Articles 16
Monroe County needs your help!
Are you a Monroe County resident? Do you know that on March 12, 2013 at 6pm the legislature is supposed to decide whether or not they want to officially oppose the SAFE Act. Did you also know that unlike every other county out there they don’t plan on actually voting on it. There is just going to be a place for the legislators to sign to symbolically do this. The Republicans in the county are too afraid to actually step up and stand for whats right!!
https://www.nyfirearms.com/forums/laws-politics/48626-fillibuster-needed-monroe-co-legislature-meeting-3-12-a.html
“We need to have 50-100 people sign up to speak in favor of a vote against SAFE, keep them there all night listening to us. Maybe then they will get the message and actually take a stand.Watch Full Movie Online Streaming Online and Download
You can call 585-753-1950 to sign up to speak at the public forum before the legislature meeting. You’ll have two minutes to speak and all you have to do is urge them to have that vote.”
NYS Counties against the NY SAFE Act
If you haven’t been following http://www.nysaferesolutions.com/ you may not know that most of the counties in NYS have approved resolutions speaking out AGAINST the NY SAFE Act. There are very few counties left where a resolution hasn’t been at least proposed. Unexpectedly most of them are in the NYC area. Even Albany county has a resolution proposed. If your county is in the “proposed” category make sure you show up to any meetings and advocate for it! These resolutions hold no legal sway (even if every county in NYS were to speak out against the SAFE Act it wouldn’t actually change anything immediately). However, with so many counties speaking against it, it just goes to show how very little our legislators are actually listening to their constituents. If they had been, this act would have never passed.
Home Defense Preparation
Multipurpose Home Defense Gear
As many who have attended MDTS courses know, I am not a big fan of tactical gear for the average citizen who is primarily interested in protecting themselves or their family. Often I get questions from students about why I do not advocate or utilize some type of “Chest Rig” or LBV during carbine training courses and classes. Frankly, I never saw a realistic utility in them for me since, as a citizen, I will rarely, if ever, utilize the carbine or shotgun outside of my home. This is of course my opinion and don’t misunderstand me, I love gear as much as the next guy. I simply believe resources and time are better spent on skills training and practice, not gear. However, proper gear selection and set up is an essential part of being prepared and ready for whatever situation may face you. Recently, I have been investigating, testing and utilizing a more generalized gear set up for home defense/protection.
Goals/Requirements:
- Fast to access, put on or grab and carry (previously I utilized a simple go bag)
- Multi-purpose: something that provides access to ammunition for ANY of my personal firearms since I may not get to choose which one I grab or I may need multiple ammunition types on body in order to use one firearm to fight to another OR more than one family member may be armed with various firearms
- Protection from possible gunfire from threats in my home or immediately outside
- Carry and immediate access to support gear – medical, edged tool, illumination
- It must be cost efficient as possible.
Considerations:
My primary concern is some type of home invasion or burglary while myself or family is home. Rapid response time is critical in a situation like this and many people select guns and gear, have a gun near their bed but never consider how fast something like this occurs. See this article for some info on Home Invasion Burglaries: How a Burglar Robs Your Home in 8 min
I also spent some time this year investigating crime in my immediate area in order to justify this project. It is no real news that crime is going up in many communities in response to the declining economy and job losses. Here are just two recent incidents that influenced my decisions: Burglary/Home Invasion, Syracuse NY, 2012, Burglary/Home Invasion, New Hartford NY, 2012.
Gear Selection:
Having witnessed the PFC testing on the new Victory Tactical Gear Special Pistol Threat hard plates I was sold on their lightweight yet extremely effective ballistic protection. VTG SPT Test Vid
SPT Testing all rounds shot at same point on plate:
.45 ACP 230 GR. FMJ
.45 Speer Gold Dot JHP
9mm 125 GR. FMJ
12 GA 00 Buck Shot
12 GA Tactical Slug
Victory Tactical Gear – Special Pistol Threat Plates : $180
Brian Hartman of PFCTraining recommended plate carrier, pouches and accessories from Specter Gear.
