Category: Gun Schtuff

Smith & Wesson’s Walnut 1854 Rocks the .45 Colt

Now, the company has shifted back to old-school gear, offering not only the 1854 Walnut, but a new chambering in .45 Colt. We were delighted to get our hands on one, marking the first time we’ve fired .45 Colt from a S&W lever gun.
Table of Contents

Video Review
S&W Model 1854 Traditional Walnut
Range Time
Field Notes
Final Thoughts

The Machine Gun Win Now Before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
United States v. Morgan (24-3141)
Charles Nichols

Last August, Federal District Court Judge John W. Broomes issued two findings. The first was that the two machine guns the defendant was charged with illegally possessing are ““bearable arms within the original meaning of the [Second” amendment.” The second was “the government has failed to establish that this nation’s history of gun regulation justifies the application of 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) to Defendant.”

Judge Broomes then dismissed the charges. The Federal government filed a timely appeal, and filed its opening brief on appeal on December 12th. On December 29th, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed an Amicus brief in support of the government. On Monday, January 6th, the Defendant filed a disfavored (but unopposed) motion for a thirty-day extension to file his answering brief on appeal. The motion was granted the same day. I am reliably informed that an Amicus brief will be filed in support of the Defendant.

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There are several important facts to keep in mind about this case. Judge Broomes did not say that the government couldn’t have met its burden of proof, but it failed to do so in this case, and so the government lost, as is required by the United States Supreme Court decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen.

Judge Broomes also said that some kinds of machine guns are not arms protected by the Second Amendment, and his decision says nothing about what restrictions or prohibitions the government could place on the carrying (bearing) of machine guns because the Federal law only makes it a crime to possess unregistered machine guns, not carry them.

Additionally, this is an interesting case because the case was prosecuted in the district court, and the opening brief on appeal was filed by the Biden administration. The reply brief and all further proceedings from January 20th onward will be by the Trump administration. The Trump DOJ attorney can simply acquiesce in the case, meaning he can concede that the law is unconstitutional but assert that President Trump will continue to enforce the law, including in this case. The latter is particularly important because if the President does not aver that he will continue to enforce the law, including against the Defendant, then the Court of Appeals could simply dismiss the appeal without deciding the case for lack of a “live case or controversy.”

Putting machine guns to the side for the moment, this quote from the Defendant’s motion for an extension of time is particularly telling, “The government’s brief is 36 pages long. The table of authorities is an additional 15 pages long and includes citations to roughly 200 cases, statutes, and legal texts. Many of the sources relied on by the government are hundreds of years old and were not cited by the government in the district court.”

The Federal criminal court system is rigged against defendants. Had the Defendant’s attorney failed to cite authorities or make properly worded objections in the proper manner at the appropriate time(s) in the trial court, then his failure would be subject to what is called “plain error review” on appeal, and he would almost certainly lose.

Will the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals afford the Federal government a more deferential standard of review? Will the Court of Appeals contrive some way around the NYSRPA v. Bruen mandate that the burden of proof lies with the government?

Time will tell. The appeal should be fully briefed in two months, after which the Court of Appeals can make a decision at any time.

You can read many of the briefs for free from CourtListener at the following links.

United States v. Morgan (24-3141) 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Docket.

United States v. Morgan (6:23-cr-10047) District Court, D. Kansas Docket.

Americans Likely Bought More than 15 Millions Guns in 2024

Americans still really love guns, as highlighted by the latest statistics for over-the-counter retail firearm sales from last year.

The year-end data published by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System show 28,097,205 checks were logged between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2024, with the busiest single week being that of Black Friday, which saw 613,380 checks.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation analyzed the figures for last year, and after removing checks and rechecks for firearms permits, found that no less than 15,239,011 checks were for likely retail gun sales. Further, 2024 continued a now 65-month trend of consumers purchasing over a million firearms monthly. 

