Time for SHOT Show 2020!

Hey internet.  It is that time of the year again.  Time for SHOT Show 2020.
In a few weeks the team here at GunDivas will be heading out to Las Vegas to SHOT Show.

So what is SHOT Show you ask?  For those who do not know.  SHOT Show is the firearms industry trade show.  SHOT Show is where everyone (Manufacturers, Distributors, Retailers) comes to display their new and existing products.  It includes firearms, firearm accessories, clothing, etc.  There is even sections for Military and Law Enforcement.  All the cool toys we are not allowed to buy.  But fun to window shop.  SHOT Show includes the international industry community as well.
Unfortunately, it is not open to the public.  For the general public, the only way to view SHOT Show is through the various firearms related media such as TheGunDivas.

This year we want to try something a little different.  Instead of trying to see everything and write/video what we think is interesting.
We want to hear from you, the viewing audience.  Tell us what you want to see.  What do you want us to check out and report back on.

Is there a new firearm, accessory, tactical light, optic, clothing, etc. you want us to check out?  Go to our Facebook page and let us know about it.
We will do our best to find it and report back on it.  We cannot guarantee we'll get to everything, but we will try.
(SHOT Show is HUGE!  Four days is not enough time to see everything in any detail other than a quick run by)

Go to Facebook and let us know if there is something you want us to check out and report back on.

https://www.facebook.com/GunDiva/


-Mez
Dec. 2019

Lessons from Low Light Training

This quarter's training is shooting in low light. I dug out all of my flashlights and spent last night/today charging all of my lights. Seemed like a good time to make sure everything was ready. Thanks to the Year of the Lumen (2018), I have a few to choose from. Any time Greg Ellifritz or Dustin Ellermann posted about a new light, I had to buy it.

Rayovac "The Beast"; Bolder by Anker (x2);
Streamlight ProTac HL-2; Streamlight Microstream USB;
Olight Valkyrie PL-2; SureFire Sidekick

I knew we had some cool stuff planned, so I was pretty excited about tonight's range time. At twilight, I used the Streamlight I keep on my belt to look at something downrange and decided I didn't like the throw. I thought it was too short, so I decided to swap it out for one of the Ankers that I usually just keep in my bag.

When it was my turn to run the stage, I slipped the Anker into my carrier and threw my Streamlight in my bag. I've been practicing with the Anker at the range, since that's what's in my bag, so I thought it would be fine.

I was so wrong. So, so wrong.

What I forgot about the Anker is that it has variable settings and that in order to keep it from cycling through the settings, I had to press the button to turn it on and then let go. Failure to do so, or keeping the button depressed with my thumb will start it to cycle.

I did okay for my first two targets, but when I went to light up my next two, suddenly I had a strobe light. I said bad words and took my shots anyway. But did I remember to definitely turn on and off the light? No, because why would my brain work when it needed to?

When I lit up my next set of targets, I'd cycled to medium power. That was okay, at least the light stream was steady. By this time, I'd remembered to fully depress the on/off button and let go, so my last few targets were easier to shoot.

Ugh.

It was ugly, but I learned a couple of important lessons: 1) don't make a last minute gear change (that should be obvious), and 2) commit to turning on/off the light instead of just using my thumb as a momentary on switch.

I don't have a holster that will accommodate a WML, but I have a really nice Olight that I wanted to try out. Once everyone was done shooting, I attached my Olight and just plinked off a few rounds. I've dry fired with the Olight, but while dry fire is great for practicing fundamentals, I needed some live rounds through. I found that my little Olight really lights up the target beautifully, but in order to activate the light I have to break my grip and really rock my support hand forward. My little girl thumb doesn't reach the switch well.

Again, I didn't commit to turning the light on, instead just used my thumb as a momentary on switch, which worked great for identifying the target, but as soon as the trigger broke and the recoil hit, my thumb lost contact with the switch and I lost my light. I either need to learn to keep my thumb in contact with the switch or hit the button to turn it on and let go.

I'm seeing a pattern here. I have trouble committing with my lights. Push the damn button, turn it on, and then get my damn thumb out of the way.