Specter PriMAC Mag Pouch : $36
Specter/PFC TQ Tri-Fold :$20
Specter Universal Pistol Mag Pouch : $20
Specter Modular Plate Carrier :$160
Raven Concealment ModuLoader Shotgun Shell Carrier and Panel : $35
Total=$450
Lightweight, compact with essential home/property defense support gear
Side buckle left undone so carrier can be rapidly thrown over head
Integration:
I integrated this new set up into my home readiness plan: Safe At Home
The Specter carrier and VTG plate are extremely lightweight and due to the side buckles I can literally grab this carrier and throw it over my head not even bothering to buckle the final buckle, grab a firearm and GO. With this single piece of kit I have essential gear to include:
- Ballistic protection up to rifle rounds
- Rapid access to ammunition for pistol, carbine or shotgun
- Illumination tool
- Tourniquet
- An edged tool/weapon set up in congruently with my EDC carry
- All items can be accessed with either hand
Conclusion:
Overall I am quite happy with this piece of kit. Under timed drills I can be out of my bed, corrective lenses on, gun in hand and have this carrier over my head in less than a minute on average. $450 may seem steep to some and granted, its not cheap however I believe when considering the current state of things that this isn’t a bad investment in ones home protection planning and preparedness.
About the Author
Chris Fry is the owner and director of training and curriculum development for Modern Defensive Training Systems in Utica, NY where he conducts courses in reality driven practical combatives skills, extreme close quarters physical defense, tactical folding knife and edged weapon combatives and combative pistol, carbine and shotgun skills. Chris has been an active instructor with Progressive F.O.R.C.E. Concepts in Nevada since 2003, servicing law enforcement, military and select government agencies. Chris is a certified AR15/M4/M16 and Glock armorer, contributor to various online firearms resource websites and a frequent presenter at national and international personal protection and small arms training conferences for both citizens and law enforcement.
The MDTS Rx :: Ready or Not
You want to be ready to protect yourself, your family or perhaps someone else? How do you go about becoming ready to do this? Do you just take a class? Does it take a lifetime of martial arts or do you simply read the latest gun magazine or buy a DVD? A lot of people want to learn how to protect themselves but don’t know how or where to begin. At MDTS we have a prescription (the MDTS Rx) that prepares you to protect yourself and others:Roblox HackBigo Live Beans HackYUGIOH DUEL LINKS HACKPokemon Duel HackRoblox HackPixel Gun 3d HackGrowtopia HackClash Royale Hackmy cafe recipes stories hackMobile Legends HackMobile Strike Hack
1) Harden Up
Fighting, even under controlled conditions, is not easy. The chances of getting bruised, scraped, cut or worse are extremely high. So, the first step is to harden up and I don’t just mean physically. Are you a good boxer who can’t shoot, a shooter who can’t box or the guy who shoots great but cannot run a mile? The point is to challenge yourself, do something you hate to do and then do it again, do this every day. Do things you aren’t good at before you train or practice the things you are good at. This will test your will power and will power is an underdeveloped mental attribute. Will power often separates those who can and will from those who can’t and won’t.
2) Training
Training is where you learn a set of skills or gain knowledge about a particular subject. There are a number of personal protection training courses available to include firearms, physical defense, edged tools, impact tools, less lethal, awareness, verbal & physical boundary setting, the list goes on. What ‘s important is to realize that we learn a skill, especially physical skills, by doing not just seeing. It is also important to realize that training is not the same as practice. Going to a handgun class one time may mean you have been “trained” however physical skills are extremely perishable. To achieve and maintain proficiency you must practice.
3) Practice
Now that you have attended training it’s up to you to practice those skills perfectly and frequently in an effort to gain proficiency. Practice is like homework, nobody wants to do homework but its a good idea if you want to pass the class or a test. In terms of personal protection that test may mean your life or someone else’s. Practicing a skill can be as little as five minutes a day of dry fire pistol work or jab-cross combinations. For the highly dedicated it could be several hours a week. Regardless of which practice method fits you practice should become a priority as much as your lifestyle allows.