“We are proud that NSSF member companies continue to serve the American public that chooses to exercise their Second Amendment rights by the millions each month,” said NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi. “These background check figures show strong sales and that today’s firearm manufacturers are delivering high-quality products. We are proud that our member companies continue to exceed the high standards that law-abiding Americans demand when it comes to the products that allow them to exercise their Second Amendment rights.”

Going past the NICS data, the true number of guns sold nationwide is even higher.

This is because federal background check numbers don’t include private person-to-person gun transfers in most states or cases where a carry permit is used as an alternative to the background check requirements of the 1994 Brady Law, which allows the transfer of a firearm over the counter by a federal firearms license holder without first performing a NICS check. Further, it doesn’t capture homemade firearms unless assembled on serialized frames or receivers, or purposely registered by the builder with local authorities.

New CCW Report Says Decline Reflects ‘Constitutional Carry’ Impact

The number of active concealed carry licenses declined again, possibly because 29 states now allow permitless carry.

 

For the second year in a row, the number of active concealed carry permits and licenses in the U.S. has declined slightly, but the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) suggests the drop reflects the impact of “Constitutional Carry” permitless states, so it’s not as though fewer people are packing heat.

“Last year,” CPRC reported, “the number of permit holders dropped by 0.38 million to 21.46 million – the second year in a row with a decline. It hit a high of 22.01 million in 2022. The main reason for the drop is that the number of permits declined gradually in the Constitutional Carry states even though it is clear that more people are legally carrying.”

CPRC, based in Missoula, Mont., has been tracking concealed carry patterns for several years. Its annual report is published in the fall, typically in late October or early November.

Among this year’s revelations:

  • Twenty-nine states have now adopted “Constitutional (permitless) Carry” for their entire state, meaning that a permit is no longer required. Because of these Constitutional Carry states, the concealed carry permits number does not paint a full picture of how many people are legally carrying across the nation. Many residents still choose to obtain permits so that they can carry in other states that have reciprocity agreements, but while permits are increasing in the non-Constitutional Carry states, they fell in the Constitutional Carry ones even though more people are clearly carrying in those states.
  • In 2024, women made up 29.1% of permit holders in the 14 states that provide data by gender. Seven states had data from 2012 to 2023/2024, and permit numbers grew 111.9% faster for women than for men.
  • Five states now have over 1 million permit holders: Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Florida is the top states with 2.46 million permits. Alabama has fallen below 1 million permit holders this year, but it has become a Constitutional Carry state since January 1, 2023, meaning that people no longer need a permit to carry.
  • Three states that have detailed race and gender data for at least a decade show remarkably larger increases in permits for minorities compared to whites. In Texas, black females saw an 8.4 times greater percentage increase in permits than white males from 2002 to 2023. Oklahoma data from 2002 to 2023 indicated that the increase of licenses approved for Asians was slightly over four times the rate for whites. North Carolina had black permits increase twice as fast as whites from 1996 till 2016.
  • From 2015 to 2021/2023/2024, in the four states that provide data by race over that time period, the number of Asian people with permits increased 219.2% % faster than the number of whites with permits. Blacks appear to be the group that has experienced the largest increase in permitted concealed carry, growing 283.9% % faster than whites.
  • At least 8.2% of American adults have permits. Outside of the restrictive states of California and New York, about 9.8% of adults have a permit.

In sixteen states, more than 10% of adults have permits. Oregon has fallen slightly below 10% this year. Indiana has the highest concealed carry rate — 23.1%.  Alabama is second with 20.5%, and Colorado is third with 17.7%, followed by Pennsylvania (15.88%) and Georgia (13.55%).

The 73-page report said this year saw two more states join the permitless carry column—South Carolina and Louisiana—bringing the total to 29, and that’s a majority of states. By no small coincidence, holdout states are controlled by Democrats.

