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Reference Links:

The Michael Bane Blog

MICHAEL BANE’S CONCEALED CARRY DVD

Modern Service Weapons Blog

Cominolli Custom Glock Manual Safety

Dave Lauck/D&L Sports

Appendix Holsters/Caleb Giddings

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Buck Knives

Alpha Precision/Jim Stroh

.44 Magnum/Most Versatile Handdun Caliber/The Firearm Blog

Smith & Wesson 629 .44 Magnum
(Here’s a version similar to my custom 629)

Charter Arms Bulldog

Taylor’s Firearms Alaskan Break-Down .44 Magnum Lever Rifle

They Might Be Giants, the movie

The Music of Frank Turner

The Music of They Might Be Giants

The Music of the Axe Murder Boyz

The Music of Rena Jones

The Smith & Wesson New England Regional IDPA Championship will take place August 16-18 at the Harvard Sportsmen’s Club in Harvard, Massachusetts and will again be hosted by the MetroWest Tactical IDPA club.

Blade-Tech joins the National Shooting Sports Foundation and Smith & Wesson, the title sponsor of the match, in supporting the New England Regional which is among the region’s largest defensive pistol shooting competitions.

“We are very pleased to add Blade-Tech to our growing list of sponsors. Blade-Tech has been a longtime supporter of the shooting sports and we’re grateful for their generous sponsorship of this year’s championship,” said Dori Smith of the MetroWest Tactical IDPA club.

“Blade-Tech is honored to continue its support of the IDPA and to sponsor the New England Regional Championship. We are thankful for the opportunity to participate in such a quality event,” said Ryan Preece of Blade-Tech.

The 2013 Smith & Wesson New England Regional IDPA Championship is expected to draw upwards of 200 of the region’s top shooters. Registration for the event opened on May 1 and match officials report that slots are filled with additional shooters on a wait list hoping for a last minute slot opening.

For more information on IDPA, or to join the more than 22,000 members competing each week all across America, visit www.IDPA.com.

You can further connect with the IDPA community through IDPA’s social media, such as @OfficialIDPA on Twitter and ShootIDPA on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr, or check for regular news and updates on the organization’s DOWN ZERO Blog.

Larry and Brenda Potterfield

One million Customers; One million dollars to the NRA; Record NRA Round-Up contributions; it’s been an exciting year at MidwayUSA, and on June 18 the company will pause briefly to reflect on 36 great years in business and 36 years of putting the Customer first. Ever since Larry and Brenda Potterfield opened a small gun shop in Columbia, MO, the company has been driven by a grand Vision, a focus on the future and the knowledge that Customers come first in any successful business. That’s why Customer Satisfaction is still the #1 Company Goal.

“It’s all about the Customer,” said Founder and CEO Larry Potterfield. “Customers trust us to treat them right, and we do everything we can to serve them at a very high level. It’s the basis for every decision we make here at MidwayUSA.  Brenda and I are so grateful our Customers choose MidwayUSA and will continue to do everything we can to ensure they always do!”

Larry Potterfield’s visionary leadership drives the Company at all levels today, and is reflected in an environment where Vision and Values shine and Continuous Improvement is an everyday event.

“A lot has changed over the past 36 years,” said President Matt Fleming, “but, many things haven’t changed; we’re still family owned and operated, we have the same great values of honesty, integrity, humility, respect for others, teamwork…; we treat Customers the way we want to be treated, we want this to be a great place to work for all Employees, and we have a culture of continuous improvement, high performance and innovation.  Our Vision is to be the best-run business in America, and each day we try to get a little closer to making that Vision a reality.”

From a small gun shop in 1977 to offering JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING® as a world-class internet retailer today, MidwayUSA continues to build on 36 years of innovation, always with a focus on the Customer.

About MidwayUSA:
Both country kids from Missouri, Larry and Brenda Potterfield turned their passion for shooting sports into a career by opening a small gun shop in 1977 that would eventually become MidwayUSA (www.midwayusa.com).  They instilled family values like honesty, integrity and respect for others into the business, and strive to maintain this culture with each Employee added to their growing team. For 36 years, MidwayUSA has offered JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING® for Shooting, Reloading, Gunsmithing and Hunting with an unyielding focus on Customer Satisfaction.

Recounted in his earlier book, American Sniper, Kyle served four tours in Iraq with the U.S. Navy SEALs. Highly decorated, he became known as The Legend and was the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history. Kyle was murdered earlier this year, but not before finishing most of the work on his second book, American Gun. Completed by his wife Taya, this book was released on June 4th and comes as a pleasant surprise.

American Gun is an easy and enjoyable read. It’s written conversationally and feels as though Kyle is sitting down with you, having a beer and telling stories. Kyle takes us through events in American history where ten guns he has identified played an important role and influenced American history.

