If you were following Caleb Giddings on Facebook, or your name is Robb Allen you’d already know. Inside the pretty Colt blue box is nothing other than the king of 10mm handguns, a Colt Delta Elite. Which I’m not keeping, because on Monday it’s heading out via FedEx to the aforementioned Robb Allen for him to review for GunUp. Just messing around with the gun yesterday almost made me keep it; it has the proper grips, the old school 3-dot sights, round commander hammer, the whole 9 yards.

Slide to frame fit was nice and tight, and as befits the 10mm round, the recoil spring was…sturdy to say the least. For a full review though, you’re going to have to wait for Robb to get done with it.

Photo from Insights Training Center

It seems most of the public underestimates the importance of having a good instructor. Actual experts like Caleb or Praetor Defense’s Darrion Holiwell are not only amazing shooters, they are amazing teachers. Well reputed schools such as Insights Training Center or GunSite Academy hire excellent instructors with real world experience and a passion for guns and teaching.

It’s important to know who is teaching you and what their credentials really are. Learning from a friend or loved one may be more “comfortable” for many people, but it falls on us as friends and loved ones to ensure that the person who is trying to learn to shoot is learning from the best. Not only does this ensure a positive early experience but it ensures that new shooters are learning the right way from experienced instructors who have training techniques, ways to help people remember the proper way to shoot, experience with diagnosing problems and great practice drills to help shooters improve even after the lesson is finished.

I’ve seen people who are extremely nervous around firearms and they can be the most difficult ones to get training for. I have seen people at the range crying from fear or emotion either from the firearms themselves or from past experiences that learning to defend themselves may remind them of. In these particular cases it’s even more important to get a private professional trainer, not only are these people experienced with working through these emotions but they can ensure a positive first experience and that’s huge. I have also seen the importance of a loved one being present during these training sessions. Since they are emotionally stressful having someone who knows and understands the emotions they are going through can really help stressed out first-time shooters work through their fears.

It’s important for shooters to get good instruction early on, and having a professional instructor can go a long way to teaching people not only the proper way to handle firearms but the best ways to continue to improve.

Before beginning the test, my Gen4 Glock 21 was detail stripped, thoroughly cleaned, reassembled, lubricated, and inspected by a certified Glock armorer. The Gen4 Glock 21 had previously fired 2726 rounds, and malfunctioned once, when it failed to extract an underloaded round of Remington UMC FMJ ammo. Here are the details from this week’s testing:

• Rounds fired this week: 150
• Rounds fired total to date: 150
• Malfunctions: 0

I’ll be the first person to admit that 150 rounds is statistically meaningless, since the goal is 300 times larger than the amount we shot yesterday.  However, all journeys begin somewhere, and so it was fitting that this one started small.  I ran the Gen4 Glock 21 through a fairly standard series of drills from 5 and 7 yards, including the Hackathorn Head Shot Standards, a new 43 round evaluation that I wanted to try, and a few other drills.  Ejection was consistent, the steel all landed about 4-8 feet to my right and behind me at almost exactly a 45 degree angle.

One note about the ammo is that it felt very soft in the shooting; I shot it back to back with some PMC 230 grain FMJ which was my previous gold standard for soft shooting factory ammo, and the TulAmmo .45 ACP was much softer shooting.  As mentioned above, the factory states it’s loaded to 850 FPS, next week we’re going to put it over a chrony and see exactly what kind of velocity we’re actually getting out if it.  The rounds weren’t excessively smokey or dirty, and actually left my gun a lot cleaner visually than a similar volume of PMC would have.

Next week we should be able to get a much more significant volume of rounds downrange.

So, when big time trainers talk about the value of airsoft as a training tool, it’s worth taking a look at. I also know some fairly successful USPSA GMs that recommend airsoft for practice, with several caveats. I also know quite a few competition shooters that don’t recommend airsoft at all for improving your shooting game, and I fall in the latter camp.

Since running around in MARPAT wearing a shemagh and a helmet while playing with toy guns isn’t exactly my idea of fun, I generally look askance at the dedicated “airsofters” that spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on what, to me anyway appear to be toys. But all that aside, my honest problem is that there isn’t anything that I can allegedly do with airsoft that I can’t do with dry fire. The only advantage to airsoft over dry fire is that it’s probably less boring than dry fire, but that’s about it.

Maybe I’m suffering from a bit of tunnel vision on this one, but I honestly believe that for training benefit you’re better off with dry fire than you are with airsoft. You’d be far better served in my opinion with a SIRT Pistol and a dedicated training program than airsoft.

