you have probably heard a lot of crying over 3-D printed guns and how criminals and terrorists will be printing untraceable/undetectable guns (so called “ghost guns”) and the end of civilization is upon us. 

Well, I’m here to tell you that all this crying is nothing more than fear mongering and an excuse by the anti-gunners to use new technology to pass more oppressive laws and destroy freedom.

So what started all this crying about 3-D printed guns?  Several years ago a company called Defense Distributed created computer files (commonly called CAD files) for a 3-D printer that allowed you to print a gun and gun parts.  Defense Distributed only sold the CAD models, never an actual gun or gun parts.  The government considered the computer files a potential national security threat and placed a ban on the distribution of these computer files. 

Recently Defense Distributed won a lawsuit against the government, which overturned the ban and they are now allowed to sell their computer models to the public.  This ruling is a big win for freedom of speech.  Remember, no actual guns or gun parts were ever sold, only computer CAD files. 

The anti-gunners are now worried that these plans will be used by criminals and terrorists to print undetectable/untraceable guns and bring civilization to its knees. 

This is what started the crying and wailing. 

Now for some rumor control:

Here is what the law actually allows:

1.    Yes, you are allowed to manufacture your own gun by any means you want.  You can use an old-fashioned lathe, mill, hand files, etc.  Or use a modern high tech 3-D printer.  It does not matter.  BUT. THERE. ARE. RULES. YOU. MUST. OBEY. FOR. IT. TO. BE. LEGAL.

a.    You cannot be a convicted felon and make your own gun.  This is already illegal.

b.    As this home made gun will not have a serial number, you cannot ever sell it or even give it away as a gift.  It is for your own personal use only. 

c.     You cannot manufacture an undetectable gun.  It MUST by law, contain enough steel to be detectable by common means such as x-ray machines or metal detectors.  A truly undetectable gun is already illegal under existing law.

So the idea that we need more laws is absurd.  WE ALREADY HAVE LAWS IN PLACE THAT STATE IT IS A ILLEGAL FOR FELONS TO MANUFACTURE GUNS AND/OR TO MAKE UNDETECTABLE GUNS!  

We have enough laws in place already to cover 3-D printers.

What can a 3-D printer actually do?

Can you 3-D print a functioning firearm?

Well, yes and no at the same time.  Let me address the no side first.

1.    First, No. 

a.    You cannot produce a fully functioning AR15 with a 3-D printer.  The material science is not good enough. The plastic parts will blow up if you tried. You need metal for the barrel, bolt, bolt carrier, trigger assembly, springs.  So the idea of producing a fully functioning gun as you would buy in the store is complete fantasy.

2.    Next Yes, here is what you can actually produce with 3-D printer.

a.    Low stress piece parts for guns.  For example, the lower receiver of the AR15 that houses the trigger assembly and buffer assembly.  BUT the upper receiver must be made out of metal.  And many parts such as the barrel, bolt, bolt carrier, gas block and firing pin MUST be made out of steel or other high strength material so they do not blow up when fired.  The common 3-D printers are not capable of producing these parts. 

                                               i.     Some will say there are 3-D printers that print metal parts.  Yes, but parts produced on these machines cannot maintain the tight tolerances necessary and the parts require secondary machining with a mill and/or lathe.  At this point, you have just geared up for major manufacturing and are spending tens of thousands of dollars.  None of this is done on a $1000 hobbyist 3-D printer. 

b.    What else can you print?

                                               i.     A very simple, single shot gun such as the Liberator by Defense Distributed

1.    Very simple.  Not very accurate.

2.    Fires a small pistol caliber only, thus not very powerful. 

3.    Only fires a limited number of rounds before it falls apart. 

4.    Single shot only.  Slow to reload.  Must be reloaded after each shot.  Not something you will use to commit mass murder. 

5.    Must include a block of steel to be legal.

c.     Can you print plastic ammunition? 

                                               i.     Not really.  I don’t think this is realistic.  Especially when brass cased ammunition is readily available off the shelf. 

What is to be done?

Nothing really.  This is 99% anti-gun hysteria.  The anti’s are trying to create a mountain out of nothing.  Using the ignorance of 3-D printing technology to create fear in the general population so it is easier to pass gun control and strip more freedoms away from the citizenry.  

