Belgian FN Browning Hi-Power

No, I’m not talking about Dorothy Lamour, Rita Hayworth, or Gene Tierney, though I am sure most of you are not old enough to remember these Hollywood icons.  The pictures here are of a Belgian FN Browning Hi-Power and Colt Lt. Wt. Commander.  The slides of both were cut for our Kimber 1911 sights.  For these two notable and much celebrated pistols, we have leaned in the direction having slides cut for our Kimber 1911 sights, as these pistols have had generational sight changes over the decades that precludes a one sight fits ’em all ATS.  Our Kimber 1911 sights are the optimal choice for most pinned front sights with mil spec and similar rears, as they have a narrower dovetail channel and require less metal removal than many other Novak style dovetail cut choices.  I use the expression “Novak style” to denote dovetail angles that are similar to, if not completely accurate, renditions of what is typically understood to be Novak dovetail angles.

Colt Lt. Wt. Commander

Wayne Johnston, machinist / gunsmith, here in New Mexico, cut the slides, re-colored the slides, installed the Advantage Tactical Kimber sights with the recommended amount of elevation shim for both pistols.  He will do the above mentioned slide work for $200, which includes return shipping, for a customer supplied Advantage Tactical Kimber 1911 Sight.  It’s hard to buy a suitable pistol for that price, not to mention the enjoyment of having one these two beauties bedecked with an ATS.  Below is Wayne’s contact info:

Wayne Johnston

10014 Boulder St NW

Albuquerque, NM 87114

(505) 264-9262 (phone contact)

gundoc2004@yahoo.com

Richard

At the last three shot shows, it was heartening as well as reassuring to observe attendee reactions to having shouldered the Advantage Tactical Split Ring Shotgun Sight on our Remington 870 demo. “Wow” was the most common exclamation, along with, “boy you can really see that”, “Jesus”, “holy sh–t”, and other positive, though not family oriented, utterances. To date, we have not been able to photographically capture the spirit of these exclamations, scatological and religion referencing though some maybe. I do hope the attached photo will somehow do a better task of relating the “wow factor” of our shotgun sights, more than our website store photos currently do. Please let me know if you think the photo is a thumbs-up or not.

As many already know, our split-ring shotgun sights are adjustable, color customized, and can be installed, because of the split-ring factor, without removal of factory parts. As of this date, we have been approached by, and have submitted an invoice to, a major well-known municipal police department, for a handsome purchase amount of our Rem. 870 split ring shotgun sights. This particular PD reported that they thoroughly vetted our shotgun sight, against other iron shotgun sights, and concluded that with the ATS, hits are more likely and liability is less likely. When the check arrives, we’ll disclose the purchaser, along with the test results.

We have no doubt that the Advantage Tactical Split-Ring Shotgun Sight is the fastest iron sight for a shotgun available, regardless of how fancy alternatives may appear. Speaking to the quick and instinctual nature of the ATS split-ring shotgun sights, some customers have reported that they have purchased them and have successfully used them for wing shooting, though our intent was for tactical use with buck shot and slugs. In addition, the ATS split-ring shotgun sights are as accurate with slugs, as the best of any iron sighted shotgun. The reason is quite simple. With both the front and rear sights at the end of the barrel, depth of field at that distance from the human eye creates a crisp, well focused sight picture.

Shouldering an ATS affixed shotgun allows an immediate, clear, and precise sighting platform. It’s faster than identifying a hole and looking through it, or aligning an out of focus rear sight notch with an in focus front sight, in traditional post and notch and peep or ghost ring sight fashion. In addition, when looking through a hole, most of one’s consciousness and concentration is concentrated in the narrow perspective of that hole, compromising peripheral vision and peripheral awareness. Another point of note is the accuracy factor in such a short sight radius. Advantage Tactical Sight’s accuracy does not depend on a eometry where precision favors the longer sight radius of a post being equidistant against the sides of a notch, or a post that is subjectively seen as being in the middle of a hole. Rather, ATS precision is achieved when a trapezoid sight picture is formed and held true, regardless of sight radius.

Our split ring shotgun sights are available for Remington, Mossberg, Benelli, FN / Winchester, and a universal 20 gauge sight. Other shotgun brands would probably be a fit, as well, once barrel diameter, 2” behind the muzzle, were measured WITH A CALIPERS and the measurement relayed to us for verification and model selection.

