Starting Your Armory

If you’ve decided to take your personal or home defense seriously, you’re probably researching buying a few firearms, or perhaps you already own one or more. The world of firearms can be confusing, so I wanted to cover a few points every prospective gun owner should consider.

First, you need to ask yourself what the objective is. Are you planning for home defense, or is the gun going to be used for self-defense away from home? Or do you plan on hunting, and if so, what are you going to be shooting at? This distinction will start you down the right path.

Second, what is your experience with weapons? If you grew up with guns and have practiced a lot, you’re in a much different place than the person who’s never touched one.

If you read gun enthusiast publications you’re likely to hear everything from ‘buy as many guns as you can afford’ to ‘buy as few guns as possible’ and everything in between. My advice is to buy the weapons you expect to need and become an expert with them.So let’s get on to building your armory.

One of the best starting points for your armory is a revolver or semi-auto handgun that you can use for home, self-defense and even emergency hunting, and you can carry it with you discreetly. My favorite weapon for this purpose is the .357 Magnum, an all-around gun that is effective, easy to use and flexible.

By flexible I mean it shoots several different types of ammo and the ammo is widely available. There’s an old saying that the best gun is one you have with you when you need it, and with the .357 you can carry it with you without too much trouble. If you want additional capacity, I like the Glock 23, a .40 caliber semi auto that gives you the ability to carry eight more rounds than the five-shot .357.However, a semi-auto is a much more complex weapon both from an operational and maintenance standpoint. More can go wrong… so be honest about your own skill level before buying one.

Once you have a trusted handgun, I recommend you acquire a firearm for home defense, and in my opinion the hands-down winner would be a 12 gauge pump shotgun.It is a powerful and extremely versatile gun, because you can vary your ammunition based on your needs. You can shoot birdshot, buckshot, slugs, darts (flechette rounds), explosive fragments, bean bags, pepper gas, tear gas, rock salt, rubber slugs/buckshot, pyrotechnic whistles, bolo’s and even flares.With that range of ammunition you can kill almost anything you can imagine, except hunt game at long distances.

Much of personal and home defense is deterrence, and this is where the pump shotgun really shines. If some thug is scouting your place and is carrying a knife or a handgun and you show up on the front doorwith a shotgun in hand, he’s going to move on. You see, even if you’re skilled with a handgun, a person can survive and even continue firing after being hit, but with a shotgun, you’re almost guaranteed a powerful, knock-down hit and serious bleeding.

Nobody wants to face an angry homeowner with a shotgun, even if she’s a 5′ grandma. If you suffer the misfortune of facing an intruder in your home, the sound of that shotgun pumping has been known to send intruders running away… quickly.

Once you have a handgun and a shotgun, you have covered 95% of your defense needs. Anyone in your home who might handle the gun in an emergency should spend a lot of time at the range, training and shooting with both weapons.

Your third, and final component to your armory should be a rifle.The rifle gives you the ability to hunt or take down threats at a distance, and in conjunction with your other two weapons will cover virtually every need you might have.

Choosing the right rifle involves an evaluation of the stopping power, the likely uses, the range of the weapon, availability of parts and ammunition, and the weight.I also like to own different weapons that can shoot the same ammo, since it makes buying and stockpiling ammunition easy.

If you’ve purchased the .357 I recommended, one great option would be a lever-action rifle that uses the .357 magnum rounds.A lever gun is the rifle equivalent of a revolver; easy to use, easy to clean and simple and reliable when you need it. I think of my lever gun like a hammer in my toolkit… it’s really that versatile.

Now, if you want something with greater range, I recommend the .308 rifle.It has more power and precision at distance than the .357 lever rifle.It’s great for hunting many different types of game and is more effective than higher-powered, similar rifles.

One of the great things about the .308 rifle is it can fire the 7.62x51mm NATO rifle cartridge, the same round fired by the best battle rifles in the world. This means that your available ammunition now includes the most-produced rifle cartridge in the world.

