Triangle Tactical Podcast - Competitive Shooting, Mostly

SHOT show was last week, and some interesting products were announced there. It seems like most of the stuff this year was modifications to old products, and pistols with milling to allow red dot sights. Now, we weren't there, but this week on the podcast we talk about what looks interesting to us.

Proposed legislation in Tennessee that would give cause for a CHP holder injured in a business that disallows concealed carry to sue if injured while on that property.

Eton crank radio. Just get one. I've had one for many years, and I forget I have it 364 days a year, but there's always one day when the power is out that I pull it out and crank it up for some weather updates and music to listen to. It really comes in handy. I like being able to pull it out of storage, crank it up for 20 seconds and have music and weather updates. 

Is it going to charge your phone all the way up? No, your arms will fall off first. Will it charge up your phone enough to get a couple texts out? Yep. 

The big scuttlebutt this week is that new USPSA President Mike Foley announced that he will be introducing a new division at the USPSA board meeting this week in Vegas. Here's what he posted on the USPSA Forum:

FYI, I will be making a presentation to the BOD to add PCC as a provisional division in USPSA.  I have conducted two beta tests at level one matches, and gathered experience at the SE Pro Am as well.  My presentation will include video, lessons learned, and a ready to approve appendix.  If this makes your MD nervous, let him know we are doing this one based on experience, and not on just an idea.  I've worked with two clubs, 40 plus shooters, USPSA tech, Practiscore, and NROI RMs prior to finishing my presentation.  I have also read every thread I can find, and had private conversations with many of you.  My goal is to make it fun, safe, and easy on MD and RO staff.  If you want this, or have concerns, let your AD know prior to next weekend.  Thanks.

Ben and I both have some concerns about this. If it's just setting up rules so clubs can host pistol caliber carbine matches, no problem at all, but if it's rules to allow PCC's at regular pistol matches, I'm concerned about match directors making concessions on stage design for people shooting rifles in a pistol match.

How do you shoot a turn-and-draw with a rifle?

Demand for concealed carry permits in NC is growing, and has grown a LOT in the last few years. Unfortunately, we don't think competitions and training classes have grown at the same rate in the state, so there are a lot of people walking around carrying who haven't done more than take the required class, which is very basic. If you are, or if you have a friend in this situation, get them out to a match this year.

Some dudes tried to rob a T-mobile store in Chicago last week, and were promptly ventilated by an employee. The weird thing about the story is this: the business allows employees to carry if they have a permit, but they ban other people from carrying in their business.

The manager says in the video "Thank got for concealed carry" but it seems odd that the store is then posted. What's the deal with that?

If you reload, you probably need some cases to put your ammo in. In my opinion, MTM makes the best cases out there as long as you get the right ones. They have two types, one that has a little flimsy piece of plastic that acts as a hinge between the top and bottom pieces, you don't want this type. They suck. The plastic cracks and splits over time until you wind up spilling ammo all over your range bag when they completely separate.

What you want are the cases where there's an actual hinge connecting the lid and the bottom of the case. The Black and Green ones listed here are the right kind, and they're great. I think I have 12 or 13 of them, and they definitely don't suck. (You'll notice when you click the link, some of the other ammo boxes listed are the bad kind. Get the green and black ones.)

Grant Cunningham wrote a really good blog post this week on his website that you should good read. It's about how the shooting sports being dominated by enthusiasts isn't necessarily a good thing. It's definitely worth a read.

The main topic for this weeks podcast was inspired by this Instagram post by Veil Solutions:

Turns out, it's relevant for competitive shooting too. When someone shows up to their first match, a lot of the time they don't even know what's possible, so getting stomped by the really good shooters is good for them. It lets them know what's possible, and what they need to strive for. On the other hand, if they show up, and the best shooters were to just take it easy and beat the new guy by the thinnist of margins, the new guy would think he "almost" beat the best shooters.

Ben and I have both been looking for a decent squib stick to keep in our range bags that wouldn't break the bank. After poking around on Amazon we found this $7 brass rod that works great. It's sized just right for a 9mm bore, and did I mention it's $7?

In the past Ben's been using a wooden dowel to pound out squibs, but recently shattered it on an exceptionally stubborn one. The brass rod has pounded a few squibs since we've had it, and it's good to go.

Check the sidebar of the website at triangletactical.net if you want to get one.

The BATFE announced the dreaded 41P ruling last week right after Pres. Obama dropped his Executive Actions. Turns out it's not as bad as a lot of people were expecting. Basically it's now requiring everyone on a NFA trust to submit fingerprints, paperwork and a picture to the ATF, and they've eliminated the CLEO sign-off requirement from... everything. The Prince Law blog has the details.

As mentioned above, President Obama also announced his executive actions on guns. Most of it wasn't anything to get your panties in a wad about, but there is one area of concern, and that's the Social Security Adminstration communicating with NICS or whoever to tell them what people have been deemed by them not to be able to own guns. Basically they way we understand is that this will impact people who aren't able to take care of their own finances, so their SSA checks go to someone else who then handles their estate for them. I'd prefer there be some sort of due process to go along with people losing their rights, but that's just me.

Hickok45 got banninated from YouTube this week. Twice. Turns out it's not the conspiracy everyone thought it was. They've got the final word up on their YouTube page here. Ben also wrote a little post about it that's worth a read. 

This week's first match story comes in as a big surprise to us from Mike Seeklander of the American Warrior Show. Turns out he shot his first match at Ant Hill Range right here in NC. It's about 45 minutes into the show, and it's good. Real good. Don't miss it. 