Richard

Cowboys and Aliens (ATS): Wasn’t that the title of a recent movie? Anyway, Steve Thornton aka “Mr. Single Action”, a cowboy action shooter of some note, just won “2nd place Revolver Iron Sight Division” at the Smith & Wesson sponsored 2013 U.S. National Steel Championship. The impressive part is that all the other guys were using finely tuned double action revolvers, while Steve was using an 8 round Ruger New Model Blackhawk Single Action Revolver and was able to win three stages in this division. In the .22 Rimfire Iron Sight Division, he was 10th out of 26 while using a Ruger Single-Ten Single Action Revolver. Again, the most impressive part was that all the other .22 competitors were using highly tuned semi-autos. Both of his single action revolvers are equipped with a set of ATS’s. Steve has a fast left thumb, as one may imagine.

I first met Steve at the 2007 International Revolver Championship (IRC) match in Morro Bay, CA., where I was showcasing the ATS sight system and also competing. He absolutely loved the new iron sight system, “Great idea!” He asked me to be a sponsor and wanted a free sight. He admitted that he was an acclaimed cowboy shooter, but was new to double action shooting. I did not know of him and politely blew off the request. His persistence culminated in a bet between him and me. We were both shooting in the “Snubby Limited” (3” barrels or less) division at the 2008 IRC. I told Steve that should he beat me, I’d give him a set of sights. I further stipulated that he would have to buy a set from me first, trounce me using my own sight system and then, and only then, would I reimburse his purchase. Steve agreed and bought a set of ATS’s and the race was on. Halfway through the 2007 IRC, I was able to achieve my best score ever in the much-dreaded stage “far and near standards”. At that point, I was saying to myself “beat that Steve”. He couldn’t and I thought I had him. However, things tanked for me shortly after that, as things improved for him. So, to make a sad story short, he won the bet, came in First Place Snubby Limited, became sponsored by us, and got reimbursed for the sight. Steve went on to win three more IRC Snubby Limited Championship Titles and is still the reigning Snubby Limited Champion and has been since 2008. In all of these endeavors he was using the Advantage Tactical Sight. In 2011, Steve began shooting for Ruger with our Advantage Tactical Sights customized to fit not only his Ruger GP100, but also his Ruger single actions.

I hope you all enjoy these pictures of his ATS “eightguns”. They have created quite a stir at matches. Steve is an engineer and he and another of his posse, Larry Fowble, created the ATS adornments on the Rugers. About his plate shooting technique: I hope he doesn’t mind me repeating this: He sights in his single actions so that the tip-top of the pyramid is at the bottom of the plate. The ATS sight picture is pretty good at not allowing horizontal drift and, with the sight zeroed toward plate bottom, the entire vertical portion begs for unbridled peppering. Sometime this year or next, we are going to summon back our S&W revolver sights, along with sights for the Ruger GP 100 and Ruger’s single actions. So, until then, along with everyone else, I intend to enjoy Steve’s cool looking sixguns or should I say “eightguns” or “tenguns”.

Richard Nasef

BEST TACTICAL ATS COLOR COMBO: The popularity of a red rear and white fronted ATS is slowly catching on in the area of tactical shooting. Please witness the affixed illustration on the highly customized Glock 20SF, by TMT Tactical, a division of Toner Machining Technologies. I’ll gush more about that pistol and the customizer later.

We’ve now had several diversified reports that many do well with this combo, in varied environmental circumstances. Red, a primary color, and white which is not a color at all, can be seen clearly by most. Given that some with definite color proclivities, especially men, can see the red rear / white front combo quite well, though other color combos can be more dynamic, if not situation specific, gives this combo a good rating as a home defense choice, where more than one family member maybe a designated home defender.

All the above being said, I don’t seem to favor this red/white combo for action shooting games, for one simple reason. The white front is prone to fading on freshly painted white plates, on a sunny day. White front sight fading tends to happen when the bright plate is about 15 yards and beyond. Closer than that and on a not-so-sunny day, fading is a non-issue. So, red rear with white front is on my carry gun. Most of my other pieces are adorned with green rear and either orange or red front, though the orange does fluoresce more in lower light than the red. I also must admit that do like yellow rear and red front, our signature colors, for competition, as well. When I’m in a situation where I would have only one gun available, and that gun would be potentially used in a variety of environments, I still choose the red rear, though with a yellow front. It’s closest to the red/white, without being too divergent. My second choice of a one-color-combo-do-all is the aforementioned green rear / orange front.

