In The News

Female Marine Vets
Hide Your Guns
Marines Testing Women In Combat Roles
What The Left Won't Tell You About The Boom In US Gun Sales
Nato: Boost Number Of Female Troops
The 5.7x28mm "Cop Killer" Cartridge Myth
Backdoor Gun Ban
Trial Date Set For George Zimmerman
How Effective Was The Afghan Surge?
20 Aircraft Carriers In Service Today
Remington Gets Sniper Rifle Contract
13 Gangs Keeping The FBI Up At Night
Romney Death Threats And Riots Worry Republicans/
General Failure And The Army

ABC News, Concealed Carry And A Very Misleading Video

                        Proof that concealed carry permit holders live in a dream world, Part 1

The ABC news video above has been circulating the internet for a while and is often cited as a clear example of why concealed carry is over rated and even dangerous. This is especially true when discussing concealed carry on college campuses. Let's explore the video in this post and break down where ABC goes wrong.

Even though I disagree with almost everything said in the video, I still have to give ABC credit for at least giving the make believe CCW holders some instruction (Even if it was minimal). The training was no doubt expected to give the study an air of legitimacy in the eyes of some. ABC was actually correct in one regard. The training that their students received was more than what is required to get a concealed carry permit in some states. This was possibly one of the few valid points in the video.

So let's explore the mistakes in the methodology used by ABC.

First of all the "CCW holders" were seated in the exact same place during each of the confrontations. All of them were seated in the center of the front row. It's hard to imagine a worse place for the students to sit or an easier place for the "Gunman" to shoot.
Of course the shooter walked into the class knowing which person was armed and where they were. That was a bit unrealistic and is one of the major points showing that the system was rigged. I would love to see the same study done with the CCW holders placed randomly around the room.

Secondly, the students didn't get to pick their clothing, their holster or their handgun. Don't blame the trainees for not being familiar with their equipment if it doesn't belong to them.  In the real world CCW holders put a lot of thought into their gear.
If the students are put in gloves and baggy t-shirts then it shouldn't be a suprise that it's slower and more difficult to draw from concealment. None of them had any muscle memory in regards to drawing a weapon despite the limited training they recieved.
Carrying the same gun on a daily basis won't make you more accurate but it will make you less likely to fumble during a draw. Everyone does better with their own equipment, and I suspect that the trainees would have been much more proficient if they had a few days of carrying the guns that were used.

Moving on.
The "Assailant" in the video was always a highly skilled police officer with countless hours of training. How often do we see a mass murderer with this level of skill and training in real life?
The VA Tech shooter, the NIU killer, the murderer at Kirkwood, and the shooter at Tuscon didn't have it. The recent Colorado movie theater murders were also not committed by a highly trained gunman (He couldn't clear a simple malfunction?). BTW, I'm not going to use their names and give them more publicity.
The examples of mass murderers having the police officer's level of training in this video are few and far between.
A fairer approach would have been to use students as both the gunman and the CCW holder. The skill levels would have been more realistic.
Of course that would have likely changed the results in some of the encounters and let's be honest... I doubt that "Fair" was what the producers were aiming at.

So in conclusion, this "Study" was very flawed. Even if I was an anti gun advocate, I would be a bit ashamed to use the video as proof that CCW is useless. It's too easily debunked. The video will no doubt seem persuasive to those that know absolutely nothing about firearms or concealed carry.
That is no doubt who the target audience is.

A CCW permit holder will almost always be reactive when a threat presents itself. That's the nature of the world. The bad guys get to act and the good guys generally play catch up. In this study, ABC took the handicap that all CCW holders operate under and added several more.
The deck was stacked against the students playing the concealed carry permit holder.

The premise of the ABC piece seems to be that the average citizen cannot successfully use a handgun in a defensive encounter. Firearms are simply too complicated and we'll all just fall apart after experiencing the first bit of stress. We will also magically become the first target that an assailant picks out of a room full of people.
On the other hand, ABC seems to imply that all police officers constantly train like Navy SEALs.
What I got from this video is that it's better to be an unarmed victim without a chance of self defense than to take responsibility for your own safety.
I disagree.

This is a link to numerous articles about legally armed American citizens defending themselves, their families and innocent people. Some of the stories involve CCW holders. Others are simply homeowners responding to break ins or things that go bump in the night.
I'll probably go back and add several more links as time permits.
Enjoy and pass it on.

You'll no doubt notice that the YouTube video comes from the Violence Policy Center's channel. I encourage everyone to check out their website (And the Brady Campaign) since you should know who you're debating, It's always easier refuting their claims after seeing what kind of work they're airing.
Most of the columns, studies and videos that I find on anti gun sites have the same level of fairness as I found in the video above.

In The News

Is A General Losing His Job Over Benghazi?
Libyan Witnesses Recount Organized Attack
Obama Aide - Obama Did Not Deny Help
SEAL's Dad Angry At Biden's Remarks
AC130 And Drones Ready To Go in Libya But Not Used
General Losing His Job Over Benghazi?
Hillary Told Deceased SEAL's Father...
Obama Knew About Attacks - 3 Requests For Help Denied
Navy Replaces Admiral In Mideast Strike Group
Apologizing For YouTube Videos
Obama Dodges Question On Denial Of Help In Libya
Father Of Ex Navy SEAL Wants "Them" To Stand Up

Holsters And Handgun Safety

I cited this gentleman's story a few months ago when  discussing holsters in one of the Tip O' The Day threads.
ITStactical did a very good job with this and I feel that it's worth talking about again. A picture is worth a thousand words after all.

