Day 17: Handgun Carry Options

For all the talk about handguns on this blog, we haven't talked much about methods of carrying them. I thought I would offer a quick review of some of the carry options that I routinely use for concealed carry, and discuss the pros and cons of these systems.


From left to right in the top image: Wilderness magazine pouch, Raven magazine pouch, Ravine G19 holster, MTAC G20 Holster. All on Wilderness Instructor belt.


Raven Concealment Holster & Magazine Pouches

I love the fact that Raven holster systems are modular. I can wear the same holster either inside or outside the waistband by simply swapping out the stock OWB for accessory IWB hooks. I was able to order 1.75” belt loops even though they don’t list them, simply by adding a comment to my online order. I can easily conceal my Glock 19 in this holster under a t-shirt whether it’s worn inside or outside my waistband, though the IWB configuration hugs noticeable tighter to my body. Overall, I prefer IWB carry for everyday concealment and OWB for range use and tactical shooting, but that’s mostly individual preference.

One thing I don’t like about the Raven holster system is the inability to adjust retention strength. Both the holster and magazine pouches are molded kydex and you’re stuck with the factory setting, which is quite strong. I found the gun retention to be nearly perfect, but the magazines are much too difficult to remove for my taste. I have to wear them farther back on my belt to maintain the leverage needed for crisp reloading drills, which complicates things if you find yourself on the ground, especially in the supine position.

Minotaur MTAC Holster

The Minotaur MTAC holster sold by Comp-Tac is a fantastic holster for concealing large handguns like the G20. This leather-kydex hybrid combines the comfort of leather with the rigidity of polymer, and is fully adjustable for retention and cant. In terms of IWB carry efficiency, it’s very close to the Raven holster. You can also purchase addition kydex halves to make the same primary body function with any model of pistol. In the future I’ll probably stick with Raven simply because it can be worn outside of the belt, but if you like the comfort of leather and only desire to carry inside your belt, the MTAC is one of the best options out there.

Wilderness Tactical Belt & Magazine Pouches

I’m generally a fan of products by the Wilderness. They make a fantastic belt: I wear a 5-stitch instructor belt every day, and I couldn’t be happier with it. I also use their slings on two long guns. I hate to say it, but their magazine pouches are garbage. I bought the horizontal style because I thought it would ease concealment, but it’s bulky and wears awkwardly. Even though it was specifically sold to accommodate the 10mm double stack magazines of the Glock 20, the fit is far too tight, and the magazine catches on a seam in the nylon totally preventing smooth draws. So while I recommend most Wilderness products, I’d stay away from their mag pouches.


*The arrangement shown is clearly for illustrative purposes only, and is not intended to be an actual layout for practical carry.

Day 16: Ruger 10/22

The Ruger 10/22 is one of the most popular rimfire rifles ever manufactured. Originally released in 1964, the 10/22 is traditionally chambered in .22 Long Rifle, yet limited variants were produced in .22 WMR and .17 HMR. One advantage to the 10/22 over other popular .22LR rifles such as the Marlin Model 60 is it’s 10-round rotary magazine, which is much faster and more practical than a front-fed tubular magazine. I recently decided that I needed one for small game hunting and target shooting.


My Model

There are countless subtypes of the 10/22 available from the factory, but I opted for the Sporter (Deluxe Sporter according to Cabela’s) edition, primarily for the high-quality checkered American Walnut stock. When I picked it off the shelf, I was immediately impressed by the quality of the flip-up rear sight and the crisp trigger.

The first day at the range, I shot 675 rounds out of the stock rifle with bulk ammunition without a single hiccup. It was a dream to shoot, and extremely easy to disassemble and clean back at home. It’s no Glock, but cleaning and maintenance on this rifle is just about as simple as it gets. Just one screw to remove the stock, and 2 pins to remove the trigger assembly, and one pin to remove the bolt.


