The Mind is the Weapon, Everything Else is a Tool

For gun nuts, there are some conversations that are never finished. For instance, a perennial topic on firearms boards is what is the best caliber for a defensive handgun. 9mm, .40 caliber and .45 ACP are all popular options. But .357 and .44 Magnum kill people just as dead.

The Lurker's is that it's all about finding the right tool for the job. Military police have far different needs than an undercover narc in Philly, to pick two examples at random.

Another perennial topic of discussion is whether the M-16 family of weapons (M-4, AR-15, et cetera) are better than the AK series of weapons. The answer is that they're both great weapons systems. The AK-47 and AK-74 are great short to medium range weapons that do not require a lot of maintenance. Both weapons are reliable manstoppers. However, everything mechanical will eventually fail, so have a backup plan when your rifle doesn't go bang when you pull the trigger, even if you're carrying an AK.

The M-16 family is lightweight and compact and accurate at long range, partly due to the few number of parts (and the direct impingement reloading method). It does require frequent maintenance, especially in dusty environments like Iraq.

The M-4 is essentially a compact M-16 and is very handy for commando type operations or close-quarters battle (CQB).

I think the M-16 series is perfect for police in the U.S., it doesn't have a lot of overpenetration when used with soft or frangible ammo. It's light and quick to point.

The M-16 with its 5.56mm round and the M-4 with its even shorter barrel lose much of their appeal in a mountainous environment like Afghanistan, to my mind. There you need a larger caliber for the longer distances. The SCAR or M-14 seem better suited.

Camo thyself

The head & neck outline is incredibly distinctive. That's why the Israelis wear Mitz'nefet on their helmets. I read that it's Hebrew for clown hat. :-)

Kit Up recently discussed the US Army's resistance to camoing one's helmet and rifle.

Luckily I'm a civvie so I can camo anything I want. And I want.

Future of Body Armor: Flexibility

Defense Tech has a post on the future of body armor with liquid body armor for limbs and a flexible ceramic product called Ceraflex.

Current ceramic plates provide Level Four protection (against rifle fire) but are fragile and can be damaged when the wearer "hits the deck" to avoid incoming fire. Current ceramic plates also may shatter on impact and not provide multi-hit protection.

Ceraflex would solve several of those problems.

DIY Camo for the Kevlar Helmet

This helmet camo is made of burlap strips, an old army-issue wool sock, and a splash of landscaping fabric (the darker brown).

I was inspired by this post about the Cabbage Patch helmet cover.

I haven't purchased a helmet cover yet (but I have added some paint camo to my helmet, so I improvised the following.


Illustration 1.1: Helmet front view



Illustration 1.2: Helmet side view



Illustration 1.3: Helmet other side view



Illustration 1.4: Helmet back view

Afghanistan, Land of a Million Alamos

Lots of interesting photos and coverage of the Afghanistan debacle at Michael Yon's website. Here's a link to where he discusses the land of a million Alamos.

The New York Reload

Been poking around at The Gun Zone and ran across this interesting tidbit about backup guns vs hideout guns that I thought I'd share.

[T]here is a considerable difference between a back-up weapon (which could even be a boot knife) and a hideout weapon...

[Let us define] a back-up pistol [as one] of the same basic caliber or size as your primary weapon a "second gun," particularly when it is carried in a holster meant for a quicker draw than a .25 or .32 auto in your hip pocket or a zippered pouch would be. Weapons which are small enough to be very well concealed (including when your coat or jacket is off) are more properly called "hideout" weapons -- and a well hidden knife still qualifies as a hideout weapon...

[Before practice the] choice of drawing the second [or backup] gun versus reloading the primary weapon [was] discussed... [During practice] I noticed... a hesitancy to drop or throw the primary weapon on the ground!

Remember the concept of "you fight like you train?" If you baby your equipment in practice, you'll probably do it in a real fight as well. If your equipment is very fragile, then you need either tougher equipment or pre-arranged protection and preservation procedures for that equipment in the field.

However, after a few people dropped their pistols from around waist level most, but not all, of the rest of the shooters followed suit. Several shooters knelt down to reduce the impact to their weapons, and then stayed down as they drew their other pistols. Very good! A couple of people bent down to place their weapons on the ground, then straightened back up to shoot; this critically wasted time. Not so very good! |Too Well Armed?|

A New York Reload, btw, is when you draw your second gun rather than reloading your first gun.

Murder most foul

Killing In The Name Of, originally uploaded by stublog.