PG.

44
ISSUE 13

PG. 70

GRAY MAN
IN KABUL
FIGHTING WITH A
LITTLE ONE
AT YOUR SIDE
RECOGNIZING
BEHAVIORAL CUES
TRAINING SOLO VERSUS
TRAINING IN GROUPS
DO’S AND DON’TS
27 ISSUE 13
DISPLAY UNTIL 7/16/2019
USA $8.99
CAN $9.99 OF USING COVER
SKILLS AND DRILLS TARGET
0 74470 40383 8
PG. 14 NEW HOLSTER OPTIONS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
13
FEATURES DEPARTMENTS
30
30 COLT KING COBRA 6 ON THE COVER
The Snake Resurrected
8 EDITOR’S LETTER
36 BEYOND THE T-WALLS
On Being the Gray Man in Kabul 14 UNCOVERED
44 TINY LEGION 16 CRAP SHOOT 36
44
SIG’S Popular P938 Pocket Pistol Gets the
High-End Legion Treatment 18 OPTIONS
52 NOT YOUR 22 EVERYMAN
YM
M AN
GRANDDAUGHTER’S AR-15 EVERYDAY
YDAY CARRY
Using a 12-inch Big Horn Armory 500 Auto
Max for Defense? 100 SKILLSS & DRILLS
56 FLASHBANG COMBATIVES 102 HANDSS ON
Choosing and Using Handheld Lights for

64
Self-Defense

CZECH YOURSELF…
106 GOINGG HOT
52
The CZ P10 S Puts Full-Sized Features in a
Palm-Sized Package
70
70 SCCY’S THE LIMIT

56 64
You Shouldn’t Need to be Well-Heeled to
Go Heeled

76 THE ARMED GUARDIAN

Considerations for Fighting With a Little
One at Your Side

82 USING COVER

76 82
Lessons From the Special Operations
Community

88 GET YOUR LEARN ON

Training Solo Versus Training in Groups 88 94
94 LOUDER THAN WORDS
Behavioral Cues Can Get You Out of the Fight FIREARM SAFETY
Before You Get Into it CONCEALMENT reminds you to be safe:
1. Treat every gun as if it were loaded.
2. Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.
4. Be aware of your target’s foreground, and what
PRODUCT DISCLAIMER lies beyond it.
Prices and details for products and services All content in CONCEALMENT is safely and
featured in CONCEALMENT are set by the professionally photographed in a closed studio or
manufacturers, retailers, and agencies, and are range. Do not attempt to recreate any photographs
subject to change without notice. depicted in this magazine.

4 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
ON THE COVER
1 KNIFE 4 PISTOL

COVER PHOTO BY KENDA LENSEIGNE

TOPS KNIVES COLT
RAPID STRIKE KING COBRA
topsknives.com colt.com
MSRP: $145 MSRP:$899

2 WATCH 5 SPEED STRIP

BRAVO COMPANY USA SAFARILAND
BCM MK15 SPEED STRIPS
TRITIUM WATCH safariland.com
(LIMITED EDITION)
MSRP:$9.50
bravocompanyusa.com
MSRP:$595

3 SPEEDLOADER
SAFARILAND
SPEEDLOADER – COMP II
safariland.com
MSRP:$14

6 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 4

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 7
EDITOR’S LETTER

W
elcome to the 13th installment of RECOIL’s CONCEAL- and supremely entertaining article on the new 500 Auto Max may
MENT Magazine. 2019 brings with it a Federal legisla- have resulted from a Walter Sobchak fever dream. Tom wrings out
ture emboldened by a wave of unheralded gun control the new CZ P-10 S, and I get to share my newfound appreciation
action at the state level. We’re bracing for national level for little 1911s after spending some quality time with SIG’s new
confiscation efforts disguised as red flag laws and wait- P938 Legion. Contributor Tamara Keel challenged SCCY’s latest to
ing period bills shrewdly sold as suicide prevention measures, with a a 2,000-round evaluation, and her unflinching report lays plain our
goal of hindering gun sales to the point gun shops are driven out of allegiance to you, our reader.
business. And, there’s renewed interest in assault weapon bans that It’s not all about buying guns, though. So, you’ve got a deep dive
use doe-eyed school children to demonize America’s most popular in the way our nation’s finest warriors use cover from none other
rifle — as well as the people that own them. than retired Special Forces Sergeant Major Dan Brokos. We’ve got
Write and call your state and local delegations, keep an eye on lessons on protecting your kids and getting the most from your train-
legislative calendars, and show up at hearings. Most of all, recog- ing. And, because fighting is always the last option, we asked our
nize that our opposition is taking advantage of fissures and stoking been-there-done-that contributors how they keep a low profile in the
factional infighting among us, using wedge issues to divide hunters, most challenging environments and how they read body language.
home- and self-defenders, competitors, preppers, and any other The whole staff of RECOIL’s CONCEALMENT is working hard to
social divisions that separate gun owners. Find common ground and bring you the best look at the tools and training meant to protect you
support each other, no matter what you use guns for. and those in your charge.
That’s enough soapboxing. We’ve got a great issue lined up for
your reading pleasure. Our gun reviews cover a broad range of
wants and needs. Iain’s look at Colt’s new King Cobra will have you
wondering if revolvers are making a comeback. Dave’s informative

8 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 WELCOME
W L
TO THE FOLD
Fold the KelTec™ Sub2000™ in half and put it in your backpack. It makes climbing, hiking and camping
far less cumbersome. Unfolded, it’s adjustable, accepts most popular handgun magazines and disas-
sembles without tools for easy cleaning. Fire it and its reliable accuracy is sure to win you over.
Innovation. Performance. KelTec. See more at KelTecWeapons.com.
©2019 Kel-Tec CNC Industries, Inc
 Editor-in-Chief/ Iain Harrison
Editor/ Rob Curtis
Features Editor/ Dave Merrill
Senior Editor/ Tom Marshall
Editor // Online/ Candice Horner
Contributing Editor/ Steven Kuo
Network Manager/ John Schwartze
Director, Video Production/ Calvin Coulthard
Photography Studio Manager/ Jorge Nuñez
Contributors/ Dan Brokos, Jay Canter, Alexander Crown, Chris Green-
field, Tamara Keel, Melody Lauer, Kenda Lenseigne, Muzzle Flash
Media, Blake Rea, Kris Southards, Miles Vining, Patrick Vuong
Special Thanks/ Angeles Armory, Bullet Ranch

Art Direction & Design.

Senior Art Director/ Gene Coo
Art Director/ Sarah Lampert
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which there can be no warranty or respon-
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10 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 2
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
UNCOVERED
ED

4
3

1 2 3 4
WALKER’S GAME EAR XS SIGHT SYSTEMS INC. LOWA COLUMBIA RIVER KNIFE & TOOL
SILENCER BLUETOOTH DXT2 BIG DOT MADDOX GTX LO TF PROVOKE
www.walkersgameear.com www.xssights.com www.lowaboots.com www.crkt.com
NOISE REDUCTION RATING: 23 decibels Most popular models
COMPATIBLE WITH: COLOR: Black, Wolf OVERALL LENGTH: 7.25 inches
from Glock, SIG SAUER, Smith & Wesson,
MSRP: $300 MSRP: $195 MSRP: $200
and Springfield
NOTES: At three C-notes, these electronic NOTES: You can wear these LOWA to the pub, NOTES: Folding knives have existed for some
earbuds are a pretty penny — especially when MSRP: $132 at the workplace, or onto a hiking trail — and 2,500 years, so it takes something revolutionary
compared to a $1 package of foam earplugs. NOTES: What’s one of the first modifications to you’d never look out of place. They’re designed to blow people’s minds in the knife world.
While “foamies” are quite good at attenuating a stock handgun? Swapping out the factory as duty shoes for undercover law enforcement, The Provoke is doing just that. How? Custom
noises, they don’t discriminate: they block sights for something a bit more user-friendly. but could work for almost any application that knife-maker Joe Caswell’s innovative karambit
out loud and soft sounds alike. The Silencer Enter the DXT2 Big Dot from XS Sight Systems requires lightweight footwear, trail-worthy doesn’t swing open on a pivot like most
Bluetooth, on the other hand, attenuates Inc. As the name implies, it features a large qualities, and adaptable aesthetics. The Enduro folders do. Instead, your index finger grabs
loud noises (like gunfire) but amplifies soft glow dot on the front sight that contrasts Evo outsole has a heel brake and aggressive the retention ring and your thumb nudges the
ones (like whispers). This lets you hold a against the tritium bar in the V-notch rear lugs for traction without being overly bulky. The upper crossbar, sending the D2-tool-steel
conversation on the range without screaming sight, providing the user with a “dot the i” dual density DynaPU midsole and PU Monowrap blade lunging downward. It’s looks almost like
and allows you to hear what’s creeping around sight picture that’s easy to acquire under upper offer stability, support, and shock a claw coming out of a tiger’s paw — if said
at night, be it your teen sneaking out at night or duress and still visible even if your focus is absorption. Up top, a one-pull lacing system tiger were a Transformer that is. Practitioners of
something more nefarious. Plus, these earbuds downrange. The convex yellow dot absorbs gives you a fast fit with evenly distributed martial arts like silat and kali might not like its
have Bluetooth technology that lets you listen light then glows in low-light situations, even tightening. Plus, it features a waterproof yet ergonomics, two-handed closure, or its reverse-
to music or make a call on your smartphone. before it’s dark enough to see the tritium dot breathable lining, letting you hit the range on a grip-only design. But most everyone else will
Comes with integrated lithium battery and a and bar. Meanwhile, the rear sight ledge has rainy day or cut through a stream during your be in awe of Caswell’s futuristic take on this
USB charging dock. just enough of a lip to aid in one-handed slide backcountry run. ancient Indonesian weapon.
manipulations. Made in the USA.

14 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 6

8
7

5 6 7 8
HORNADY LEAD FAUCET TACTICAL 5.11 TACTICAL GUNTEC USA
2-GUN KEYPAD VAULT LFT GLOCK 19/17/22 (+ 2) QUEST PANTS AR15 9MM MAGWELL
www.hornady.com TACTICAL BASE PAD 511tactical.com ADAPTER BLOCK
EXTERIOR DIMENSIONS: 12.7 x 9.0 x 8.8 inches www.leadfaucettactical.com COLOR: Kangaroo, Lunar, Major Brown, www.guntecusa.com
COLOR: Black, FDE, Military Brown Ranger Green COMPATABILITY: Colt Style 9mm SMG mags
INTERIOR DIMENSIONS: 11.4 x 8.6 x 6.3 inches
Glock generation 1-4, G17/19/22/34/35. Gen
FIT: MSRP: $75 MSRP: $90
MSRP: $149
5 mags fit with gen 1-4 magazine insert. NOTES: The new Quest pants from 5.11 Tactical
NOTES: Hornady’s new 2-Gun Keypad Vault offers NOTES: Before there were 33-round Glock mags,
MSRP: $40 feature a great new soft-touch stretch twill there were 32-round Colt SMG mags. And,
speedy access to a couple of pistols using a
fabric. Comprised of 80% cotton, 18% polyester, thanks to the law of expiring patents, “Colt-
programmable code entered on a quick-entry NOTES: LFT’s +2 base pad replaces stock Glock
and 2% elastane, they’re very comfortable, style” mags are a thing — they’re affordable
keypad. The vault has a removable shelf, base pads with a rugged one-piece aluminum stretchy, and durable, and don’t make you feel and fairly easy to find. So, it makes sense to
allowing some customization of the space for extension that holds a couple extra rounds. like you’re wearing a tarp like many synthetic- use something like Guntec’s new magwell
pistols, valuables, or a combination of the two. It snaps into place on the mag body like the heavy fabrics. The Quest pants are discreet, adapter for your 9mm AR-pistol build project. It
Tap a four- to six-digit code on the edge-lit LED standard pad and locks in place with a set but multiple materials and additional stitching slips into the magwell of a standard AR lower
keypad and the springloaded door snaps open screw. It uses the original magazine spring, give a hint of its enhanced functionality. They and locks in place with a few set screws.
instantly. For additional security, the 16-gauge and its shape offers plenty of purchase area to feature a running gusset, articulated knees, The aluminum body contains steel inserts
steel box has pre-drilled holes to screw it rip a stuck mag out of a gun. The pad’s bezel is and eight pockets, including hidden pockets, for durability. And, while there are plenty of
down and an audible alarm mode that also tapered, and we found it fit in both stock Glocks hook-and-loop fasteners on the back pockets, other Colt mag adapters for ARs, Guntec’s
locks out the keypad for a time after someone and tricked out guns fitted with accessory and pockets for your smartphone. Front pockets, superpower is price. This guy is about a half to
attempts to guess the entry code. It runs on magwell funnels. It’s an easily installed option belt loops, and the back hem are all reinforced. two thirds the cost of its competitors.
AAA batteries and has a keyed lock override for that adds considerable utility without adding And additional panels with even-stretchier
access without battery power. a lot of bulk. fabric provide all the flexibility you need to
channel your inner Jean-Claude Van Damme.

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 15
CRAP SHOOT

I
t cannot be argued that every
person has a right to self-defense.
Our “Crap Shoot” articles deviate
from our normal Ferrari-esque
weapons and bring it back down to
the fact not everyone is willing or able
to drop $500-plus on a self defense
tool. We realize this fact and want to
cater for those that have the will to
defend, but not necessarily the means.

The Poor Enter Taurus, a company most

known for a revolver that had sex
Man’s Everyday with a little shotgun and ended

Compact 9mm up bad at everything. Jokes aside,

Taurus has been producing firearms
BY ALEXANDER CROWN since 1941 and have a wide vari-

16 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
ety of pistols and revolvers in their For less experienced shooters who back is a better option. Well on this
product line. To answer today’s call don’t have the grip strength to pistol it is the only option. The slide
of polymer, compact, double-stacked combat recoil, the G2c helps with release is near impossible to mash
9mm pistols, Taurus offers the G2c. a pinky extension on the magazine down to release the slide.
With a street price of just at $200, base, for a full grip.
we had to check one out and see if CONCLUSION
it’s a viable self-defense tool and THE AWFUL The Taurus G2c is not a sexy gun
what our money actually gets us. We experienced one malfunc- — you won’t show it off to friends
tion in the first 50 rounds of Blazer and brag. The G2c is a cheap self
THE AWESOME 115-grain ammunition, in the form of defense tool that incorporates nu-
Taurus’s quality has always been a stovepipe. New guns can be a little merous features found on pricier op-
suspect over the years. With this finicky out of the box, so we don’t tions. To hit a price point like $195,
gun being brand new, we had little count this as truly “awful.” The next corners must be cut somewhere.
reason to worry about the finish and 100 rounds experienced no issues. In this case the materials will be
wear. The pistol includes many fea- Accuracy with the G2c is acceptable rougher and potentially softer. This
tures rarely found on budget guns, for man-sized targets at 25 yards leads to gun that wears quickly and
such as adjustable rear sight, acces- with Hornady Critical Defense ammu- may not have the life span for a high
sory rail, 12-round capacity, and it nition and the Blazer plinking ammo. round count. With a universal holster
compares favorably against com- Lastly, the slide release is extremely
mely like the
th
h e Ultimate
Ultimaa te Hybrid
H y b rid
d Tech
Technolo
Techn
Technolo-
hn olo
olo
petitors’ weights at 22 ounces, un-
n- stiff. We’ve all heard the total tripe
triipe gies,
gi
ies, this is a great option
optiion for an
loaded. The magazine catch is also
so that fine motor skills are impaired
impaired entry-level, self defense handgun
reversible, and that took Glock years
ears during
duri
ing high stress, and the slide re- and should serve the user well as
to offer. If manual safeties are your
ur lease shouldn’t be used. Those who long as they practice. But definitely
The sli
slide
i de contours are
thing, this pistol’s is easily accessed
sed espouse that sentiment advocate shockingly
shockii ngly sexier than don’t shoot competi
competitions
itions with
wiith iitt
by the thumb and relatively smooth
th reaching over the slide and pulling it
it the price would indi
indicate
i cate every weekend.
with a positive feel. The magazines
eess
are Brazilian and have a smooth
uniform finish and release from the
he
frame quickly and with force. Thee
texture on the frame is aggressive,
ee,,
almost too much so for our supplee
hands, but if extra stippling is your
ur
thing this pistol comes with it.

THE OK
The trigger on the G2c is ratherr
gritty. With the gun being new, it’s
’s
possible the grittiness will wear
down over time, but we don’t think
nk TAURUS
the standard owner will be putting
g G2C
that many rounds downrange. Thee www.taurususa.com
ergonomics on the pistol are not
PURCHASED FROM::
exceptional, but acceptable. The fin- IDAHO GUNS AND OUTDOORS
ish is most certainly not on par with
ith CALIBER:: WEIGHT MAGAZINE
UNLOADED:: CAPACITY::
more expensive offerings and does
ess
9MM
show small wear marks more quickly.
ckly.
kly. PARABELLUM 22 OUNCES 12 + 1 ROUNDS
The size of the gun makes it LENGTH:: HEIGHT:: BARREL:: PRICE PAID:

controllable with self defense

6.3 5.1 3.2
ammo and recoil is manageable. INCHES INCHES INCHES $195
C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 17
OPTIONS
1
1791 GUNLEATHER
BH2.1
1791gunleather.com
Various models from Glock, Heckler & Koch, Ruger, SIG SAUER,
FITS:
Smith & Wesson, Springfield, Taurus, Walther, and more
MSRP: $100
NOTES: The BH2.1 is a part of 1791 Gunleather’s Project Stealth lineup, which is the first
to combine “the comfort of leather and the extreme durability of carbon fiber,” according
to the company. In our experience, carbon fiber isn’t always durable. Depending on the weave,
this space-age material can chip and scratch quite easily and, while its strength-to-weight ratio is
quite high, can crack rather than bend.
Fortunately, the Carbitex patented CX6 carbon fiber in the BH2.1 is flexible, not just for increased resilience, but 2
also to conform to a wide range of popular handguns, from Glocks to SIGs. Plus, it’s bonded to 100-percent U.S. heavy
CROSSBREED HOLSTERS
native steerhide — not just glued together as an afterthought — so the OWB holster feels like one solid unit that’s
quite comfortable to carry for long periods of time. FREEDOM-CARRY IWB HOLSTER
The only quibble we had was when we jammed our S&W M&P Shield 9mm in too deeply; the mag release got crossbreedholsters.com
pushed inside the mouth of the holster, disengaging the lock and loosening our magazine. Realizing this, we didn’t
Various models from CZ, Glock, Heckler & Koch, Ruger, SIG SAUER,
FITS:
seat our gun so aggressively thereafter and didn’t have any problems with our magazines or with overall retention.
Smith & Wesson, Springfield, Taurus, Walther, and more
MSRP:: Starting at $64.50
NOTES: The Freedom-Carry strikes a balance between versatility and a slim
comf
comfortable carry. Its Kydex pocket handles full-size guns outfitted with
lights, lasers, and slide-mounted red-dots, while its comfortable leather
lights
backing
backi i has an L-shape that keeps your pistol’s frame and slide from
touching your body without adding too much bulk to the whole package.
touch
The only gripe we have is that it has only one belt clip, so the holster
Th
could shift slightly depending on your carry position, belt setup, and type
of body
bo movement (e.g. sitting versus hauling gear out of your truck).
Still,
Stii ll, tthis CrossBreed holster performs well and rides comfortably in most
non-yoga positions.
non-y
The Freedom-Carryy hhas
Th as three leather options and five color choices
choii ces
f th
for thee Kydex, iincluding
ncluding FDE and Tiffany Blue. Meant for strong side,
cross-draw,
cross ss-draw, or appendi
appendixi x carry, this IWB holster features a locki
locking
i ng clip
clii p
design.
desig gn. But for an additional $5, you can get a J-Hook or a V-cli
V-clip.
i p.

