Marswolf

Hey Mike, I had a phone call from Mike McQueen from the old gun shop. He was pleased to see the outcome of your case in the Knoxville paper. He tried to sign up here but using a yahoo.com email address apparently caused a security problem or something. Something about spam control? Any ideas, Tungsten?

He's got you there Tungsten. He has a RIGHT to post his nonsense on your privately owned board. Wonder if he will start a tinfoil hat board where we can post gun stuff?

I just checked with the local hospitals and they tell me we have had only a couple of saber related leg or butt woundings in the past few years and only one with a tomahawk. The tomahawk one was alcohol related.

I pretty much agree with what DaveTN said. I wouldn't go so far as to say that open carry is idiotic, just that it has to be appropriate to the situation (and there are very few situations in public where it is appropriate). But if people keep OCing to force the public to deal with gun issues, the outcome is not going to be that the public becomes comfortable with guns. The outcome in Tennessee will be to return to OC being illegal.

I'd like to learn to play the mandolin. Do you have to practice?

I'm sorry but ditch crawling is limited to Baghdad only.

Having actually been in this situation, I like to be able to pull the trigger again. If one round in a box has a hard primer, you will have more, if not all, like it in there too. If you tap & rack, there is a very good possibility that the next round will be a problem as well. At least I have the option of pulling the trigger a second, or as Molonlabetn says, a third time if necessary. Most of the time they go bang on the second pull. There is no "right" answer for this. Most people revert to training (hopefully) in these situations, but the people who survive long-term use their brain along the way too. Factors such as ammunition supply and proximity to the enemy come into play, as well as your experience with that particular gun/ammo combination. I see only advantages to having a second-strike option, whether you use it or not.

Actually, I've never been fond of the draft either. I prefer universal military service. But I think it needs to be MILITARY service, not some sort of social assistance touchy-feely stuff. I have a problem with letting them off for pregnancy too. Every time we start sending troops overseas, a lot of the women service people suddenly become pregnant. Women can work in some sort of military support during most of their pregnancy. Time off gets added to your service term. And you don't suddenly get religion and don't have to serve either. Give them one of the new brain scan truth detection tests and if they really do have a religious reason to not fight, let them do support. Also make them read Alvin York's biography.

I'm sure they have, but I can say that I have shot SMG ammo in my Beretta 92SB with no problem. I won't advise doing that, but the gun stayed together.

Good god! We have someone who knows parliamentary procedure. I call for a vote on closing this crap. Tungsten gets the only vote.

There are quite a few guns that do not fully support the cartridge in the chamber. It is the extent of the lack of support that gets Glocks. And the problem generally is overloaded ammunition. But to make the point yet again, you can get away with a lot more stupidity with other guns than you can with a Glock. They just have less safety factor - by design. Imagine what a Glock (and you) would have looked like that fired the rounds that destroyed the USPs. One of the reasons Glock S&W 40s have a problem is that they basically took the 9mm handguns and removed metal to make the 40. That means a weaker chamber and barrel than the 9mm in a higher pressure round. They could have taken the 45 ACP handgun and modify its design but they didn't. Compare this to the H&K USP that was designed as a 40 but tooled to make the 9mm. I'm glad Glock finally fixed the unsupported chamber thingy. It took a while. Close to two decades. After-market barrels like Bar-sto have been available to fix the problem for some time. Of course that doesn't address the barrel/chamber strength question, just the chamber support one. Still, it should help a lot to not leave much of a place for the chamber to begin tearing. If they also fixed the out of battery problem, that would also be a big plus and pretty much just leave the lack of double-strike problem that all striker fired handguns, as far as I know, have. Incidentally http://jerrythegeek.blogspot.com/2006/08/kaboom.html has an interesting look at this phenomenon relating to IPSC.

I don't think Kaine can run again. Glad the AG could write New York. Why can't he write Manassas and Bristol?

Well I guess I'm old enough to have seen some cannon fodder who were awfully good soldiers. I think the problem with conscription is unfair implementation in the selection process. I worked with Jim Dunnigan when he was revising How To Make War for the third edition. He, I, and the other (mostly military) folks involved agreed that you can't win a war without having enough troops on the ground.

Oh wow, I didn't know that 40 S&W was only manufactured and used in the US. I'll have to tell my friends in other countries that they can't get local ammo there for the handguns they are carrying. 40 S&W is becoming more common in foreign circles for the same reason it has become common here. In 9mm the problem you sometimes have overseas is "hard primers". You may have to do a double-strike to get it to fire. I posted something about that recently. Oh that's right, you can't do that with a Glock. GhostDog, I'm surprised you didn't like the Kel-Tec P3AT. It has a partially supported chamber. It's probably the most common BUG around here for LE.

Virginia seems to have a problem with LE and city officials ignoring state law. In Bristol, the city hall is posted and the city manager knows that is against state code. It's going to take some attorney or group suing the hell out of one of these cities before it will get taken care of. It would help if Virginia had an AG who had some balls too.

No doubt about having to try different guns to see what works for you. I ran through three other guns before settling on the Kel-Tec P3AT for my BUG. But with a little more talking to friends and knowledgeable people I could have cut down that trial or even eliminated it. Same with my urban side carry USP40 and P7M8 IWB carry. I bought two Glocks knowing that people I respected use them, but never evaluated why they were good handguns for them but wouldn't be for me. To be honest, the G23 would still work for me in an open US only carry situation. But that chamber gives me the willies and the USP gives me more options, especially for foreign carry where ammunition is significantly more variable. Overkill perhaps for most people, but you need a handgun that you really plan to use that you can have full confidence in. I've talked to a lot of people who either own Glocks or have owned them. A pile were bought because it's the gun that cops carry. There are reasons why cops carry them. There are reasons why they are poor choices for most of the public.