ParaCast. A while back we recommended Tom Nelson's ParaCast back when he was doing just a Q&A format type show. Since then The Gun Dudes stopped recording new episodes, and Tom brought on Steve Koski and Andy Peterson as regulars, and they've been putting out some pretty good stuff. Check them out here. 

This week I'm recording solo on the podcast, so I thought it might be fun to talk about some of the different new handguns I got to play with in 2015. 

Obama is still talking about some kind of Executive Order on guns. Seems like he might be dragging his feet a little though.

Ruger announced the American Pistol this week, and it looks decent. I'm not going to rush out and buy one, but on paper it looks like it may be the best autoloader they've made in a long time. 

I didn't play a first match voicemail this week, but I think you should resolve to go shoot your first match in the next couple of months if you've never shot a match before. Go do it. 

This week's podcast is our annual podcast clip show where we play our favorite clips from the past year. We had a lot of fun putting this one together, I hope you enjoy it.

Ben came up with some reasons why the shooting sports are awesome, so we talked about that this week:

House Democrats introduced a single feature assault weapons ban this week. It's terrible and nefarious, but it also doesn't stand a chance.

S&W is being attacked for not disclosing stuff in their SEC filings that they've never been required to disclose. Meh.

The Firearm Blog is reporting on a leaked Walther PPS M2. It looks pretty decent.

Weaponsman did a good blog post this week about people paying for more accuracy than they need. It's worth a read.

It's Star Wars week, so we nerd out a little on this episode and talk about the infamous scene in Star Wars: A New Hope where Han Solo shoots Greedo in the Mos Eisley Cantina. We're fans of the original movie, not that ruined remastered garbage that came out in the 90's.

We evaluate the scene using Andrew Branca's 5 pillars of self defense: Innocence, imminence, avoidance, proportionality, and reasonableness. If you're a Star Wars fan (like we are) you'll like it.

Kentucky runs more background checks than any other state in the union. Apparently they do monthly NICS checks on all concealed carry permit holders in the state. Interesting.

The Belkin Conserve socket is a timer that works great for your brass tumbler so you don't forget about it and let it run longer than needed. If you want one, hit the sidebar at triangletactical.net under Gear That Doesn't Suck.

Registration opened for the 2016 South Carolina USPSA Championship, and our sponsor The Blue Bullets is the title sponsor of the match. Not only do they make good bullets, but they also do a lot to give back to the sport. 

We're pretty light on first match stories, so why don't you send us in a voicemail about your first match? It doesn't matter if it was recent or 20 years ago, we'd like to hear about it.

You've probably seen the videos online for the Urban Carry holster. It's the little pouch holster that you put your gun in, and then it all drops inside your pants. When it's time to draw the pistol, you undo a little magnetic flap with your weak hand, and pull up, which pulls the pistol up where you can grab it with your strong hand.

Ben was really interested in one of these, so we ordered up one for his Springfield XDs that he's been reviewing for about a month now.

### Pros:
It's the most comfortable holster he's ever used, hands down.

It's also well made. The leather seems to be of good quality, the stitching is nice, and and it's stamped with the Urban Carry logo on the back.

Three cons with the Urban Carry that Ben found:

Ben is that an Urban Carry or are you glad to see me? It's just an Urban Carry. #bonerholster #underreview

A photo posted by TriangleTactical.net (@triangletactical) on Dec 5, 2015 at 12:44pm PST

Ben think's it sits on the spectrum of carry somewhere between his INCOG, and off body carry. It's not super fast and reliable, but it's better than having your gun in a bag that may or may not be near you.

No big articles this week, but we talk over the narrative that's being pushed by the media (and the President) that we need to keep people who are on the terrorist watch list from buying guns. There's a big problem with this: There is no due process for someone to get put on the terrorist watch list, so if getting put on the list then denies them a constitutionally protected right, that's a problem.

Are you a Redditor? If so, you should be checking out Ben's Monday Morning Match Recap threads on the r/CompetitionShooting subreddit. The subreddit is pretty great in and of itself, but Ben's Monday morning thread is something I check out every Monday. Check it out.

This week we talk about how some folks make assumptions about how "their" self defense scenario will go down, and they then prepare for that specific scenario instead of being ready for the most likely scenario.

Thanks for all the voicemails for the Q&A podcast. We were completely out of them last Friday when that episode aired, and over the weekend we've received enough voicemail questions for another month! Anyways, if you've got a question for us, send it in.

The days are pretty short now, so it's probably getting time to put some fresh ones in your EDC flashlight. If you use CR123a batteries, these ones on Amazon are a pretty killer deal at less than $2 a battery.

The National Defense Authorization Act was passed this week. It's 584 pages long, but everyone is really excited about a page and a half that allows the government to sell surplus 1911's through the CMP. It also requires the Air Force to keep a fleet of A-10 Warthogs, so that's cool too.

Polymer80 is coming out with a polymer Glock 80% Glock frame. It's kind of cool. I wan't one, but I can't figure out why I want one so bad. 

A woman and her husband were robbed at gunpoint while purchasing a car in South Carolina. The woman was able to draw her gun on an already drawn gun and put effective rounds on target. Good for her, I'm glad she was carrying and that the good guys are okay. 

Firearms United on YouTube is putting out some hilarious videos. I suspect if this guy keeps it up, he'll be the new FPSrussia. 

https://youtu.be/WP4k4tOsZD8

Shownotes pending...