18 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 3 4
COMP-TAC VICTORY GEAR SAFARILAND HOLSTERS
EV2 HOLSTER 575 SLIM GLS PRO-FIT
comp-tac.com HOLSTER
FITS: P CZ, Glock, Heckler & Koch, Ruger, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson safariland.com
MSRP: $57 Glock 43, Springfield XDS and Smith &
FITS:
Wesson M&P Shield 9mm, .40, .45
NOTES: Looking for a simple, tuckable AIWB option for
your compact pistol? The EV2 carries remarkably MSRP: $55
securely using only a single, over-the-belt nylon clip NOTES:Security is the name of the game with
that snaps over the belt for easy donning and doffing Safariland’s 575 GLS IWB series. The newest
without the need for unsightly belt unbuckling. version is slimmed down and accommodates
While some AIWB rigs feature a wide belt clip to aid in a few popular subcompacts, though, the Sig
rotational stability, the EV2’s clip is pretty narrow. We view this P365 is disappointingly not on the fit list. The
as a benefit since it reduces belt loop interference and allows it to 575 Slim uses the company’s GLS retention
ride almost anywhere on the belt line between 12 and 2 o’clock. Despite system that locks the pistol into the holster
the single, narrow belt clip, the holsters is very stable thanks to outboard tension applied by hooking the trigger guard. Grabbing a handful of the grip, as you would when drawing
to the inside of the belt using Comp-Tac’s version of a claw strut which they call the naturally, puts pressure on the release pad and seamlessly releases the trigger guard hook.
Comp-Tac Kick. The belt loop has two ride height positions and a few degrees of rotation The wide belt clip, combined with a good gun belt, provides good stability whether
adjustment, so you can further tune the grip angle for concealment or draw efficiency. worn up front outboard. Comfort is addressed admirably by a fully rounded body, enclosed
We found the EV2 comfortable and stable, and unlike some competitors, the Comp- muzzle, and tall sweat shield and the deeply cut top leaves plenty of room for a slide-
Tac doesn’t half-ass the trigger cover. It covers the trigger guard like a condom on our mounted RDS. The 575 loses points, though, when it comes to adjustability. You can rotate
Sig P365, leaving no chance for something to work its way in. the belt clipp for presentation
p angle,
g , but you
y can’t change
g the ride height.
g

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 19
EDC
The Ruger® EC9s™ comes with no gimmicks, rebates or mail-in

offers for gift cards... just the rugged, reliability of the striker-

fired LC9s®, now with integral sights and a no-hassle price

point that won’t break the bank. The Ruger® Security-9™

is an affordable, rugged, mid-sized pistol that provides

everyday security in the perfect caliber, size and price point.

NOW STANDS FOR
EVERYDAY CHOICES

WHY CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM

WHEN YOU CAN HAVE BOTH?

RUGER.COM © 2018 Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. 011118

EVERYMAN EDC A Look at What the Average Armed Citizen Carries
COMPILED AND EDITED BY THE RECOIL STAFF

KITA www.facebook.com/180FT/ Profession ally stays in my purse or backpack so that

BUSSE
Shooting Coach it is always within reach. This is not a good
idea with a gun, but if I get separated from
Job title my Gerber, I can live with that. I’ve used it to
Owner, 180 Firearms Training, LLC cut off the shoe of a woman with a gunshot
wound to apply a tourniquet to her ankle.
Describe Your Working Environment
I am a movement coach for competitive ESS Crossbow
level shooters and teach fundamentals to I’m currently using military-grade bal-
small groups for my own company, 180 listic eyewear, the ESS Crossbow. I like
Firearms Training, LLC. it because it’s affordable, it works, and it
doesn’t obscure my peripheral vision. There
How does your work environment is also an option for bendable arms that
affect your EDC? don’t apply pressure to the sides of the
I spend the majority of my time on the head, which is great for under a hat, muffs,
road by myself, whether it be driving or fly- or for those who are headache prone.
ing. As a woman traveling the world alone,
it is of the utmost importance that I have Keepers Concealment Short Errand
the ability to protect myself. I can use the clip with anything from jeans
with a carry belt to yoga pants without. It’s
Describe your EDC items comfortable and doesn’t come into contact
SIG SAUER P365 with my leg. I like the idea of kydex cover-
In selecting a firearm for EDC, I was looking ing the trigger guard for safety as opposed
for something compact enough to hide on to a soft holster.
my small frame, but with a decent capac-
ity and grip size. I went with the SIG P365 Mean Gene Leather belt
because it can carry up to 13 rounds, it Mean Gene Leather makes excellent carry
fits my hands well, and I can reliably hit a belts that are firm and durable. It doesn’t
target accurately at speed. It was a good fit stretch out easily like other belts do and
for me and my body type. has an easy release buckle.

Streamlight ProTac 2L task light Explain your everyday-carry philosophy

I carry a Streamlight ProTac 2L task light, I carry praying that I will never need
or something similar that’s slim with a to draw my pistol, and my primary form
clip to easily attach to my front pocket or of self-defense is avoidance and de-
belt. It turns on with the push of a button escalation.
in case my other hand is occupied. What I carry on my person rather than in my
I usually end up using this for is looking purse, car, etc., because I can be separat-
under the hood of a car, locating items in ed from those things. I can’t be separated
the dark, or lighting my path. from myself. It is important to carry as an
everyday lifestyle, because if I don’t have
Gerber multitool my gun the one time I need it, then I will
Due to wardrobe restrictions, the Gerber usu- never need it again.

22 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 2
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
Profession Minimalist Knife
Technical advisor, athlete, stuntper- Great size, and I have a small sheath
son, and model for it.

Describe your working environment RATS TQ

Discreet and high paced. Environ- Controversial, but minimal and fast for
ments are subject to change due me to have on-body carry. If you can
to national locations. Sometimes, carry an SOF TQ, a wide SOF TQ, or a
I’m even just sitting in my college CAT TQ (North American Rescue makes
classes. Usually clothed normally, but great ones), that tourniquet setup is
thanks to innovative companies I can better for the body and technically bet-
use my functional gear clothing and ter to use. I have three tourniquets (not
appear normal. RATS) in my truck at all times in my
personal med response bag I have built
How does your work environment over the years.
affect your EDC?
My work environment is always chang- Lipstick
ing and is all over the United States, I use it daily — plump the lips.
so I like my gear to be as versatile
as my days and minimal. I travel a Explain your everyday-carry philosophy
lot so it’s important to me to have No one cares. At the end of the day you
items I can always carry that take up should know how to save yourself and
a small amount of space. I would love possibly others, if you can help and
to carry more, but make do with what you’re in the right position to do so.
you can. Train and train again. Go to shoot-
ing competitions and learn from
Describe your EDC items established instructors where you
Smith & Wesson Shield 9mm fumble and suck at proficiency with
Stippled grip, stock trigger (need to your firearms of choice. If you have a
change that one day ... ha), and Tru- family, you should be able to protect
Glo night sights; two magazines with them and, because we live in the USA,
TTI Magazine Extension basepads; we can protect lives and our homes
Critical Defense hollow points by Hor- with whatever tools we deem necessary.
nady; NeoMag extra mag clip/holster Learn medical assistance for those in
emergency situations. Time is of the
StealthGear USA appendix holster essence and very valuable in grave situ-
Varies depending on clothing style. ations. I share many techniques on a
Works in almost all IWB positions. I daily basis with friends and family and
mostly use appendix or 4 o’clock. through my students in my courses.

Optional Hidden
Heat women’s
holster
Velcro-tightened
and great for
concealed carry
without a belt, i.e.

JACQUELINE
yoga pants, skirts,
etc., very slim,

CARRIZOSA
and easy to use in
multiple outfits.

Cheap ASP light

I got it a few www.jacquelinecarrizosa.com
years ago; great
LED light, super
bright for its size.

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 2
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 23
EVERYMAN EDC
CHARR CEE
The G43 is a lot easier to
conceal, and I usually carry
this on me with an IWB
holster or with the Miss Con-
www.cctactics.com
cealed Hidden Heat holster
when I’m wearing pencil
Profession skirts or professional attire.
Healthcare Recruiter/PI
Spyderco folding knife with
Describe your working a stainless steel blade
environment My Spyderco knife is typi-
I’m out in the field a lot, so cally carried on me if I’m
it’s important to always be wearing pants or jeans,
vigilant and prepared for though a lot of times it’s
any situation. I’m always carried in my purse.
out dealing with the public,
whether it’s doing seminars Jord watch
with our local Bass Pro I can’t go anywhere without
Shops or a lot of commu- a watch.
nity involvement events.
Sephora liquid lipstick in
How does your work Burnt Sienna
environment affect Sephora liquid lipstick,
your EDC? because a girl still has to
Depending on what outfit have that balance of being
I am wearing and where a badass yet feminine.
I’ll be, I’ll choose between
a G43 or G19. My Glock Explain your everyday-carry
43 is easier to conceal philosophy
than my Glock 19 due to I believe a woman should
my size. I carry on a daily be able to protect herself
basis, because I refuse to and not depend on a man.
be a victim. It’s imperative that we con-
tinue to train with our EDC.
Describe your EDC items I’m exercising my American
Glock 43 + Miss Concealed rights, the right to keep
Hidden Heat Gun holster and bear arms.

24 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 2
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 KEVIN ESTELA
Profession tor at the Wilderness Learning Center,
High school teacher, owner/head in- I’ve carried a handkerchief in my back
structor at Estela Wilderness Educa- pocket as a flexible fabric tool with
tion, writer/photographer 101 uses. It is a pressure bandage,
www.kevinestela.com
potholder, flexible weapon (with
Describe your working environment weight attached), head wrap, and
I work in a public urban high school indispensable EDC item.
where weapons are prohibited. I can’t
leave items in my vehicle by law Glock 43/Spare Mag/Atienza Kali
and am not allowed to have them on EDC4
my person on school grounds. As a I carry the G43 for maximum con-
survival instructor and writer, I travel cealability AIWB and my blade at
frequently and end up in many cities the 10 o’clock position and drop the
before I hit the woods and waters. The spare mag behind the handkerchief in
environment is always changing. my back pocket. These capable tools
are easy to carry and can help me ad-
How does your work environment dress my envisioned realistic threats.
affect your EDC?
When I get home and away from the Explain your everyday-carry
high school, I arm myself with my philosophy
G43, a spare magazine with exten- I believe in carrying a baseline of
sion, and my Atienza Kali EDC4 multipurpose practical gear. The
blade. I hate being disarmed at work, items represented here are constants,
but would hate being unemployed and depending on what I’m legally
and jailed for carrying certain items allowed to carry, I add to it. My gear
at work even more. In the woods, I needs to be lightweight, as summers
add more robust gear to my belt and are hot and so are some of the tropi-
daypack to supplement the first line cal destinations I travel to. It needs
gear carried in my pockets. to be realistic and grounded in an
honest threat assessment. One of the
List your EDC items most important aspects of my pocket
Streamlight ProTac 1L-1AA carry is pressure testing. All of the
Until I can see in the dark, this high- gear I carry, like my Swiss Army knife
output and inexpensive light I can buy that I’ve cleaned fish with in Alaska,
or salvage batteries for easily will ride has been used extensively proving its
in my left front pocket. It has had a worth and inclusion in my kit.
place there for the past three years.

Victorinox Ranger with Exotac FireROD

The bare minimum non-threatening
knife and fire-starter tools I carry
everyday wherever I travel to around
the globe. Most of the time it rides
in my pocket, unless I’m in the great
outdoors — then it goes on the belt
next to a stout 4-inch belt knife.

Marathon TSAR with Prometheus

Design Werx Watchband Compass
This diving watch I really do use for div-
ing, and its compass keeps me on time
and helps me with general orienteering
or as a backup to verify my primary
compass should I ever doubt it.

NxN Merino Wool Handkerchief

Ever since I was lead survival instruc-

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 2
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 25
EVERYMAN EDC
ROB HARBIN
How does your work environment mental carry sidearm being the Glock 22,
affect your EDC? and deploying for 11 years in Iraq and
With a broad range of environments, I focus Afghanistan being issued the Glock 19 — I
on items that will be suited for the broadest have always preferred the dependability and
Profession range of capabilities with minimal baseline minimalist reliability of the stock Glock. The
Overseas security contractor and writer deviation in items to meet the daily changes Glock 26 with a Glock 19 magazine in a
and locations. Crossbreed Holster fits into my EDC carry in
Describe your working environment each environment.
My daily environment can be a smorgasbord List your EDC items
from being at a charity event in the city Glock 26 Gen 5 and Crossbreed holster Spyderco Mantra Titanium folding knife
one day in a suit and tie, to being up in the Back when I was younger, seeing my father Spyderco has been strong and sturdy while
remote mountains of the Appalachia the next receive the Tupperware box with one of the holding a sharp edge. I chose a plain blade
enjoying the fresh mountain air. first Glock 17s in the U.S., to my depart- to allow easy sharpening.

Garmin Fenix 5
It allows communication with the iPhone
and Garmin Inreach Mini, with apps that
bring technology away from always having
a cell phone in your hand. It is stylish
enough to fit in wearing a suit and rugged
enough for being up in the mountains.

Garmin Inreach Mini

Being in remote areas where a cell
signal or assistance could be 30
miles away, the Inreach Mini brings
a communication source anywhere
I could go in the world — all the
while being half the footprint of a
credit card.

SureFire Guardian
This is the newest addition to my EDC
carry. The SureFire Guardian is a
dual beam multi-level brightness
light that’s as adapt reading a map
as quickly brightening to light up
an entire field without switch actua-
tion. When in the remote mountains with
the closest street light 15 miles away, the
Guardian brings daylight to darkness. As
well, it can be used as an external battery
pack for the iPhone and Garmin Inreach.

Explain your everyday-carry philosophy

My EDC carry philosophy has always been
to keep it simple and minimalist. Not just
focusing on the anomaly of a hostile threat,
but also what items increase the comfort
and safety of my daily life and at the same
time having the broadest range of incidents
and tasks covered. Having a mindset to use
the tools at hand and always thinking how
to utilize them to shoot, move, and commu-
nicate. All the while, EDC items should be
reliable, but not completely depended on for
daily success or failure.

26 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 2
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 PEGASUS PARTNERS
DS PADDLE & SLIM-TUK ® ®

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LEARN MORE AT WWW.DESANTISHOLSTER.COM

EVERYMAN EDC
JASON SQUIRES
Strider Knives, SnG tan G-10 folder are to carry it with you. The worst gun you
Named for the famed Special Forces Op- own is the one you left at home. I tried lug-
erational Detachment — Delta (Delta Force) ging my 1911, Glock 34, CZ Shadow, etc.,
snipers and Medal of Honor recipients Randy and they were simply too heavy and were not
squireslawaz.com
Shughart and Gary Gordon. This is the stron- suitable for an ankle holster. The Glock 43 is
gest folding knife I have ever owned. I could the perfect fit for me. I might not be a per-
Profession smash a windshield or pry open a car door sonal security detail (PSD) for an ambassa-
Trial attorney, competitive shooter (in theory — I’ve never tried). dor, but I am responsible for the security of
myself and my family and must protect them
Job title Rolex Submariner in stainless steel in all environments. And my philosophy is
Owner, SQUIRES LAW, PLLC The watch is elegant and bulletproof. The the training is as important that the firearm.
Submariner is always on my person. Whether
Describe your working environment I’m shooting, diving, skydiving, sipping wine
Daily visits to various Arizona courtrooms; work- in the Bahamas, or standing in court, the
ing near various individuals charged with a mul- Submariner is rugged, appropriate, and can
titude of serious crimes, including homicide. take a beating.

How does your work environment Mont Blanc Meisterstruck Classique

affect your EDC? ballpoint pen
I must have a firearm that is concealable and Again, this pen is also rugged and reliable. I
easily donned and doffed. An ankle holster is a have tested every pen on God’s green earth.
must for its ability to be easily removed while in Every single model has let me down at a key
my vehicle without drawing attention to what I’m moment. Do you want your attorney shaking
doing (like taking your belt off outside your car). his pen while the opponent’s key witness is
Most courthouses do not allow attorneys to bring on the stand? No, of course not. When qual-
their firearm into the building. My work environ- ity counts, Mont Blanc never lets me down. I
ment situates me near the most dangerous and carry a spare cartridge in my briefcase.
violent people in our society. The courthouse is
also a lightning rod for potential terrorist acts, Explain your everyday-carry philosophy
given its governmental nature and target density. The heavier the weapon, the less likely you

Describe your EDC items

Glock 43
It has a Ghost 4.5-pound connector, Trijicon
HD orange night sights, and Ghost extended
slide release. It’s lightweight and simple.
The ubiquitous Glock frame and trigger make
me feel as though I’m training anytime I fire
any Glock. My ammunition varies between
Hornady Extreme Duty and Hornady Criti-
cal Duty 9mm. I use a mountain bike tire
tube over the grip. This trick, taught to me
by Mike Pannone (RECOIL contributor and
owner of CTT Solutions), was a peanut-but-
ter-meets-chocolate moment. The mountain
bike tire tube cut and slid over the grip is
the best grip I’ve ever used.

Galco Glove Ankle holster

Has a thumb-break (essential for running).
I keep a backup magazine, or two, with the
first two letters of my last name written in
glow-in-the-dark Trident brand marker paint
(three-dimensional paint). The 3D paint al-
lows identification of my mags as well as an
index point when loading mags in a stressful
environment.

28 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 2
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 CCO
COLT A
lthough
lth
h gh introduced at SHOT
houg
Show
Sh
h
how 2019, the King Cobra
traces
tr
races its
its lineage all thee way
back
b ack ttoo 1908 with
wiith the la
launch
aunch
off the
th
he Colt Police P
Positive.
osiitivve.
Immenselyy popular iin
n law eenforcement
nforcement

KING
circles, th
thee 38 Speci
Special,
ial, si
six-shot
ix-shot rrevolver
evolver
PHOTOS BY KENDA LENSEIGNE
E

dominated
dominat
te d the market for decades, a
Resurrected
tedd

fixture
fi
ixture in the
t lives of lawmen, citizens, and
Snake
ke

outlaws until
un
ntiil 1995, when declining
decliiningg sales
Resurrect
The Snak
BY IAIN HARRISON

killed it
it of
off.
fff.
f.
Eventually
Eventua lly selling over three quarters of
a mi
million
illiion units,
u the Police Positive spawned
offshoots such
s as the very first snubnose

COBRA
belly gun, created as a custom proposition
by Colt employee
em
mployee John Henry Fitzgerald iin
n
the 1920s.
1920ss.
s The Fitz Special
Speciial chopped the
revolver’s barrel to 2 inches, shortened the
ejector rod,
rod
d, and bobbed both the grip
griip and
hammer sp
spur
pur — but the most noticeable
feature, that
th
hat of its open trigger
triigger guard, was
always mo
more
ore of a conversation
conversatiion starter than
a practi
practical
ical modification. After a couple of
hundred Fitz
Fitz Speci
Fi Specials
ials were moved out of

30 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
the New Haven factory, Colt’s management the Trooper lineup. Thus, the Ki
King
ing Cobra
decided
deci
ided to formally add the custom gun to was born. No aluminum version was offered,
their
thei
ir catalog,
cattalog, minus
miinus the hammer and trigger and the Ki
King
ing Cobra had a producti
production
ion run
guard mods,
mods, and thus the Detecti
Detective
ive Special
Speciial from 1986 through to 1992.
was born
born.
n. The 1990s were not a happy time at Colt.
In 195
1950,
50, an aluminum-framed versi
version
ion Overreliance
Overreli
iance on military contracts, labor
of the
th
he D
Di
Dick
ick Special
Speci
p ial was introduced and disputes,
di
isputes, and management short-sighted-
christened
chri
isteneed the Cobra. While dimensi
dimensionally
ionally ness forced
d the
th company
an
ny into
into ban
in bankruptcy
bankruptcy,
nkruptcy,
iidentical,
identi
dentiica
cal,
l, the new gun shaved 6 ounces an event which for the past few decades
from iits
ts predecessor’s weight, whi
while
ile retai
retain-
in- seemed to occur li
like
ike the emergence of
iing
ng its
its aadvantage
dvantage over its
its nearest domestic cicada swarms. As an overarching strategy,
competitor
competit
tor — Smith
Smiith & Wesson’s di
diminutive
iminutive pissing
pi
issiing off your customers by advocating
J Frame was a tad smaller, but the Colt of- for federal restrictions
restrictiions on civilian
ciivilian firearms
fered a six-round
s payload. ownership is not exactly a winni
winning
ing formula,
IIff 38 Special
Spee cial was go
good,
o od, then
n 357
357 Mag- yett C
Colt’s
olt’s CEO at the ti
time
ime managed to bring
num mu
must
st b
bee better, rig
right?
ght?? Yes, but… down the
the wrath of the American consumer
In ord
oorder
rder
er ttoo handle increased
in
ncree ased pressures, by doing jjust
ust that. Fortunately, their current
erosion,
erosi
ion, forci
forcing
forc
cing cone wear,
wear, and frame management
managem
ment are dyed-in-the-wool gun guys,
stretching
stretchin
stretchi
inngg from
frrom the Ma
Magnum
a gnum round, Colt rather than corporate suits.
abandoned
abandon
ned thei
their
ir “D” frame, instead
instead looki
looking
ing Production
Produc
ction of the D frame guns was re-
to thee slightly
sslig
ligghtly bigger “V”
“ V” frame found iin
n started, then stopped, as was their V-framed

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 31
 counterparts, which enjoyed a second back and the revolver’s classic lines Old-school brass bead
run from ’94-98. As a last hurrah, don’t suffer too badly — yes, there front sight
sii ght adds a touch
Colt introduced their final DA revolver are plenty of people (myself included) of class to the Patridge
blade.
in 1999. This was known as the who wax lyrical over the Royal Blue
Magnum Carry, based on a slightly found on the Python, but it was never
shrunken version of the V frame, but a good option on a carry gun, and the
with a thicker top strap. Confused? King Cobra is aimed squarely at the
You should be, as it was in production concealed carry market.
for just a few months until October of Evidence of this can be found in the
that year, when Colt was forced to kill barrel specs, which split the differ-
off their entire revolver line. It’s this ence between the concealability of a
gun that forms the basis of the newly 2-inch pipe and the ballistic advan-
resurrected King Cobra. tage of a service-length 4-incher.
357 Mag from a short barrel is
OVERVIEW attention-getting at both ends, but
The new King Cobra is offered as there’s a very good reason to put up
a one-variant model, following the with the increased concussion and
Henry Ford philosophy of, “You can blast, versus downgrading to a 38
have any color you like, so long as it’s Special. Put bluntly, as a defensive
black.” Or in this case, stainless. As round 38 Special sucks. Despite of-
non-choices go, it’s hardly a draw- fering advantages of almost universal

Ejector rod is sized for a

2-inch barrel and sacri-
fices full length stroke.