These three or four firearms will make for a very robust armory that will cover almost any need. If you can envision a scenario where these weapons will not meet your need, you should probably be worried about escape and evasion rather than fighting.

The post Starting Your Armory appeared first on Off The Grid News.

Dem Lawmaker: We Don’t Want To Confiscate Guns, We Want To ‘Seize’ Them

A Georgia state lawmaker said she didn’t want to take guns away from Americans, but she also supports legislation that would seize guns from Americans.  Likely missing a dictionary and basic common sense, Erica Thomas still expects us to believe that the government isn’t coming for our guns.

During an interview with Tucker Carlson, Thomas claims to not be talking about “taking the guns from law-abiding citizens, I’m talking about a ban on assault rifles. We are not trying to promote a militia. What war are we going at that we need assault rifles?” But Carlson quotes the bill Thomas herself said she supported, which states, “The Georgia Bureau of Investigation shall seize and take possession of any assault weapon, large capacity magazine, armor piercing bullet or incendiary fifty caliber bullet.” Carlson then asks how that confiscation will be received by hundreds of thousands of law-abiding gun owners in her state and in typical democrat fashion, can’t answer what a “seizure” of guns from law-abiding citizens who don’t want to give up their morally acquired property would look like.

Then the conversation between Carlson and Thomas eventually drifted into gun statistics, and The Daily Caller co-founder wondered why Thomas wasn’t calling for a ban on handguns since they are responsible for the majority of gun deaths in America.

“Don’t demagogue it with me. I am not downplaying the significance of anyone’s death,” Carlson asserted. “Since assault rifles, relatively speaking, cause few deaths,  handguns cause the overwhelming majority of deaths, why are you not calling for banning handguns and seizing and taking possession of handguns…if you care so much about gun violence?”

Instead of answering the question, Thomas decided to turn it around on Carlson, insisting, “I would ask you the same question. Would you call for a ban on handguns? No, you wouldn’t!” she exclaimed. “So why can we not put a ban on assault rifles? That is the question. Why not?” This is what gun owners have to deal with almost daily:  Overly emotional outburst from those who know next to nothing about guns and the way the work, and even less about the statistics they claim to care about changing.

After several more seconds of the pair talking over one another, Carlson finally cut Thomas’ mic and video feed, stating, “I give up, I’m trying to ask you adult questions and you don’t want to answer them.”

Democrats often wonder why we can’t have a civilized discussion about guns, and this video boldly declares the reason why.  There’s little, if any, respect for facts or basic human rights when it comes to a person who wants more gun legislation.  One simply cannot have a civilized discussion with anyone who seeks to erode the rights of others based on misinformation and fabricated statistics.

But Carlson presented an interesting question while Thomas was talking.  “What if Americans don’t want to give up their guns?”  There’s still not been a rational and logical response on how that would be handled from any Democrat; politician or otherwise.

Picking The Best Handgun Night Sight: 5 You Should Consider

Let’s be honest. Handgun night sights are all pretty similar. What really are the differentiating features? In this article, we will get down into the nitty gritty and compare some similar night sights.

The sights that we will be reviewing are made by XS, Truglo, Night Fision, Trijicon and AmeriGlo. When it’s all said and done, we will give a winner for each category, and then make some buying recommendations at the end.

We will focus on sights that are made for a Glock, but all these brands make sights for multiple weapons. In terms of what we are looking for, we will talk about brightness, target acquisition, size, durability and price.

Before talking about specifics, we will give a brief introduction on each sight.

XS Sights

XS is most commonly known for their DXW Big Dot sight. This sight features a very large painted white dot with tritium inside of the painted ring. The rear sight is a white painted stripe, but a tritium rear sight is available at an added cost.