The one thing I do wish is that there was a way to get more low light practice. I do practice with my lights, but shooting on an already well-lit range with a flashlight is vastly different from shooting in the dark with one. Since I know my problem is not fully turning on the light, that's something I can work on even during the day.

My hope is by practicing the one thing I screwed up so badly, that next month when I shoot at night, I'll see a vast improvement.

[Slobber, Drool]

I saw this recently on the Book of Face.

Viking themed engraving on a 1911 slide. Given that I am roughly 38% Swede, this appeals to me on a genetic level. I don't know how much he charges for this level of work, but I'm guessing it's not enough and more than I can afford. Sigh.

The Politics of Guns: David Hogg proves the need for private gun ownership.

I know you don't believe it, but David Hogg himself just proved why we have the second amendment and why private ownership of guns is mandatory for safety and security. (And why we shouldn't let the government have guns)
Hogg-boy was doing an interview with Chris Hayes of MSN (or is it MSLSD?) and was talking about how todays mass shootings are related to the massacres of the 1800's and linked to white supremacy. I don't understand the link either but it's David Hogg talking, so there is no logic or coherence behind it.
Anyway, Hogg was referencing the massacre of Wounded Knee. Well, the massacre happened because the US government had rounded up a group of indians and WERE CONFISCATING THEIR GUNS when the massacre occurred. He commented how history might be different if the indians were armed.
Gee, ya think? Since we are equating history with modern times, could it be that we today want to keep our guns for the same reason the indians did? To not be murdered by the government, or anyone for that matter.
And the first step to genocide is GUN CONFISCATION! And on top of that, what makes gun confiscation easier? Licensing and Registration of guns!

So let's all thank David Hogg for making our point for us.
I'm glad Hogg-boy is coming around to our point of view.

P.S. to the anti-gunners, here is a pro tip, don't let David Hogg speak. Ever! He is the worst image for your cause.

-Gundude Mez

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/…/david_hogg_we_need_to_r…

Mistaken Couple-dom

I ran into one of my oldest shooting buddies today at the grocery store where he works. I had some things for him, so I ran out to my car to grab the bag of goodies I've been driving around with for months. When I got back in the store, I handed him the bag and gave him a big side hug. One of the customers looked over and said, "that's so sweet, you guys are so cute together!"

I was stunned into silence for a moment, then laughed and said, "thanks, I'll be sure to tell his wife." Robbie said, "and I'll be sure to tell her husband."

I realized she thought I was his wife bringing him lunch and I'm flattered she thought we were a cute couple.

And then I started thinking ... whenever I'm with a male shooting buddy, people assume we're a couple. Always. Doesn't matter which one I'm with: John, Mez, Robbie, Mike, any of them.

So then I started thinking (always a dangerous thing), WHY do people think that I'm "with" a male friend? Is it because they can't wrap their heads around the fact that I can be friends with men?

Or is it because there's an easy (but platonic) intimacy with someone you spend a lot of time with, especially when the time you're spending with them involves deadly weapons? I spend a lot of time with my friends at the range watching them carefully, and vice versa. You get into a rhythm of anticipating what they're going to do or what they're going to need. Shooting can be a very collaborative thing, and I think after spending countless hours and rounds down range that intimacy naturally develops.

All of my shooting buddies pre-date my marriage, so I'm thankful that I have a husband who is not at all bothered by this.

Have you noticed this? Have you and a shooting buddy ever been mistaken for a couple? Why do you think that is?

Frankford arsenal platinum case trimming center

After a recent back surgery, I found myself with a lot of extra time on my hands. When I started feeling better I went out to my reloading bench and looked around. You know what I saw? I saw what a lot of reloaders see way too often, so much empty brass. Looking at the task ahead of me was a little intimidating to say the least.The longest, boring, and meticulous job in all of reloading to me,is deprimming ,sizing and trimming the case and getting it all ready to reload.