32 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 COLT KING COBRA
availability and a compact form factor Opposite its underlug, the barrel grip in place, the pistol has a round
in the typical J-frame sized pack- is ribbed for her pleasure and drilled butt profile and provides enough room
age, 35 caliber bullets are highly to accommodate a removable front for all four fingers. Undo one screw
velocity-dependent when it comes to sight, which in this case is patridge- and you’re looking at the revolver ver-
performance, and most fail to expand style with a very old-school brass sion of Taylor Swift — small, square,
when propelled at the sedate muzzle bead — classy indeed. Should you and with little to hang on to. Add a
velocities achieved from a 2-inch 38. wish to step into the modern era and set of diminutive stocks, chop the bar-
Step up from 850 fps to 1,200, and swap it for a fiber-optic or tritium rel, and you’re in S&W 640 territory,
it’s a different story. insert, then so long as you can turn but with one extra BB, should you like
In order to mitigate some of the an Allen wrench, you’re in business. 357 Mag from the idea of a minimalist carry gun.
inevitable recoil penalty, the King Co- At the other end of the 4.25-inch
a short barrel We’d be inclined to keep the larger

is attention-
bra’s barrel incorporates a full-length long sight radius is the end of a grip in place, as it provides much bet-
underlug, which also serves to protect channel milled into the top strap, ter control and at around 25 ounces,
its ejector rod. It would appear that which forms the King Cobra’s rear getting at you probably won’t carry this thing in
Colt has plans for additional models in sight. It’s as basic as dirt, but func- both ends. a pocket.
the lineup, as the ejector rod is sized tions just fine and allows for head
for a 2-inch barrel, and as a result box shots at 15 yards with every 357
sacrifices the ability to dump empty mag load we tried.
cases cleanly. Despite hitting it hard If you needed more evidence that
enough to leave welts on the shooter’s additional King Cobra models were
palm, cases still had to be plucked part of Colt’s plan for its reintroduc-
out, which means the reload time tion, then removing the Hogue Mono-
scale slips from glacial to geological. grip provides it. With the soft rubber

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 33
 The Ki
King
ing Cobra’s lockwork is
powered by a V-shaped leaf spri
spring,
ing,
with
wi
ith the upper leg driving the hammer
and the lower acting as the trigger
return spring. While iitt may seem that
using
usi
ing one component to control two
separate and di
distinct
istiinct functi
functions
ions would
result iin
n either
eiither a heavy tri
trigger
igger pull
or light stri
strikes,
ikes, the opposi
opposite
ite is
is true
— we’re used to somewhat clunky
J-frame double action tri
triggers,
iggers, and
the King Cobra’s is light
liight years ahead.
There’s a tiny bit of stacki
stacking
ing towards ROUNDS DOWNRANGE
the end of the stroke to let you know For a whi
while
ile now, we’ve used a
iit’s
t’s ti
time
ime to fi
fix your sight
siight pi
picture,
icture, but simple metri
metric
ic to quickly figure out
otherwise the pull is smooth as si
silk
ilk whether any particular handgun iiss
and breaks right
riight at 9 pounds. The sin- worth spending time with. Wi
Without
ithout
gle-action tri
trigger
igger iiss of a similar level any preparati
preparation,
ion, pull the pistol out of
of quali
quality
ity — 4.25 pounds and like the its box, load up with quali
quality
ity ammo, Hogue Monogrip is
proverbial
proverbi
ial glass rod, with
wiith no clue as hang an MGM Targets B/C steel target comfortable — or at least
as comfortable as it’s
to when the sear is about to slip,
sliip, with at 50 yards, and empty the mag, or iin
n possible to make a 357
barely 1/16th iinch
nch of overtravel. this case cyli
cylinder.
inder. If it won’t reliably snubbie.
snubbii e.

Safariland Comp II works

well for reload duties. Pro
tip — when auditioning
for a job as a hand model,
schedule it for before you
do a brake job on your
truck.

34 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 COLT KING COBRA
ring steel at distance, then there’s BS flag. While firing heavy-recoiling Despite using modern Colt ever produced, and while for
likely a problem with its mechani- rounds like the 375 H&H, 12-gauge production methods some that may be akin to buying the
(there’s a few MIM parts
cal accuracy, or the way in which it slugs, and 44 Mag from guns here), the King Cobra world’s most awesome film camera,
interacts with the shooter — and you designed to handle them is refreshing still has plenty of classic both categories of consumer goods
can then get to narrowing down the and life-affirming, full-house loads design touches, such as have their advocates, even if they’re
the chamfered transition
reasons why. If it passes this initial from the King Cobra is downright between barrel and dwindling in numbers. Your particular
test, then it’s time to move onto El nasty on both ends. There’s a sharp frame. set of circumstances might lead you
Pres, X and Bill drills, to get a feel for slap to the palm which will eventually to conclude that a revolver is a worthy
how it handles at speed. induce a flinch, so — feel free to addition to your arsenal, and if you’re
Despite the sight radius imposed question our manhood here — after limited to six rounds in a compact
by its 3-inch barrel, the first six bul- confirming that the little revolver package, you may as well make them
lets impacted our 50 yard target with would run fine on hi-test, we switched the most effective ones available.
plenty of room around its edges, a to more sedate 38 Special ammo.
testament to the quality of the King Depending on the load, we found this
Cobra’s DA trigger. Once could be would group around 3 to 4 inches low
a fluke, but the next three cylinder at 25 yards, but as you’d expect it
loads confirmed it — the little gun was way easier to shoot.
can shoot. As far as practical accuracy goes,
If we were to tell you that the the King Cobra does everything you
subsequent 182 rounds of 158-grain could expect of a product with a
factory 357 Mag were a pleasant 111-year history. It’s a classy recre-
experience, you’d rightly raise the ation of the most advanced revolver

COLT
KING COBRA
www.colt.com
CALIBER: WEIGTH: MAGAZINE CAPACITY:

357 28.3
MAGNUM OUNCES 6 ROUNDS
OVERALL LENGTH: BARREL:

8.5 3
INCHES INCHES
BASE MSRP:

$899

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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 BEYOND THE
Gray Man
in Kabul

TT-WALLS
BY MILES VINING

36 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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P
robably one of the oddest reactions I received that certain police districts actually cooperate with the
while living and working in Kabul outside the wire criminals at times.
wasn’t from the Afghans all around me, but was With an understanding of the contextual threat in the
instead from my former infantry colleagues. Some city, we can begin our discussion on maintaining a low-
of them were in the private security industry, while profile attitude. For foreigners (and Afghans alike), the
others had their DD214 and were scot-free. To a man, largest threat in the city is being kidnapped for ransom.
they would ask me, “What? You mean outside? Is that The thing to understand about this violence is that it isn’t
even allowed?” It was to be one of many more interesting random. Kabul criminals don’t go walking down the street
experiences I had as I stepped foot in a country in which I looking for a soft target. They plan for it in advance, often
had only ever been an armed combatant. methodically. They find insiders to help, ensure they have
We talk about living a low-profile lifestyle in the United both a getaway vehicle, and have a safe house to flee to.
States and especially in the private security world. When Oftentimes insiders help them tremendously.
we travel abroad, those of us who take the dangers of the Is there random, senseless violence that might kill or
world seriously go that extra step when walking around the maim you? Of course there is. Sometimes when suicide
Eiffel Tower or hitching a ride in a Tuk Tuk in Thailand. bombers can’t get to their target because of a security
However, places like Kabul bring a completely different checkpoint, they detonate their wares right on a crowded
meaning to living a low-profile life, while working or living street, killing dozens of civilians. Tragic? Yes. Random?
as a private citizen in a country in the midst of its fourth For sure. But as mentioned before, the average Kabuli is
decade of civil war. Many of the important rules to follow more likely to die of a water heater exploding while taking
here are very specific to Afghanistan, but there are cer- a shower or being ejected from the front seat of a car with
tainly rules that can be applied universally to our readers no seatbelts during a traffic accident.
across the United States and the world. A perfect example through my first month of living and
Kabul itself is a very unique city. Although more interna- working in the city was that not a single gunshot or explo-
tional money has poured into the country than the Marshall sion was heard (although there were suicide bombs, none
Plan in Europe (adjusted for inflation), the city is still remi- happened in my vicinity within earshot). Yet the taxis I took
niscent of the old world. For the most part, there isn’t a almost slammed into little boys jolting across the road on
single working traffic light within the city limits. The social two occasions, and a cook that worked in my building was
fabric is very much still community based, with trust being very lucky to be several feet away from a pressure cooker
of utmost importance in the majority of interactions. Al- that took chunks out of the kitchen he was in.
though there are banks, people keep their money at home.
What may seem common knowledge in the West when it
comes to such issues as hygiene, electricity, and most
safety standards simply isn’t present at all. The govern-
ment itself is, at worst, seen by many citizens as a corrupt,
dysfunctional, and even destabilizing element within the
country and, at best, a force that can’t dramatically impact
change — whether a two-decade-long Taliban insurgency
or keeping the lights on at night.

THREATS
Upon this backdrop we have the threats, which can
seem at times to be overwhelming. Yes, there are the
suicide bombers. Yes, there’s the Taliban and now Daesh.
But within the city limits possibly the most imminent
threat that has the capacity to do the most damage are
the organized crime syndicates. These criminal enter-
prises are spread throughout the city, and at times there’s
very little that the Afghan Uniformed Police seem to be
able to do to counter them. Indeed, many Kabulis feel
 BEYOND THE T-WALLS
situations, but there’s never a total
guarantee of safety and security. For
the record, there have been thousands
of Western tourists and workers since
2011 who have lived successfully in
the country for every Westerner who’s
been killed in the violence. In this
article, we’ll discuss some hard rules
that have been proven to work most
of the time. Have other pale faces
done differently? Of course they have,
and this is by no means an exhaustive
answer to being safe in Kabul.

METHODS
Going back to the white or black
male reference, the most important
realization you must make is that
you’ll be perceived as a spy. Every-
thing you do, or don’t do, is scruti-
if wearing common enough attire in nized as such. You’re automatically
Kabul, would actually experience Af- an elevated target because you’re
ghans mistaking them as locals. The simply assumed to be working for a
second issue is that of gender. Being foreign intelligence organization, and
a woman in Kabul does make a differ- thus valuable for cash or clandestine
ence when it comes to disappearing in knowledge. Lower-class Afghans will
a crowded street, due to the presence immediately assume it; higher class
of a hijab. But more importantly, ones will make jokes about it with
foreign women are generally speak- you. This is the inevitable backdrop
ing not as threatening as foreign men that you’ll exist in. We’ll refer to this
when being viewed as targets for kid- as Rule No. 1.
napping or being associated with an Be vaguely truthful with what
intelligence agency. Indeed, possibly you tell people and what you wear.
the two longest foreign-born residents Numerous Afghans have insisted that
of Kabul from an English speaking I tell people in conversation that I’m
One point that we can’t ignore in Above: Afghan private country are two American women that German or Czech instead of American.
these non-permissive environments is security guards outside a spent the majority of their lives in the You’ll come to find out that “Ameri-
downtown Western-style
the issue of race and gender. Without restaurant. Note the cheap city, first coming to the country before can” is almost a dirty word among
a doubt, people who have complex- optic on the AK-74 with the the Soviet invasion. many Afghans. The historical narra-
ions that from afar can match local
guard at center. 5.45mm tive we’re fed in the United States is
rifles aren't rare among
ethnicities can move more fluidly than Afghan security personnel, NEVER TOTALLY SAFE that we triumphed against the Soviets
those of specific Caucasian or African but the scarcity of 5.45mm So how can you attempt to make a through our support of the Mujahi-
ammo, among other issues,
descent, especially young males in Af- living in this centuries old Silk Road pit deen. The reality is that many Afghans
make them less sought after.
ghanistan who aren’t fluent in Dari or stop? The first realization is that you today, especially Kabulis, wish that
Pashtu. Hispanics, Asians, and Arabs Top: A private security can never be completely safe — not the country had just become a sleepy
almost have a free ride at blending guard walks down a street from the targeted kidnappings, sense- dictatorship after the fall of the Soviet
into the social landscape, especially if in the predominantly Hazara less violence, or being electrocuted Union. Instead, every intervention (or
district in southern Kabul.
they can pick up Dari. I’ve frequently He has a 75-round drum in your bedroom. You must acknowl- lack of intervention in the case of the
heard of Hispanic Americans who, locked into his rifle. edge that you can be safer in most 1990s Taliban) just brought continued

38 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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 BEYOND THE T-WALLS
Wearing a face mask civil war, corruption, and worst of all, or business. Thus, the chances of can be both truthful yet vague at the
can help obscure your the “Jang Saw-Lar” (warlords). While running into an Afghan on the street same time. When getting dropped off
identity if you have
trouble blending in, but in the city, I’ve also been asked if I who might respond with a string of in a taxi, offset the destination from
this will only work well was Russian, Iranian, Turkish, Span- German after you say you’re from your home by a block, so you walk an
on days where pollution ish, and Afghan-American, but never Hamburg is actually quite probable. additional block to your home rather
is heavy and everyone
else is wearing one as American directly. I’m not sure if this The other point here is to not go “to- than getting out right in front of it. If
well. If not, you go back was because I had a command of Dari tally native” with traditional clothes. asked what part of the city you live in,
to sticking out like a
or the idea of a white U.S. national It might fool people from afar, but respond with the general area but not
sore thumb.
walking around the city didn’t fit with upon closer inspection the question the street name. The old city doesn’t
my appearance. begs to be asked, “What are you have a uniformed postal system so
You need to be truthful, because if hiding that you’re trying to look like this is very easy to do. These vague
you aren’t, you’ll immediately confirm us?” Back to Rule No. 1. Even if you responses work both ways too. In a
suspicions of Rule No. 1. And unlike get the clothing down, your manner- worst-case scenario, it confuses those
the United States where a Czech isms of growing up in New York will wishing to do you harm. However, it
could probably get away with saying be extremely hard to exchange with also protects the people around you. If
they’re Ukrainian, Afghans actu- Afghan ones, such as playing Frogger confronted by a criminal element that
ally have more experience traveling every time you cross the street. presses them for information, they can
to Europe than we do. Many go for However, you don’t need to give honestly say they don’t know the exact
university education, immigration, out your social security number. You location of your home.

40 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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 BEYOND THE T-WALLS
and start proselytizing without any
repercussions. It’ll literally get you
killed, as it has many missionaries and
their families. Engaging in projects
that draw negative attention, espe-
cially negative religious attention, is
a surefire ticket to leaving in a coffin.
Groups and individuals latch onto
this attention and see it as a way to
boost their own image that they “killed
the evil foreigner who was disrupting
Afghan values.”

TIME AS A WEAPON
Last but not least is the subject
the attacks that are focused on these of time. Apart from actually being
positions but usually claim innocent armed, time is your most effective
lives as well. weapon, if used correctly. A longtime
When it comes to targets, another expat in Kabul once remarked, “I’ll
important target class to avoid is other go to any random restaurant in the
foreigners, especially Caucasians. So city, even in some of the bad areas,
many Westerners used to travel to but I’ll make sure to only be there
Kabul and stayed in their isolated com- for 20 minutes at the most.” It goes
munities that they nicknamed it the to show that if knowledge is power,
“Kabubble.” The Kabubble was mostly then time is the proverbial outlet the
in the diplomatic zone that is now in power must be connected to. On the
the Wazir Akbar Khan part of the city. other side of the good guy spectrum
Unfortunately this congregation of that you’re in is an equally human bad
bars, secretive night clubs, and other guy. This network has to create plans,
forms of importing Western forms of commit to them, speak amongst oth-
entertainment eventually led to numer- ers about decisions, evaluate risk, and
ous attacks due to the soft targets. look at possible contingencies when
Although the deaths were tragically it comes to attacking or kidnapping a
unfortunate, the bottom line is you target. If by the time any of this goes
AVOID TARGETING Above: An armored SUV can’t come to a conservative, undevel- into action, you’ve completely left the
As previously mentioned, there are going through repairs at oped, strictly enforced Islamic country picture or made yourself unimportant,
a local auto shop outside
very few standardized ways to stay of Kabul University. and expect to continue a lifestyle that then you’ve won. However, if you leave
safe around the city. However, there you enjoyed in the West. Nor can you this window of opportunity open and
are three very concrete ways to avoid associate regularly and in large groups free, then you’ve given the enemy an
becoming a target. with such Westerners as well. At the accomplishment.
Top left: In many Kabuli
The first is to avoid other clear establishments, personal end of the day, this creates targets for Hopefully, you’ve found this unique
targets such as Afghan government weapons are left at the the “bad boys,” as one local store- perspective on living and working as
and security forces. This includes entrance with the guard. This keeper liked to refer to them. a foreigner in Kabul interesting and
is a weapon cubby card from
checkpoints, deployed forces, areas Kardan University. Third and perhaps most often over- enlightening as an examination of con-
of government control, etc. Local Ka- looked is calling attention to yourself. ducting a low-profile life in a high-threat
bulis realize this and sometimes vary Christian missionaries are notorious environment outside of the United
their routes in order to stay away from for breaking this rule, because again, States. I certainly found it fascinating
Top right: A Western
any potential political target. This security contractor gets you simply can’t come to a Muslim- and appealing to be live in Kabul as a
strategy can mitigate the majority of in his armored vehicle. majority country like Afghanistan civilian beyond the T-Walls.

42 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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 RETHINK MODULARITY

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IG had a juggernaut in its cat- platform’s looks and exterior con- in between, SIG capitalized on the
alog with the 2009 release of trols. Accordingly, SIG’s remake of P938’s popularity by offering ver-
the .380 P238 micro pistol; the tiny single-action-only is often sions that appeal to every corner of
a few years later, it followed called a mini-1911, though it’s not the hammer-fired, self-defense gun
up with the 9mm version, the really a mini 1911 because the x38’s buying market.
P938. Between the two pistols, the hinged trigger system will fall short The Legion edition represents a
Px38 series was SIG’s best-selling of a 1911 guy’s expectations. But, if sort of best of album containing the
design for years. you’re looking for a small 9mm with a most useful upgrades and modifica-
The x38s are based on Colt’s Mus- crisp trigger, and you want the emo- tions performed on the P938.
tang compact pistol, originally intro- tional security that comes with both In the Legion, you’re looking at a
duced in the 1980s. While the barrel-to- a hammer-fired operating system and P938 with upgraded sights, flat-faced
slide interface differs between x38s and a manual safety, you won’t do much aluminum trigger, reshaped hammer,
Mustangs, just about everything else on better than the P938 series. reprofiled frame and slide with more
the guns is the same. In fact, plenty of checkering and front cocking serra-
people run Mustang magazines in their LEGION EDITION ADDITIONS tions, G10 grip panels, and a funneled
SIG pistols, and vice versa. From executive-themed rosewood magwell for the Legion’s redesigned
These pistols appeal to the 1911 editions to utilitarian versions with magazine baseplates, all in an exclu-
crowd by mimicking the classic giant Hogue grips and everything sive Legion Gray Cerakote finish.

