Massad Ayoob's Blog, page 96

JOIN ME THIS WEEKEND

Each year, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and the Second Amendment Foundation sponsor the Gun Rights Policy Conference.  It takes place this week in Tampa.  If you can get there, attendance is free.

Hope to see you there.

 

Or click here to view.

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RUGER MARK IV .22

One of the most popular backwoods home firearms is the simple, sturdy Ruger .22 caliber semiautomatic pistol.  Introduced in 1947, it was an instant commercial success, and became the core of what now appears to be America’s largest firearms manufacturing entity.

A few short years later, they introduced a target-sighted target model called the Mark I.  Over the years there evolved the Mark II with separate slide lock lever, the Mark III with a loaded chamber indicator, and now comes the Mark IV, introduced today and which the Evil Princess and I were shooting a few days ago at FTW Ranch in Texas.

If you ever owned a Ruger .22 auto, whether the classic steel guns or the later polymer frame versions, you know that they aren’t very easy to take apart, and are a nightmare to put back together after complete takedown.

Ruger fans, rejoice!  The new Mark IV comes with a hinged “upper and lower” which breaks open and can then be separated, rather like an AR15.  Hopefully, the new push-button takedown system will “take the worry out of takedown.”  I didn’t bench the gun, but it seems to show the same rock-solid accuracy and reliability we’ve come to expect from this handgun line for some 67 years.  Available in lightweight aluminum frame, too, as well as all-steel with long heavy target barrels.  More info at Ruger.com.

The new Mark IV Has a push button in the rear for easy disassembly, then the rear pivots up to take apart.

The Mark IV disassembled.

View of the rear showing the disassembly button.

Another view of the rear prior to disassembly showing the button and the rear sights.

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A TIMELY AND WORTHWHILE READ

A hero did the right thing, and we’ll never know how many lives were saved by his skilled and decisive action.

And, of course, he was One Of Us.

From the National Review.

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BIG FUN AT FTW RANCH

FTW Ranch is awesome, www.ftwsaam.com   

More when non-disclosure agreements time out. 

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Or watch video here: https://youtu.be/SwcIaRlkAfQ

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RUN-HIDE-FIGHT®, DONE RIGHT!

In an effort to reduce the casualty count in mass murders, both the corporate world and the groves of academe have adopted the strategy called “Run-Hide-Fight”

Run: Get the heck outa Dodge as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop an active killer from murdering those who can’t run from him, and if you’re in his line of sight, you can’t outrun a bullet.

Hide: A locked, blacked out classroom may not offer a target, but the killer may be able to shoot his way through a locked door, as the monster did at Sandy Hook.  And it does nothing to stop the murderer from harming others.

Fight: This is usually presented as “throw books at the gunman or try to hit him with a stapler or something.”  It’s a bit like Polish horse cavalry charging German machine gun emplacements: a noble way to die in righteous cause, but shall we say, not the optimum strategy.

Kudos to Liberty University for taking a better approach.  Please take time to watch it to the end, and if you don’t have a whole eight minutes, start about four minutes into the training video:

Or Click Here for video.

The young man who sent me this is a student at both that school and mine.  I don’t want to expose him to the vitriol of anti-gun “progressives,” so I won’t mention his name here, but he certainly has my thanks. And so does Liberty University!

*Run, Hide, Fight is a registered Trademark cf the City of Houston, TX

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SPEAKING OF BACKWOODS HOME, ON 9/11…

This blog will be posted on 9/11/16, the fifteenth anniversary of the atrocity that was to our generation what Pearl Harbor was to our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.  Pearl Harbor led to a long and terrible war, and a time of homeland deprivation and Victory Gardens. It was a time that saw Americans donating their hunting rifles, shotguns, and handguns to Britain to allow the home guard there to defend against what was expected to be a boots-on-the-ground invasion of the British Isles by the Nazis.

Our forbears won that epic battle to preserve freedom. They left a lasting legacy of preparation. And, yes, of self-reliance. In World War I, a “backwoods home” kinda guy who had learned how to shoot in the hills, Sgt. Alvin York, put those skills to good use and became America’s greatest hero of the conflict.  Audie Murphy, the most decorated hero of World War II, came from a similar mold.  Fast forward to Carlos Hathcock in Vietnam, and Chris Kyle in the current long-lasting conflict that grew out of 9/11/01. There are lessons here.

That self-reliance is at the heart of Backwoods Home, our host entity and the one to which I paid homage in the most recent post before this one.  A couple of days ago, at the Self-Reliance Expo in Lakeland, FL I finally got to meet Jackie Clay-Atkinson, who for good reason is Backwoods Home’s most popular writer. Her talk drew more people than any other presenter’s, and watching her answer audience questions I saw a human encyclopedia of the answers the attendees sought.

It’s easy to see why she’s so popular. She’s as down to earth in person as she is in print, and Jackie also has a sense of humor of which the print media has not taken full advantage. She genuinely cares about the people who read her work. She walks the walk, talks the talk, and lives the life.  She and her family are role models in many, many ways.