Kyle’s list of guns are: The American long rifle, the Spencer repeater, the Colt Single Action Army, the Winchester 73, the 1903 Springfield, the 1911 pistol, Thompson submachine gun, M-1 Garand, the .38 Special revolver and the M16 rifle.

The development and history of each is explained and several examples of their use in shaping American history are given. Although you may not agree with Kyle’s list, whether an experienced shooter or one of the gun owners who have joined our ranks in recent years, you’re going to learn something and enjoy reading about each of these guns.

As Kyle says in the introduction: “More than any other nation in history, the United States has been shaped by the gun.” After reading American Gun I think you will come to the same conclusion.

Reference Links:
American Gun

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (June 4, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062242717

About the Author:

Ed Head is a regular on Shooting Gallery and Down Range TV. He has worked for almost 30 years in law enforcement, first in the United States Air Force and then with the United States Border Patrol, retiring as a Field Operations Supervisor. During his Border Patrol career, Ed worked in a variety of patrol, investigative and training capacities. Ed has an extensive background as a firearms instructor, having trained thousands, ranging from beginners to police, military and special operations personnel. Having taught at Gunsite for 20 years, Ed first trained there under the world famous shooting school’s founder, Jeff Cooper, then later ran the school as the operations manager for more than five years. Ed lives in Chino Valley, Arizona, where he continues to teach and write.

It does touch on some important issues though, a couple of which me, Janich, Seeklander and Marty Hayes have discussed over the last 2 days while preparing for the next season of The Best Defense. If you’re one of the Down Range Radio listeners, you already know I have a big issue with this whole meme of finding “what’s best” for self-defense. Of course that’s been fodder for the firearms media ever since there was a firearms media (and, in truth, I’ve written heaven knows how many articles over the years on “what’s best,” for which I’m probably doomed to some kind of gunwriter hell).

But over the years I’ve had somewhat of a turnaround. What we choose to defend ourselves with is a profoundly subjective decision. The overwhelming factors in that decision are strictly personal — age, body composition, weight, height, physical condition, level of skill, daily routine, job, commute, commitment, ttime to train or practice, where in the country one lives, federal/state/local laws, children/no children, and on and on. Add all those factors up and you end up with a profile every bit as unique as a fingerprint or a retinal scan.

What is best for me will not be the same as what’s best for Mike Seeklander or for my Sweetie. In fact, “best” is a fallacious concept because there is no set of objective criteria for evaluation that works “across the board,”so to speak. That’s where self-defense training differs from competition training. We know very specifically what a competition guns needs to do because each competition organization has a rule book that not only says how we’ll be scored in the end, but specifies what the targets must look like, where they can be placed, when and how we can engage those targets, which direction we may and may not move, at what point we start and stop, etc. The result of all those specifics allows us to tailor the tool for the specific outcome desired.

In self-defense training, it is the opposite. In fact, any assumptions we might make about the number or physical ability, or mental state of potential “target(s),” the environment in which we have to use our self-defense weapon, our own physical and mental state, etc., have the potential to backfire very badly… perhaps even lethally. One of the most important things I learned in my years in very high-risk sports was that assumptions can and do kill. “Assumptions” are another way of saying that we have created a mental pattern for an event; the danger is when we mistake the pattern for reality (I think I’m badly quoting Bruce Lee here). That mistake creates “lag time” in our reactions. Worst case is the classic “deer in the headlights” — “holy crap what is that bright li…” SPLAT!

Best case is we still lose critical time as we mentally spin from I know what’s going to happen…to wait a minute, it’s not happening that way…to what’s really happening…to what should my response be now. There’s plenty of time in there for a SPLAT.

Given that time is quite literally of the essence, we choose a self-defense tool that is most appropriate to our specific situation because that is the tool we will use most efficiently. As trainers, we understand — or should understand — that any and every choice is a compromise. Like the old dojo line — if you knew you were going to be in a gunfight today and you could not stay home, what would you carry? I’m going for an Apache gunship and a bunch of Seeklander’s friends.

I think the appropriate role for trainers, or at least one of the appropriate roles, show the available options (and certainly suggest the pluses and minuses of each option), help people understand the compromises they are making, then teach how to utilize the chosen tool to minimize the consequences of those compromises. Make sense?

And yes, the 1911 is finicky when compared to modern service pistols. Porsches also require a greater level of skill to drive well than, say, a Chevy Aveo  (my aging Honda Element, of course, being the ne plus ultra of performance vehicles).

REFERENCE LINKS:

Daniel Defense

“Gunsite might just very well be the center of the gun universe,” said Richard Mann. “I’m excited to partner with them to promote their excellent 250 Pistol class and my new book.”

To purchase a copy of Handgun Training for Personal Protection from Gunsite, please visit the Pro Shop online, in person or by email or phone at proshop@gunsite.com or 928-636-4565 ext. 11.