While they are much less common, XS also makes a more traditional set of sights, which they call the F8. This sight changes up the norm. While most handgun sights utilize three dots, the F8 uses two dots. The rear sight has one dot, which is located below the notch in the sight. Essentially, you place the front dot on top of the rear dot, as opposed to in between two rear dots.

Truglo

Truglo has a pretty wide variety of handgun sights. They have sights that use only fiber optics and only tritium, but they also have their TFO sights which combines the two. These sights are bulkier, as there must be enough space to contain the fiber optic element.

Their TFX sights are similar to the TFO, but they utilize a painted ring around the front dot. The Tritium Pro sights are the same as the standard tritium sights, but with an added painted ring as well. The TFX Pro are their most expensive, and they utilize an orange painted ring for maximum brightness.

Night Fision

Night Fision is relatively new on the scene, and focus on strictly three dot tritium sights. Their sights utilize a tritium front sight with a painted ring. For the paint color, you are able to choose between white, orange and yellow.

For the rear sight, you can choose either square or U-notch. You can choose white paint around the dots, no paint, and you can even choose no tritium at all, and just have a simple U shape.

Trijicon

While they are very popular for their ACOG riflescopes, Trijicon is also well respected for their pistol night sights. These are also simple three dot style tritium sights, and you can choose between a yellow or orange front ring. The rear sights are a U shape, similar to the previously mentioned Night Fision sights.

AmeriGlo

AmeriGlo has a few different options for pistol sights. They have their Cap series, which utilizes a square front sight. You have the choice between a two dot rear sight or a rear sight that utilizes one line below the notch.

Their Classic sights are simple tritium three dot sights with painted rings. There really isn’t much else to them. They’ve also got their sights without any dots at all, which won’t be discussed in this article, as they serve a completely different purpose.

Lastly, they’ve got their Ghost Ring rear sight. This is a much different concept than any other sight on this list, as the rear sight is a large ring with two dots as a guide. Essentially, you put the front tritium dot within the rear circle.

Brightness

Our first comparison category is brightness. While there are a few different sights that appear pretty bright, there is one pretty clear winner.

The AmeriGlo Cap sight appears very bright due to the amount of high visibility paint that is utilized in the front sight. Similarly, the TFX Pro from Truglo appears bright as well due to the combination of tritium and fiber optics.

However, when using these sights at night, the Night Fision sights are by far the brightest out there. They apparently use more tritium in the lamps, because these sights are noticeably brighter than the competition.

Target Acquisition

The XS Big Dot sights allow for quick target acquisition due to the large front sight. However, this is somewhat of a double-edged sword, because at longer distance the Big Dot sight becomes much less accurate.

Other sights with quick target acquisition that will be more accurate at distance are the AmeriGlo Classic, Truglo Tritium Pro and TFX Pro, and the Night Fision sights.

One other factor to keep in mind is target acquisition at night. When it is dark out, the painted rings that many of these sights rely upon will not be as useful. In this situation, the sights with brighter tritium will be your best bet.

Size

If you are just looking at sights for your range gun, size won’t be much of an issue for you. However, if you are looking for sights for a carry weapon, smaller sights will be important, because you need them to fit in a holster. This almost immediately rules out any fiber optic sights.

With the exception of the AmeriGlo Ghost Ring and any of the Truglo fiber optic sights, any of the aforementioned sights will be suitable.

Durability

It may not seem like a huge thing, but durability is an important aspect to consider with pistol sights, especially if you are going to be carrying the weapon in a holster.

Trijicon prides itself on the durability of their ACOG riflescopes. However, their HD pistol sights utilize paint to circle the dot on the front sight. As time goes on, this paint is likely to chip. Similarly, the XS sights utilize paint, as well.

In comparison, Night Fision sights utilize a ballistic polymer material for the front ring. This allows for significantly increased durability. These sights are also made from quality steel and given a nitride coating.

Newer Truglo product sights have been known to have some durability concerns. While the lamps are protected, there have been some issues with lamps coming loose.