4) Pressure Test
Once you have learned and practiced a skill to the point where you have developed good safety, mechanics, consistency and aggression its time to pressure test. Pressure testing is performance of a skill or skills under certain training modifiers such as physical stress, cognitive mental stress, time pressure, increased accuracy standards, reduced light etc. How you pressure test depends on the skill being tested. For a physical skill pressure testing may include some type of force-on-force like sparring or working against a padded assailant. For shooting skills it may involve competition using a timer to measure speed and challenging targets to measure accuracy or force-on-force with air soft, UTM’s or simmunitions. Finally, some standards should be adopted as an on demand test of current skill level in that subject matter. Standards provide you with a means to evaluate the skills you spent time learning and practicing in order to maintain proficiency thus freeing up time to work on other necessary personal protection skills.
Considerations
This prescription is a developmental road map for any physical hard skill or mental soft skill. Consider it and consider how you have approached your personal protection development up to this point. Now, consider the current and common criminal problem you may have to face: close quarters, multiple assailants with weapons. Right now, today, are you ready or not?
About the Author
Chris Fry is the owner and director of training and curriculum development for Modern Defensive Training Systems in Utica, NY where he conducts courses in reality driven practical combatives skills, extreme close quarters physical defense, tactical folding knife and edged weapon combatives and combative pistol, carbine and shotgun skills. Chris has been an active instructor with Progressive F.O.R.C.E. Concepts in Nevada since 2003, servicing law enforcement, military and select government agencies. Chris is a certified AR15/M4/M16 and Glock armorer, contributor to various online firearms resource websites and a frequent presenter at national and international personal protection and small arms training conferences for both citizens and law enforcement.
Editor’s Note
Each month, Chris will be providing our great website with one of these editorials, called The MDTS Rx. Keep checking the site for great informative articles by Chris and others! (M. Centola)
MDTS Vertical Displacement Guide
Article By Chris Fry / MDTS Training
We possess a number of ways to move in a combative environment and it is well documented that movement is a life saving tactic. Movement almost always helps us except maybe when attempting to engage a target with accurate gun fire. This guide will focus on the varied methods of vertical displacement taught in the MDTS level 1&2 course work. Vertical displacement in this context is movement along the vertical line or up and down through varied shooting positions. Vertical movement can aid us by making us a hard target when in a location where horizontal, forward or backward movement is inhibited, such as in a hallway. Vertical movement also aids us when attempting to establish a desired angle of fire or achieve maximum cover and/or concealment behind an object such as a vehicle, postal box or concrete Wal-Mart lamp piling in a parking lot.
Please note: This is meant to be a quick study guide not a treatise on positional shooting so adapt what is useful and discard what is not.
The following are (5) shooting positions along the vertical plane of movement:
Information Security
According to Wikipedia, Information Security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction.
Most people would take that definition on consider that it only relates to big networks, servers, computers and more. Unfortunately, so many people take this for granted, that it is not surprising that there is so much identity theft and fraud in today’s society. Criminals are smarter, so you need to take the proper security measures to ensure that you do not fall victim to information theft.
Typically, information security on the personal level can be split into three separate categories: Confidentiality, Integrity and Authenticity (Traditionally, the CIA triad was considered the core principles, however the A referred to availability).
General Physical Preparedness
I have learned over the years that the one solid, steady state tool I have at my disposal 24/7 is me. It doesn’t matter if I carry a gun or a knife; the fact is that I cannot be armed all the time. Because of this fact the one personal protection and “Life” tool I have invested the majority of my training time in over the last 10+years is my general physical preparedness (GPP) level. Everyone has an excuse for not wanting to get into better physical condition: I’m hurt, I don’t have time, work is too busy right now, I don’t have money for a gym membership… the list goes on, I know because at one time or another I have used them all and frankly they are all BS.
Attaining a basic level of GPP should be the first and foremost concern of any serious student of personal protection, martial arts and/or combat athlete. Having the physical ability to “weather the storm” and outlast an opponent is very often what wins fights after the initial 30 second onslaught or attack has ensued. If you can survive the first 30 seconds of an attack without outright being killed, maimed or knocked out you have a good chance of winning and surviving IF your mind and body can support it. Notice I mentioned MIND first since mindset drives everything we do however, without a basic level of physical preparedness our mind may be telling us what to do, to NEVER give up but the body simply cannot meet those demands.
