Gun Loving John

Silicone Funnels

A good friend rode shotgun over 1500 miles on my move from Ohio to Arizona. Before catching the plane back he was fed well and did some sight seeing.  He is a veteran and has quite a good knowledge of camping and the outdoors in general.  He pointed out a few important things along the way and I learned a lot.  On one of our local trips my wife had to hit the mall and go to Sephora "Yuck no" but we were going to eat afterward so we saw other things in the mall.  I stepped into crate and barrel and grabbed a couple of silicone funnels. My friend asked me what they were for as i gave him one, The look on his face was kind of skewed.  I explained, this could save your life.  Put it in your go bag.  It collapses small. It can be used to fill a water bottle from a very shallow source. It can Also handle a little heat so using it as a handle could serve the purpose. It can be pinched off to stop the flow in order not to waste precious liquids wen filling a small flask.  The twisted face turned into a light bulb.  

So, while Crate and Barrel is not a place I normally go, I saw these while being dragged through there once, remembering where you saw something that could come in handy is never a bad idea.  

 

 

Cossatot 1000 XL USB Rechargeable Duty Light.

Tactical Flashlights

 

COSSATOT 1000 XL-USB RECHARGEABLE DUTY LIGHT 

 

 

John Abbott

 

The Cossatot 1000 XL USB Rechargeable Duty light by FACTOR Equipment arrived with everything needed to test the light. The cord, the case, the battery extra O-rings. Everything but the time. I had everything planned out to run the light through the ringer. Take it to a night shoot, Use it on a spring camping trip. I was even going to use it with a red light adapter and play around with a little coyote spotting. Ok, if this were a movie, about right now is when the sound effect guy would insert the sound of a phonograph needle skipping and scratching the records. That is not what happened.

What did happen was “THE BIG MOVE. A completely unexpected cross country move of both my business and my family from Ohio to Arizona. That move and subsequent re-settlement has provided a better real test for any flashlight than I could have contrived. For the last 4 months the Cossatot 1000 has been in and out of my EDC bag and has become my go to flashlight. The Tests I had planned would in no way challenge this light as much as lifes big curveball. Leaving some lights in the quite full backpack has sometimes resulted in those lights being accidentally switchted on. This was not the case with the Cossatot 1000 XL USB. The Selector switch was easy to manipulate while protected. Another plus is that the 1000 stays in the pre-selected mode regardless of how many times you may push it when the light is off.  This will come in handy when I do get to take in a night shoot. 

Next was the Real life test: Load the house and inspect the new place . Everything a person could ask a flashlight to do the Cossatot 1000 xl has done.

The brightness test. Hang a flashlight inside a 26 foot Uhaul, turn it on and load the truck with the Cossatot as your only light. Absolutely brilliant, and yes, the pun was intended. It worked much harder than I did. And while I had a beer to celebrate the end of the day, even though the light was not as run down as I. I still chose to put it on the USB micro charger anyway. Speaking of run down, the Factor battery seems to hold a bit more of a charge than some other batteries in the class. A good pairing, like a finely tuned sports car running better on premium. But at less than $100.00 for the complete setup it is a lot of light without denting the wallet.

Other test the light has performed, dropped from top of stairs (accidentally of course)  and after bouncing like a discarded slinky, end over end, it still worked, and the Beam served as a rescue beacon made it easy to recover from beneath the stairs.  The fall scratched the light a little but scars are signs of a life well lived.

There is no better recommendation I can give any item than I would send it with my wife on a trip to China, I have, twice.  

Now it is safe back in my pocket   and I shall get her one of her own.

Trees at 75 yards

 

Where the Cossatot 1000 XL  resides with his close EDC friends. 

Flugz Review

Avoidable Hearing loss is unacceptable, I know.  I have experienced it to the point that a while back I had to visit Aaron Gingrich and be fitted for hearing Aids. He did a great job.  Fast forward to SHOT Show 2015.

Flugz were introduced as a new form and fit earplug. I was and still am impressed by the FLUGZ idea and quality. The idea is great, the Flugz  come in their own container that the end user fills with water and places in the microwave for 30-40 seconds pulls out and them custom fits the item into their ear.  

