This is interesting: The Army announced today it is formally concluding its Individual Carbine competition without selecting a winner to replace the M4 Carbine. “None of the carbines evaluated during the testing phase of the competition met the minimum scoring requirement needed to continue to the next phase of the evaluation,” according to a June 13 Army press release. Reading on, it sounds like the testing was skewed from the start. I’m not sure that the M4, or rather the entire military AR platform, necessarily needs a wholesale replacement. The military, private industry and hundreds of individuals have made great [...]
Building an Electric Motorcycle for SOCOM
ETP0802 tossed this our way, since we’ve been waxing wistful about motorcycles lately. (I think Doc H can wax something less than wistful about the day the militarized dirt bikes showed up at the old 3/2 motorpool back in the early 90s…) The company involved sounds interesting, and they’re based here in the US, but given the “green” aspect and the fact that they’re in California, I wonder how heavily they’re subsidized? Or perhaps I’m making a gross generalization. I’m all for success in our industries, but I do dislike protectionism.
Bleg: White Engineer Tape
To all you Sappers out there, especially– anyone have any military white engineer tape? I need a 50-yard length of it. Am willing to pay the shipping cost. Local face-to-face transfer will result in reciprocal beer. Leave a comment or email vmijpp AT hotmail DOT com.
Gun-Day, uhhh Tuesday: AAR on FPF Training’s Concealed Carry Class, 2-3 Mar 13
As previously advertised, I attended FPF Training’s two-day Concealed Carry for Self Defense (CCSD) course this past weekend, 2-3 March. This was my seventh or eighth course with John R. Murphy, four or five of those being the pistol course (the first being back in 2007, that’s OLD CORPS), so you could say I’m a satisfied, repeat customer. AND SO I REMAIN. John has done great work in the past with his basic pistol course, which has changed slightly over the years. The CCSD course, which is essentially his basic class, has now been modified again, and certainly for the [...]
Firearms Friday: A Giveaway from A Girl and Her Gun (UPDATED)
A pretty good offer from our friend and FPF adjunct instructor, A Girl and Her Gun. Update: Apparently her site had some problems yesterday, but it’s back up and running now. I add here the prizes she’s offering: -$200 toward firearms training donated by AGirl -100 rounds of ammo in .380, 9mm, 40 cal or 45 ACP(if available) donated Old NFO -The Cornered Cat: A Woman’s Guide To Concealed Carry donated by Kathy Jackson -Taking Your First Shot(available April 1, 2013) donated by Lynne Finch -$25 Gift Certificate To MidwayUSA donated by Keads -$30 Gift Certificate & Gun Goddess T-shirt [...]
“Abdominal Aortic Tourniquet”
VERY INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT in combat casualty care. A new kind of inflatable tourniquet created by Dr. John Croushorn and materials experts will soon be in the hands of U.S. Army combat medics. … Amazing.
Army Nixes PMAGs?
Where did this come from?? The Army has ordered that soldiers may use only government-issued magazines with their M4 carbines, a move that effectively bans one of the most dependable and widely used commercial-made magazines on today’s battlefield. The past decade of war has spawned a wave of innovation in the commercial soldier weapons and equipment market. As a result, trigger-pullers in the Army, Marines and various service special operations communities now go to war armed with commercially designed kit that’s been tested under the most extreme combat conditions. Near the top of such advancements is the PMAG polymer M4 [...]
New Ruck for the Corps
Let’s switch gears and go from ‘packers to packs… Ronaldus Secundus tossed this my way: Gleason describes Mystery Ranch’s touches to the design by saying “anybody that looks at the hipbelt will go ‘oh, there’s some MOLLE in there,’ until they discover that we put a lumbar pad behind the back of the hip belt that stabilizes things ever so much more and locks [the pack] directly into to the frame.” Other features: Stretchy material on the front face of the belt against the hips that cushions better than previous versions. Mystery Cinch in place of a standard sternum strap. [...]
Gun-Day Sunday: Vlad the Impaler Gets a Makeover
Remember my good old stock Romanian AK, Vlad the Impaler? GREAT GUN– well over two thousand malfunction-free rounds downrange with neither a cleaning nor a lubrication. A great gun, but not without its quirks. In my opinion the two biggest drawbacks are the ergonomics (can’t do anything about that) and the sights. Not only was the rear sight on mine askew (I understand I can get that fixed by a gunsmith) but the sights themselves are hard to pick up and align, or at least I found them so. I bought Vlad first as a training tool, to learn the [...]
