tire iron's corner

MAN vs GUN - Primer

2015-02-04T12:26:00.002-07:00

There are plenty of sources of information that discuss in detail the features and benefits of nearly every rifle in use in the world today. Barrel length, twist rate, velocity, coatings, plating, etc, etc, etc.

What is missing from all these discussions is how well these rifles fit and work with the human body. My experience is that some rifles work with the human body better than others. No rifle is perfect, yet. We are getting closer though. Designers actually trying to design rifles that work better with the human body. With that in mind, we are going to test a variety of rifles against a set of “standards” (strings of fire) and using that data to come up with a chart that shows which rifles work better with the body than others.

Foundation:

#1 - Fighting Rifles must be RELIABLE. They must go bang if there is a round in the chamber under adverse conditions.

The magazine must be equally reliable, it must feed ammo into the chamber under adverse conditions.

#2 - Fighting Rifles must be DURABLE. They must be able to withstand hard use and still keep running.

#3 - Fighting Rifles must be intrinsically ACCURATE (enough). They should keep all rounds on a pie plate size target out to 200 meters. This is determined by bench resting the rifle. Obviously, more accuracy is better as long as functional reliability is not adversely affected.

#4 - Fighting Rifles should be as ergonomic (and mirror image) as possible. How well the rifle works with or works against our bodies movements will determine how fast we can get good hits, and how fast we can operate the controls and clear malfunctions.

For armed citizens I also add #5 – which is REPAIRABILITY. Can you get parts, and can you fix your rifles when (not IF) a part breaks or wears out?

The “MAN vs GUN” series will document how different rifles do based on #4 above – we will see how well different rifles work with or work against the human body and how we operate long arms.

This series will not check #1, #2 , #3 or #5.

Purpose

ONLY HITS COUNT. With that in mind, some rifle designs are better than others when it comes to allowing good, fast, accurate hits. The below drills will allow us to build a data-base of how differing rifles compare to each other when it comes to getting good hits the fastest.

NOTE: Ultimately it is the person SHOOTING the rifle, not the rifle that will determine the outcome of a gunfight. If you keep building upon your Warrior Triad (skills, mindset, tactics) it won’t really matter which tool you have in your hands. On the other hand, if you don’t work on your Warrior Triad, you could have the rifle that gives the best chance of a good, fast hit, but you will still lose.

Then again, the one with the strongest Warrior Triad using a tool that is; easy to get good, fast hits; to quickly and easily clear malfunctions; is controllable with multiple rounds on a single target; or dealing with multiple targets, will have an obvious advantage.

What handling characteristics do we want in our rifle?

To be able to get accurate, fast snap shots.

To be able to clear malfunctions quickly and easily.

To be able to reload quickly.

To be able to transition from shoulder to shoulder and get good hits from each shoulder.

To be very controllable when shooting many rounds, fast.

To be able to swing from target to target, in high speed, close range type scenarios.

Man vs Gun Course of Fire:

Head Shots from low ready, safety on, at 25 yards. Perform 5 times.

Checks balance for snap shots – how well the rifle works with the man to ensure a good, accurate first hit on a small target. Balance or “feel” plays a role here.
5 shots total (1 each string)

Speed Loads with body hit at 25 yards. Perform 5 times. Start with round in chamber, and empty mag in rifle. Safety off, muzzle at target. At beep, fire one round, if you can feel the bolt hold open, immediately change mags. If the rifle doesn’t have a bolt hold open, attempt to fire again. At the click, immediately reload and fire one shot at the body at 25 yards.

If the bolt holds open is it really faster than if it doesn’t? If it is faster, by how much?
10 shots total (2 each string – one before the reload, one after)

Read the rest of the article here!

Day 5 - fourteen days be a better shooter series

2014-06-01T17:39:00.000-06:00

DAY 5

Day 5 is all about Type II malfunction clearance drills. The Type II malfunction is typified by poor ejection, and results in an expended shell being stuck in the ejection port. It is commonly called a "stove pipe" malfunction because it looks like the handgun or rifle grew a chimney out of the ejection port.