After doing it the old-fashioned way for a couple of thousand cases,my hands were so cramped up and sore from holding onto the trimmer and drill that I was about to go crazy. I thought to myself there has to be a quicker easy way to do all of this. After doing some research and looking online I found my answer. Enter the Frankford arsenal platinum case trimming center.

While there are other tools that can do the job just as well each one that I found is caliber specific and cost around the same amount as the Frankford arsenal platinum case trimming center. While it’s not the cheapest reloading tool on the bench it will do almost any bottle neck rifle cartridge that you can think of, and for around $150-$175,and in my mind it’s a steal.

Set up for this trimmer is simple; Just pick the cullet ( 3 come with the machine) that fits halfway down the shoulder and inserts it into the trimmer position, Then pick the bushing ( it comes with 5) that fits the case and put back together.  One very nice feature is that there is a little tool cubby on the top of the machine to hold all the pieces. Trust me, It’s so easy that even I could figure it out. Next you just add the chamfer tools, One for both inside and outside, then add the primer pocket tool and you are all set to go. Adjusting the trimmer for your desired case Length couldn’t be simpler. All you need to do is trim one case the old fashion way then insert it into the case holder and adjust the case until it touches the cutter and tighten the locking ring. Now you can rock and roll. Just save that case for future reference. Now all you have to do is pick out some good music and start plugging away.

By using this machine I was able to trim a little over 7000 cases in just over three days. Each case took less than 10 seconds to trim and chamfer. Without the case trimmer it would have taken me 10 times as long to do them. One nice thing about this prep center as you can position it in three different ways; vertical-meaning the case is up and down while being worked on, flat-meaning that the case is horizontal,Or one that I prefer is that the machine is at a 30° angle to your workbench.The nice thing about which ever way you have it facing is that it will have a good grip due to the rubber feet.The motor seems to me to be pretty good because it doesn’t bog down at all, Even when using it all day long. The only downside that I can see is that they don’t make adapters so you can trim pistol cases. If they did my reloading bench would be much less cluttered. Now all I have to do is go out and buy more primers, powder and bullets.

No Means No. Always.

I think we can all agree on that, right?

But "no means no" is usually associated with sexual assault. One person wants something, another doesn't, and we're all on the no means no bandwagon.

The problem is, though, that we, as a society, don't enforce this across the board. Here's an example that a friend of mine posted, along with her own story of being shamed for not drinking:

Here's the text that accompanies the picture. The gist of it is, people need to take no for an answer, even if it's something "trivial". There were example after example of people who'd been shamed for turning down something on the original post. 

My friend's sharing of the post, along with her own story, brought about many comments; in fact, the friend who posted it even felt the need to say that she does drink, she just didn't want to drink then. That broke my heart. No one should ever have to explain why they don't want to engage in an activity. Many of the comments were helpful excuses to help curb the shaming. Comments with a qualifier, such as "no thanks, I'm driving", "no thanks, I've got to go get my kids". Reading the comments, I got angry. We owe no one an explanation once we say no.

I'll admit, I might be a bit sensitive about the issue, but I truly believe in my heart that no means no and that no is a complete sentence. Period. If I have a visitor, and I offer them food or drink and they tell me no, then that's it. I will usually say, "if you change your mind, just let me know", but I don't shame them. And I certainly don't badger them to change their mind.

A couple of years ago my boss found out my first name, which I don't use. I'm a middle name kid, always have been. I have to use my first name occasionally for things like airplane tickets, because it's my legal name, but it's not the name I use. My boss thought it would be funny to call me by my first name. I told her that my name is my middle name and that I didn't want to be called by my first name. But she thought it was funny and proceeded to continue to call me by my first name, in a van full of co-workers, even after I'd told her not to. Our co-workers rapidly got uncomfortable with her easy dismissal of my no, and my refusal to laugh it off; they were laughing nervously and shifting in their seats every time I corrected her.

She continued to insist on calling me by my first name (and thought it was funny), throughout that day and into the next before I lost my shit and yelled at her in public, in the middle of Temple Square. I'm sure the other tourists loved that. 

I had set a boundary with my no and she continued to trample it, thinking it was funny.

