Author: mike

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Trump 2012 Tweet: Obama Spoke for Me After Newtown

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Dilbert 2016-05-21

By Ryan Cleckner

(This is an excerpt from Ryan’s book, Long Range Shooting Handbook, 25% of the sales of which will benefit military charities.)

If you’re not careful, you can easily get carried away with accessories. I love gadgets and gear as much as the next guy but please make sure that both your rifle and optic are of enough quality that allow you to shoot long range effectively before you purchase the latest top-of-the-line laser rangefinder. For example, if your laser rangefinder costs more than your scope, you might be doing it wrong. Sure, you’ll know exactly how far away that 912.3 yard target is, but you’re not going to be able to hit it. Remember that quote from the beginning of this section, “It’s the Indian, not the arrow.”  Some of the best shooters I know can use a rifle with a sling and iron sights to out-shoot most others with a rifle with bipod legs and a scope . . .

6.1  Shooting Bag

I firmly believe that a shooting bag is a crucial part of the precision rifle system. Where my rifle goes, my pack follows. My shooting bag serves as a platform for my rifle and it carries things for both the rifle and me.

A shooting bag is the best all-around platform for shooting your rifle. The beauty of a shooting bag as a platform is its consistency.  As discussed above, bipods can react inconsistently depending on the surface they are on. A rifle rested on a shooting bag, however, reacts the same whether the shooting bag is on grass or concrete.

In addition to serving as an accurate and stable platform for shooting, a shooting bag does something else – it carries things. If I am going to carry around equipment with me, it must be for a purpose. For example, I carry extra ammunition in case I need more than I have on my person or in my rifle, I carry my DOPE book so that I can add and reference information, I carry a calculator and rangefinder to help with range estimation, and I carry water and food in case I am thirsty or hungry.

By using my shooting bag as a shooting platform, I’m able to access each of these things directly in front of me. Instead of breaking my position to go searching for a bag laying on the ground behind me, I can reach in my bag for a snack while staying on my rifle and looking at the target.  If I need to get up and move quickly, I can simply grab my rifle in one hand, my bag in the other, and go.

I encourage you to employ a practice we used in the military – only have one thing out of your bag at a time.  If you do this, you won’t have gear strewn about you on the ground making it hard to pack up in a hurry and easy to lose.  Having your gear scattered everywhere is often called a “gypsy camp” or a “yard sale.” Don’t do it.

Here is a list of things, at a minimum, that I keep in my shooting bag:

• Water
• Food
• Ammunition
• DOPE Book
• Sand Sock
• Calculator
• Range-finder
• Tools
• Mil-dot Master
• Binoculars
• Flashlight
• Rain Jacket
• Jacket for warmth

 

Ryan Cleckner was a special operations sniper team leader in the US Army’s 1st Ranger Bn (75th) with multiple combat deployments and a sniper instructor. He has a series of basic online instructional videos (more to come shortly) and his book, Long Range Shooting Handbook, is available at Amazon.

The post 13 Items Every Rifle Shooter Should Carry in Their Range Bag appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

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13 Items Every Rifle Shooter Should Carry in Their Range Bag

jones_supa writes: The storage services provider Backblaze has released its reliability report for Q1/2016 covering cumulative failure rates of mechanical hard disk drives by specific model numbers and by manufacturer. The company noted that as of this quarter, its 60,000 drives have cumulatively spun for over one billion hours (100,000 years). Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) is the clear leader here, with an annual failure rate of just 1% for three years running. The second position is also taken by a Japanese company: Toshiba. Third place goes to Western Digital (WD), with the company’s ratings having improved in the past year. Seagate comes out the worst, though it is suspected that much of that rating was warped by the company’s crash-happy 3 TB drive (ST3000DM001). Backblaze notes that 4 TB drives continue to be the sweet spot for building out its storage pods, but that it might move to 6, 8, or 10 TB drives as the price on the hardware comes down.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Backblaze Releases Billion-Hour Hard Drive Reliability Report

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Bouncing On a Trampoline With Water Balloons Is the Best Way to Feel Like a Kid Again

T.REX ARMS came to my attention after admittedly impressive speed drill videos from their Instagram account kept popping up in my feed. I had more or less sworn off appendix carry for my personal needs, but when I picked up the G19 MOS I decided to give it another shot. I went on a little AIWB and OWB shopping spree on T.REX’s website. AIWB — appendix inside-the-waistband — carry is their specialty, and they do it well . . .

These are custom holsters made for your gun, gun accessories, and preferences. The website walks you step-by-step through the ordering process for each holster, with drop-down menus for each of the relevant choices.

In the above case we’re looking at the options for a non-light-compatible Sidecar Appendix Rig, which is the white and orange holster seen in this article. When they say made-to-order they really mean it.

What you’ll receive from that order is a precisely made piece of kydex. T.REX ARMS uses a CNC machine to cut the kydex for each firearm model, and it looks like they take the time to round the edges and clean everything up by hand. This is some of the cleanest, nicest kydex work I’ve seen, while at the same time they’re keeping things simple enough to be long-term reliable.

Every holster model they make is adjustable for retention. Typically that’s done via the two screws under the trigger guard, squishing or releasing rubber grommets and adjusting the amount of clamping force on the trigger guard. On many models, retention at the dust cover is adjustable as well.

The above photo — showing my Raptor Appendix Holster — also gives a good look at the Raptor Claw, which is the curved black piece of kydex held in place by the trigger guard retention bolts. This ingenious little paddle provides a pressure point on the inside of your waistband (inside the pants right under the belt), and does wonders for keeping the heel of the gun held closely to your body. As the bottom of the grip frame is almost always the first point to print, the Raptor Claw ameliorates that in a simple, effective fashion.

T.REX’s Sidecar rig is basically the Raptor with a magazine holster integrated into it. It’s now made as a pancake with two sheets of kydex, uses two belt clips, and has adjustable retention for both the pistol and the magazine. The Raptor Claw comes into play again and, like it is on the Raptor holster, is removable should you prefer to go without.

I believe the Sidecar is T.REX ARMS’ #1 selling holster, and it’s easy to see why. A single unit that is concealable, fairly comfortable, and highly accessible is an easy sell. In the photo above, that’s a GLOCK 19 pistol and a GLOCK 17 magazine.

Last but not least, I picked up an OWB pancake-style holster, the Fenrir. This one I ordered for a G17, knowing it would still work perfectly with the G19 (pictured) and basically every other small-frame GLOCK. The solid kydex belt loops hold it snugly enough against my body that I could conceal it under a sweatshirt or light jacket. For open carry purposes, the belt loops are adjustable so the holster can be carried a touch lower for easier reach. Instead of loops, malice clips are an option for attaching the Fenrir to MOLLE gear.

I’m not sure what inspired me to do the carbon fiber texture kydex on the outside and light yellow on the inside, but I really like the combination. The molding accuracy, size of the sight channel, clearance for optics, massive cut for acquiring a full shooting grip right out of the gate, and retention adjustment are all completely spot-on. It’s fair to say this is a simple piece, but it’s really done flawlessly.

The Day-To-Day

Wearing an appendix rig was easier and more comfortable than I expected. It still isn’t my preference, but I think that’s because I’m carrying around a bit of a spare tire these days. Also, yeah, I don’t like having a loaded, chambered firearm pointing at my money maker any more than I do my femoral artery. But I did it anyway and carried AIWB for a couple months, and I definitely understand why people like it.

Both the Raptor and Sidecar are highly concealable. Even with a G17 sticking out the bottom of my Raptor, I could carry it without printing as long as I was wearing a slightly loose-fitting shirt. Not baggy, mind you, just not snug. Were I skinnier and sans belly competing for real estate with pistol, it would be even more concealable. Regardless, it was comfortable.

I was surprised how easily I could sit down with the holster in place, without even having to adjust things. The bottom of either holster rides higher than I expected and was “above the fold,” I guess you’d say, when seated — it stays on the part of your body that doesn’t bend. Drawing from the holsters is easy as well, even while seated. In a car, for instance, this would be much simpler and faster than attempting to draw from my normal, 3:00-ish carry position.

It still feels a bit weird to me when walking, but I’m sure I’d get used to it. I can feel my normal holster in its normal location, too, it just feels…you know…normal to me.

Right off the bat, though, I was quick on the draw with the Raptor or Sidecar. Very little “re-education” was needed before the draw stroke became fast, confident, and nearly second nature. Of course I’m no where near as quick as the dudes in T.REX ARMS’ Insta videos, but they’ve proven this carry style can be extremely fast.

Holstering of a chambered GLOCK is still something I’d rather not do when carrying AIWB. I greatly prefer holstering the gun with the holster off my body, the installing it all as a single unit. That’s very easy to do with the Raptor, and while the Sidecar is more complicated due to using two clips, those clips open on the bottom so they can be installed and removed without having to undo your belt. As seen in the video at top, with a rig like the Sidecar I’ll often run my belt buckle off to the side to give the holster clips extra clearance and allow for ideal alignment. No reason to have your holster in a less-than-ideal orientation due to giving the belt buckle priority.

The Raptor can also be worn IWB elsewhere on the belt, and I carried it a few times near the 3:00 position. The Raptor Claw is still very useful here and aids concealment, but for this carry location a forwards cant would be helpful, too.

As for the holsters themselves, they look as good as the day they arrived.

Conclusions

T.REX ARMS is making kydex holsters as nice as any I’ve seen. Clean, simple, and made with utmost precision and attention to detail. I love seeing rounded edges on burr-free, chaff-free kydex. Nice hardware, proper retention adjustment, and excellent molding complete the package. Of course, this level of attention to detail doesn’t come cheap, and T.REX’s holsters fall in the semi-premium price category.

While a shopper might be overwhelmed with options, T.REX’s website makes it pretty easy to get exactly what you want from what are probably hundreds of thousands of potential holster configurations. Holsters are available molded for rail-mounted lights and lasers, for many dozens of firearm models, left- or right-handed draw, forwards or backwards facing rounds in the magazine carrier, belt clip size, sweat guard size, a zillion color options, cuts for optics, and more. It’s a lot to go through, but the end result is your holster, made for you. Of course, this level of customization doesn’t happen instantly, and current lead time to receive your made-to-order holster is 3 to 7 weeks.

Specifications: T.REX ARMS holsters:

Material: Kydex
Fits: close to 100 different pistol models.
MSRP: from $45 to $140 depending on holster model and options (Raptor $60-70, Sidecar $100-$110, Fenrir $80)

Ratings (out of five stars):

Quality  * * * * *
Top notch. You can find other holsters of similar design, but you won’t find them done better than this.

Function  * * * * *
I’m still not on the AIWB train, but those who are will find these holsters to be excellent choices. The Raptor Claw works as advertised, and everything else is where and how it should be and/or is adjustable. They conceal in comfort. And Fenrir just works — a simple pancake holster done very well.

Overall  * * * * *
T.REX ARMS delivers a product that is just right. It requires no tweaks, no cleanup around the edges, and no compromises. It costs a few bucks more out of the gate, but it’s a quality, functional product made to order and made right.

The post Gear Review: T.REX ARMS Holsters appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

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Gear Review: T.REX ARMS Holsters

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Netflix launches its own speed test website, Fast.com

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BB-8 Would Sound Incredibly Annoying if He Ran on Windows XP

You would think that a large university like New York University — better known as NYU — would have decently competent lawyers. Especially since NYU has its very own law school that is frequently one of the top ranked law schools in the country. So it’s a bit surprising to see NYU file a copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube that seems to, pretty clearly, go against the DMCA’s rules (found via Eric Goldman).

The lawsuit is mainly focused on someone named Jesse Flores, who apparently runs a YouTube account called Atheists Exposed. I think it would be fair to say that Flores does not like atheists, and the summary of that YouTube account my be subtitled "videos of atheists behaving badly." I’m not sure which video in particular upset NYU, but the university submitted a DMCA takedown notice to YouTube, claiming that some of his footage infringed upon its copyright. As I type this, the video in question remains down.

Having suffered through watching at least some of the other videos Flores has on the account, I’m assuming it’s a clip of an atheist somehow associated with NYU, but (you guessed it) behaving badly. This might be embarrassing for NYU, but given the commentary around the videos, there’s at least an argument of fair use here (though, without knowing more, perhaps the fair use claim isn’t strong). Still… it does seem that basically all of the videos on the account are for the purpose of comment and criticism. NYU insists that the video is not fair use, stating that Flores had no license to the work "nor does the Defendant’s use of the Work fall into fair use or any other limitations on exclusive rights of copyright."

Flores, appears to have filed a counternotice on May 3rd — in which he doesn’t even claim fair use. Rather, he says that he received permission to post the video from the Veritas Forum at NYU, saying that it had the rights to the video in question.

NYU then reached out to Flores directly asking him to withdraw the counternotice. Flores, perhaps not too surprisingly, has refused to withdraw it. YouTube has made it clear that it will follow the rules in the DMCA — specifically Section 512(g)(2)(B) and (C) — which say that upon receipt of a valid counternotice (and the lack of a lawsuit filed against the uploader) the site is to replace the removed material in 10 to 14 business days after the counternotice. There are a few conditions around this, but none are that important in this case. There also is some question as to whether or not the site has to replace the content. The statute can be read that way, though some have argued that that’s a weird result, since sites should have free control to refuse to repost any video if they so choose.

Either way, NYU noticed, YouTube took it down, Flores counternoticed, and YouTube has said it’s putting the video back up. Under the very, very, very, very clear language of the DMCA, this means that YouTube is protected from liability if there is any infringement in the video. That’s the whole basis of the safe harbors. They say "if you take down upon notice and follow these other rules, such as reposting it after 10 business days upon counternotice," then you’re protected from a copyright lawsuit.

So, what did NYU do? It sued YouTube (and Flores). The suit against Flores, obviously, will turn on whether (1) he actually received a license, as he implies, or (2) if not, if the use was actually fair (and again, we don’t know enough to say at this point). But including claims against YouTube? That’s not just a non-starter, it’s ridiculous, and makes you wonder if NYU’s lawyers spoke to any of the copyright experts at NYU’s own law school to explain that this is not how the DMCA notice-and-takedown process works. The most generous interpretation of this is that NYU’s lawyers completely misinterpreted the DMCA (and YouTube’s notification to NYU about the counternotice) and read the requirement of a lawsuit to include YouTube, so that the site knew not to put the video back up. What YouTube and the law actually require is merely evidence that a lawsuit was filed against the uploader. Including YouTube in the suit is an interesting way to provide "evidence," but it also goes completely against the DMCA’s safe harbors.

I’m guessing that NYU will file an amended complaint fairly soon that drops YouTube from the complaint. But, still…

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NYU Sues YouTube For Reposting Video After Video Poster Sent DMCA Counternotice