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Teacher Stuff, Enjoy!
Talk about your basic ladies Pistol, With no trigger guard at all! I can just imagine the number of accidental discharges from this one flaw alone.
But none the less, it is sorta cute in its old school way!
I stole this from the Great Blog –
Knuckledraggin My Life Away
More Truth Leaks Out About Gun Control
U.S.A. -(Ammoland.com)- People with impressive titles tell us all sorts of things. These experts are often wrong. They are either talking outside their area of competence, or they are lying to us. I keep seeing examples like this about gun control. The more I learn, the more I have to trust my own research to be sure I have the truth. Have you noticed this too?
No One Owns Guns Anymore?
There is a claim that gun ownership is declining and most of the guns in the US are owned by only a few gun owners. I tried to take that story seriously since the report was from the Washington Post rather than the National Enquirer.
It is true that we don’t have solid nationwide data to evaluate that assertion that gun ownership is delining. We do have solid data from some states, and we have inferential data from across the country, both of which strongly contradict that claim.
The federal government doesn’t keep a registry of gun owners. However, gun shops use the FBI national instant background check system to see if a potential gun buyer is allowed to buy a gun. The number of background checks has grown year after year. Gun manufacturers also reported growing cumulative sales to the US market.
In contrast to national data, some states register each gun and each gun owner. Anti-rights states like California, Illinois, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts require mandatory permits before you can buy a gun. Some require a gun owner’s identification card as well.
These states have steadily increased the regulatory burden on gun owners, and that should have made gun ownership decline. If the existing gun owners in these states were the only people who buy guns, then the number of registered gun owners would have stayed the same or fallen. Instead, we saw the number of registered gun owners increase in these states.
We have other data as well. We saw the number of concealed carry license holders increase by about 6 percent to 17.25 million people. Deep in mind that 13 states allow citizens to carry without a permit.
Gun control advocates could argue the point. The growing number of registered gun owners in anti-gun states does not exactly follow the growth of gun ownership nationwide. It is true that each NICS background check does not conclusively document a gun sale. The extraordinary and undocumented claim by the Washington Post is that the number of gun owners declined even though all these other indicators went up.
Only white men living out in the country own guns?
We’ve been sold the story that gun owners are old white men. As I said before, we don’t know exactly who owns a gun. We have even less information about the sex and racial makeup of gun owners. As we dig deeper, we find out that even the NRA doesn’t know the racial mix of its members. However, the fundraising group Friends of the NRA does know the race of its members and guests. If there are a group of old, racist gun owners somewhere, then we should have found them here at Friends of the NRA..but we didn’t.
Instead, we found that 40 percent are women. 40 percent are minority members. The average age is between 40 to 45. That looks an awful lot like the rest of the USA.
The industry trade group for gun manufacturers gets reports from firearms retailers about their customers. 66 percent of new shooters are between 18 and 34 years old. 37 percent of new shooters are female. 47 percent of new shooters live in urban/suburban settings. That doesn’t fit the stereotype we were sold.
When you stop to think about it, it makes sense that older people own more guns than younger people. Older people have had a lifetime to accumulate wealth and possessions. They own more houses and more cars as well. It makes sense that they would also own the most guns.. almost.
It turns out that the rate of gun ownership is almost the same between people under 35 years of age, and those 35 and above. What is surprising is that young people are almost twice as likely to carry concealed.
Some states collect information on the sex and race of those who apply for concealed carry permits. More of us are carrying concealed each year, but the rate at which women and minorities are applying for their permits is growing at twice the average rate.
We’re killing our school children with assault rifles?
California Senator Dianne Feinstein asked questions of Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings. Senator Feinstein said there were hundreds of school shootings with assault weapons in recent history. I went back over 60 years and counted three mass murders in US schools where semi-automatic rifles were used. None of the attacks used an automatic weapon. Not one.