Later that evening, we were at dinner with a co-worker. I ordered an alcoholic beverage, my boss ordered an alcoholic beverage, but our co-worker did not. To me, no big deal. My boss, however, refused to take no for an answer until he explained that as a diabetic, he couldn't drink alcohol. She then proceeded to look at me and say, "wouldn't it be funny if we just slipped him some alcohol one day?"

Here's the deal lady, no means no. 

Those incidents really opened my eyes to how we might say "no means no", but rarely is it believed. In seemingly innocuous situations, saying "no" opens the door for negotiation. If that's the case, is it no wonder that people don't abide by the word?

I think, in order to change anything, we need to start with ourselves, to take an honest look at ourselves. 

• If someone tells us no, do we abide by it?
• Are we making excuses for why we said no? (No is absolutely a complete sentence, though I prefer the more polite, "no, thank you".)
• If we tell someone no and they ignore it, or start badgering us, do we engage in negotiation with them, or do we stand firm in our no?

I've seen memes that say we train people how to treat us. If that's the case, we can change the power of our no. In self defense, we talk a lot about boundaries. Setting them, enforcing them. This is a boundary that we need to enforce at all times if we want to see any change.

Year of the 22. Tikka T1x First Impression

If you watched our post SHOT show videos you know I said 2019, for me, would be the year of the 22.  Well, true to my word, it has started.

I recently purchased a Tikka T1x and here is a real fast first impression of this riffle.

Things I like:

1. Overall fit and finish is excellent.
2. The polymer stock is solid and sturdy.  Not flimsy in any way.  Excellent if you like the all weather capability of a polymer stock.
3. The receiver has the same inlet pattern as its big brother the T3x.  So you can use the same stock for both rifles.
4. 10 round detachable magazine.
5. medium weight barrel with threaded muzzle for your favorite muzzle device.
6. Trigger is amazing for a factory trigger.  User adjustable from 2.5 Lbs - 5 Lbs.  Single stage which means no slack, no creep, just a clean, crisp break.  For a mass produced factory trigger it is one of the best.
7.  Accuracy is excellent.  Using quality ammunition you can get near one hole groups at 25 and 50 yards.  Decent accuracy at 100 yards is also attainable.  The Tikka would be a viable candidate as a 22 trainer for your long range, precision rifle.  (this is what I'm using it for).
8. Bolt throw is only 45 degrees.  So plenty of room to mount any scope you want.


Things I don't like:

1. A little pricey.  In my area it retails for $470.  More than your average 22.  But I do think you get good value for your dollars.
2. Standard 11mm dovetail for scope rings.  This is a European standard but less common here in America.  I would  like to see the factory put on a standard 1913 Picatinny rail.  (Good news is, there are aftermarket options available)
3. The magazine protrudes down below the stock.  I would like to have a flush mounted magazine like the old Ruger 77/22 rifles.  This is mostly a preference than a true negative.
4.  The polymer stock could use more checkering.  It is slick where there is no checkering.
5.  The stock has no provision for an elevated cheek rest when mounting a scope.  You need to add an aftermarket pad to get a good cheek weld to the stock.  Or buy an aftermarket stock.
6.  No option for iron sights.  Though iron sights are going the way of the Dodo bird, it would be nice to have them as an option.


Final Thoughts:

 Would I buy this rifle again?  Yes!  Though a little on the expensive side for a 22, I think you get good value for your dollars.  I see the quality good enough you can pass this down to your children and even grandchildren.

If you are looking for a good general purpose target rifle or a hunting rifle, this is an excellent choice. If you want to build a 22 trainer to match your Tikka T3x, again, this is an excellent choice.

Yes, I do like this rifle.  I'll do a more detailed review later once I have more trigger time with it and make desired upgrades.

Now enjoy some photos of my latest outing with the rifle.


By:
Mez
April 2019

Stock rifle:

Scope:  SWFA fixed 10 power

Shoots well with several brands of 22

At 100 yards, I think this rifle is capable of better groups.  I have shot smaller groups in the past.  

I will experiment with other brands of ammunition and practice more to verify.

