Articles by Herschel Smith

Very well done video documentary.

I heard Professor Mark Smith make the observation recently in one of his videos that 18-year olds can vote and serve in the military and therefore age limits of 21-years is inane.  This is true enough, but ignores our rich history.  Then via David Codrea, I see that the SAF is glomming on to the same sort of argument.

“We remind the court that the Second Amendment refers to a right ‘of the people’ without mentioning age, and certainly young adults fall within the definition of ‘the people’ ever since they’ve been allowed to vote, and generations before that when they were considered part of the militia, and have been accepted into the military.”

Okay I’m really tired of this crap and it needs another reply (I’ve observed this before).

I invite you to come take a walk around the King’s Mountain Military Park and read the placards, all of them, every word.  You’ll learn many things.  General Cornwallis’ plan for the South was to rely on Tory militia to defeat the patriots and be able to move North to capture Virginia and then engage Washington’s troops.  King’s Mountain saw the defeat of that strategy.

Cornwallis could never have won anyway, given the damage the Mosquito did to the health of his troops, the fact that a full thinds of them were in the infirmary on any given day, the constant depletion of soldiers and resources from the insurgency in S.C. (Francis Marion), and the Continental Army regulars.

But King’s Mountain was still a massive blow to Cornwallis.  The men in the mountains of N.C. and Tennessee heard of the threats made by the British army and the Tory forces.  They didn’t wait.  At the time, the crops needed tending (it was the fall of 1780 and they needed to be harvested if the families were to survive).

Rather than the fathers going to war against the Tory forces (commanded by one British officer), they sent their sons into battle.  They kitted them up, and lined up along the roads as they left and sang hymns beseeching God’s protection and victory.  The boys travelled by night, many miles, in order to engage the Tory forces.

The average age of the sons of America who fought as patriots that fateful day was 14 years old.  They had learned to survive in the bush, and shoot and all of the things they did, by simply growing up with good men as their fathers.

Stop it with all of the arguments that people can vote and go into the army at 18 years old.  I don’t care about voting, I don’t care about military service.  The boys who won the battle of King’s Mountain were 13 and 14 years olds.

Just stop it.  I think it’s stupid every time I hear that argument trying to justify firearms use.  Boys with good fathers can use firearms at any age the father deems appropriate.

Because families are the central building block of society.  The government is not.

Firearms ownership and use is a right of the militias.  It is an individual right.  It is a God-given right of all men everywhere.

An A&E video piece.

A few takeaways from this.

It’s difficult for me to tell, but I think this was a black bear.

Next, she said she deployed her bear spray and it was completely ineffective.  Yea, I’ll bet.

Retreating, she stumbled backwards and fell down.  This is a bad position to be in when the bear jumps on you.

The dog intervened, and was badly mauled, but still lives and looks good.  Dogs are man’s best friend.  Get yourself one or more.  Also, notice that the bear went after her, not the dog.  It only went after the dog when the dog intervened.

Finally, she should be carrying a large bore handgun.  If I’m out and about in the South, I never go into the bush without a firearm.  There are bears, Coyotes, snakes and two-legged threats, as well as feral hogs.  This holds doubly true for the Northwest.  If you go “walking” or “jogging” in the bush without a big bore handgun, you’re asking for what happens next.

News from Montana.

They awoke around 3 a.m. Thursday morning to their dog barking downstairs. When Bolkcom went to check out the commotion, he found a black bear in his living room.

Bolkcom grabbed his gun and shot the bear, chasing it from room to room before it finally collapsed after several shots.

The bear was 250-300 pounds, and F&S says he used a 10mm handgun.

Chalk up another win for the 10mm, but I still say that a 1911 shooting 450 SMC cartridges would be just as effective, if not more so.

This is an informative video.  For example, I was unaware of the need for placing additional information on the frame, and the follow-on need for retooling in the factories.

Shooting Illustrated.

The Shadow 2 is probably one of the most ergonomic metal pistols ever made. The grip itself is thinner than other handguns’ grips that use similar double-stack magazines. Adding to this, a generously undercut trigger guard also enables a sure shooting grip. On the frontstrap, there is aggressive checkering and because the large, squared-off trigger guard is undercut, the frontstrap does not feel crowded and provides plenty of space for the strong-hand’s fingers. The shape of the trigger guard works in tandem with the grip, as the trigger guard provides a parallel horizontal surface for the index finger of the support-hand to push up against. The backstrap is generously radiused to better conform to the web of the strong hand. Its upswept beavertail which is profiled similarly to a 191l to brace the firing hand and protect against slide/hammer bite. The Shadow 2 ships with thin, textured aluminum stocks. Because this gun is so popular in the action shooting sports, there is a wide selection of aftermarket stocks to suit all tastes making the gun ever more ergonomic and customizable for anyone.

The slide itself rides inside of the gun’s frame, so it is not very tall. Compared to other slides, there’s less surface area to grab onto in order to manipulate it. However, there are generous serrations both on the front and rear of the slide. The topmost part of the slide is flattened and ribbed to cut down on glare. Both the front and rear sights are serrated, match grade units. The front takes a 1mm fiber optic insert, and the rear sight is adjustable for elevation only. Changing windage means using a punch or sight tool to drift the unit.

