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Author: Grumpy
Here is a 1873 Colt 44=40 that came from the basement of an old hardware store in Placerville (Hangtown) California. Floor was of dirt and pistol and holster had lain there for who knows how long.
The Surefire Ryder 9-Ti2 Sound Suppressor and Springfield Armory XD-M Elite OSP Threaded handgun synergistically combine to become something greater than their parts. The XD-M Elite Tactical OSP (Optical Sight Pistol) reflects the current state of the art in full-sized combat handguns. The Surefire Ryder 9-Ti2 is as fine a handgun suppressor as mankind can create. Thread these two magnificent tools together and strap on a Streamlight TLR-8G to create the most effective combat pistol in the world.
Walter Mitty’s Ideal Suppressed Handgun
I can count on less than one hand the number of times the CIA has tapped me to travel to the other side of the world to rescue a kidnapped supermodel from the clutches of some evil super-villain. In amongst all the shaving cream commercials and trans-oceanic jaunts on the superyacht I bought with the proceeds from my gunwriting who has time for such? Were the President to call, more often than not I’d just tell him I was too busy.
Who am I kidding? I’m a 55-year-old man with worn-out knees, steadily worsening presbyopia, a family, and a mortgage. The only way I might ever rescue a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model in a faraway land would be if absolutely everybody else to include Nancy Pelosi, Pete Buttigieg and Greta Thunberg were otherwise indisposed. However, there yet remains something to be said for maintaining the proper tools in the profoundly unlikely event I might actually get that call.
There is something primally satisfying about tactical shooting. I don’t hunt. I have no issues with those who do, but that’s just not my thing. However, the storied art of tactical shooting embodies the timeless allure of power under control. For me at least it’s like golf, only way cooler.
The urge to contrive the optimized tactical handgun spawns from some primordial spaces. Rocking the hottest gun on the range certainly has its appeal. However, unlike a top-end $10,000 Gemspot OM 5 Deluxe Diamond Golf Driver, this rig will actually help keep you and your family safe come what may. This deep into the 21st century the practical applications of a proper tricked-out tactical handgun are fairly obvious.
Practical Tactical
The ideal suppressed handgun system needs to be rugged, accurate, quiet, intuitive and utterly reliable. This weapon should run fast and well while shooting straight and packing a simply breathtaking number of rounds onboard. The symbiotic melding of the Surefire Ryder 9-Ti2 Sound Suppressor, the Springfield Armory XD-M Elite Tactical OSP threaded handgun, and the thumb-sized Streamlight TLR-8G tactical light is all that and more.
The Surefire Ryder 9-Ti2 is one of the lightest, thinnest, most effective pistol cans in its class. Sporting a svelte tube diameter of 1.25″ and a paltry 10.7-oz. weight, the Ryder 9-Ti2 offers a trivial weight burden. Rugged, mil-certified, heat-treated, sequentially-numbered stainless steel baffles and a fluted titanium outer tube define ballistic greatness. A built-in Linear Inertial Decoupler ensures flawless reliability, while exceptional rigidity and concentricity provide superlative accuracy with a minimal and predictable point of impact shift. The Ryder 9-Ti2 is honestly as good as it gets in my opinion.
The 1.25″ outer tube diameter is about the same width as the pistol grip. This offers relatively unobstructed use of the gun’s sights. It also allows you to holster the piece in certain carry rigs with the suppressor in place. We committed gun nerds prattle on about pistols and suppressors all the time, but there are precious few ways to actually tote the two together. The Ryder 9-Ti2 can get you there.
The Springfield Armory XD-M Elite OSP Threaded Handgun comes from the factory with a 5.28″ hammer-forged threaded barrel, deep cocking serrations both front and rear, and a truly bilateral ambidextrous pushbutton magazine release. The slide release is replicated on both sides of the gun. The META (Match Enhanced Trigger Assembly) offers an inimitably crisp, fast, and safe striker-fired trigger experience.
What’s brand new nowadays is the factory-mounted HEX Dragonfly electronic optical sight. This compact, lightweight slide-mounted optic provides a wide uncluttered field of view along with an easily-accessed 3.5-MOA red dot. The battery lasts around three years, so you needn’t fret about it unduly. Replace the battery every odd-numbered birthday, and you’re good. Mount up a Streamlight TLR-8G combination light and laser, and the thing hunts like a bloodhound even indoors or in hard dark.
Trigger Time
The positively epic 22-round magazine that feeds the Springfield Armory XD-M Elite OSP Threaded Handgun lasts just about forever. You can get tired of squeezing the trigger before the box runs dry. That’s entertaining on the range. However, out in the Real World the fastest mag change is the one you don’t have to make. The META trigger and optimized everything conspire to create a delightful and effective shooting experience.