I'll also weasel a bit and say the indoor ventilation was running on high and might have caused a few shots to drift.  

A Lesson From The Day Job

I don't talk about specifics from my day job very often. Here especially, and only rarely on my personal blog. I work in the insurance claims industry handling high exposure and litigated commercial liability claims. From time to time, I get assigned to handle claims involving the use of firearms in one form or another. It can be anything from a security guard discharging a gun in self defense to drug deals gone bad to drive by shootings and more.

Yesterday, a claim was assigned to me involving a tragic set of facts. I won't go into too much detail because anyone with more than novice Google Fu skills could probably track it down without too much trouble. Long story short and the lead in to the point of this post, a police officer had to shoot two dogs that had attacked someone.

I was able to meet with my insured this afternoon, and (unusually) there is security video of the event including the shooting. On the plus side, I get to see what happened and when. On the negative side, the incident happened more than 25 yards from where the security camera was mounted making details a little fuzzy (literally).

While I do not know what caliber the officer used, I feel pretty confident in assuming it was some flavor of Glock or Sig 9mm as the majority of the departments in my area issue either Glock 17s or Sig P226s in 9mm. I mention this only to say that the make and caliber of the gun are likely irrelevant given what I saw in the video.

Quick warning to the squeamish, I am about describe what I saw which resulted in the deaths of two dogs. I am a dog lover, and I had to watch it. So, I will do my best to mitigate the imagery.

The officer shot the first dog from a distance of about 5 yards. The first shot was not a killing shot, and the dog started spinning around very quickly. Now, I'm not going to fault the officer for failing to kill the dog on the first shot. I wasn't there, I don't know the officer's experience, etc. What my point here is that the response of the dog to the first shot made all subsequent shots much harder. The second dog, seeing what happened to dog number one, became very agitated and started a spin cycle of its own. I could not tell how many rounds were fired; however, I didn't see a reload involved. So, less than 17 is a safe assumption.

Here are the lessons I would like to offer up in light of this video.

1) Shot placement is everything. Make it count because you might only get one chance. It does not matter how fast you shoot or what caliber you use if you miss the target. Conversely, caliber (within reason) does not matter if you hit the target.
2) Moving targets are harder to hit. This should be self evident to most people, but it bears repeating.
3) Movement buys you time. In this case, the dog could potentially have survived the first shot had it had an avenue of escape and run away. In the self defense context, it's better to be a moving target than a static target.

Rock Island Armory VR80

One of the guns I was really excited about at SHOT Show was the VR80. I bought one as soon as I could find it and brought it home to play. I had a few issues with it, but I'm fairly certain they were GunDiva-caused issues, because I did something I never do - I read the manual. Not only did I read the manual, but I took the dang thing apart and put it back together. I never do that; usually, I get a gun home, take it out of the case and start shooting for the first 1,000 rounds.

I made a little video explaining what I think caused my issues, and it turns out others are having the same problem.



I haven't run the heavier loads through it yet, but I'm fairly certain that now that I've tightened everything down, we just have to make it through the "break in" phase. The manual says it takes about 50 rounds and I only have 10 of the lighter loads through. I had planned on running some more rounds through over the weekend, but didn't get around to it.

Once we're through the break in period, I'll post an update.

Mental Health and Red Flag Laws

Yesterday, I took an Adult Mental Health First Aid course. I signed up for it primarily because of the types of students I encounter in my day job - a lot of them come from a background of trauma and the majority of them are struggling with some sort of mental illness (anxiety, depression, PTSD). I wanted to be able to help them if they were in crisis. The instructor was excellent about reminding us that an 8-hour class does not qualify us to be therapists, but that we could use our training to be the bridge to get someone to professional help. You know, a lot like taking a basic first aid class doesn't make one a physician.

As you know, Colorado is one step closer to turning a proposed bill into a law. I mentioned in our video last week that Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) terrify me, because there's no due process. The onus is on the person from whom the guns were removed to prove that they are not a risk to themselves or others.