SAFETY WARNING! Worn Leather Holsters Can Cause Accidental Discharges

A Bit Of News - Mostly Politics

Majority Harbor Prejudice Against Blacks
The Questions Asked In The Survey
How The Polls Were Conducted

A large portion of the questions regard how people feel about Obama, his policies and his performance. Apparently how you feel about the President and the job that he's done helps to determine whether or not you're a racist?
No bias there.
Nope, nothing, nada, zip, zero, none.
The fact that the media would even publish a story like this with such clear bias in the questions helps to show why the MSM is not trusted by most Americans.
I truly hate studies and articles like this. The problem isn't that they're necessarily junk science, BS and politically driven. It's the fact that most of America will never know of the methods behind the polling. In a week or two everyone on CNN and MSNBC will quote the study and article thus giving it an appearance of legitimacy. It will then be cited over and over throughout the media with no one knowing the real facts behind the study. This is especially true if Obama loses on Election Day.
We saw this (Actually it's still discussed now and then) in regards to a Brady Campaign report about gun deaths and children. The report had to include adult (18 & 19 year olds) deaths with the children's in order to get high fatality statistics but that's never is mentioned by the MSM. Just the results are discussed and thus the report is often believed to be legitimate research outside of the firearms world.
We'll see the same thing happen with the racism story.
Guarenteed.

3 Requests To Save Our People In Libya Were Ignored
Romney Death Threats & Riots
Crowley Interupts Romney 28 Times
Dems Get More Time In All 3 Debates
Obama Gets More Time
Reporters Applaud Obama's Slam On Romney
Crowley Skews Hard For Obama

Now back to the gun stuff.
Somewhat.

Obama Hints At Handgun Bans
Violent Crime Rates Are Up 18%
US Crime Rates 1960-2010
FBI Statistics For Violent Crime In 2010

In The News

13 Rules Of Gunfighting
Bayonet Charges Still Occur In Wartime
The World Never Came Closer To Nuclear War Than...
Voter Suppression, Real And Imagined
Dumb Laws - State By State
Military Suicides, "Are A Good Thing." WTF
Consider The Forgotten .38 S&W
Driving Across America, Armed
Selecting Your First Handgun
Victory For Gun Rights In DC
Ruger's 10/22 Takedown Rifle
High Volume Light Automatic Rifle
The Strange Birth Of New York's Gun Laws
Prepping Gets Man On No Fly List

These were a few good articles and now here's something that makes me smile.

                                                            
                                                                       Wearechange

The people at wearechange.org did a great job on this video. Howard Stern has several similiar videos but I decided not to link to them at this time.

Something To Irk Everyone

Remember an earlier post when I said that I don't agree with everything Yeager says?
There should be something here to annoy everyone.
I still like the videos though. They're entertaining and there's usually a nugget or two of wisdom in there somewhere even if you don't agree with the overall theme.

 

                                                                        James Yeager

FOX Viewers Are Ignorant

Foxnews viewers are ignorant. It must be true. It was on CNN.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/10/22/on-cnn-informal-obama-adviser-professor-claims-fox-news-audience-is-ignorant/?intcmp=obinsite

On the other hand...

                                                      
                                                                     RealFreedom1776

Ah Hell, Now What Will The TSA Be Searching?

I've been debating a bit about publishing this post. I can remember when these stories came out a few years ago and like most people, I laughed a little about them.
I know, I know. It's a serious subject but it's still kind of amusing in a South Park kind of way.

So here's there back story.
Why Cavity Bombs Would Make The TSA Irrelevant
Bombs Inside Of Suicide Bombers
Terrorist Hides Bomb In Backside

Basically an Al Qaida terrorist attempted to assassinate a Saudi prince. The suicide bomber stood next to him and blew himself up with a rectum bomb.
Yep, he had a bomb in his butt.
It's not a complicated story except for...

How the hell do you get a pound of explosives and a detonator up your ass? OK, I know how it got there but the real question is who do you find to help out with a project like that? It can be hard enough finding someone to help move furniture and I cannot even guess how many people this guy had to ask for help.
I can imagine Abdullah Asieri calling up a few fellow terrorists on Man Love Thursday (MLT) about them lending a hand or two. How do you think that conversation went?

Abdullah: "Mohammad... my man. You know that I'm going to try to kill the puppet of the Great Satan next week don't you?"
Mohammad: "Yes, that's great news. It will be a great victory over the evil Zionist loving dogs and their puppets. Let me know if you need any help."
Abdullah: "Well, actually I good use some help getting the bomb ready."
Mohammad: "Say no more. I know those bomb vests are tricky. I'll be right over to help get you into it."
Abdullah: "Um.... actually I'm carrying the explosives in my rectum."
Mohammad: "Huh?"
Abdullah: "I'm carrying them in my rectum. It's not weird, it's for the Jihad. I do need some help getting the bomb ready though."
Mohammad: "I'm going to have to get back to you man, I hear my wives calling me. Good talking to you. Derka derka derka."
Abdullah: "Hello... hello, are you still there?"

Actually, if that was a real conversation it's very likely that an entire team of Jihadiis would have been ready and willing to help prep the area and place the bomb.
Repeatedly.
There would have been no shortage of volunteers if what I've been reading on some of the military blogs are true.
The neighborhood goats would probably have gotten a day off so I guess some good would come of it.

So I guess the question of how the bomber got ready is kind of answered. Well, it's answered in a vague manner that is best left that way.

The next question is how do they honor their dead? I know that we have monuments, statues, plaques, etc. My city has countless monuments to war heroes and as a former Marine I know that our military bases are covered in references to our honored dead.
I assume it's the same in the Middle East.
So what does the statue of this guy look like?
I'm imagining a kind of Iwo Jima Memorial only with a pantless suicide bomber and four guys standing behind him.