The CZ Shadow 2 is eminently shootable for two main reasons: Its weight (46.5 ounces) and its inside-the-frame slide design. Both of these aspects help the entire gun keep flat while shooting. Not only does this slide configuration provide a lower bore axis, but the dust cover area has a considerable amount of metal which acts as a counterweight against muzzle flip. This makes it easier for the sights to return to zero during shooting, which is quite noticeable with the CZ Shadow 2 compared to other pistol designs. Combined with an easy shooting trigger, the Shadow 2 lends itself well to shooting very accurately, very consistently and very quickly.

They show the MSRP as $1099.  I’d like to know where they can pick up a CZ Shadow 2 for that little (after checking, I see that the price has dropped a bit so that may be right in the range for a pistol without the optics slide cut).  They’re used extensively for competitive shooting and are in constant demand.  Also, that pistol shown in the image doesn’t have an optics cut, and the cut generally goes for another $250 or more on top of the price of the pistol without the cut.

I can vouch for the shallow depth of the slide (which is the way it is in order to achieve the low bore axis).  If it weren’t for the cocking serrations, you would have a difficult time cycling the slide.

I can also vouch for the ease of use and quick return to sight picture.  My reaction after shooting it was, “Um, wow, holy cow, what in the world – I’ve never shot a pistol like that before!”  After handing it to a fellow shooter, the reaction was the same.

I’m surprised it took Shooting Illustrated this long to do a review of it.

All of that being said, the gun is heavy, and not ideal for something like concealed carry because of that and it’s large size.  It’s more of a truck gun/night stand gun/competition gun (and maybe an open carry gun).  In a gun fight I’d rather have it than any other pistol.  But because of the difficulty of carry, you’re more likely not to have it.

I ran across this video from three years ago and I like it when gunsmiths tell me they didn’t previously understand what’s going on but do now.  That shows humility and a willingness to learn.

Anyway, he’s very big on Sig Sauer 1911 magazines because of the design.  Do any readers have experience with Sig magazines?  I don’t, and none of my 1911s jam.

Well, except for the balancing act she alluded to in her decision, she got it all right.  Because she’s honest and did what she was supposed to do – follow where the superior court led.

Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, Alito and Kavanaugh would have maintained the vacatur Judge Reed O’Connor put into place rather than issue the stay, while Roberts, Barrett, and the others made the decision to issue the stay.  So in other words, all of the women on the court sided with the government.  Who is surprised by that?

Anyway, parts kits aren’t the only way to enjoy your 2A freedoms.

Recoil has given us a complete step-by-step guide for AR-15 lower receivers – with pictures.  He begins with tools.

Good tools are hard to find these days, but thankfully there are still a few options out there.

If you’re looking to do this as cheaply as possible, just get whatever crap is the lowest price on Amazon and call it a day. Honestly, it will probably be good enough for one build, but very likely only one.

If you think you might do this more than once, or you just don’t want to make yourself suffer while you build, invest a little more money and get tools from reputable firearm brands like RealAvid and Wheeler.

Personally, RealAvid is normally my go-to pick. Full disclosure, they’ve sent me a number of products to review over the years, including most of the ones from them in this article.

But I also put my money where my mouth is, I’ve spent a lot of my own money on their tools over the years because I like the product.

If you want a one-stop option, RealAvid’s Armorer’s Master Kit is pretty amazing but pricy. And it’s totally overkill for just one lower. If you want to go hard and build a lot, it’s worth it.

Ouch!  That is pricey.

My must-have tools are pretty simple, a Bench Block, a hammer and punch set, and an armorer’s wrench.

The bench block can be just about any model. The Smart Bench Block is simple, and I’ve been using mine for about 5 years, love it. The Master Bench Block is the one I used for this article, and it’s pretty nice but not a must-have over the normal block.

I really, really recommend a punch set that is designed for guns, especially the AR-15, since those sets are normally sized right, and some include punches built for the bolt catch – they make life easier and make not scarring your lower a lot easier.

RealAvid’s set comes with all the punches you need, a small hammer, and a nice case. Wheeler’s set is decent for most guns but doesn’t have the AR-15 bolt-catch punches. The AR-Stoner set I owned broke the first time I used it. YMMV.

The wrench is the tool I care the least about; literally, anything off Amazon will be fine. I’ve used the $5 one for about 4 or 5 lowers, and it’s fine. Wrap the handle with a shop rag for a better grip. If you want something a bit fancier, Magpul, RealAvid, Tapco, Brownells, and Wheeler, all make good options.

I disagree with that part.  If you don’t have a good wrench you’ll tear up your parts.  Magpul makes good AR wrenches.

So this is a good URL to tuck away.  I’ll return to this in time.  After reading it I wanted them to have done one on upper receivers.  At the end they say this.

We’ll do another guide soon for building an upper, but those require some more tools.

I’ll pass along the next article on lower receivers.

Congratulations Trump.  Amy Coney Barrett votes with the communists.  Yet another failure.  You could have chosen Judge Don Willett instead.  This is on you.