My Reverse New Year’s Resolutions: Things I Won’t Stop Doing, Despite Leftist Finger-Wagging

I’ve never cottoned to the idea of “New Year’s resolutions.” I reckon that if you have to resolve to do something you weren’t already doing, then you probably still won’t do it. Oh, you might try to keep the resolution for a while, but the long-term success rates for keeping such resolutions are down there with the success rate of Kamala Harris trying to sound thoughtful and intelligent. No, most people, myself included, are creatures of habit, and habits are hard to break.
As it happens, though, I do have a list of things I already do, will continue to do, and will not give up no matter how many leftist scolds wag their fingers at me. For example:
I will not give up my guns. (See photo above.) I simply won’t; I’m at the point in my life now where, if some future, radical left government insists I hand them in, I’m willing to tell them, “Yeah, come and get them.” I do not trust any government that does not trust me with firearms, and I’m willing to take that principle all the way, in the event it should be required; and I have lots of company. If anyone tries to disarm me at this point, I will give them the ammo first.
I will not give up my rural Alaska home. Oh, I suppose there may come a time when age and decrepitude force a move back to the lower 48, where our kids all live. Locals hereabouts will know when that happens because of the long grooves in the pavement of the Parks Highway that my fingernails leave when they drag me out. But there are climate scolds and others who rail against my presence here; they don’t like our wood stove, our big four-wheel-drive truck, our ATVs, the necessity of driving 30 miles to get groceries. They can shut up; I’m staying in Alaska. Nobody’s helping me to pay for that truck or the gas to drive back and forth, so it’s nobody else’s business.
I will not give up my understanding of basic biology. There are two sexes. Barring a few very rare genetic abnormalities that can lead to sexual ambiguities, every human has either XX or XY sex chromosomes, and if you have XX, you are a woman; if you have XY, you are a man. You can claim to “identify” as a pumpernickel bagel for all I care about, but you can’t change biology. Oh, I’m big on minding my own business and don’t really care what people do, so long as they leave me alone; but don’t expect me to cater to it. I won’t give my pronouns, I won’t “celebrate” your lifestyle. I don’t give one ounce of rat’s droppings about your lifestyle. I don’t expect you to give one ounce of rat’s droppings about my lifestyle. Leave me alone. I’ll leave you alone. We’ll get along just fine.
I will not give up my pride in my heritage. I’m an American, above and beyond anything else, but my ethnic background is from the British Isles – Scotland, Ireland, and England – and Germany. The English-speaking people have done more to spread civilization around the world than any other group of people; these are facts. I’m proud of that heritage, and I won’t stop being proud of it.
I will not surrender my right to say what I please, when I please, where I please. I live in a free-speech zone. It’s called the United States of America. If you don’t like what I have to say, don’t listen; the First Amendment doesn’t guarantee me an audience, any more than it does anyone else. The same applies in reverse; I will not mouth your slogans, cater to your hypersensitivities, or pay obedience to your neuroses.
I will not change my lifestyle to cater to the paranoia of climate scolds. I will not give up my truck or my ATVs. I will not eat bugs, I will not live in your 15-minute, rabbit-warren cities, and I will not stop eating steaks and cheeseburgers. Do those things if you like; I won’t.
I will not surrender my autonomy. I am self-sufficient and will remain that way. I can hunt, I can catch fish, I can run a trapline. No matter what happens, I will not surrender that.
I will remain free. I will remain independent. I will remain a citizen, not a subject.
These things, for 2025, I can promise.
I’ll add one more: I will not stop expressing my thoughts online. I’m fortunate to be able to express myself here at RedState, among a group of people who amaze and humble me every day with their dedication, intelligence, good sense, and talent. As long as the internet continues to function, I’ll find an outlet. As long as the power stays on, I’ll keep writing. And if the internet goes down and the power goes off, I’ll go stand out in the road and shout my opinions to the birches and the black spruce. I will not be silenced.
Those, dear readers, are my anti-resolutions for 2025. Stay tuned, because, as one of my countrymen once famously said, I have not yet begun to fight.