: Type II Malfunction, or Stove Pipe

Causes

There are a couple of causes of the Type II malfunction. They are:

1. weak wristed shooting (if you limp wrist some handguns, i.e. don't have a firm wrist) which actually allows the gun to rise in recoil too much and too fast, so much so that the slide actually catches the expended shell in the ejection port.

2. Weak ammo, weak extractor, damaged ejector

Do we care what caused the malfunction?

When we are at the range testing a particular firearm to see if it is worthy of depending upon for our life, we absolutley care what kind of malfunctions and the frequency of malfunctions that particular handgun or rifle displays. In order for me to depend upon it, it must fire 1,000 uneventful rounds before I will trust it.

However, once we have "vetted" a firearm, when we are training for the real world, we DON'T care why it malfunctioned, all we care about is getting it back up and running AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Check out the rest of the article HERE.

Day 4 in the 14 Days to Be a Better Shooter series

2014-05-25T11:47:00.002-06:00

DAY 4

Day 4 is all about Type 1 malfunction clearance drills. Type 1 stoppage is when one of two things exist.

Magazine not properly seated

On nearly every magazine fed firearm I am aware of, it is possible to either not seat the magazine far enough, or to seat it improperly.

Dead round in the chamber

The other cause for a Type 1 malfunction is a dead round in the chamber, i.e. a round that the firing has struck, but still didn't go off.

Immediate Action

It doesn't really matter what the cause of the Type 1 malfunction is, as the Immediate Action is the same.

Click HERE for the complete article.

Target Indicator - SHINE

2014-05-24T17:34:00.003-06:00

SHINE

This installment in the Target Indicator series is SHINE.

SHINE - THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR

We need to mitigate SHINE on almost everything we carry that is made from metal, plastic, polycarbonite (safety glasses) or glass, as these will all reflect light - which creates SHINE.

Metal - Shine

Metal objects are typically very shiny. Metal is flat and hard, which makes it a good reflector of light. So we need to "soften" it, which is done with flat color paint. The flat paint absords the light cutting down on reflections. Old school AK stocks are shiny wood, this is as bad or worse than the flat shiny metal of the AK. The moral of the story is PAINT YOUR AK! AR's are typically not as shiny, the flat black anodizing, as well as the flat black furniture really cuts down on the SHINE factor. However - since we know black is not a color found in nature very much - we paint our AR's too.

Plastic - SHINE

Plastic, polycarbonite and glass is another compound that gear is made from that has high SHINE potential, due to these being hard and flat. Watch faces, safety glasses, compass faces, scope lenses, bino lenses, flashlight lense, etc, are all things we must be aware of to mitigate the shine potential on our end, and to be situationally aware of when the enemy gives off shine to us.

Day 3 in the 14 days to be a better shooter series

2014-03-17T21:20:00.000-06:00

Day 3. In day 3 we will cover drawing from a holster and performing Speed Reloads and Tactical Reloads with the handgun, M4 carbine and AK pattern rifles. Check it out here.

cheers

tire iron

How to see if your handgun fits you or if you need to fit yourself to your handgun.

2014-03-07T14:17:00.001-07:00

Does your handgun fit you? Odds are that it doesn’t. For decades (actually for hundreds of years) handguns have pretty much been made to work and to feel “OK” in the hands of the shooter. However, not until the advent of the “adjustable back-straps” have we had the opportunity to actually fit a fighting handgun to us. Prior to this period, we didn’t have any other choice but to fit ourselves to our handgun. If you have ever heard anyone say “Glocks point high for me” or “I have to use the flat mainspring housing on a 1911″ they are really telling us if their handgun fits them or not.

Read more here: Does your handgun fit you?

The Survival Summit

2014-01-18T10:45:00.001-07:00

I am really excited to be a part of the Survival Summit. Experts in various fields giving presentations on a variety of topics and subjects, including Travis Haley, Kevin Reeve, James Yeager, yours truly and many others.

It is FREE to watch any and all presentations for a solid week.

Please click here to check it out!

Also feel free to distribute this link as far and wide as you can.

cheers

tire iron

14 Days to Be Better Shooter - Day 2

2013-11-02T22:26:00.000-06:00

After doing some accuracy testing with my S&W M&P 9mm full size, to include the fitted match grade barrel, and seeing the difference in groups regarding ammo in the same barrel, I decided to do the same type of test with my S&W Shield in 9mm.