Even if you ban Defense Distributed from distributing their computer files.  The criminals and terrorists can program the computer themselves.  They are not necessarily stupid.  All it takes is a computer and off the shelf software to program whatever you want.  3-D printers are 30 year old technology.  They were not designed to make guns. They can make almost anything.  If you can design it in the computer, you can print it.  In the future the frame of your car and house will be 3-D printed with large industrial size printers. 

Even if you ban or regulate private ownership of 3-D printers, you can still buy a lathe and mill and make a gun out of metal.  I can even make a simplified, single shot “zip gun” from material I buy at Home Depot. 

Give me a drill press and a Dremel and I will make a functioning gun. 

If the criminals really want to build guns they can.  Home workshops are not illegal, nor are the necessary generic tools.  Guns can be made with existing technology.  Nothing new is needed.   

(Side Comment:  I bet the gang-bangers really didn’t know about 3-D printers before all the hysteria.  But now they do, thanks to the anti-gunners screaming about 3-D printers to everyone.  If undetectable “ghost guns” were actually a problem, we would have seen it by now.  If we do see it, I bet we will be able to trace the idea back to the anti-gunners screaming about 3-D printers to everyone.  Just food for thought.)   

Don’t believe the 3-D printer hype.  That’s all it is, hype.  Designed to scare the uneducated masses into giving up their freedoms.

Why print a single shot “zip gun” or lower when it is easier to steal a real gun or buy off the black market?  Especially when the real guns last longer and are more powerful. 

Finally comment, Look what happened on 9-11-2001.  4 airplanes downed, 3 buildings demolished, a 4^th damaged and all those guys used were box cutters.  No guns needed.

Don’t fall for the hysteria.

And never, ever give up your freedoms.  Not even an inch.   

By: Mez

8/9/2018

Movie Purse

This may surprise you, but I am not a purse kind of girl. If I can't carry something in a pocket, I don't carry it.

I do break my no-purse practice when going to the movies. How else am I going to smuggle all of my Dollar Store candy in during the summer? In the winter, it's easy, throw on the barn coat and load up the pockets, but in the summer ... well, it's just easier to carry a movie purse.

The movie theater we most often frequent (Cinemark) has implemented a bag limit of 12"x12"x6" and all bags are subject to search "for safety reasons". Now, if I was worried about someone smuggling in a gun, I sure the hell would have made the bag size smaller. I can fit my Para, Jay's full-sized M&P, and my G42, plus magazines for each in my size-compliant movie purse. This is another of those "feel good" rules. Whatevs, I carry on my body, not in a purse, so they can search it and take my $6.00 worth of Dollar Store candy out of my purse.

I bought a cheapo WalMart canvas purse at the beginning of the summer to use as my movie purse and it was adequate. I could fit two boxes of candy for each of us and a bottle of water if I forced it.

While on duty one night at our local venue, we were walking through getting the lay of the land and I saw this "concealed carry" purse ...

Yes, those are rhinestones and silver studs.

I didn't buy the purse that night (my shift was just starting), but I couldn't get it out of my head, so I dragged my husband back a few days later and bought it. I knew from the get-go that I wouldn't be using it for concealed carry, but I had to have it for my movie purse.

And what an excellent movie purse it is. Not only do I have room for a ton of candy, but I have room for a lot of other important things. Things like a flashlight, knife, tourniquet, gloves, etc.

Flashlight, sharpie, knife, tampons (traditional use only), gloves, CAT

The tourniquet and gloves slip down into the middle zippered pocket, which leaves ample room for other necessities.

Lots of room left for the important stuff - candy!

If my bag is searched, certainly the flashlight and knife will raise some eyebrows, but with the TQ tucked away, no one should give it any thought. However, if they unzip the middle pocket and see the TQ - and they know what the TQ is - they'll probably be suspicious that I'm carrying. I'm going to guess that the high school kids they have working at the movie theaters aren't going to know what it is, or aren't going to give a damn - they're just going through the motions.

There is a zippered area on the back of the purse that's supposed to be where you conceal your gun. Um, it's not very discreet and it's not lockable.