It means;
1 ‘You can’t stop the signal’
2 Gun control has been dead for years, but the moron wanna-be gun grabbers haven’t yet gotten to the ‘acceptance’ stage of grief.

What Would It Mean if CEO Killer’s Suppressor Was 3D Printed?

In the early days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder, there was a lot of speculation as to what exactly the killer used. With the arrest of Luigi Magione, though, many of them have been answered. We know that Magione was in possession of a 3D-printed handgun and he had a suppressor.

However, what we’re not seeing in most of these reports is just where the suppressor came from.

I’ve reached out to the NYPD for answers, though they haven’t responded by the time this particular piece has gone live. In fairness to them, I sent that email early this morning before most decent people were awake.

What’s interesting, though, are a lot of reports that this was like a 3D-printed suppressor.

‘I can confirm it is a 3D-printed gun,’ Print Shoot Repeat, who runs the YouTube channel PSR, said. ‘What are the odds it was a 3D-printed suppressor? Well, I think kind of high honestly.’

He explained that a 3D printer suppressor is ‘super light,’ but does not allow the slide the cycle properly.

The shooter of Thompson experienced a similar issue during the murder when he shot and had to recycle the slide to take another shot.

However, another gun expert with more than 30 years of training told Dailymail.com that most guns with a suppressor will behave that way.

‘There are different causes for jamming,’ the expert, who spoke on anonymity, said.

‘Sometimes the ammunition is poor sometimes the firearm is dirty, it’s not maintained. The ammunition is a poor grade. It doesn’t matter what kind of gun it is.

So yeah, there’s debate.

What we don’t have are answers.

3D-printing a suppressor fits what we know about the killer. We know he printed the receiver for his gun–my speculation has been that he knew all the media reporting on “gun tracing” but didn’t understand what that meant, so he wanted to avoid being identified quickly or easily–and that suppressors are more tightly controlled than firearms are. It’s very likely he did print his suppressor.

That brings up all kinds of possibilities and probabilities that a lot of gun control activists aren’t going to like.

First, again, suppressors are tightly controlled. There aren’t “suppressor kits” marketed throughout the internet where you guy buy a kit, print some key parts, and you legally have a suppressor. It doesn’t work like that. One could argue that there are kits available, but they’re not marketed as such and I have yet to find one that requires a 3D-printed part to work.

So that brings us to the idea that the whole thing was 3D printed.

No laws on the books allow just anyone to print themselves a suppressor.

“Yeah, but the files are all over the internet, most likely.”

Sure. However, there’s a problem with that argument. See, while possession of those files might not be illegal, having them on the internet likely is.

The gun files you can find on the internet are generally only there because the State Department has decided that they don’t violate the International Traffic in Arms Regulations or ITAR. That basically says that weapons and weapons technology can’t be exported without federal approval. That includes technical data.

On Monday, a State Department spokesperson confirmed to Bearing Arms that the U.S. Munitions List in Category I does, in fact, include suppressors and the technical data required to make them.

In other words, those files shouldn’t lawfully be on the internet in the first place.

While the State Department wouldn’t comment on any potential investigation, this still blows all the “we should ban ‘ghost guns'” rhetoric out of the water.

In no way are suppressors lawfully produced, and yet Magione allegedly produced one. If such a tightly controlled item can be produced from tightly controlled information, then just how does anyone really think they can stop guns from being made?

Yes, Magione reportedly used a kit, but we’ve covered the FGC-9, which doesn’t require any kits, just parts from the hardware store.

The truth of the matter is that just the possibility that Thompson’s killer used a 3D-printed suppressor illustrates that gun control isn’t a winning strategy. You’re never going to keep things out of the hands of people who want them badly enough. They’ll find a way.

While everyone is going nuts about the gun itself, the suppressor is the bigger issue, which is why no one wants to talk about it.

