My home boy USMC03 posted this tutorial on how to fit an MnP sight set, and it was too epic not to share. I didn't tell him I would so I hope he doesn't murder me too much. He's a former Marine; profanity ensues.
The how-to:
Dude no worries. Fitting an iron sight in a dovetail is not a complicated process...that being said lets see here...
Yes i used a file on the underside flat to fit the sight, no i didnt use loctite.
My process is highly detailed and goes something like this...
1.)Ensure pistol is unloaded and field strip it.
2.)Place slide in magical clamping tool of precision..aka a bench mounted vice.
3.)This next part is mission essential...Pound rest of beer and throw in a half a can of copenhagen snuff.
4.)Realizing
you are an Merican WECSOG alumnus and thus do not own any type of
universal pistol sight adjustment tool (left it at an old job and HATE
everyone there bad enough you wont call to have them mail it to
you)..remove brass punch/hammer/and apex tactical plastic dealio (dont
recall the name) that allows you to drift and remove sights without
losing the M&P's striker block and assorted parts.
5.)remove front and rear sights with brass punch and hammer.
6.) Pour a crown and coke.
7.)Attempt to install rear sight. Bend first brass punch while doing so.
8.) curse loudly
9.)
Remove files and stones from toolbox and proceed to spend 2 hours
filing and test fitting sights to your slide while heading back into the
house to pour more drinks and grabbing another can of dip. Assure
household 6 that you will be in before midnight and that she should
spend her time catching up on her chicks flick tv shows while you are
out in the shop.
10.) Take the dog out to drop a duece and let her in shop.
11.)
Keep drinking/fitting sights/throwing the slide across the shop in fits
of RAGE and freaking the dog out. At this point realize that its 14
degrees in the shop, the dog has hypothermia and is chewing the sh*t out
of everything not nailed down and go start a fire in the shop stove.
12.) Take the dog back in the cabin, pour another drink and return to trying to make round pegs fit in smaller rounded holes.
13.)
Chew more copenhagen while BLARING Slayer, yell at and question the
manhood of the retired Squid across the road in front of his wife when
he asks you to turn the music down at midnight. \m/.
14.) FINALLY
get everything installed and pert near lined up windage wise..then
realize you have had 14 cocktails and decide to make finer adjustments
when you hit the range in 2 days.
15.) Go back in the house at
0100 and try not to murder the dog that's eating one of your socks/shoot
the TV with some gay ass teeny bopper high school show about nerds in a
choir with a 1 oz grizzly defense 12 guage slug/and or blow your stack
when HH6 asks how it went.
16.) 2 Days later...head out to the
range with a buddy that's trying to burn up 6k rounds of factory ammo so
his OCD ass can reload it to his higher accuracy and reliability
standards than pretty much any factory is capable of churning out.
17.) Turn on GoPro headcam while running drills for critique later that day.
18.) Engage paper at 5/10/20 yards to check zero. GTG so move to engaging steel at 35 yards.
19.) Proceed to fire a total of 12 or so rounds and realize it is in fact the gun this time and not yourself.
20.)
Look at front sight which has drifted left and consider the chain of
events in your life that have led to this. Narrowly avoid trying to
figure out many rounds of 9mm ball from your Glock it would take to turn
this S&W into a puddle of melted goo and steel and pissing on it
for spite.
21.) Sitting in Afghanistan and considering making a
moto video of said sight falling off the gun with Slayer blaring "War
Ensemble" dubbed over...and then watching it before going to work each
morning.
That about sums it up. I aint about to start drilling
hole's in my slide to mount a f*cking iron sight, the motherf*cker is
going to L&M precision gunworks for an RDS on the ATOM goodness so i don't have to f*ck with it anymore.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Thou Shalt Not Kill: missed the translation on that one!
I've been trying to read through the Bible about once a year, but it usually ends up taking me a little longer than a year, or has so far. I'm on my third reading right now...and behind schedule, I think. Its the journey, not the destination, so I'll be OK no matter how long it takes.