SIG’S Popular P938 Pocket

Pistol Gets the High-End
Legion Treatment
BY ROB CURTIS
C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 45
 It’s an impressive list of upgrades, then a crisp, creepless, and consis- “so we added the metal magwell with-
headlined by the new trigger, the com- tent break; this makes sense since out compromising the concealability,
pact magwell, and the new extended SIG didn’t change the internals of the which is one of the primary features of
mag baseplates. SIG also touts the P938 Legion’s fire control system. the gun, and adding a little more utility
Legion’s all-metal construction, but While the break might be unchanged, by speeding up reloads.”
the P938 was mostly metal to begin the benefit of the Legion-exclusive Instead of a one-piece mainspring
with. It has the same 416 stainless aluminum trigger is the sharply defined housing with an integrated magwell,
steel in the slide and 7075 aluminum edge of the trigger blade and the angled SIG went with a two-piece setup to
in the frame, but the Legion does face that funnels the trigger finger into reduce cost, we assume. People might
away with the final bits of polymer by the same location when getting a firing bitch about a two-piece magwell, but
replacing the plastic trigger and main- grip, aiding in consistency at speed. SIG’s engineers did a fine job of inte-
spring housing with metal parts. Metal mainspring housings are already grating the magwell, mainspring, and
a popular P930 aftermarket upgrade, but grip so that there’s no pressure pulling
BOTTOM HALF ENHANCEMENTS SIG needed to dump the basic P938’s mainspring down when the magwell
First off, the new aluminum trigger polymer part and shift to metal to sup- screw is tightened. The parts also mate
provides a little more leverage, but port that sexy new magwell. up with a deep anti-rotation socket that
the feel of the P938 trigger break is “We wanted to give folks with larger promises to keep the parts lined up no
unchanged compared to its bone stock Anyone who’s removed a hands a more comfortable grip on such matter how hard we stab the magwell
P938 trigger knows you
brethren. And that’s not a bad thing. should never remove a a small weapon,” said SIG’s classic line with a reload or how much pressure our
It has a bit of transparent pretravel, P938 trigger. pistol product manager Steven Gilcreast, midsection exerts on the holstered pis-

46 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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 TINY LEGION
tol. And lingering aesthetic issues are from melted-down Spartan shields the sky like a meteorite that not only
addressed by the Legion’s grip panels, unearthed by a team of SIG SAUER smashes through our roof, but sets the
which cover the mainspring pin and archeologists during a 2015 expedi- whole house on fire, burns it to the
line up well with the frame/magwell tion to Thermopylae. ground, and leaves it an uninhabitable
reveal line. radioactive wasteland for five centuries.
The standard P938 checkering SLIDE Yeah. We’re making a point.
on the front and rear of the grip is Upstairs, the slide got a subtle SIG’s known for years the P938’s
augmented on the Legion with a bit haircut in addition to the front cock- two-piece guide rod loves to unscrew
of checkering on the underside of the ing serrations we’ll talk more about itself while the pistol’s running, and
trigger guard. Every little bit of grip below. Like the frame, everything is yet, even in its highest-end gun, filled
enhancement helps, especially on a rounded, and we’re not talking about with upgrades and high-fives, it ad-
small, metal gun that’ll leave a front just breaking an edge or dehorning. dressed the guide rod problem the
sight imprint in your forehead if given Compared to our several-year-old same way it has in the poor people
the chance. P938 BRG, the slide countour is P938 pistols, with a drop of thread
The rest of the grip scene is com- completely different and even the un- locking compound instead of switching
prised of Legion-exclusive G10 grip changed edges and angles left alone to a one-piece guide rod.
panels featuring deep texturing and are noticeably cleaner. We get it, machining a one-piece
emblazoned with the Legion shield. The other slide internals are un- It’s subtle, but all the guide rod is expensive and thread lock
edges of the Legion are
Gilcreast refused to confirm rumors touched from the standard P938s. either entirely reprofiled is a 95-percent fix for the problem.
the Legion grip medallions are made This is one place the P938 falls out of or softened. But this is already a $900 pistol. Why

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 47
 TINY LEGION
the company chose to leave such a
glaring legacy issue in its Legion edi-
tion is baffling. And, yes, we noticed
our guide rod unscrewing itself during
a day-long pistol class at the Sig Acad-
emy. It never ejected or caused any
malfunctions. But it got to the point
that we added a twist-the-guide-rod-
tight step to every third reload until we
could get the gun back to the shop.
On the bench, we found hardened
glue residue pooled at the beveled
intersection of the rod and the base,
but there was none on the threads. It
looked like a production oversight, and
a conversation with a SIG employee
confirmed Rocksett as the company’s AMMO CHART One of the instructors demonstrated
fix for the guide rod separation issue Velocities and Standard Deviation based on 10 rounds from the muzzle using a Labradar that there’s a bit of time to save for
and that it should have been applied Group size, average of three 5-round groups at 7 yards, unsupported those who rack the slide on reloads by
down in the threads. Winchester Ranger-T 147gr. RA9T 965 fps SD 18.4 1.8-inch group palming the mag home then, instead of
Hornady Critical Defense 100gr. FTX 1,093 fps SD 14.5 1.2-inch group
flipping the pistol over and grabbing the
SIG 365 V-Crown 115gr 1,047 fps SD 12 1.2 inch group
MAGS slide for retraction, we slide our support
Hornady Critical Defense 115gr. FTX 1,042 fps SD 7.5 1.30-inch group
The Legion’s 7-round magazine hand slightly forward, reach up with up
Hornady Critical Duty 124gr. +P FlexLock 1,100 fps SD 18.5 2.5-inch group
baseplate is more compact, just as Hornady Critical Duty 135gr. FlexLock 987 fps SD 7 2-inch group
with our thumb and fingers straddling
capable, and better looking than the the frame, and pinch the slide while
bulbous extensions that adorn the mags won’t fit in the Legion magwell, pulling it to the rear to unlock it.
standard, single-stack, 7-rounders. but the baseplateless six-rounders will. While you can use this underhand
This has the bonus of making carried Though, when seated they’re recessed slide release technique with larger
spares slightly easier to conceal. Side- to the point that you’ll need to get a pistols, anyone with normal- to large-
note: we’re in the age of slim, double- screwdriver blade under the front lip sized hands will find their support hand
stack mags in tiny guns that make this to pry it out if it fails to drop free. In is already three quarters of the way to
7-rounder seem downright quaint. the grand scheme, giving up the abil- a full firing grip after letting the P938’s
Somewhat sadly, the Legion’s ity to use those old Mustang mags is slide go. It’s a bit of a time saver. And,
magwell precludes the use of Mustang well worth the utility gained with the the technique doesn’t require above
mags and the original P938 extended Legion magwell. The Legion comes average finger strength, at least not on
with three 7-round mags, which is, the P938. There’s a slight downside,
thankfully, all most people will need though; if the reload goes wrong and
since spares are a brisk $49. you need to rack the slide to clear a
misfeed, the pistol needs to be flipped
IN THE HAND for a proper, slide-racking grip.
Front cocking serrations on most Reloads, in general, are more positive
full- and compact-sized pistols are a with the new magwell and the P938
nice-to-have feature that adds a bit of Legion’s redesigned floorplates. The
versatility. On a micro pistol like the beveled magwell guides the mag home,
P938, we think they’re far more use- and the geometry all but eliminates the
ful. We learned a nifty technique that chance of catching a fold of palm skin
takes advantage of the P938 Legion’s between the mag base and the butt —
front serrations while attending Sig a very common occurrence clearly evi-
Academy’s new micro pistol class. denced by the amount of blood blisters

48 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 HISTORY
REPEATS ITSELF
R
1979
THE ALPHA

2019
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 TINY LEGION
on the palms of P938 shooters. we’re not talking 1911 crisp. Close, sight and things were in the A-zone.
Firing the Legion, we were expecting though; it’s still a single-action trigger. Despite the pistol trying to take
(hoping, really) to feel a reduction in recoil. The P938’s got a tiny bit of take-up to itself apart and shooting a few
The all metal construction adds about 2 move the striker channel block out of hundred rounds of SIG’s 90-grain
ounces to the base model’s weight, but it’s the way. But, it’s not much, and the frangible ammo for an indoor class,
mostly added to the grip area and doesn’t clean break certainly contributes to the the pistol experienced only one failure
offer a noticeable reduction in muzzle flip pistol’s accuracy. to feed malfunction with the Hornady
due to the laws of physics as they apply The big, bright SIG X-RAY3 sights 135-grain Flexlock. Mid magazine,
to leverage. While shooting anything more help gather up a good sight picture one round hung on the feed ramp.
than 124-grain loads, and any +P loads, under pressure. Inside or in sunlight, the We stripped the mag and reset that
we found the pistol retained its character- bright green beast up front nestled into round, and it fed, fired, and ejected.
istic micro pistol recoil bite and increased the plain serrated rear with a little room All told, we ran 520 rounds through
our group sizes. around it that’s useful for lining up slow, the P938 Legion, and it ran reliably
Dropping the ammunition grain accurate shots — but not small enough and accurately. Practically speaking,
weight, predictably transformed the to bounce between the rear uprights its accuracy was on par with, or better
pistol into a poodle. Hornady’s Critical when things need to happen fast. than, its hammer-fired competition, but
Defense 100-grain FTX produced the Aside from the self-dissembling we didn’t notice a big difference when
tightest shot groups and measured guide rod, the only other issue we en- compared to its P938 stablemates.
1,093 FPS at the muzzle with our countered with the pistol was a poorly
Labradar. Shooting Hornady’s 124-grain aligned front sight. After a few boxes WRAP-UP
+P FlexLock, though, felt like holding a of shooting left, a refusal to blame By the end of our time with the P938
firecracker while producing 1,100 fps. the gun, a few more boxes, and some Legion, we appreciated how easy and
self-loathing, one of SIG’s instructors comfortable it is to carry, and grew to like
PERFORMANCE noticed the front sight was actually the security of holding the hammer while
Our pistol’s trigger breaks crisply at offset enough to cause issues during stuffing the pistol in an AIWB holster. We’re
5 pounds. When we say crisp, though, a walkback drill. A few taps to the not trading in our striker-fired EDC for the
Legion, but we’d consider it if we were after
a slim, reliable, 1911-style pistol. But, we’re
already on the 12-round, SFP, micro pistol
train. So, we compare the P938 Legion to
something like the SIG P365 the same way
we’d compare a sports car to a compact
pickup; we appreciate one for what it can
do because of its size, and the other for
what it can do despite its size.
Looking at accuracy and reliabil-
ity, the P938 Legion doesn’t offer
a measurable improvement over the
non-Legion P938. But, SIG didn’t have
SIG SAUER any work to do to improve the gun in

P938 LEGION those regards. It shored up the pistol’s

weaknesses (except for one) and
www.sigsauer.com
gave it a few tricks that make it more
CALIBER: WEIGTH MAGAZINE
UNLOADED: CAPACITY: durable, controllable, comfortable, and
easier to reload. If you’re looking for a
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LENGTH: BARREL: MSRP:
of testing and installing the upgrades
5.9 3
INCHES INCHES $904 you’re most likely to want and badged
it as the Legion edition of the P938.

50 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 MCRS
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 Max can feed from a regular 5.56mm AR magazine in a
pinch. However, it ships with a magazine modified in a
manner to ensure reliability. The feed lips are truncat-
ed, there’s a huge cutout on the front to aid in feeding,
and the original follower has been replaced with one
more suited for the Tyrannosaurus projectiles.
The 500 Auto Max round itself is a rimless version of
the S&W 500, which makes this 12-inch gun the most
powerful short range rifle in the world! In a perfect
situation, you could just use shells from your 8.38-inch
Using a 12-inch barrel Model S&W 500 concealed carry gun in it. But

Big Horn Armory 500 alas they aren’t swappable unless a lathe is involved.
Unlike many other wildcats, Buffalo Bore produces

Auto Max for Defense three different factory loadings: 375-grain JHP, 400-grain
JFN, and a 440-grain hard cast for the really big critters
BY DAVID “BIG BORE” MERRILL
and criminals.
The folks over at Big Horn Armory claim that they

B
use a 7.62 NATO receiver set because the round needs
ig Horn Armory, based in Cody, Wyoming, is the longer stroke for reliability, even though the mag-
no stranger to building large-bore rifles. In well is sized for the quaint and diminutive 5.56mm. I
RECOIL we’ve reviewed a modified .45-70 truly wish the Big Horn Armory 500 Auto Max pistol
and recently, a 500 Auto Max both built was based on a more battle-proven design like the
around AR receivers. But now they’ve outdone M1A instead of a gun that sh*ts where it eats. The
themselves, with a lighter and heavier, more powerful AR-10
handier “pistol” version sporting a style is used to contain the raw
barrel length of a mere 12 inches power 500 Auto Max provides.
and a weight below 7.5 pounds. Also missing on the Big Horn re-
ceiver is the forward assist you’d
FEATURES AND DETAILS normally need for a jammomatic
Though it may look like it’s the 5.56mm poodle shooter.
same gun you bought for your The Big Horn Armory 500
granddaughter, there’s a lot more Auto Max pistol comes with an
going on under the hood. Much adjustable gas block, which we
Left to right: like other big-bored ARs such immediately turned to full-bore to
375gr JHP,
400gr JFN, as the .458 SOCOM and .50 ensure functioning with the finicky
440gr Hard Cast BEOWULF, the Big Horn 500 Auto AR design.

52 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 53
 Anyone breaking in is up to no good, acceptable. It’s minute of man, all day
and therefore is a valid target. long, so long as I do my part. Also, it
Because Uncle Sam currently calls printed ½-inch, one-shot groups! Can
this a “pistol” we didn’t have any your rifle do that? I doubt it.
buttstock options. We’re told that if you
want Federal agents sniffing around COVER INTO CONCEALMENT
your bug-out location you can get a spe- There’s not a whole lot that can with-
cial license, a process I’m told requires stand the enormous energy the 500 Auto
years and even a DNA sample. With that Max puts out. With the hard cast 440-grain
in mind, a pistol brace is just fine. loading and its 56.7 TKO factor, you could
punch through an elephant that Al Qaeda
AT THE RANGE fed PCP and infected with AIDS.
OUTFITTING Basic takedown is To really shake out the 500 Auto Or let’s say that you have a house-
Many people these days prefer to use the same as any Max I headed to my local range. After hold full of appliances that you picked
other Mattel rifle.
fancy-and-unreliable new red dot sights, eyeballing the selection of Scout Ri- up on the side of the road to fix up
such as the C-More and Aimpoint 2000, fles, it was time to sight her in, being and resell, or sell for scrap down the
but as one of my mentors once said, “Red sure to ask if the backstop were suf- line. Let’s just say that the 500 Auto
dots are fine, but 10 minutes after the ficiently tough enough for the caliber. Max would take care of any ne’er-do-
power goes out, the man with iron sights Recoil was brisk but manageable. well on the other side, foolishly think-
is king.” Bearing this in mind, I attached We recommend that the 500 Auto ing you were armed with something
a carry handle rear sight and a fixed front Max only be used by men — not wom- weak like a 9mm or .30 carbine.
sight for the utmost in reliability. There en, children, or liberals. It takes a real
are no weird batteries to die, and when American man to handle this one. BUMP IN THE NIGHT
the EMP hits there’s no dot to fry. The action was smooth, and fit and fin- Normally my bump-in-the-night set-
Yes, the smaller carry handle does ish were absolutely impeccable aside from up is my trusty angle-headed flashlight
look strange with the longer receiver, the handguard that was apparently short- and a Colt Delta Elite 1911 chambered
but what doesn’t is the piece of mind ened using a bandsaw or Sawzall. The in 10mm as John Moses Browning
knowing you have dual apertures for anodizing is very black, and even though and God intended. While I won’t be
both fast and precision work. Recoil was brisk I don’t believe in them, the receiver had discarding the venerable 1911, it no
Flashlights on guns are all the rage, but manageable. ambidextrous controls. A gun you find on longer is at the very top of the list.
but I’ll stick to using a red light in my the battlefield probably won’t have them General “Mad Dog” Mattis once
weak hand when not home, as to either, so train accordingly. exclaimed that, “Anyone worth shooting
not highlight myself as a target to The 500 Auto Max is combat once is worth shooting twice,” but it’s
the enemy. But in my own home? accurate, which is perfectly painfully obvious the Mad Dog did not

The author’s
nightstand.

54 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 NOT YOUR
Y GRAN
GRANDDAUGHTER’S
ANDDA AR-15
have access to the far
superior kinetic energy of
the 500 Auto Max. If he did,
U.S. troops wouldn’t currently be
outgunned overseas by the admirable
7.62x39. Those who have “seen the el-
ephant” will know what I’m talking about.
Heck, the ballistic wake of the 500
will undoubtedly cause cavitation
damage from a near miss! Whatever good is capacity
thug breaks into your house to steal if you need to shoot
your VCR won’t be doing any bee bop- something three or four times just to
ping again anytime soon. match the sheer knockdown power of
the 500 Auto Max?
NOTES
As previously mentioned, using a CONCLUSIONS
combat-worthy base could only be There’s nothing wrong with the
seen as a positive; hopefully someone round; it will absolutely kill everything
will manufacture M1As and AK-47s within 200 yards if you do your part.
with this cartridge. Also, fixed iron I dare say both Hitler and Ho Chi
sights should be standard. I could Minh would have been minor blips on
take or leave the metal handguard the radar if U.S. troops were given
with the modern trappings of trying this caliber in the 20th century.
to put everything on there to gain
points on the information super BIG HORN ARMORY
highway. Wood, blued steel, and sex
AR500, 500 AUTO MAX PISTOL
appeal would be my preference, but
bighornarmory.com
if not, simple A1 handguards would
CALIBER: WEIGTH MAGAZINE
be great. UNLOADED: CAPACITY:
Something that many will see as a 500
downside is the reduced capacity. A
AUTO MAX 7 LBS 6 OZ 5 ROUNDS
LENGTH: BARREL: MSRP:
standard 20-round AR magazine will
fit five 500 Auto Max cartridges and
IN
26
INCHES
NCHES INCHES
12 TBD
(FULL-SIZE IS $1,999)
(FULL
a 30-rounder will hold nine. But what
at

Left to right:
5.56x45mm
9mm
500 Auto Max

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 55
 FLASHBANG
COMBATIVES
How to Choose and Use Handheld
Lights for Self-Defense
BY PATRICK VUONG

WARNING!
The concepts shown in
this article are for illus-
trative purposes only.
Seek instruction from
a reputable teacher
before attempting any
techniques discussed
here. CONCEALMENT, its
staff, and this author are
not liable in any way for
any losses, injuries, or
deaths resulting from
the use or misuse of any
material herein.

56 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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Y
ou have that friend; we all do. down, help with roadside repairs, or It can be used to break free of holds
That guy who stares wide-eyed assist in search-and-rescue missions. and locks.
at you and your daily loadout A portable light can also be used as a The number of techniques are bound
like you’re some sort of paranoid highly effective self-defense tool. How? only by your imagination, experience,
nut-job. He’s the same dude Let us count the ways: and level of training.
who says, “Why do you need to carry a It can intimidate and deescalate Another benefit of having an everyday-
flashlight everywhere you go?” one min- before violence erupts. carry (EDC) flashlight is that it can
ute and then asks to borrow it the next It can blind an attacker. (usually) be carried in non-permissive
when he can’t find his keys in the dark. It can be used as an impact weapon. environments where knives and firearms
A flashlight can save a life It can be used as a pain compliance aren’t allowed. Think school campuses,
in more ways than one. It tool. courthouses, and federal buildings. A
doesn’t just illuminate a It can be used for holds, locks, and discreet handheld light doesn’t attract as
path when the sun goes takedowns. much attention as a knife or firearm.

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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 1: The EDC PL 1AAA is a 1 2 3
great mini light from 5.11
Tactical. It’s affordable,
runs on one AAA battery,
and can put out 55
lumens for almost four
hours. The tradeoff? Your
fist will swallow it up, so
it’s more of a fist-load
weapon than a club or
kubaton.

2: The SureFire Stiletto

is a groundbreaking
650-lumen flashlight
that is less than 5
inches long but has a
stout oval-shaped body
that’s more ergonomic
than most cylindrical
penlights (providing
a more assured grip,
especially when striking
a bad guy).

3: The Streamlight
PolyTac X USB emits a
whopping 600 lumens
on high and has other
modes, including strobe
to disorient an attacker.
Made of high-impact
nylon polymer with
a slightly crenulated
striking bezel.

SIZE DICTATES TACTICS The reality is that the selection of Running on AA or AAA sized bat-
Some might advocate getting the your flashlight depends more on you teries, they’re slim and easily palmed,
largest flashlight available to swing than on its size. Your preferences and making them great as fist-load weap-
like a baseball bat. Makes sense from combatives experience will inform ons. These penlights add structure,
a striking standpoint. But how exactly your selection more than anything. and a bit of weight, to each punch,
can you EDC a 2-pound, 14-inch-long Just as you wouldn’t use a Swiss yet are carried discreetly and take up
four-cell D Maglite comfortably — let Army Knife to baton firewood or a minimal pocket real estate.
4-7: Patrick Vuong alone do so without attracting un- 338 Lapua in close-quarters combat, On the downside, because of their
preemptively turns on wanted attention? Remember, you’re you shouldn’t use certain flashlights limited length, they can’t be used as
his flashlight, blinding
not going to use it if you’re not going for certain techniques. a baton and they’re not as effective
his opponent. He closes
the gap, traps the bad to carry it. The following is a closer look at the for hammer-fist strikes (think icepick
guy’s arm, and smashes Conversely, choosing the smallest three most common types of handheld grip but with a flashlight) — espe-
him with a hammer-fist
strike to the head. Next torch made out of paper-thin polymer flashlights for personal protection. cially if you have big paws. For that
he strikes his opponent’s will be as useful an impact weapon Small Lights: Generally speaking, same reason, certain techniques such
throat and wedges the as, say, a TV remote. It may give a these types of flashlights are five as holds, “come-alongs,” joint-locks,
handheld torch under
the chin to initiate a bad guy an owie but is unlikely to inches or shorter while their diameters and joint-lock releases aren’t always
takedown. knock him out. are determined by their fuel source. possible with these tiny torches.