I pity our country if such an attack is ever successful. On 9/11 nineteen Muslim Middle Eastern terrorists hijacked 4 aircraft and killed almost 3,000 people. We responded in part by creating a government agency that spends it's time feeling up children and little old ladies attempting to board a flight.
I can only imagine the government reaction should one of these rectum bombers ever be successful.

Not Turning Into A SHTF Blog

I'm not going to turn this into a SHTF blog but I thought that this was too interesting not to post. If I can find the military study on this topic I'll go back and edit it in.

Meds Still Potent After Decades

AR15 Mag Carrier Buttstocks

Mag Carrier In The Buttstock
M4 Survival Buttstock
Versapod Backup 20

This is something that I currently have absolutely no use for but REALLY want. Maybe Santa will hook me up in a couple of months.

In The News & Zeroing

Windham Weaponry Review
Obama's Big Gun Slip
Squib Loads
Drilling Permits Down 36%
Alaska Drilling Ban
12 yr Old Girl Shoots Home Intruder
Banning Gun Magazines in Great Britain
Fort Hood Massacre Was, "Workplace Violence"
This Marine Infantry Course Proved Too Tough
Doesn't Take Much To Land On A "No Fly List"



There's a bit of hate out there for this guy but I like his channel. I don't agree with everything on it but 3 out of 4 of his videos will be informative or at least entertaining.

                                                              James Yeager

Past Reviews And Posts

I decided to try to organize some of these posts and reviews. Some of the content is mine and at least a few of the posts are links to good material on someone else's site. 
I'll keep updating this list as I add material that I think might be of interest (At least to me).
You can find this post again on the bottom right corner of the homepage.

Taurus 24/7 OSS
Taurus PT22
Ruger LCR
Springfield Loaded
S&W Airweight
S&W Model 638 "Airweight"
4.5" XDM
Kahr CW9
Kimber Stainless Target II
Taurus PT92
4.5" XDM vs 5.25" XDM
KelTec Sub 2000
S&W Airweights: Old vs New
Taurus 24/7 OSS vs Beretta 92FS Centurion

Crossbreed Holster Review
Women And Guns
Not The Sharpest Knife In The Drawer
Range Etiquitte
The Best Thing That I've Ever Posted
The Obama You Don't Know
Boobs And Hot Brass
Internet Marksmanship
The Cult Of Barry Is Growing
Restoring Gun Rights To Felons
AR Ammo Comparison
AR Reliability
1st Presidential Debate Vids
Random Musings From The Gun Counter
Voter Fraud


Kershaw OSO Sweet
Kershaw Volt II
Cold Steel Mini AK-47
SOG Aegis
CRKT M16-13Z
Spyderco Manix 2


Tip O' The Day
Tip O' The Day
Tip O' The Day
Tip O' The Day
Tip O' The Day
Tip O' The Day
Tip O' The Day
Tip O' The Day
Tip O' The Day

Springfield Loaded (9mm)

Hmmm... where to begin?

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this gun. It's absolutely beautiful, feels great and gets admiration when people see it.
On the other hand it's been an unreliable beeatch.
Yet, I still keep it.

Let's get the interesting stuff out of the way before my long rambling review.
Specs:
Caliber:   9mm
Barrel:    5" Stainless Steel Match Grade
Height:   5.5"
Length:   8.5"
Weight:   41oz
Trigger:    Long Aluminum Match Grade, 5-6lbs
Sights:     Low Profile Adjustable Rear, Dovetail Front
Capacity: 9+1

This was taken from the Springfield website so if the gun that you pick up at the LGS or gun show feels like it has a 3lb or 9lb trigger then please argue with them.

I'll start this off with the appearance of the pistol. The Springfield Loaded is a very attractive M1911. It's been a long time since I bought a beautiful handgun. I generally buy pistols with a more functional, businesslike look to them. Polymer and matte slides are my usual fare.
I do however like an aesthetically pleasing gun and not everything needs to have that black tactical kind of look that we see everywhere today. Most people would probably prefer an attractive looking firearm over something that looks like 3 Bubba's welded it together from old tractor parts.
So don't make fun of my going on and on about what a good looking handgun this is.
It shur iz purty.

Reliability:
Pretty only gets you so far. The question is how reliable is it?
If I had to judge it's reliability I would give it an, "Incomplete."
When I first purchased the Loaded it was the most unreliable firearm that I've had in  my entire life. I wish this was an exaggeration. It was impossible to get two shots off back to back without having to clear a malfunction. Failures to extract were the problem.
This pistol went back home to Springfield Armory. When it returned, I put almost two boxes of ammo through it before a different set of problems surfaced. This time I only averaged one or two malfunctions per magazine. Double feeds were the new issue.
Back to Springfield it went.
It appears to be OK now. I've only run about 600 or so rounds of ball through it since the last return and it's operated perfectly. No issues yet (Knock on wood). When I get 1000 rounds of ball through it and a few boxes of hollow points I'll begin to trust it. As things currently stand I've only used Federal, WWB and a little Tulammo (Just to see what it would do with steel cased ammo) since the last repair. Two brands of magazines have been used.
I know...that's not much of a test yet.
So I'm stuck deciding how to rate the reliability. If Springfield made it right (And that seems to be the case) then it's a reliable gun. Unfortunately the round count simply isn't high enough yet to erase the several weeks of constant double feeds and failures to extract.
It's earned an incomplete. I hope to get up to 1000 rnds before Christmas and I'll go back and edit in some more info at that point.

Edit:  It's been a month since this review was written and I've put another 200 rounds through the Springfield. No issues.

