Hogdon HS-6/Winchester 540 Smokeless Powder

I've been loading 9mm with HS-6 for a little while. Although it burns slower, requiring more powder to get the same velocity, it is pretty similar to Hogdon's TiteGroup powder, which I've been using for a couple years, and something like six thousands rounds.

I like it enough that I think I'll stop using Alliant Blue Dot powder when the jar runs empty. HS-6 is popular among USPSA open class shooters for loading 9mm Major loads, while Blue Dot was given up on years ago, because there were some KaBooms.

HS-6 and Winchester 540 powders are the same.

Book Review: Sugical Speed Shooting

Surgical Speed Shooting, By Andy Stanford

For a little more money, you can get the 5th or 6th Edition of Combat Handgunnery, which has most of the same basic shooting information, plus a lot of good information on choosing a pistol, ammo, holsters, etc.

It's not a BAD book, and it's priced pretty well, but it can't compete with Matt Burkett's Practical Shooting Manual or Brian Enos' Practical Shooting: Beyond Fundamentals. The book covers basic combat pistol shooting. It doesn't cover things like proper trigger reset, shooting around cover, and other more advanced techniques. It lacks a lot of the detail found in the Burkett and Enos books.

There are a few little things that I picked up from the book to try out, and the methods described in the books work well for me (it took me thousands of rounds and many hours of practice to find what works), as well as many others.

Poll: PBS Asks If Palin is Qualified

Link To PBS Poll

"Do you think Sarah Palin is qualified to serve as Vice President of the United States?"

Please vote "Yes." Although I'm not sure that it will help all that much in the grand scheme of things, I really really really don't want Obama/Biden to win in November.

Midway Coupon for September

"To receive your $20 off:
1. Place $300 or more of in-stock products in your shopping cart. Enter Promotion Code WEB30098 in the box entitled 'Promotion Code' on the Shopping Cart page.
2. You will see the discount on the Confirmation page before placing your order.
3. Remember, this promotion code is valid for orders placed on MidwayUSA.com.
4. Limited to one per customer and one promotion code per retail order.
5. Hurry, offer ends at 11:59 PM CT September 21, 2008."

Glocks With Factory Thumb Safety

DYou may have heard of a special run of Glock pistols that came from the factory with thumb safeties. Just stumbled upon pictures of them on GlockFAQ.com.

Link to pictures and short description on GlockFAQ.com

EDIT: Looks like GlockFAQ has folded. Crap. Pistols were made for a government agency with a thumb safety similar to the ones you'd find on some Smith & Wesson M&P pistols. I can't seem to find details or pictures anywhere else now.

EDIT AGAIN: Updated the link. The site may only have been down temporarily. Pistols were made for the Tasmanian Police force. I saved the pictures to my hard drive, just in case.

Newer Glock model with manual safety. This one for the Brits.

10/24/09 EDIT: Story of the Portugese Glocks on The Firearm Blog.

SNAFU: NRA Cancelled My Membership

Just got off the phone with the NRA. I wan't getting my America's 1st Freedom magazine subscription. Turns out that they had canceled my membership because I hadn't made a payment.

Duh! I paid in full for a Lifetime Membership two years ago, hoping it would help keep the upcoming election from being a complete disaster. It didn't seem to help.

Should be straightened out shortly.

Added Pictures To A Couple Reviews

Picture of my Kahr PM9 added to Short Kahr PM9 Review.

Picture of my racegun with the J.P. mag funnel added to JP Glock Mag Funnel Review.

I should take pictures of the business end of the funnel someday.