However, that’s not to say that airsoft is without benefits, because it really shines in proper force-on-force training. Many reputable trainers and schools use airsoft guns to simulate self defense engagements and other tactical exercises that would otherwise be impossible with traditional firearms. Ultimately, that seems like the most natural fit for airsoft is in CQB force on force training; impacts cause actual pain which is a deterrent to prevent you from sticking your head where it shouldn’t be. Simunitions would be better, but are not readily available to non-military/LEO purchasers.

If you’re dead set on using airsoft as a training tool for practical shooting, here are some general guidelines I’d use:

• Make sure the airsoft gun has the exact same manual of arms as the gun you shoot for real.  If the airsoft gun does something that your real gun doesn’t do, or doesn’t mimic an important function like the slide release, throw it in the trash.
• Have a plan.  I own an airsoft gun.  I was going to use it as a training tool.  I ended up doing 20 round mag dumps in the garage while laughing manically because it was a boatload of fun.  I didn’t get a lot of “value” out of that.
• Make sure the trigger on the airsoft gun feels roughly similar to the trigger on your gun.  If you’re used to pulling a 3.5 Glock trigger with a rolling break, and your airsoft clone has a 12 lb gritty-as-gravel trigger, it’s not going to be as valuable.

Like I said, I’m just not sold on the concept of airsoft as a training tool for practical shooting.  Maybe it’s all the mall ninja-ness that surrounds the airsoft game, maybe it’s because I’d rather shoot a .22 or dry fire, but it’s just not for me.  Your mileage may vary.

The semi-automatic magazine-fed 12 gauge shotgun has a magazine release, manual safety and carry handle designed to replicate the M16. This makes the firearm easy to use for anyone who is even basically familiar with the functions of the AR platform. The Akdal MKA1919 comes stock with a 47 cm (18.5″) barrel and only weighs 6.5 lbs empty.

I had the opportunity to shoot one at Media Day on the Range at SHOT Show this year and I ended up dragging my entourage friends back to see it because it was that much fun to shoot. The recoil impulse was extremely managable, sure it pushed me around a bit when I did a mag dump but I also should have gotten down lower on the gun before trying that. I was hitting birds with ease though I’ve been out of the clay pigeon game for a couple years now. Most importantly, though, I couldn’t stop smiling. It was too cool, it was too much fun.

The gun I was shooting at Media Day was their 3-gun build. It had a giant muzzle brake on the end, was painted with skulls, had a full rail system and an EOTech mounted on the top of it. Shooting clay birds with an EOTech is cheating, there’s no real way around it but it’s awesome cheating. Kind of like being the banker in Monopoly but there’s a 12 gauge shotgun and an EOTech involved.

As if actually managing to find something at SHOT Show that made me giggle wasn’t insult enough, I come home to find out the boss at West Coast Armory now has boxes of  MKA 1919s laying around. The chances of me buying one of these seems to be increasing exponentially.

The music is from Good Feeling by Flo Rida. This video is the result of me looking for ways to improve “match videos” with music and effects, I never planned on publishing it but I liked the result quite a bit.

In a show full of black rifles, awesome shotguns, and all sorts of high speed low drag gear, the one product that made me stand for just a minute was Don Johnson’s shoulder rig from Miami Vice. The only way it could have been better would have been if there was a Ferrari Testarossa to go with it. Galco actually has a few actors that specifically request their gear for movies; Bruce Willis had them make a special left-handed shoulder rig for Die Hard 4, Don Johnson used their gear for Miami Vice and Nash Bridges, Nick Cage uses Galco gear in most of his good movies, and of course the finest hour for Galco was their gear adorning the belt of the one and only Walker, Texas Ranger. Which was the best TV show ever made. Period.

For the revolver shooter comes the N-Strike Maverick
, a tactical spin on the traditional revolver. The Maverick’s unique loading system allows for faster reloading and the mil-spec picatinny rail allows for revoloperators to mount their ACOG for 4x zoom on this innovated single-action revolver design.

For those who are looking for a higher magazine capacity in their carry guns comes the N-Strike Barricade RV-10
. Another interesting spin on the traditional revolver, the Barricade Blaster is a 10-round capacity semi-automatic revolver. The unique design also includes a tactical rail for those who wish to mount a scope and has an optional rail attachment that will reduce the carry capability but make the firearm easy to shoot for those who are more interested in a range toy or home defense firearm than a carry gun.