The Ryder 9-Ti2 adds very little weight and even less bulk. What added mass there is reaches out forward to help tame recoil and muzzle flip. All centerfire pistol cans are noisy. However, the Ryder 9-Ti2 employs cutting-edge baffle design to excise the snap from those spunky 9mm rounds. Feed the gun 147-gr. subsonic loads and shoot it in a wide-open space and it is surprisingly easy on the ears. Thread it on, and it will do its part to help preserve your hearing and tactical awareness should you ever have to use this rig indoors or within a vehicle.
The Springfield Armory XD-M Elite Tactical OSP runs like a toddler after Toblerone, and the Surefire Ryder 9-Ti2 Sound Suppressor amps up both the sex appeal and tactical efficiency. The Streamlight TLR-8G shreds the darkness while offering truly surgical short-range targeting. The sum total will ably keep you and yours safe come what may. You may not actually be called upon to rescue a supermodel from a Bond-grade supervillain, but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep the proper tools handy, just in case.
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Minute of Mae: Mannlicher 1905
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HOW TO DIE WELL BY WILL DABBS, MD
The hospital can be the site of some of the most powerful of human experiences.
(Source: Daan Stevens, Unsplash)
It was late on a Monday evening at the VA hospital. I had been at it since 6 a.m. and was in for a long night and day. I walked into the dimly lit room and could tell at a glance the man was dying.
His breath came thick and heavy. His chest heaved with the struggle. I called him softly by name. To my surprise, he stiffened slightly. I had mistakenly thought him too far gone for conversation. I soon discerned he was lucid and could answer my questions, albeit only in brief spurts.
He was not an exceptionally old man, but he was clearly spent. A combat veteran of the Korean War, he had been diagnosed with a squamous cell carcinoma of his sinuses five years before. The radiation and chemotherapy had burned out his olfactory and optic nerves, leaving him completely blind and without his sense of smell or taste. He was utterly deaf in one ear and had 70% hearing loss in the other. His salivary glands no longer functioned, so he had to constantly sip from a cup of water. He also had a profound diabetic neuropathy that robbed him of sensation in his hands and feet.
As if that weren’t enough, two years prior his cancer had metastasized to his lungs. Now he lay before me unable to see, taste, smell or feel and only barely able to hear as he drowned incrementally in his own fluids. He was by far the most pitiful human being I had ever imagined.
In pathetic gasps, he told me the details of his medical odyssey. I got to his social history, and he reported two packs of cigarettes a day, daily alcohol consumption and heavy drug use for 35 years. As he clearly did not drink, smoke or do drugs now, I innocently inquired as to when he had stopped those things.
Without hesitation, he gave me a specific date. I asked him what was significant about that day, and he replied, “That’s when I gave my heart to Jesus.”
This opened the floodgates, and he enthusiastically explained the details of his spiritual transformation. He called himself a messianic Jew, claiming Jesus had forever changed his life.
As I listened enraptured, he told me not to feel sorry for him. He said he hated being sick, but because of his illness, he had been able to lead his daughter and one of his chemotherapy nurses to Jesus. He said he could clearly see God’s will in his illness. The strength and confidence he exuded were superhuman.
By the time I finished the interview, we were both exhausted. I checked his medication orders a final time and put him to bed.
In his final hours, the man used his last words to pray for me and my family until he could no longer speak.
The night was busy, something or other requiring my attention throughout the evening. The next morning, I met the man’s wife and daughter and found their faith was up to the challenge.
The day was long, and he gradually declined. By 6 p.m. the next day, I was thoroughly spent but dropped by to check on my sickest patient before heading home.
He was gasping in an oxygen mask, his wife, daughter and a nurse in attendance. I took his hand and explained I was going home for the night. He took a surprisingly firm grasp on my arm and pulled me close, his strongest voice now little more than a whisper. With his other hand he reached up, removed his oxygen mask and immediately began turning blue. With literally his dying breath, the man prayed for me.
He did not pray for me to alleviate his pain or conjure some miraculous cure. Instead, he prayed for me and my ministry in the hospital. He prayed for the well-being of my family. He prayed I might enjoy the abundant life in Christ he had enjoyed. He prayed until he could no longer speak.
I replaced his oxygen mask and slid to the floor, stunned. Right there, in front of him, his family, the VA nurse and God himself, I wept like a child. I weakly thanked him before heading home, now having quite a lot to ponder.
The next morning, I arrived at the hospital early to find his condition worse still. At 10:47, with my arm around his wife’s shoulders, I watched him die. I had known him less than three days, yet I count him among my dearest friends. He showed me how to die well.
I look forward to seeing him again.
Zastava Arms has been in business for 165 years. And thanks to Zastava Arms USA, a number of their guns are imported for us here in the states. One of their new offerings is the M91 Sniper Rifle.
In simple terms, it is a scaled-up Kalashnikov made to accept the larger 7.62x54R cartridge, commonly found in PKM machine guns. It is used as the sniper rifle for the Serbian Military and is now available for you here in the US. The M91 comes complete with the POSP 4×24 Rifle Scope and mount, two (10) round magazines, and a sling.