NBC Falsely Claims Magazine Disconnects Increase Safety

Around 11 people are killed each year because their handguns lacked a magazine disconnect, according to a massive 4,600-word special report by NBC News, which was released Friday.

The story’s title tells you all you need to know about the content: “A simple device could help curb accidental gun deaths, but most firearms don’t have it.”

“Since 2000, at least 277 people have been killed in gun accidents in which the shooter believed the weapon was unloaded because the magazine had been dislodged or removed, an NBC News investigation found. That total – based on federal data collected from states, as well as media reports, lawsuits and public records – is likely a significant undercount since many states only recently began reporting their data, and information on the cases may be incomplete. NBC News found 41 cases that weren’t captured in the data,” the story claims.

Most of the story focuses on those allegedly killed by a handgun that was improperly used – pointed at an innocent person and the trigger pulled.

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So, friend A.K. Church comes by today with a couple of his Short Barreled Shotguns to post on a BBS.

Maverick 88 “12 by 12”

Winchester Model 25

 

Should We Get Ready For a NFA Amnesty?

For the past several weeks, President Trump has been very busy naming his cabinet appointments.  One that is still uncertain is his choice to become the new BATFE Director. The current director, Steven Dettelbach, is a clueless anti-gun buffoon who can’t give congressmen a straight answer.  Many American gun owners are hopeful that DJT will appoint 07/02 FFL holder, gun designer, and pro-gun pundit Brandon Herrera as the new Director.  If that happens, it will surely inspire some boisterous celebration. In addition to his vows to slash the ATF’s budget and operations, Herrera has also promised to begin a series of National Firearms Act (NFA) registration amnesty periods.  There was a provision for tax-free amnesty periods written into the Gun Control Act of 1968. But thusfar, just one 30-day amnesty was held, back in 1968.  That amnesty was very poorly publicized, and not many gun owners took advantage of it.

Today, there are probably hundreds of thousands of unregistered full autos in the country. And there are parts in civilian hands to quickly make a million or more. What can I say, but: Americans just love to tinker.

Under the Hughes Amendment to the Firearms Owners Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986, the number of Federally transferable machineguns was arbitrarily frozen.  As of November 2006, the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) held registrations for 1,906,786 weapons. These included 1,186,138 destructive devices, 391,532 machine guns, 150,364 silencers, 95,699 short-barreled shotguns (SBSes), 33,518 short-barreled rifles (SBRs), and 48,443 weapons categorized as “any other weapons,” (AOWs.) Since then, the number of SBRs, SBSes, and suppressors has risen sharply, but the number of registered transferable machineguns has hardly changed at all.

Not only did the Hughes Amendment freeze cause the prices of full auto guns to inflate radically, it also left Americans with no opportunity to legally build and register any new $200 tax stamp machineguns. Many did so in defiance of the law, risking Federal felony prosecution. Most of those guns are kept very well hidden, mostly underground.

I am hopeful that Brandon Herrera will indeed become the new ATF Director.  And I am fully confident that he will keep his promise and consult with the new Attorney General to open at least one six-month-long amnesty period, with tax-free registration of machineguns, partly or fully-finished machinegun receivers, autosears, and other NFA-restricted items. Once that amnesty window opens, the clock will begin ticking.  So owners of semi-auto firearms who wish to become legal registered full-auto owners will have to get busy. They will need to either drill existing receivers or bring any unfinished receiver blanks or tubes up to a recognizable level of completion and apply serial numbers, so that they can be registered before the amnesty period expires.

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“I’m doing my part!”

Despite ATF Roadblocks, Nearly 5 Million Suppressors Legally Owned

The NSSF reported that the total number of legally owned suppressors was 4.86 million at the end of July 2024. img NSSF

The number of legal suppressors in the USA is almost certainly over five million. The National Shooting Sports Federation (NSSF) revealed a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which was finally answered this summer. The total number was 4.86 million at the end of July 2024. From the NSSF:

In a recent Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA), NSSF received from ATF the additional number of silencers from May 2021 to July 2024. An incredible 2,193,123 more suppressors are protecting the hearing of hunters and shooters. That means a whopping 4.86 million silencers and counting are in possession by law-abiding Americans.

