Recipe: Dove Breast Buffalo Wings

Today I would like to introduce you all to one of my other favorite hobbies, EATING!!!  I have a recipe to share with you all.

Dove Breast Buffalo Wings

Ingredients:

8 dove breast, filleted
2 eggs
Flour
Frank's Red Hot (or Louisiana style hot sauce of your choice)
Cheyenne pepper
Paprika
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Bacon grease or peanut oil (for frying) 


Directions:

Fillet dove breasts with a sharp knife.  Having a sharp knife makes this a much easier task.  Thinking of which, that would make for a great blog post. Take your sharp knife and slowly peel the dove breasts away from the sternum  with your off thumb and slice towards the inside of the breast.  You should also be feeling the breast fillets for shot as you are handling them, this is a great time to get any stray pieces out. Filleting is somewhat tedious, recruit help if you're doing a large batch. ;)

How to: Field strip a M1911 pistol

Objective:

Learn to disassemble a model 1911 style pistol.

Required equipment:

• M1911 Pistol (unloaded)
• Bushing wrench (as required)
• Padded bench
• Well illuminated work area
• Eye protection

Process:

The first step to field stripping your 1911 is to ensure that you have an unloaded firearm. Remove the magazine, both visually and physically inspect the chamber and magazine well. Then clear your work area of stray rounds of ammunition.

Replacing Fiber Optic Filament, easier done than said.

 

 

The filament on my fiber optic front sight broke this weekend while I was cleaning my TRP.  So I had to bust out the spare.  This is my first time replacing a filament, and it was extremely simple.  

Required Tools:

• Replacement filament
• Lighter
• Diagonal cutters  

  

 Remove any remnants of the broken filament, and clean the front sight while you have it out.

The replacement filament that I had did not have a pre-formed dot, so I got to make my own.  In hind sight I would cut off one provided to make my own again.  I heated the filament by getting the flame of the lighter in close proximity to it, no need to touch the flame to the filament.  I then gently recessed the molten bulb into the front sight.  This produced a much smaller bulb than the factory provided, so far I much prefer it to the oversized factory dot.

 

Next I marked the filament with my Benchmade, then I removed and trimmed it to a length I felt appropriate.  (about an 1/8")  Then I got the flame of the lighter near the plastic filament again and formed the bulb on the front.  That's about it.

Feel free to leave any questions as comments on the blog, thanks for reading.

Keep Shooting,

Dave

Training tip: Dry fire practice

Objective:

This week's training tip is going to touch on the basics of dry fire practice, what exactly it is, how to do it safely, and how to get the most out of your dry fire training.

Required Equipment:

• Unloaded Firearm
• Shot timer (Surefire provides a free app for iPhones)
• Snap caps
• Safe training area free of live ammunition

Safety:
First off, make sure your gun is unloaded.  Remove magazine, visually and physically inspect the chamber, and remove all live ammunition from your training area.  This could be your back yard, basement, garage, etc.  Find a private place where you can focus and make gains in your shooting abilities. 

Also, be aware of your surrounding environment when you practice.  While practicing in front of the big open picture window of your house may let just the right amount of light in to illuminate your fiber optic front sight, you also need to keep in mind your non-gun owning neighbor who is ghastly afraid of guns and has the local PD on speed dial.  Practice safe, practice smart.

Description:
Dry fire practice is more than just relentlessly pulling the trigger on your firearm for a half an hour then putting it away.  Dry fire practice, used effectively, is the most cost effective training that you can employ.  If you really want to get the most out of your natural abilities read on and build a dry fire routine designed by you to meet the needs of your shooting style.

Dry fire practice should consist of practicing anything you encounter while shooting, other than recoil management of course.  If you are an IDPA/ USPSA competitor you should be practicing drawing, reloading, advancing into positions, retreating, target transitions, etc.  If you could come across an action in a match, you should practice it at home.  If you're a hunter, dove season will be here before you know it, you should be practicing mounting your shotgun, reloading, shooting from awkward positions, etc.  Again, if you could come across it in the field you can and should be practicing it at home. Shotgun guys, be mindful of ceiling fans when practicing indoors. ;) 

Efficiency:
In order to make any gains with dry fire practice you need to have a structured practice environment.  I really like the approach that Mike Seeklander of Shooting Performance has taken to implementing dry fire.  I strongly suggest purchasing a copy of his book and implementing his routine.

Mike suggests using sets of repetitions at various training speeds when dry firing.  The first set is at a slow speed that you can effectively complete the action you are training completely correctly.  The second set is at your maximum speed that you can correctly complete the action.   The third set is above your maximum threshold, this is where you are pushing the limits.  The number of sets and reps you choose to do, I will leave up to you.  If you start to do too many it becomes easy to lose focus and the quality of your repetitions will degrade.  Poor practice is worse than not practicing at all, don't practice bad habits.  Maintain focus and visualize each rep prior to starting it.

