RECCE ROOM

Now comes the meat and potato of the upgrades... the optic. Simply put, you will want to select a well-known manufacturer for the optic you choose. The best fighting optics come in one of three categories: red-dot, variable-power scope, fixed-power scope. Red Dot Aimpoint. 'Nuff said. The only other red dot I might consider would be a Trijicon RMR or a Trijicon RX01.  The advantage is quick, two-eyes open shooting. Also, generally speaking, red dots are the lightest of the optics. The disadvantage is long range. Red dots are generally only practical out to about 300 yards / meters. Though there are some out there that have successfully shot farther, I'd chalk that up the the rifleman more than the optic. Variable-power scope This is the largest category. In general, this scope will be "1x-4x" though there are some high quality variants. Bushnell, Nikon, Leupold, and others have quality scopes represented in this category. Even Trijicon has a version. ...

Major advantages to having a free float rail or tube: 1. Improved accuracy. 2. Being able to rest the gun and/or use a sling without shifting the POI. 3. Heat dissipation. 4. Weight - most FF quad rails are lighter than the non-FF versions. Major considerations for selecting a free float rail or tube: 1. How thick / wide / tall is it? I once had a YHM rail. It did the job, but was very heavy and very wide. I sold it for a more comfortable (read: slimmer, and lighter) LaRue. End of story. 2. How heavy is it? 3. How sturdy is it? Here is a chart that helps with external dimensions, as well as weight. It is a great tool. .

Now, let's talk barrel upgrades. This is a two-part conversation. First, you must decide if you want precision as a priority, or if you prefer reliability under the stresses of high volumes of fire as a priority. If precision is your choice: Get a stainless steel heavy barrel. 16" - 18" - 20" are all valid options. Get the midlength gas system on the 16" - but get rifle length gas systems on the 18" and 20". 1:8 twist is ideal. 1:7.7 and 1:7 are not bad. No reason to get a 1:9 if precision is your desire. Make no mistake, a 1:9 can be just as accurate as a 1:8, the difference is that the 1:8 and 1:7 can shoot heavier bullets (which can be more accurate than lighter bullets). Usually, there is no cost difference. Free float your barrel. More on this later.  If high-volume fire reliability is your choice: Get a chrome-lined barrel. 14.5" - 16" - 20" will be your most common choices. Midlength gas system preferred on the shorter ...

The difference in a stock trigger and a specially-designed AR15 trigger is insurmountable. I've yet to meet a person who purchased a good trigger that ever went back. There's just no point. A good trigger will have a pull of under 5 lbs, and will have zero reliability issues. Do not go cheap on a trigger. Do not try to get a gunsmith to do a "trigger job." Get a professionally manufactured trigger group that is known for quality and reliability. Geissele Chip McCormick Timney .

It is natural, as an AR15 owner, to want to upgrade your rifle. Before you do, it is wise to figure out what you want to upgrade and why. Do things methodically, and based on fact. Avoid upgrades based on emotion or the "oh, that looks cool" factor. Rule Zero You must own a rifle and ammo. Rule 1 You must forge yourself into a marksman. Learn basic marksmanship . Make your marksmanship practical . Hone your skills . Rule 2 You must learn to fight with your rifle.  Rule 3 You must modify your rifle to fit you. Now it is time to go and buy the necessary equipment. Word to the wise: while an inexpensive red dot or scope is perfectly acceptable for starting rifle owners, the American Rifleman has a high quality optic. Other key components on the primary rifle will also be high quality. High Quality: Barrel - $300+ Bolt - $150+ Trigger - $150+ Optic - $500+ Free float tube/rail - $200+ Yes, I just told you to invest $1200+ into your rifle. In all fairness,...

Handling corners. Also known as "clearing" rooms. There are several good schools of thought on this. Tactics will vary depending on how many people you have with you. If you are alone, your strategy must (by default) be significantly different than if you have three armed friends backing you up. Know how to handle a corner. Know how to handle multiple corners in a field of view. Know how to handle stairs - up & down. Be prepared to do same in low light. Be prepared to handle concealing objects. Be focused on target identification. Most importantly, understand when you should clear, and when not to! .

Next up - the use of unconventional positions. In a gun fight, things do not happen magically, nor are they "pretty." People fall down, trip, get pushed over, and have all sorts of locomotion problems. Can ya blame them? They have people shooting at them! In addition to practicing shooting while moving, and shooting from cover, a rifleman must know how to shoot from unconventional positions. Shoot from a supine position Shoot from laying on the side (both sides) Shoot from urban prone Shoot from squatting Learn how to stand back up properly. .

