Fort Hood Massacre

I am finding it very difficult to stay on theme here with the events of the last week at Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen, TX. The response of the FBI, Janet Napolitano, and BO has been at very least troubling. I encourage everyone to pray. Pray for the families of the dead, and for the wounded. Initial reports indicate that two Federal Contract Police Officers engaged the suspect and neutralized him, one of them wounded in the leg during the engagement. I look forward the release of additional information on this incident so that the response can be evaluated.

Shortly after the incident, it was reported that the shooter had purchased the weapons used in the incident from a shop in Killeen, called Guns Galore. I'm not from the area but have stopped in there and found it to be an above average shop with a great selection and friendly staff. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt regarding any possible red flags during the sale of these weapons. I'm sure they deal with a great many uniformed military personnel, possessing last names originating from all ends of the earth. It is of interest that the weapons purchased and used in the shooting was the FN 5.7 pistol. I am somewhat familiar with this weapon and its big brother, the FN P90. I recalled reading an article recently which detailed an investigations by the ATF in which multiple 5.7 pistols used in narco-violence in the Mexico were tracked back to Collector's Firearms in Houston. It was alleged that the guns were bought by straw-purchasers a the store and funneled to criminals in Mexico. To be fair, I believe the article or articles I read also referenced similar sales of AR-15 rifles by the Carter's Country stores in Houston. It was also alleged that these 5.7 pistols ad AR-15 were used to kill Mexican Police Officers and gangsters, although I'm unclear as to how this is determined with the rampant corruption in Mexico.

When it was reported that the shooter had 20 round magazines, I had the feeling that we would learn the 5.7 had been used. The 5.7 round is revered for its ability to penetrate body armor, and the P90 is uniquely well suited for CQB/HNT/HRT operations. What I was able to find on this gun was that it was considered by some to be a good pack gun, due to light weight, high capacity, high velocity rounds. I really couldn't find any anecdotal evidence of its effectiveness against bears or aggressive predators. My opinion is still that .44 mag or larger handgun is appropriate for a pack gun. If a rifle round is preferred then many AR-15 pistol variants are available, allowing for a much higher capacity mag to be used, while still allowing weapon to be stored in a pack. I don't need ballistic gelatin testing to say that you tend to get awful performance from a rifle round when discharging it from a 4 or 5 inch barrel. My personal belief is that you use a long gun when at all possible, especially when you believe that your life may be threatened.

I would be surprised if FN did not seriously limit the distribution of the 5.7 pistol, if it is not already the subject of a planned Federal ban. As one who supports the literal application of the 2nd Amendment, I do not believe in restricting law-abiding citizens from purchasing quality, effective weapons for protection. On the other hand, this appears to be such a "niche" gun with questionable effectiveness, that I don't believe that limiting its distribution would impact the citizens' right to protect themselves. The Virginia Tech shooter, without any military training, killed 32 people, wounded 17, with a 9mm Glock pistol and a Walther .22 cal pistol. It can hardly be argued that the Ft. Hood shooting was made worse by the Terrorist's choice of weapon when he killed 13 people, and wounded 29.

Don't overlook the SP2340

After leaving police work a few years ago, I decided to take a look at some other sidearms on the market for use when a medium/large pistol was appropriate. I was no longer restrained by what was on the "approved" list from my department, or what the supply division would stock a holster for. We had a fairly liberal policy for approved weapons when I joined the department in the early 90's. In wheelguns, we could carry anything .38 or larger, in a 4 or 6 inch barrel length. In autos, officers were authorized to carry anything 9mm or larger as a uniformed duty weapon, for which a level III holster was available. .380 or larger for off-duty or plainclothes carry. It was common to see some of the "seasoned" officers at our station carrying S&W .44 mags with 6" barrels on their belt with the "flap" holsters that many were allowed to use by virtue of "being grandfathered in." All of my generation were required to carry the S&W 686 through training and our probation period, but were allowed to carry semi-autos after taking a short familiarization course.

