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Version: 7.1.392 / Virus Database: 268.6.1/344 - Release Date: 5/19/2006 Latest NYC Lawsuits May Jeopardize Criminal Cases: Mayor Bloomberg's decision to hire private investigators to conduct undercover stings at Southern gun shops has potentially jeopardized several criminal cases, law enforcement sources charged. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/419645p-354356c.html --- Arizona Governor Signs Pre-Emption Bill: Governor Napolitano on Friday signed into law HB 2649, a bill to generally prohibit the state - except for the Legislature - and local governments from creating new laws or rules relating to the possession or storage of firearms. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0521gunbill0521.html http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/13213.php http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/47leg/2r/bills/hb2649c.htm --- From John Farnam: 15 May 06 On 357Mg revolvers, from a student: "John; I have been shooting a Colt Python 357Mg revolver I recently picked up, used, but in nice condition. Unfortunately, the extractor rod cannot push spent casings out without a good deal of pounding. Casings (Winchester white-box 357Mg) keep sticking in chambers. I love the pistol, but lack the confidence that I will be able to fire more than six rounds! Do you know what is causing this dilemma?" My Reply: The problem with your Python is probably the same one endemic to all 357Mg revolvers which have had a lot of 38Spl rounds fired through them. A revolver chambered for the 357 Magnum cartridge will also chamber and fire the shorter 38 Special cartridge. The same is true for 44 Magnum and 44 Special cartridges. This is claimed by many to be a great advantage of the 357 Magnum revolver since 38 Special ammunition is less expensive than 357 Magnum ammunition. However, there are some problems with this practice. Hot gases associated with bullet launch eventually cause spalling on the walls of the chamber. The chamber will gradually be ringed with tiny spall marks where the bullet comes off the 38 Special case. When the longer 357 Magnums are then fired in the same chambers, the brass will expand into the spall ring, making rapid case extraction difficult and eventually impossible, as you noted. . What all this means is that shooting a lot of 38 Specials in a 357 Magnum revolver will eventually ruin the weapon for 357 Magnum rounds. As a solution to the problem you can do one of two things: (1) Simply dedicate the weapon to 38 Special and do not bother with 357 Magnum ounds at all. (2) Shoot only 357 Magnum rounds in it, both for practice and for duty, forsaking 38Spl ammunition altogether. This solution only applies, of course, to new guns With your revolver as it is, solution one will make the most sense. /John (I'm not sure that John is using the word "spall" correctly. Back when Treasury agents carried S&W M-66 revolvers and primarily used .38 +P+ rounds, instructors at FLETC noted gas erosion of chamber walls, between the end of the .38 cases and throats of the chambers, causing the problem discussed above. I have not heard of this being a problem with standard-pressure and +P loads. What is a problem is the accumulation of powder residue in the same space, making it difficult to chamber the longer Magnum rounds. The optimal solution, for those who don't wish to fire only Magnum loads, is to load training loads in Magnum cases. A Lewis or Hoppe's lead remover may be useful to clean out that residue.) 15 May 06 Tasers and Suicide Bombers: A friend in the Federal Air Marshal Program told me on a recent incident at a major, metro airport in the Midwest: A ticketed passenger had just gone through TSA screening and emerged into the concourse. He suddenly announced, in a loud voice, that he had a bomb! An Air Martial was in the area and responded, but local, uniformed, PD guys got to the suspect first. Local PD took over and Tasered the suspect. Taser worked just fine, and he was arrested without further incident. No bomb was found. However, in the aftermath, a heated discussion erupted between the PD and the Air Marshal Service over the wisdom of using an electronic restraint device on a person suspected of carrying a bomb! The department is now tweaking its Taser policy as a result. Comment: We probably should not be using Tasers on persons suspected of being suicide bombers, but the alternative, gunning them down, is nearly as unattractive. The bomb, when there is one, may well go off in either event. Guns, even pistols, have greater stand-off distance than do Tasers, but gunfire carries greater risk of unintended, collateral damage. It's a tough choice, but a decision must be made by those who are at the scene, and quickly. We live in exciting times! /John 15 May 06 Cor-Bon is now delivering 30M1 Carbine ammunition loaded with the venerable Barnes DPX bullet! I've just received several boxes and will be testing it shortly. I believe this round will breathe new life into the vast numbers of M1 Carbines currently in private hands, but sitting on back shelves. For the first time in over sixty years, we have a truly effective round in this caliber, a round that expands reliably in soft tissue, and, at the same time, penetrates car doors! The little M1 carbine, originally designed for rear-area defense, can now re-claim its place as a modern, legitimate, defensive, urban rifle. I predict that Cor-Bon will not be able to keep up with demand! Innovative, as always, Peter Pi and his crew deserve a lot of credit for this breakthrough. Call them directly at 800 626 7266 /John (I have never been particularly concerned with being able to shoot through car doors and am still carrying a basic load of 120 rounds of Winchester's X30M1 "hollow softpoint" for my truck gun. Perhaps we now live in an era that requires me to re-think that choice.) 