August 2014

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Street Smarts: Can You Inflict Violence

Just look at you—packing a great gun, been to dozens of classes, got a highly tactical backpack covered in cool morale patches and, best of all, you really know how to “talk the talk.” But I wonder: Can you “do it”? Get your mind out of the gutter. Read More

Getting Out of Dodge: Urban Evacuation Tools for Self-Rescue

When people use the term “evacuation,” they’re usually referring to the temporary but rapid removal of large groups of people from a structure or disaster area as a rescue or precautionary measure. Few of us consider that we may need to do an evacuation or self-rescue from our own… Read More

Training and Tactics: Trigger Troubles

East is east and west is west, and ne’er the twain shall meet. Until you realize that Alaska is both the westernmost and easternmost state in North America. So much for ironclad theories. What is an ironclad rule, however, is the safe operation of firearms—specifically with reference to… Read More

Offbeat: MGM Switchview Lever

Variable-power optics are gaining ground in the black rifle world. The days of the fixed-power magnified optic are largely over. The remaining inventory of military-issue fixed-power optics will persist to the end of their service life due to budgetary constraints, while individuals flock en masse to new-generation variables. With… Read More

Glock Pistols: The Good, the Bad And The Ugly

The Glock has become a fixture in American pop culture, from its “X-ray proof” beginnings to its current ubiquity. It is the defining example of the contemporary polymer service pistol and has become the benchmark by which other models are judged in terms of reliability, ergonomics and cost. I’ve… Read More

More Light, Less Price: SureFire G2X

Technology is impressive. The computers aboard Apollo 11, which went to the moon, had less processing power than a smartphone does now. PCs are now replaced at the same intervals that some folks change their socks. And we have come to expect that this will happen in all aspects of… Read More

Combat Assault Aid: Exoskel Shin Guards

I don’t wear shorts in the summer (or at any time, for that matter) because my legs are a mess of scar tissue. During SWAT’s early days and the beginning of FBI HRT, forced building entries and room combat were conducted without lower limb protection. We were either too… Read More

Surviving an Entry: Counter Threat Concepts CQB One

No two ways about it: making entry into a room or building occupied by a hostile person(s), especially if conducted by one person, is dangerous. When in your own home, or anywhere else for that matter, the best advice anyone can offer is to stay put and let the… Read More

Master Blaster: Coonan Classic .357 Magnum Pistol

Most handgunners are familiar with the 79-year-old .357 Magnum revolver cartridge and that Messrs Elmer Keith, Phillip Sharpe and Colonel D.B. Wesson of Smith & Wesson were responsible for its design and development. To this day, it enjoys a reputation as a reliable man stopper. Its vaunted 125-grain JHP (Jacketed… Read More