If they were not mass murders, then maybe Senator Feinstein was confused by less deadly attacks on our schools? The US Department of Education said that there were 235 incidents where a gun was used at a school last year. That number doesn’t match the databases I’ve seen. In fact, it looks so strange that even National Public Radio questioned the claim. NPR used an independent research service to contact all of the schools who listed a gunshot on or near campus. NPR was able to confirm 11 incidents. Keep in mind that is about a dozen incidents among 130 thousand schools. The rate of 1 in ten thousand schools is certainly not an epidemic..and that is a good thing.
The US leads the world in mass murder?
A professor from the University of Alabama released an unpublished report to the New York Times. The professor claimed that the US had 31 percent of the mass murders in the world from 1966 to 2012 even though the US only has 5 percent of the world’s population. No one was allowed to see the data.
Other researchers produced their own report and came up with very different answers. One report said the US had about 1.4 percent of the mass murders, again with a population of 5 percent. The US went from being the most dangerous, to one of the safer countries..and this data is available for review. What should we conclude when the headlines from the New York Times miss the target by a factor of 30 or more?
The more I learn, the more I have to trust my own research to be sure I have the truth.
Please let us know as you see more mistakes published by the press.
About Rob Morse
The original article is here. Rob Morse writes about gun rights at Ammoland, at Clash Daily, and on his SlowFacts blog. He hosts the Self Defense Gun Stories Podcast and co-hosts the Polite Society Podcast. Rob is an NRA pistol instructor and combat handgun competitor
Courtesy of James D. Julia Auctioneers/jamesdjulia.com
By Chris Batha
EJ. Churchill Gunmakers was established in 1891 by Edwin John Churchill, who set up a workshop in London at 8 Agar Street, the Strand. In 1899 Edwin was joined by his nephew, Robert Churchill. Edwin was a renowned pigeon shot who used this experience along with his gunmaking skills to make and fit pigeon guns for clients.
It was common at the time for gunmakers also to supply their own brand of cartridges for gamebirds as well as pigeon-shooting competitions. Both Edwin and Robert were considered ballistic experts and often consulted for Scotland Yard in murder inquiries involving firearms.
Beyond the company history, the mention of E.J. Churchill often conjures up discussions of the iconic Churchill XXV shotgun, with its relatively short 25″ barrels and unique, raised, inverted-V rib. Arguments for and against the rib have been carried on among sportsmen since the rib’s introduction, during the development of the XXV, from 1913 to 1915.
There are various tales regarding the genesis of the Churchill XXV. A strong favorite is that Robert was practicing for the Monte Carlo live-pigeon shoot when he somehow plugged the end of the barrels of his 30″ pigeon gun with snow. Being completely unaware of the blockage, he fired the gun and bulged the muzzles; so he cut back the damaged barrels to 25″ and shot the gun in competition.
The fabled Monte Carlo pigeon ring was smaller than standard rings, which meant that competitors had to shoot quicker to drop the pigeons in the ring. It could be attributed to Churchill’s “instinctive” point-and-shoot technique in tandem with the faster dynamics of the shorter-barreled gun, but such was his straight shooting that he began to experiment with the fine-tuning and manufacture of the XXV.
The other variation on the XXV story was that the shorter barrels were the result of a workshop snafu. A shotgun in for an annual strip and clean was dropped accidentally and badly dented at the muzzles.
With the season fast approaching, the client was told that the barrels could be shortened at the point of damage, retro-choked and used for the season and that new replacement barrels would be made for the following year.
The client enjoyed such an upturn in his shooting success that he not only kept the shortened gun but also ordered another with 25″ barrels to create a pair. Truth or fiction? We probably never will know for certain.
In the early 1900’s there were hundreds of gun makers covering the length and breadth of Great Britain. Except for some proprietary patents and designs, all of the guns produced were similar, with only the makers’ names and reputations and the quality of the finish separating them.
Robert Churchill was the P.T. Barnum of gun makers, and early on he identified what his customers really wanted: “simply to be able to shoot better.”