Some GPP considerations:
- It is more likely you will die from a heart attack than a mugging, robbery or home invasion
- GPP provides me with the ability to perform most everyday tasks better, expending less energy w/ less risk of injury
- A healthy body supports a healthy mind
- My fitness level may affect others such as my family and children
- Your enemies are fit: it is well documented that criminals & terrorists consider fitness a key survival skill
- Fitness correlates to health, resistance to injury/illness, versatility, operational readiness, and ultimately, credibility
- Strong people are generally more useful and harder to kill – Mark Rippetoe
These inmates use whatever they can find to workout because fitness has a direct correlation to survival in and OUT of prison.
Getting Started:
You don’t have to join agym to get on the road to better fitness. Depending upon your current physical state, you may or may not be able to lift weights and it’s probably best to start off with a simple body weight program. If that is even too much, start off walking every day on the treadmill or outside with the dog. However you choose to start, begin small and build your way up slowly. Ego pushes more people, especially men away from working out than anything else other than sheer laziness. What I could do at 20 is different than what I could do at 30 and now at 40 I have realized I just have to get over that baggage and do the best I currently can do within my current physical abilities. It doesn’t matter what you do, walk, run, lift weights, swim and bike, just do something a minimum of twice a week for a month and then assess how you feel. For a basic program to start off check out the personal defense network article HERE.
Motivation:
We are all responsible for our actions and or inaction. Find something, anything that motivates you to get into better physical condition and use it. Some motivators may be:
- You want to be around longer for your family, kids or grandkids
- You just want to look or feel better, lose weight, get stronger or rehabilitate an injury
- You have a family history of heart disease or some other ailment and want to take preventative measures
- Your job or mission profile requires a certain level of fitness
- You study personal protection and acknowledge the importance general physical preparedness plays in that endeavor
- You want to beat your co-worker, brother, wife or yourself at something!
Ultimately it doesn’t matter WHAT motivates you as long as SOMETHING motivates you, find it and use it to the fullest.
The Kalashnikov Rifle
The Kalashnikov Rifle
Without a doubt, you can not think of modern military small arms and not have the image of an AK-47 come to mind. For years, and still to this day, the AK was seen as a ‘commie gun’ or the rifle of terrorists and the proverbial ‘bad guy’. But, today in America you are just as likely to see and AK pattern rifle on the range as you are the American counterpart the AR.Watch movie online The Transporter Refueled (2015)
The AK quickly earned its way into the history books by becoming the most prolific small arm ever produced. There are several reasons for this that go beyond its simple, reliable and legendary rugged design, such as the use of the rights to produce AK’s as a diplomatic tool during the Cold War era. Perhaps this use of the AK by then Soviet Russia is why we have such an association with it being the weapon of the enemy, considering every foe America has faced since the Korean War was armed with some variant of the AK design I suppose this would be accurate.
The times have changed though, and with the collapse of the Soviet Union the American market has been flooded with various copies, some licensed, some not, of Mikhail’s original design – and Americans have been buying them.
In the years following the Vietnam War the AK was a novelty item and was limited to very few Class III versions, mainly Type-56 Chinese rifles that found their way from Vietnam. Oddly enough, actual Russian made AK’s were some of the last to make it to the American market. The Chinese were the initial venture capitalists to offer their versions. Companies like Polytech and Norinco introduced various models of the Type-56 to an eager market for many years up until the import ban of 89’ and the assault weapons ban of 1994 that banned both companies. It is important to note that there was a lot of controversy regarding the illegal importation of military arms during the Polytech and Norinco import years. The Chinese AK’s are still considered some of the finest AK’s ever offered to American consumers and are worth many times their initial back page of gun magazine prices of $175.00.
