New Custom Leather

Shortly after I started carrying, I switched to the Hi-Power mentioned previously in this blog. I wanted something that made the gun easy to conceal over the bowling/work type shirts I tended to wear. The Galco Combat Master fit that bill - a high-riding OWB holster with a significant cant, meaning the gun tucked up underneath my arm and was easy to draw.

Over the past 4 years, the holster has served me well, but over time it has become more relaxed and floppy, not holding the Hi-Power tightly to my side like it used to. I had resolved to get another holster of the same model to replace it. A little over a year ago I went to a party over at Christina's place up in North Texas, where I met Michael from TheHolsterSite.com and EvylRobot.com. About this time he'd jumped into the entrepreneureal unkown, starting his new business making holsters. He'd brought samples of his wares, which were passed around the party during gun show & tell.

Fast forward 7 months, and Michael's business had really started to pick up. He'd done some interesting custom holsters, with some particularly cool IDPA/IPSC race holsters. My holster budget had expanded a bit, and I started thinking about what could be improved from the Galco. The most prominent area for improvement was stiffness. Just like my boots and pants, I'm not easy on holsters. I'm a pretty solid and big dude, and the things I wear need to be well-made and durable, or they're garbage in short order. I'd read about horsehide leather, with its wear and moisture resistance, and its exceptional stiffness. The problem is, horsehide is not in common use in the United States, and there's no real source for domestic horse hide. Because of this, mass-produced horsehide holsters simply don't exist.

This is where Michael comes in. I'd seen on his site that he deals in some exotics, most notably stingray. So we got to talking in IRC one night, and I ask about the possibility of getting a horsehide holster made for my Hi-Power. He'd not worked with horse leather before, but seemed eager to check his supplier and get me a quote. A few days later, we figured out pricing for a holster and magazine carrier to my specifications, and I gave him the go-ahead. Since he'd never worked with the material before and I wasn't in a hurry, I asked him to take as much time as he needed. Over the weeks, we corresponded back and forth about his impressions of the material and his efforts putting together test items. Along the way, I added on a request for a flashlight scabbard as well.

For the holster itself, my requirements were simple: a high ride and cant, similar to my Galco holster, with beefed up belt slotting (the Galco slots had stretched out over time, I wanted to avoid that). The mag carrier, on the other hand, had to be a completely custom design in order to hold two magazines and ride at the 7:30 position that I needed. He was able to come up with a design that created a back channel for the belt to ride in, while keeping the carrier high and close to the body.

When Phlegmfest started to roll around, we found that we would both be attending and my order would be finished shortly prior. So, a personal handoff it was. I arrived at the party, and Michael handed me my new holster, mag carrier, and flashlight scabbard. To say that I was pleased with the holster would be an understatement. Every request had been met, and my expectations exceeded by a great margin. This was a serious piece of leather. It rode beautifully on my belt, fit the Hi-Power perfectly, and kept the gun snug to my side. It was the most solid holster I'd ever seen. Likewise, the mag carrier was a VAST improvement over the Safariland carrier I'd been using.
Unfortunately, as I started to wear my holster back home, I found that the glue between the layers of leather was starting to come apart. I corresponded with Michael about this, and he was quite disconcerted about this development. I took some photos for him, and upon review he insisted that the problem be made right. I mailed the holster back to him, and he found that the issue appeared to be with the glue itself not correctly bonding to the leather, and that the holster would have to be remade entirely. Without going into too much detail, some testing was done with a different glue more suited for horsehide, and he constructed a new holster for me in short order.

The new holster arrived a few days ago, and I am quite pleased - both with the quality of Michael's leather work, and his commitment to great customer service. I got the mag carrier and flashlight scabbard (both of which I've been using since Phlegmfest) together with the holster for a photo shoot:

Here's a couple more photos of the holster:

If you're looking for some custom leather, drop Michael a line. I can't recommend him enough. Both his quality of workmanship and his customer service are top notch.