Nice try, but poor execution

This zippered pocket just screams "Look! Gun is in here!". There is no way to lock the zipper, so the bag must stay with the person At All Times to avoid little hands getting into it. Now, I'm not saying that if you have a proper concealed carry purse, with a discreet and lockable pocket, that the pocket should be locked all the time, because that's not feasible. However, if there are little hands around - ever - that purse needs to be under adult control At All Times and little hands must be kept away, or it needs to be locked. No one wants to be on the news for a child getting a hold of a gun and shooting themselves, a sibling, or a parent. (For the record, in case you hadn't figured it out, I'm not a fan of purse carry.)

Since this purse was sold as a concealed carry purse, and even though I have no intentions of carrying in my purse, I thought I'd slip my gun in and see how well it would do.

Wasn't sure there was room in the pocket for an actual holster, so went with trigger guard cover instead.

Slipped right in.

No printing, so that's good.

The inside of the concealment pocket is a basic lining material, so it's slippery. I wasn't sure that a holster would fit in there, so I used my trigger guard instead. If I was going to use this purse for carrying, I would either secure a soft holster (like a Remora or Sticky holster) in the pocket with velcro, or I would sew the paracord from the trigger guard in place.

There's no room in the zippered pocket to add an extra magazine without fouling up the arrangement. I suppose you could slip an extra mag into that small outer pocket, but that will print like hell, and if you put a mag inside the main part of the purse, it's not accessible.

This is a really well-made purse, but it is not a great choice for concealed gun carry. Concealed candy carry, though ...

Range Night and Other Odds and Ends

I just realized I never got around to posting part 3 of the Caliber series of posts. Oops. I'll get around to it eventually. Maybe. No one's been sending me hate mail asking where it is. So, maybe not.

I had an opportunity to get out to the range this evening with my best friend. It was my first chance to go pistol shooting since we attempted to simulate a small war in Hill County on Mother's Day. Much fun was had by all; but, sweet barbecue sauce, it was monkey melting HOT that day. We took turns shooting and sitting in the shade of carefully positioned canopies while drinking plenty of water, and it was still hot enough to marinate in your own juices. I didn't take many pictures that day because...it was just too dang hot to be bothered.

I did get to play with several toys that were brought by others including:

Ruger SR9 - my brother in law's Christmas gift from my sister. It's a polymer 9 made by Ruger. You could do a lot worse. Trigger is nothing to right home about, but I went bang every time.

Savage Mark II bolt action .22LR rifle with a suppressor - my cousin's friend Alex brought this little number out to play. It came nestled into a Boyd's At-One Adjustable Stock and propped up by a bipod. This thing was a frikkin' giggle factory. You've not heard quiet until you shoot subsonic .22LR ammo out of a suppressed bolt action rifle. Savage makes a really good trigger. However, their little stamped steel magazines, while functional, could be used to shave in a pinch.  I guess I'm just spoiled by Ruger 10/22 mags.

Sig P226 and P229 - Best friend brought both. I still don't shoot DA/SA triggers worth a flip, but I didn't embarrass myself quite as badly this time. Both of these guns are very nice with SRT triggers, upgraded suppressor height sights, etc. Maybe one day I will invest the time, energy and money into learning DA/SA triggers to make it worth it to add one to the collection. In the meantime...there's always 1911s to play with.

No name,  homegrown, AR-15 chambered in 9MM. My cousin's friend is a budding machinist in addition to being a gun nut. He made the lower receiver himself. Not hogged out an 80% lower on a jig made it. He took a block of aluminum, a mill, some measurements and went to town. This one uses stick mags, but he has another one he made which takes Glock mags. He's single and still lives at home with mom. So, he can get away with making his own toys.

AR-15 with a CMMG .22LR upper and a Franklin Binary trigger system - This is another giggle factory. It's as close to full auto as you are going to get this side of a tax stamp, and very controllable. I was able to put 25 rounds of standard velocity CCI onto a 3x5 note cards at 25 yards as fast as I could pull the trigger using a red dot optic. Like I said...giggle factory.

Tried out a 16 inch .300 Blackout AR upper on my Aero Precision lower. I might just have to get one as a short to medium range hunting option. Roughly the same power as a 7.62x39 or a .30-30. Not much more recoil that a 5.56/.223 AR.

There was my best friend's Sig P320 X-Carry with the Romeo1 red dot on it. He's had a lot of  stuff done to it including a flat faced trigger and a Norsso slide. I would need to spend a lot more time with it to give a fair opinion, but the trigger is really nice for a polymer striker fired gun. I need more time on a red dot equipped pistol to be anywhere near comfortable with them. It fed the rounds down range with reasonable accuracy. Further, affiant sayeth not.