Unfortunately, though the market has opened up it also opened up to some AK’s of a lesser quality in the Post-Ban era. Everyone has heard horror stories of the quality of the WASR warhorse – some of which is earned but most of which is blown out of proportion. Most of the quality concerns of today’s AK’s are mainly an issue of importers such as Century International Arms (who seems to have no concerns over quality or end user safety when assembling their rifles). Most of today’s AK’s are imported into the states as a parts kit – that is that the receiver is cut and disassembled and reassembled on a new receiver sometimes using barrels and trunnions from different rifles. There in lies the biggest issue. Most AK’s based off of the AKM pattern feature a barrel that is pinned into the receiver and trunnion by two pins. Over use wear begins to develop and the holes in the trunnions will open-up more as well as wear of the barrel itself. This of course leads to wider groups and is translated as Minute of Milk Jug by the gun-pros.
So what is the best AK to get you may ask – your mileage may vary, but I have found the newly imported, and new production, Saiga rifles to be quit affordable and amazingly accurate compared to parts guns. In addition to being new, Saigas are also produced by the Izhmash company where Kalashnikov and his son continue to work as weapon designers. There are companies that sell converted, or modified, Saigas as well – such as Arsenal Inc. in Las Vegas, NV, Kreb’s Customs and Redstick to name a few. There are many that swear by the quality of Bulgarian AK’s and will argue till they are red in the face that milled receivers are inherently better and more accurate – that is not the case and it is important to note that the original design of the AK was to be used on a stamped receiver. The only thing a milled AK has over a stamped AK is weight to be honest.
So in the end with some many choices, like Romanian, Yugoslavian, Egyptian, Russian, Chinese, Bulgarian, Polish, Hungarian and American home grown, what’s best for you will be a matter of your own intended use and personal likes and dislikes – but know that when it comes to choosing an AK, there is no wrong choice.
Selecting a Handgun for Personal Protection
Selecting a handgun for personal or home protection is a very individual subject. I am often asked what gun I recommend and will usually give suggestions or offer a few elements to consider, rarely suggesting a specific make, model or manufacturer. Here are some points to consider before you purchase:
1) The gun has to fit your hand. A lot of people buy guns that are simply too big (the grip) for their hand. This is mainly done because the individual “likes” a certain gun or someone told them that is the gun they should buy because that’s what they have or they like. Again, this is a highly individualized subject. I know a guy who was told that he HAD to have a Beretta 92F (M9) because that’s what the military uses. He went out and bought one and that gun was way too big for his hand and had all sorts of problems shooting that handgun well. So, just because someone tells you that’s what you should have does not mean its right, nor does it mean because someone is an “instructor” they will know what YOU should get or need. You need to do the leg work and research to find what best suits your needs. Companies like Glock make several models in varied sizes of the same caliber in order to meet people of varied sizes and needs; G26, G19, G17, G34- all 9mm.
2) Along the lines of fitting your hand, whatever gun you choose it must be possible for you to reach and operate the controls TOTALLY one handed. The safety, magazine release, slide stop/release, all must be accessible with the firing hand only (strong or support). If you have to fight with just one hand (due to injury or because your possibly holding your daughter or son’s hand at the time) but have only trained to use both your hands to run the gun then you have a potentially lethal problem. If you have to extremely modify or compromise your grip on the gun which increases the chance of dropping, severely inhibits response time or compromises safety then you have a problem and need to find a better alternative.
3) IF that gun will be dedicated to protecting your life, the life of your family or perhaps a third party, it should be relatively simple to operate. I am not a fan of guns with multiple action types: Single action/Double action etc. I don’t like guns with de-cockers or even thumb safeties. The more mechanical devices on the gun, the longer it will take you to fully understand and become proficient with its manual of arms. If you have the time to study the manual of arms for your handgun and become proficient thats great but remember, we don’t get to choose when trouble will find us. You may buy your new gun today and tomorrow night is when that critical incident could occur. Simple, striker fired guns provide you and possibly others in your family with immediate options with little study of the gun.
4) It must be robust – if this gun will be protecting your life then it better be reliable. Some guns are known for being finicky. That’s not a positive attribute for a personal protection handgun, in my opinion. It should be able to take a large amount of abuse and still work great. It should be able to fire 500+ rounds in a training class without having issues.