Search Engine Shenanigans

Taking a cue from Marko over at The Munchkin Wrangler, I thought it would be fun to compile some of the interesting search terms that lead people to my blog. I can't fathom the amount of traffic Marko gets in order to compile such an awesome list of search terms WEEKLY, as it has taken me since January to get what I have below. Even with all that time, my search engine hits can't compare to the awesomeness he gets. This will definitely not be a weekly thing - more like every few months. It is fun, though.


overheard in austin

This is the most popular search result in my logs. People who got to my blog via this search end up at this post. The origins of the "overheard in" sites come from the blog titled "Overheard in New York", a collection of funny, interesting, and disturbing quotations overheard and submitted by folks going about their daily lives in New York City. It has produced a number of copycat sites featuring various cities, but I'm unaware of a site specifically dedicated to conversations "Overheard In Austin", rather there seem to be only smatterings of blog entries on the subject, such as mine.


"open carry california!"

Being that you can only open carry an unloaded gun, the magical buffer zones surrounding the areas that are "protected" from such an activity are ridiculously large, and the fact that California has some of the more ridiculous gun laws in the country, I'd say it's more trouble than it's worth. Then again, pretty soon the state won't have the money to pay for police to arrest you for doing so anyway, so perhaps it won't matter. I'm not going to knock anyone that wants to do it, I just don't see the point.

Actually, I'm aware that this is actually the name of someone's blog. I have no idea how a google search for that term landed someone over here. I don't recall ever discussing open carry or California.


against gun control

Yup.


all i really need you in my life

This sounds like either a gospel song, or an emo cry for help. I haven't decided which it's more likely to be yet.


blackhawk shotgun cheek rest pad shell holder reviews

If you're referring to the BLACKHAWK! PowerPak made specifically for the SpecOps Stock... It functions well. I have no need for the high pad, as I don't have optics or rifle sights mounted to my shotgun. The low pad is really just some thin plastic over the top of the stock (like a saddle) that holds everything else on. It is the perfect height for using bead sights with the SpecOps, much better than the stock that came with the 870. The PowerPak includes a 5-shell saddle and a small cylindrical watertight container on the opposite side, supposedly for spare batteries for your mounted light or something. I have no real need for the little compartment, and haven't found a use for it yet. If I ever want to keep something quite small from getting wet while toting my shotgun, then I'm ready.


browning hi power argentina matte finish

Yeah, that's pretty much the only finish they come in.


clothing that i really need blog

Well, that's not really what this blog is about, but I would suggest checking out 5.11 Tactical's line. I heartily recommend the Holster Shirt and the Tactical Shirt. Both are great for concealed carry, and the Tactical Shirt has many nice features, such as secret pockets and multiple places to stash a pen.


fm hi-power grip removal

It's the same as with any other Hi-Power. There are two screws about halfway up rear portion of the grip. Take those out, and it comes right off.


is that a pistol in your pocket

Yes. Yes it is.


liberals in austin

They are many, but they are not necessarily like those in the Northeast or West Coast. See the link in the first item on this list for more details.


model 444 ultralite 44 magnum revolver

The first gun I ever considered buying. I was cured of the urge by a good friend who directed me to something more sensible. Unless you have a very specific need for it or would like to bruise your hands and develop a serious flinch, you probably don't want to get one.


pachmayrs that fit feg pa-63

I'm not sure such a thing exists. Honestly, I'd take the money and put it towards getting a better gun. I love my PA-63 and all, but they aren't the most comfortable guns to shoot, and the slide bite tends to draw blood after a while, unless you have small hands. If it's all you've got, work on adjusting your grip, which helped me considerably.


what are the negatives with knoxx specops shotgun stock?

Compared to a normal shotgun stock, any pistol gripp long gun stock is going to be slower to shoulder from a normal carrying position. Many folks experience a loosening of the bolt that holds the stock to the receiver, though I'd venture to say that these folks probably didn't use the recommended blue locktite mentioned in the installation instructions. Beyond these two things, I can't think of anything negative about the stock. I absolutely love the thing.


who are you really?conclusion

Just a guy in Texas.

Superb addition to the blogroll...

...and an incredible source of information!

Clayton Cramer and David Burnett's Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog. They have gone and documented over 4000 accounts of civilians defending themselves with guns, starting in late 2003. The number continues to climb daily. Incredible.

Everyone needs to go read this stuff.