The N-Strike line also includes a new competition gun, specifically designed for the USPSA Limited shooter in your life. Combine the “acceleration trigger” with the 18 round magazine capacitythe Rayven CS-18
and Limited shooters have finally found an ideal out-of-the-box gun that MSRPs well under $300. The Rayven CS-18 has a unique “glow-in-the-dark” capability that will leave a glowing trail behind your rounds, a great training tool for those who want to see exactly where their rounds are going.

Also included in the N-Strike line is a series of tactical rifles. The Recon CS-6 has a series of parts so that you can design the rifle however you would like it. The extendable barrel and optional shoulder stock can alter the gun so that all purchasers can remain in accordance with state laws. The Recon CS-6 comes stock with a dual-mode light and laser sighting system making it ideal for low-light settings and has a flip-up front sight specifically designed for rapid target acquisition for use during the day.

The N-Strike Longstrike is N-Strike’s distance rifle. With firing power that can extend out to 35 feet, the Longstrike includes an optional barrel extension to improve distance accuracy and a tactical rail system perfect for mounting any distance scope.

N-Strike’s tactical shotgun line includes the Deploy CS-6 bullpup pump gun and the modular Raider CS-35, and seems to be more geared toward “fun range toys” than practical home defense guns. Both guns include a purposefully designed slam fire stock, that will allow the guns to fire if the trigger is held to the rear and the action is pumped.

The Deploy CS-6 is a magazine-fed bullpup with a six round capacity. The Deploy CS-6 is also unique in it’s carry handle design. The carry handle on the top of the gun is topped with a tactical rail and the gun is designed to be sighted from the top of the carry handle. I’m not sure how you’re supposed to shoot the gun, but it’s a magazine-fed bullpup with a purposefully designed slam-fire stock so it probably shouldn’t be designed to be held properly.

The Raider CS-35 comes stock with a drum magazine that is mounted on the side of the gun. Holding up to 35 rounds, the Raider CS-35 is the highest-capacity firearm in the N-Strike line. The unique side-mounted drum magazine is windowed, allowing the shooter to monitor ammunition levels while sighted in on target.

With something for everyone, remember: It’s Nerf or Nothin’.

Right now, we don’t have a name (or a category) for it, which is why we’re taking suggestions from the readers on what you want us to call our steel ammo test. I really wanted to call it “the Steel Challenge”, but that’s obviously already taken. I was thinking about an homage to my favorite youtube channel and calling “Epic Steel Time” which is the name I’m going to go with unless we get a better suggestion in the comments.

The goal of the test is to take an objective look at steel cased ammo and bust the myths that surround it.  Here are some of the things you hear on the internet about steel cased ammo:

• It wears your extractor out faster – to test this, each of our two test guns will have a different extractor.  One will have a factory Glock extractor, the other will have a Lone Wolf extractor.  We’ll use science (in the form of calipers) the measure the extractor before we install it and then measure it again every 5000 rounds.
• It’s dirtier – my theory about this claim is that it is mostly made by the sort of people who insist on cleaning their guns every range trip.
• It’s not reliable – the problem with this statement is that the people usually saying it don’t have an objective standard of reliability.  We’re going to use the mean rounds between failure metric (MRBF) to determine reliability.  The military standard for MRBF is 1:2500, which means that the gun cannot fail more than an average of once every 2500 rounds, or 0.04% of the time.  Over the course of the initial 2500 rounds of traditional brass cased ammo, the Glock has had exactly 1 failure, due to an under-loaded round of Remington UMC.

Each week, we’ll have a summary of the rounds fired, issues encountered, accuracy tests, drill results, the usual reporting, but with an eye towards the steel cased ammo.  To my knowledge no one has done a significantly high round count test with steel cased ammo in a pistol, so I’m excited to be breaking new ground here at Gun Nuts.  Submit your names for the test in the comments, and the best one will win a prize of awesome value!

• The slide is going on a diet – You’ve seen the radical slide cuts we’re doing to this gun, which puts us squarely into “theoretical” territory. The goal is to make the slide lighter without compromising its strength…but I’ll be the first person to put any kind of serious rounds through a gun with the Star Wars Slide Cut.

Why is making the slide light so important?  At the highest level of competition, Limited GMs are routinely pulling 0.18 splits with 1911 style pistols, and I don’t believe that there’s any reason we can’t make the Glock cycle even faster.  While the .45 ACP isn’t the highest pressure cartridge ever, with a 15 lb recoil spring it should push that slide pretty quick.

Sadly, until I get the finished product in and start putting rounds through it, it’s all theoretical.  But man, it sure is fun theory.