Jamie Jackson

I handload as well and it's definitely worth the time to me. I don't cast but probably should. (A group of us used to but that seems to be on a protracted hiatus...sadly.) But I enjoy handloading and load development. And if your are primarily shooting revolvers (as I have the past 8-9 months) handloading is definitely cost effective. I've put at least 1500 rounds through the LCR .38 I purchased on TGO last April. I couldn't afford to do that otherwise. I generally purchase bulk plated or jacketed 9mm, .380 and .38 bullets during Black Friday sales and that keeps my price per round at around $0.12 - $0.13 each.

Simply outstanding @TripleGGG! What a fantastic thing to do for your staff and their families. Not to mention the positive "Gun Culture" introduction and experience you've shared with them. This is how our 2A and firearms culture and traditions will survive and thrive. I bet those kids will talk about that experience for a long time! You are one heck of a positive role model my friend (I already knew you were a great guy!). I love going to SPB and try to do so weekly. I haven't been since last year (the 31st ) so need to get over there soon...like tomorrow! Thanks for sharing this brother.

Ouch! I've had books loaned not returned before too brother. It looks like since the closing of Paladin Press many older quality books have sky rocketed in price. If only I had known! @Tiffany Johnson Welcome back! I have a feeling you may had had an influence into bringing Mr. Givens into a digital format level of technology. Now, when are we to expect a book from you? I'll pre-order as soon as you give the word. I always enjoy listening to you on the various podcasts you are on btw.

I am sorry for the loss of your friend . I've had that happen, I certainly though it never would as I am much older than my bud was. It's tough. My thoughts and prayers for you my friend. I have rekindled my love of revolvers this past year and tend to shoot one variant or another of a snub weekly. I actually still have my old copy of Mas's Stressfire book from the 80's. I've followed and read Ayoob for a long time and greatly respect the incredible information he shares. Another gentleman (I've never had the opportunity to train with but greatly respect) that has some solid info as regards revolvers and especially snub revolvers is Michael de Bethencourt. btw...his defensive knife training skills are remarkable for it's particular niche imho. Here's a link to one of his vids from Snub Training. Revolver use and techniques are still relevant and I hope we don't lose these bits of knowledge through time. Thankfully these gentlemen had the foresight to record some of their teachings. Another person keeping revolver knowledge alive is Daryl Bolke of Hard Wired Tactical. He's a "been there and done that" kinda guy. Here's a link to a rather long vid (I've listened to this podcast on an mp3 twice now and will probably listen to it a couple of more times). Incredible knowledge here folks! It's worth your time. I promise!

Thanks for posting this! I'm about 2/3 the way through my copy and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Mr. Givens is an excellent instructor and a darn fine person. I've had the honor, and pleasure, of training with Mr. Givens and always enjoyed the time I was able to spend with him at his facility (at that time ) Rnagemaster in Memphis. His book "Fighting Smarter" is also a great book. My copy is the older version from around 2003, but I understand there is an updated version, iirc. I would highly recommend "Concealed Carry Class" for both new shooters and seasoned shooters as well.

I don't have any personal experience with the project you are planning, sounds pretty darn cool ! But an excellent resource, imho, is Steven Harris. I've listened to him on various self sufficiency podcast and read many of his blog posts over the years where he goes into great detail for similar projects. I'll post a few links below. Let us know how the project develops Kev. https://www.stevenharris.net/ http://www.solar1234.com/ http://www.battery1234.com/ https://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/?s=steve+harris+episodes

I hope all of my TGO "Family" has a Blessed and wonderful Christmas. God Bless you all.

This is certainly what I've done in the past. As mentioned, if properly stored it seems to have an incredibly long shelf like. Our local Point Blank range will order powder and primers for you. The price is certainly more than if you bulk purchased them yourself, but it's one of the few options I'm aware of in the Knoxville area.

If this was the Turkey Creek Walmart I saw the same thing Monday morning. They also had around 6 boxes (50 rds) of Tula 45 acp at $7.00 per box. I had no need so didn't purchase any. But I was surprised to see anything besides "hunting" ammo.

Thank you for what you do @pop pop! This is what our community needs to grow and do so positively. I commend you Sir. I have a couple of LCR's, one in .38 spl and one in .22 LR. While the .22 has a heavier trigger it is incredibly smooth and I find practicing with it helps with my DA shooting all around. I actually wouldn't hesitate to carry it as a second gun... not primary of course. But Claude Werner (The Tactical Professor) makes a decent case for such in a very narrow and limited niche application. I have a S&W 422 that I started my son on long ago and it's helped my wife in starting her journey into handgun shooting. It incredibly reliable and very accurate. It's a great little .22 semiauto and Smith made a bad decision when they stopped producing them imho.

I'm with @Grayfox54 here. More info and maybe some pics? Mags? I've loaded many, many thousands of rounds of 45 acp FMJ and LRN at 1.230" and had no feeding issues with 1911's, Glocks and even a Star PD I had. I did run across a few 1911 magazines that were problematic but that was a rarity. I never had issues with 13 round Glock mags.

Thank you @Moped and @hipower. Solid info and much appreciated. It'll be after the first of the year before I can swing one. I'm hoping one pops up in our classifieds that relatively local to me. You never know @pop pop, I am familiar with the concept of using water in the guise of a "Fackler Box". It's set up using 1 gallon ziplock bags of water. According to the article I'll link below by Jim Higginbotham, the correlation is that water is 1.8 times easier to penetrate than ballistic gelatin . I would imagine your setup would provide some interesting info. Love to see some photos of it, mainly because I'm jealous that I don't have a place to set up something like this! Decent article in case anyone's interested. https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/triggernometry-home-bullet-penetration/

I have no excuse to not purchase an LCP as I'm handloading .380 again @hipower. Which version would you recommend? I see them online for as little as $175.00 + $15.00 S&H I would prefer to purchase locally, but I get a free monthly transfer at Shoot Point Blank as a member benefit.

I find my 9mm Shield to be imminently "shootable" for a factory trigger. Now I can't get TLG's Fast Test to under 7 seconds, but I am an old fart after all LOL. It's one of my favorite carry guns, and I tend to shoot it just as well out to 15 yards as I do any of my "full size" handguns (G17 and G19 in my case). I can't see that much of your hands in the video you provided, but thank you for the vid @One1. It does look a bit like you may be snatching the trigger, especially on the second press and I tend to agree with @LngRngShtr in that sympathetic pressure from your support hand, or strong hand thumb may be playing a role. Just a WAG on my part though. If you have the opportunity to get into a class with Randy Harris ( @Cruel Hand Luke ) he could get you straightened out for sure. He's local to you and a regular contributor here. Fantastic instructor and diagnostician as well. A drill I do frequently and especially did during the 1st few thousand rounds with my Shield was Dot Torture. I found it incredibly helpful in learning the Shield's trigger system. I try an run the Dot Torture at least 2 times a month and on a variety of handguns...it keeps me honest, and humble. You can print the targets at the links provided. http://pistol-training.com/drills/dot-torture http://pistol-training.com/fastest

Thanks A.J. I hadn't even heard of Precision One until I did my search for info. I'll look into ordering some to test function and accuracy in my wife's Shield. I need to pick up an LCP, I've just been procrastinating. A micro .380 certainly has it's place.

I know I've babbled about this somewhere before, but we picked up an EZ .380 for my wife back in August. It's her first venture into shooting and having tolerated my obsession for over 3 decades it was very welcomed. She's put about 1200 rounds through it thus far, mostly Remington but a few hundred rounds of my handloads. Handloading the .380 costs us right at $0.11/round. I picked up another 1000 rounds of .380 bullets from Everglades ammo over Black Friday for $71.00 shipped. Handloading .380 is not that tedious actually and well worth the time and effort to me. I also picked up 1000 rounds of Speer Lawman .380 for $200.00 from Target Sport, shipping is included but the taxes jacked it up to $0.22 per round...twice what it costs me to handload. But it is a round that incredibly consistent and has more pep than the Remington rounds, and the QC of the Speer Lawman line is top notch. This is the round we keep in the gun for household/SD use at this time. A FMJ RN round is not my preference in a SD round, but this round should allow adequate penetration should the need arise. While researching .380 SD rounds I found some interesting info and links in a thread on another forum where I am a member. Dr Gary Roberts (DocGKR) posts there frequently. I will post a link below that Dr. Roberts said was "reasonable". I don't mean to take him out of context, but I found the linked material very interesting. He also linked to a .380 round produced by Black Hills using the XTP bullet. Actually the XTP bullet seemed to do quite well in the testing that was linked. I've seen the end results of lots and lots on rounds in my workplace (ER). The common denominators in effectiveness seem to be placement and adequate penetration. Who would have thunk it so? Here's some links, I hope they prove beneficial. http://www.black-hills.com/shop/new-pistol-ammo/380-automatic/ http://shootingthebull.net/blog/final-results-of-the-380-acp-ammo-quest/#comment-34323 wrapup of the STB link in a vid format:

I've mentioned before that my wife picked up a .380 EZ in August. The first 200 or so rounds there were a few issues (magazine related feed failures), but as the 4 original magazines were worked again and again the issues disappeared. She has about 1200 rounds through it thus far and it's run smoothly and reliably the last 900 rounds. (No feed nor ejection issues). I'm quite impressed with the design. I look forward to shooting the 9mm version when the opportunity presents itself. I'm hoping Point Blank in Knoxville will put one in their extensive rental gun battery.

Welcome aboard John from another South MS guy (Pearl River County).

There are some very articulate individuals speaking for the Pro Second Amendment side, Thankfully. @AuEagle Thanks for linking Knuckledraggin' Kenny in the OP. I like his blog.

Welcome to TGO and TN!

imho Aholster makes the best pocket holsters I've ever owned, and I've owned several. Their website advertises a 20% discount this weekend, but if you are an email update subscriber you get a 30% discount. I have their holsters for 2 J Frame/LCR size revolvers (Left and right pocket) and for my S&W Shield 9mm (Left and right pocket). They are a Tennessee company and offer Vet, Mil, and LEO Discounts as well. Good folks imho. https://aholster.com/black-friday-sale/

This is a sobering topic but one we all need to face and consider at some point. I reached this conclusion a couple of years ago. While I didn't have a large "collection" as my guns were/are primarily for the defensive use category, I've begun thinning them out, along with accouterments like ammo and magazines. At 65, soon to be 66, my abilities, capabilities and priorities have changed. I simply can't do what once I was able LOL. I too have no family with an interest in what I have accumulated and I don't want to leave my wife with a pile of "stuff" that she has no idea what the heck it is, much less what it's value is. We, in this age range, have been blessed with some incredible experiences and exposure over the years. I am thankful for that. As Col.Cooper's book sates, "The past was another country, we did things different there". It was a great place to pass through.

I ordered an Amazon Kindle Fire 7 Monday for $29.99. Worked Tuesday and set it up this morning. Nifty little device for the price imho. It doesn't hold a candle to my Paperwhite, but a nifty little device nonetheless. Videos play pretty well (Netflix, Youtube, etc) and I can even run TGO on it...and I'm a devout technotard! https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Tablet-7/dp/B07FKR6KXF/ref=sxin_2_ac_d_rm?ac_md=0-0-a2luZGxlIGZpcmU%3D-ac_d_rm&keywords=kindle+fire&pd_rd_i=B07FKR6KXF&pd_rd_r=24e8a1e0-d346-4619-8799-f5218527c5df&pd_rd_w=L8gcL&pd_rd_wg=6f9WL&pf_rd_p=e2f20af2-9651-42af-9a45-89425d5bae34&pf_rd_r=HDPJCHHS7QKZBJ6ZGQA4&psc=1&qid=1574850268&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

For the handloaders out there, it looks like Extreme Bullets will have a 15% off plus free shipping for Black Friday. I've shot several thousand of their 9mm bullets and have had great results with them. https://www.xtremebullets.com/category-s/48407.htm

Thank you @Ronald_55! I also found them at Gunmag Warehouse for $21.99 each, shipping is around $8.00. I probably should jump on this, but I think I'll wait until Monday (working this weekend) when a few more sites list their Black Friday pricing. https://gunmagwarehouse.com/smith-wesson-s-w-m-p-380-shield-ez-8-round-factory-magazine.html