You should break your practice sessions down into logical categories.  Practice drawing exercises one day, reloading another, movement on another.  This helps you keep your focus, and beats the repetitions further into your head.  Come up with drills that accomplish the things you need to train, and keep your eyes peeled on my blog for more drills in the future.

Basic Routine:

We'll run through a hypothetical standing, stationary draw practice session.

First set:   First, actively visualize what you are about to do, grip, unholster, hands meeting at the grip, presenting the firearm, seeing the sights, pressing the trigger.  Using your timer, set a delay and draw at the sound of the beep.  Go slow, make sure you are economizing your motion.  In this set you are laying the groundwork for the subsequent faster sets to come.  DO THESE CORRECTLY, AND SLOWLY.

Second set:  Again, actively visualize the entire sequence prior to starting the exercise.  This set should be performed with a par time.  Start with a par time that is easy to accomplish.  Then bump the par time in .10 second increments, less if necessary until you can no longer correctly perform the drill.  Once you have reached your limit you should complete your pre-determined number of reps, +/- 10, log this time as your new maximum par time for this drill.  This will be the end of your first training session for this drill.

In your next training session you will use this par time as your base par time, meaning you will perform your reps at this par time in perfect form.  Complete your reps correctly prior to moving on to the next set.

Third set:  Again, actively visualize the entire sequence prior to starting the exercise.  This set consists of pushing your limits.  You are trying to go faster than you have ever gone before.  Take your previous maximum par time for this drill and remove .05 - .10 seconds from the par time, less if necessary.  Now push yourself to correctly perform the drill within the constraints of the new par time.  Once you have completed your correct repetitions of this drill you can move onto the next drill. 

Conclusion:
Theses are the basics of dry fire, feel free to leave me questions and comments on the blog.

Keep shooting,
Dave

Happy Independence day!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Independence Day!  We're going to be BBQ'ing brisket, drinking good American beer and lighting off fireworks.

Keep shooting,
Dave

Gun safety: The four rules of gun safety

Nobody likes rules, but some truly are there for our own protection.  The four rules of gun safety fall under this category as far as I'm concerned and must be followed at all times.  

Rule #1:  Treat every firearm as though it is always loaded.  

Unloaded guns have killed more people than you could image.  We have all read the news stories of the person who gambled that the gun was unloaded when it wasn't, don't be that guy.

Rule #2:  Never point a firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy. 

Keep your muzzle in a safe direction, ALWAYS.  This includes when your wiping it down at the bench, showing your friend, etc.  Do not point the gun at another person, intentionally or otherwise, be aware of your muzzle and who/ what you're pointing it at.  Nobody likes to be swept, and it only adds potential for disaster.

Rule #3:  Keep your finger off of the trigger until you are ready to shoot.

This one is simple enough, index your trigger finger on the slide, frame, or trigger guard of your firearm when you are not on target.  Off the target, off the trigger.  On the target, on the trigger.  Almost all negligent discharges happen because the trigger was pulled prior to the sights being on target, if there even was a target present.  

Rule #4:  Always know your target and what's beyond it.

If you are going to shoot, don't forget that your bullet can and will continue beyond where your target is located.  If you cannot be 100% sure of your target and what is beyond it, you cannot safely take the shot.  This comes into play much more in the hunting world than the target shooting world, but it is none the less important.

Weekly Training Tip: Glass half full?

Objective:

This weeks training tip is designed to help you keep your gun still while shooting on the move.

Required equipment:

• Tall skinny drinking glass
• Tap water
• Water resistant training surface

     Today's training tip is all about fluidity.  In order to shoot well on the move you need to be able to hold the gun level while you're moving about.  A great way to practice this is to find a tall skinny drinking glass and fill it nearly completely full with ordinary tap water.  A double shot glass works fairly well.  How full your glass is will depend on your current ability to shoot on the move.  The more you fill the glass up the greater the risk of spilling the water is and the more "stress" you can create.  The stress created will not match that of the buzzer going off at a match, but it can't hurt.

     After you have located a suitable glass and an adequate amount of water it is time to start the training.  One key part to shooting on the move is bending your knees more than you would in a standard freestyle shooting stance.  The more you bend your knees, the better your lower body will be able to absorb the vertical movement cause by walking/ running.  Grab your glass in a grip that replicates that which you would use with your pistol, squat, and start a slow gentle movement.  Maintain a sharp focus on the top plane of the water level as you move about with a soft focus on all the hard objects in the room.  You want to replicate the same focus that you would achieve on the front sight of your pistol.  As you get a feel for how much knee bend works best for you, start to move faster as well as practice turning.  Practice sidestepping and negotiating obstacle, such as the toys your kids left out from the night before. ;)  Most importantly, have fun and stay safe.