For some reason, I seem to be seeing references to the 10 Commandments quite a bit lately. I think they've been there anyway; its not something new where its all of a sudden in front of me more often. However, I am seeing more reference to it around me. I believe that God does that for me to get me thinking. I don't always know exactly why, but it shows up somewhere, every time.
So I'm reading the Old Testament now, and have just completed reading the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. They've been settled for a little while now; ballpark they've been there 150 years total. The whole history of the 40 years in the desert and the events of that time are all in there. Its not been a terribly long time that Moses brought the 10 Commandments off the mountain.
And here's what strikes me about them: the 6th Commandment can't possibly be translated correctly. In both of my Bibles, a New American Standard and a Revised Standard Edition, both use the word "kill": Exodus 2:13, "You shall not kill". But read the rest of the Old Testament and that word can't be right...unless its a word being used that has multiple definitions. If it was simply killing that was prohibited, then God would be going against his word, which does not happen. Killing can't be wrong in and of itself. A couple of examples: as Israel is being set up, God commands them to set up "safe cities", where a man who causes the death of his neighbor by accident can go until a trail can be held; sort of protective custody where he's sequestered away from the family of the deceased. This only applies in accidental deaths, which I think we call manslaughter now. Then there's the entire peoples that were "delivered into your [Israel's] hand." What's that mean? It means God not only sanctioned, but ordered Israel to kill off an entire people. That's what "put to the edge of the sword" means: quite literally putting the edge of the sword with force and extreme prejudice on a body and taking it's life. So "kill" can't be the right word.
Replace "kill" with "murder". Now it makes a lot more sense. Dictionary.com says "murder" is defined as "Law. the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder) and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder)." It also says that the word's origins come from between 1300-1350, which means that "kill" would be the only word available at the time, and that's why its translated that way.
It's clear to me, though, that there is such a thing as righteous killing, and that "some people just need killin'" is also true. I don't think I need to go into a big explanation of how murder and killing are different; both the readers of my blog should already get that, and it'd make this post a lot, lot longer. Suffice it to say, not all killing is murder, and while murder is against God's law, killing isn't. As distasteful as it is, sometimes it's the right thing to do, is righteous, and needs to be done.
For some reason, I seem to be seeing references to the 10 Commandments quite a bit lately. I think they've been there anyway; its not something new where its all of a sudden in front of me more often. However, I am seeing more reference to it around me. I believe that God does that for me to get me thinking. I don't always know exactly why, but it shows up somewhere, every time.
So I'm reading the Old Testament now, and have just completed reading the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. They've been settled for a little while now; ballpark they've been there 150 years total. The whole history of the 40 years in the desert and the events of that time are all in there. Its not been a terribly long time that Moses brought the 10 Commandments off the mountain.
And here's what strikes me about them: the 6th Commandment can't possibly be translated correctly. In both of my Bibles, a New American Standard and a Revised Standard Edition, both use the word "kill": Exodus 2:13, "You shall not kill". But read the rest of the Old Testament and that word can't be right...unless its a word being used that has multiple definitions. If it was simply killing that was prohibited, then God would be going against his word, which does not happen. Killing can't be wrong in and of itself. A couple of examples: as Israel is being set up, God commands them to set up "safe cities", where a man who causes the death of his neighbor by accident can go until a trail can be held; sort of protective custody where he's sequestered away from the family of the deceased. This only applies in accidental deaths, which I think we call manslaughter now. Then there's the entire peoples that were "delivered into your [Israel's] hand." What's that mean? It means God not only sanctioned, but ordered Israel to kill off an entire people. That's what "put to the edge of the sword" means: quite literally putting the edge of the sword with force and extreme prejudice on a body and taking it's life. So "kill" can't be the right word.