The number of tax stamps issued for silencers, also commonly referred to as suppressors, had to be pried out of the ATF with a FOIA. The ATF has gained a reputation for long waits and poor responses to FOIA requests. Before the Biden administration took power, detailed information on all National Firearms Act items was publicly available in an annual report called Firearms Commerce in the United States.  Once the Biden administration took control of the ATF, the annual report was, without notice, discontinued. The ATF would not publish the information. They slowly responded to FOIA requests, which is how the NSSF finally obtained the numbers. The numbers show an accelerating demand for legal silencers, with an average of nearly 60,000 tax stamps being issued each month.

The average does not tell the whole story. Demand has been accelerating. Information shows there were 3.5 million silencers through January 2024. Thus, 1.4 million silencers were added in the six months from January 2024 to the end of July 2024. It is virtually certain there are over 5 million legal silencers in the USA today.

Much of the increase has come from the ATF streamlining the tax stamp approval process for commercially made silencers while complicating the process of making your own silencer. Another part of the increase comes from the major inflation created by the Biden administration in the last 3.5 years. While everything else has become more expensive, the tax stamp remains the same as it was when created in 1934: $200. In 1934, $200 was roughly four months wages for a common laborer. Today, it is one or two days wages. In 1934, a silencer might cost $5-10. Today, they can cost $200 – $2,000, so the tax stamp becomes a fraction of the total cost instead of 95% of the cost.

Sales of silencers/suppressors may slump with the election of President Trump. The possibility of something like the Hearing Protection Act is plausible. One of the giants in the silencer/suppressor industry is not worried. Brandon Maddox explained there is such a pent-up demand for silencers that his business will only increase if the regulatory hassles are eliminated.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are looking for programs to cut, to increase efficiency. Moving silencers out of the NFA would take legislation. President Trump could declare an amnesty, as is allowed under federal legislation. An amnesty might incentivize Congress to reform the NFA and pass the Hearing Protection Act.

More incentives to remove items from the NFA exist in the courts. The case in Illinois looks promising.

President Trump is moving much faster this term. He has put together an incredible team, well in advance of taking office. He now understands the treachery inherent in the bureaucracy. Top level bureaucrats have monetary and power incentives to oppose him. They may have significant crimes to hide which may be revealed.

He who cuts the first deal to reveal potential criminal actions usually gets the best deal. There are thousands of people in the bureaucracy who know where good information is to be found about criminal activity. They have jobs, pensions, and perks to protect. Some of them are already talking. Many of them know how practices can be streamlined and where positions can be cut.

FYI, they’re ‘often called silencers’ because 1, the inventor, Hiram P. Maxim called them that and 2, that’s what they’re called in federal law; NFA-34

Major Medical Group Endorses Firearms Silencers to Prevent Hearing Loss

Sound suppressors, often called silencers, help protect gun owners’ hearing.

That’s the conclusion one of the largest ear-doctor organizations, with more than 13,000 members, reached this month. The American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) issued a position statement backing the use of the noise-reducing devices. It pointed to three different studies that found suppressors help prevent hearing loss.

“Sound suppressors are mechanical devices attached to the barrel of a firearm designed to reduce harmful impulse noise of firearms at its source,” the group’s statement reads. “CDC research has shown that ‘The only potentially effective noise control method to reduce [shooters’] noise exposure from gunfire is through the use of noise suppressors that can be attached to the end of the gun barrel.’ Suppressors reduce muzzle blast noise by up to 30 dB.”

The backing of a major medical organization could help boost the use of suppressors among gun owners. It could also lend support to efforts to reform the laws governing their purchase and possession. While the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has opened up online suppressor registration and increased the speed they process those registrations, the devices remain heavily regulated under the same federal law that governs machine guns.