Because I am wearing hearing aids that are designed and tuned by Aaron I do not wear plugs.  So I purchased a pair of Flugz and when a friend of mine needed hearing protection I gave him a pair for field testing.  He is the perfect tester for these products.  He is honest, a shooter an Instructor and, he has really large capable ears.  He agreed to test them.   His assessment has been going on for about three months.  They work great for hearing protection. Until the temperature on the range is over 100 degrees.  Then the ability to heat them and form them to your ears becomes a weakness.  The Flugz turn gummy and mushy in temperatures above a hundred.  

Kevin (the tester) said they are good effective plugs for 3 seasons in the midwest, But in the summer leave them at home where they will be safe from extreme heat.  

Again I cannot stress how great I was treated at Absolute Audiology.

 

Father's tattoo tribute to daughter who has two hearing implants goes viral

Add One Magazine, Recipe for Disappointment and Failure.

I've been teaching CCW and Firearms safety in some capacity for over 10 years. One issue I often run across is the person that has an absolute great gun, but only one magazine.  That is a recipe for failure.  I have seen a ton of Colt Woodsman Pistols. Beautiful gun, Owner has One magazine.  Old Ruger Standards, One Magazine. Browning Buckmarks, One Magazine.  Browning High Power, One Magazine.... I could go on and on.  News Flash, MAGAZINES CAN FAIL.  Period.  Whether it is dirt, Or rust, or metal fatigue.  Magazines Fail, and when they do, a Semi Auto becomes a crappy single shot, If the firearm has a Magazine disconnect, it becomes a really crappy Single shot.  

Sometimes these owners have an acceptable excuse, "I cannot find any for this gun that I inherited." Ok that is the only acceptable excuse.  

If you have a SEMI AUTO MAGAZINE FED FIREARM, GET more Magazines.  Try Brownells, Try Numrich, But get magazines for that gun.  Most Failures to Feed in my experience as an Instructor can be cured by a different Magazine. If you only have one magazine, that is not an option.

When I carry Concealed, which is ALWAYS, I always have another magazine on me.  FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE REASONS.  I carry it in its own carrier to protect it from losing rounds and pocket crap.

 

 

Glock G43

If you know me you know I like Glocks because they work. In my experience they work better than any other handgun I've ever owned.  My G34 served me well in IDPA, my G17, G19, and G26 have all functioned well, reliably and they are what I carry and trust to get me home if a bad guy wants to stop me from that mission.  I don't carry them all at once,  but am never far away from at least 2 of them when I am anywhere legal to do so. Then the G43 came out.  I have had one since April 14th, and other than when i have been where it is absolutely illegal to do so, (post office, airports, and other off-limits places I have been forced to go)  It has been in my pocket. I have carried it in a HAWGHolsters.com custom Pocket Holster and weak side magazine carrier.  Everywhere I go.  It is comfortable and shoots well.

1200 plus rds so far, no malfunctions, ease of carry, I never forget it is there, but it is the easiest Glock I've ever carried.  

 

FJ Fedderson 10/22 Barrels

 Fred Fedderson of FJ Fedderson likes to talk about his fine product.  He loves to tell how awesome the barrels he makes for 10/22 rifles are.  Fred will quickly tell you of how his barrels are extremely accurate while showing you a target that was shot from a distance.  If you are lucky enough to meet Fred Fedderson he will teach you how to quickly and efficiently shoot the target with the sights he mounts on his barrels.  He doesn't however tell you some of the proprietary secrets that make his barrels the best, Nor should he. I have bought several of FJ Fedderson Barrels, and you notice, I said Fred TALKS about his barrels, he doesn't brag about his products..... It isn't bragging if you can do it. FRED DOES IT AND DOES IT WELL.   FJ Fedderson 10/22 are TACK DRIVERS with every brand of ammunition I have pushed thru them.  Attached is a photo of a Marine shooting the Appleseed Project with a Fedderson 10/22 bull barrel threaded with an SWR Spectre 2 Suppressor attached. 248 out of 250 possible. 

Good job Fred

See you at SHOT 2016

Glock 42 thumbs up.

I have been carrying a Glock 42 for about 10 months. It is Reliable, Accurate and Small. I have owned a dozen or so .380s in my lifetime and this seems to be the best 380 that I have shot.  Recoil is maneagable and the gun has a lot of potential when it comes to CCW. I hope Glock comes out with a 9mm singe stack soon. Looking forward to SHOT SHOW and any announcements that may bring.  