So, what does my class yesterday have to do with Red Flag laws? A lot, actually. Repeatedly yesterday we were told that people with mental illness (an illness that impacts their ability to function in a normal way: work, relationships, etc.) are far more likely to be victims of crime, not perpetrators of crime. So passing these bills under the guise of "safety" is crap. The statistics don't support the claim that people with mental illness suddenly "snap" and go on a killing rampage.

One of the things that we were taught to do yesterday was to ask the person, point-blank, if they had any intention of killing themselves or others. Don't sugar-coat it, just ask. Depending on the person's answer, you have options. If they say yes, they plan on killing themselves or others, keep them talking and get them help. Involve the police if necessary. If they say no, ask additional questions, guide them toward professional help.

The problem with the Red Flag laws is that they skip this major step, a step that could go a long way toward getting someone the help they need instead of acting as judge and jury.

I came away from yesterday's class even more against the proposed laws that I was before, but my opinion comes from a place of better education than the people trying to pass the laws. What's scary about that is that it only took one eight-hour class to become better educated about mental illness than the politicians. These laws are nothing more than "feel good" laws so lawmakers can say they're "doing something" to get guns away from dangerous people.

GunDiva's Variety Hour, episode 2

The Politics of Guns: Interesting facts about the Aurora shooting

Another day, another shooting in America.  Yesterday, February 15th, there was a mass shooting in Aurora, Illinois.  (mass shooting being defined as 4 or more people being murdered) An employee who was about to be fired decided he needed to murder his fellow coworkers, for whatever reason.
He also wounded several police officers before he himself was killed by the police.

Link to original article:

Many will see this event as another tragedy that is proof positive we need more gun control.  But, some interesting facts have come to light that show it is not the lack of gun control that is the problem.  But the failure of government that is the problem.

Here is how government failed:

1. The gun was purchased in 2014 in the state of Illinois (OK, not to problematic)
2. Illinois has a state level law that requires you to be licensed and registered BEFORE  you buy a gun.  It is called a FOID (Firearm Owner ID).
3. You must go through a background check in order to get a FOID card.  Though he had several arrests in the past nothing significant that would prevent him from obtaining proper licensing.
4. After he obtained his FOID card and purchased a handgun, he then applied for a concealed carry license.  (this is where things get interesting)
5. During the licensing process for his carry permit, it came to light he had a FELONY assault conviction from 1995 in the state of Mississippi.  HOLY SHIT-SNACKS! HOW DID THIS GUY GET A FOID CARD IN THE FIRST PLACE?
6.  At this point the Illinois State Police revoked his FOID card, which now prohibits him from even possessing any firearms.
7. By court order he was to turn in his gun to the police.  (which he obviously didn't do)

WOW!
So, we have a convicted felon that somehow slipped through the cracks and was allowed to purchase a firearm, even though Illinois has a state level licensing and registration system.
Then you have the failure of government by not actively confiscating his handgun once they learned he was a convicted felon.  And this is the most egregious failure in this whole story.  You would think confiscating a firearm from a known, convicted felon would be cause enough for the police to take action and go confiscate any and all firearms?  Well, guess not.  They relied on the murderers good faith to turn in his gun.
I guess public safety is not really that important to any of the law enforcement agencies of Illinois.  (still feel safe traveling to Illinois?)

Oh, you think this is a one off instance and that we need more gun control.  Well, here are more examples of government failure.

Parkland:
February 14th was the one year anniversary of the Parkland shooting.  The anti-gunners were out in mass screaming for more gun control.  But here are some inconvienient facts about Parkland.
1. The murderer had violent mental problems since kindergarten.
2. He had 33 contacts with the local police for violent outbursts.  And two calls to the FBI about  his violent behavior.  You would think the Coward county Sheriff (not a typo) would at least put him on the no buy list?  But no, they just let it go.
3. He purchased his firearm legally from a licensed dealer with a background check.  Gee, if the Coward county sheriff had done their job, Parkland may have been prevented.