Customizations

One of the reasons for the huge popularity of the Ruger 10/22 is its customizability and the availability of aftermarket accessories. You turn any run-of-the-mill 10/22 into a specialized hunting rifle, a compact survival tool, a tactical military-style practice gun, or an expensive flashy competition rifle. Most of the 10/22’s out there probably remain in the category of your standard stock weekend plinker, but the potential is there if you want to take advantage of it.

I opted to spend a few bucks optimizing my rifle for hunting small game, since I tend to focus on hunting-style customizations on my long guns. My main addition was a Vortex Crossfire 4x32 scope with Leupold scope rings. The 4x fixed magnification 32mm scope is one of the most popular general-purpose hunting optics ever made, and on a rimfire allows generous accuracy from 25-100 yards and beyond. That’s more than enough for targeting treed squirrels, so I’m happy.

The 10/22 Deluxe Sporter comes with 1” sling swivels, but the availability of slings in this width is lacking. I replaced these swivels with 1.25” quick-detachable swivels and swivel bases from Uncle Mike’s, so I could pair it with a thicker Wilderness sling. If you’re trying to figure out what parts you need to make the same replacement, both swivel taps in the Sporter stock accept ½” wood screws.

All 10/22’s come with one 10-round rotary magazine. Before experiencing this style of magazine I’ll admit I was skeptical about it, but they are incredibly reliable and compact. I’ve shot over 700 rounds through one of my rotary magazines without a single failure whatsoever, without cleaning it at all. I’m impressed considering how dirty rimfire cartridges can get after high-volume shooting.

I purchased a 25-round steel extended magazine by TacticalInc.com, but I can’t comment on this yet. These magazines are adjustable by 4 different screws, and so far I haven’t found a configuration that feeds or ejects reliably. I hope I can tune this magazine properly, since a high-capacity .22 could prove quite useful during a zombie apocalypse. I'll update everyone later on whether this mag is functional or a piece of junk, I just haven't figured it out yet.


Overall Impressions

The Ruger 10/22 has quickly become one of my favorite guns that I’ve ever shot. It’s accurate at close to medium ranges, useful for hunting and survival applications, and is American-made. It’s light weight in relation to other hunting rifles helps in making it highly portable, but its low mass makes off-hand shooting a bit of a challenge, so a shooting rest or proper shooting position is preferable for ethical kills. The price of .22LR ammunition easily allows high-volume shooting on any budget, and this is the kind of gun you can shoot all day for the price of going out to a movie. A .22 will eventually pay for itself in ammo savings along, but it’s also a blast to shoot.

Day 15: Vive Fusils Français

Just recently I had the opportunity to purchase a MAS 36/51, the infamous French rifle of the early to mid 20th century. At first, like so many others, I was a little ignorant and clueless about the MAS 36/51 but after a couple solid days of research I ended up bringing home a neat piece of history.

History of the MAS 36 series

The MAS Modèle 36 like many of France’s firearms previously adopted was created at Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne, hence the prefix on its designation – MAS.

The MAS 36 was most well known for being the main battle rifle of the French during World War Two however this is only partially true. Many people do not know that originally the MAS 36 could not be outfitted to all troops during the early part of the war, and were reserved for only frontline troops that would bare the majority of the German onslaught. Soldiers that found themselves in the rear, fighting in French colonies, or with a more logistical role were often using Lebel or Berthier rifles when MAS 36 rifles could not be supplied. Later in the war the more outdated rifles were phased out and French soldiers began to use the MAS 36 and the British Lee Enfield (to an extent).

After World War Two the French continued to use the MAS 36 extensively as it began to consolidate colonial territories. In 1949 the French adopted the semi automatic MAS 49 and began to issue it to the frontline troops of the time. While the MAS 36 was still being used it was no longer the “new kid on the block” and in 1951 the French military began retrofitting MAS36 with the ability to launch the standard 22mm NATO rifle grenade.

The new designation for the rifle was MAS 36/51 and had found a home back on the frontline allowing extra firepower on the squad level.