The drawing for the winner of the Gunsite 250 Pistol class promotion will be held at the 2014 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Indianapolis, IN on April 25th 2014.

About the Gunsite 250 Pistol Class
The Gunsite 250 Pistol class is considered, “The Gunsite Experience” and was first presented in October 1976 by Colonel Jeff Cooper. The 250 includes five solid days of range work, lectures and intensive indoor, outdoor and low light, live fire simulators. Graduates will be well grounded in the Modern Technique of the Pistol, including marksmanship, gun handling, combat mindset, and the elements of the Combat Triad. Completion of the 250 Pistol Course (The Gunsite Experience) is a prerequisite for many other courses.

About Handgun Training for Personal Protection
Handgun Training for Personal Protection: How to Choose & Use the Best Sights, Lights, Lasers & Ammunition, is the first comprehensive book of its kind. Shooting expert Richard Mann explores the world of handgun training and what it means for self-defense.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.)

NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry, today praised U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) for his introduction of H.R. 2361, legislation intended to prevent states and municipalities from enacting or raising taxes or fees on the purchase of firearms or ammunition.

“Congressman Graves is to be commended for introducing a bill to prevent one of the latest tactics of anti-gun politicians, that is pricing firearms and ammunition out of reach of responsible, law-abiding Americans through new taxes on the state or local level,” said Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel, NSSF. “We believe that such taxes are unconstitutional and, in effect, amount to a poll tax on the Second Amendment. We endorse H.R. 2361.”

Cook County, Illinois enacted a $25 tax on new firearms purchases earlier this year and had considered a tax on ammunition, as well. Legislators in several other states, including California, Maryland and New Jersey have introduced similar proposals.

H.R. 2361 is known as the Protecting Honest, Everyday Americans from Senseless and Needless Taxes Act, or PHEASANT Act.

Read the bill here.

About NSSF^®
The National Shooting Sports Foundation^® is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 8,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.

More than 230 of the nation’s best pistol shooters competed in the match which included 14 challenging courses of fire to test the shooters’ skills with the handgun.

Hosted at the Pike Adams Sportsmen’s Alliance (PASA) Park, shooters competed for regional titles in USPSA’s Open, Limited, Limited 10, Production, Revolver and Single Stack divisions.

Area 5 contains Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky and West Virginia. The winners of this match are considered the Area 5 Champions in their respective divisions.

The top winners included Manny Bragg in the Limited Division and Dave Sevigny in the Open Division. Ben Stoeger and Matthew Mink battled it out in the Production Division with Stoeger coming out on top by only 1.3%.  In the Single Stack Division, Brian Hansen beat out Chris Wisniewski by a mere 1.2%.

“Challenging stages and tough competition made this a great event,” said Troy McManus, Area 5 Range Master. “This match really brought out the best of the region’s shooters.”

USPSA matches often involve the opportunity to shoot while moving as well as shoot at reactive targets that are not common in any other shooting discipline. Matches are run by the local match directors in their respective clubs. New members are always welcomed and introduced to the sport in a safe and fun way. To find a local USPSA affiliated club visit www.uspsa.org and click on “Find Clubs”. To become a member of USPSA, click on “Join USPSA”.

About The United States Practical Shooting Association
The United States Practical Shooting Association is a non-profit membership association and the national governing body for the sport of Practical Shooting in America. USPSA has over 24,000 members and nearly 400 affiliated clubs which host weekly matches throughout the country providing recreational shooters with the opportunity to test and refine their shooting skills in a safe, competitive environment. USPSA is also the U.S. Region of the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC), which is comprised of approximately 67 nations. For more information, visit www.uspsa.org.

“We are very proud to have won these awards”, said Fernando Coelho, President/CEO of Panteao Productions. He added, “If it wasn’t for the hard work from the Panteao crew and Paul Howe’s dedication to telling the true story of the battle, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”

If you haven’t already seen Battle of the Black Sea, the video is an exclusive three hour interview about the untold story of that battle as told by Delta Force member MSG Paul R. Howe, retired. Paul talks about the living conditions soldiers endured in Mogadishu, the UN Joint Forces stationed there, the media, decisions that were made by our military, the search for Aidid, planning for the mission, the mission assets, Operation Gothic Serpent including the downed Black Hawks, the convoy, staying overnight, and the extraction the next day. Paul also talks about the After Action Report, lessons learned by our military from that battle, combat mindset, and Somalia today. Paul sets the story straight and gives an unvarnished account of what took place in Somalia in 1993.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OlQcKBqpKU

About Panteao Productions

Panteao Productions is a video production company that produces instructional videos from the top firearms instructors in the world. For more information about Panteao, visit www.panteaoproductions.com.