Texas Church murders:
1. The murderer had a felony domestic violence conviction AND was involuntary committed to a psychiatric hospital while serving in the Air Force.
2.  So how did a convicted felony buy a gun at a gun store and pass a background check?
3. Easy, the Air Force, and other military agencies, do not report criminal data to civilian law enforcement.
4.  Government failure!

South Carolina, Black church murders:
1.   This whack job had a felony drug arrest.  Not convicted, he was awaiting trial.
2.  So how did he legally purchase a gun from a licensed dealer and pass a background check?
3. Easy, the arresting police agency filled out the paperwork incorrectly and the data never made it to the NICS data base.

So here you have four instances were convicted (or felony arrest) felons and were able to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer AND pass the mandated background check.  How can this be?
Easy.  Here's the dirty secret no one wants to talk about, especially the anti-gunners.  The NICs database is missing upwards of 30% of the necessary data.  Not all agencies participate in supplying data to NICS.  (The military didn't until after the Texas church shooting).
So how effective will Universal Background Checks be when the database is missing 30% of the data?  Here's a hint, it won't be.  (but is sure will diminish your freedoms just a little bit more)

Why do we need more gun laws and further restrictions when the existing laws are poorly managed by government?  Why should we trust government to manage the new laws when they can't manage the laws they already have?
Now the anti-gunners are screaming for Universal Background Checks, ERPOs (extreme risk protection  orders) and New York state wants to view the last 2 years of your social media to verify you are not a whack job.
No thanks.  I'm not interested in giving up more freedom because the government (at all levels) can't do their job correctly.

I'm all for keeping guns away from the criminally minded and the mentally deranged.  But I'm not willing to give away all my freedom to do so.  I do not exist by the governments permission.  The government exists by my permission.   Rights are things we are born with, not granted to us by government or a piece of paper.

Bottom line:
Let's make the existing laws work FIRST then and only then should we re-evaluate and modify existing laws or pass new laws IF and only IF the existing laws no longer work.
We should also consider repealing dumb and ineffective laws.  (such as the 1934 NFA act.  especially since we now have the power of the internet and background checks)

No new laws are necessary.  When the anti-gunners scream we need more laws, you now have evidence that no we don't.

Time to push back and interject some logic and reason into the gun debate.



By: Mez
Feb. 2019

SHOT Show 2019 - innovative technology

The good thing about SHOT Show, it is not just about firearms.  You do find other interesting items.

Here are two items we found.

First up, Nexoptic.  What these guys are doing is making electronic binoculars.  You have the optical clarity of traditional glass binoculars with the modern convenience of additional digital zoom and the ability to take photos and video.

Unfortunately I didn't take photos of it, so I'll just link to their website and you can see it for yourself.

www.nexoptic.com  


The next item is something that really caught my attention.  Night vision and thermal imagers are all the rage now.  Everyone is coming out with their own version of this technology.  The biggest problem is the image is either that green color (for night vision) or various color scales for thermal.  You get a general image but not a lot of detail.
Well, how about if you have a full color image?  That would be useful.
In comes SiOnyx. They do just that.  Using a different sensor technology, they have created a monocle device that gives you a full color image.
It can be used as a stand alone device or attached to the picatiny rail on your rifle.

I've been looking for a good night vision device and this may be it.  Pricing is not outrageous either.  Starting at $799, it is very cost competitive with the competition.  I think you get a lot for your money.

Again, no pictures, but really innovative technology.  Go check them out.

www.sionyx.com



P.S.
I know, boring post.  no pictures.
Don't worry, better posts to come with pictures.


By: Mez
Feb. 2019

SHOT Show 2019 - Fun with customization.

in todays firearms world, everyone and their brother, sister, cousin, etc. builds an AR platform rifle.  If you buy from a reputable company you will get a good product. So how does a company differentiate themselves from everyone else?  Go custom configurations.  Something the big companies are not doing.  (But beware, doing custom work such as this is not cheap.  Fun, but not cheap)
Here are pictures from a couple of companies we came across.  Enjoy.


First up is Strike Industries.  This is my favorite of their rifles.

Next up is F1 Firearms.  These guys are more competition oriented as they offer skeletonized receivers.  Not the best for keeping dirt and stuff out of your firearm.  But it does make for a lightweight rifle.  