Use of cover. First, understand the difference between cover and concealment. Cover - something that can actually shield you from incoming fire. Concealment - something that simply hides you from being seen, but does not stop incoming fire! Take cover If you prefer not to get shot in a gun fight, take cover. Sometimes cover is in front, sometimes it is to the side, and sometimes it is behind you. Use cover When fighting back is necessary, use the covering object(s) to cover the majority of your body while taking aim for counter shots. Unless you are in the active military, you likely do not have air support, so an accurate shot will be necessary. Leave as little of yourself exposed as possible! Shoot over cover Shoot under cover Shoot along side the cover Shoot through gaps / holes in the cover Brace your rifle on the ground, or on the cover, when taking longer shots. This adds to stability and makes those shots more accurate. The first hit is far more important th...

Now that you know how to clear malfunctions, let's move on to more "advanced" topics. Next up: Shooting while moving. If you find yourself in a gun fight, and you're not shooting, you should be moving, taking cover, or reloading. Maybe more than one of those... Shooting offhand (while standing) is fine. Providing your opponent an unmoving target can prove fatal. If they are shooting back, you must move! Practice: - Shooting while tactically advancing (moving forwards). - Shooting while tactically retreating (moving backwards). - Shooting while moving to the side (both sides). - Shooting while moving diagonally. - Shooting while changing directions. For fun: - Throw in some reloading. - Throw in some mechanical failures. - Throw in some multiple targets. - Throw in some moving targets. - Throw in targets at different ranges. - Move to cover while shooting. .

In Kindergarten, when you untie a classmate's shoes, you might be punished with a "time-out." In the NBA , you get fined more than the annual income of over half the USA - $50,000. Of course, for Smith, who makes $5.6 million per year, that is only 0.89% of his annual salary. It would be like fining a regular person about $400. Still sounds expensive to me. Why not just play better defense, instead?

Just before Christmas, I cashed in a cash-back offer on a credit card I use for business expenses. With a portion of the money, I purchased a uniform from Fuji Sports . I have heard much about them, seen the BJJ uniforms offered as prizes at BJJ competitions, and even read some reviews. A couple of friends who train BJJ have bought them, and they had good things to say about Fuji. Now, it's my turn. I purchased the "BJJ All Around" uniform in white. I do not train BJJ, but this uniform is largely devoid of the excessive patches present on most BJJ uniforms. Looks It has a very crisp and handsome looking logo embroidered on the left shoulder and the nape of the neck. It came with BJJ patches unattached. I will not be affixing them on my uniform (anybody want some good looking patches?). It is a good bleached white color. Not bright, but not matte, either. Fit The fit was superb. I ordered a size "A-4" which is analogous to the traditional martial arts s...

Some people call UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey a one-trick pony. This monicker is given because Rousey has won every professional fight so far with juji gatame - and all of them except the most recent have come in the first round. Truth be told, Rousey won all three of her amateur bouts via first round juji gatame as well. Those familiar with the grappling arts, however, often claim Rousey is anything but a one-trick pony. Indeed, she has shown attacks with other submissions. Also, Rousey has used multiple setups to attain her juji gatame finishes. Let's look at that in more detail: Match 1 - Rousey vs. Gomes Ediene Gomes, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, was defeated in 25 seconds via Rousey's juji gatame . Seen here at 2:05 , Rousey threw Gomes, mounter her, and rained down punches to entice Gomes into turning. Gomes would not have turned had those punches not been devastating. Rousey uses a standard Judo entry into juji gatame from the back at...

Calvinism is not Biblical Doctrine. It's a human philosophy that appeals to proud-minded individuals. Seems that atheists like Calvinistic viewpoints. Atheists use these viewpoints in their attempts to disprove and discredit Christianity. Hard to find them using Arminian or true Biblical viewpoints as their arguments. Predestination Atheists really like the predestination to Hell concept. They know and can see clearly that predestination to Heaven by necessity includes predestination of the others to Hell. That is not the act of a loving god. That god would not be worthy of worship. No Free Will "We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes." - Gene Roddenberry If we are not free to choose, as Calvinists contend, then why would God punish any of us? "Don't insult my intelligence by talking about God's unconditional love in one breath and how I am g...