His most inspiring marketing strategy was the introduction of the “instinctive shooting” style and to make a gun that complemented it—the Churchill XXV.
And to complete the plan he opened a shooting school to teach his instinctive-shooting technique. The XXV was a great success, with nearly 400 guns sold between 1923 and 1924 and 368 sold in 1927-’28. Publication of Churchill’s books How to Shoot (1938) and Game Shooting (1955) kept interest alive.
The Instinctive Shot
Churchill Gun Club was opened at Crayford in Kent, a short train ride from central London. The one famous shooting instructor there was Norman Clark, who subsequently moved to Holland & Holland and was a mentor to Ken Davies. The “Churchill style” still is being taught there by Ken’s successor, Chris Bird.
In Churchill’s Shotgun Book (1955), Robert Churchill’s teaching went hand-in-glove with the use of his Churchill XXV shotgun. The primary emphasis was—and is—placed on the drilled practice like that found in kata (or “form”) in the martial arts.
The practice consists of performing the fundamentals of footwork, posture and gun mount, with total faith placed in hand-eye coordination to put the pattern on the bird without any reference to the bead or the lead—in the same manner that one would catch a ball. The practice requires hard focus; a smooth, well-practiced gun mount; the butt of the gun being placed in the shoulder pocket and the comb into the cheek; the swing speed being achieved by a transference of weight onto the back foot; and the shot being taken without pause or check.
And the perfect gun for the job was—and in many cases still is—the Churchill XXV.
The Technical Case for the XXV
As mentioned, the XXV had not only 25″ barrels but also a unique V-shaped raised rib. The raised rib required a higher comb, and Robert Churchill’s idea on stock fitting was that a higher comb with less drop placed the head in a more natural position.
A shotgun’s barrels—both their length and weight—impact swing speed, recoil and, to some extent, muzzle flip. Churchill discovered that shorter barrels are more responsive than longer barrels, as they start faster and swing faster.
The combination of Churchill’s instinctive-shooting method (the speed of swing and a smidge of muzzle flip) with a raised rib ensured that if the trigger were pulled without pause or check as the muzzles passed through the head of the bird, sufficient lead would be created to place the cloud of shot on the bird.
When shooting driven pheasants at the average height of around 30 yards, which was the norm of the period, it was, indeed, a deadly combination.
____________________________________ The only problems with guns like this. Is that they generally have too many zeros on the price tag. But Someday, I shall hopefully get one ! Grumpy
So you say you need a good, reliable,rugged pistol that is not going to cost a lot. Something that you could throw into your pack & forget about until you need it? Then maybe you should think hard about getting one of these.
Now granted it is not a Colt Python and never will be. But is a solid gun that packs a fairly good punch. (I would not go bear hunting with it) But I also would not want shoved in my face either.
Also the Russian do make solid reliable guns. And this is a classic example of one. Plus they are fun to shoot! But it up to you to decide as it is your choice!
The Q Mini Fix in 300 Blackout above the Q Fix in 8.6 Creedmoor.
What the hell is 8.6 Creedmoor?
It’s the .338 Federal, right? No. Similar, but no. Let’s start with where it is similar: It shoots a .338 projectile, or 8.6mm if you like. Past that, not much.
Taking a quick little look from 30,000 feet…
8.6 Creedmoor, if you’ve never heard of it, is a joint effort between Q (an innovative company making products from silencers, to the Honey Badger in 300 Blackout, as well as their completely re imagined bolt action rifle, The Fix) and Hornady (the massive ammunition manufacturer).
Additionally, because of Q’s ties with Noveske (a high-end rifle manufacturer), they’ve barreled a Noveske pistol in 8.6 Creedmoor to test reliability and function in gas guns.
Q’s Lineup: From top to bottom The Fix in 8.6 Creedmoor, The Mini Fix in 300 Blackout, the Honey Badger in 300 Blackout.
