It is great that we generally wear more concealing clothes and can move away from a summer (small) gun to a bigger or fullsize, but I see but see  little on how to carry when you have to actually spend time outside.

Traditional holster logic doesn't really work. OWB, IWB works fine for when you are just going out to your car or smoking in the parking lot, but it is not the same when you are out for hours (or longer).

You still have to access the pistol if you need it. Not so easy under your multiple layers of clothing and winter jacket. Yeah, I can conceal my 1006 or a fullsize 1911 under my winter coat, but can I get to it without unzipping 3 jackets or spend 5 minutes of fishing through clothing layers to get to it?

Here is what has and  hasn't worked for me:

IWB - clearly inside the waist isn't really going to work very well.

OWB (outside belt holster) - this might work if you can put the pistol only under your winter coat. I have considered getting a "duty belt" or a Wilderness to supplement my regular belt. You could wear it over all of your layers.

It would be great if you had a patrol jacket, like 5.11's, where there are actually snaps for quick access to a sidearm. I don't own any of these...yet.

shoulder holster - actually resizing this to go over all of the layers of clothes and under your main coat works pretty good. You still have to unzip it for access it, but is fairly comfortable. You don't have to worry about printing since you already look like a marshmellow.

ankle holster - depends on the type of pants and weather. Trekking around outside (at least around here) even if there is no snow usually results in wet pants and wet backup pistol. Not so easy to access when dressed like the Micheli-man...

man bag - I will be darned but I have found that increasing the strap size of my Maxpedition to fit over everything including the winter coat works REALLY well. Still gives very quick access to the pistol and quick carry of other things like a flashlight (since it gets dark befor 5pm now).

jacket pockets - my ski jacket had pretty good front pockets that were perfect for a mini-Glock or J-frame. My current favorite jacket is a Columbia 3-in-1 that has cavernous zippered hand pockets. I suspect mini-Glocks will work and possibly bigger.

If you have any ideas, I have missed let me know. Keep in mind that for me it has to be concealed so drop or offset holsters won't work.

glock_armorers_manual_update

just because  I am taking the course next month :)

Ah, silly former Mayor Nickels. I blog about this because I specifically wrote the former Mayor's office explaining that I would not violate his (illegal) ordinance banning firearms (even legal state licensed concealed pistol holders) and I therefore would not visit Seattle.

The irony was, I explained, that I was a law abiding citizen and would follow even his illegal law. On the other hand he was a political leader passing laws that he knew was illegal -- the city ban of firearms was illegal by violating state preemption.  The city was even told this by the Attorney General).

Seattle had already lost their court case about this but amazingly still decided to appeal it! Well, the appeals court has ruled what we already knew - a handgun ban CLEARLY is in violation of the RCW. The STATE preempts the entire field of firearms. DUH!

What a waste of tax payer money!
It may still be a long time before I set foot in Seattle or spend any money there, but if I do at least I will be able to legally carry my pistol without worrying about a renegade mayor's illegal gun bans.

http://www.king5.com/news/cities/seattle/Appeals-court-upholds-decision-voiding-Seattles-gun-ban-132966428.html

ROTC programs return to Ivy League universities.

About time. The fact that the ROTC programs were banned is outrageous.
My first M16 (A1s!) and only M60 experience was in college Army ROTC.

Folks have been wondering about the CCW reciprocity provision of the new CCW laws. The list is now available! Interestingly, some of the states which WI will honor do not have the 4 hour mandatory training for WI residents that was approved as "emergency" rules (and now the actual law). Non-residents will be able to CCW without the training requirement while WI residents will have to to take it.

Sorry, WI residents can only CCW with a WI CCW license!

This list is current as of 10/18/11:

Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

**Wisconsin residents must have a Wisconsin concealed carry license**

Also note the new CCW laws do not take effect until Nov 1, 2011!

 

This is from: http://www.doj.state.wi.us/dles/cib/ConcealedCarry/ConcealedCarry.asp

I saw no non-resident restriction, and it is interesting to see Utah on the list, but NOT Florida.

Just in time for Halloween, Christmas (good gift?), return of AMC's "Walking Dead" and TEOTWAWKI?

For those that haven't seen Hornady's new Z-MAX (Zombie Max) ammo (website also has a cool video of someone shooting zombies which I am attaching here).

The website says:

Hornady® Zombie Max™ ammunition is NOT a toy (IT IS LIVE AMMUNITION), but is intended only to be used on…ZOMBIES, also known as the living dead, undead, etc. No human being, plant, animal, vegetable or mineral should ever be shot with Hornady® Zombie Max™ ammunition. Again, we repeat, Hornady® Zombie Max™ ammunition is for use on ZOMBIES ONLY, and that's not a nickname, phrase or cute way of referring to anybody, place or thing. When we say Zombies, we mean…ZOMBIES!

VIDEO:
zombie-max-web

Here are a couple of screen shots...

and the specs...

Looks like Critical Defense with a different plug.

I know that some of the pics are missing. I am working on it. In the meantime, to the left is the link to my flickr page with the latest 200 pics. Unorganized, but they are all there.
Sorry. I did get new tires though.

So, I am still in the market for a  Gen4 Glock 23 to match my Gen3 model 23 and 27. I have a pretty good assortment of holsters and the ability to use the same ones is somewhat important.

One of my favorites is the CompTac CTAC. Boy, that thing is thin! However, on their website it says that the CTAC will not fit Gen4's due to the dust cover. Surprised, I took my CTAC down to my local shop and had them stuff a Gen4 23 into it. It fit! YAY! Just thought I would share. If it is a concern stick it in and see if it fits.

Now, since I am talking Gen4's I thought I would point out that all of the current ones are coming with a(nother) revised recoil spring assembly and a new connector (people are calling it the . (dot) connector. Supposedly, it gives the pistols the feel of a broken in Gen3. YAY! I was a little put off by the first Gen4 triggers.

For current owners with pre-change pistols, supposedly Glock is being very good about sending replacement parts under warranty. Kudos to them!

Yeah, I know, buy a Gen4 already! Got to get some winter tires first.

I keep hearing rumors about transponders (like RFID) in pistols. But here is an interesting note in the new Walther PPQ manual:

Definitely being sold in Europe though. hmm...

Ok, non-believers (some people still don't believe they exist) here is a pic of WVSP's new S&W 4566TSW Melonite w/ Rail! It is from this smith-wessonforum thread.

The sku for the new pistol is 108263. So, if you are interested please contact S&W or possibly special run distributors (like Lew Horton) and let them know (I did). If they run them, I will buy one!