Thanks to Robb Allen over at Sharp As A Marble for linking to this.

Quite irritated.

I just wasted an hour of my life watching ABC News pimp the Brady Bunch and their drivel with their 20/20 "If I Only Had A Gun" special.

One of the more infuriating segments to watch was the "scenarios" played out, headed by a willing police trainer stacking the deck in a lop-sided argument. Here's how it went:

20/20 took some college-age kids, mostly unskilled with handguns, NONE of which had defensive handgun training, and set them up for a force-on-force scenario. They were given simunition glocks and some rudimentary training, then thrown into an unexpected force-on-force scenario. In this scenario, the student is planted in a "class" with nothing but unidentified police officers as other "students" in on the ruse. The student is given a Glock in a holster - supposedly for later use - and told to conceal it under a t-shirt in a holster. In the middle of the class, the plain-clothes police officer in street clothes bursts in and starts firing to test the response of the student. There are multiple flaws that set up these students to be the patsies of this lop-sided piece of propaganda. I'll list a few here.

(1) This was the most obvious to me. The officer immediately targets the student with a gun before the student gives any indication he is armed, because he knows who this person is already. This isn't how it happens in the real world.

(2) The officer immediately opens fire in a rapid fashion. If we have learned anything from school shootings (which this is supposed to emulate), mass murderers in these scenarios don't spray bullets. They take aimed shots and execute their victims one-by-one, usually starting with the closest person and continuing along at a calculated pace.

(3) When faced with armed resistance, the first things these murdurers inevitably do are either run or kill themselves (or both). This has happened at every mass shooting I can think of - both those that play out until the police arrive, and those where the shooter is met with an armed civilian. The officer running this program does exactly the opposite in these manufactured scenarios by continuing and prolonging a shootout against armed resistance. I doubt the officer would be so confident about not being hit and continuing the assault had that been a real gun he was facing.

(4) Regardless of how realistic they are trying to make this, these students still know that these guns aren't real. These students are untrained in any kind of self defense techniques, are not intimately familiar with their weapons, and their issued cover garments look to be specifically intended to cause a hang-up during a draw. While considering all of that, these students are also forced to make sense of a situation that they've been put in, delaying reaction time. They know they have training guns, they know the officer is using a training gun, and they have to think about what they're supposed to do in reaction to all this in the context of this "training" class. All of this before they're unrealistically singled out before even drawing.

The answer ABC News gives us? You shouldn't have a gun. The police trainer in this video comes off quite smugly as one of "the only ones". Us little people aren't fit to carry weapons because we don't train all the time like the police (even though everyone I know who carries gets more range time in than the average cop). No, the answer isn't to know your weapon and get training in self-defense techniques. The answer is to die while you wait for the police to arrive and barricade themselves outside while you and your classmates are slaughtered. Thanks for clearing that up, ABC!

I'd invite these same people to set up this same scenario with a shooter possessing gun-handling skills similar to the garden-variety mass-murderer (see very little), and do not let him know who is armed. Then put in an average CHL holder who has bothered to get defense training in the classroom seat, with equipment he or she practices with and carries daily. The outcome is quite likely to look very different from what these shills gave us. But we all know that's not going to happen.

Really telling were the defense success stories that were glossed over. They ran tape from a convenience store robbery where the clerk was armed. The only point made was that 14 rounds were fired by both sides (clerk and 2 robbers), and not one person was hit. Ya know what? THE CLERK LIVED, DIDN'T HE?

There was another video all of us in the gun blogosphere have seen. A thug walks into a motel lobby wielding a shotgun. The clerk responds by tactfully drawing at the right opportunity and shooting the guy multiple times, center-of-mass, without missing a single shot. But all of this was glossed over because there was a lady with a baby in the room, and they were in close proximity. What they FAILED TO MENTION was that the motel clerk was a very well-trained handgun instructor. Know what else? He didnt' hit the baby. HAD THEY SHOWN THE ENTIRE VIDEO, we would have seen that he didn't simply draw and fire, but positioned himself in a calculated manner to minimize risk to any of the innocent individuals present.