Let’s look at how the cartridge is made. Rather than starting with something like a .308, the way the .338 Federal does, we start with a 6.5 Creedmoor. We then cut the case down and neck it up. Is that confusing?
It took me a minute to wrap my head around it too. Here is why it is done though…
It comes down to science, math, and magic.
The case length of the .338 Federal is 2.015” where the 8.6 Creedmoor case is 1.685” in length. Why does this matter? Well, if you want the ability to run heavy subsonic loads, 280 to 360+ grains, the longer 338 Federal case will put the ogive of the projectile back inside the case. This is bad, your bullet will not perform.
On top of that, while starting with that “smaller” case capacity, it offers more consistent ignition. Especially with those heavy subsonic loads, in turn, giving you better performance shot to shot.
Due to the cartridge length, 8.6 Creedmoor will feed out of .308 Winchester magazines. What does this mean? It will fit all of your magazines. Be they SR-25 patterned, AR10, Accuracy International, or even the magazine on your TIKKA rifle. And, here is where it is pretty magical since the cartridge uses the same bolt face as a .308, it is just a matter of swapping barrels.
A Noveske AR10 pistol re-barreled with an 8.6 Creedmoor barrel by Q for testing.
And speaking of barrels, all of the .338 Federal data for SAMMI is collected from a 24” barrel with a 1/10 twist. Nope, hard pass. A 1/10 barrel can never stabilize heavy subsonic rounds. The twist rate is too slow, the same problem that plagues subsonic 308 / 7.62 NATO.
That slow of a twist rate will fire heavy bullets, but without the stabilization of a faster twist rate, they won’t be accurate at all.
The 8.6 Creedmoor is being designed around a fast barrel twist. Q is still kicking around prototypes anywhere from 1/3 twist to 1/5. The 1/3 does an amazing job of stabilizing big heavy bullets and providing the shooter with good accuracy.
It also performs well with light supersonic loads depending on the bullet type. Poorly made bullets will twist apart in flight. So, Q is finding the sweet spot with respect to heavy and light .338 projectiles.
From left to right: .300 Blackout, expanded .300 Blackout over an expanded .338 projectile, 8.6 Creedmoor dummy rounds.
As to barrel length and the 24” 338 Federal… Again, no. The 8.6 Creedmoor is designed around a short barrel. About 12.5” to be exact. Why? Because it sucks dragging a 24” barreled firearm through the woods, a doorway, the trunk of a car, or pretty much any other space you can think of—let alone if you want to thread a silencer onto said barrel. So, the 8.6 Creedmoor is being optimized for a short barrel.
Does this mean you will have to pay a $200 tax to the NFA for a short barreled rifle? Yes, or you can purchase a pistol. SB Tactical makes some amazing pistol braces which can greatly increase one’s ability to use a pistol if needed. Q will be releasing their Fix Rifle as a 12.5” barreled 8.6 Creedmoor pistol, utilizing an SB Tactical folding pistol brace when the round becomes available.
12.5” barrel Noveske 8.6 Creedmoor pistol with Q silencer and SB Tactical pistol brace. Small and capable.
And speaking of availability, Hornady is leading the charge. In recent years they have done an amazing job bringing some great high-quality cartridges to market. As a result, you will probably end up with easy access and availability to the 8.6 Creedmoor cartridge.
A number of different test loads for the 8.6 Creedmoor.
We probably could have started this whole article with the question of “Why?” Why bother with 8.6 Creedmoor? That is a fair question. And the answer is because it provides an amazing melding of supersonic and subsonic performance for the .308 platform.
If it helps, think of it as .300 Blackout’s big brother. We are taking a cartridge, cutting it down and putting a larger projectile into it, and optimizing it for a shorter barrel. That gives us better super and subsonic performance out to a moderate range than was previously available.
Now I guess you’re wondering if it does in fact perform. I’d say so, out of a 12.5” barrel the 8.6 Creedmoor with a 155GR bullet at 2500FPS brings 2,100 ft. lbs. of energy at the muzzle. With supersonic loads, it will outperform a 18” barreled .308 Winchester out to 300 yards.