58 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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 FLASHBANG COMBATIVES
If you have smaller hands and a grip is also ideal for all sorts of locks, 4
portion of the light sticks out from holds, and come-along techniques.
your fist, you could use a small light as Large Lights: “Big” is a relative
you’d use a kubaton for a limited range term. For some, 8 inches is standard
of locks or pain compliance techniques. while other men might consider that
Medium-Sized Lights: For simplic- aspirational (in more ways than one).
ity sake, we call models 5 to 7 inches Regardless of the length of your hard-
long medium-sized — the “Goldi- ware, we’ve lumped torches that are
locks” of handheld tactical flashlights 8 inches or longer in this category.
on the market today, balancing capa- These typically run on multiple,
bilities with portability. larger sized primary batteries, as well
These mid-size models typically run as rechargeable cells. The increased
on AA, CR123, or rechargeable batter- fuel means a big boost not only in 5
ies. Those powered by the latter two lumens, but also in throw, runtime,
cells generally have a slightly greater and mode options.
diameter, weigh a bit more, and offer And, more importantly for us, these
more juice in several ways: provide beasts deliver the most blunt force
brighter lights, longer run times, and trauma. The increase in weight and
more blunt force with each strike. length gives you more range, power,
They can be held in a forward grip and leverage to unleash punishing hits.
with the head coming out the top of Think of them as batons that can blind.
your fist (um, we don’t mean that in a A big flashlight’s dimensions open
dirty way, we promise!) or in reverse up the door to a wider range of tactics
grip (with the head coming out the and techniques. Now with several (or
bottom of your fist). many) inches of aluminum extending
6
In forward (or hammer) grip, the from your fist, you can use a hammer
flashlight isn’t long enough to deliver grip like you're swinging, well, a ham-
baton-like strikes. Don’t get us wrong, mer — clubbing hands, arms, heads or
those two inches of aluminum stick- anything else that gets within your ex-
ing out the top of your fist will do tended reach. And with that reach you
some damage on someone’s noggin, could also thrust into eyeballs, teeth,
but you’re just as likely to smash your throats, or testicles without having to
knuckles on their skull, too, given how step as close to the assailant.
close your swing would need to be to What about in reverse grip? Sure, but
make contact. In this grip, you’re better why not play to your strengths (in this
off with linear, thrusting strikes or us- case, length) to keep the bad guy at bay.
ing it for joint-locks, pain-compliance A large flashlight will give you an
holds, and pressure-point techniques. even bigger list of grappling, compli- 7
For most people with a medium- ance, and pressure-point techniques.
sized flashlight, it’s the reverse grip With the longer length, you get
that’s the winner. It allows you to use increased leverage for pins, locks,
the tool like an icepick, as you rain chokes, and takedowns.
down blow after blow. Unfortunately, the pro of a bigger
Or strike up if you’re lower than your light is also one of its cons: size. A
attacker. Imagine you’ve been thrown large flashlight will add many ounces
to the ground or had to take a knee to your loadout, will be harder to
momentarily. Because your elbow is carry discreetly, and certainly won’t
the hinge, you could hammer upward be as comfortable to lug around as a
into the groin or chin. This icepick smaller model.

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R E C O I L W E B . C O M 59
 1 2 3

4 5 6

TACTICS DICTATE FEATURES 1-6: As his assailant why the next feature is so important. spikes for stabbing a Transformer.
A handheld torch must turn on when wrestles for control of Body: Generally, you’ll want the Our answer? It’s best to go the sub-
his flashlight, author
you need it to and stay in one piece Patrick Vuong rotates his flashlight’s body to be made of alumi- tle route. Sure, a prickly striking bezel
after multiple impacts. That means flashlight clockwise to num if you plan to use it as an impact will definitely escalate the pain factor.
an incandescent bulb inside the thin
sink in a wristlock. Then weapon. It’s lightweight, corrosion And it’ll puncture skin, drawing blood
he fires a palm strike
plastic head of your granddaddy’s to the face and a knee resistant, and has high heat conductiv- that could get in the bad dude’s eyes
Eveready flashlight just won’t cut it in strike to the ribs before ity. It’s also incredibly sturdy — let’s and acting as a further distraction. But
finishing with a hammer-
a life-and-death situation these days. just say a skull will crack long before it’ll also draw unwanted attention from
fist to the side of the
Light Source: The defining fea- head with his flashlight. aluminum will break. Some companies cops and prosecutors if you’re ever in a
ture of this tool is its emitter. You’ll add a rubber overmold for increased confrontation. And while flashlights are
want to make sure it’s an LED, or traction, comfort, and heat protection. allowed to be carried onto planes, an
light-emitting diode, and not an If your light’s body is made of plas- individual TSA agent has the authority
incandescent or halogen bulb. An tic, make sure it’s tough high-impact to confiscate it if they feel it could be
LED is far more efficient, producing 7-10: Holding a large polymer, lest it crack the first time used as a weapon.
flashlight in forward grip,
exponentially more lumens (all the you swing it. Remember, folks, you’re hitting with
author Patrick Vuong
better to blind an attacker or search uses the concept of Bezel: One of the most common what is essentially a metal pipe, not
for dangers in the dark) while using “defanging the snake” questions about tactical flashlights is, a toilet paper roll! It’s not like your
from the bladed art of Kali
less battery power. Plus, it’s durable, by smashing the hand “Should I get the one with a crenu- strike won’t do damage if the flash-
lacking a fragile filament that’ll break holding the incoming lated bezel?” A what? It’s the pointy light has a smooth bezel.
upon repeated impacts. knife. He immediately fol- crown on the rim of the flashlight’s Pocket Clip: Most small and me-
lows up with a backhand
The drawbacks? An LED costs more strike while trapping his head. Some striking bezels can have dium flashlights have a stainless steel
and generates a lot of heat. But that’s attacker’s wrist. subtle ridges while others look like clip allowing positioning at the top of

60 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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 FLASHBANG COMBATIVES
a pocket for quick deployment. Larger straight up at the ceiling. This will not 7
lights don’t usually have pocket clips, only diffuse the light and allow you
as it’s not always practical to shove an to see more of the room, it’ll prevent
8-inch light into your 5-inch pocket. backsplash off walls that could inad-
In those cases, holsters or pouches vertently blind you.
are available that can be worn on a Light It Up: If the potential threat
belt or attached to a pack. Whatever turns out to be of the two-legged va-
your setup, be sure to practice your riety, you want to concentrate all your
combatives with the light in the same lumens on their eyes. Overload their
position as you carry it. retinas with so much light they’re
On/Off Switch: Larger lights give forced to shut their eyelids or turn
you more leverage and striking power. their heads. That’s why cops always
The tradeoff is that the power button blast their duty light in your face dur- 8
is usually closer to the head of the ing a nighttime traffic stop; it’s not
light. This means you need to choke just to see what’s in your car.
up on the handle to press the button Get Vocal: The next tactic is to
with your thumb. Be sure to practice use your verbal weapons. Use com-
combatives with your hands in various mands such as “Stop,” “Show me your
positions, lest you fumble the light hands,” and “Don’t come any closer.”
or fail to turn it on when the adrena- With a blinding light and a command-
line’s pumping during the real deal. ing voice, you may be able to deesca-
For small and medium torches, late a tense situation or even prevent
the button is usually on the tail-cap, an attack before it’s launched.
which is a perfect place for it if you’re An important legal note: By us-
using a reverse grip. Your thumb can ing verbal commands, you’re also
9
operate the light without the need to establishing to any nearby witnesses
adjust your grip, so you can blind an that you’re attempting to defuse the
attacker then follow up immediately situation and defend yourself.
with a hammer-fist strike. Strobe and Strike: If neither of the
aforementioned tactics improve the
FLASHLIGHT FIGHTING situation, hit the strobe mode and
Like any self-defense tool, a tacti- unload strikes immediately after. The
cal flashlight should be used as an flashing strobe may disorient as you
impact weapon only when you feel close the gap. (Caution: Be mindful
like you have no other option. Since of your surroundings and possible
your torch has a retina-searing LED in backsplash.)
it, you have options. Here’s a general If your torch doesn’t have a strobe
guideline for using a flashlight in a mode, do your best to hide your first 10
dicey situation: strike by keeping the light on their
Enter Search Mode: Not every eyes as you fire off thrusts, hammer-
bump-in-the-night problem calls for fists, and forehand swings. You can
a violent solution. After all, it could also kick their knee, thigh, or groin —
just be your drunk brother stumbling which probably won’t be seen in the
in after a night of partying. Use your dark — then follow up with flashlight
handheld lamp to positively identify strikes to the head.
what’s around you first. If you choose the forward grip, you
If you’re indoors or in a confined can swing the light in an infinity-
space and not quite sure what set off symbol pattern (figure eight turned
your Spidey Sense, shine your light sideways) and cover a wide area in

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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 FLASHBANG COMBATIVES

4
1: With a large head, 1 2
1-pound weight, and 9.53-
inch length, the ProTac
HL 5-X USB could easily
bludgeon a predator into
submission. But you might
not need to, considering
it could blind them with
its 3,500 lumens. Perhaps

Mistakes not quite a daily-carry

tool, it can be powered

To Avoid
by either four CR123A
batteries or its included
rechargeable cells.

Whether it’s a flashlight, a tire iron, or a

baseball bat, having a blunt instrument 2: By the 1990s, it seemed
like every driver kept
can tip the odds of survival in your
a large Maglite in their
favor. But there are fundamental car for more than just
combatives rules that should never lighting purposes. While
still physically imposing
been violated. with its rugged 1.4-pound
aluminum body, the 2-Cell
Mistake 1: Don’t Carry. D Flashlight has a xenon
lamp that puts out a
There’s no point in spending $200 on a meager 27 lumens.
tactical torch if you leave it at home. It’s
even useless if it’s inside your zipped
backpack. Your weapon must be in your
hand, or readily deployable, if you have
any hope of using it in time.

Mistake 2: Don’t Get a Grip.

If you lose your grip (or your weapon)
in the middle of a fight, you could die.
Rain, sweat, and blood can make your
flashlight slippery. There’s no such
thing as too tight; a death grip is just front of you. Note, with some subtle
about right. wrist adjustments, you can still swing
it effectively in an infinity-symbol
About the Author
Mistake 3: Don’t Consider Alternatives. pattern or thrust straight ahead while Patrick Vuong is the co-founder of Tiga
Before you wind up for that big swing, in the reverse grip — your point of Tactics (a combatives training and
make sure you’ve exhausted all contact will just be below your fist consulting company) and the former
your other options first. Avoidance, instead of above it. senior editor of RECOIL Magazine and its
de-escalation, evasion — all tactics sister publications. As a self-defense
you should try first if possible. And CONCLUSION teacher since 1999, he uses his diverse
even if you’re not arrested, the injured It’s as clear as day — a flashlight knowledge of fighting methods to close
assailant could still play the victim card can be more than just an illumination the wide gap between two traditionally
and sue you later. tool. Don’t be a bystander or a victim. separate warriors: martial artists
SOURCES
Instead carry a flashlight, learn how and firearms enthusiasts. He’s an
5.11 TACTICAL
Mistake 4: Don’t Train. 511tactical.com
to use it, practice your impact weapon instructor in several systems, including
Even if you have an impact weapon on combatives, and be the warrior hold- the Filipino bladed art of Pekiti-Tirsia
STREAMLIGHT
your person, it’s almost useless if you Streamlight.com ing back the darkness. Or at least be Kali. For more information, go to
don’t know how to use it effectively. SUREFIRE the self-sufficient adult who helps tigatactics.com.
SureFire.com your friend find his keys.

62 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 S E M I A U T O M AT I C

PEACE OF MIND
©2019 O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc.

Personal defense begins with the knowledge that if danger should

MC1sc™
Subcompact 9mm Pistol. Combining optimal reliability with superior
ergonomics, the MC1sc helps ensure that you’ll be prepared and protected.
Learn more at Mossberg.com.
™

SAFETY TIP: Store firearms securely, inaccessible to children and unauthorized users.
 CZECH
YOURSELF…
F…
The CZ P10 S Puts Full-Sized Features in
a Palm-Sized Package
BY TOM MARSHALL

W
ay back in CONCEAL- THE SAME, BUT DIFFERENT
FFERENT
MENT Issue 7 we had While the original P10 C came
the chance to review the to us direct from the Czech Repub-
then-new CZ P10C. Since lic, new-manufacture P10 pistols,
then, the market for black including the diminutive S model,
striker-fired auto pistols has only got- are produced at CZ-USA’s Kansas
ten larger and more densely packed. City facility. This change in
But the P10 C continues to stand out provenance includes some ad-
for its superior set of out-of-the-box ditional upgrades for the end
features and its above-average ergo- user. Namely improved grip
nomics. From its inception, the P10 C texture, improved trigger, and
was meant to be the first in a family some increased parts commonal-
of striker guns. While it’s taken a little ity between the three models. We also
while to get that enterprise off the noticed that barrel lock-up was better
ground, CZ USA has finally delivered and there was some differences with
the “gen 2” of the P10 C, as well as the recoil system. While none of the
it’s bigger and smaller siblings — a changes were particularly earth-shat-
full-sized P10 F and the subject of this tering, we’re glad to see that this series
article, the subcompact P10 S. is continuing to improve and evolve.

64 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 65
 P10 S mags put 12 rounds We were dually impressed with the
on tap, giving it an original P10C trigger — in fact, we’d
endurance factor beyond
many of its same-size say it’s one of the best out-of-the-box
competitors. striker triggers out there right now,
particularly at a price point that’s
competitive with anything else in
its class. But our test sample of the
newer P10 S seems to sport a trig-
ger that’s been further cleaned up.
The bang switch on our test gun had
about a ½ inch of clean slack before
hitting a hard wall which broke at an
average of just under 5 pounds on our
digital gauge. The reset is aggressive
and positive with a ¼ inch of travel.

Seeing the writing on the There was minimal stacking and zero
wall for optics-equipped over-travel. While we’re perfectly
carry guns, the P10 S content with the stock trigger (a rarity
comes pre-cut to accom-
modate several brands of for this author) there is an aftermarket
miniature red dots. option from HB Industries that will fit
new-manufacture guns.
Now, among new models, the
different size mags can be
interchanged. But if you
own an original P10 C,
you might have to spend
some coin on new gas tanks
if you make the jump to a
new-manufacture pistol. On an
interesting side note, if you own
a P07 or P09 pistol, HB Industries
can modify those mags to
run in a P10.

66 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 CZECH YOURSELF…
ROUNDS DOWNRANGE sight pictures a cinch. But this is far The P10 S, while not see with a pistol of this size. Since
We spent a few weeks playing from a belly gun. We were able to hit as soft-shooting as the P10 S is available in an optics-
with our P10 S and ran a handful 6-inch steel out to 20 yards with a its larger siblings, ready configuration, we’re sure that
of different rounds through it from gun almost small enough to palm — a lacked the jarring the distances could be pushed even
115-grain Magtech target loads to testament to the aforementioned iron- muzzle flip of other further with a dialed-in red dot and
Federal HST Micro 150-grain slugs clad lockup. guns in this weight a little practice. Speaking of bolt-
and had no issues whatsoever. We handed this gun off to several class. “We were able on’s the P10 S does come with an
The factory iron sights are metal, regular range buddies who were all to hit 6-inch steel accessory rail molded into the frame.
configured with a serrated, plain black able to repeat similar results, keeping out to 20 yards with We had two standard-sized weapon
rear and a tritium front. The rear rounds in the A-box at distances a gun almost small lights on hand, a SureFire X300U
notch is nice and wide, making snap well beyond what most people will enough to palm...” and a Streamlight TLR-1. Neither

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 67
 CZECH YOURSELF…
one would fit the shorter dust cover, grip on the gun. The former is a matter The tritium front dot, LOOSE ROUNDS
but we imagine a small light sized of physics. Shooting the same bullet
nested inside a hi-viz ring Aftermarket support for the P10 line
the color and size of a
for sub pistols would have better out of a smaller gun simply produces clay pigeon, made sight isn’t nearly as robust as it could be. How-
success. Holsters from Dara Holsters more felt recoil. This leads to a general acquisition a cinch even ever, there is a steadily growing stable
under time pressure and
and JM Custom Kydex that were trend of smaller guns being “snappier” of accessories from mag releases and
while moving.
built for the larger C model both or “jumpier” in the hand. There are base pads to triggers, comps, sights and
accepted the subcompact without only a few ways to mitigate this, one stipple jobs. The release of a subcompact
any issue. Mag pouches are a slightly being the ability to secure a full two- sibling will only continue to give trac-
different story. The magazines fit, handed grip on the gun. For the author, tion to the P10 as a serious contender
but sit nearly flush in the pouches we the P10 S, even with flush-fit mags, is in the self-defense and concealed carry
had. As always, make sure that any just long enough to get a full grip on. markets. Aftermarket or not, the CZ P10
accessories you have are meant to fit Your mileage may vary, but basepads series truly shines in its out-of-the-box
the gun you’re running. are out there and inexpensive if you configuration and the subcompact is no
The two biggest gripes we have have tennis racket hands and need a exception. If you are looking for a carry-
(and hear) about shooting subcompact little extra real estate. Overall, we felt ready pistol and don’t have the time or
guns kind of go hand in hand, no pun that the recoil impulse of the P10 S money to spend on custom work, CZ USA
intended. One is recoil management, was only slightly more aggressive than might be able to make you the proverbial
the other is the ability to get a solid its larger, compact counterpart. offer you can’t refuse.

CZ USA
P10 S OPTICS READY
www.cz-usa.com

WEIGHT MAGAZINE
CALIBER:: UNLOADED: CAPACITY::

9MM 24.4 OUNCES 12 + 1 ROUNDS

LENGTH: HEIGHT: WIDTH:: BARREL::

6.6 4.6 1.26 3.5

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MSRP:

$577
68 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
Slides for Glock® G26 & G43
Get a “top half” on your EDC pistol
that suits your needs!
– Factory “iron” sight, RMR-ready & Window models
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70 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 You Shouldn’t
Need to Be
Well-Heeled to
Go Heeled
BY TAMARA KEEL

Y
ou shouldn’t need to be well- The CPX-1 was followed to market larger and have heavier slides or much
heeled to go heeled. Like by the CPX-2, which was the same heavier recoil springs.
all of the Bill of Rights, the thing sans thumb safety. (Given the More recently, however, larger
Second Amendment belongs length and weight of the true double .380s have begun hitting the market.
to every American, whether action only trigger pull, these were The Walther PK380, Smith & Wesson
they can drop cash for a new Night- fairly extraneous anyway.) 380 Shield EZ, and the (now defunct)
hawk Custom without batting an eye This brings us to the most recent .380 versions of the SIG SAUER P250
or whether they’ve had to scrimp and offering from the company, perhaps Compact and Subcompact all exploit-
save tip money to shop the bargain unsurprisingly dubbed the CPX-3. ed the combination of hammer-fired
section. When money is tight, some- Externally similar to its catalog-mates, and recoil-operated systems making
one who lives in a state that requires except very slightly smaller, the CPX-3 these pistols easier to operate than
them to pay for a training class for a is distinguished by its 380 ACP cham- their 9mm cousins for people with less
permit and then shell out for the per- bering, a cartridge that’s witnessing grip or upper-body strength.
mit itself is already as much as a few something of a renaissance lately. Not only are the slides easier to
hundred bucks out of pocket. This resurgence first began in tiny cycle by hand, but recoil and muzzle
This end of the handgun market pocket blasters like Kel-Tec’s P3AT flip is dramatically reduced with the
spans a fairly narrow price range, and the Ruger LCP. Pistols that small .380 round in a larger package. The
with Hi-Point staking out the lower and light could only be chambered in CPX-3 slides neatly into this useful
end and Kel-Tec Industries, as well .380 both by being recoil operated, market niche.
as some of Ruger’s less-expensive which helps slow the slide by the
offerings, marking the upper. SCCY, a mechanical action of unlocking the ODE TO TLG
relative newcomer, entered the market barrel, and by being hammer-fired, But how would it hold up to ex-
in the early/mid-2000s, with an initial where the slide’s rearward motion is tended, hard use? Is this the sort of
offering called the CPX-1, a small further braked by the action of having gun that could, despite its price point,
9mm broadly similar in appearance to override the hammer against the be taken to a 500- to 1,000-round
and function to the Kel-Tec P11 with tension of the mainspring. Blowback- weekend class without worries, just
an aggressive price tag. operated .380 pistols tended to be like a Glock or SIG? Trainer Claude