Reform is what Dr. Timothy Wheeler was hoping for when he proposed the statement alongside six colleagues. Wheeler, a board-certified otolaryngologist and AAO-HNS life fellow, is also the founder of Doctors For Responsible Gun Ownership. He said he hopes AAO-HNS’s adoption of the statement leads to a different approach to gun ownership at major medical organizations.

“My personal hope is that this represents maybe a change of heart for at least one small part of academic medicine,” Wheeler told The Reload. “Academic medicine has a very long way to go to climb out of the credibility gap that they have created for themselves in the public eye because they’ve been pretty much taken over by a lot of social and political crusades, including gun control, going way back to the late 1980s.”

He emphasized the AAO-HNS statement doesn’t advocate for any law or policy changes.

“It’s purely a scientifically based observation,” Wheeler said. “They are saying nothing beyond what’s in the statement.”

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Making your defensive pistol of choice work for you is a process.

I am continuing to carry my 4-inch Smith & Wesson Model 19-3 as much as possible. You may recall that I made the commitment to carry this particular handgun as much as possible for the next year. Familiarity and continued use makes the handling of a particular gun second nature, cutting valuable milliseconds off of pistol presentation, sight alignment and the proper trigger press. And I took on this project in the continued effort to make myself the best handgunner that I can possibly become.

One connected project was selecting the best ammunition for my use in personal defense as well as taking various varmints and critters that I encounter in the rural setting where I hang my hat. After experimenting with various .38 Spl./.357 Mag. loads from mainstream manufacturers, I have settled one one from Underwood Ammo. Specifically, it is the .38 Spl. +P load that utilizes a 158-grain SWC lead hollow point that features a gas check and a polymer coating.

This particular Underwood .38 load is reported to generate 1,160 fps from a 4-inch barrel. And that, my friends, is about what the old .38 Spl. Heavy Duty ammo provided in the days before the .357 Mag. was introduced. It is a hot .38 Spl. load, but not quite as hot as the current magnum loadings that will eventually cause problems in a medium-frame revolver. More importantly, I find it quite accurate in my Smith & Wesson.

It is critically important that a defensive ammo first be very reliable and the Underwood load passed that test. Secondly, it should shoot to point of aim but, since my gun has adjustable sights I gave this load points for shooting nice tight groups at 25 yards. From a rest, it delivers 2 inches, or slightly less, and those results are quite uniform from shooting session to shooting session. So it appears that my ammo search is over.

My ongoing project has also revealed that my choice of appendix carry was a wise one. Since our hands are nearly always at or near the front of our body, they are also a bit closer to the defensive handgun. The results are that I find that my pistol presentation is just a bit faster from this position. In addition, with a bit of practice, the handgun is also accessible for a support-hand draw, should my shooting hand be injured or otherwise occupied, an important consideration. And this carry position presents no more challenges than any other carry method on or about the waist; you simply work out what kind of covering garment will suffice.

The real key to finding your personal defense gun is to first get good professional training in marksmanship, gun handling and safety, then, based upon that training, begin to experiment with guns, ammo and carry methods until you find what works for you. Several readers have said that they would be engaging in their own personal challenge and I would like to hear how that is working out for you.

Low Round Count Pistol Drills: Sharpen your skills without emptying your wallet.

The price of ammunition continues to rise, and our lives keep getting busier and busier. Range time is more and more scarce, which makes the efficient use of your time and ammo on the range a very good thing indeed. To help with those goals, I’ve collected a few practice drills which sharpen your pistol skills without wasting your time or emptying your wallet.

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2,374,172 firearm background checks were initiated with the FBI last month, bringing the total for 2024 so far, to 22,746,273. It appear that the noted ‘ball through the python’ rate caused by the combination of COVID and SloJoe is returning to a more or less “normal” rate.