The rifle itself features a 24″ cold hammer-forged barrel that is chrome-lined for durability. The muzzle is threaded 14×1 left hand, and has a thread protector tac welded for import compliance. This allows you to grind off the weld, remove the thread protector, and put on any muzzle device or suppressor.
The M91 also features a three-position gas tube. The lowest setting is perfect for shooting suppressed while the middle setting is a good all-around setting for most shootings. Then, should the gun be extremely dirty or in harsh cold environments, you can turn it to the last position, ensuring reliability regardless of conditions.
Specs:
- 24 inch Hammer forged chrome lined barrel
- Threaded 14 x 1 left hand with tack weld muzzle nut
- 1.5 mm bulged trunnion receiver
- Ergonomic Stock set
- Chambered in 7.62x54R
- Adjustable gas flow regulator
- Twist rate 1:9
- 2 Magazines Included
- POSP 4X24 RIFLE SCOPE Included
- Rifle sling included
The stock is adjustable as one would expect on a sniper rifle, allowing for the shooter to get stable and comfortable while stretching the M91 out at distance. This Serbian Sniper Rifle is available for purchase through Zastava Arms USA with a MSRP of $3,499.99.
NYC gun violence problem
In the wake of the shooting of two police officers, Mayor Eric Adams, who is himself a retired police officer, outlined a plan to combat illegal firearms and gun violence.
NEW YORK – As New York City has seen many high-profile shootings, including five NYPD officers shot since the start of the new year, the mayor is coming up with a new plan to fight gun violence in NYC.
Mayor Eric Adams said that despite the NYPD taking around 6,000 guns off of the streets last year, new guns are arriving every day.
One solution that he laid out in an address on Monday afternoon was for city police to work with state law enforcement to set up spot checks at all entry points to the city like the Port Authority and other bus and train stations.
When questioned about the gun checks, Adams said he envisioned random checks where bags would be screened.
“We will also move forward on using the latest in technology to identify problems,” Adams said. “From facial recognition technology to new tools that can spot those carrying weapons, we will use every available method to keep our people safe.”
Mayor lays out anti-gun violence strategy
Mayor Eric Adams released a “Blueprint to End Gun Violence” which lays out numerous policy proposals to curb gun violence.
Adams said the city will expand the gun violence suppression division in the detective bureau. It will be tasked to seize illegal guns and build cases against gun sellers and weapons traffickers.
He said that the NYPD will put more officers on patrol in “key neighborhoods” through the city. He said 80% of gun violence takes place in 30 precincts in the city. The mayor said he wants to bring back a new version of NYPD’s plainclothes anti-crime unit, which was disbanded two years ago.
Adams said he would start or expand youth mentoring and employment programs and ask pastors and other faith leaders to deliver public safety messages to their congregations. He also wants more resources for mental health care and said he will focus on appointing city judges who have a “demonstrated commitment” to keeping criminals who use guns off the city streets.
“The sea of violence comes from many rivers,” Adams said. “We must dam every river that feeds this greater crisis.”
Mayor’s plan for curbing illegal guns
New York City Mayor Eric Adams outlined his plan to stem the flow of illegal guns into the city.
In a statement, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (no relation to the mayor) largely supported the mayor’s plan.
“We strongly welcome the mayor’s focus on strengthening community-based violence prevention programs, mental health care, and investments in youth employment,” the speaker said, “and we’re glad these are so central to the plan and conversation, providing a great starting point.”
However, Adrienne Adams cautioned the mayor about bringing back the controversial plainclothes anti-crime unit.
“Concerns have been raised in communities about the plainclothes unit’s ability to reduce violence, given its past history of initiating undue violence,” the speaker said. “This proposal — along with others to change city and state criminal justice policies — requires further public dialogue and transparency.”
On Sunday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that a multi-state task force would work to slow the flow of illegal guns into the city.
“Too many lives have been lost because of illegal firearms that should never have been on our streets,” Hochul said.
Mayor Adams: Gun checkpoints
New York City Mayor Eric Adams elaborated on his proposal to have spot-checks for illegal weapons at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and on trains and buses coming into the city.
More than 50 agencies from nine Northeastern states are taking part in the task force.
NYPD Officer Jason Rivera, 22, was killed responding to a mother’s call for help with her son in Harlem on Friday night. His partner Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, remained in critical condition on Monday.
Adams, a former NYPD captain, joined the governor in calling on the federal government to do more to round up stolen guns like the one used in Friday’s shooting.
Other high profiles crimes in the city since the start of the year include a 19-year-old teen who was killed while working at an East Harlem Burger King and an 11-month old baby shot in the head while she was in her mother’s arms.
With FOX 5 NY Staff and The Associated Press.
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