Accuracy:


12yds

It's good but I expected a little better. In my opinion this gun just doesn't seem as accurate as my Kimber Stainless Target II or some of the other M1911's that I've owned.
Perhaps it's just me and I shouldn't constantly compare it to my Kimber which costs $300 more than the Loaded.
Maybe it doesn't like WWB which probably makes up 90% of what I've put through it. I plan on varying my ammo a bit in this gun to see if that makes a difference.
As I said at the beginning, accuracy is OK but  I'm not willing to rave about it right now.
One day (When blog money makes me rich) I'll get a ransom rest and take myself out of the accuracy equation.

Customer Service:
I briefly talked about reliability. Now it's time to discuss Springfield's customer service.
Their people deserve a pat on the back. They were professional, polite and the representative that I spoke with actually seemed to know a little about guns. Springfield Armory's customer service should be a model for how everyone is supposed to handle dissatisfied customers.
The return process was easy. Turn around was quick. It was back within one week the first time and two weeks the second time.
Kudos to the nice lady on the phone.

But...

It would have been nice if my Loaded at least had the reliability of a Lorcin when I first bought it.
So what did Springfield do to fix it?
They fitted the barrel to the slide and the slide to the frame. They also drilled and pinned the ejector and replaced the extractor. That's a lot of work needed for a new $850 handgun.
So is it right? It seems to be but time will tell.
The customer service was pretty good even if it took a couple of attempts at repairs.

 

 

 

Sights:
The sights are all black with an adjustable rear and drift able front. They are serrated to reduce glare and work well. I don't see a lot difference between these and a lot of the adjustable sights on other M1911's.  They work pretty good for me and I get a very nice sight picture. The amount of space on either side of the front sight is just about perfect when the sights are lined up on the target. My camera sucks so you can't see that.
Maybe Santa will help me out with that in a few months. If the picture quality improves and stops looking like a cave drawing you'll know why.

Trigger:
The Loaded comes with an aluminum match grade trigger and a claimed 5-6 lb pull. The trigger pull feels good when handling the pistol at the local gun store but seems a little heavy when compared side by side against other M1911's or when actually on the firing line.
I don't think that this gun has a horrible trigger. I wouldn't even say that it's bad. I just believe that it could be better than it is.
Perhaps the expectations are a little high when buying a Springfield or maybe I just spend too much time comparing this pistol to a gun that costs $300 more.
I plan on getting a trigger job in the near future. I usually don't do anything to my handguns besides shooting and cleaning them.
Draw your own conclusions.

Slide:
The slide has a nice looking polished finish. The slide serrations are well done and provide an easy gripping surface. I've talked about it before. Not all manufacturers do a good job on the serrations. There are slide serrations at the front and rear of the slide. I'll probably never use the ones at the muzzle end but they look nice and some might like them.
The slide has a combination of polished and matte stainless surfaces that help make this such a beautiful gun. Springfield Armory has just enough information engraved on the pistol to look tasteful without going overboard...like Ruger tends to do.
There is a lowered and flared ejection port and a loaded chamber indicator. This seems to be almost standard on most M1911's today unless you go with some kind of GI model. It's still worth mentioning though.

Recoil:
It's a full sized M1911 chambered for 9mm. Recoil is a joke. The gun kicks just enough to make it interesting. I don't believe that anyone would have a problem with it and this would be an easy gun for a novice to learn on.  The narrow frame would obviously be a benefit for those with small hands.

Disassembly:
There's tons of videos on YouTube on how to take this class of pistol apart. There's manuals available. I won't go into a lot of detail.
The only thing that's different about this handgun is that it has a full length two piece guide rod. A 5/32 hex wrench is needed to take the guide rod apart before taking the gun down. That's a bit different from what I'm used to.
Standard, full length, two piece guide rods... I don't really care. As long as the gun works OK I'm not picky about what is used.
Some believe that the standard length guide rod is what should always be in a M1911. I can see some people wanting to go with the original design and I like the simplicity.
I do however wonder why most other modern handgun designs utilize a full length rod. I wonder what the competition shooters use? They have high round counts and fractions of a second can make or break their scores. What do they trust more? If I find some relevant information I'll come back and edit it in.

Safety:
This Springfield comes with an ambidextrous safety. It's easily engaged and disengaged while remaining stiff enough that it should not accidently be taken off.  I don't have to shift my grip in order to operate the safety. I doubt that anyone will.
As a right handed shooter I don't really carry about ambi safeties but I'll take it if it's offered.
The grip safety works like you would expect on a M1911. No problems have been had using it weak handed and I don't notice it. That's as it should be.
I'm ambivalent about grip safeties. I know that some hate them in general but accept grip safeties on M1911's because of the gun's long history. I don't care if they're on a M1911 or a more modern design. As long as they work and aren't noticed then I'm fine with them.
The Loaded comes with an ILS safety in the mainspring housing. I've said before that I'm not a fan of having key locks built into handguns. You won't have your key handy if your gun is ever needed. Your fine motor skills will be shot if you ever have to unlock the weapon for self defense. Believe me, it's a little key and a tiny little lock. A little adrenalin and you'll find yourself fumbling with this system.
Then there's the 600lb gorilla in the room, if there's a key then a kid WILL find it.
Find a different locking method or better yet, get a safe if the gun needs to be secured.
The ILS no doubt satisfies the requirements of some of our nanny states and the company's lawyers.

Springfield Armory was good enough to replace the ILS with a standard mainspring housing during the second return.
BTW, I suspect that the ILS had something to do with the malfunctions previously plaguing this pistol. I reported my thoughts on it to customer service but nothing was covered about a ILS problem on the invoice. I guess replacing the mainspring housing covered that issue in regards to record keeping.
Sometimes it felt like the slide was dragging or hanging up when I would chamber a round. I would engage and disengage the ILS. The slide would then seem to move a bit easier and I would get a few more rounds off before a malfunction. Guess where the key was when I needed it on one range trip? At home.
So I improvised with a couple of staples and a multi tool. It took about 2 minutes to defeat the lock.