 

Gun Made Launches The Largest Online Search Engine For Guns and Ammunition

Gun Made just launched the largest online search engine for firearms and ammunition, connecting consumers to more than 4,000 gun stores across the United States. The coolest thing about this search engine is it provides gun buyers with real-time inventory so they can not only check the price, but see if a nearby brick-and-mortar store has the gun in stock. Gun Made tracks over 500 million items so consumers can locate in-stock products on shelves anywhere in the country, including right in their own backyard with a simple ZIP code search for local inventories.

Gun Made also plans to expand the search engine’s capabilities by the end of the year to include firarms parts and accessories as well. The sheer volume of tracking necessary to bring this information to your computer, tablet, or phone browser is remarkable, however, Gun Made has faced the challenge head-on, making it the first website in the firearms industry to provide this capability.

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Despite Democrats’ Best Efforts, a New Generation Discovers the Joys of Shooting

Colorado’s lurch to the left over the past couple of decades has led to repeated attacks on lawful gun owners and the right to keep and bear arms, but despite their best efforts, Democrats haven’t managed to destroy a culture of responsible gun ownership.

In fact, in Lake County, Colorado, interest in the shooting sports has led to the creation of the county’s first ever high school trap shooting team.

The team was formed after students expressed interest in having a local trap shooting program. One of those students was senior Raymond Harvey, who previously had to travel to Buena Vista to participate in the sport.

“I started attempting to get a team up here my freshman year,” Harvey said in sharing his determination in bringing the sport to Leadville. “I contacted the athletic director at the time. Then we got a new athletic director, and I worked with Jake, and we finally got a team up here.”

Now, trapshooting is an official club sport at Lake County High School and counts as an extracurricular just like football or any other sport. [Head Coach Jake] Farber said the team is also integrating with 4-H and partnering with the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) and the Scholastic Clay Target Program for special events.

It’s great to see another high school embrace shooting sports, and it’s even better that the push came from students like Raymond Harvey.

“Trap shooting is one of the fastest-growing female sports,” Josh Homer said. “It’s great because it’s a nice integrated sport where males and females compete right next to each other and still have a great time.”

He also emphasized that trap shooting is the safest high school sport.

“Year after year, it ranks as the safest, with very few accidents,” Josh Homer said. “We really emphasize firearm safety and proper conduct.”

Students interested in joining don’t need their own firearm. The Ascent Opportunity Development Division (AODD), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, provides shotguns for participants who don’t have their own. The provided gun is a single-shot break-open model to ensure safety. If a student decides to purchase their own firearm, AODD can assist in choosing the right one.

Who could be opposed to this? Even gun control activists should be okay with high school trap teams. After all, Tim Walz an out-and-proud trap shooter and hunter, and that didn’t stop virtually every gun control group in the country from endorsing him and self-proclaimed gun owner Kamala Harris. If there’s any gun-related activity that groups like Giffords, Brady, and Everytown find acceptable, it has to be trap shooting, right?

Wrong.

“The NRA’s influence concerns Kris Brown, president of Brady, the national gun-violence prevention group. “I look at anything funded by the National Rifle Association with a jaundiced eye, because about 30 years ago they stopped talking publicly about any risks associated with firearms,” she said. “In this country, suicide with a firearm is at a 40-year high, and that is particularly true with teenagers.”

Brown claims not to have a problem with the shooting sports, but if there’s any involvement by the NRA or other Second Amendment groups then there’s an issue. I’m honestly surprised that Brady and other anti-gunners haven’t complained more about 4-H’s shooting sports programs, but maybe we just need to give them a little more time.

Youth shooting sports programs are apolitical in nature, but the anti-gunners still view them as a gateway to Second Amendment activism. They can’t stand the idea of kids learning how to be safe and responsible with firearms while also having a truly great day at the range. But while they complain about the NRA and other groups promoting youth shooting sports, the programs themselves keep growing in popularity… even in those places where responsible gun culture is under sustained assault.