One of my good friends, after a few years decided that the .357 mag was of insufficient stopping power, that a a.44 mag was the only appropriate caliber. He found a beautiful S&W 629 "Mountain Gun" (stainless, 4" lightweight contour barrel, Hogue equipped from the factory), that Safariland (strangely) made an appropriate holster for. While this was a very effective caliber, we soon found out that there were important drawbacks. The worst of which was that when you were standing anywhere other than behind the gun upon discharge, it was like a flash-bang going off next to you. To describe this experience in an enclosed area as "disorienting" would be a severe understatement.

So when my search began, I had been carrying a Beretta 96 Elite, which worked very well and was versatile in that there was a uniformed duty holster available, and a Safariland hard-shell thigh rig manufactured for this specific gun for tactical work. This gun had the heavy Brigadier slide, which was very effective in controlling the muzzle, but the long DA trigger and large grip seemed to create a length of pull mismatch for me. I never seemed to be able to reach the same level of marksmanship I had achieved with other weapons I carried. One of my associates had been carrying a Sig SP2340, and convinced me to give it a test drive. I had not been particularly fond of other med-large polymer autos I had used, as i felt many were either too light, or were too bulky, or didn't have a conventional trigger mechanism. The first thing I noticed was that the 2340 neither looked, nor felt like a polymer gun. The weight and balance was similar to the P229, which was roughly the same size. My research indicated that Sig had developed the frame on the 2340 to cut the cost of machining that pushes the price of classic Sigs to over $700 in most markets. Nothing about it looked or felt cheap.

At the range I found that the DA trigger was relatively short and light, similar to a well used/LEO trade-in P220. The SA trigger broke nicer than some of the allegedly high-end 1911's I've owned. The polymer frame seemed to have some sort of recoil absorbing quality that didn't owe anything to flex during firing. My only complaint was that it had a proprietary rail molded into the frame (which actually is a non-complaint when carrrying it concealed, snag-free), at least until I purchased my own unit.

I was amazed to find (in 2004) that the 2340 was available, without night sights, at Texas guns shows for $389.00 (should've bought 3 or 4-wish I could've seen the future). I found during my range time, that this gun suffered from what almost every other Sig purchased by a fellow LEO suffered from, a 500-round break-in. Now I am one of those people who believe that you should put at least 600-800 rnds through a weapon before it goes with you to work (1,200 is a better goal), but I mean that I have talked to many owners of P229's and SP2340 whose weapons would not function right out of the box. All of which were told by Sig to go "shoot it in." This is one area where Glock and Beretta get praise from me. I've never seen a 96/92 or any Glock that wouldn't shoot either dry or right out of the box, or both. In the case of the 2340, the fit was so tight between the frame and slide, that the slide would stop about 1/4" short of battery. about 400 rnds into break-in, this completely subsided. I would have been more upset about this if I had just paid $650 for (LE Distributor price at the time) a P229. After Five years of hard use, and approximately 10K rounds down the pipe, I have experienced no problems. I use a lithium grease type lube during the hot and humid Texas summers (our summer is from April to September), and Mobil 1 10w30 in the winter. The finish on the slide is a blackened stainless, and not even use in rigid holsters had managed to wear through it yet. The pebbling on the grip panels still has a lot of life as well. After talking to more owners of these guns, I have found that those who purchased the DAO version (must be an agency contract for these, with overruns on the market) do not like them as well as the DA/SA owners. I have seen the DAO versions of the updated model (SP2022) selling cheap at places like Academy Sports. I think that the trigger group is modular and can be switched out to a DA/SA on, but I'm not aware of what Sig charges for the unit. Since purchasing my gun, I have seen contracts for the 2340/2022 awarded by the Army, DEA, and the French Gendarmerie.

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125451

I welcome correction of any info misstated herein, but I have found that in a market where very few really poor handguns are produced by major manufacturers, this weapon is rarely given any press. Of note, I use a Safariland Raptor on both Duty Belt and tactical thigh rig-having made my own hybrid by attaching a Raptor unit to my old Safariland thigh-rig (same as the rig seen in "sand" with the M9 frequently). This required only minor re-drilling of holes in the leg piece, not the holster. I have also seen that Sig offers this gun with an orange solid training barrel, a nice feature for anyone involved in firearms training.