15 May 06 Ambidextrous Manual Safeties: >From a student: "John: I'm currently in the market for a 1911 concealed carry pistol. The one I like is the Kimber Pro CDP II. My only concern is that it comes standard with an ambidextrous safety. What is your opinion of ambidextrous safeties? " My reply: I don't like ambidextrous safeties! In fact, I don't like any pistol lever or button that faces to the outside as the pistol is carried. All critical controls, like the manual safety lever, should face exclusively to the inside. On the outside, they get inadvertently bushed off by arms and clothing during normal, physical activity. Ambidextrous safeties are one of the many "additions" that do not belong on a serious pistol. Not recommended! /John (See my comments below.) 16 May 06 I apologize for insulting all my left-handed friends! Left handers need an ambidextrous safety, but the lever portion on the left side of the 1911 pistol (the side left-hander don't use) needs to be ground down to a minimal vestige, or ground flush. That way, left handers have a useable safety on the side they use, which faces inside as the weapon is carried, but nothing on the outside to be accidentally wiped off during the normal course of the day. Shame on me for failing to make myself clear! /John (I continue to disagree with John on this point and have told him so twice. I place a high value on being able to operate my firearms in either hand or from either shoulder. If the primary gun hand is wounded before the operator has a chance to depress the safety, I feel that the liability is greater than if the thumb safety is wiped off prematurely. In fact, if one examines the development of the 1911 pistol, it was not until the 1911 rendition that the thumb safety appeared; prior to that, the design relied, from a mechanical perspective, on the grip safety. I see no significant difference between carrying a holstered 1911 with the thumb safety "off" and carrying a Springfield XD. I see little difference between carrying a holstered 1911 with the thumb safety "off" and carrying a Glock. The most important safety device on any firearm is keeping the finger out of the trigger guard until the sights are on the target and you are prepared to fire.) 16 May 06 At an urban Rifle Course last week in IN, my friend, Frank Sharpe, brought this to my attention: Two of our students were using M1 Carbines. Neither would function reliably using the S&B hardball ammunition brought for them. The S&B's overall cartridge length was too great, and the rounds would not feed, but instead became wedged between feed ramp and magazine lips. When both exasperated shooters finally switched to UMC, the problem instantly went away. Comment: Again, before making ten gazillion copies of a product, manufacturers need to test it on real guns and under real circumstances! All the S&B ammunition purchased by these two students was little more than scrap. The money "saved" by going with the less expensive product seems like chump change now, I'm sure! /John (Ammunition prices are climbing due to rises in the price of metals such as copper and lead. Still, I agree with John that this is a poor area in which to shop for bargains, particularly with brands such as S&B and Wolf, which have poor records in the training industry. When you invest money in professional training, it is false economy to lose training time due to cheap ammo. I recall one student who came to one of my rifle courses with .223 ammo he had loaded for maximum velocity from a single-shot rifle. He spent a disproportionate amount of time clearing malfunctions with his AR-15 until a classmate lent him a few hundred rounds of quality factory ammo.) 16 May 06 On using rifle sights , from a friend, and one of our instructors, in SA: "I conducted an urban Rifle Class here last week, while you were doing the same thing there in the States. Our outdoor range faces east, and we thus had the sun in our faces most of the morning. All were armed with LM5s, a locally-manufactured Kalashnikov. As I was demonstrating a shooting exercise, I suddenly realized that I could see nothing through my rear sight (peep sight, similar to the one found on the AR-15)! During a break I went off to one side and tried again. As soon as I lifted the sight toward the sun, I could see nothing. As I stood there, perplexed, I took off my glasses in order to scratch my eye. I then noticed that my glasses were completely coated with a layer of the fine dust that is endemic to this area. While wearing them, and not looking in the direction of the sun, I had not noticed it. As soon as the sun hit my glasses, light was disbursed, so much that I could not see past the lens. I learned an important lesson, one I won't forget!" Comment: I surely would not recommend shooting without glasses, but, when low-angle sunlight hits dust-coated glass, the lens suddenly becomes a barrier, through which one can see little. The same phenomenon happens with low-angle sunlight hits the dust-coated objective lens of optical sights. This is something of which all riflemen should be aware. /John 17 May 06 M1 Carbine in Israel "The most common firearm carried openly by citizens here is the M-1 Carbine! Families out for an afternoon picnic prefer it to any other defensive firearm. They seldom break, never seem to wear out, and the government essentially gives them away. When we get our hands on Cor-Bon's new DPX 30M1 round, we'll immediately swap it out for the hardball we're currently using." Comment: Things are looking up for the humble, little M1 Carbine! /John (I can recall when the Israelis sent back bucketloads of M1 Carbines from their military arsenals, which were eagerly scooped up by US collectors. The M1 Carbine is the ballistic equivalent of a .357 Magnum carbine. The Cor-Bon-DPX round may, in fact, be a quantum leap for this gun. Americans have access to softpoint loads from Winchester and Remington, which perform substantially better in flesh than FMJ loads; the softpoint load from Federal does not. The strong point of an M1 Carbine, for a family outing, is that the gun is eminently suited for use by people of small stature, hence could be used by a wide variety of family members The same probably applies to a lever-action carbine in .357 Magnum.) 