Keep shooting,

Dave

Extended Review: Gun Vault 2000s (2.5 years service)

First thoughts:

The metal could be a little thicker, I believe it is 16ga.  I feel as though 12ga would be more secure.  I suppose if someone is going to break into this safe, they are going to take it with them anyways.

The included mounting screws are a little small, they're about a 3/16 x 2" Phillips lag screw.  The safe has various mounting holes pre-drilled from the factory, including two key holed ones for easier attachment as well as a template for drilling.

The exterior finish of the safe is fairly nice, plain black crinkle paint. The hinge is well concealed as well as the door being recessed into the jamb to prevent prying.

Weekly Training Tip: Bill Drills

Drawing and shooting FAST.

Required equipment:

• (1) IPSC or IDPA target & stand at 7 yards
• Pistol with a 6 round capacity
• Holster, eyes and ears
• Shot timer

      Basics of the Bill drill are to draw and fire 6 shots in the "A" or "-0" of the target as fast as possible.  You should be focusing on getting the gun on target quickly and following the front sight.  Try and watch the front sight lift and settle back into position.  If you can't see the sight you can't expect to get the gun on target as quickly as possible.  

     Before starting the drill, take a deep breath, hold it for a couple seconds and slowly release.  Then actively visualize exactly what you're going to do.  Everything from your fingers wrapping around the grip on your draw to watching the sight settle down after the sixth round is fired.

Post your best times in the comments section.  

Keep shooting,

Dave

EDC GEAR: Benchmade 943, First Impression

 

     My Benchmade 943, Osborne design folder, came in the mail today.  Thought I would throw up some photo's and my initial impressions of the knife as well.  Hope you enjoy, as I'm sure to enjoy carrying this one.

Features:

     S30V stainless steel blade (58-60HRC)
     AXIS locking mechanism (ambidextrous)

     Black anodized 6061-T6 aluminum handle

     Ambidextrous thumb stud

     Stainless steel liners

     Reversible pocket clip
    
Initial impressions:
     The first thing I took note of when unboxing the knife was the packaging.  The knife comes in a somewhat standard looking knife box, until you open it.  Inside you find foam padding and a cloth bag containing your new blade.   

      
     Initially the handle of the knife does feel a bit dry to the touch.  I have heard others explain it as powdery, but I wouldn't call it that, it feels similar to a very smooth sandstone.  The surface texture offers a semblance of grip, but I would not consider it grippy.  The knurling at either side of the top of the handle and protruding pocket clip on the back provide plenty of grip providing a confident grasp of the knife.

CR Speed Versa Mag Pouch Single Stack Mod.

This is how I modified my Versa mag pouches to be more single stack friendly because as they come out of the bag they are virtually unusable. 

Required materials:

• Plastic spacers
• Flat head screws and lock nuts (about 10-24 x 1/2")

Recommended Tools:

• Belt sander, bench grinder, etc.
• Bandsaw, hacksaw, etc.
• Drill press, or hand drill
• Drill bits 
• End mill or wood cutting drill bit
• Offset screwdriver or shortened bit
• Vice
• Center punch
• Allen wrench
• Diagonal cutters

First thing to do is disassemble your mag pouches.  Then use one of your existing spacers to mark your spacer material and cut your new spacers to size. 

After you have cut your new spacers to an appropriate size, mine fit a little tighter than the originals, you can center mark and punch them.  

Weekly training tip: Shoot with your eyes closed?

Beating the flinch.

If you ever find yourself developing a flinch or helping a new shooter overcome a bad flinch one thing you can try is shooting with your eyes closed.

At first this may seem a little silly but I ensure you it's not.  Shooting a few rounds into the berm with your eyes closed can be quite a revealing and "eye opening" experience.  When you shoot with your eyes open your vision can become overwhelmed with all that is happening at once.  Add to that the slide recoiling in the direction of your face and the loud report of the round and you have yourself a perfectly normal natural reaction to the situation.  To flinch.  

To help overcome this you can grip the pistol as usual and squeeze off a round with your eyes closed.  In addition to this you can also "double plug" your ears.  (Meaning to use ear muffs and plugs at the same time.)  Toning down the report can help a lot, particularly with centerfire pistols.  Now that you have closed your eyes and double plugged you are ready to reteach yourself that the firearm is not there to hurt you.  When you feel the gun recoiling in your hands your subconscious mind relearns that the gun is not there to hurt you and there is no reason to flinch.  

It's very similar to someone throwing a fastball at you, if you don't have the confidence to catch the ball you're going to flinch.  If you have the confidence that you can catch the ball you will simply throw the glove up and receive the ball.  Confidence comes from the subconscious, you must relax and be ready to learn.  Once you have trained your subconscious that it needs not flinch after the trigger press you can continue to watch your groups shrink.

Keep Shooting,

Dave