More from the ILEETA Conference

03 Apr 08

More interesting tidbits from the ILEETA Conference.

I've been attending as many presentations as I can. All instructors are at the top of their game and make this Conference eminently worthwhile:

LED bulbs have substantially superceded xenon bulbs in police flashlights, for any number of good reasons. Xenon produces warm, yellow light. LEDs produce cold, grey light. However, although LEDs are generally brighter, their ability to penetrate fog and smoke is substantially less. Fog and smoke are thus effective barriers to LED light!

At the SIG and Glock Armorer's Classes, both instructors were united in urging shooters to replace recoil springs once a year, more often under heavy use. SIG and Glock Armorer instructors both cited numerous reliability and durability issues directly attributable to worn-out recoil springs.

At the AR-15 Armorer's Class, I learned the same issue is common with the Stoner System. Worn recoil springs engender extraction failures and a host of other unpleasantries!

RRA offers an optional "two-stage" trigger on their versionof the AR-15. It is liked by some recreational shooters for its enhanced creep. However, it 's installation on any serious rifle is highly not recommended. Two-stage triggers are insubstantial and commonly break under heavy use. In fact, any rifle that comes with the title "Match," "Target, "or "Competition" will invariably be delicate and temperamental and should never see the light ofday in a beat-car!

At the Glock Armorer's Class, I learned something I never realized:Glock's trigger-return spring is unnecessary for normal functioning of the pistol and is included by the manufacturer only as an aid for those who don'tknow how to shoot! Even with the trigger-return spring removed altogether, the pistol will run normally, so long as the shooter, practicing continuous trigger contact, correctly catches the link ("resets" the trigger) between shots. It is only when shooters incorrectly "slap" the trigger that it will "go dead" between shots. In fact, deliberating removing the trigger-return spring from the pistol and then inviting the student to continue shooting is a range training method that can be used to effectively cure trigger-slapping!

Of course, all Glocks should have trigger-return springs. Indeed, I recommend replacing the trigger-return spring with Glock's NY Trigger, as it greatly enhances responsiveness and crispness.

Several Classes dealt with modern, violent criminals, particularly those in street-gangs. Watching videos of jail-house interviews with these sociopaths made my blood run cold! Several decades ago, they would be called " criminally insane." Today, in our upside-down world, armies of sociopaths are organized into gangs who, whenever they take a brief break from raping, murdering, maiming, and torturing, lobby politicians (who are only to anxious to cater to them!), and set fashion trends!

At the Taser Instructor Class, I watched at close range as several dozen aspiring instructors were tased! Reaction was universal. Upon being tased, everyone fell down. No one was able to remain standing! Everyone audibly, and loudly, groaned. I asked them afterward if their groaning was intentional or spontaneous. All indicated the latter. Effect was significant, even with separation of the darts of as little as eight inches!

The tactic is rolling on the ground while being tased, in an effort to break the wires is now commonly taught to, and by, gang-members in prisons. Most students I saw were unable to do it, and, even with those who could (at least a little), there was sufficient slack in the wires so as to render the tactic unsuccessful.

More tomorrow!

/John