That being said...

Over the last 18 years, I have worked in various capacities within the industry, both in uniform and out. A great deal of vetting has taken place. A lot of holsters that never got used twice sit in a box in the garage, along with magazines that never seemed to feed right all the time, and tac boots that would never properly break-in.


My Favorites:

Winchester 1300 Police (12 ga)-smooth action-flawless reliability
Sigarms SP2340-runs like a clock after break-in (like most Sigs)
CMMG Lower/Rock River Arms A3, non-M4 upper Carbine (perfect)
Bushmaster A1 patrolman carbine (flawless reliability and practical accuracy)
Taurus PT-140 Millennium Pro (almost never purchased, see "PT-101" below)
Browning Hi-Power .40 S&W (very reliable-negligible accuracy)
S&W 686
Glock 27
S&W 66 (smoothest DA trigger of any firearm i've owned)
S&W 640 Centennial (serious case of delayed seller's remorse)
Bauer .25 Auto (great version of baby browning)
Colt Mustang Government (what a .380 should be-looking forward to Sig's version)

My least favorite:

Briley Versatility/Commander (great accuracy-wouldn't run dirty)
Beretta 96G Elite (very reliable-horrific DA trigger)
Colt Series 80 Enhanced Officer's Model (too much friction in action)
Taurus PT-101 (by far the worst firearm, with the worst factory service, I have ever owned)
Kel-Tec (unk. model 9mm, felt like a swingline stapler)
S&W Sigma .40 (first generation and current generation, bad, inconsistent action, bad magazines, lowest bidder federal contract weapon)
AMT DAO Backup .380 (really bad trigger, but great last resort weapon)
Sigarms P230 (awful trigger, too large for a .380)

Really cheap guns that have made their way through my gun safe, that were just plain fun to shoot:

Saiga Carbine .308, 16" (runs like an AK, accuracy OK, flawless reliability)
SKS Paratrooper/Ramline stock (see Saiga)
Davis P-380 (don't laugh, never experienced a jam with this one, unlike some of the ones listed above).

favorite knives:

Folder:

Spyderco, unk model 3" serrated blade, with solid stainless handle. (very, very sharp workhorse. only after 13 years of use will I have to send it to the factory or dist to be refurbed)

Fixed blade:

CRKT CR2125KV (this is like an improved bayonet, has prying tool built into pommel, great grips, and a very useful scabbard with MOLLE straps, extra pouch). This was a newer product that I am still evaluating.

Welcome

I am always amazed at the attitude among some in public and private sector law enforcement that the most expensive gear is always the best. While there are often excellent products being developed and marketed, there are many products that have gone through many years of field testing that are often more moderately priced, and great products that don't get any press. Too often, reviews are advertising-driven. Have you ever noticed when reading some of the more popular firearms monthlies, that a company that never advertises with them suddenly runs a two-page spread on the same month the magazine runs a sterling review of their products? When is the last time you read a review, where the author stated "we couldn't get this pistol to run properly with any ammunition we tried!," or " the stitching was already coming undone" on a holster. Yet most of us have at one time had these types of problems with equipment.

My mission here is to solicit reviews and commentary from armed professionals on gear that works, but not just firearms. I would like to offer information on firearms accessories, tools, knives, cases/bags.

I will only be addressing "real-world" use, not sandbox testing. The conditions experienced in the field of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are almost irrelevant to this discussion, with the exception of products such as firearms lubricants. If you really want to read reviews of products that were run over by a Bradley, buried in the sand, and then tested at the range, then I suggest that there may be something for you over at www.ar15.com on one of their boards (www.ar15.com is a favorite of mine for issues like this).

I will be soliciting articles from friends in security and law enforcement on equipment they like and have really utilized. I would also like input from readers on equipment they would like to know more about. It would be helpful when submitting info here, to provide a short curriculum vitae, similar to "about me" section as it helps others understand where you are coming from.

My first real post will be about my own equipment, the stuff I have used over the years, and some products I used along the way that didn't work so well.