5) Can you conceal the gun? If you posess a concealed carry license and choose to carry your handgun daily then it is your job to conceal that handgun. Some guns are more difficult to conceal than others depending upon factors such as handgun size, your body composition (tall, lean, short or heavy), most common mode of dress (do you wear a suit or skirt daily) and the environment you reside in (cold, hot, humid etc). All of these factors along with selecting a robust holster and the best carry position for you must be considered.
6) Finally- think about the future. If you are married or have kids, can your spouse, son or daughter pick up the gun and operate it under bad circumstances? It may be you who is sick or injured in bed and one of them may have to defend you with the handgun. Is it a relatively simple gun to extend into their visual plane, touch the trigger and press off rounds? If you have difficulty with the gun at the range shooting paper targets and under minimal stress then how will it be for them when a home intruder is coming up the stairs and you are incapacitated, injured, bed-ridden or unable to do anything?
What about caliber? What caliber gun is best for personal protection is an age old debate; some say .45 stops them every time while others state that 9mm or .38 will get the job done equally well. Lately, I keep hearing and am told that .40 is the only way to go. My advice is to get a gun that fits your hand, buy lots and lots of ammunition and practice placing the rounds exactly where you want them to go. The next time you consider getting into a debate about caliber and which is the best man stopper consider this: The Peter Soulis Incident.
Start slow and build up speed, add some stress and some shoot-no-shoot decision making. Shot placement is far more important than what caliber gun your choose to carry, but, like many things in life it takes some work to get good at. Select a hangun that works for YOU and then go do the work.
Chris Fry is the owner and director of training and curriculum development for Modern Defensive Training Systems in Utica, NY where he conducts courses in reality driven practical combatives skills, extreme close quarters physical defense, tactical folding knife and edged weapon combatives and combative pistol, carbine and shotgun skills.
AAR: NE Shooter’s Summit
I recently attended the Northeast Shooter’s Summit in Pelham, NH. This is an event featuring several instructors teaching various training blocks. Here’s a wrap up of Day 1.
The first event for my relay was presented by Southnarc of ShivWorks. The block was entitled “Confined Space Shooting” and covered the physical mechanics required to defend yourself with a handgun in small spaces and at close proximity to both threats and innocents. The first part was the basic steps of drawing from a holster. While the pistol draw is something most shooters have a pretty good handle on, Southnarc has some very targeted specifics that keep the gun very close to the body and enable rounds to be accurately fired as early as possible. The focus here was being able to access your handgun while minimizing the opportunities for an opponent to interfere with the draw. We practiced each step of the draw and fired from both the compressed ready and extended positions. We covered the “nose over toes” stance that I’m familiar with and conducted several drills. One very enlightening drill was where we practiced engaging a target while surrounded by innocent bystanders, literally shoulder to shoulder. The mechanics of Southnarc’s draw stroke proved effective here as we were able to draw and fire in these very tight confines without sweeping any of the bystanders with our muzzles. Southnarc is very attentive during these drills, always right there to intervene if there is any hint of a safety issue as well as offering corrections. The session concluded with an overview of how to both shoot from, and properly exit a vehicle. The mechanics of this are way more complicated than you would think. Being able to exit a car without sweeping yourself or any of your (presumably friendly) passengers with your muzzle requires lots of forethought.
The entire Confined space block was very educational. Most of the techniques were small tweaks to what I’ve already learned in various other courses, but these small changes have big results. The only downside of this session was that I managed to slam my holster hard on the seatbelt latch when entering the car and I broke one of the screws. Having a pinwheeling holster isn’t conducive to range safety. Thanks to Chris for stealing a screw from one of his spare holsters and getting me back online!
The next block was presented by Chris Fry of MDTS Training, and I had the pleasure of assisting him. The class was based around dealing with carbine malfunctions. We started with a diagnostic test that shows basic gun handling at very close range. We then covered what to do when your carbine stops functioning at various ranges from contact distance to 25 yards. This included muzzle strikes as well as both one and two handed pistol transitions. Finally Chris described and demonstrated all the common (and a few not so common) carbine malfunctions as well as his simple system to handle them without some of the problems of more traditional methods (like SPORTS). The culmination of this block is an exercise where students get a chance to handle multiple malfunctions under some induced pressure.