S&W Shield 9mm ammo types

I used the same ammo that I shot through the full size gun. Namely Wolf 115 grain FMJ, American Eagle 115 grain FMJ as the practice ammo and Federal HST 124 +P, Winchester Ranger 127 +P+ and Federal HST 147 grain standard pressure loads for my CCW ammo.

DISTANCE TO TARGET

Since the Shield has a very short sight radius (compared to the full size M&P) I decided to whimp out and do the testing at 15 yards instead of 25 yards. My eyes are to the point now where I cannot clearly see the front sight – it is blurry no matter what I try. I did put a piece of tape over my shooting glasses that I had put a VERY small hole in and that did help to lessen the fuzz somewhat but I long for the days where the front sight was razor sharp. Oh well, those days are gone forever. In other words these groups are the best my eyes can do. You might do better or you might do worse, but you really should check out your gun/ammo accuracy yourself.

The Kenya Mall Drill

2013-11-01T23:59:00.004-06:00

On Sept 21, 2013 and unknown number of heavily armed terrorists invaded a shopping mall in Kenya, Africa. The Westgate Mall is located in the capital city of Nairobi. The terrorists were hell bent on killing as many non-muslims as possible, although they didn’t care if muslims were killed in the process of torturing and killing the non-muslims. These thugs carried out unspeakable mayhem for 48 hours that resulted in over 72 deaths and hundreds wounded.

What would you as a CCW holder do?

Consider what you would do, if you as CCW holder were in a mall with your family when heavily armed thugs entered and started shooting. It is probably something you ought to think about.

With that in mind, we came up with the Kenya Mall Drill. The premise of this drill is to help you exercise some Skills, some Tactics and some Mindset that may prove useful should you ever be faced with the tragic circumstances of armed bad guys in a mall. This drill is meant to integrate Skills with Tactics and Mindset. It is NOT meant to be THE thing you should do in a real situation. The actual situation you find yourself in will dictate that tactics, not this drill. However you will see how this drill can help you be better prepared.

SCENARIO

You have been separated from your loved ones in the mall when bad guys emerge and start firing. The bad guys are between you and your loved ones. You don’t know exactly where your loved ones are, you just know that are down toward that end of the mall. You have not preplanned with them a rally point where you would all meet (somewhere outside the mall) so you must try to find them in the mall.

This drill requires the following:

Check out the rest of the article here!

AR15 Magazine Buying Strategy

2013-10-27T17:44:00.000-06:00

In this post I will discuss my reasoning behind my AR15 Magazine Buying Strategy. It can found here:

S&W M&P 9mm Accuracy Testing - OEM vs Match Barrel

2013-10-20T22:59:00.003-06:00

I had Grant at G&R Tactical fit and install one of his Storm Lake match barrels in my S&W M&P 9mm a couple of months ago. I have since put a little over 1,000 rounds of mostly my own reloads through it, plus some Wolf and a couple hundred more quality rounds. However I still used the OEM barrel for CCW. I wanted to get some mileage on the match barrel to prove to myself it was reliable. I have proven to myself that it is every bit as reliable as the OEM barrel. In other words, I have not had one single malfunction with the match barrel.

So now has come the time to document what kind of accuracy impact the new match barrel has compared to the OEM barrel. I didn't really care to do this testing until I had proven that it would be worthy of utilizing for carry purposes.

You can read more here.

AR15 Charging Handle vs Raptor AR15 Charging Handle from my POV

2013-10-18T08:55:00.003-06:00

When Eugene Stoner invented the M16 (originally the AR15) back in the day – he placed the AR15 charging handle on the top and rear of the upper reciever. Since the AR15 was designed for right handed shooters, the catch latch on the AR15 charging handle is located on the left side. This makes it easy for right handed shooters to operate the AR15 charging handle with the left hand, allowing you to keep your right hand on the pistol grip.

There are three primary ways to operate the OEM AR15 charging handle.

When you are holding the rifle in the your right hand, you can use your left hand with the fingers somewhat extended, to hit the charging handle and the latch at the same time with the side of your palm. This will allow the charging handle to move reward with a pushing motion.