Frame:
Everything is what you would expect from a M1911. The trigger pull is short and has almost no take up. The pull is a little heavier than expected.
There is a flat mainspring housing and a beaver tail grip safety. Slide bite will not be an issue with this gun.
The reach to the trigger is good. Only those with lilliputian sized hands will have trouble reaching the trigger.
The slide locks open on EVERY empty magazine. I find myself having to change my grip in order to engage or depress the slide stop. That's expected.
The magazine release is just about perfect. It's easy to reach without sitting out so high that it will be accidentally depressed. I do need to slightly shift my grip to use it but that's normal for me when shooting M1911's.
There is a slight bevel in the magazine well and mags drop free easily.
As with the slide, there is a combination of polished and matte stainless surfaces that contribute to the good looks of this pistol.
The grip panels are made from Cocobolo Hardwood and have the Springfield Armory logo pressed (?) into them. I love the looks of the grips. The checkering is good and I have nothing bad to say about them. They're definitely staying on.


Ah yes, the mighty Drudge Report in the background

Magazines:
This pistol comes with two Springfield Armory nine round magazines. They appear very well made and most of my shooting has been done with them since the last return. There's been no problems with the factory mags or the Kimber magazines that I've used.

Kimber magazine on top

The 9mm magazines were originally made for the .38 Super round (So sayeth the internet). As the 9mm is a shorter bullet something must be done to make up for the extra room in the magazine.
The SA magazines (Metalform?) have a rib that runs down the front of the mag. This helps to push the round further back into the magazine and allows a little more of the feed lips to engage the bullet.
The Kimber mags have a spacer that runs down the back of the magazine and this pushes the bullet a bit further forward in the feed lips.
Both methods seem to work well and I have no problems with either version. On several occasions I have however seen the top bullet come partially out of the feed lips when slamming a magazine home. This has happened a few times with the Kimber mags but not with Springfield's.

Springfield mag on the bottom

Something to think about.


Give this a look. It's a much better write up on the 9mm mags than I can do and well worth the time
http://www.dillonprecision.com/docs/march_07_metalform_mags.pdf

The Manual:
I hate to use the work mediocre but it is what it is. It seems to be intended as a one size fits all kind of manual. I'm not pulling it back out to look at it but I know that it covers several different handguns. At least keep the pistols in the same size category as there can be a bit of difference between full sized M1911's and the 3" models.

Box O Goodies:
Like most of Springfield's handguns, the Loaded comes in a large black plastic case. Included with the firearm are 2 magazines, a holster, magazine pouch and a small bag containing the ILS keys and a couple of Allen wrenches. The usual literature is also present.

The case is easily large enough to use for a laptop case if you remove the middle layer of foam padding. Of course the very prominent Springfield Armory logo is on the outside. I suppose in some environments the thought of a gun case in public (With a possible gun inside?) may cause hissy fits and pants wetting. With that said, I doubt that I would use the case for a laptop in a professional or college setting.

The paddle holster is pretty decent overall but I doubt that I would pay $34 for it. I'd probably add a few dollars and get something a bit better.  This kydex holster is right hand only and will not work with weapon lights. It is adjustable for tension and an Allen wrench is included. The holster is fine for general use but I didn't like it when trying it out in a match. I don't like the forward cant and would prefer it to be more vertical. It's not a fast holster but I think that it would work just fine for normal use.

The magazine pouch holds two mags and has a rail down both sides. A weapon light can be carried on these rails.  Tension can be adjusted with the supplied Allen wrench and while I'd prefer the magazines to be carried more vertically I really don't have any complaints about the pouch. It retails for $24 on the Springfield website.

I like the way that SA puts these sets together. You get everything that you need at once (Other than ammo and a cleaning kit) and the gear is pretty good. The holster and magazine pouch may not be my first choice but I use them both and I think that a lot of people will appreciate having everything supplied at the time of purchase.
Well... everyone except for the wrong handed people that are stuck with a right handed holster.

Nearing The End:
I've been thinking about this review for a while. It was put off several times and I've gone back and edited this again and again (And the spelling and grammar errors are still there!).  I had some bad experiences with this gun when it was brand new but Springfield seems to have resolved the reliability problems. Time will tell.

I'm coming around and starting to like this gun after my initial disgust with the Loaded. I suspect that after a few hundred more rounds and a trigger job I'll be very happy with this handgun.
So would I buy it again?

Nope.

This is the second M1911 that I've bought from Springfield that was unreliable and needed two trips back to the factory. A lot of years passed between the purchasing of the two guns but the quality level (Or lack thereof) remained the same.
No, there won't be a third one. My apologies to the Springfield fans and to the good people that worked to finally make this handgun right.  I'm sure that others have had better luck but If I send any more money to SA it will be for yet another XDM.

So I'll keep the gun, put a little more money into and no doubt enjoy it. When it comes time to replace it or add to the collection, I'll buy from someone that has a track record of giving me a working gun right out of the box.

In conclusion, this gun started out as a very expensive piece of junk. Springfield seems to have fixed it and they deserve praise for their customer service.  The Loaded appears to be a pretty decent gun overall but could be a little better.