17 May 06 School Raid Drill in NJ, from a friend there: "Yesterday, our police ESU team, along with State Police Hostage Negotiators, conducted a practice drill at the local high school. Four terrorists, played by police officers, armed with shotguns, AR-15s, handguns, and 'explosives' stormed the school and took control of a second-floor classroom. Thirty students and teachers were 'taken hostage.' As an EMS, I didn't see most of the tactical operations, but I did have the opportunity to talk with students and teachers. One teacher spoke proudly about how he locked his classroom door, thinking that terrorists would bypass the room. They didn't! He complained that hostage takers were given a key, which he assumed they 'couldn't possible have in a real incident.' As with most grasseaters, I had to explain to him that any shotgun would make quick work of his flimsy door locks! Terrorists had been given keys, only so the school would be in one piece when everything was over! At the end of the day, two LEOs and seven students were 'killed,' and the drill was thus ruled a 'great success!' However, the multiple injured students we 'treated' all would have been dead long before they were brought to me! The reality of tactical situations is that EMS will be staged far away from the site, so injured are going to be 'on their own' in the short term. Everyone needs to be prepared to tend to their own wounds, if they expect to live through it. Tourniquets and IBDs are lifesavers. They should be carried by everyone!" Comment: In such situations, even when the tactical portion goes "perfectly," dozens, even hundreds, of serious trauma cases will be generated in a short period of time. EMS will get there "eventually," but they will be quickly overwhelmed. Many will die waiting to be evacuated or waiting to be treated. EVERYONE needs to know how to, and be equipped to, treat serious, life-threatening trauma at the scene. This, in fact, is the essence of Doc Gunn's and my Tactical Treatment of Gunshot Wounds Program. /John (IBD: Israeli Battle Dressing) 18 May 06 >From an LEO Friend in the Southwest: "In April, another uniformed officer and I approached a residence in an attempt to execute a felony warrant. Expecting us, the fugitive's family members were in the process of hurriedly exiting the residence through the front doorway. Looking through the same door, I recognized the fugitive himself coming down the stairs, inside the house. He had a Beretta 92F in his hand, plainly visible. My G22 at eye level, and using the door frame for cover, I issued our standard, verbal challenge. My partner, armed with an H&K MP5 (9mm), backed me up. Without hesitation, the fugitive raised his pistol and fired a single shot at me. I don't believe he ever saw my partner. His bullet struck me in the chest but was contained by my ballistic garment. I felt it hit, but I knew I was okay. My partner and I both returned fire immediately. I was sure I hit him several times. My partner simultaneously fired a full-auto burst at him. Subsequent examination of his body would confirm our accuracy. As it turns out, I hit him three times in the lower abdomen. Most 9mm rounds from my partner's SMG hit him in the upper part of both legs. I was using high-performance, HP ammunition, as was my partner. Most of our bullets expanded normally and did not exit. The fugitive was visibly startled, but quickly recovered. He immediately ran back up the stairs and locked himself in a bedroom where he tended to his own wounds with a makeshift tourniquet. We retreated to our patrol vehicles, just in time as it turns out! A few minutes later, the fugitive emerged from the front door and fired at us again, striking our vehicle. Our SWAT team finally arrived. When the fugitive stuck his head out from the same location once too often, they shot it with a 223 rifle bullet. Fugitive was (finally) DRT. My partner and I are okay. This fugitive earned my grudging respect. He was a fighter!" Lesson: Determined suspects are not impressed with handgun bullets! It is time to declare a truce in the apparently never-ending "Caliber Wars," and start confronting the reality that we must all improve our accuracy and understand that (never mind what pistol we're using) rapid, multiple hits are going to be required to end most fights. Even then, there are no guarantees! This suspect was able to absorb at least eight handgun hits from high-performance ammunition, within a second or two, and still run up a staircase, displaying little apparent discomfort! Ten minutes later, he was still fully conscious, completely animated, and fully capable of firing, with reasonable accuracy, at officers. We had to blow out his brains in order to finally stop him. In the Age of Terrorism, we'll be seeing more of this kind of suspect. We all need to be equal to the task! /John (First, it's not clear how the suspect scored his first hit on the officer "using the door frame for cover." Most door frames will not stop bullets. Second, while I am an advocate of placing the first shot in the pelvis, to limit mobility, I have never argued that this is the only place one should continue to hit. John is a big advocate of the "zipper technique," which means, in his version, placing the first shot in the vicinity of the navel and working one's way up the torso. This would appear to be a natural technique with a submachine gun, such as anMP5.) 18 May 06 On brain-stem shots, from one of our instructors: "John, I'm currently devoting fifty-percent of instructional time to immediate, first-round brain-stem shots. The basic idea is to grab your holstered pistol and straightaway skull-pop the felon. It fits my experience that three seconds is the maximum amount of time between when the spaghetti hits the fan and when the spatter first reaches you!" Comment: "Never do your enemy a minor injury." Machiavelli /John (For those who do not recall them, see my comments at http://www.spw-duf.info/emperor.html#head%20shots.) -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .