Paint: A Guide to a Practical Finish for a Working Gun

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Paint.

It wasn’t all that long ago that if you wanted your rifle colored to break up the distinctly black outline of Gene Stoner’s creation, you grabbed a can of Krylon, and did it yourself. Of course, some painful lessons were learned along the way about which parts should not be painted, and how best to keep paint off of those parts. Thanks to the internet, and communities of “gun guys” popping up all over it, some were able to avoid the early pitfalls, and come through the Kryloning of a high dollar investment without many vulgarities escaping our lips.

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Welcome to Modern Service Weapons

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Welcome to ModernServiceWeapons.com! Created by the same guys that brought you 10-8 Forums back in 2005, this site is intended to be a no-nonsense news and information source for training, weapons and gear. Our intention was to bring on board a diverse group of contributors in addition to the regular 10-8 crew.

We believe that you get what you pay for so we are investing a bunch of time and resources into this project to give you the best information and experience we can. If you would like to be a contributing author, or an advertising sponsor, please let us know.

In the meantime, enjoy the site!

MagPul Announces Next Generation PMAG

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For the better part of the last decade, MagPul Industries has redefined how we think of polymer magazines for the AR15 platform. Their PMAG has set a new standard for reliability and durability, and in many ways surpasses the aluminum GI magazine.

Recently, MagPul announced they will be releasing their latest GEN M3 PMAG. According to MagPul, the GEN M3 PMAG features the following improvements: Continue reading →

Thorntail Light Mount by Haley Strategic Partners

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In the past decade, tactical techniques, procedures and equipment have evolved quite a bit, thanks to lessons learned from overseas and the influence from the competitive shooting community. For example, many trainers and shooters prefer controlling the gun closer toward the muzzle to more efficiently control recoil and aggressively drive the gun to the target. Another trend is the use of two point adjustable slings on the carbine.
With these preferences in mind, when setting up a carbine it quickly becomes clear that the sling mount, light mount, and the shooter’s support hand are all competing for the same piece of real estate. This is true even when running an extended forend, and is exacerbated when a shorter, 7-inch rail is used.

Apex Tactical Glock Extractor

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For thirty years, Glock 9mm handguns have been nearly synonymous with reliability, but recently, many Glock owners have been suffering from erratic and sometimes failed ejection with their Glock 9mm pistols. Numerous theories populate the various Internet gun forums, but so far there has been no definitive answer from Glock as to the cause, or a solution. Glock Customer Service responses range from total denial, instructions to send the gun in for repair, or sending out replacement parts to local armorers.

It seems the erratic ejection issues appeared somewhere around the “M” serial number prefix in the Gen 3 9mm pistols, and possibly affect all Gen 4 9mm guns.

One popular “fix” is to obtain the latest Gen 4 9mm ejector (Part Number 30274), which for most people, seems to make ejection a little more consistent but doesn’t always solve the problem. Others recommend the HRED extractor plunger assembly by White Sound Defense, but this product did nothing for me.

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SIRT Drills: Maintenance Drill #2

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Earlier this week, my good friend Hilton Yam posted on the 10-8 Performance Blog a simple maintenance set of drills that can be done with the SIRT pistol from Next Level Training. It’s an excellent way to get 40 quality trigger presses in from every (normal) way one might hold the pistol. Hilton’s post reminded me of a warmup I used to do to start off every range session.
The set is very simple:

Aimpoint CCO Training at Telluric Group

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I just returned home from an Aimpoint media event and training course hosted at the Telluric Group training facility in Brunswick, GA. Now this was a bit of preaching to the choir on Aimpoint’s part, as I have been an end user and believer in the Aimpoint red dot sight for over a decade. I will be covering the specifics regarding the training in an upcoming article and sidebar for Soldier of Fortune Magazine, but some notable news:

Fitting a New Plunger Tube on your 1911

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A loose plunger tube can prevent your 1911 from firing
One of the great things about the 1911 is that every part on the gun is replaceable. The downside is that stuff wears out and/or comes loose. Combine this with the proliferation of sub quality parts common with many manufacturers, and this can be a recipe for disaster. I have found that current production Kimbers are plagued with plunger tubes that give way sooner rather than later. If the stakes give way and the tube is not properly supported by the grips as originally designed, the plunger tube can work itself far enough from the frame to prevent you from being able to disengage the safety and fire the pistol. This isn’t typically regarded as a good thing.
Here I will discuss how I fit a new plunger tube. Done this way, I have yet to experience one of my stakes come loose (and I have done a few.) You will need the following (Brownells P/N’s provided for your reference):

Rotate Your Carry Ammunition

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Winchester Ranger RA45TP with Multiple Hard Primer Strikes, but No Ignition

Just wanted to put out a quick reminder to everyone to periodically rotate carry ammunition. Recently, there was an advisory from Gwinett County (GA) PD regarding an incident where an officer found himself in a deadly force encounter only to discover that the chambered round in his duty pistol would not fire. Fortunately, the officer’s training took over and he was able to successfully clear the malfunction and end the encounter.