Replace "kill" with "murder". Now it makes a lot more sense. Dictionary.com says "murder" is defined as "Law. the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder) and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder)." It also says that the word's origins come from between 1300-1350, which means that "kill" would be the only word available at the time, and that's why its translated that way.
It's clear to me, though, that there is such a thing as righteous killing, and that "some people just need killin'" is also true. I don't think I need to go into a big explanation of how murder and killing are different; both the readers of my blog should already get that, and it'd make this post a lot, lot longer. Suffice it to say, not all killing is murder, and while murder is against God's law, killing isn't. As distasteful as it is, sometimes it's the right thing to do, is righteous, and needs to be done.
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Quite possibly the best yet: Pizza Scam!
Just got this in my work e-mail, which gets quite a bit of spam. Come of it is a little bit convincing, especially the stuff that uses the art work from the Bookface and UPS. If they work on the actual text a bit, they'll be on to something. The rest is the same stuff everybody else gets and that isn't very interesting anymore. Today's, though, is novel and different. I knew it was a scam because I can't think of a single pizza lover that I know that would ever order easy on the cheese. "Im always screwing up some mundane detail!" - Michael Bolton.
You??™ve just ordered pizza from our site
If you haven??™t made the order and it??™s a fraud case, please follow the link and cancel the order.
CANCELORDER NOW!
If you don??™t do that shortly, the order will be confirmed and delivered to you.
With Respect To You
Pizza by FILIPPO
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
Getting Better: some tools that helped
I was talking recently with the home p's about shooting, improving, and what's made the most difference in getting to the goals. There have been a few things that changed things for the better for me, and I don't think I'd be as good as I am (and make no mistake, I still suck. A lot) if not for a few different tools. Some just got me out of my own way, some make things easier to do, and some were helpful in changing my way of thinking and practicing. Since I'm in need of something to write about, I decided I'd throw a list out there and maybe it can help one of my two readers.
The first big improvement for me was switching to a 9mm, which cut my ammo costs, which meant that I could shoot more for the same amount of money. .45 has gotten almost obscene in cost, and it's kept me from shooting it much. I considered classifying with it a couple weeks ago, but decided against it because I realized I was unlikely to compete with it anytime soon. If you can afford to shoot the .45, more power to you; I envy you because I just can't swing it. Granted, ya gotta shoot whatever you can get these days, and I'm thankful I didn't get rid of my .40. Luckily, I was pointed to Glocks early on, and I moved to them from a 1911, so I was already familiar with a short stroke trigger. If I was still shooting my old Taurus PT99 (the gun rags said it was a good gun, and I've learned since that gun rags are generally more miss than hit) or the SnW 4006 that I had for a short while (traded it at a profit for my first 1911) moving to a striker fired gun would have been another quantum leap. They're so much easier to shoot that I wonder why DA/SA trigger mechanisms still exist...and that people buy them.
In addition to shooting more, getting duty quality support gear helped me a TON. Quality gear stands up to constant use. Most of my stuff is Safariland, which is engineered, designed and built for duty use. That stuff lasts for YEARS. I just have to fight my lack of ability now, and not my gear being sub-par or failing while I'm using it. The great thing is that good gear pays for itself in a relatively short time, and the difference in price between minimum level gear and top quality stuff isn't that much. There's about a ten dollar difference between the SERPA and the Safariland ALS, and the ALS is a proven performer that will last longer than your shooting career in most cases. But beyond the durability is a general improvement in design and build quality. Your gear will do what it's supposed to do, rather than not quite being right, such as holding your mags at a weird angle or something along those lines. It's a worthwhile investment, but not dirt cheap, so do your due diligence and research and make sure you're buying quality. It's always about best value, not lowest price.