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 71
 this meant we could arrive at the range The gun ships with the trigger lock
with 130 rounds loaded up and ready affixed and locked. There’s no separate
to go. storage slot in the blown plastic tray
Hornady anted up 2,000 rounds that lines the cardboard box to hold
of its 90-grain Critical Defense .380 the lock, either; just the gun, mags,
ammunition, with its distinctive FTX and two keys. The subtle message this
bullet. Just as the test was about to conveyed was that if it wasn’t stored
go live, SCCY realized the gun they in a quick-access safe, then SCCY was
sent was a preproduction model and nudging the gun’s new owner to store it
asked to swap it out for a production with the lock on the gun. (The lock is
version. apparently of the one-size-fits-all-SC-
So, we did, although that did crowd CYs variety, since it warns to store the
things uncomfortably toward the dead- gun with the safety on, and the CPX-3
line for this issue. doesn’t have one of those.)
Werner, former instructor at the Rogers The SCCY comes with A quick perusal of the pistol itself
School and currently writing under the three magazines, one UNBOXING revealed a fairly conventional small
fitted with a pinkie-rest
moniker The Tactical Professor had floorplate. In due time the replacement pistol double-stack pistol; a little shorter and
reported cautiously optimistic results arrived. Opening the box revealed one narrower than a Glock 26, although a
with a CPX-2 a couple years back, so SCCY CPX-3, black slide on black bit longer in the grip. The backstrap
we were curious to see how a CPX-3 frame, with the magazine in the gun isn’t scooped out as radically as the
handles a decent volume of shooting. having a pinkie-rest floorplate and subcompact Glock’s either, causing it
The “2,000-round Challenge,” the two spare mags nested in the box to sit somewhat higher in the hand, al-
publicized by the late trainer Todd wearing flush-fit floorplates. though being chambered for .380 this
Louis Green of pistol-training.com, is
something of an unofficial benchmark.
As Green put it:
“It’s really pretty arbitrary. The
Challenge was begun after so many
people balked at my, shall we say,
“less-stringent” maintenance habits.
In my experience, just about any seri-
ous modern handgun, using something
like Miltec, should be able to reach
2k without cleaning, without needing
more lube and without stoppages.
The thing many people forget is that
the 2,000-round Challenge included
absolutely no [additional] lubrication to The CPW-3 features a
the gun during the whole 2,000-round recoil-operated, hammer-
cycle. You clean and lube before you fired system.
start, and then do nothing but shoot
the gun until you hit 2,000. If you add
some oil or grease during the 2,000
rounds, it’s disqualified.”
SCCY seemed certain that the CPX-
3 was indeed up to this level of use
and sent a pistol, as well as 10 spare
magazines. Considering that the CPX-3
ships with three magazines already,

72 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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 SCCY’S THE LIMIT
tomary 7 yards, and began banging
away at the 8-inch circle, initially at
a fairly sedate pace. I wanted to get a
feel for the trigger and see where the
Critical Defense rounds hit relative to
the sight picture.
The rounds were hitting an inch or
The little blaster is a bit so to the left at 7 yards. Looking close-
shorter and narrower
ly at the rear sight, it was also very
than a Glock 26, though
the grip is a tad longer. slightly off to the left in its dovetail.
It wasn’t loose, however, and lacking
a tool to loosen and re-tighten the set
screw, I left it alone and continued to
hold on the center of the target. Even
The trigger was … well, it’s no target with the slight misalignment of the rear
trigger, OK? On the other hand, there sight, the pistol’s accuracy was quite
are double-action pulls that are much acceptable. While we didn’t bench the
worse, and on more expensive pistols, gun for groups at 25 yards, shots could
too. The trigger on the test gun broke be kept on a 3x5 card at 10 yards
consistently at a little over 8 pounds, without much effort, and even in rapid
with a bit of overtravel before bottom- fire, nothing strayed out of the 8-inch
ing out against the frame. There was no circle at 7 yards.
reason I shouldn’t be able to take this Everything was going along just as
shouldn’t make for much of a notice- thing out of the box and hit 3x5 cards breezily as could be until I stuffed the
able increase in muzzle flip. at 7 yards cold; the trigger was man- sixth magazine in the gun, dropped
The sights on the CPX-3 are con- ageable, I could see the sights, and the the slide, and fired the fifty-first round
ventional three-dot sights; the rear is grip fit my whole hand. of the test.
adjustable for windage by loosening a I was cautiously optimistic. The gun suffered a failure to ex-
set screw and drifting it left or right Initially, loading the magazines proved tract, with the claw popping off the
in a dovetail slot. The slide serrations a little challenging. The 10th round rim of the spent case, leaving it only
are a sort of swoopy curved shape that could be inserted with thumb pressure halfway out of the chamber while the
give surprisingly good traction and and maybe a little bit of cursing, but slide continued to the rear before
combine with a light recoil spring to with 13 magazines to load, an UpLULA trying to cram a fresh round into the
make the slide easy to run. loading device made it much easier. still-occupied breech.
The slide release and magazine Thoughtfully, the production CPX-3 Okay, these things happen. I locked
release are easy to reach and operate arrived with an extra tube of TW-25 the slide back, removed the magazine,
with the thumb…if you’re right-hand- grease rubber-banded to the box. So, and tipped the gun muzzle up to let the
ed. They’re not ambidextrous, howev- we generously lubricated all the bearing spent case fall free. It didn’t. I flicked at
er, nor are they reversible. They’re not surfaces on the barrel and rails before the case rim with a fingernail, but it still
too difficult to operate the magazine the first round was fired. We then refused to tumble out. Closing the slide
release with the trigger finger of your pulled a bore snake through the barrel to pop the extractor claw back over the
left hand (which is generally what I do a couple times for good measure, all in rim and manually cycling it solved the
on guns even if they have reversible an effort to ensure the gun was squeaky problem. The shiny nickel-plated case
mag catches, should I have to shoot clean before getting it good and dirty. of the Hornady Critical Defense round
with my wrong hand). Running the was free of obvious pressure signs and
slide release with your left trigger fin- RANGE DAY ONE didn’t appear to be scuffed by a rough
ger proved next to impossible, though, In a pistol bay at my local indoor chamber, so I resumed shooting.
so it’s an over-the-top whole-hand range, Indy Arms Company, I ran a A couple magazines later, round
slide release for southpaws. QP-T target out to the practically cus- number 75, I experienced a clas-

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 73
 SCCY’S THE LIMIT
RANGE DAY TWO they were the culprit, but that didn’t
The next day at the range began appear to be the case. As a last resort,
with another 13 loaded mags and a I called off the no-cleaning protocol
determination to get the test at least to of the test and scrubbed under the
the 350-round point. Things went well extractor claw with a toothbrush. I
for about 30 rounds, and then came a made one last range trip with some dif-
failure-to-feed as the nose of an FTX ferent ammunition, a box each of SIG
bullet ran aground on the feed ramp. SAUER Elite Performance 100-grain
Thirty one more rounds and another FMJ and 90-grain V-Crown JHP, but
sic stovepipe failure-to-eject, where Examples of the one of those weird, sticky failures to the weird random failures to extract
the slide closed on a spent case failure-to-extract and extract. Forty more rounds and then continued, one from each box. While
stovepipe issues that we
that hadn’t exited the ejection port experienced. another failure to feed on #235. I’m no gunsmith, I noted that the spent
cleanly. OK, that can be caused by And so it went. By round #350, I’d ex- brass was free of the sort of scuffs that
limp-wristing, we’ll just clear it and perienced seven failures to extract, four are indicators of a rough spot in the
… the very next round, #76, was failures to eject, and three failures to chamber. This tells me that, if I were
another one of those weird failure- feed. The gun wasn’t even notably dirty to bet, the issue was with the extractor.
to-extracts, with the spent case left yet; I’ve been in training classes where I Whether an issue with claw geometry
halfway out of the chamber when the expended that much ammunition before or extractor spring tension, these could
claw popped off the rim. lunch. I contacted my editor and we cause the issues with the test gun.
Clearing the gun, I locked the slide decided that we’d give it one more day to As of this writing, the CPX-3 has been
back and used the rim of a spent shake out the bugs. Failing that, the gun sent home to SCCY in Florida, hopefully
case to pull the takedown pin. The would go back to SCCY. for repair and redemption. Per the com-
extractor claw looked good — there pany’s statement in the sidebar, they’ll
was nothing under it and there were NOPE look it over and diagnose the problem.
no rough spots in the chamber visible Sure enough, the next 350 went We have the remainder of the Hornady
to the naked eye. The remainder of pretty much like the first. Ten, 20, ammunition waiting to see if the fix does
the first 130 rounds went by without maybe 50 rounds without an incident in fact fix the gun.
further incident, except for another and then another few failures. I’d As delivered, unfortunately the
failure-to-eject on round #124. marked certain magazines to see if CPX-3 was unable to deliver.

SCCYS RESPONSE
RECOIL,
We appreciate you reaching out and providing feedback from your 2,000-round
torture test on our CPX-3 model handgun. The model sent to you is a production
model, nothing custom built for a torture test, but we felt comfortable because
we have run 1,000s of rounds of Hornady Critical Defense through this model.
That being said, it comes as a surprise to hear of the failures you experienced in
testing. This result is unacceptable, and we will put corrective actions in place.
Our engineers and gunsmiths are testing the CPX-3 now, not only to see what
caused the failures in your test model, but also to ensure the quality and integ-
rity of all of our handguns. Although we are disappointed with how it performed,
SCCY we are sure this isn’t indicative of our entire production line. We will report back
CPX-3 with further findings as soon as we have them, and return your CPX-3 to finish
the test, in what we are sure will be a better outcome.
www.sccy.com
There are always many factors in a torture test and mechanical failures can hap-
CALIBER: WEIGTH MAGAZINE pen to any machine, which is a major reason why we always recommend owners
UNLOADED: CAPACITY:
thoroughly test their carry gun before calling on it to protect their lives. We
.380 17.5 OZ 10 ROUNDS stand behind our handguns with a lifetime warranty and an unmatched service
team to make sure that if these failures do happen, our owners are protected.
LENGTH: BARREL: MSRP:
Sincerely,
5.7 3
$305
Nick Olko
INCHES INCHES Director of Marketing

74 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 Image courtesy of Cade Imaging

76 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 Considerations for Fighting
With a Little One at Your Side

BY MELODY LAUER

I
magine you’re eating out with your family. What do you do? But what if it happens?
Your son, daughter, niece, nephew, or According to 2014 Census Bureau data, What if your child were in the midst of a
maybe grandchild is sitting in your lap, around 60 percent of the population over the violent attack? What if you’re attacked and a
telling you an elaborate story the way that age of 15 has at least one biological child. So child is between you and your attacker? What
only a small child can. You’re fully engaged if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance if your family is caught up in violence it wasn’t
in their excited eyes and animated features— you don’t have to reach too far back into your prepared for? Do you know what to do?
the way they tilt their head and stumble over memory to picture the scenario described Citizens Defense Research was formed in
words as they kick their foot against the leg above, to picture the face of a child you love 2015 and set out to answer these questions.
of your chair has you both distracted and silhouetted between you and a violent indi- We named our flagship course Contextual
delighted. You’re enraptured with the little vidual with a gun. Handgun: The Armed Parent/Guardian (TAP/G)
bundle of joy. If you’re a parent or spend time around kids and spent a year researching, studying, test-
Then you hear it. A scream. A demand. You and you carry a gun, it’s very likely you’ve al- ing, and crunching data. Not surprisingly,
peel your eyes away from this lovely child, only ready considered how it could be used to save defending your loved ones with a gun is no
to find yourself staring directly at a violent of- your child’s life, or the life of another child you small task. It’s a complicated and frightening
fender in the midst of an armed robbery. love dearly. prospect with many moving parts. While many

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 77
 Image courtesy of Cade Imaging

Image courtesy of Cade Imaging

things can be done well, this article will Parents have abandoned their own Demonstrating similar event occur. This guideline can
focus on a few important — but some- children in mass-casualty shootings, techniques with a prop help switch your subconscious mind
child in class — a lot
times unintuitive — ways that armed struck their own children while at- out of hyperarousal and back into
easier than bringing your
parents and loved ones might fall short tempting to fight attackers, and more. toddler onto the range. rational thought more quickly.
when defending children. When these stories are reported, it’s Once you’re in a home Practicing controlling your body’s
environment you can
common to see visceral and outraged practice techniques with response to extreme stress through
YOUR SELF-PRESERVATION reactions, but the hard truth is that your own — preferably physical activity and stressful activities
INSTINCTS MAY BE STRONGER any one of us could potentially act in with a SIRT or Blue gun, or sports can also help you better man-
lest you want to practice
THAN PARENTAL ONES a similar fashion. While considering trauma care in real time. age stress when it occurs.
In times of extreme stress or sudden it rationally, we would never imagine
violence, the brain triggers the body to it possible — but we can’t underesti- YOUR PARENTAL INSTINCTS
produce a flood of hormones meant to mate what we might do in a state of MAY PUT YOUR CHILD AT
prepare the body to fight or to flee. This hyperarousal. ADDITIONAL RISK
state of hyperarousal can cause you to The good news is that you can less- Concerned parents will often pull
act impulsively and without clear direc- en the ability of your subconscious to their children to themselves like hens
tion. While in this state, it’s very difficult hijack your body. Proactively planning with baby chicks when they become
to think rationally, and actions taken may for the presence of your children in aware of something alarming or suspi-
in retrospect seem unintelligent, counter- the event of a violent crime gives your cious. They tuck their little ones close
productive, or even negligent. brain a strategy to focus on should a and shepherd them away.

78 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 THE ARMED GUARDIAN
we initially prioritized creating distance
and getting the child to safety.
While this worked very well if there
was enough time to see the attack pro-
gressing or when there was an oppor-
tunity to stall the attack in some way,
the results were devastating when the
attack was sudden and violent. If the
parent took the time to get their child
to safety after the violence had already
started and before they fought back,
both the parent and the child often
ended up shot.
So we switched tactics and examined
what would happen if we instead priori-
tized immediate, skilled, and appropri-
ately violent counter-attacks in these
sort of situations. In our simulations,
the number of children and parents that
suffered simulated gunshot wounds
plummeted, even with parents holding
children in their arms.
This means you may have to fight
around your child. Thus, you must
possess the gun-handling and shooting
skills to perform to a demanding stan-
dard coupled with a clear understand-
ing of the legal and moral implications.
If you haven’t already, seek training that
allows you to maximize your perfor-
While this instinct is understandable, Avoidance and de-escalation are mance with the tools you’ve chosen to
in a world of projectile weapons and always our best first defense against defend yourself — and then practice
chaotic violence, it may be violence when children are present. those skills on a regular basis. If you
counterproductive. Sometimes, however, violent encoun-
“Proactively aren’t practicing, your skills may fail you

planning for
In a majority of force-on-force sce- ters can happen so quickly that there’s in your most desperate time of need.
narios that we observed involving children no time to evacuate your loved one If, despite your best efforts, you’re
who were drawn close to the caregiver, (we’ll discuss this more later). When the presence unable to avoid violence, your priority
children got shot when guns were involved violence is imminent, if given the of your must be to end the fight. Ending the
and bullets were exchanged. Similarly, choice between bringing your loved children in fight will be the vehicle that ensures
many videos of fistfights between adults ones close to you or creating distance, the event of a your own and your loved ones’ safety.
where children are present show that go for distance. violent crime
when children are kept close to a care-
gives your YOUR POOR GUN-HANDLING
YOUR MOST IMPORTANT MAY BE THE BIGGEST THREAT
giver, they often end up being struck.
PRIORITY MAY NOT BE GETTING
brain a TO YOUR LOVED ONE
strategy
Exceptions to this rule included situa-
tions in which the caregiver was able to YOUR CHILD TO SAFETY It would be tragically ironic if the
get the child out of the scenario before Given how important distance can be, to focus tools we purchase to defend the lives
gunfire or blows were exchanged, or was as my partner and I started forming our on should a of those we love might end up hurting
able to end the confrontation before the theories for defending children in sud- similar event them. You don’t have to look hard for
situation escalated further. den, inevitable, and violent encounters, occur.” accounts of children who have been

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 79
 injured or killed when adults improperly arm while he walks down the street. Physically controlling
store or carelessly handle firearms. Another, older child is holding his right your child may be
Additionally, sometimes adults hand. A woman, presumably his wife, is necessary to keep them
from interfering with your
have learned certain habits, whether holding the older child’s other hand. response.
through formal training or on their A man with a knife runs toward them
own, that can put children, in and stabs the woman in the neck. Dad
particular, at risk of being killed or turns to confront the attacker, still
severely injured through poor muzzle holding the children. As he attempts
control and minimal awareness of how to kick the knife-wielding man, the
to manage chaotic environments. woman pulls on his arm. It causes him
If you have children in your home to trip over the older child and fall on
(or even if you don’t), it’s advisable his back.
when buying a firearm that you also The attacker runs off to stab other
get a safe means of storing it. Get victims, and we’re left pondering what
appropriate training that teaches you could have happened differently.
safe handling practices in the context While I’d never tell a family that
of your lifestyle, and strictly abide by carrying children or holding hands isn’t
what you’ve learned. safe, it’s wise to have conversations
with your loved ones about what to do
YOUR LOVED ONE MAY in the event that a violent encounter
ACTIVELY HINDER YOUR takes place.
ABILITY TO FIGHT EFFECTIVELY Coordinating a strategy with your
There’s a video we show in every loved ones is a significant start toward
one of our TAP/G classes: a man improving your ability to effectively fight
is carrying a small child in his left should the need arise.

Time spent in the

classroom and on
the range is a vitally
important component of
personal defense, and
even moreso when you’re
protecting a defenseless
loved one in addition to
yourself.

Caption? Image courtesy of Cade Imaging

80 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 THE ARMED GUARDIAN
YOU MAY HAVE TO RETHINK
YOUR ROLE IN YOUR FAMILY
DEFENSE PLAN
When family defense is discussed,
it often defaults to traditional gender
roles: the woman’s job is to whisk the
children to safety; the man’s job is to
stand and defend the family.
While this very well may be the best
practice for your family, I challenge you
to consider alternatives.
My husband and I are fairly evenly
matched when it comes to our defensive
skills. But while I sometimes struggle
to carry just one of our children, my
husband can collect all three of them
in his arms and carry them with ease.
He’s also the family breadwinner. He’s
capable of getting the rest of our family
to safety and can provide for our children
long term if I don’t survive a violent
encounter. That makes flipping tradi-
tional gender roles a smart choice for our
family, and it might be for yours too.

YOU SHOULD MAKE THE

HARDEST DECISIONS NOW
Sitting down with your spouse
and discussing all of these difficult
decisions and consequences is not a
pleasant conversation. For some, even
talking about carrying a firearm or
planning for violence isn’t easy. But
getting through those conversations
may reduce your hesitancy to act deci-
sively in the moment, should you ever
face violence when with your family.
Fortunately, extreme violence around
children is still rare. When violence
rears its ugly head and people are
even minimally equipped to handle
it, the good guy often still wins. In
the unlikely event you face the worst, As a parent of a a baby
or a toddler, consider
these are a few of the possible failure the way you carry your
points in your family defense plan firearm. Access to your
that you should consider. Planning for pistol will be complicated
when carrying your child
them puts you one step closer to being or a diaper bag. Consider
better prepared to defend the ones you and practice alternate
love the most. carry methods.

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 USING COVER
ER
These Lessons From the Special Operations
Community Apply to Everyone Carrying Concealed
BY DAN BROKOS
PHOTOS BY BLAKE REA
AND RECOIL STAFF

82 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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T
here are some important funda- I always say, “my way isn’t the only way,” COVER AND MINDSET
mentals underlying proper shooting but I preach what’s worked for the Spe- First, let’s define cover as the term’s used
techniques that involve cover and cial Forces community during the recent in military doctrine. Cover is anything that
what we’ll refer to as half-assed wars — nothing validates doctrine and provides protection from bullets, fragments,
cover, based on hard-learned les- fundamentals like confirmation under fire. flames, and nuclear, biological, and chemical
sons gleaned from nearly two decades of Regardless of what you take from this ar- agents. Cover can be man-made or naturally
continuous warfare. And they all fall under ticle, at a minimum, do the following: have occurring. Examples include logs, trees,
the most important principle of patrol- an offensive mindset, limit your exposure ravines, trenches, walls, rubble, craters, and
ling — common sense. Yet, you’ll still see to the enemy, think in terms of near and small depressions. What’s half-assed cover,
outdated, old-school techniques used in the far, and use what you have to stabilize your then? Well, you really never know… Vehicles
field and presented all over social media. shooting platform. are half-assed cover for the most part, but

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 thodical movement. It involved baby
steps to clear the alleyway at angles
to limit exposure, and we didn’t use
the available cover to support our
firing position. Was it valid? Perhaps.
But what about our shooting position?
We weren’t using the edge of the wall
to support our shooting platforms.
Could we engage someone close?
Hell yes, but we weren’t effective at
longer distances and weren’t sup-
porting what we currently teach and
refer to as a 10-round-string stance;
that’s a strong, stable fighting stance
from which you can effectively and
quickly put multiple rounds on target.
We’ve found it’s far more effective
and faster to just take the alleyway by
Caption? force, and then post up on the side of
the wall in a stable firing position and
not possible in most circumstances. collapse that sector.
Perhaps you’re next to a wall, the The next time you go to the range,
side of a building, or a door frame. put up a barricade and place targets at
They may or may not stop that PKM 10 to 40 and 70 meters away. Pie off
round, but they’re often sturdy and the barricade, don’t support yourself,
can provide you some stability. So and shoot five rounds at each target
use what you have as support and while timing yourself. Next, take it
deliver faster, more accurate follow- by force, post up in a good stable
up shots. If you’re behind something, firing position, use the barricade, and
why not use it to support yourself and execute the same drill. Your hits will be
your firearm? If you’re not using cover far more accurate, and your time will
to support your position, no matter be much faster. We’ve put in the time
if it’s half-assed or not, you’re doing using simunitions and teammates play-
that’s a whole other topic in itself. And The corner of this it wrong. If you think there’s theory ing the peek-a-boo technique — the
it’s far better to use half-assed cover building provides some and science behind what bullets do bottom line is if someone’s waiting for
cover as well as stability
than to just stand out in the open. for sending more when they ricochet, please show us a you to break a corner or an alleyway,
Remember, we don’t hide, we effective fire downrange. scientifically validated study. You can he’ll see you anyway. Bring a good
fight, and nothing will ever afford us
The author braces his apply techniques based on theory or solid supported stance and shove 10
support hand and rifle
complete protection. In conflict, you against the edge of the maintain that offensive mindset. The rounds of lead down his throat rather
either fight or you hide, period — and building. choice is clear. than slowly pieing off the corner and
we fight! Always maintain an offen- giving up the extra stability.
sive mindset and act accordingly. TAKE THE SH*T AND STOP There’s a time and place for the
Is a mud wall in Afghanistan thick PLAYING PEEK-A-BOO pieing technique — save that for CQB.
enough to provide cover? Well it This isn’t just my opinion, but also We never know how far our threat will
all depends where you’re situated. that of the Special Operations Forces be, and we plan for the worst case. So
Will a PKM smoke right through it? community, and those who’ve taught stop pieing sh*t off. Take it by force
If someone says you should simply in its school house and know what’s and post up while you collapse your
move to a 100-percent solid structure right. Years ago, we’d come up to an sector of that alleyway or when you
and fight from there, well that’s just alleyway and pie it off in a slow, me- turn the corner of a house on a raid.