We are having trouble now maintaining adequate troop strength. Part of the reason is political and part of it is difficulty in recruiting. In some ways, it's easier to buy troops than recruit them right now. And our military would have to use more troops to compensate for the scrutiny they are under than the number of contractors needed. A return of the draft could fix that, but we will have to wait for another major attack on US soil and a pile of American civilians dead before that even might become a possibility. We have yet to understand that this is not a short-term action but instead one that may last for decades rather than a few months or years.

I though some people consider Glocks to be an integral part of the deity. Sorry, I couldn't resist. The ambi magazine release is one of the things I really like about H&Ks. I am solidly a right-handed person, but I always drop the magazine with my right index finger. As far as cost is concerned, I think you get more value in a H&K than the additional cost over a Glock. My rule of thumb is that an equivalent street price for a H&K is probably a couple of hundred dollars more than a Glock. But it is an investment you may live with for many years - if you get the right gun. I threw away a lot of money on two Glocks that worked, but had deficiencies I couldn't live with. So, did I spend too much for my H&Ks or did I just piss away money on the Glocks?

Hey Mike, I'm not sure if you are serious about not understanding the full supported chamber or not. But I'll explain it for anyone who doesn't know what we are talking about. In most handguns the chamber that holds the round comes close to fully surrounding the cartridge. The breech face then closes behind the round so that the cartridge is pretty well sealed off and when fired, the metal in the gun contains the pressure of the powder combustion. In a Glock, and some other handguns, there is an area where the feed ramp intrudes on the chamber that leaves part of the cartridge unsupported so that the pressure of the round must be contained only by the brass case of the round in that location. This aids in helping reliably feed the round into the chamber but leaves a weak area for an overloaded or weakened brass to fail catastrophically and destroy the handgun. Here are a couple of shots I took of a G30. I fully inserted the cartridge and took a picture, then marked the brass where the unsupported area is and photographed the round.

OK. Thanks John.

I think a better question is why were relying on contractors to protect embassy personnel. I know the answer BTW.

Someguy, I'm in the Tri-Cities, not Chattanooga. I tried to get involved at one time, as I've mentioned in prior posts. I was talking about James Magruder Holbrook. Sorry I got his name wrong before. I know you have a good group there in Chattanooga. Morristown does too. But I've started enough groups to know what works and what doesn't. There were mistakes made here that prevented the TFA chapter from getting started. I took a look at the TFA 2005 tax return at http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2005/621/654/2005-621654693-02978279-9.pdf and a lot can be gleaned from the document. Basically, it appears that John runs the small organization as he chooses. As best I can figure, there are no voting board members or whatever to tell him to go in a different direction. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but no voting members are indicated. Compare this with the return of the VCDL at http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2005/541/900/2005-541900291-0307c8b4-ZO.pdf I've been around a while, in fact more than twice your years, and depending on your POV, I''m a silly old fart, or I'm a highly experienced leader. I'll vote for the latter. There have been times when I found a group with the best of intentions had become an impediment to getting work done rather than helping. That includes groups that I have founded. One thing that I always do is make sure the constitution and bylaws of a group set standards of accountability for the officers and ensure that no one becomes a permanent leader. No one makes right decisions all the time and they need others around them to stop them from screwing up. Again, I think John Harris is well intentioned and a good man. But the TFA is his private club, under his full control. He apparently allows others to belong to but not make decisions. And I think some of the decisions made have been questionable. I doubt that the TFA will ever grow much beyond it's meager membership numbers in its present form and a group trying to pressure legislators to vote their way needs members. So again, I'll say I'll shut up and good luck to you and the other TFA members. Only reason I posted this was to respond to you. I'll continue to privately lobby our legislative critters as a private citizen. I think that will be more effective for all of us. I'm not sitting on the sidelines and complaining. I've never been one to do that. I'm actually getting things done rather than explaining why I can't do something.

Nice to see John come by. Unfortunately, what I'm reading does not address the existing problems. It just explains why there have been problems in the past that prevented action. What I'm suggesting is that if the current policy doesn't work, it would be wise to change it. Sort of a reverse first law of engineering - if it is broken, do fix it. I think it fair to say that all of the people involved in TFA are good people who believe fervently in the cause of preserving and expanding gun rights. TFA is one of many tools that may be used in that fight. For me, it's a matter of where my limited time and money go to best further that cause. As far as disclosing financial matters, this is a double-edge sword. If you are completely open, your enemies may use it against you. But being too secretive causes the public to question what you might be hiding and why. We recently had a local homeless shelter have to close because questions arose from major financial sponsors about where the groups money was going. The director refused to open the books and the shelter closed. I would think that the level of financial disclosure is something the membership would vote to determine at a convention. I'm not a TFA member, and without some fundamental changes, it looks like I'm unlikely to join, so I'll shut up now. Good luck.

Let me think about this. Should I shut up about the truth concerning Glocks to make you happy? ........ Nope, don't think I'll do that. I think I'll warn people instead. I talk about facts. If there is a bias, it isn't mine. Other folks are the ones who choose to ignore Glock's safety faults. If you go back and read my posts, you will find that I have no problem with Glocks being used by LE as a duty weapon. I have dozens of LEO friends who use them without a problem. They use quality factory ammunition. But a lot of the public cuts corners buying cheap ammo or reloads. You can get away with that more in non-Glock handguns. I'm glad the G19 held up for you even with the reloading error causing it. I highly doubt that would been the outcome with a G23. This topic is specifically about Glock Kabooms and firing out of battery. If you want to pretend that they don't happen, feel free to go blow your hand off. But don't expect me to lie by omission. I suggest you try Glock Talk. They seem to be oblivious to any reality about your favorite handgun over there.

You think the bankers killed them?