Now about that Glock 20SF: This beautiful, cherry, cool, and any other adoring adjectives that one may apply, Glock 20, is the customized progeny of Jim Toner, of TMT Tactical Handguns a division of Toner Machining Technologies. TMT customizations will feature the Advantage Tactical Sight and will be showcased in a major gun magazine, at a date yet to be announced. This particular pistol that you see is scheduled for presentation to personality Ted Nugent, at an upcoming NRA event. When TMT reconfigured my Glock19 frame, what a difference it made! Perceived recoil response, rapid-fire group size, and even slow-fire group size improved. In addition to that, I now have great pride of ownership in my Glock 19. I’ve found in others, as well as myself, that pride of ownership relates to fun which relates to more practice. More practice leads to proficiency. Info about TMT Tactical Handgun creations can be accessed at:http://www.tonermachining.com/tmt-tactical.php or email Jim Toner at jtoner@tonermachining.com

Richard

Here’s the first glimpse of our Firefly sight. It sports the best glow times in the industry, not only because of the most recent innovations in the glow material itself, but because of the method of manufacture, as well. They will be available in complete packages of two and eventually three individual colors. With one package, ATS owners will be able to add this night sight technology to at least two of their Advantage Tactical Sight systems.

As you can see, the firefly is bare on all sides, so as to provide the largest glow area. We did experiment with glow material positioned on the pentagon portion of the front sight only. However, we found a distinct difference between the larger glow area, when compared to the smaller glow area of the pentagon portion. The larger area was visible longer, as the charge diminished. We are not worried about the stealth aspects of this larger glow area, as any night sight can be seen in darkness. The only other concern was how the lack of our usual pentagon area would affect sight alignment in slow and rapid fire. As it turns out, there was no difference in either rapid or slow long distance fire. The angled sides of the front sight align just as quickly with the angled sides of the rear sight to complete a perfect pyramid. The unneeded portions of the front sight hide behind the rear sight to form the usual ATS sight picture, just as if the pentagon area were still part of the front sight pattern.

The best part of all is that the firefly exhibits the most extraordinary glow times. The following are functional tactical glow times that we have experienced, when viewing the firefly from behind a firearm at an almost 180° angle. I say functional because the firefly will exhibit glow for over 20 hours when viewed at a 90° angle:

1. 2 hr.15 min with 10 sec. exposure to a 90 lumen tactical light;
2. 3 1/2 hours with 30 sec. of 90 lumen light;
3. 7 hours of glow time with 90 seconds of sunlight.

In addition, if you just hit your firefly with a few seconds of a charging light, it will remain glowing for the duration of most tactical situations. Also, and very important, exposure to ambient light will charge the firefly for short durations of time. For example, when walking through your lighted kitchen into a dark hallway, the overhead kitchen lighting will charge the firefly enough for tactical purposes in the darkened hallway. If you are a police officer who presents a weapon in the line of duty, that presentation alone will often charge the firefly, given some ambient exposure from the sun or artificial light sources.

When my wife and I went out for the evening, I charged my firefly with 90 seconds of tactical lighting and the glow lasted until I returned home. If you ever are in an outdoor recreational shooting situation, the firefly will glow for many, many hours after your shooting session. In addition, the firefly once charged will almost instantaneously re-charge with a short exposure to light. You may want to try our firefly, regardless of firefly color choice, with our white rear sight insert. Our white insert can be seen in almost total darkness. When combined with a firefly front sight, one gets a glowing front sight dominant pyramid sight picture, in all but total darkness. Should the environment be pitch black, of course the glow front sight would still be an option.

The firefly glow material will outlast the purchaser. It will last for decades and many times beyond the half-life of tritium inserts. I have toy a dinosaur that I acquired over 22 years ago that was made with the glow technology of that era. It still glows when exposed to sunlight. For the market-testing run of the firefly, we are likely to offer it in two colors. A third color will be added at a later date. The price will be $30 for a package of two differently colored fireflies when purchased with an ATS sight set, and $35 when purchased separately. We have yet to choose the final colors, though green and orange are the front runners at this time. Color choices will largely depend on the ability of the considered colors to exhibit glow strength. Look for production fireflies by the end of November.

Richard

Our new M&P .22 sight is up and running on our store. The front sight dovetail of the .22 version is a little deeper than the center fire, so we had to create a whole new sight set for the .22. Let me tell you, this pistol really shoots great and seems to feed all ammo, from the really tame stuff to the hottest in .22 rimfire ammo. The only thing that requires care is the installation of the front sight base. This frame, unlike its center fire big brother, is made of aluminum and utilizes the most basic cosmetic finish. Therefore, some marring of the area around the front sight is inevitable and will need a little surface touch-up, when the final front sight installation has been completed. For the pictures you see on our website, all I had available was a Sharpie marker. That’s right, what you see is blueing by sharpie.