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 USING
USING
COVER
COVER
SUPPORT YOURSELF like laying your carbine flat on its side
If you’re fighting from behind at 90 degrees. You definitely don’t
something, use it. Using your piece of want the slide of a pistol touching
cover or even half-assed cover will fur- anything; we all know what’ll happen
ther stabilize your firing platform. The — a lot of shooter-induced malfunc-
goal is to put fast, accurate follow- tions. Place the meaty portion of your
up shots on target, so use what’s in palm against cover and form an L to
front of you. It doesn’t matter if you support and brace your rifle. Use your
have a rifle or a pistol. Yes, there are forearm to brace against awkwardly
a lot of great shooters that could run shaped pieces of cover or half-assed
up to a barricade or position of cover cover like the front end of a vehicle.
and crush targets without a support. With a pistol, dig your knuckles into
That’s great when running drills on cover or use your support thumb to
the flat range, but the flat range is not hook onto cover as well. However, at-
reality. Reality is when you’re pulling tempt to maintain a solid fundamen-
security in an isolation or contain- tal grip on the pistol, and don’t let
ment position — you’ll definitely the piece of cover totally support you.
benefit from using what’s in front of Square up to your piece of cover as Being able to shoot with
you to support yourself for extended best as you can. This isn’t a USPSA both your strong and technique we teach. It provides a
support side dramatically
periods of time. Then add in stress, or three-gun match where you can be reduces your exposure stable platform to drop your arm and
adrenaline, the dark of night, weather, off balance, rip off two shots, and haul behind cover. tuck it into your thigh. It also avoids
fatigue, and maybe an injury, like be- ass to the next position. Establish a legs sticking out and tripping team-
ing down to one arm or hand. solid base, square up to cover, and mates as they run past the alleyway
There’s no single, best way to sup- remember our 10-round-string stance. you’re posted up on. So, square up
port your carbine on a piece of cover. Squaring up also keeps legs and knees and support your firing platform, and
The key is to get meat between your in a tight position so teammates aren’t remember the 10-round-string stance,
weapon and what you’re using for tripping over legs at night. Who knows no matter what awkward position you
cover. That means your hands; it’s how many others will need to share might find yourself in.
not a good idea to support yourself that piece of cover with you.
with equipment connected to your When kneeling, always keep the LIMIT YOUR EXPOSURE
blaster. There are some exceptions, outside knee up. Right or wrong? It’s a Limiting exposure sounds like com-
mon sense, but what it really means
is you need to be an ambidextrous
gunfighter. People get small and seek
cover when it’s raining lead. Whether
standing or kneeling, squaring up
helps — you don’t want to expose
yourself needlessly, yet you must
stabilize yourself to support that
10-round string of fire.
First, don’t try to conceal yourself
so much that you give up both a
stable firing position and the abil-
ity to fight effecively. Remember, we
must have an offensive mindset — we
don’t hide. Second, you have to shoot
strong and support side — don’t for-
get we don’t have a weak side (see is-
Caption? Caption? sue 7 of CONCEALMENT for more on

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 85
 OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE
So, get up close and personal on
the outside of your vehicle. Use it to
support yourself and your shots. Yes,
vehicles don’t stop bullets, but what
about armored or military vehicles?
Don’t correlate this all to vehicles,
but the principles apply to both. If
you’re in an engagement, using the
engine block or front of the vehicle
to fight from, why would you be 3 to
5 feet away from the vehicle? Then,
how would you support yourself in
a junkyard prone position on the
hood? If your threat is 5 feet away,
you don’t need support; but what if it
weak sides). If you’re on the left side Vehicles are half-assed Most vehicle interdictions in military isn’t? Think night; think far.
of something, you should shoot from cover, but you should still terms are close range, but not all of Second, consider fighting in a
use them as support.
the left side of your body with a car- them… and not all engagements are at hostile environment where threats are
bine. The same applies for the right close range. So apply the same tech- at the rooftop level. The further you
side of cover. Your mindset and train- niques for shooting around vehicles move away from a vehicle, the more
ing philosophy should be to become as for around walls. Of course, if the exposed you are. You also limit your
fully ambidextrous, especially when it bad guy’s 5 feet away, you don’t have fields of fire. Try backing away from a
comes to shooting around cover. Put to support yourself on a vehicle. But piece of cover, then shoot underneath
in the practice time on the range. some say that ricochet theories dictate or over it — you better have some good
that you shouldn’t support yourself on loophole math locked into memory to
OH SH*T VEHICLE TACTICS a vehicle. In my book, that’s not an of- avoid putting rounds into your cover in
Vehicles aren’t cover; they’re half- fensive mindset, and we should always a stressful situation! Shooting under-
assed cover. Yet the philosophy of have an offensive mindset. neath a vehicle certainly reduces your
using them to support yourself still
applies. Be offensive and seek better
positions like the rear of the vehicle,
the engine block, and axles. This
philosophy comes from battlefield ex-
perience, and is presented as doctrine
in SOF and law enforcement training.
First, have you seen ballistic data on
ricochets? Bullet type, distance, angle,
and so on; there are too many factors
that influence what bullets will do
when they hit sh*t. We used to have
beer shoots, skipping rounds off car
hoods into the A zone of targets. We
knew the distance and where best to
try to aim, but the reality is that there’s Kneeling with the outside
no telling where that bullet will go. knee up provides a more
It’s fine to take these things into stable shooting platform
than the alternative.
consideration, but you shouldn’t avoid Always have an offensive
using the vehicle to support yourself. mindset.

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 USING COVER

DAN BROKOS, SF SGM(R)

CEO, LEAD FAUCET TACTICAL
www.leadfacuettactical.com

situational awareness, but you might good hits on target. If a threat’s ap- Top left: When shooting WRAPPING UP
need to do it at some point. I’ve seen proaching your vehicle and you must underneath a vehicle, get There aren’t any right answers when
close to it.
it before — it’s easy with a gun truck, engage through the windshield, put sh*t hits the fan and it’s raining lead.
not so easy under a BMW with the a couple rounds into the same hole What you do and how you do it on the
tires blown out. When you only have a and then jam your muzzle into the range is the answer. There are a lot of
couple inches to get it done, hug those hole. To adjust your aim and point of ways to do things, but if you’re fighting
axles and get that gun up underneath impact, move your body. Never walk from behind cover (or half-assed cover),
the vehicle to get your shots off. This rounds across the windshield; you Above left: When utilize the following four fundamentals.
becomes very difficult when you’re won’t make the positive contact you shooting through Have an offensive mindset
windshields, don't be
several meters from the vehicle. need to eliminate the threat. stingy. Limit your exposure
Think near and far for engagements
INSIDE THE VEHICLE CONTINGENCIES OF Support yourself to provide a
When fighting from a vehicle, there GUNFIGHTING solid, 10-round string firing position
are certain areas of the vehicles that af- Should you ever find yourself injured Also don’t forget common sense,
ford better protection than others. Prob- and in an engagement when behind one of the principles of patrolling. If
ably not the front two seats, though cover, or half-assed cover, you’ll need Above right: Get meat it works at night, in the rain and cold,
shooting through the front windshield is that platform to support yourself. between your weapon when you’re exhausted or injured,
and the support — with a
a viable option, if needed. Don’t train or think of the best case pistol as shown here, you then you’re on the right track. Fast,
I’ve shot numerous types of am- scenarios at all time. Train and devel- can dig your knuckles accurate shots win the day. Prepare
munition through windshields, from op techniques that apply to contingen-
into the fender. yourself to take advantage of what’s
inside and out. There’s one rule to cies as well. When rounds are flying, around you and practice supported
remember — P for Plenty, plenty of it shouldn’t be your first time figuring shooting from behind cover. Apply the
lead! No matter what type of am- out how to fire your pistol one handed fundamentals and push forward; re-
munition you use, it’ll take multiple from behind a wall or how to support member that on the range, everything
shots through the same hole to get yourself using the wall. is a rehearsal for something.

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 GET YOUR Training Solo

LEARN ON
Versus Training
in Groups
BY KRIS SOUTHARDS
PHOTOS BY JAY CANTER AND
MUZZLE FLASH MEDIA

F
irearms training presupposes offer students a predetermined focus There are some drawbacks to training
a purpose or goal when we or theme revolving around a specific classes. They tend to be costly and
step out onto the range. While skill, and there are a multitude of dif- don’t always fit your schedule. Unless
most would agree that training ferent types of classes available. you’re lucky enough to live near a train-
with your firearm is an essen- However, not all courses are created ing center with open enrollment class-
tial part of improving skills; without equal. So you need to do some re- es, such as Gunsite or the Sig Academy,
a method to track your progress or search to answer some basic questions. or a city where classes are often hosted,
reassess your goals, training turns Is the individual/company providing you’ll have to travel. Now, that means
quickly into recreation. There is no the course reputable? Have they been road tripping or booking flights and ar-
purpose beyond punching some holes around for a while? Are the reviews for ranging lodging. Then there’s the added
in paper or seeing if that watermelon the course good? Is the class size rea- hassle of flying with guns and ammuni-
really does explode as it does on sonable for the skill(s) being taught? tion. Class size has a significant impact
video. We’re not saying that it’s not We recently took a defensive on the quality of the instruction. If there
fun. It just isn’t really training. handgun class with Aaron Cowan of are too many participants, the likelihood
There's an old saying, “You don’t Sage Dynamics. Sage Dynamics was of getting significant one-on-one time
win nothing for practice. You don’t win founded in 2012, and the reviews for with the instructor goes down.
nothing without it.” Grammar aside, the defensive handgun course were
we agree. Practice means working on a positive. The course had 18 partici-
skill. In any physical endeavor, there is pants, was taught over two days, and
no substitute for putting in reps. The the participants were a mix of law
arena of use doesn’t matter, be it self- enforcement and civilians.
defense, hunting, or competition. The Perhaps the defining element of the
path from competence to proficiency class was Cowan’s discussion of not
to mastery is one that’s sometimes just how something is done, but why
solitary and sometimes shared. it’s done. Knowing how to do some-
Whether training by yourself, with a thing is important, but knowing why
partner, or as part of a class each dy- something is done in a certain way is
namic has benefits and drawbacks. But vital when building skills because it
each has a place in skill developing. defines a skill’s application. Real-life
situations are not neat. Bad guys
TAKE A CLASS don’t just stand there, innocents are
Taking a course requires a com- almost always involved, and only God
mitment of time and money. Classes knows what they’re going to do.

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R E C O I L W E B . C O M 89
 to improve your abilities on your own or got to run drills with an unfamiliar
with a buddy. It'll simply give you the gun that separated them from the
tools to pursue being a better shooter. baggage they normally brought to the
Instructor skill set is critical. The range with their own pistols. Aside
ability of the instructor to execute from taking you slightly out of your
his/her own training philosophy and element, running something strange
required skills will make or break the also gives you a different perspec-
class. We're not saying the instructor tive on your own gear, helping inform
must be former military, law enforce- future gear purchases.
ment, a national champion, or world- Using the P320 X5s, students
renowned hunter. There are many either walked away with a greater ap-
excellent shooters who are simply not preciation for the guns they normally
excellent teachers. On the flip side, an ran, or left scratching their chin and
Or, if your skill level happens to fall Seeking professional instructor must be able to walk their wondering if maybe it was time to go
in the middle of the ol’ bell curve, and instruction in a group talk. The best firearm instructors have shopping for a new EDC.
environment provides
you’re not outspoken, you may be easily structure, guidance, and the skills to execute what they teach.
overlooked. There’s also the harsh real- a built-in self evaluation Some group settings come with TRAINING WITH A BUDDY
ity that simply taking a class, even with
against your fellow interesting twists. All students in RE- Training with a partner, friend, fam-
students.
all the time and money invested, will COIL’s own Summit in the Sand train- ily member, or mentor is another good
not make you a better a shooter — how- ing event, held in fall of 2017, were way to advance your training agenda.
ever, this is one of the most important provided SIG P320 X5 pistols and It provides a free(-ish) and flexible al-
aspects of taking a class, learning how ammunition for the class. Students ternative to training in a group setting.

90 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 2
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 GET YOUR LEARN ON

While train-
ing with a
partner of
You’ve got to provide your own targetry, the problem. He or she may dig deep miss proposition if you find yourself
but paper is cheap and steel lasts a and say something profound like, “It
like abilities struggling. So when you hit that point
long time, as does a rubber dummy. seems your sight alignment is off.” can be good, of failure neither of you really knows
And going to the range with a partner That's a slightly more helpful sugges- it shares how to solve the problem. The tempta-
is less of a scheduling challenge than tion, but still falls short of correcting tion at this point is to simply switch to
wrapping your schedule around a class the problem. Yet shooting with someone
some of the a drill you’re more comfortable with.
and skips the pain of planning and of lesser skills is not without benefit. same pitfalls Shooting with someone of like abili-
travelling, or telling the significant
other you're going to miss your in-laws’
You might notice an error in how
they shoot and realize it’s a common
as training ties helps in reinforcing good habits,
as your buddy is likely to call you out
50th wedding anniversary party. problem. That realization hopefully with some- when you get sloppy. Your partner is
The variables that loom large are the puts you on the path to correcting the one of lesser able to give you more accurate feed-
commitment to your training goals, the
skills to practice, to what degree they
problem. And, if you’re at all com-
petitive, training with a partner will
ability. Most
are practiced, and the knowledge, skills, motivate you both to a higher level of notably, not
and abilities (KSAs) of your partner. performance as you practice. Brag- knowing
If your partner’s KSAs are less than
yours, you may wind up in a case of
ging rights do matter, especially if
there’s a cigar or case of beer on the
what you
the not knowing what you don’t know, line when it’s all said and done. don’t know.
which can derail your progress. If your While training with a partner of
shot group looks like you’re using a like abilities can be good, it shares
shotgun while combatting a severe case some of the same pitfalls as training
of hiccups and your buddy looks you with someone of lesser ability. Most
in the eye and tells you your group is, notably, not knowing what you don’t
“a bit wild,” that may be an accurate know. This lack of knowledge makes
statement, but it won't help you correct progress on your training goal a hit-or-

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R E C O I L W E B . C O M 91
 going to shoot. It can be most relax-
ing, as you’re not comparing yourself
to — or being judged by someone.
Yet, this requires the most self-
discipline. Without it, your practice
session can quickly go from a bona
fide training day to just blowing up
household objects found on the range.
The major failing, again, is not know-
ing what you don’t know. Unless you’ve
reached the level of being able to self-
diagnose, it’s difficult to move past
the point of failure. There is also the
common tendency of practicing what
back, such as telling you that you’re Training solo offers They can help you refine your train- we're already good at. Fun? Yes, but
pushing forward on the gun as you pull the highest degree ing goal and give you the practice sce- fun alone isn’t much help in advancing
of flexibility and
the trigger. This is helpful, but feed- convenience, but narios to aid in achieving the desired your overall training agenda.
back without instruction doesn’t give requires discipline outcome. They can teach you how to We don’t get better by wishing.
you the tools to correct the problem.
and the ability to self- self-diagnose problems. There is the Wanting something doesn't make
diagnose issues to be
The third option, training with truly productive. normally unspoken motivation to shoot it happen. There are many avenues
someone who is significantly better as well they do along with the aware- of training and some are inherently
than you, eliminates the most glar- ness that, in most cases, it is possible. better than others. We suggest train-
ing of problems noted above. They'll ing with someone whose abilities
know what you don’t. They’ll be able FLYING SOLO outmatch your own or paying to learn
to not only tell you what you are doing Training by yourself is the most from bona fide professionals are the
wrong, but help you correct the error. flexible way to train. You decide when, most efficient ways to go — and com-
They can take you to the point of fail- where, and what skills you’re going to bining the two is even better. That
ure and give you tools to move past it. practice and how many rounds you’re being said, it’s not the only way.

92 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 2
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 GET YOUR LEARN ON
EDITOR’S NOTE:
same ballistic effect a longer barrel the problem is that the Centurion/ WMLs, but seeing as it’s a chassis

The Best of
gives, but with a stubby slide? Throw Compact frame is just slightly wider system, there’s little reason why Be-
a fullsize barrel in a Centurion or than the fullsize. Regardless, we like retta, or even a third party, couldn’t

Both Worlds
Compact. Yup. You can do that too. seeing a near-universal system (are We were flat-out amazed release a new grip with slightly more
The one mash-up you cannot do is you reading this, Glock?). to locate an L-25 in accessory rail.
throw a Compact slide on a fullsize
such incredibly clean As time goes on, Beretta has
condition. That’s where
frame a la Glock 19X. This isn’t be- LOOSE ROUNDS the amazement stopped, been releasing new parts and pieces
An alternate,
cause the and highlylockup
barrel beneficial form
is different (it Ultimately, the APX is a solid offer- though. through their website, so we’ll be
of group but
isn’t), training is competition.
because Whilespring
the recoil ing among this now-crowded market. crossing our fingers until then.
matches don’tofprovide
assembly much opportunity
the compact just doesn’t We wish the frame were a skosh
for one-on-one
quite remedial
fit inside instruction,
the frame. they
Doubling longer to accept a wider variety of
do offer a unique chance to pressure
test the skills you’ve worked so hard
to cultivate through the other methods
listed by Kris in his article. Shooting un-
familiar courses of fire among a group of
shooters all vying for status under time
We were flat-out amazed WARNING!
This article is meant

to locate an L-25 in such

to be a quick overview
limit adds a whole slew of stressors that and not a detailed guide
on procedures relating
are all excellent tools for determining just
how deeply you’ve been able to program
incredibly clean condi- to the treatment of
burns. To be prepared
your shooting skills. tion. That’s where the for any emergency, we
encourage you to enroll

In RECOIL’s Summit in the Sand training

amazement stopped, in a certified medical
course or, at a minimum,

event, we gave students one day of though. a familiarization course,

which will deliver com-
prehensive knowledge
formal instruction followed by one-day of how to treat different
competition that allowed attendees to types of burns.
check their learning progress against
their peers. The P320 X5 gave students
aSOURCES
unique tool to gain experience. Even
BERETTAthe P320
though beretta.com/en-us
was designed from the
BERETTA
ground up as beretta.com/en-us
a duty pistol, the X5 is a
highly refined version of that template
optimized for speed and efficiency on the
BERETTA BERETTA BERETTA
competition circuit, showcasing a cross-
APX CENTURION
pollination of ideal features from both the APX CENTURION APX CENTURION
beretta.com/en-us
tactical and competition worlds. beretta.com/en-us beretta.com/en-us
PURCHASED FROM: PURCHASED FROM:
Ammunition for Summit
CALIBER:
WEIGTH
inUNLOADED:
the Sand
MAGAZINE
CAPACITY:
AZ GUN EMPORIUM, TUCSON, AZ AZ GUN EMPORIUM, TUCSON, AZ
9MM by27SIG.OUNCES
was also provided In addition to15 ROUNDS WEIGTH MAGAZINE WEIGTH MAGAZINE
CALIBER: UNLOADED: CAPACITY: CALIBER: UNLOADED: CAPACITY:
the FMJ range ammo we used, SIGWIDTH:
also
LENGTH:
has the6.97
HEIGHT:
corresponding5.2
BARREL:
9MM 27 OUNCES 15 ROUNDS 9MM 27 OUNCES 15 ROUNDS
V-Crown line 1.3of 3.7
INCHES
defensive INCHES
hollow point INCHESable INCHES
ammo. Being LENGTH: HEIGHT: WIDTH: BARREL: LENGTH: HEIGHT: WIDTH: BARREL:

to train with the same brand of ammo 6.97 5.2 1.3 3.7 6.97 5.2 1.3 3.7
you carry eliminates one more variable MSRP: INCHES INCHES INCHES INCHES INCHES INCHES INCHES INCHES
between training and carry.
ACCESSORIES:
$575 MSRP: MSRP:

STREAMLIGHT TLR-3 + $295

AIMPOINT PRO2 + $425
AS TESTED:

$575 ACCESSORIES:
$575 $575
AS TESTED: MSRP:
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C O N C E A L M E N T 1 2
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 93
 LOUDER
THAN
WORDS
Behavioral Cues
Can Get You Out
of the Fight
Before You
Get Into it
BY TOM MARSHALL

94 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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O
ne of the preeminent facets In contrast stands Orbis Operations The Orbis website has this brief
of self-defense is situational — a company that provides training header on it: “All individuals give off
awareness. Unfortunately, and support services to government signals when they are measured against
those two words have agencies and military units around the context, relevance, and the local societal
become a catch-phrase- country. Among their offerings is a set baseline. In certain circumstances,
turned-mantra beaten to death by of classes on Situational Awareness these ‘signals’ can, with the proper train-
nearly every book, video, instructor Training. This training is based off a ing, be read as anomalies. Establishing
and Internet forum about personal process that Orbis refers to as Human a baseline, detecting (and then acting
protection. But so much of the talk Behavior Pattern Recognition & Analy- on these anomalies is the essence of
about situational awareness seems to sis. There are several variations of their Situational Awareness Training…” In
be just people yelling at each other SAT curriculum, including a five-day class, the instructors further refined this
to make sure they have it. Rarely SOFSAT or Special Operations Forces down into a concise, easy-to-remember
do we see a concise, level-headed, Situational Awareness Training. We had formula they referred to simply as BAD,
repeatable explanation as to exactly the opportunity to attend a couple days or B + A = D, Baseline + Anomaly =
what mental processes make up this of SOFSAT and came away with a much Decision. This is, in our opinion, the crux
mystical “awareness” and how exactly better understanding of exactly what of the Orbis methodology. So let’s break
we use them to protect ourselves from situational awareness consists of and down this formula and see how one is
potential threats. how we use it to our advantage. able to go about living it.