The round in question was examined by the manufacturer, who discovered that the primer mix had been knocked out of the primer when the round was cycled through the firearm multiple times. Two cases of the same ammunition (presumably from the same lot) were tested and functioned normally.

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Understanding the 1911 Extractor Test

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What happens when the 1911 extractor fails

Understanding the 1911 Extractor Test

by Tim Lau

Recently, there has been a bit of discussion on the 1911 “Extractor Test” and it became clear that many, if not most, don’t understand how to interpret the results or how it applies to 1911 function and why the test is not applicable to most modern service pistols. I will attempt to shed some light on this.

The 1911 Extractor Function Test

First of all, let’s describe the test. I first learned heard of this test from my friends Hilton Yam and Larry Vickers. Others, such as Wilson Combat, have shared it online as well.
The test is simple: fire a prescribed number of rounds through the pistol without a magazine inserted. In the 10-8 1911 Function test, we shoot 16 rounds this way. Eight are fired two handed and eight more are fired strong hand only.

Wilson Tactical Training: Defense Fit

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Hilton engages multiple targets with the SIRT Pistol while I begin my weighted box jumps/steps in this DefenseFit session.



Too many times I have either attended or taught firearms courses with students, wishing to learn how to survive a deadly force encounter, who would be better served walking around the block. Don’t get me wrong, anyone serious about personal safety should have a baseline level of firearms knowledge and I applaud anyone willing to spend their own money and take the time to better themselves by attending a firearms class. However, there are many folks who wrap themselves around the axle about caliber selection or the best way to put down multiple armed attackers when the reality is, given their physical condition, they are far more likely to die of a heart attack or slip into a diabetic coma than find themselves in the middle of a home invasion robbery.
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Bullseye Shooting and the Importance of Basic Marksmanship

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My target after the 25-yard portion of the FBI Bullseye Course

With the proliferation of “tactical” training, I have noticed that one area that many shooters tend to neglect is basic marksmanship. Sure, it is a lot of fun to practice hosing a target at five yards, but it really doesn’t do anyone any good if the rounds are not on target.

It isn’t nearly as exciting to shoot slow fire groups at 20 or 25 yards, but I have learned this skill separates the “men from the boys” especially in the police firearms training world.

One of my favorite courses of fire to evaluate Basic Marksmanship skills is the FBI Bullseye Course. It is not fancy, but it is a great evaluation of the shooter’s understanding and application of sight alignment and trigger control.

The course is simple and is scored on an FBI Bullseye target (similar in dimensions to an NRA 25 yard rapid fire pistol target). All stages begin with pistol aimed in, safety off, finger on the trigger. This is not a tactical course but rather one that evaluates a specific skill set.

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Our Take On AR-15/M16 Magazines

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L to R: Clear TangoDown Mag, MagPul P-Mag, and Standard TangoDown Mag

It does not seem long ago, that dark decade in which “large capacity” magazines could not be sold to anyone unless they were a law enforcement officer with a letter from the head of their police agency. “Grandfathered” magazines went for three or four times their original price, and those who had them, hoarded them.

Fast forward to the present, and magazine prices are back down and there are more choices in M16 magazines than ever before. The latest craze is the utilization of high tech plastics that are lighter and stronger than ever before. Going the other direction, some manufacturers have gone to steel.

Some popular magazines include the MagPul Magazine, TangoDown ARC Mag, Troy Battlemag, Lancer L5 magazine, C-Products’ steel magazine, and the HK 416 magazine. With all these choices in magazines, it is tough to choose what is best. Unfortunately, there isn’t a 100% answer.

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Tool of the Trade: The Shot Timer

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Various shot timers I have used over the years

It never ceases to amaze me when I meet a firearms instructor or self professed serious shooter who does not own a shot timer. Some have never even heard of one, let alone actually have one in their range kit. So first things first, what is a shot timer? An electronic shot timer is a device that gives off a start signal (usually a loud beep) and then listens for shots and records the time. Devices range from super fancy (like the PACT MK IV, that has more computing power than the mainframe that launched the first space shuttle) to simple like the PACT Club Timer III. There are even apps for the iPhone that will do the same thing.

Why a shot timer? As shooters, we are always trying to pursue that elusive balance: the perfect combination of speed and accuracy. Well, accuracy we can measure. We can look at holes in a paper target or listen for that satisfying ding on that steel plate.  Without a shot timer, we will never know what we are capable of in terms of speed. Feeling fast and actually being fast are two very different things. If you watch a top level competitor draw and fire, it does not look all that fast. But the timer doesn’t lie. The reason for this is because that USPSA Grand Master is not fast because of sheer hand velocity, but rather, he has found the most efficient path in which to move. It is economy of motion. And there is no way to accurately measure this without a shot timer.

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