The elevation improved Guardian is now back on the website store, at $10 less than it was before. Occasionally, we had complaints that the Guardian shot too low. Well, we’ve corrected that problem in a rather easy way. Now, anyone can zero their Guardian, regardless of now imperfect the picatinny rail or how imperfect the relationship between the pincatinny rail and the bore. We added a .008” shim at the rear bolt, between the bottom of the clamp and the top of the mount. Now, everyone will surely need to add shim in the usual way to the front sight base, in order to zero their rifle with our back up sight. In the rare event (it happened to me once with an FN-AR) that your Guardian shoots too high, even after exhausting all front sight shimming possibilities, simply place the .008” shim mount at the front bolt. That will lower the bullet impact substantially. Remember, when tightening bolts on the clamp into the mount, be sure to tighten first the bolt furthest from the shimmed bolt, then proceed to the next closest bolt, and finally the last (shimmed) bolt, in that sequence. This has been such an easy and successful elevation technique and has added great elevation possibilities to the Guardian. It should also work for our shotgun sights, in the rare event that additional shimming be necessary.

One more thing: For some reason, if you really have a really weird pincatinny rail to bore relationship, we have a back-up .012” mount shim. I used it on an AK that was shooting pretty low at 25 yards with our Guardian. With just the .012” shim at the rear bolt, I needed .045” of shim to zero it at 25 yards. It finally shot dead on at 25 yards, two inches high at 50 yards and two inches low at 100 yards. That’s right, off a rest with our Guardian, I put three shots in the middle of a USPSA target at 100 yards. The Guardian was not conceptualized for that, but it can be done. It’s nice to know that when my main optic fails (it’s Leopold Gillman red dot), I’m covered out to 100 yards.

Richard

With regard to new products for 2012 to early 2013, there are several under consideration that I’ll mention below. As with most of our products, we produce small to medium runs. The idea is that with each subsequent run, we would make product improvements, based on our findings and customer feedback.

With product improvement in mind, we have discontinued the Guardian back-up sight. It will be replaced by Guardian II, a top mounted sight that will secure to any picatinny rail. It would be appropriate as a main sighting device for sub-machine guns, AR’s, and any firearm with a mount forward of the receiver. With AR’s, one will be able to co-witness the Guardian II with one’s main optic. In addition, the Guardian II may also be mounted on a .45° degree picatinny (not on 90° picatinny, like the original Guardian) for those who still need and want an off-set back-up sight. Because of the variability in picatinny railing and the rails relationship to the bore, the Guardian II will have greater elevation capability than its predecessor. We are planning an almost .120” of front sight elevation capability.

For pistol sights, we are considering three. We will eventually make all three, but in what order has yet to be decided. At least one will be presented at the 2013 shot show in Las Vegas: (1) Browning Hi-power; (2) CZ 75b; (3) the new HK 45 & p30 series (not the USP or 2000, at this time).

Other unveilings at shot show 2013 will include a light activated glow series of front sights. They’ll go by the handle of “Advantage Tactical Firefly Sight”. Also, hopefully, we’ll be showcasing our “Stealth Light” — an invisible light that makes our current florescent inserts glow when activated. Production is being negotiated, as we speak.

If it were not for customer feedback, we wouldn’t be able to improve our product line, before each subsequent production run. So, let us know what you think about the current changes, refinements you’d like to see, and new products.

Richard

We are currently planning two options for “night sights”. One will be what we call the “stealth light” and the other will be a light charged front sight. Both will be options, via upgrades for all current and future ATS users.

Light charged front sight: Until now, this has been an alternative that I’ve avoided, because of the short amount of glow time after exposure to a light source. However, ever evolving technology has produced longer post light exposure glow times. Some variations will glow for 12 hours and another claims that a 24-hour glow response is available. We are now evaluating the length of the effective glow of these newer technologies. Producing a light charged front sight that will last many years longer than a tritium insert, be less delicate, and one where a single light exposure will produce an effective 12 hour glow (effective is the key word here) from a single exposure to light, would be a great upgrade to have. That means that a police officer could charge a front sight before leaving for his or her shift, and have that front sight stay activated throughout the entire shift. We would continue to upgrade to the newest (the longest lasting) glow technology as they became available. When and if an effective 24 and 36 hour and even longer glow durations are available, we will incorporate them. Should the glow time durations become that long, it would mean that just the casual ambient light encountered by the normal daily handling a firearm, could be enough for continued activation. When we have completed our testing, we’ll announce a ship date and the colors that will be affected. This upgrade is not too far away.