 What do you think of Dave Ramsey’s “ 20 Things Rich People Do Every Day? ” I've written about Ramsey before . His advice on getting out of debt is good. His advice on insurance, investments, and other nuances can range from somewhat faulty to outright fallacy. This blog post he put up originates from Tom Corley's website about rich habits. I must admit that I am not thoroughly familiar with Corley's work, but I can analyze the 20 points and give you my $0.02 (which is what this blog is all about). 1. 70% of wealthy eat less than 300 junk food calories per day. 97% of poor people eat more than 300 junk food calories per day. 23% of wealthy gamble. 52% of poor people gamble. In the US, this is almost unavoidable. Prepackaged food is far less expensive than fresh whole foods. The statement on gambling is accurate, but understand that most self-made millionaires do not gamble with "Powerball," they gamble with borrowed money on an idea of thei...

RR, Many pastors of the Christian faith would say that if a person has sincere faith in God the Father, but not necessarily in Jesus Christ, then that person will be condemned. I know of a few, in particular, that point to John 14:6 as their reference for that viewpoint. How would you respond? Great question! Let's dig into it a bit... If one is familiar with the Mechanics of Salvation , then one knows that salvation is a gift granted by God. To receive the gift, a person must: A) believe in God, B) repent (turn away from sin and toward God), and C) do those things God commands as a demonstration of faith. In the above linked blog post, I talked about how John 14:6 is often twisted by some to mean Christ is the only way to God in the sense of, one must believe in Christ only, and that regardless of belief in God the Father. Here are some problems with that point of view: 1. Jesus Himself said that the Father was greater in John 14:28 . You have he...

I recently took the Rifleman's Challenge. Rules: 10 shots 60 seconds 25 yards No resting the rifle on an object. Sling use is OK. Results: Rifleman's Challenge 1 AR15 Rifle - M16A4 clone LaRue quad rail Stainless Steel heavy barrel from Model 1 Sales 55-grain ammo (Federal AE) ACOG (had to hold between the 300-meter and 400-meter hashes) Experiment 2 Marlin 795 Simple 4x scope Winchester 555 bulk ammo .

Sometimes, one hears the term "barrel deflection" when speaking of rifle shooting. Simply put, the term refers to the effect had on a barrel from external pressure bending a the barrel a microscopic amount. With the AR15, there are a multitude of tubes, rails, and other free float handguards for the consumer, but they all basically work in the same way: the device isolates the barrel and has no separate point of contact other than at the receiver. Since there are two broad ways to assemble the barrel to the rifle: free-floated and non-free floated; there are naturally arguments about the pros and cons to each concept. Broadly speaking, free-floated rails are inherently more accurate. Sometimes (not always), the free-floating device adds weight to the rifle. The arguments surrounding non-free floating revolve around A) reduced cost, and; B) only marginal increase in accuracy for free-floated devices in controlled environments. However, almost unique to the AR15, you will o...

So we all heard the story about the ship that got stuck in the ice. What the news isn't reporting is that the ship's mission was to observe disappearing ice due to the effects of "global warming." ( as I type this out, it is supposed to get down to 2 degrees here in Tennessee ) .

"Are you ready?" My dad used to ask that question relentlessly to determine if we had dressed and put on our shoes. Side note: he HATED for us to not have shoes on, even in the house. If I were to wake up in a hotel (I travel with some frequency), and need to get up, shower, shave, pack, and leave, this is how long it takes me:

From the sermon yesterday... This is my Bible. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My Bible is my best friend... it is my life. I must master it if I want to master my life. ( OK, pastor didn't say that, but I thought it appropriate .) What to do with my Bible: 1. Respect it massively. 2. Read it consistently. 3. Bring it faithfully. 4. Obey it wholeheartedly. 5. Live it passionately. 6. Memorize it happily.  7. Speak it forcefully. .

I recently was out of town on business, and this is what the hotel AC unit looked like (no, it didn't work):

Judaism Christianity Noahide All three believe in the same God - Jehova. That much has been stated on this blog before, prompting this message from a reader: Some say that salvation is through Christ alone. I saw the other day where someone wrote that if a person sincerely believes in God, but does not put their faith in Jesus, then they will not be saved. How do you feel about this? Great question! Step 1 - Salvation First, we must ask - what were the mechanics of salvation in the Old Testament? Simple - 1) belief in God, 2) repentance (turning from sin), and 3) demonstration of 1 & 2 by ones faithful actions (aka - "good works"). Note: people could not believe in Jesus prior to Jesus being born. God made no mention of Jesus in the Old Testament.  Step 2 - God changing Does God change? Does God change His mind? More to the point - has God changed how salvation works? One cannot answer "yes" to either question and bac...