HEY ABC! DO YOU KNOW WHY NO ONE WATCHES 20/20 ANYMORE? IT'S THIS UTTER SHIT YOU FOIST UPON YOUR VIEWERS! Pre-determing your conclusions before you set out to make the story isn't journalism, it's PROPAGANDA. You made absolutely no effort to show even a single interviewee on the pro-gun side of the argument. You are shills, the lot of you.

[EDIT]

Adding a link to Eseell's play-by-play analysis over at Found: One Troll: http://blog.knotclan.com/2009/04/11/if-i-only-had-a-gun/. Eseell has also been added to the blogroll.

Caleb over at Gun Nuts Media (the Blog formerly known as "Call Me Ahab") has his own take as well: http://gunnuts.net/2009/04/11/set-up-to-fail/.

Additional commentary from the Virginia Shooting Sports Association here: http://virginiashootingsportsassociation.blogspot.com/2009/04/abcs-if-i-only-had-gun.html

Sebastian from Snowflakes In Hell expands upon the VSSA's commentary: http://www.snowflakesinhell.com/2009/04/11/abc-2020-hatchet-job/

Another good review over at Sensibly Progressive in Politically Correct America: http://sensiblyprogressive.blogspot.com/2009/04/abc-anti-gun-hatchet-job-on-2020.html. Another good blog added to the blogroll.

SUNDAY UPDATE:

The Denver Gun Rights Examiner has an article here: http://www.examiner.com/x-2944-Denver-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m4d11-ABCs-2020--isnt-seeing-clearly

The LA Gun Rights Examiner has an article here: http://www.examiner.com/x-2323-LA-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m4d11-If-I-Only-Had-A-Gun-misfires-for-2020-when-they-cannot-stay-on-topic

[MORE STUFF ADDED]

Women of Caliber has another detailed review: http://womenofcaliber.wordpress.com/2009/04/13/2020-shoots-blanks/

Finally back at the range.

After I posted a picture of my Hi-Power a month ago, I was gently prodded by Brigid to make a range report. Life, such at it is, has prevented me from making the trek out to the range for quite some time. I finally motivated myself to make it out today.

First, an introduction to the gun.

It is a Fabricaciones Militares (FM of Argentina) FM-90 Hi-Power. While these guns are sometimes mislabeled as clones, Argentina has licensed the design and tooling from FN-Herstal in Belgium for domestic production - making the FM guns true Browning Hi-Powers. The FM-90 is Argentina's MkII version. An interesting distinction of Argentina's Hi-Powers is that the MkII and later models lack the slide beveling seen in the FN guns. This is sometimes known as a "Colt-style" slide, as it gives the gun a more 1911-like appearance.

The stock magazine utilizes a metal follower unique to Argentine Hi-Powers, which increases magazine capacity to 14 rounds from the normal 13-round capacity of FN magazines. Mec-Gar, the OEM manufacturer of FN Hi-Power mags, produces a flush-fit 15-round magazine for the Hi-Power utilizing a special plastic follower. I have found them to be utterly reliable, and have transitioned to these as my primary magazines.

The FM-90 also comes standard with Pachmayr-type wraparound grips with finger grooves on the frontstrap. I absolutely love these grips, as they provide a very positive grip surface for shooting stability.

While later model FN Hi-Powers come standard with spur hammers, FM production guns are equipped with a commander hammer from the factory. I greatly prefer this configuration for concealed-carry purposes.

I purchased my Hi-Power new in the box from the good friend who first introduced me to shooting. Dissatisfied with the FEG PA-63 that was my first handgun, I was looking for something more tasked for concealed carry. Despite being a full-sized double-stack service pistol, the Hi-Power is quite slender. This makes it well-suited for concealment. Many decades of service have proven the reliability of the Hi-Power, John Moses Browning's final handgun design.

All these characteristics make the FM Hi-Power an ideal everyday carry for me. Its matte-black finish aids in concealment. Single-action carry in Condition 1 appeals to my sense of efficiency for rapid deployment. Perhaps it is my German heritage, but polymer-framed guns have never really appealed to me. A solidly-built metal-framed pistol just has a certain aesthetic attraction that plastic can't match.

On to the range report.