In terms of durability, your best bet is the Night Fision sights.

Price

These sights vary significantly in price, dependent on the features.

Truglo sights can get very expensive, and their less expensive models don’t have the features that you want. They won’t have anything to increase your speed of target acquisition, and will not be as bright as some of the competition.

Trijicon sights are comfortably overpriced, and will be easily outperformed by the competition.

The Big Dot sights are affordably priced, but adding in the tritium rear sight makes them pretty expensive. Similarly, the XS F8 sights are also on the expensive side.

The AmeriGlo classic tritium sights are affordably priced, but aren’t the brightest or most durable option out there.

While I could write a whole separate article just comparing this, we will keep it simple for you.

The Night Fision sights offer the best value.

Overall Winner

Some will be surprised to hear this, but the Night Fision sights are some of the best on the market. They offer an unreal combination of affordability, customizing options, and overall quality.

In terms of brightness, these are the brightest sights we looked at. The custom-chosen front ring will increase your target acquisition, and the fact that they aren’t painted will ensure that they will last for years. Similarly, the high-quality construction ensures they will last.

While these aren’t the cheapest sights on the list, they aren’t far off. They are extremely competitively priced, especially when considering the high value. In my opinion, I would stray away from the Trijicons and Truglos in favor of these Night Fision sights.

Do you agree or disagree? Share your thoughts in the section below:

4 Pistol Modifications Every Concealed Carrier Needs

Image source: Shield

I’ve been shooting for quite a few years, although I really don’t consider myself a competitive shooter. As with anything else that one does repetitively, I’ve noticed a few things – particularly things about my fellow shooters.

Key among those things is that few shooters ever modify their guns, especially their handguns. Most will stick with the way they came out of the factory. Those who do modify their guns tend to go for cosmetic modifications, rather than anything functional. The one exception to this is serious competitive shooters, who go to great lengths to make their guns as accurate and easy to shoot as possible.

But, for the most part, competitive shooting isn’t the same as shooting to defend yourself. This means that most competitive pistols aren’t really useful as defensive weapons — with the exception of one category: pistols that are used in tactical shooting competition.

Tactical shooting is different from other forms of competitive shooting in that it is built around creating realistic scenarios where you would be expected to use a pistol in self-defense or the defense of others. As such, many of the modifications that would help a tactical shooter also will help anyone who needs to use their pistol in a defensive role.

Even though I’m not a competitive shooter, I’ve learned that it’s worthwhile taking a page from their book and customizing my guns. In fact, I’ve customized all the guns that I use regularly, including my daily carry gun. These customizations aren’t cosmetic, but functional, and each of them make it easier for me to use my guns if I ever draw one in a live-fire situation.

1. Trigger

The first and most important thing to consider modifying on your gun is the trigger. Most pistol triggers are set for a five- to six-pound pull. That’s okay, but there’s a reason why competitive pistols have light trigger pulls. That’s because a lighter trigger is less likely to cause you to jerk or pull your gun off target.

Not all guns give you the capability of changing out the trigger or of lightening the trigger pull. But if you can, it’s well worth it. Glock has a replacement bar, which drops the trigger pull down to 3.5 pounds. That’s enough to make quite a difference. On a 1911, you can change the trigger pull by adjusting the mainspring. Some other pistols, like the Springfield XD and XDS series. have replacement springs to lighten the trigger pull.

The Self-Defense Weapon That Doesn’t Require A Firearms License!

Trigger control is the single most important part of accurate shooting — even more so than sight picture. Aftermarket triggers not only adjust the trigger pull, but are usually of finer quality fit and finish. This lowers friction, which reduces the chance of the trigger sticking while pulling it.

2. Controls

Your two other main controls on any semi-automatic pistol are the slide lock and the magazine lock. Typically, these are designed to be as non-obtrusive as possible so that they don’t hang up when drawing the pistol. But those minimalist designs also may be harder to find and operate when you need to do a quick magazine change.