Other Gun Reviews On This Blog

In the News

A New Bullet Tax
The Lewis Gun
Navy Cruiser & Sub Collide
Colonel's Class On Radical Islam Leaves Career In Limbo
We Got Back Every Bailout Dollar Except For...
Think Again: The Bin Laden Raid
Ten Lessons America Should Learn From Afghanistan's History
Putting The Damper On Oil Drilling
Top 25 US Gun Manufacturers
Buying Your First Handgun
A Few Gun Quotes From Our President
Relations Between Press And Politics

When They Say, "You Just Want To Shoot Someone"

                                                                    MrColionNoir


I can't think of a better response when someone says, "You carry a gun because you just want to shoot someone."

In The News

KSM Wants Military-Style Uniform For Gitmo Trial
14.7% Unemployment Rate
Prosecutors: Soldier Targetted Fort Hood Troops
Female Marine Sapper Leader
Candidate Wants Military Ballots Counted
First Women To Take The Marine Infantry Officer Course
The Untold Story Of The Cuban Missile Crisis
An Honest Debate About Gun Violence
Blowing Up The Federal Reserve

Random Musings

I spent a little time at a couple of gun counters lately. We've all seen the guy that hangs out at the gun store all day getting in the way of those people actually buying guns, ammo or gear.
I make it a point not to be that guy since being stuck behind someone giving his life history to the gun store staff drives me nuts. This is especially true when I have money burning a hole in my pocket.
I will however ask a question or two if things are slow (Just not on a Saturday afternoon when the line at the counter is 3 deep).

Anyway, I bought some ammo this week at my local Walmart and was surprised to see that they are once again carrying firearms.  The display cases have been up for a month or so and I was wondering if the guns were ever actually coming back.
The usual selection of hunting rifles and shotguns were present and there were a lot of matte black tactical looking shotguns. One lonely little Mini 14 was off by itself. No AR's were present and my store won't be stocking any. Bummer.
I know, I know... this is boring. It's a Walmart visit.
So here's the mildly interesting stuff.
The old guy at the counter told me that about 1/2 of the background checks that they run come back denied.
That's surprising since I figured that just about everyone in 2012 knows whether or not they can pass a background check. Apparently some of the more felonious gun buyers seem to think there's a lower standard when buying a firearm at Wallyworld.
Luckily the term "Criminal Mastermind" is almost never applicable outside of a Sherlock Holmes movie.


I hadn't shot any Tulammo in my handguns before today. I've used a lot of Silver Bear and never had an issues in my 9mm's or AR's. For a few years that was the main brand that I bought. Lately I've mainly stuck with WWB and Federal for handgun ammo.
I've used Tulammo in the AR's without any problems and since it's $3 per box less expensive than 9mm WWB I thought that I'd give it a try. I ran 150 rnds through a XDM, Taurus 24/7 OSS and Springfield Loaded today without any issues popping up. The shooting was done at 15 yds and I couldn't see any difference in accuracy between the Tulammo and WWB. Perhaps a better shooter could tell the difference. Maybe the difference will show more at 25yds (Hmmm... something to try next week).
I think I'll get some more of it for the 7-15 yard range that I shoot on. 

What started me thinking about this update was the gun counter guy that sold me the Tulammo. I was told that they get complaints of failures to fire with almost every box that they sell.  I suspect that is an exaggeration but I figured it would be interesting to check it out. 150 rnds of 9mm is hardly a definitive test but when I add it to the case of .223 that I've shot it does show a pattern... of reliability.
Again, this was a very small sample but I expected at least one FTF after the warning from the clerk.
Russian surplus ammo is know for having hard primers. I have to wonder if the Tulammo has the same. This could easily lead to failures to fire in some weapons.
It's cheap ammo. You get what you pay for. Apparently what I paid for today was ammo that performed just like the WWB and Federal without the cost.
It is what it is. I wouldn't trust it for anything important but I'll be using more of it for close range shooting and general plinking. I can't wait until the .38Spl starts showing up on the shelves.


I did a review of a Taurus 24/7 OSS a few weeks ago.  The pistol is standing up admirably to the rigors of sitting in my gun safe, BTW.
I wanted to take a look at the 24/7 G2 for comparison prior to the review.  A few minutes were spent talking to a gun counter guy at one of the big box stores.  He wasn't overly impressed with Taurus handguns.
According to the salesman, 1 out of every 5 Taurus's that they sell are returned with some kind of problem. This was the second place in which I was told that Taurus lets a lot more bad guns out the door than their competitors.
It was interesting to get a little insight from the guys that have to deal with the disgruntled customers instead of just listening to the usual internet chatter.
1 out of 5 guns. That's a hell of a lot of guns even if part of those returns are no doubt due to handguns being in the break in period, limp wristing and operator error.
I've had a lot of good experiences with older Taurus products but I don't know if I'd roll the dice on one of their newer guns (With the exception of their M1911).
The price would definitely have to be worth it.
Just my 2 cents.

In The New

VA: Military Absentee Ballots Go AWOL In 2012
Supressing The Military Vote
Gun Microstamping Could Close American Factories
Oppose Gun Microstamping For A Multitude Of Reasons
Cook County Mulling Violence Tax On Guns And Ammunition
Colt VS Remington...Supplying M4's To The Military
Old News On The Marines Getting New M1911's
Marine's New Colts Had Cracks In Testing

This is not a news article. It's the site for getting a military absentee ballot. Pass it on. Time is running out.
http://www.fvap.gov/map.html

Another Homerun From MrColionNoir

                        A Field Guide To Gun Shop Customers: Beware Of The Lurking Know It All

With the exception of the felon, I've seen all of these guys.
Hell, I've been all of these guys. Hopefully to a lesser degree.