During a great lunch provided by the club, we enjoyed a lecture from Andy Langlois about Dealing with First Responders. Some good insights into what will be going through an officer’s mind if they are responding to a defensive shooting. Biggest takeaway from that, when an Officer says “DROP THE GUN!”, do it … now.
After lunch we had an overview of some of the many hardware options available for the AR platform. There are a lot of them.
After this I assisted Chris again with his carbine block for the 2nd relay of shooters, this meant I had to miss the block on Tactical Medicine, but I will be looking for more opportunities in that area.
Overall, it was a great day of training. The blocks of instructions were somewhat compressed, but there is a lot of information to be learned, and the opportunity to train with many instructors is a welcome one.
Thanks to the organizers and all the help from Pelham Fish and Game Club, which, incidentally, is a beautiful club.
AR-15 Barrel Twist Rates – Which is best?
Many people, who ask me about building their own AR-15, always seem unsure about which barrel twist to get for their rifles. Hopefully this mini article will help you guys figure out what is best for your needs.
In general, rifling twist rate determines the optimum weight of the bullet for a given caliber. It also determines the speed of the bullet by preventing any yaw or pitching. Rifling twist is measured in the number of revolutions per inch of barrel. For instance a 1 in 9″ twist means that the bullet made one revolution while traveling 9″ down the barrel.
So, what is the best twist rate? Well the answer nobody wanted is, “It Depends!” 🙂 A good rule of thumb is that the more weight or longer the bullet is, the faster the twist rate has to be in order to stabilize the bullet. Also, in general, lighter/shorter bullets can usually be fired in barrels with faster twist rates, but heavier/longer bullets cannot be fired in barrels where the twist rate will be too slow. Let’s examine this in more deatail as it relates to AR-15’s.
The original M-16 started off with a 1 in 14″ twist rate which is good enough for bullets around 55gr. However, when temperatures dipped below freezing, the density of the air caused the bullets to lose their spin, resulting in much less accuracy. In order to solve this problem, the military adopted a twist rate of 1 in 12″. The SS109/M855, which is 62gr, required a 1 in 10″ rate to stabilize, but the military settled on a 1 in 7″ rate due to the need to fire the heavy and long tracer rounds.
What does this mean for the civilian AR-15 enthusiast? Well, considering most barrel manufacturers produce their barrels in both 1 in 9″ and 1 in 7″, choosing either will not hurt the performance of the rifle for the majority of shooters out there. If you think you will be shooting the heavier grain bullets or tracer rounds, then it is probably safer to pick a 1 in 7″ twist rate barrel.
I hope that this short article on AR-15 barrel twist rates helped clear up some information! Please feel free to leave us some comments or questions if you would like more information!
Tom King (NYSRPA President) up for NRA board reelection
Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, was nominated for reelection to the NRA board of directors. He is an experienced lobbyist and has done a lot for firearm owners in New York State. See his website here.
Below is a list of Tom’s accomplishments taken from an email I received.
- Current NRA Board Member
- Re-nominated by the NRA Nominating Committee
- President of the NYS Rifle & Pistol Association
- Currently serving on four NRA Committees
- NRA Benefactor Member and Whittington Center Pathfinder
- Successfully lobbied for legislation allowing 14 – 21 year olds to compete and train with handguns
- Challenged Senator Schumer exposing his stealth campaign to portray himself as a “Friend of the 2nd Amendment”.
- Planned NYS largest pro gun rally of 2,000+ gun owners who heard Wayne LaPierre call Albany “the belly of the beast”
- Organized and coordinated a NYS grassroots email alert system
- Fought and won the battle against Gov. George Pataki thereby reinstating the shooting sports in the Empire State Games
- Served as Vice President and General Manager of a multi-billion dollar company
- Served as President & CEO of a multi-million dollar company
- A life long big game hunter, reloader and competitive shooter participating in archery, black powder and rifle hunts through out the Northeast, Rockies and the Northern Plains as well as hunting waterfowl and upland game.
Project Springfield XD-40 Makeover
I recently posted about refinishing the slide on my XD-40 subcompact with Gun-Kote. Earlier this week I finished the rest of the project.
Join and Save $10!
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