There was a lot more stuff out there, but I didn't get to play with all of it.

Tonight was pistol night though.

We started off with DOT TORTURE. Again.

43 out of 50 at 5 yards with a Ruger Mk3 22/45

The hardest part of Dot Torture is learning to take your time. Once you learn how to control your gun and clean to drill, you can add a time element in...if you're a masochist. I probably should have run a magazine through the gun before starting the drill just to knock the rust off. But, sometimes you just have to see if you can perform the dancing bear routine cold.

Same distance - Sig P320 Carry 9mm

I'm not even sure how to score this target. If I'm being generous, that's a 42 out of 50. If I'm being honest, that's a sub 40 circus of mediocrity.

Learned something new tonight. Well, not really new per se. I already sort of knew it. I had just never thought about it in the context of a pistol before. When you shoot a bullet, it flies in a parabolic arc. That means that it leaves the barrel and "climbs" a little bit above the line of sight until evil, old gravity sucks it back to earth at which time it drops back below the line of sight and keeps going until it hits pay dirt. What this means for the pistol shooter is that your point of impact will "rise" as range increases for a constant point of aim to a certain point (the top of the parabolic arc). Rifle shooters already know this stuff and have serious, poo slinging arguments over what the best distance is to zero their weapons or maximum point blank range and other silliness that pistol shooters typically ignore.

My friend suggested I give this a whirl with the Sig P320 and the Ruger SR1911. The way you do this is put a 1" paster on the bottom of a piece of paper or 3x5 note card. Heck, any target will do. The key is to use the same point of aim. Fire one shot at 3 yards. Move the target back to 5 yards. Fire one more shot. Keep doing this at 7, 10, 15, 20 yards, etc. out to whatever range you can realistically center your sights on the same 1" paster point of aim reference. You should see your point of impact "ladder" vertically at each distance. With the P320, I shot a 3 round cloverleaf at 3, 5 and 7, but the 10 yard shot was definitely above the others. With the SR1911, the effect was more noticeable with each round stringing vertically with distinct separation between each shot. The shot at 3 yards was at least 2 to 3 inches lower (maybe 4) than the shot at 10 yards.

It's something everyone should do with any gun/ammo combination you intend to rely on for self defense. Not every self defense situation occurs at the same distance at which you practice, and you need to know where your gun will shoot for a given point of aim at a given distance. As a general rule of thumb, lower your point of aim as distance to target increases. Know yourself. Know your gear. Because you never know when you will have to hit the light switch on an intruder's CNS...in the dark...with your pulse doing twice the speed of light.

Last but not least, we did draws from concealment shooting two rounds on an A zone target at 5 yards. This was to put to bed a bit of smack talking that took place some months ago when my friend mentioned he'd picked up a shot timer and was working on his draws. He had started out in the 4 second range for 2 shots on target from concealment. I allowed as how he was a ham handed, gormless ape with no thumbs and two left feet. He questioned my parentage and allowed as how I could put up or shut up. I challenged him to same gear/same distance, and he suggested loser buys a box of ammo. So, I put on his Deadpool Kydex holster along with the previously mentioned 9mm Sig P320 Carry and gave it my best draw from concealment.

According to the timer, I threw down a 2.23 second time landing both hits in the A zone at 5 yards. Frankly, I'd never timed myself specifically on draw to double tap before...ever...much less using this gun and holster. So, the result was news to me. If I were to practice more with that gun and holster set up, I'm pretty sure I can bring that down in the sub 2 second range. Probably. Maybe. I'll just keep telling myself that.

Now, though, it was my best friend's turn. His time....drumroll please....2.40 seconds. Huge improvement over where he started in the 4 second range.

After all was said and done, we agreed that we were both in the same ballpark and the contest was a draw. It was all smoke and noise, and we had a great time.

Oh, one last thing, I ran 10 rounds through my friends Sig P365. This is Sig's new sub compact carry pistol which manages to stuff 10 rounds of 9mm in a package roughly the same size as a Glock 43 or a S&W Shield. The things shot amazingly well for a gun that size. I put all 10 in a head shot grouping of about 2 to 3 inches from 5 yards. I'll just say I wouldn't turn one down if it were given to me.