Voter Fraud

There's a lot of misinformation out there about voter fraud. According to one political party and the lapdogs...um...er, "Watchdogs" in the media there's little or no voter fraud in the USA.
Nope, nothing to worry about. It just doesn't happen.
The odd thing is that I run across story after story about cases of voter fraud. I thought that I would share them with you. If you feel the need to educate a CNN or MSNBC viewer then please send them a link.

Collecting these stories isn't exactly a hobby. It only took a few minutes to gather these articles. I tried to make sure that all of these deal with documented voter fraud instead of just allegations. Arrests and/or convictions are covered in some of the links. That should be obvious proof for those that claim that the fraud isn't occuring.
Unfortunately many Democratic prosecutors refuse to bring charges or investigate voter fraud.
So evidently there are clear cases of voter fraud in the US and a large portion of the media, politicians and "Civil Rights" groups are desperately trying to ignore the problem.
Let me correct that statement. They aren't ignoring the problem. They are lying about it.

Video Snags Dem Boss Plotting Voter Fraud
5,000 Non Citizens Voting In Colorado
Minnesota Voter Fraud - 2812 Dead Voters
53,000 Dead Voters Found In Florida
Illegal Immigrants Are Voting In American Elections
VA Investigates Voter Fraud
Felon Sentenced To 4 Days In Jail For Illegally Registering To Vote
Only 1793 Of 25,000 Registrations Are Valid
299 Convicted Felons Voted - 30,000 Dead Registered To Vote
NAACP Official Convicted
More Info On The NAACP Official Convicted
Al Franken And Voting Felons
Another Al Franken Election Story  
And More Al Franken Election Info
A Few Thousand Deceased Voters In Minnesota
NYT - 1.8 Million Dead People Listed As ACTIVE Voters
Dem Politician Voting In Two States
Hundreds Over 110yrs Old Register In NC
More Dead Voters
A Few More Dead Voters
Dems Admit Voting Twice
Ohio Voter Fraud In 2012

Now let's view a few articles showing how the system is broken. Below are several news stories showing how easy it is to cast a fraudulent vote.

Dead Dog Recieves Voter Registration Form
NM Dog Registered To Vote
O'Keefe Showing How It's Possible
O'Keefe In NC This Time
O'Keefe In Vermont
Dead Can Vote In New Hampshire
Getting Sent Two Ballots
Voter Fraud In Ohio
109 Registered Voters For Every 100 Eligible Voters
Voter Rolls Are Bloated
2012 Election Weirdness

And now for something even more disgraceful.

Military Voters - Flashback
Gov Sues To Restrict Military Voting
Dems Vs Military Voters
Obama's Home State
South Carolina Voter ID Law Upheld By Federal Court (Just Not During This Election)

I worked for about 45 minutes putting this post together. That's 45 minutes with a gun review video running on YouTube in the background. It's not like this had my undivided attention.
Somehow all of these stories are missed by our largest networks, their anchors and their producers. It's almost like they have an agenda to support voter fraud and the political party that seems to benefit from the practice.
Face it, the MSM will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into reporting about the widespread voter fraud across the US. It's kind of like how they were finally pressured into reporting on the ACORN scandal and Fast And Furious.
Until that time they will continue to lie.

                                                                     PenguinProseMedia

                                                                        amnewswatch

Then there's the host that actually advocates voter fraud.

                                                                    Westernjournalism

It should be clear to everyone at this point that voter fraud is a huge problem and this is especially true after seeing several elections decided by only a few hundred votes.  The Democrats, the politicians and the Liberal media aren't entirely stupid.
Not entirely.
They know that voter fraud exists and it is widespread.
They just don't care because the Left benefits from it.

So what do they do? They can't admit that it's a common problem. So there must be some reason that they can use to deny the practice exists.
The Left pretends to be the champions of the poor, the elderly, the minorities and the college students. The same people that have to show ID in order to get government assistance just can't seem to find ID on Election Day.
Amazing isn't it?
The problem is that the cries of disenfranchisement and racism actually work on those that are uninformed and willfully ignorant. Of course that's about half of the nation at this time.
So here we are... still arguing about something that is easily fixed or at least minimized. We're still fighting about it because of the dishonesty and hypocrisy on the Left.
The sad thing is that we're likely to still be fighting about it 4 years from now.

I'll keep adding links to this post. I think that this will be a new pet project until after Nov. 6th.

1st Presidential Debate Vids

SNL - The First Presidential Debate

Actually I think that the SNL Obama did a little better than the real thing.

SNL - Obama Debate Disaster, The Worst Thing Ever

It's entirely possible that the above video link was mixed up with a real MSNBC segment instead of a SNL skit.

MIlitary Related Stories (Mostly)

Battle Of The Sexes

Report Slams Military's Recent Camouflage Uniforms

Marine Recalls Camp Bastion Attack

Ohio Lawsuit Raises Military Voter Questions

Marines Sight-In Aboard USS Mt. Rushmore

House Votes For New Stolen Valor Act

Gun Sales Hinge On Obama Re-Election

AR Reliability

Let's face it. Everyone is buying guns today. Even Libs are seeking advice and shopping for firearms. A rare few might even be getting some training.
I won't go into the economy, the election and all of the whys involved in the record gun sales over the last few years.
Everyone is buying firearms and many new gun owners are looking at "Assault Weapons."  They end up repeating what they've heard somewhere on the internet or have seen on television. Hollywood has told them that the AR platform is unreliable so it must be true.
I recently had a friend tell me that he bought an AK (Wasr) because the AR15 malfunctions too much. Of course he has yet to fire his AK and has no idea how to field strip it. He's never fired an AR15 or M16.