Another way is to grab the charging from the top with your index and middle fingers spread apart. This allows you to contact both sides of the charging handle and pull it to the rear.

The third way is to....

Selector levers for AR15′s, OEM vs Ambi vs BAD Short Throw (ST)

2013-10-18T08:53:00.004-06:00

When Eugene Stoner invented the AR15 – he placed the selector lever in the PERFECT location, especially considering that in the early 1960′s no one was shooting from both shoulders. In fact, shooting the original AR15 left handed resulted in hot brass on your cheek, neck or down the shirt. It wasn’t until the M16A2 in the middle 90′s that the integral brass deflector was added to the upper receiver allowing left handed use without getting burn marks on your chest.

In the middle 90′s mirror image selector levers started appearing as aftermarket accessories for the AR pattern of rifles. Since I practice and train to shoot from both shoulders, I employed these mirror image selector levers on my AR rifles. However I noticed that the levers were too long on both sides. When I was shooting right handed, the right trigger finger contacted the lever on the right side and it felt “wierd”. Not uncomfortable, didn’t hurt, it just felt “weird”. Exact same thing occurred when shooting left handed, my left trigger finger would feel the left side selector lever. Felt weird.

Battle Arms Development and the AR15 Selector Lever

A few years ago a company called Battle Arms Development (BAD) came out with some ambidextrous selector levers, as well as some mirror image selector levers. What is the difference? Ambidextrous means it can be operated just as easily whether it be right or left side. Mirror image means that both sides are EXACTLY the same. They have a smorgasboard of options regarding selector levers. You can get them thinner, shorter, taller, wider, with nubs, without nubs, etc. And nearly any combination you desire.

I am a huge fan of mirror image. If I could wave my magic wand, I would want all of my longarms operating controls to be mirror image, i.e. the controls would be on both sides and would be in the exact same place and look and operate in the exact same manner. In other words, as far as I am concerned, being able to operate a longarm with both hands is mandatory, ambi is good, mirror image is better and mirror image that doesn’t feel weird is best. So even though BAD had lots of options with regards to selector levers, since the selector stop is at 6 o’clock it always felt weird with one or both sides. In other words, mirror image that still felt weird.

BAD ST AR15 Selector Lever

Enter the 45 degree ST “Short Throw” AR15 Selector Lever.

Put your link on my new blog!

2013-10-18T08:51:00.000-06:00

If you would like a link to your blog on my blog - please send me the link to your blog - and I will add it to the "links" section on my blog.

cheers

tire iron

I have a new Blog!

2013-10-16T20:29:00.002-06:00

Hello shooters, I have a new blog that can be found here. A few months ago this blog site that you are reading was down for a few days. I had no idea why, and I was concerned that it was removed due to the fact that my blog isn't viewed with much enthusiasm by the "powers that be". So I decided then to get my own domain and start a new blog that I *own*. SO....all my new content will be found at my new blog. It is http://www.tireironblog.com

I will still keep this blog active, and will answer any questions or comments that are posted here, I also hope you will follow me to my new blog for new content. Part of that new content will be videos of some of the articles that are on this blog.

Thank you for all your support, and thank you for enjoying my articles. It is my passion to help you with your Warrior Triad.

cheers

tire iron

2013-09-13T16:26:00.003-06:00

Here is the new intro video for my blog, facebook page and youtube channel. Hope you enjoy it - and please comment if you have suggestions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnUdo1dtpeo&feature=c4-overview&list=UUeAEpjlue2bglEUIpLwOVjg

Links

2013-07-07T22:02:00.000-06:00

Here is a list that I will update from time to time of places I visit, or friends blogs, etc. If you want me to list yours here - please contact me.

They are not listed in any particular order:

http://madogre.com/
http://www.everycitizenasoldier.org/id10.html
http://texasmilitia.info/
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/
http://mscg.yuku.com/
http://modernminuteman.net/forums/index.php?
http://www.awrm.org/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi
http://www.seattletraininggroup.com/
http://not4self.blogspot.com/
http://medicpatriot.blogspot.com/

The ASSKRAKINOV or Michael Kalashnikov meets Peter Mauser in the back alleys of Darra Adam Khel

2013-04-19T21:36:00.001-06:00

This is the unclassified portion of the story of a particular rifle that I have named the "Asskrakinov". This rifle was captured by an SF team near the Pakistan border. When it was found it had a round chambered. It is fed via a standard AK47/AKM magazines.