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 95
 “Any
BASELINE
The baseline of any given social
you for action as necessary. This may
be explained by the old phrase “if it
behavior, stores, and street corners that may be
claimed as “turf” by criminal actors.
group or geographic area is, in short, walks like a duck…” or Occam’s Razor whether Atmospherics: Atmospherics is
what is normal. But since normal can which, very loosely translated, says from an the overall “feel” of a place — the
sometimes be a touchy word to define, that the simplest answer is most likely
individual sights, smells, sounds, and general
maybe it’s better to say that the base-
line of an area is what is habitual. What
the correct answer.
Proxemics: How people interact
or a group, demeanor. For example, if we asked
you to close your eyes and imagine a
are the attitudes, actions, and overall with each other in groups. This could which carnival, we’re guessing your mental
behavioral patterns that constitute the include things like how far or close breaks picture might include flashing lights,
routine tempo of the world around you?
To avoid any vagaries or generalizations,
people stand while interacting, if peo-
ple in a group all seem to focus on or
from an bells ringing, people screaming on
rides, the smell of fried food and
the instructors at our SOFSAT class out- mimic the demeanor of one individual estab- an overall air of excitement or joy.
lined six individual facets, or domains, or if certain individuals routinely travel lished Those inputs, and the overall feeling
of situational awareness: with an entourage of followers. baseline they create inside you, make up the
Heuristics: Heuristics are “mental Geographics: How people interact
shortcuts” that can be used when with their physical terrain. This can be
qualifies atmospherics of your surroundings.
Biometrics: Biometric cues are
other information is limited to influ- particularly important in natural gather- as an more focused on an individual and
ence a snap-decision and help prime ing places like parking lots, stadiums, anomaly.Ó their body’s response in connection to

96 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
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 LOUDER THAN WORDS
Caption? is the proxemics pull/push. A proxemic
pull or push is any stimulus that causes
people to gather or disperse outside of
regular patterns. When you’re driving
home and you pass an accident on
the side of the road with a group of
people pulled over on the side of the
road standing around, that’s a proxemic
pull — the car crash has literally drawn
people to it and created a crowd who
wouldn’t normally be there. Likewise,
a mosh pit breaking out at the front
row of a concert may cause a proxemic
It’s safe to say that push, causing everyone else to drift
the interaction quickly away from their assigned seats
between these two
people isn’t pleasant. to avoid a stray elbow to the head.
But how we know could A geographic anomaly may be as sim-
be a combination of ple as walking across a dark parking lot
kinesics, proxemics
and heuristics.. and noticing a tightly knit trio of people
huddled in a pocket of shadow beyond
their interactions. Are they sweating, ANOMALIES the street lamp. Everyone else is walk-
is their skin flushed, are their pupils Any behavior, whether from an ing directly to or from the store, but this
dilated, can you see the pulse individual or a group, which breaks from one group of individuals just seems to
pounding in their neck or the vein an established baseline qualifies as an be hovering in an area that most people
popping out of their forehead? These anomaly. Some can be really subtle, The goal of Orbis simply transit without stopping.
are biological indicators of a feeling while others are blatantly obvious. But Operations’ Situational Other anomalies are much more
or an intention that a person may be neither one will do you any good if Awareness Training is to discreet. One of the most fascinat-
understand the nature
attempting to hide under the surface. you’re not attuned to them. One of the of a threat before it gets ing examples we heard from SOF-
Kinesics: Kinesics is about body easier types of anomalies to quantify this close to you. SAT went something like this: you’re
language. Separate from biometrics,
which deal in the body’s automatic
responses, kinesics focuses on
physical movements. Things like
cracking your knuckles, stretching,
rubbing the back of your neck or
“grooming gestures” like consistently
stroking your face or wiping your nose
could all be kinesic indicators of
something being not-quite-right.
All of these six domains are like
pieces of a puzzle. A thorough
understanding of every domain will
give you the fullest, most complete
picture of your neighborhood, patrol
beat or area of operations. But, as
with a partially completed jigsaw
puzzle, you don’t necessarily need
every piece in place to figure out what
the picture is.

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 97
 LOUDER THAN WORDS
walking down the street when a man calculation to avoid going through life in SOURCE don’t necessarily need all the infor-
approaches you and asks for directions. a state of tweaking paranoia? ORBIS OPERATIONS mation to take action, you still need
While you’re trying to remember the wwww.orbis enough information. What that thresh-
operations.com/sat
street names, he begins rubbing the DECISION old is will be different for every person
back of his head and neck. Might just There are a couple of different and every situation. One caveat to this
be a stiff neck. But inside your brain is mental processes you can execute that was advised to us during our train-
a small gland called the hypothalamus. once you’ve established a baseline and ing was that you must take action if you
It controls automatic functions in the spotted an anomaly. The framework observe three anomalies in any domain
body like blood pressure, heart rate, of this article is Orbis’ own B + A = or combination of domains.
and alertness. It’s a stress indicator. D procedure. Now that you’ve arrived The science of behavioral analysis is
When a fight-or-flight response occurs, at a decision point, what can you (or one of the most effective self-defense
the hypothalamus heats up and begins should you) decide do to? Our instruc- tools you can have in your skillset.
to work overtime. He’s literally getting tors put forward a three-prong answer But just like any skill, you must build
hot under the collar. Watching some- to this question. You can act, report, or a proper knowledge base and then
body begin to rub the back of their neck continue to observe. practice it consistently. Orbis Opera-
When you look at this
or head — when measured against The “act” decision can be any range tions teaches different versions of their
drawing, try to imagine
other cues — may actually indicate that of things from drawing your concealed the background noises, Advanced Situational Awareness (ASAT)
they’re preparing for a fight you don’t pistol to simply taking a different smells, or spatial en- curricula to various government and
croachment associated
know is coming. route home, or waiting to stop for gas commercial entities across the country.
with navigating a tight
Having said all this, there are vast until you’re in a better neighborhood. crowd. Without even There are also a number of books avail-
numbers of individual behavioral anoma- Reporting options may include notify- knowing it, our brains able on the subject. Just check your
carry a portfolio of pre
pre-
lies that could be identified in any given ing a police officer or security guard, or programmed templates local Internet search bar. We may not
situation and people often exhibit seem- your chain of command if you’re a first for how “normal” social be able to prevent danger from entering
ingly “odd” or “abnormal” behaviors responder. Finally, keeping an eye on situations should look our lives but, with some well-studied
at feel. These are part of
for perfectly good, benign reasons. So the situation for further developments what we use to establish awareness and analysis, we’ll have a
how do you process this running mental is indeed a legitimate option. While you baselines. much better chance to see it coming.

98 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
JUNE 7-9, 2019
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SKILLS & DRILLS

BREAKDOWN
DRILL
app — one that allows for countdowns/ the second beep. Establish your grip at
par times (Splits is a very comprehensive count three, break the shot on demand,
app if you’re an Android user). When you and push your reaction time.
use a par time on a timer, it gives you an Stage Three: Box 2 — five reps with
initial audible beep followed by a second the same one second par time, but this
audible beep after a designated period time fire two rounds instead of just
of time. Don’t worry if you don’t have the one with the goal of firing the first shot
latest Bluetooth-capable ear pro, simply before the second beep.
Become a Better Shooter tucking an ear bud under your muffs lets Stage Four: Box 3 — 10 single-shot
with the Breakdown you hear the start and par tones. reps with a 0.5 second par, if you’re not
BY CHRIS GREENFIELD You can download the target for this having any issues keeping up. If you’re

E
drill at RecoilWeb.com. slow, or not keeping your rounds on tar-
veryday we face the challenge of get, then stay at a one second or some-
maximizing training time in facili- THE WHY where in between. The goal is to break
ties that might not be as friendly One way to improve anything we do is the shot prior to or right at the second
to realistic training practices as to break a complex action down into its beep while getting your hits on target.
we’d like. Not all ranges allow component actions. Today we’ll break Stage Five: Box 4 — two five-round
drawing from a holster, for example. down the presentation of your gun to the strings with par time of 2 seconds to
Additionally, shot timers become all but target to the following four aspects: work on recoil management. The goal
useless when other shooters are nearby. Grip: When your hands come together here is to hear the par time beep;
However, you should be able to use naturally and lock the pistol in your grip. that’s 0.5 to get on target and 1.5
the compressed ready position (often Final presentation: Present the pistol seconds to make five shots. The goal
referred to as the “count three” or third straight and level out towards the target. is 0.3 splits at the most while keeping
step of drawing from a holster) no mat- Front sight/dot acquisition: Find your rounds on target.
ter how strict the facility is. sights quickly and line them up with Stage Six: Box 5 — five two-round
So, here’s a drill and target you can use minimal adjustment. strings with a 2-second par. That’s a 0.5
to train effectively just about anywhere. Trigger prep/press: Straight to the rear. or less first shot and a 0.25 split time on
You’ll still need a few pieces of equipment a credit card size target. The goal is to
to get the full benefit from your training BREAK DOWN DRILL AT 3 YARDS hear that par beep after the second shot.
session: targets, Stage One: Target box 1 — 10 single
smart device, presentations from count three of the Run through this drill a couple times
Sharpie, and 50 draw stroke (see photo left) with a one- until you can clean it or get at least 90
rounds of target second par time. We want you to prep percent of your hits inside the boxes,
ammo. the trigger right until the point it is about then add distance or reduce the par
To overcome to break. This is the goal for stage one; times. Just remember to get your hits
the inability to acquire the front sight on Box 1 and prep while pushing your speed; you don’t gain
use a dedicated the trigger BEFORE the second beep. anything by staying in your comfort zone.
shot timer, use Stage Two: Box 1 — 10 single one- Train safe and remember to post up
a dry fire/shot shot reps with a one second par. This your results on social media and let us
timer smartphone time, break the shot as soon as you hear know how you liked the drill.

100 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
 8.5x11-inch Target at 3 Yards, Start Position at
Compressed High Ready for this Drill
1. Ten dry fire reps on box 1 with a 1 second par time
2. Ten single shot reps on box 1 with 1 second par time
3. Five two shot reps on box 2 with a 1 second par with first shot before the 2nd beep
4. Ten single shot presentations on box 3 with a 0.5 second par time
5. Two five round strings on box 4 with a 2 second par time
6. Five two round strings to box 5 with a 1 second par time
SCORING:
Clean or Fail.
Once you can clean at will, extend distances and/or decrease par times.

4
1

Want Swag? Download this Skills & Drills target on RECOILweb, print it out, and give it a go! Toss a target or range pic
up with it, and tag it #RECOILskills for your chance at some choice gear. Don’t bother cheating, because it’s a random drawing!

C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M 101
HANDS ON BY ROB CURTIS

We found the hangers fit well and didn’t slide

around without the use of screws, but screwing
in the hangers completely eliminates the pos-
sibility of one lifting up and dropping on a gun;
once we finalized our layout, we used them.

HOW WELL DOES IT WORK?

We hung the system pictured in about 30
minutes using deck screws, a tape measure, a
level, a drill, and a footstool. And it only took
one person to do it. The array of panel sizes al-
lowed us to make a setup that turned a corner
and wasted no space. As far as capacity, the
six long guns stored vertically probably weigh
close to 90 pounds, alone, and their weight
didn’t have any effect on the panel. While
this is more of a combination display/storage
configuration, configuring the system for pure
density is just a matter of choosing the right
mix of hangers for your collection. Check out
the distance between the rifles — the scope
tions, and they offer advice and free design turrets and bolt handles are butt to nut.
GALLOW TECHNOLOGIES
FIREARM STORAGE AND DISPLAY SYSTEM work to maximize storage space, esthetics,
or both, based on your collection. WHAT WE LIKE:
www.gallowtech.com
Infinitely configurable and easily reconfigu-
MSRP: Varies by configuration. $1,047 as shown
HOW DOES IT WORK? rable by sliding hangers in place without tools.
The backbone of the system are the steel wall Gallow Tech offers the widest range of hang-
WHAT IS IT? panels. Installing them takes less time than it ers to store guns and accessories in multiple
Gallow Technologies makes a highly configu- took to write this article. Measure the space, configurations. People will complain about
rable and infinitely expandable system for find the studs, screw the support bars to the the cost, but on its own and putting physical
storage and display of firearm collections, from wall studs, hang the panel on the support bar. security aside, it’s cheaper than a gun safe
a gun or two all the way up to an armory. The Additional vertical panels hang on the panel and uses space far more efficiently. Lifetime
system is based around steel wall panels that above it, and each panel is screwed to the wall warranty and made in the USA.
hold a wide range of hangers offered by the at its base. The accessory hangers fit into the
company. panel on a grid of cutouts, slipping down about WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:
a ¼-inch to lock in place. The grid includes Our OCD makes it impossible to stop recon-
WHAT GOT OUR ATTENTION: holes for screws that lock the hangers in place. figuring the hangers.
After giving up on gun safes, we decided
to turn a closet into a ghetto gun vault. We
looked for the most efficient way to store a
bunch of guns in the smallest space pos-
sible, and Gallow Tech’s system seemed
to fit the bill. The powdercoated steel wall
panels are durable, hold a ton of weight, and
appeared easy to install. Gallow Tech offers
hangers for just about every imaginable fire-
arm and accessory, well more than compet-
ing systems. The company offers its wares
in either kits or á la carte for larger installa-

102 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 2
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
ARC’TERYX LEAF denier fabric with a DWR finish and enough thing like the 30-round mag of an MPX from
COURIER BAG 15 stiffness to hold its shape and prevent PDW poking and printing. Keep rain and curious
flash hiders from tearing through. eyes from the contents with the full perimeter
leaf.arcteryx.com
zipper, or skip the zipper and use the two QR
COLOR: Black
HOW DOES IT WORK? buckles to keep the flap closed. Even without
CAPACITY: 15 Liters/915 Cubic Inches Side access zippers open to the Velcro’ed-on the zipper or buckles, the flap provides plenty
WEIGHT: 2 pounds 2.2 ounces divider from either side. This allows fast access of coverage for the interior. The shoulder strap
MSRP: $279 to draw a pistol or mags. All the capacity in the is adjustable for hip or back positioning, and
world is useless if the bag flops around when it’s reversible for right or left carry. The combi-
WHAT IS IT? you need to use it. To support and steady the nation of multiple access points, configurable
A tough-as-nails messenger-style satchel load, Arc’teryx includes a removable 3rd point interior, adjustable carriage straps, and durable
that’s made to discreetly carry a PDW-based strap linking the padded shoulder strap to the materials make this bag a peerless way to carry
loadout or a combination of workday and off-side of the bag. While this makes the bag heavy, sensitive, and awkwardly shaped items
defense essentials. more comfortable when it’s carrying a laptop without hinting at the bag’s contents.
and your plans for killing everyone in the room,
WHAT GOT OUR ATTENTION: it also indexes the bag and facilitates speedy WHAT WE LIKE:
It’s a bag made to fight from. From the access. It has a bar-tacked haul handle for Totally discreet carry; no PALs webbing to call
outside, the bag looks like a techy messen- yanking the fully weighted bag out of a back you out. Quickly configurable for everything
ger bag, but the interior is set up to support seat without tearing it off. from campus commuting to personal security
a subgun-sized firearm in a padded, main details. Bomber water-resistant construction.
compartment that prevents any hint of print- HOW WELL DOES IT WORK?
ing. A large hook-and-loop field on the out- As far as protection and security, the main WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:
side of the stiff divider panel offers a place divider is a taco-style setup that’s attached Closing the front flap QR buckles is slow and
to stick everything from a Velcro-backed hol- entirely to the rear of the bag, but the front is takes two hands; we’ve seen people modding
ster to mag holders and med pouches. The hung only from the top, suspending the con- these bags with magnetic buckles in place of
material isn’t your run-of-the-mill Jansport tents above the bottom interior of the bag. The the flap QR buckles for easier access. Color
nylon; it’s lightweight, high-tenacity 630 divider provides protection and prevents some- choice is limited to black.
HANDS ON
AIMPOINT
ACRO P-1 RED DOT SIGHT
www.aimpoint.com
RETICLE: 3.5 MOA dot
BATTERY: 1x CR1225
RUNTIME: 1.5 years on level 6 of 10
WEIGHT: 2.03 ounces
MSRP: $660

WHAT IS IT? optic about an 1 ⁄ 8 inch lower than a screwed- high g-forces it imparts on the slide-mounted
Rather than follow the MRDS flock, the Aim- down optic. optic, it’d run forever on a 9mm or .45.
point adapted, miniaturized, and improved Using technology inherited from Aimpoint’s
upon its Micro line of red dot sights, birthing Micro T-2, the projection lens shape is the WHAT WE LIKE:
the first purpose-built, fully enclosed MRDS special sauce that makes a crisp, circular P-1 detractors say the same thing; “it’s so big!”
for pistols — the ACRO P-1, short for Aim- 3.5 MOA dot with minimal bloom, even when But, based on aggregate dimensions, the P-1
point Compact Reflex Optic. viewed through a magnifier. is the same size as other MRDS alternatives, if
smaller in some dimensions, as shown above next
WHAT GOT OUR ATTENTION: HOW WELL DOES IT WORK? to a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro. Looking through the
The ACRO’s emitter enclosure is about half We’ve got five ACRO range sessions split be- optic, there’s definitely a tunnel effect that con-
the height of competing open-topped RDS tween a Victory First Glock 19 slide, an optic- ventional wisdom says is bad. But on a pistol, we
sights, so the ACRO P-1’s dot is already ready Beretta APX, and a SIG SAUER MPX find the tunnel makes it easier to align the tube
closer to the bore than competing sights. (using a Reptilia carbine mount). It’s accurate on the target, providing faster dot acquisition.
Combine this lowered emitter platform with and fast. And, that dot. Mmmm. Even viewed
Aimpoint’s new, integrated mounting system through a 3x magnifier, it’s as perfectly round WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:
and a slide melt installation, and the tops and as buttery smooth as a 20-year-old’s The P-1’s CR1225 battery isn’t a super-
of regular height pistol sights are visible freshly installed silicone implant. market staple like the CR2032’s become.
through the P-1 window. That’s low. And that It’s too early to comment on the sight’s reliabil- We were also unimpressed with the mushy
translates into speed when standard sights ity and durability, but Aimpoint’s Technical Sup- detents of the zeroing screws.
can be used to find the dot and line up a port Manager, John Enloe, tells us the company
sight picture. It’s about the same weight as has one ACRO in an ongoing test that’s sur-
competing MRDS sights. Keeping slide- passed 20k rounds split between several
borne weight down reduces its impact on the platforms, most of it using an
host weapon’s reliability. Austrian pistol firing a par-
ticularly nasty round from
HOW DOES IT WORK? Springfield, Massachusetts.
ACRO slide mount cuts require less depth Aimpoint used 40 S&W
than the screws needed to secure a screw- figuring if it could handle its
mounted MRDS. An enterprising machinist notorious snappiness and the
can cut into the slide, stopping just short of
the striker channel for the deepest MRDS
slide melt installation possible. ATEi does just
that on Victory First’s Glock slides, getting the
 BROUGHT TO YOU BY PRESENTED BY

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106 C O N C E A L M E N T 1 3
R E C O I L W E B . C O M
P365¨
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