In terms of the improvement of my actual skills, the thing that made the biggest difference was getting a timer. I have a PACT Club Timer, which does quite a bit of stuff and is a very good value. Competition Electronics Pocket Pro II and the CED 7000 from Competitive Edge Dynamics are also timers I've got varying degrees of experience with. I think my favorite is the CE Pocket Pro II, for ease of use and programing, as well as having a very loud, easy to hear buzzer. A close second goes to the Club Timer, which is not quite so flexible, but does a lot for a reasonable price. If you have a smart phone, the Surefire timer app is probably still available. It was supposed to be a short term availability, but was still out there last time I looked. It works pretty well, and for the price of Free.99, ya can't really go wrong. The downsides are that the buzzer isn't anywhere near as loud and sensitivity can be a problem if you're not shooting alone. The timer don't lie, though. When you think something is working, the timer allows you to test it and prove whether it really is or not. Its caused me to refine my technique by things being proven better by the timer.
Electronic ear pro makes training easier, especially if you're getting professional instruction. If you can't swing electronic muffs, which have quite a wide range of prices (and quality, obviously) then there are ear plugs like the Surefire EP7's that I blogged about a while back that allow low intensity sound through while blocking high pressure sounds like gunshots. I prefer the Peltor Comtacs that I've been running for several years for classes and for when it's cold. The EP7's are quite a bit more comfortable when wearing glasses that aren't flush with your temples.
The last major area of improvement I found is also one that saves money: shooting rounds that matter. How? By shooting "standards". Most of these are designed around 50 to 100 rounds, some less, but all are tests of various skills. The beauty of shooting standards is that you have a quantifiable level to which you can compare your skills. I wish the standards were all published in one place, but there's a pretty good reason why they're not. I sent Mike Pannone a message through the Bookface to inquire if he'd ever considered doing a book of standards in the same form factor as his Glock handbook and the M16/M4 Handbook (both of which are very much worth the investment). He said he had considered it, but that it would be put on the net shortly after release which would make publishing it a waste of time and money. As it is, the standards are out there, and you'll just have to seek them out. Start with the 10-8 Standards, the Hackathorn Standards, and Kyle Defoor's 500 Point Aggregate. That's not necessarily his drill, but he was the one who exposed me to it, through YouTube and then through shooting them with Matt E, who was in Defoor's class about a year ago. Wish I'd gone.
I want to also mention shooting competitively as a method to improvement. There are a couple reasons to shoot competition: first, it gives you a gauge to see where you stand against other competitors, and secondly it puts a little stress on the shooter that is hard to replicate on the range alone. It can also put you in touch with other shooters, and percentages say that some of them will be able to help you. Percentages also say that you'll want to stay away from some of them, but that number is usually very small. If you've never shot a match, go try it. There are lots of gun games, so it's gonna be hard to find something that doesn't appeal to anybody that really wants to shoot. If you don't care for it, at least you gave it an honest shake. Try another game or don't compete, but by all means, give it a chance.
Those are some of the things that have helped me, and I recommend them to shooters looking to improve. This applies to both new shooters and veterans, but these things made a big difference to me. The only single thing that makes a bigger difference is getting professional training. Get trained!
The first big improvement for me was switching to a 9mm, which cut my ammo costs, which meant that I could shoot more for the same amount of money. .45 has gotten almost obscene in cost, and it's kept me from shooting it much. I considered classifying with it a couple weeks ago, but decided against it because I realized I was unlikely to compete with it anytime soon. If you can afford to shoot the .45, more power to you; I envy you because I just can't swing it. Granted, ya gotta shoot whatever you can get these days, and I'm thankful I didn't get rid of my .40. Luckily, I was pointed to Glocks early on, and I moved to them from a 1911, so I was already familiar with a short stroke trigger. If I was still shooting my old Taurus PT99 (the gun rags said it was a good gun, and I've learned since that gun rags are generally more miss than hit) or the SnW 4006 that I had for a short while (traded it at a profit for my first 1911) moving to a striker fired gun would have been another quantum leap. They're so much easier to shoot that I wonder why DA/SA trigger mechanisms still exist...and that people buy them.