It's no secret where the M16's reputation for unreliability came from. It originated during the Vietnam War. There were a lot of mistakes made in the early days of the rifle being fielded. Cleaning kits were not always issued, troops weren't properly trained, and a decision was made to switch to a dirtier gunpowder than was originally specified.
The guys that had to deal with this mess are still repeating the stories about how unreliable the weapons were, and it's likely that all of their families and friends are doing the same. This has gone on for years and years.

When I was in the Marines we were just changing over to the M16A2 (And from the .45acp to the 9mm Beretta). Our rifles were relatively new weapons, and they worked very well. The carbines were extremely reliable with live ammo.
-Note that I said "Live ammo."- I was lucky enough to serve in peacetime, and we shot more blanks than live ammunition. We did get a few more malfunctions using blanks and if I were to base my view on that I would probably call the weapon a POS. However, as I know that blanks are dirtier than regular ammunition and intended for training, my views aren't built on play ammo.

When I think back to my service in the late 1980's I can remember a great deal of stupidity in how we treated our weapons. As Pat Rogers wrote below, the military over cleans it's rifles.
They were cleaned far beyond what any gun needs and we used materials clearly not intended for the rifles. How often do you use Spic N Span or carburetor cleaner on your firearms? We also routinely disassembled our weapons much further than needed. Ah... then there was the guy who was much better at disassembly than reassembly.
The crazy cleaning methods were used because of an unrealistic view of what constitutes "Clean" in the military.

I'll say one last thing about our practices in the Marines. I never saw a single magazine taken out of service, nor can I remember anyone ever numbering their mags. If your rifle malfunctioned you simply cursed, called the weapon a POS and cleared it. No thought was given to finding a pattern. You just assumed the problem was with the weapon.
I believe that the current Marine Corps is better trained and much more professional than we were.
A decade at war tends to do that.

I can't remember the last time I saw someone have a problem with an AR or M4(gery). No doubt there's more than a few guns with issues out there.  I suspect however that the vast majority of the problems are with builds that didn't turn out quite right.

I enjoy watching these videos. I stand firmly behind anyone willing to abuse their firearms for our viewing pleasure.
Most of us are willing to "Talk the talk" in regards the reliability of our weapons. We pull them out of the safe, put a few rounds downrange under very controlled and ideal conditions, and then tell everyone how reliable the firearm is.
Some are willing to "Walk the walk" and I enjoy watching others thrash on their guns. A picture is worth a thousands words. A video is probably worth a million.

                                                                          Sturmgewehre

                                                                            Vuurwapenblog

An outstanding write up from Mike Pannone
The Big M4 Myth

Good info from Pat Rogers
Keep Your Carbine Running

I can't believe that I'm linking to the New York Times
Examining The Complaints About American Rifle Reliability

AR Ammo Comparison

I made it out to the range for a few hours today. This is the first time I've shot rifles in about 6 months so I'm a bit rusty.
Everyone  seems to talk about their AR's shooting sub MOA groups and I was curious what I could get out of my S&W M&P15 MOE. Most of what I shoot is the steel cased Russian stuff (In various flavors) but once in a while I like to run some respectable American ammo through my guns.

These targets were shot from the bench at 100yds. My sandbags were forgotten so I used my range bag for a rest instead. I hope to get out next week and see if there's a change in some of these groups using a better rest.

=The S&W M&P15 has a 1:9 twist and should favor the lighter loads.

I was surprised at how well the 62gr Silver Bear did today. It was a constant performer and I usually go through a lot of this stuff.  The 55gr Brown Bear wasn't as good as usual and I can never do as well with the 55gr Wolf.
I hadn't used any Tulammo in over a year and was surprised at how decently it grouped. Tulammo is generally the least accurate steel cased round that I use so maybe I got a good lot today (Or a bad case before).

I was a bit disappointed in a few of the Hornady loads.  I kept hoping for that sub MOA group but it didn't happen today. Maybe if I do my part next time. We'll see.
As it stands today, the brass cased ammo is 3-4 times the price of the Silver Bear, Brown Bear, Tulammo and Wolf. I basically shot just as well with the Silver Bear as I did with the higher end ammo. Can you guess what I'm buying by the case?
Sooo...long story short,  most of the groups are OK if you take out the flyers. I left the flyers in for the measurements since I feel that if they're on paper then they count. If I can't make 5 consistent shots back to back I'll take the added inch(es).

I will say however that I went about this test in a lazy manner. The rifle wasn't cleaned prior to shooting and the sandbags were forgotten.
10 rnds of each load were used for practice and then 5 more were put on the targets shown above. Ideally I'd have 4 or 5 targets per load but believe it or not this still took about 2 hours even with the rushing.

BTW, a lot of people worry about running the steel cased ammo through their AR's. I have at least 1000rnds of Brown Bear, Silver Bear and Tulammo through this rifle and have never had any issues. The steel cased rounds are at least half the price of the least expensive domestic ammo. That's hard to beat. I wouldn't use it for anything important but I would recommend it for plinking and general training. Do you really need to familiarize a new shooter with an AR15 using $12-$20 per box ammo?
Doubtful. Buy the cheaper stuff and get 2-3 times the gun handling when getting used to the weapon.
If you shoot enough of the Russian ammo you'll get a stuck case sooner or later. Pack a cleaning rod and kit. You'll be back up and running in under 15 minutes. I probably have over 3,000rnds through my AR15's and have had exactly 1 stuck case. I can live with that for the amount of money that I've saved.
I linked to a couple of outstanding videos in September on the topic of Russian ammo and the myths that keep circulating on the internet. Give them a look and please subscribe to the Military Arms Channel.     Wolf Ammo

I plan on trying this again in a week or two with a frankengun that has a 1:7 barrel. It should be interesting to see how it handles the heavier loads in comparison to the S&W.