Eye injury!

07 Sept 07

Range accident, from an instructor in SC:

"We had a accident on our police range Friday.

One of our instructors left the line to take a phone call. While back at the administration building, he raised his safety glasses, placing them on his forehead. We concluded our course of fire and were preparing to leave the range just as he returned to the line, with his safety glasses still on perched his forehead! Nobody, including me, noticed.

We had finished shooting, but a student was in the process of unloading his AK 47. With his muzzle correctly pointed downrange, and after removing the magazine, he pulled the bolt to the rear briskly in order to remove the chambered round. As you know, Kalashnikovs eject with much force, typically flinging the round, or ejected case, a considerable distance.

You guessed it! The ejected round flew down the line and struck this instructor right in his unprotected, right eye. He immediately dropped to his knees. He was in great pain. He had to be transported to the hospital, and we still don't have a prognosis.

This is the first significant injury we've experienced on this range"

Lessons: Harmful objects fly around ranges with no objective predictability, and not all are directly associated with shooting! That is inherent in the nature of ranges and of any shooting activity. Accordingly, while on any shooting range, eye protection must be worn constantly, by everyone, not just active participants, and not just when people are actually shooting.

It's cheap insurance!

/John

SIG's SRT

07 Sept 07

SIG's Short-Reset Trigger (SRT):

This week, I had the opportunity to use a SIG 229, equipped with SIG's SRT system. The second and subsequent shots from this pistol (until it has been decocked) all reset crisply and distinctly, but the reset point is shallow, similar that found on S&W's four-digit autoloading pistols. Of course, the SRT System is only available with SIG's manually-decocking pistols.

For now, SIG will continue make pistols on all three systems (four, if you count the new single-action 220). That is, some may still prefer the conventional, deep-reset SIG trigger, and others will want the new SRT, while still others will prefer the self-decocking DAK System.

My conclusion is that the SRT is a real boon to Operators who can recognize, appreciate, and take full advantage of the increase in speed and accuracy this shallow reset affords. The difference between the conventional deep-reset trigger and the SRT is surely noticeable among experienced gunman. Probably not among amateurs.

The SRT is available on most SIG models, and, for seasoned Operators, I recommend it. It will eventually be available as a kit/retrofit, as the upgrade involves the replacement of only four parts.

Many, like me, will still prefer SIG's DAK Trigger System for its simplicity, but SIG is obviously doing its best to appeal to both the beginner and the sophisticated shooter, the glib competitor, and the serious gun-carrier/Operator. They listen, and I admire them for that!

/John

Federal "Flight-Control"

07 Sept 07

Federal Flight-Control Shotshells:

At a LEO Program this week in OH, one of my students, Training Officer for a large agency, brought a copy of his department's short-barreled Mossberg 590 shotgun. He came with two brands of 00 buckshot ammunition. His agency does not issue slugs nor any other size of buckshot.

Current department-issue is WW "reduced-recoil" buckshot, and he had a supply of that. However, he is considering switching over to Federal " Flight-Control," also in 00 buckshot, so he had some of that also.

The Federal rounds are full-power (not "reduced-recoil), and the recoil difference is noticeable when one shoots one, then the other.

However, what jumped out at all of us was the difference in patterning! Shooting at ten meters, WW rounds consistently produced twelve-inch, uniform-density patterns out of the short-barreled shotgun. Out of the same shotgun, Federal rounds produced dense, eight-inch patterns. A two-thirds reduction! From an eighteen-inch-barreled shotgun, the same Federal round produced four-inch patterns, an eighty-percent reduction, all uniformly dense, and with no flyers.

Wad technology employed by Federal is clever. The one-piece, plastic wad has fins that deploy after exit from the muzzle. When deployed, the fins resemble those on a high-drag bomb. They are designed to immediately slowthe wad and prevent it from overtaking and passing through the pellet mass. It works in spades!

A similar effect can be attained with conventional buckshot rounds on shotguns equipped with the wad-retarding Wad-Wizard device or that have been modified with a Vang-Comp. Now, Federal has incorporated the technology into the shotshells itself.

When using this ammunition, even in a short-barreled shotgun, one is essentially shooting a "bullet" between the muzzle and seven meters. Maximum useable range has been effectively extended from twenty meters to twenty-five meters; thirty meters with an eighteen-inch barreled shotgun!

For those using shotguns for serious purposes, Federal Flight-Control is a good way to go!

/John