Extended slide and magazine release controls can speed up your mag changes, shaving as much as a second off your time. That second is critical in competition, but it’s even more critical in the only competition that really counts — when someone is shooting at you.

Speaking of easing magazine changes, adding a flared magazine well also can speed your mag changes. There are several manufacturers who supply these, in both polymer and aluminum. They help eliminate any fumbling that can happen while trying to find the mag well with your magazine.

The only other real control that most pistols have is the safety. Once again, this can be worth changing out to make the gun easier to use. A larger safety control lever will make it easier to find the safety and operate it when you’re drawing your gun out to use it. If you happen to be left-handed or have someone in your family who is, you also might want to consider an ambidextrous safety lever.

3. Sights

One of the most customizable areas of any firearm is the sights. The plain iron sights that come on most handguns are fine for short-range shooting in the daylight. The ones with white dots on them are a bit better. But neither will do you much good in a low-light situation. For that, you need something else. Besides, iron sights become harder to use the farther you’re trying to shoot.

While most defensive shooting is done at a range of five yards or less, there is a small percentage that happens at about 50 feet. Shooting with iron sights at that range is difficult at best. Doing so if you don’t have perfect vision is even worse.

Tritium Night Sights

Pretty much every handgun I own, with the exception of ones that don’t have removable sights or are only used on the shooting range, has tritium sights installed. Tritium is a radioactive gas which glows in the dark. So, instead of just having three white dots painted on the sights, you end up with three white dots that will glow in the dark.

Granted, this really isn’t much help in total darkness, when you can’t see our target. But it’s ideal at twilight, when you might be able to see your target, but really can’t see your sights. This makes the addition of tritium sights a lifesaver in some cases.

Reflex Sight

The reflex sight or red dot sight was originally developed for military use. Rather than having to align two sights with the target, it allows you to align one thing — a dot projected on a small, transparent screen — with the target. This saves considerable time in getting on target.

While originally designed for use on rifles, smaller reflex sights now exist for use on pistols, as well. They provide the same advantage that they do for rifles. However, they are not good in low light. So, if you install this type of sight, you might want to have another gun available to you with tritium sights on it.

Laser Sight

Most firearms instructors will advise you not to use a laser sight. If you become dependent on one and then the battery dies, you’re stuck without any sights. So, if you’re going to install one, practice with your metal sights, too.

The other problem with a laser sight is that it can give your position away to the bad guys, just like a flashlight can. The red or green laser light coming out of the front of your gun is visible for a longer distance than it is usable for.

Nevertheless, I use laser sights for one important reason. My eyes aren’t all that good. Unless I have my computer glasses on, I can’t see the all-important front sight clearly. A laser sight allows me to keep my focus downrange, which I can see just fine, with my normal glasses.

If you’re going to buy a laser sight, only buy one that is triggered by gripping the gun. This is accomplished by a push-button switch, which is located where you will be gripping the gun. So, your normal grip turns the sight on. There are only a couple of brands that do this. The rest require you taking the time to turn them on, which might be time that you don’t have.

4. Tactical light

The last thing you might consider is a tactical light. You’ve probably seen this in movies, where the cops have a tactical light mounted to a short rail under the barrel. Not all guns have this rail, but for those that do, having the light readily available is convenient.

There’s just one problem with a gun-mounted tactical light. That is, your light will be on all the time, which means that it will be advertising your location to the bad guys. Tactical instructors say the way to use a tactical light is to flash it on briefly and immediately change position. Then you can act on what you saw. Moving is necessary, in case the bad guys shoot at you. With the light back off, they won’t see you move.

I have a couple of pistols with mounted tactical lights, but I prefer the idea of using a hand-held tactical light, so that I can flash it on and off, as needed. This gives me the light I need, without making me a target.

What would you add to our list? How have you customized your pistol? Share your tips in the section below: