DocHawk

This guy's got a Legion For this Christmas season 'Cause all the cool cats Packin' SIGs for their gats Let me know if you ever make it down towards Chattanooga. I'm headed the other way (Dollywood) for my only travels this season, unfortunately.

Holy downer thread, Batman! Some serious tragedy right there.

I have been enjoying growing into a new platform. My trusty AR's have gone through many evolutions as I've grown as a shooter, and my handguards have reflected this evolution from Milspec to Magpul, then free floated keymod, and on to Mlok. My receivers have made similar changes, having experimented with all manner of ambi controls and lighter weight. I've tried gas piston over direct impingement, side charging over rear charging, folding stocks, and more. My optics have gone from irons to red dots to scopes with mall ninja side dots to LPVOs. Everything has been a delightful (expensive?) journey. Recently, I started playing with a new platform, the CZ Bren 2 MS. This piston driven, lightweight carbine is the standard issue police and military carbine for the Czech Republic, and it is best described as a modern (and improved) version of a SCAR. Non-reciprocating side charging handle, ambi controls, lightweight, fantastic center of gravity with more weight behind the pistol grip, folding stock that doesn't need to be extended to fire, and an adjustable gas block in case you need extra gas for adverse conditions, questionable ammo, or like slinging your empties across the range. The Bren 2 platform is practically everything I've been spending money to make my AR15's into. Lightweight and balanced. Compact, with a functional folding stock. Better controls and more combat-effective manual of arms (the side charging handle doesn't make you lower the rifle and lose your sight picture/target awareness to run it). An inexpensive gas selector swap gives you a new "suppressed" setting, to avoid overgassing. So far, so good. I'm getting about 1.5MOA accuracy with 55gr FMJ, which makes it only half as accurate as my quality ARs, but it's certainly nothing I notice in drills out to 100yds. It would not be my DMR of choice for working out at 500 yards, but it sure does the job inside 50. I bought the 8" and 11" pistols, and converted the 14" pistol into a rifle with folding stock. I'll let you all know how my additional testing goes. Doc

Monkeylizard provided a great summary. As he mentioned, it applies to any striker-fired pistol or hammer-fired with an SA mode. The reason Glock's name got specifically associated with the negligent discharge was that the introduction of the striker pistol into widespread service with LE and security in the 80's and 90's was met with heavy resistance of a certain segment of the population who were tied to their revolvers, full metal/thumb safety S&W's, and the like. There were a handful of reasonable considerations backing these opinions, and a boatload of emotional attachment and cognitive dissonance. The Glocks were derided as "unsafe Tupperware guns." The wide distribution of Glocks unfortunately revealed unsafe practices in law enforcement gun handling. Many officers tended to index on the trigger with their finger on the draw. The gun transition revealed this problem with far greater frequency than before, because the double-digit pounds of trigger weight on a typical service revolver allowed for this nonsense without consequence. On a striker fired pistol without a manual safety, however, the Basic Firearm Safety Rules are very important. Worse, some officers were bit by their habit of riding that trigger upon reholstering, with the inevitable holster pinch leading to a bang instead of a physical reminder to withdraw the finger. Inadequate training was of course found to be the problem, not an inadequate firearm. However, the term Glock Leg has stuck, and just like "Mexican Carry" it is spoken in professional circles with a bit of tongue-in-cheek double meaning.

Steering the conversation more collaboratively, something I will mention is that in those many discussions of carry, something we have often landed on in agreement is that if there does arise an emergency need to carry a handgun without a holster, a semiauto is best carried in Condition Three (no round in the chamber). The horrible loss of combat readiness on the draw is preferable to the horrific potential for an SA or SA/DA trigger to Glock Leg the carrier.

I did indeed, and I apologize. Please forgive me and extend me a little grace in understanding; having given up my dream home, my lifelong friends, my extended family, my community ties, and my life's work all because of a state that I could no longer support with my tax dollars, almost no insult could cut closer to my bone than calling me Californian.

Good post, Defender. I was just editing my post when yours came through, with essentially the same info. Note Ayoob and I are not in overall disagreement - he cites the *origins* of the term. He says it is not pejorative. However, whenever I have used the term or heard it used, we are specifically describing an undesirable carry method, and usually pejorative describing the person carrying. Compromises must always be made in carry. Size and caliber vs concealment. Carry position vs clothing and physique. Quick detach holster vs fixed belt loops. Or in the case of Mexican carry, old school concealment and ditchability vs going unarmed. It isn't *racially* charged by nature... thats not what I am saying, although it now does paint an associative picture in professional shooting circles. The people who are stereotypically encountered today conducting Mexican Carry are not independent vaqueros defending their way of life from an overbearing tyrannical government. And those who *are* living as modern-day vaqueros have modern-day holster options, if they are educated.

No sir, your California assertions are no more correct than you believing yourself to be an authority based on race. I've delivered tactical training to Navy SEALS on San Clemente, US BORTAC teams in Texas, FLETC students in Georgia, trained guest SF teams from Europe and Africa, and AIF across the Pacific, East Asia, and throughout SOUTHCOM. I've been in the firearms industry for decades and had thousands of carry discussions with tens of thousands of shooters. No professional shooter, no person professionally involved in the shooting community, and certainly no Mexican professionals I've ever met share your opinion of the term "Mexican Carry" being a romantic vision of the Old West. We all cite it as a laugh and a put-down. Edit for clarity: While it did *originate* with the old vaqueros keeping a pistola concealed in their waistbands under their jackets or vests to go armed where it was illegal to do so, nobody cites it in this manner anymore. But by all means, as a first generation Mexican American, you go right ahead believing whatever you like.

As an American of partial Hispanic heritage recently relocated from the American Southwest, please allow me to translate. "Mexican Carry" = a derogatory description of the dangerous practice of stuffing a loaded and chambered handgun in your waistband, so-named because it is stereotypical of an uneducated Hispanic gang-banger lacking the money and motivation to obtain a holster. "Ambi" because hey, if having one gun go off in your pants is Bueno, having two guns go off in your pants must be Muy Bueno!

I would have been impressed with Hi Point if they cost $10 more for a design that doesn't require a hammer and punch to break the gun down for basic cleaning. That's an unacceptable design and the resulting propensity for dirty Hipoints in the wild has led to many range failures of what would otherwise be a reliable, "can't argue with it if it works" gun. Using a hammer and punch for routine maintenance is beyond the average gun owner's skill and motivation.

Marlin / Glenfield 60 with the lil' squirrel.

Thank you! If/when I ever officially open a shop and seek out work, I'd definitely want to be a sponsor on this forum. As of yet I'm just a guy with a particular set of skills. I don't actually talk like that. I just like mocking Liam Neeson whenever possible.

I'd suggest the largest, heaviest semiauto handgun you can stand to carry and hold. Think more along the lines of a full size or Tactical (e.g. Glock 17 or 34 rather than the G19 you mentioned). Better yet, choose an all-metal gun with the accompanying increase in weight and rigidity. The additional weight and barrel length will put physics in your favor vs. recoil and muzzle rise. Static inertia and lever moment arm are greatly improved with a heavier handgun and longer barrel. There's also more real estate for your less-than-precision left hand to get comfortable with a supporting grip.

Oh man you gun people are always chasing skirts. Oh wait, I think I read that wrong.

Thank you, Snaveba. I do all work, but there are some things I prefer, some things I turn down, and some things I will be unable to do here (at least in the short term) since I don't have access to my full machine shop back in the California store. I specialize in accurizing handguns and rifles, Cerakote refinishing, chassis lightening, scopes (drill & tap, hand lap rings, laser boresight, etc), authentic C&R/antique restoration, and general troubleshooting/repair. I love working on S&W revolvers, especially the new ones with the crappy MIM internals that are, in theory, just as good as forged, but in practice I have replaced more than 100 cracked/split MIM hammers, sears, and triggers. When you consider that there are orders of magnitude more Smith wheelguns out there with forged internals than there are MIMs, the real-world failure rate is disproportionately high. I do believe in the science of MIM; in practice, I don't see it. On old S&W's, some Colts, and Rugers, the hardy ignition groups take very well to fitting, tuning, timing and polishing, and cracked parts are generally the result of an ammo issue, not a gun issue. I love accurizing 1911's, CZ's, metal framed Sig's, and other semiautos. Moving beyond parts-changing and drop-in triggers, getting frames and slides to mate in perfection and tuning triggers and sears to glass-break is challenging and rewarding. My least favorite thing to do is shotgun lockwork - it is tedious, replacement parts often take lots of unpaid time to research and procure, and the guns are extremely valuable. We're good at it and it pays extremely well so we do it anyway, but I will be limiting my intake on them since I don't have a journeyman to pass it on to here. In more practical terms, without a lathe here I won't be able to make replacement rods, pins, bars, etc., which are often required on these old/rarer guns with unobtanium parts. I am very good at creating world-class AR15's. We manufacture some unique receivers and components, specializing in ambidextrous controls and non-reciprocating side charging uppers. Unlike many custom AR manufacturers I've seen, I apply real-world downrange experience in setting up my carbines, so that they are functional and effective in use. We've made plenty of eye candy rifles, as well, but our bread and butter is custom ARs assembled with quality US parts that come together as a complete system, not a collection of Gucci (or Guntec) parts. Edit: Just a note, I'm not selling my custom guns here; I only mention this as an explanation of my background. I don't mention the name of my CA gun store for the same reason; I'm here as a new neighbor, not a businessman. I did bring a whole auxiliary Cerakote blast cabinet, downdraft paint booth and curing oven here, but I haven't set it up yet. I'm still settling in, but I am thankful for a vocation in which there is endless demand and little supply. As parts-changing Armorers are well suited to servicing the popular modular/drop-in conventions of AR's, Glock's, P320's and the like, full-service gunsmithing is a dying profession, I'm afraid.

