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TAKING RESPONSIBILITY Amtac Shooting Women’s Combatives Course
My husband and I were walking on the beach one afternoon when he popped the question: “Would you consider taking a women-only shooting course?” He’s so charming. Colin had been asking me to use my concealed-carry license for almost four years. Every time I reminded him I wasn’t comfortable assuming so much responsibility. The truth
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LAWFUL CARRY: Ready Tactical Holster
Kydex or similar molded holsters are the norm today and visible everywhere across the shooting landscape. That wasn’t always the case. I can remember the first Kydex holster I saw, in about 1995. It was formed much like a leather Threepersons-style holster, but open to the rear where the folded material joined, and it was
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BEYOND HARDBALL Modern .45 Loads
.45 ACP loads have been mostly boring for well over 100 years. For much of the cartridge’s existence, there was “hardball,” 230-grain full-metal-jacketed bullets launching somewhere between 825 and 875 fps, and a couple of mid-range target loads for the bullseye shooters. In the modern era, jacketed hollow-points arrived in three standard weights: 185-grain, the
SurvivalShow More
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KEEPING YOUR GRID-DOWN COOL Cooler Shock Ice Packs
During an extended power outage, options for even basic refrigeration are often severely limited. Here in the coastal southeastern U.S., the dreaded Atlantic Hurricane season terrorizes the population from early June through late November. When power goes out during this period of time, it is likely because of a tropical storm. Coincidentally, these are also
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Hurricane Irma: Lessons Learned
Preparedness is not a hobby practiced by the lunatic fringe in advance of a zombie apocalypse or biblical end times. Preparedness is a sensible lifestyle choice for anyone who wants to survive the array of natural disasters that strike the United States every year. 2017 was particularly brutal, with devastating wildfires over several Western states,
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HOMELAND SECURITY: Measures To Make Your Home Safer
For most of us, our homes are a sacred place of peace and comfort and hopefully the one setting where we can shut out the stress and madness of the outside world. Home is also where we shelter our families, make memories, and find some level of rest, tranquility and refuge. But what happens when
WeaponsShow More
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BEYOND HARDBALL Modern .45 Loads
.45 ACP loads have been mostly boring for well over 100 years. For much of the cartridge’s existence, there was “hardball,” 230-grain full-metal-jacketed bullets launching somewhere between 825 and 875 fps, and a couple of mid-range target loads for the bullseye shooters. In the modern era, jacketed hollow-points arrived in three standard weights: 185-grain, the
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KREBS CUSTOM PD-18 AK PISTOL Adaptation at Its Finest
Krebs Custom is a well-established leader in the U.S. AK universe. Marc Krebs is an innovator known for pushing AK performance boundaries. Understandably, with the Obama Administration’s Executive Orders curtailing the import of Russian AKs, Krebs has had to be flexible in creating its unique brand of AKs. Previous Krebs production AK rifles were based
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TWO TAKES ON A COMBAT CLASSIC Kimber Warrior SOC TFS and Springfield Armory 1911 Mil-Spec
How many ways might there be to extol the virtues of the 1911 pistol? To hear guys like me describe it, John Moses Browning was smarter than Einstein, more enlightened than Gandhi, more innovative than Edison, tougher than Chuck Norris, and more influential than Thomas Crapper (the guy who popularized the flush toilet). Browning’s 1911
Tactics & TrainingShow More
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TAKING RESPONSIBILITY Amtac Shooting Women’s Combatives Course
My husband and I were walking on the beach one afternoon when he popped the question: “Would you consider taking a women-only shooting course?” He’s so charming. Colin had been asking me to use my concealed-carry license for almost four years. Every time I reminded him I wasn’t comfortable assuming so much responsibility. The truth
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COOL ON THE RANGE, DEAD ON THE STREET A Hard Look at Shooting Techniques
Photos by Gracey Gurwitch After reading this, many in the tactical community may label me a heretic! That’s because I’m about to argue against two very popular tactical shooting techniques endorsed by many who are considered experts in tactical shooting. The reason I don’t like these two techniques is based on my experience of six
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LONG GUNS: Trijicon TA01NSN-308 and Century C308
I’ve been a fan of the Trijicon ACOG since I first tried one many years ago. I’m especially fond of the TA31RCO used by the USMC, to the extent that one is on the M4 I use most often. I have also used .308 ACOGs but have not had as much experience with them as
GearShow More
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LAWFUL CARRY: Ready Tactical Holster
Kydex or similar molded holsters are the norm today and visible everywhere across the shooting landscape. That wasn’t always the case. I can remember the first Kydex holster I saw, in about 1995. It was formed much like a leather Threepersons-style holster, but open to the rear where the folded material joined, and it was
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THE CUTTING EDGE: Spyderco Matriarch 2 with Emerson Opener
The Spyderco® Matriarch™ 2 folding knife has its origins in the C12 Civilian™—one of Spyderco’s oldest and most unique designs. The Civilian was developed at the request of a U.S. federal law enforcement agency that wanted for its undercover agents an easily concealed knife that could serve as a potent defensive weapon when wielded with
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OFFBEAT: On Point Steel Targets for Rifle CQB
Steel targets are in demand, and why not? This is the age of instant gratification, and nothing is as gratifying as hearing lead strike steel. You know immediately if your shot was a hit or a miss. Pistol ammo can be shot at mild steel as close as ten yards, provided the surface is smooth
More from S.W.A.T.Show More
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STREET SMARTS: Don’t Keep Your Hands to Yourself
Is there anything quite as memorable as finding out that you’re going to be a parent, or that you have won the lottery, or when somebody shows you their hands but there happens to be a gun or knife in one of them? These three situations are certainly surprising and memorable, but it’s the last
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GOOD GUYS WIN! Second Amendment in Action
School Day Surprise At a little after ten in the morning on a Thursday, a White Oak, Pennsylvania man was surprised to hear the sound of someone forcing entry into his kitchen via the back door. Arming himself, the homeowner headed to the kitchen to confront the intruder. He arrived to find the man had
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FRONTLINE DEBRIEFS: Dangers of Police Work
Many careers entail varying degrees of risk. Some careers are inherently riskier than others. But police work brings to the table an entirely unpredictable set of life-and-death decisions/actions with a most important caveat. It must operate within strict rules, dictums, and laws of engagement that are questioned at every step. Few professions demand that such