This new variant of the rifle saw much turbulence as France defended itself from insurgent forces in The First Indo-China war (1946-54) and the Algerian War (1954-62). The MAS 36 even found its way into the Suez Crisis (1956). The MAS 36/51 served its user well up until the time it was pulled from service well into the 1960s, a truly amazing run of over 30 years of combat action.

Mechanics of the MAS 36/51

At the end of the Great War the French took ideas implemented by rifles of the major participating countries, both allied and enemy. Some of these include the bent curve found on the American P1917 Enfield, the 5 round box magazine of the German Gewehr, and the design of the locking lugs on the bolt from the British Lee Enfield. They took these concepts and designs and formulated an extremely robust rifle that would last many years even in the toughest combat environments.

The MAS 36 series has a cool feature that can’t be found on many other rifles. Beneath the barrel a chamber holds the bayonet until needed, and then at that point it can just be flipped around and locked into that very same chamber to secure it for use. A cool feature for sure!

Unlike the early MAS 36s the MAS 36/51 is equipped with items to allow it to fire a wide assortment of rifle grenades. The upgrades in 1951 installed a very intricate grenade launching sight and spigot to affix the projectile too. With these installed the user can fire high explosive, anti-tank, and general purpose grenades up to 400m, a tremendous addition to the standard rifleman’s arsenal.

The MAS 50 years later…

I had a great opportunity when buying this rifle. The gentlemen whom I bought it from originally purchased it in 1999 and had never shot it. When I picked it up it was still covered in packing grease I can only imagine was from the 1960s when it was taken out of service.

Overall thoughts on the rifle are pretty high. The rifle is built like a tank and the weight for such a relatively short rifle shows it. The sights are crude but allows for a soldier or even untrained peasant to be considerably accurate. The action of the bolt is not smooth or crisp but gives the feeling of robustness. Overall the MAS 36 feels like the AK47 of its day, it’s just unfortunate that it never got the repertoire to go along with it.

That’s it for now, stayed tuned more to come.

Day 14: Picture of the Day

People own firearms for a variety of reasons. They're fun to shoot at the range, enjoyable to collect, and capture important pieces of history. First and foremost however, they are purpose-built tools.

As I described in one of my recent posts, I have optimized one of my tools for hunting game. Spring turkey season kicked off this week, and after numerous failed attempts, I finally harvested my first bird on Thursday. It feels great to put your own food on the table after spending days in the field, and hunting can be a rewarding way to experience an American pastime while giving you a reason to keep your shooting skills sharp.


Turkey sandwiches, anyone?

Day 13: Picture of the Day

Today's picture of the day: the worst centerfire ammunition I've ever shot. This 9mm ammo is manufactured by MFS 2000 in Hungary, I bought it at Cabela's because it was on sale for $12 a box (now $10), making it the cheapest brass-cased 9mm that I could find. Today I had a 9% (!!!) failure to fire rate out of my Glock 19, which has NEVER had another malfunction. 2 of the 9 failed rounds didn't fire on their second strike, either. The primers are pure trash.


My Glock has worked flawlessly with Speer, Fiocchi, Winchester, Federal, and Sellier & Bellot, but this stuff is pure garbage.
Do not buy it.

On the other hand, I got the opportunity to practice FTF drills...

Day 12: Mossberg 500 Turkey Shotgun & Optics

If you didn't know, this Monday kicks off Michigan's spring wild turkey season! So I figured I would make a post introducing you to my turkey shotgun and the rationale for selecting good turkey hunting gear. My focus will be on shotgun optics, because this topic isn't often discussed but it can provide a distinct advantage out in the field.

The platform I selected was the Mossberg 500, because it's and can be configured for any possible purpose. It is pump-action, which brings down the cost, and is easier to field strip. I can use this gun for hunting deer, small game, turkey, and as a home defense weapon simply by dropping in the appropriate load. The 500 is durable and relatively inexpensive. The base model I purchased included a thumbhole Monte Carlo stock and fiber optic sights, with a 20" barrel and a threaded choke.