Using 300+ grain expanding subsonic loads, the 8.6 Creedmoor generates 650+ ft. lbs. at the muzzle and is still maintaining 550 ft. lbs. out at 600 yards. For reference, that is more energy than a 45ACP at the muzzle…
Bolt action or semi-automatic? Yes. The 8.6 Creedmoor performs equally well out of a bolt action rifle as it does out of a gas gun. I’ve shot the 8.6 Creedmoor out of a Fix Rifle as well as a Noveske AR10 Pistol. The 8.6 Creedmoor had no issues cycling the Noveske or locking back on an empty magazine while shooting supersonic and subsonic rounds.
Both the bolt action Fix by Q and DI gas gun by Noveske worked great for me.
Is the 8.6 Creedmoor quiet when running it through a silencer? Absolutely. Like with any supersonic round, you will have the associated crack while firing the round. But the real magic is in the subsonic loads. Out of a bolt action, it is about the same report as a .22 LR suppressed.
That’s ridiculously quiet considering the projectile you’re sending down range. Subsonic rounds through the gas gun are quiet, but suffer the same as any other round. You have a fair bit of noise coming from the ejection port and the cycling of the gun. But it is still quite pleasant to shoot.
Again, circling back to the why. While some of my friends have dropped large game, including elk, with shots at over 1,100 yards, that’s not the norm. If you have the capability, good on you.
Most hunters lack not only that skill to take an ethical shot at that range, but frankly the opportunity. Most game is taken anywhere from 50 to 250-300 yards. By way of example, the elk I shot last year was just over 100 yards away.
Just about the maximum distance I could have shot. Why? Because up in the part of Idaho where I live the only shots you get are in clear cuts. In the trees, a deer or elk could be 20 yards away and you’d be hard pressed to see one, let alone get a shot.
Not to mention who wants to walk through the woods with a 24” barreled rifle? How about a suppressed 24” barrel so you don’t end up with permanent hearing loss? Nope. The 8.6 Creedmoor will allow a shooter to carry around a much smaller and lighter weapon system.
How about a 12.5” barreled Fix with a folding pistol brace? Climbing up to a tree stand, crossing a stream, hiking into the mountains? All the performance needed by most sportsman in a nice compact package.
The Q Mini Fix in 300 Blackout above the Q Fix in 8.6 Creedmoor.
Is this the perfect cartridge? No. Is it the perfect cartridge for supersonic and subsonic performance out to medium ranges with a short barrel, the ability to run in bolt actions and semi-autos, feeding out of standard .308 magazines, with the option to run it with silencers for incredibly quiet supersonic performance? Yes, it absolutely is.
Will the 8.6 Creedmoor be called 8.6 Creedmoor? Possibly, but who knows. It may end up as the .338 Creedmoor, .338 Blackout, 8.6 Blackout… Time will tell.
Test rounds in Hornady made cases stamped 338 Creedmoor.
I guess the last question is, when can you buy one? Probably in 2019. Hornady and Q are working to finalize the cartridge as well as the optimized barrel (twist rate, length, etc.). Those should be wrapped up in 2019 so that the 8.6 Creedmoor can get put into production. Personally, I’m really looking forward to this cartridge.
***Shop GunsAmerica for your next rifle***
Related Posts:
- Ruger’s Exciting New 6mm Creedmoor Rifles—SHOT Show 2017
- A Sub-MOA 6.5 Creedmoor for $400? Thompson/Center…
- SIG Releases 6.5 Creedmoor Match Grade Ammo
- Deep Six: Ruger’s Precision Rifle in 6mm Creedmoor…
- Going the Distance — Hornady’s 6mm Creedmoor
has spent a lot of time outdoors, backpacking and camping as well as extensive international travel. Eventually, he landed in the Marine Corps in the late 90’s.