It's been about 3 months since I last visited the range, and it showed. I found myself re-training myself to keep my aim steady. I remembered something in someone's blog about "squeezing the gun 20% tighter!". Quite a difference that squeeze makes. It didn't help that my internal clock is all out of whack. To try and remedy this, I decided to reset my sleep schedule by skipping a night with the aid of coffee. Sleep deprivation + caffeine does not a steady hand make. After about 150 rounds, I finally got myself straightened out. Oof.

As mentioned above, the Hi-Power is a single action pistol. Without going into excessive detail, the functional advantages of this kind of action (for me) are that trigger pull is relatively light - making a steady grip during trigger pull generally easier to attain than with a double-action pistol. When compared to a double-action/single-action pistol, trigger pull requires the same effort every time, making shot placement more consistent. Speed and ease of deployment are important to me, and I have found that a single-action pistol meets my needs best. Practice has made deactivation of the safety an intrinsic part of my drawing action - something I can do at speed without specific conscious effort.

The Hi-Power manual-of-arms is essentially identical to that of the 1911. Internal workings are somewhat different in the trigger and safety mechanisms, but overall mechanical operation is essentially the same. The Hi-Power lacks the grip safety feature of the 1911, while the Hi-Power design includes a magazine disconnect "feature" that disables the trigger mechanism when a magazine is not inserted. This feature is widely regarded as a detractor in that the trigger pull is less smooth than its 1911 counterpart, and that it impedes a magazine from falling freely from the gun when released. Many people remove this feature from their guns to eliminate these problems. Were I concerned with competition performance, I might be compelled to remove the disconnect from my gun, but for a defensive pistol I don't believe it to be necessary.

From my own experience, the Hi-Power is well-balanced and lends itself to instinctive "point" shooting. In practice drills, I find that my instinctive aim matches up well to sighted aim at speed, meaning that rapid-transition multiple target drills are natural for me. Balance is a beneficial contributing factor here also, as I have found sight picture reset is quick for me when compared to other pistols in my experience - even guns in the 1911 platform.

It was rainy and windy (and therefore muddy) today, so I didn't do much moving and shooting. While I did not run any multiple target transition drills, I did to some rapid-fire follow-up shot drills to practice sight picture reset. The target to your left (or above, depending on how your screen renders) is from one of these drills - 10 shots of controlled rapid fire at a range of 7 yards. You can click the image to enlarge.

All-in-all it was a good range trip. It started out rough, but as always, range time becomes an exercise in self-control and mental discipline. Going to the range is always like that for me. I can always count on a good range session to clear my head and soothe my mind and body of the accumulated stresses of life. Once I do my part, I know my gun will do its own.

Overheard in Austin

Texas conservatives and gunnies often like to comment (generally in a derogatory way) on the political and social climate of my hometown, Austin. A bastion of liberal hedonism, replete with the lack of personal responsibility and respect for the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, it is often called.

Funny thing about that. I came into my love for guns in this town, surrounded by folks who would be immediately pegged as through-and-through modern liberals by those residing in the rest of the state. My first experience with rifles and pistols was under the guidance of a local friend who frequents the same coffee shop as I do. I've gone to the range with "liberals" who'd get no respect if they wandered into a Republican fundraising event.

The assumption that Austin is a place that simply going to hate guns and the RKBA is simply proving itself untrue the more of my gun-owning life I live here.

I was sitting at a table at my favorite local coffee house with a friend, tapping away at my laptop. A young lady acquaintance of my friend shows up and they start a conversation. The subject matter turns to recent local criminal activity, with references to particular predatory and violent crimes against persons in the neighborhood area of our location as of late.

What caught my interest was a statement from the young lady:

"It's gotten to the point where I got a gun, and I carry it with me."

I'm sure a little smile planted itself on my face. The only response I could give was "good".

Folks, when the coffee-swilling liberals in Austin coffee houses are recognizing the fundamental need to go about armed for personal protection, things are looking up. There's been a lot of defeatist chatter on the gun blogosphere and forums about the inevitable gun bans coming from Obama and Congress and how the country is going to hell in a handbasket. I think they watch too much TV.

There are a lot more of us out there than most folks realize.