“Stealth Light”: The Stealth Light was conceptualized for the professional, though these units will be available to all. Given a particular tactical task, drawing attention to a continually illuminated sight may be counter-indicated. The Stealth Light will be no larger than most blue tooth devices and will attach around one’s ear, to glasses, or even to a cap or helmet. A switch will activate and deactivate the device. With the Stealth Light, almost all extraneous light waves, other than the ones needed to illuminate the Advantage Tactical Sight, will be suppressed. In a completely darkened room, with zero visibility, the prototype Stealth Light emits an almost undetectable, unless you are specifically searching for it, purple glow. With the addition of even the slightest ambient light, the difficult to detect purple glow disappears. We now have a viable candidate to produce the Stealth Light for us. More will be announced, as the project progresses. We expect that the actual production Stealth Light will operate even efficiently than the prototype.

About night sights: I’ve written before that I’ve always thought that night sights (tritiums), as we’ve mostly known them, were more for mental comfort than an actual tactical necessity. It is a very heartening, for some people, to bring home that new pistol, go into the bathroom, turn out the lights, and observe their sights glow in complete darkness. It is human nature to be encouraged by a light source, when enveloped in total darkness. However, with the need to identify one’s target, and the arm’s length reality of truly darkened encounters, one may wonder about the actual tactical relevance that night sights provide, as well as what may be compromised with the single-minded sight attentiveness of some who would use 3- dot night sights in darkened situations.

However, after having made the above statements, I believe there may be darkened situations were sight perception would make a difference, as infrequent as those circumstances may be. At very close to medium/close range, all one needs is a visible front sight. Identifying one larger and pointed light source would certainly be quicker than trying to find 3 small light sources, when adrenalin is running high and time is measured in fractions of a second. For the professional, by which I mean entry teams, special forces, swat teams, etc., controlling sight illumination via our Stealth Light could also make a difference in particular situations. The Stealth Light will utilize a minute light source, along with our patent pending non-essential wavelength suppression technology, and will be powered by the most energy efficient hearing aid batteries. Even with continued activation, the stealth light will be operable for very long periods of time without battery replacement.

This is where we are in the development of night sight options, for those ATS users who perceive the need for sight illumination beyond our normal ambient light sensitive florescent inserts. Your thoughts about these “night sight” options are always welcome.

Richard

SOME TECHNICAL THINGS worth considering about alignment, color selection, and elevation adjustments before finalizing your set-up:

ATS ACCLIMATION

Buyers of Advantage Tactical Sights come in three acclimation categories: 1) those that get the sight right away and can shoot it well from the get-go; 2) those that need some learning curve time, before the sight kicks in for them. 3) and finally those that have difficulty with the concept, because their motor memory is so programmed to traditional sight usage.

Fortunately, at least 85% fall in the first category, about another 10% may fall in the second category, and maybe 2-3% may actually fall in the final category. The following is for those very few in the last category, who are having trouble with the transition:

First, before a shooting session, sit in a place quiet, relax, close your eyes and visualize the sight picture. Make sure you visualize the very tip-top of the pyramid as being where the bullet will go. Next, at the range, just before you shoot, look at the target and look at where you want the bullet to impact. Continue to look at the place of intended bullet impact on the target and don’t look anywhere or at anything else. Then, present the pistol; the instinctively aligned pyramid sight picture will be there, without any need to consciously align anything. Lastly, while still looking at the intended point of impact on the target, as you look through the pyramid sight picture, fire your pistol. You’ll hit where you were looking. Continue to fire, even rapidly, and you’ll punch out the target where you were looking. This method works well, out to about 12 to 15 yards or so. I’ve taught many to do this in a manner of minutes. Anyone can learn to do this with our sights. Most do this with both eyes open and some even learn to do it a greater distances. Personally, beyond about 15 yards, I need to close one eye and precisely aim.

SHIMMING

I’ve read customer comments from different sources, where certain ATS users seem to be joyous that they didn’t need to use shims. Those statements were made as if shimming were a bad thing and somehow they had escaped having to do it. With a properly formed sight picture and good trigger control, utilizing the very tip-top of the pyramid as the focal point for bullet impact, the ATS will most surely shoot high at 25 yards without shim, especially now that we are making our front sight base floors thinner with a little more room for even more shim.