Hi Whisper, I'm a new transplant from Southern California - our family of five came to Chattanooga without knowing a soul here. I fought the good fight on the Left Coast, served in elected office as the President of a local Board of Education, own and operate a successful but heavily oppressed gun shop, and was a guest speaker in local churches. Once we realized our home state was truly unsalvageable, I began a nationwide search for the ideal place to settle for my future generations, with an eye towards a 3-5 year plan. That 3 year plan became a 3 month plan, as our home value skyrocketed and I realized that *now* was the time, as my three kids are all still at home with us, but in 3-5 years we might have one married or otherwise tied to the area. Having the whole family mobile at a time when our home had gained $1M in equity was the right timing, as uncomfortable as it was to move on short notice. I'm a very studious person - I love detailed research and data-driven decisions backing up prayerful consideration. In looking at the whole of the nation - every state, every region - Chattanooga rose to the undisputed top of the list. Tennessee for obvious reasons, but Chattanooga offers the very best of the Volunteer State's advantages, for our tastes and desires, with any drawbacks minimized. I founded my firearms business in CA 8 years ago. After a layoff from the building materials industry when things slowed in 2012, I returned to my military roots and began gunsmithing (I got my GS Cert at SDI after I left the service) out of my home. What was intended to be a side job while I found my next career ended up being so successful, I *had* to open a brick and mortar. It has been a wonderful ride. My shop remains open in CA, but I am removed from daily operations. My staff handles everything including the local gunsmithing operations under the man who apprenticed under me. I am here now in Harrison Bay and I'd be happy to take a look at anything you need done. I don't have a lathe here like at the shop, so my barrel and round rod machine work is limited, but I have all my skill and a second set of most of my specialty tools. In any case, gunsmithing or not, I sure would like to meet like-minded people who are also looking for a new network of local friends. - David

Big Bucks Pawn across the river in Hixon is very fair.

I just made a cross-country trip from Nov 9-15. On the way out, the airports were normal. On the return flights, the three airports we passed through had all been decorated! It was fun to see the transition.

Let me know if you happen to travel down through Chattanooga!

The Taylor's is actually an Armscor/Rock Island with a Taylor's mark on it. Good to go.

Hello Volunteers, I moved my family to Chattanooga from behind the Iron Rainbow Curtain this year; as my kids prepare to strike out on their own, I just could not saddle my future generations with million dollar starter homes, corrupt and bloated government, and a culture that runs counter to almost everything we believe in. I own and operate a successful firearms manufacturing business, full service gunsmithing operation, and retail store in CA. The state figured out a few years ago that they could not eliminate the 2nd Amendment, so instead they have cleverly attacked FFLs by increasing fees to the point where doing gun business in CA will be unsustainable. Imagine having to pay $15 every time you sold a box of ammo that you make $7 on... the math puts people out of business very quickly! I have gunsmithing staff remaining in my CA store who I trained up, and I'll be doing my own gunsmithing work from my ranch in Harrison Bay. We love Chattanooga - it feels like heaven on earth. I wonder if you folks know how good you've had it here! I'm also an avid automotive enthusiast, and I appreciate the proximity to the Appalachians and several top-notch racetracks in the region. Looking forward to the rest of our lives in Tennessee.