One of the options they offer is multi-color hard-coat, multi-color anodization.  Which makes for a beautiful, customized rifle.  

If you are tired of the plain old black, try a bit of color customization.


By:  Mez
Feb. 2019

We're Trying Something New

We had so much fun with the Facebook live videos last month, we decided to try our hands at doing a video every couple of weeks. We're not video people, obviously, but thought we'd give it a go.



Let us know if there's anything you'd like to see, learn about, well ... almost anything.

Back to Real Life and What to Expect from GunDivas in 2019

I'd like to say we made it all back from Vegas unscathed, but that would be a lie. Both Jay and Mez have been felled with the SHOT Show plague. I haven't seen Jay this sick since he had Influenza A over Christmas six years ago, and that's saying something. I've only texted with Mez, but it sounds like he has the same thing: fever, chills, cough, and a general desire to die. I'm relatively certain that what they have is not Influenza, but instead is bronchitis. So far - knock wood - I'm still healthy and showing no signs of the plague that they caught. I'm counting myself very lucky, considering I just spent a week with a bunch of strangers spreading their germies around, and sharing a house with the boys who ended up getting really, really sick.

We had a lot of fun doing the Facebook Live end-of-day reviews and someone suggested we do it more frequently. At first, I was resistant, but mostly because I hate the camera. However, the more I thought about it, the more the idea grew on me. In talking with Jay and Mez, they're on board with doing some sort of video series. It won't be on FB live, but will be something we record and put up on our YouTube channel (Yes, we have one. No, I haven't posted anything in three years.), with cross posting here and on the FB page. We have some technical things to work out (as well as a schedule), but look for bi-monthly videos in the near future. I have several writers for the blog, and I hope to be able to bring them on to the videos as well, which will take some coordinating.

For years, I've been collecting books that Greg Ellifritz at Active Response Training has recommended. (I have also shamelessly stolen some of the shooting drills he shares.) But collecting them has been all I've done. I buy the book and put it on my TBR (to be read) pile. My pile is getting out of control. Just like being a gun owner and a shooter are not the same thing, buying books and reading them are two different critters. It's my goal to get through my TBR by the end of the year.

These are the books I have piled on my nightstand. There are more mixed in my bookshelf and in my Kindle library that I need to read or re-read. In an attempt to hold myself accountable, I'll share what I learned from each book once I've finished it.

We all still have real jobs, so the changes here will be minimal, but our hopes are that we'll be able to post on a more consistent basis and continue to share things that catch our eyes.

SHOT Show, Show Floor, Day 4

The last day of the show is a mixture of sadness and relief. Sadness that the show is over, and relief that the show is over. Our bodies are probably rejoicing - or will be once they have some time to recover.

So, in true lazy fashion (just like I've been doing all week instead of posts with substance), here are some pictures of our last day. There are actual posts forthcoming, just not today.

The non-tactical guns will go in here

The tactical guns will live in here.

CRKT Provoke MSRP $200.00

This will be my EDC knife

Our interview with MoJo 5.0

F1 Firearms

Mez's turn at Geissele's Plinko game

Not a bad prize - a knife from Geissele

SHOTShow 2019, Show Floor, Day 3

We're still alive. Suffering from SHOTShow fatigue (not to be confused with the SHOT plague), but hanging in there.

We saw some cool things, talked about a ton on the FB live (be sure to check it out if you haven't already), and took a few pictures. However, I'm not sure we took many pictures of things we talked about in our FB live. We're not firing on all cylinders right now.

Our youth shooters are our future, be sure to check them out.

A great way to break the monotony of aisle after aisle walking

Squirrel moment - not on the treasure map

I could have played with this all day ...

... but a salesman came up and ruined it ...

... probably for the best ...

...I would have used it for nefarious purposes

I might have to buy this :)

Brownell's Retro AR-10

Pantac USA

Savage Fox

Savage Rascals

Striker Industries' Deadpool rifle

Modeling my LaRue ring with Mark LaRue