We want everyone to shoot high at 25 yards without shim, because that means somewhere between almost no shim and .060” of shim everyone will find his or her zero, given their particular barrel and load. Sixty thousands of an inch of shim will impact one’s zero by 25” to 30” at 25 yards. There is plenty of room in there for zeroing to your load, barrel and eyes. Eyes are also another factor, because even with traditional sights, two people might have a slightly different zero when using the same pistol and load, for reasons I don’t quite understand. Furthermore, one may adjust elevation by using our shims in increments of .002”. Two thousands of an inch will affect elevation by less than an inch at 25 yards. So, one may make precise elevation adjustments when needed. I guess if one confines one’s shooting to close range, amount of needed shim may be less relevant. As an action pistol competitor, I always shim so that I’m shooting around 2” high at 25 yards. That way I’m on at 50 and even 75 yards with my handgun. It’s also fun to get together with my shooting buddies to see how the ATS fairs on combat targets placed out to 100 yards.

One last thing about shimming: Always insert the thinnest shims first. In other words, when using a combination of shim thicknesses, place the thinnest shim under the next thinnest shim, and the thickest shim that you use on top. It makes shimming easier and it makes adding the most amount of shim easier. Some sight packages will include up to .059” of shim. One should be able to use all .059”, where necessary.

COLOR-COMBO SELECTION

A frequent question to Advantage Tactical has to do with color combo selections. It seems that men, more than women, have color perception challenges. When I show up at an action pistol match were several are using our sight system, everyone seems to be sporting a different color combo, and each will swear by the particular choice that was made. What are the factors that decide one’s color choices? As I understand it, though I am not an ophthalmologist, there are four main factors:

1. how one perceives a particular color by itself.
2. how one perceives the intensity of a particular color by itself.
3. how one perceives the color itself, along with the intensity of the color, in combination with other colors.
4. how one experiences the 3 above factors, in regards to barrel length.*

*That’s right! The color combo you prefer on a 3 1/2” barrel, may not be your color combo choice on a longer barrel. The perception of color, color contrast and intensity of color may be experienced differently, as barrel length changes. This is especially so with our long gun sights. So, choose the best color combo for you in the majority of your shooting environments with a particular firearm, knowing that a different color combo may (not always) be more suitable for another firearm.

In regards to limited light shooting, any color combo featuring green, yellow, orange, or white seems to be good. The primary colors are red, blue and yellow; white is not really a color. However, white as well as anything with yellow in it, like orange or green, and yellow itself, of course, will show better in diminished lighting.

For me, I like green rear and orange (not red) front for all around shooting. A close second is red rear and yellow front. The more ambient light sensitive yellow front sight stands out well for me in low light, against the larger though less ambient light sensitive red rear. At any rate, those two are what I like on most of my pistols. However, on my Glock 17L, and all other 6” barrels, the only thing that really works for me is green rear and red front, for outdoor, daytime shooting. Currently, when we send out our sight system, we always factory install a green rear insert and a red front insert. It seems to be a good place for most to start, and many do stay with that particular color combo.

If any of you seasoned ATS shooters out there have any additional tips for those just starting out, please share them in the comments below.

Richard Nasef

It’s seems that it’s such a common belief among my shooting companions that using one’s own hand loads for self defense is a “no-no”.  The stated reason is that, should one use a firearm defensively, the impeaching attorney would skewer you on the stand and make you look like a fiend who was just waiting for an opportunity to use his concoctions against the public.  My question is, is that really so?

I often hike with a .45 stoked with my hand load of 5.9 grains of American Select powder behind a 200 grain lead semi-wadcutter. It’s much cheaper than factory hollow points, always works in my pistol, is accurate, and has taken small game and certainly would work adequately in a defensive situation.  Is ammunition that important of an issue when a firearm is used for defensive purposes?  Aren’t the circumstances surrounding the use of a firearm ultimately more important than the ammo in determining the outcome of a questioned shooting incident?  Shouldn’t we expect that an opposing attorney would utilize all available information to prove a case, and not just focus on ammo.  I don’t know the answers to any of these questions, but I’d certainly prefer my own loads for all around use, as opposed to buying expensive factory ammo that I may never get around to adequately test in my handguns, let alone shoot for recreation.

So, is this admonition to never use hand loads for self defense that is bandied about by so many of my shooting acquaintances valid? I can’t really say and I don’t think many others can, either.  Are there any lawyers or people connected to the legal profession out there with a seasoned opinion about this?

Richard