The Backwoods Home booth was clearly the most heavily attended at the Expo while I was there, including the Home Depot display.  The “real people” public recognizes what Backwoods Home is doing for them.

On 9/1l/16, “Keep your head on a swivel” as Pierce Kibbey advised in his excellent presentation at Self-Reliance Expo. The “bad guys” in this fight seem to place value on anniversary dates when they plan their evil.

And stay ready for anything (I say as someone who went through a hurricane about ten days ago, and was glad to be prepared).  Thanks to Jackie and the whole team at Backwoods Home for all they do.

The Expo…

Got to finally meet Jackie, left, and see Lenie Duffy again…

Jackie commanded the rapt attention of the largest audience I saw at the Expo.

Pierce Kibbey’s lecture on situational awareness was timely.

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AN OVERDUE WORD FOR OUR SPONSOR

No, not from our sponsor, for our sponsor – Backwoods Home magazine.

I’m kinda slow to pick up on some things. I realize now I’ve been blogging here since 2008, and don’t recall ever offering a thank you to our hosts, the Duffy family.  Jackie Clay has been doing her wonderful, wide-ranging blog on homesteading here even longer.  I’ve been the firearms editor for the magazine for going on twenty years. Time flies.

Dave Duffy’s long ago vision of a publication geared not only for the self-reliant, but for independent thinkers, has blossomed over the decades. The company offers a great collection of digests of the best writing that has appeared in Backwoods Home over the last couple dozen years.  A broad selection of other books, too.  I look forward to reading Backwoods Home every month, and now, to its sister magazine Self-Reliance as well.

Going back to the beginning, Dave and the family have taken a big financial hit because they stood up for the right thing.  They’ve lost advertising from a lot of “green” companies that were aghast that BHM would publish pro-gun, pro-self-defense articles by me and others. (Yes, in the time of “political identity” there are some out there who seem to think “green=’progressive’=anti-gun.”) Yet the Duffys stuck to their principles on these matters, as they did on so many more. They know that self-reliance and freedom are two sides of the same coin, and make it clear in every issue.

That’s something to be rewarded. Most every year, there’s someone on my Christmas or birthday list who is an ideal recipient for this or that book Backwoods Home sells.

And, I hope all y’all are subscribing. The Duffys make the digital version of Backwoods Home available free, with many of the articles to be found on the newsstand edition (but not all). They deserve some quid pro quo.

To Dave and all the rest of the Backwoods Home team – thanks for all you do!

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HOME CARRY

A couple of entries ago, I posted this.  Lots of readers responded.

One of my favorite blogs, Tamara Keel’s “View From the Porch,” adds this.

I offer a hearty “Amen!” to Tam’s sentiments. A few months ago in GUNS magazine, where I’ve been handgun editor for 30-some years now, I had this to say on the topic.

As always, readers, your input is most welcome.

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HANDGUNS FOR DEFENSE AGAINST DANGEROUS ANIMALS

Those who spend a lot of time outdoors often carry handguns not just for the situations one imagines will be preceded by ominous banjo music, but for the wilderness’s own dangerous denizens.  We don’t want “Deliverance” or “The Revenant” to be the template for our outdoor adventures.

My old friend Alan Kulovitz, retired from the Cook County, Illinois (Chicago area) Sheriff’s Department, turned me on to this excellent article.  It was written by Larry Mudgett, one of our leading experts in firearms and tactics.

I first met Larry thirty-some years ago at Chapman Academy in Columbia, Missouri, where he was training under founder and world champion Ray Chapman.  Larry, I learned, was a decorated street cop, SWAT operator, gunfight winner, and firearms instructor extraordinaire. He has continued the latter vocation since his retirement from LAPD, and he is well up on the list of instructors I recommend.

Read Larry Mudgett’s linked article.  It will enhance your appreciation of a potent handgun worn during outdoor pursuits.

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WHAT’S YOUR HOME DEFENSE GUN CHOICE?

When I was a little boy, my dad’s choice of home defense gun was “American Traditional”: a double barrel 12 gauge shotgun and double-aught buckshot. Joe Biden would have approved.

The shotgun was the home defense standard in this country for centuries, but recently we’ve seen a huge surge in the adoption of the A15 rifle for this purpose. With proper ammo, it won’t penetrate through residential building materials any more than a service pistol bullet, but is very easy for all authorized members of the family to manipulate, particularly when equipped with the telescoping stock so hated by those who scream for the ban of “assault weapons.”

At the other end of the spectrum, my old friend Rich Grassi made a case in The Tactical Wire for the tiny Ruger LCP .380 pistol as part of the home defense armory. Reason: it can be constantly carried in your pocket, giving you a firearm instantly at hand wherever you are inside or outside the four walls, buying you time to fight your way to something more substantial if necessary.

As I write this, our current home defense guns motel room defense guns are a couple of .45 autos: A Springfield Armory Range Officer 1911A1 on my side, and a ROBAR Custom Glock 30-S for the lady of the house hotel room.

What’s your current approach to home defense hardware?

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