Every one on the SF team wanted to see it being shot. However, being the crafty, beard wearing, no mamma's fools that the typical SF troopers are - none of them actually want to be the one to fire it. So, the best answer was to get one of the Afghanistani troopers to actually pull the trigger (from a safe distance). Happily nothing happened to the brave soul that pulled the trigger.

Now lets look at this thing and try and decypher more about this interesting specimen from the conflict in Afghanistan.

It was most undoubtedly created in some mud brick shack in Darra Adam Khel, near Peshawar, Pakistan - where they copy and create firearms of all varieties in conditions that would make a blacksmith from the 1600's feel right at home.

This rifle is chambered in 7.62x39. It has an AK barrel, front site, gas tube and top and bottom handguards. Then going further aft - it starts to get weird. The gas tube is permenantly mounted, i.e. there is no gas tube retainer, and the rear sight block is solid - not hollow like real AK. This was done so gas isn't shot into the firer's eyes when he pulls the trigger. Why they didn't weld up the gas hole in the barrel is a mystery all by itself though. Gas still comes out of the gas tube - which is vented AK-47 style.

What is really puzzling is how they mounted a Mauser type bolt action to the AK barrel. Note that the gunsmith (snicker) engraved the top of the action with the word "China". I guess he did that because everyone knows that China is known throughout the world as the finest firearms makers in history.

Here is a picture of the engraving.

The rear of the receiver is not a modified AK receiver - it is a receiver that was purpose built for this rifle. On the top is the Mauser action, and on the bottom is an AK-ish pistol grip (not a bona-fide AK pistol grip) that has been deck-out with a leather cover and an AK magazine catch. The bearded contractor who took these pictures couldn't figure out how to get the bolt out of the action, so we don't have any pictures of the "guts". Which is a shame too, as it would be very interesting to see the inside. There would be no hammer, as Mauser actions, like most bolt actions are striker fired (like a Remington 700).

Going further rearward we see that there is an underfolder AK stock attached to the rear of the receiver. That make total sense, as the underfolding stock is known to have the best cheek weld there is for a quality bolt action rifle. You want proof? Just look at how many bolt action rifles in the hands of dangerous men have underfolding AK stocks. If searched real hard you could probably come up with a grand total of ZERO.

Unfortunately these are going to be the only pictures we will get of this interesting firearm, as my contact has been moved to another area in the region.

A huge thanks to "Bass Master" for sending me these pics and allowing me to post these on my blog!

If you found that the information I publish has helped you, I would appreciate it if you would help me by sharing, or reposting any of my work. It would also help if you clicked on any of the advertisers on my pages, you don't have to buy anything from them, just merely clicking on them helps me out.

cheers

tire iron

Deep Concealment Rigs - Kangaroo vs Deep Conceal

2013-03-13T20:31:00.002-06:00

My review of two viable deep concealment rigs. They are perfect for the S&W Shield, S&W M&P series as well as the Glock 26, 27, 19, 23 and other similar sized handguns.

Deep Concealment Rigs

cheers

tire iron

Fundamental DONT'S

2013-03-12T22:57:00.001-06:00

Fundamental DONT'S.

Things NOT to do.

cheers

tire iron

Press Check

2013-03-12T22:55:00.002-06:00

Fundamentals - Press Check

Press Check

cheers

tire iron

Both eyes open

2013-03-12T22:54:00.002-06:00

Another fundamental video, this one covers shooting with both eyes open.

Both Eyes Open

cheers

tire iron

Reloading from Slidelock

2013-03-12T06:24:00.000-06:00

Another foundational video covering how to reload from slidelock.

Reloading from Slidelock

cheers

tire iron

Clearing Malfunctions with the Handgun

2013-03-11T22:05:00.002-06:00

I made this video mainly for some new students of mine - who are brand new to firearms and knew they would need a "refresher" at home. Of course we ALL can benefit from practicing the fundamentals.

Clearing Malfunctions with the Handgun

cheers

tire iron

Dry Fire with the handgun

2013-03-11T22:03:00.002-06:00