HUNTING OPTICS

Like I said, I use my shotgun for turkey, deer, and small game, and I decided to mount a 1.5-4.5 x 20 scope to assist in hunting. If you don't already know, the first set of numbers is the magnification, which is adjustable in this case, and the second number is the aperture size. The larger the aperture, the more light gets transmitted through the glass, assisting in low light conditions.

If you get a Mossberg is like mine, it should be "drilled and tapped," and have 4 screws on the top of the receiver that can be removed to mount a rail. I bought a two-piece Weaver rail, which is just screwed in to allow attachment of scope rings. I got a nice set of rings that I trust to withstand the recoil of my 12 gauge without loosening up over time. Then there's the scope itself. So total, it's three pieces you'll need to get to mount a scope.

My scope setup consists of the following parts:
- Weaver 48473 Matte Top Base Pair For Mossberg 500
- Leupold Quick Release Weaver Style Rings 49853, 1", Low, Matte
- Nikon Monarch Turkey Shotgun Scope 6590, Turkey Pro Reticle

Scopes made specifically for shotguns usually have longer eye relief, which is helpful if you use magnum hunting loads. Also, keep in mind that the eye relief is shortened with a variable power scope at higher magnifications.

Any rail will do, as long as it's drilled for your specific shotgun. The cheaper ones are made of aluminum and the more expensive ones are steel. I just went with aluminum to save a few bucks, and I prefer the two-piece rails for aesthetic reasons. As for the rings, just make sure they match the diameter of your scope. Most scopes are 1" in diameter, but there are other configurations out there so just be sure you match them. I went with this Leupold model because I liked the quick-release style where you don't need a torx wrench to remove the scope, because I remove it for shooting clays. They come in several heights, and "low" should be sufficient for scopes with an aperture less than 25mm.

With the Turkey Pro reticle of this particular model scope, the center crosshairs are very faint, while the circle around the center is heavy. I think this is perfect for switching between shot and slugs, but a different reticle might be ideal for a dedicated slug gun. Nikon's Monarch African Rifle scope looks almost identical, but the parallax is set for 100 yards (vs. 50 with the turkey) and the reticle is a German variant.

There is slight chromatic aberration evident when the sun is positioned just right, but not noticeable unless you're looking for it. It works great with both eyes open and allows fast target acquisition. The optical quality seems pretty consistent at all zooms, and it works well in low light, considering the small aperture.

I don't have a ton of experience with scopes, but I do have experience with camera optics, and you get what you pay for. Nikon is a great trade-off of cost and quality in my opinion, and I have been very happy with this model.

OTHER DETAILS

One of the most important aspects of preparing a shotgun for hunting season is a task called patterning. Every shotgun, barrel, and choke will behave differently when fired, so it's important to try a large variety of different shotshells to see what performs best in your setup. After trying half a dozen different kinds, I settled with 3" Winchester Extreme Elite magnum turkey loads in #4 shot because they pattern most consistently in my particular gun.

Shooting trap is a lot of fun. All you need to guarantee several hours of fun at the range is a cheap plastic clay thrower, a box of sporting clays, and a friend. Shooting trap with a scope mounted is cumbersome, so it's best to either take it off or use a dedicated shotgun for this purpose. You usually use a wide choke while shooting clays due to the small shot size and close range.

Speaking of chokes, selecting one will be the topic of a future post. You can use whatever choke comes with the gun, but many choose to upgrade to attain more consistent patterns. I use a Briley Ported Super Turkey in this gun, and it was worth every penny.

I tried to cover a lot of ground in just one post. This was essentially an overview of my gear, why I chose it, and what you need if you're looking to build a similar shotgun. If you have any questions feel free to comment.

Good luck this season, everyone!

Day 11: Picture of the Day

The old saying of "a picture is worth a thousand words" isn't always true. Ever since the induction of the National Firearms Act of 1968/86 fully automatic firearms have been extremely regulated and pricey! That little engraved four letter word makes this $10.00 piece of stamped steel worth upwards of four thousand words - if the words happen to be United States Dollar...

Stay tuned for more pictures and information from your favorite firearm owning Ann Arborites...