In addition to shooting more, getting duty quality support gear helped me a TON. Quality gear stands up to constant use. Most of my stuff is Safariland, which is engineered, designed and built for duty use. That stuff lasts for YEARS. I just have to fight my lack of ability now, and not my gear being sub-par or failing while I'm using it. The great thing is that good gear pays for itself in a relatively short time, and the difference in price between minimum level gear and top quality stuff isn't that much. There's about a ten dollar difference between the SERPA and the Safariland ALS, and the ALS is a proven performer that will last longer than your shooting career in most cases. But beyond the durability is a general improvement in design and build quality. Your gear will do what it's supposed to do, rather than not quite being right, such as holding your mags at a weird angle or something along those lines. It's a worthwhile investment, but not dirt cheap, so do your due diligence and research and make sure you're buying quality. It's always about best value, not lowest price.
In terms of the improvement of my actual skills, the thing that made the biggest difference was getting a timer. I have a PACT Club Timer, which does quite a bit of stuff and is a very good value. Competition Electronics Pocket Pro II and the CED 7000 from Competitive Edge Dynamics are also timers I've got varying degrees of experience with. I think my favorite is the CE Pocket Pro II, for ease of use and programing, as well as having a very loud, easy to hear buzzer. A close second goes to the Club Timer, which is not quite so flexible, but does a lot for a reasonable price. If you have a smart phone, the Surefire timer app is probably still available. It was supposed to be a short term availability, but was still out there last time I looked. It works pretty well, and for the price of Free.99, ya can't really go wrong. The downsides are that the buzzer isn't anywhere near as loud and sensitivity can be a problem if you're not shooting alone. The timer don't lie, though. When you think something is working, the timer allows you to test it and prove whether it really is or not. Its caused me to refine my technique by things being proven better by the timer.
Electronic ear pro makes training easier, especially if you're getting professional instruction. If you can't swing electronic muffs, which have quite a wide range of prices (and quality, obviously) then there are ear plugs like the Surefire EP7's that I blogged about a while back that allow low intensity sound through while blocking high pressure sounds like gunshots. I prefer the Peltor Comtacs that I've been running for several years for classes and for when it's cold. The EP7's are quite a bit more comfortable when wearing glasses that aren't flush with your temples.
The last major area of improvement I found is also one that saves money: shooting rounds that matter. How? By shooting "standards". Most of these are designed around 50 to 100 rounds, some less, but all are tests of various skills. The beauty of shooting standards is that you have a quantifiable level to which you can compare your skills. I wish the standards were all published in one place, but there's a pretty good reason why they're not. I sent Mike Pannone a message through the Bookface to inquire if he'd ever considered doing a book of standards in the same form factor as his Glock handbook and the M16/M4 Handbook (both of which are very much worth the investment). He said he had considered it, but that it would be put on the net shortly after release which would make publishing it a waste of time and money. As it is, the standards are out there, and you'll just have to seek them out. Start with the 10-8 Standards, the Hackathorn Standards, and Kyle Defoor's 500 Point Aggregate. That's not necessarily his drill, but he was the one who exposed me to it, through YouTube and then through shooting them with Matt E, who was in Defoor's class about a year ago. Wish I'd gone.
I want to also mention shooting competitively as a method to improvement. There are a couple reasons to shoot competition: first, it gives you a gauge to see where you stand against other competitors, and secondly it puts a little stress on the shooter that is hard to replicate on the range alone. It can also put you in touch with other shooters, and percentages say that some of them will be able to help you. Percentages also say that you'll want to stay away from some of them, but that number is usually very small. If you've never shot a match, go try it. There are lots of gun games, so it's gonna be hard to find something that doesn't appeal to anybody that really wants to shoot. If you don't care for it, at least you gave it an honest shake. Try another game or don't compete, but by all means, give it a chance.
Those are some of the things that have helped me, and I recommend them to shooters looking to improve. This applies to both new shooters and veterans, but these things made a big difference to me. The only single thing that makes a bigger difference is getting professional training. Get trained!
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