Firearm attachments part 2: The fun attachment for AR

I was at a good friends farm recently and we were shooting and having a great time. Someone at the farm then reached into his AR (what I refer to as Accesorizable Rifle) case and pulled out what appeared to all present as an M4. He inserted a magazine and as I was looking away he pulled the trigger. The sound immediately yanked my head around. I had not heard that exact sound in over 26 years. It was the exact sound made by my Squires Bingham M16 look-alike rifle I had purchased when I was 16. I unconditionally had to have whatever that was in the shooters hand. It was a CMMG 22lr complete upper. I took it home that day and since then I have fired over 4000 rounds of bulk pack 22 ammo. I do not use Remington bulk pack as a rule due to it not working well in my semi- autos in the past. My CMMG upper has served me well. To date with 8 boxes of 555 Winchester 22lr. I have had 3 misfires with good primer strikes. No failures to feed and no failures to extract. I have since carried them on my table at gun shows. They work and shooting 22lr through an AR 22 complete upper is like eating 5 calorie hot wings. ... Guilt Free

The Preparation Factor

Be Prepared. It is a good motto, and a great way to live.  I understand the need/want to purchase Ammunition that can be stored away for some rainy day.  I applaud those that think ahead.  This applies to handloaders that keep primers on hand and were not scrambling to come up with primers to shoot IDPA or IPSC when the 2009 Tsunami of unavailability hit the shores following the Storm of November.  I get it.   There is one place that I notice few if any shooters think about.  The one of, "If i have 5000 rounds for the firearm,  do i need any extra parts to make sure that the firearm will function enough to use them all?" 

Great question.  If you have not asked it of yourself, now is a great time.  Another great question to research before buying a firearm is, "Are replacement springs and other expendable parts like extractors, ejectors etc. available so I may "Be Prepared?"  If so buy some extra parts. I have at least 3 of every expendable part for my Glock.  Will they go bad? probably not.  But if they do, I know how to replace them and where to get them without wading through paperwork and waiting for them to come in the mail. 

If a firearms company offers a lifetime warranty, that is good. What is even better is a great warranty and the ability to purchase what is needed in case the firearm manufacturer goes out of business or is forced to not sell parts.  (After all we know why we buy the ammo, Same reason we should buy the parts) A firearms company that does not trust the end user enough to sell them spare parts should not be trusted to sell me a firearm.  So we are not all gunsmiths, that should not preclude us from having the parts on hand to take to someone with more skills in the fine art of fixing the broken lifesaver.

I prefer to spend my money on firearms that have parts availability.  I do not like expensive firearm shaped paperweights.   

Till next time, Keep those muzzles pointed in a safe direction.

John Abbott

Kel-Tec PLR 22 Review

Sometimes you see a new gun and it is a must have.  I saw such a firearm at the Kel-Tec booth at 2008 SHOT Show.  It was the PLR 22. A politically incorrect plinker with a 27 round magazine.  I wasted no time and as I work for an licensed dealer I called our distributor from the floor of SHOT Show and Informed him of what as coming down the pike and asked to be placed on the waiting list. 

Well, last week it came in. I filled out a 4473, which if you accidentally type it in with the shift key depressed  is a $$&#.  Monday I picked the plinker up.  I shot it a little on Monday evening  and found that it did not function at all with Remington Golden Bullets Bulk Pack From Wally World.  It seemed to function pretty well with Federal Bulk pack.  The firearm is accurate, fun and as it comes threaded 1/2 by 28. I am sure that some of those Gun-lovers in states that allow the polite shooting of firearms will take advantage of this bargain and pair it off with a nice sound suppressor.

While the PLR 22 does not automatically stay locked back on the last round, it has a very usable button located on the bottom just behind the magazine.  

The Kel-Tec PLR 22 disassembles rather easily  using any small diameter tool that can push out a single pin.  The rest of disassembly and reassembly require no tools at all. I cannot wait for the rifle version to arrive.   As for videos of the gun in action, I let my lovely bride, Tracy, aka Pretty Pistolera, shoot the Kel-Tec PLR 22. 

  

Until next time keep your muzzles pointed in a safe direction.