BigFreddie

Thanks for the help... I guess I should admit I've never owned a revolver. I've shot a good number of them. I really grew up shooting auto-loaders. And I'm really biased right now towards the M&P series from Smith and Wesson. I've got a 9mm that I have 2000 rounds through without cleaning and no malfunctions... BF

Guns – A Primer Here’s my two cents worth on guns… I’ve been shooting and hunting the last 21 years of my life. I’ve shot competitively in the Air Force, participated in IPSC, IDPS, and AASA shoots in numerous states, taken several classes from nationally recognized firearms instructors, and generally have been a gun-nerd for years. My wife will tell you I spend all too much time thinking about guns, reading about guns, and shooting my guns… Anyhow, I always see a lot of folks asking questions about which is the best gun for this or that. So I’m going to throw out some things I think are important. Handguns: The first questions to ask yourself or the person getting it is – what are you going to use it for? Target shooting? Self Defense or Home Defense? Collecting? Competitions? Each of these will generate a different answer – if you’re target shooting you might want to consider the gun with the cheapest ammo available like a .22 LR. For defensive purposes you want a gun that is reliable and effective. For competitions you might want to research the rules of the game before buying. If you are a novice handgunner with little experience it is worth the time and effort to find a local range or gun shop that rents handguns. You will get hands on experience with a variety of guns that will be invaluable when you ultimately select what you want. In my experiences, nothing beats shooting a gun to find out if you actually like it – you will find that sometimes guns don’t fit your hand, the recoil is too “snappy”, that the guns doesn’t point correctly. It is much better to find out that you don’t like a pistol before you buy it than after you get it – this will cost extra in the long-run when you sell the old one and buy new. Revolvers vs. Auto-Loaders/Semi-Autos. There are numerous pros and cons with this dilemma. Revolvers are inherently reliable and some people believe they are safer than semi-auto handguns. That being said, their ammunition capacity is much lower and reloading is also considerably slower. Semi-autos have been successfully used for years – the 1911 is not named that just because it is a cool number – it has been around for almost 100 years! Semi-autos are reliable and widely used by the police and military. Me, I’ll take a semi-auto any day. Caliber. First, bullets are described primarily by size – either in fractions of an inch or millimeters. Since we are generally more in tune with inches, consider the 9mm as a .38 caliber bullet. The rest are usually designated in inches. This is likely a heated debate whenever it is brought up. For semi-auto handguns the main calibers are 9mm (also called 9mm Parabellum, 9x19, 9mm NATO), .40 SW (Smith and Wesson), and .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol). These are all widely accepted for police and military use. With today’s modern bullets each is a viable self defense round that should allow everyone to sleep soundly at night. Other factors here to consider are recoil (9mm lightest, .40 SW mid-range, and .45 ACP is the worst) and cost (same scale as recoil!). This again is a good reason to test-fire different pistols before buying. Revolvers can come in many other calibers – some of the most popular being .38 Special, .357 Magnum, all the way up to .500 Smith and Wesson. I would suggest a minimum of a .38 Special for self defense. One of the unique aspects of revolvers is that they sometimes can fire two different calibers. In the case of the .357 Magnum, you can also fire .38 Specials – which are essentially a shorter, less powerful version of the .357. Here are some suggestions about handguns: Glocks – these are great guns. There are reports of people shooting over 100,000 rounds of ammo through these guns with nary a malfunction or broken part – that is $20,000 in ammo through a $400 gun! They are relatively cheap ($400 to $600 depending on caliber and options), widely available, and use cheap magazines ($20 each or so). These make excellent plinkers, home defense guns, and competition guns. Glock also has a very impressive military and law enforcement discount – nominally around $100 off. Smith and Wesson M&P – these are some up and coming pistols made in the US of A. Similar in design to the Glock, they differ in the fact that you can swap the grip panels to better fit your hand. They have been increasingly purchased by police departments and have been gaining in popularity. The venerable 1911 – this is one of the greatest pistols ever designed. This is typically the standard against all others are judged. It is perhaps the perfect combination or ergonomics, caliber, and overall design. That being said, it can be a finicky pistol and with the multitude of companies building them now some lack in quality. As a general rule of thumb if you stick with Springfield Armory or Kimber you will do fairly well. On the high-end of the 1911 game you can expect to pay well over $2500 for the top of the line gun from a custom gun maker. Others: Sig-Sauer: great company with a wide variety of handguns. Very high quality with an associated higher price. Used by the military as the M11 to include USAF OSI and USN Navy SEALs. Heckler and Koch: Considered one of the top manufacturers in the world. Prices are high on guns and magazines. Exceedingly tough pistols. Springfield XD series: I won’t comment on these since I have no experience with them. Most people really like theirs and swear by them. Beretta: US military standard issue. Considered a great gun that beat out others when the military was looking for a new handgun in the 1980s. Rifles: There are a lot of good rifles out there. Two of the most popular are the AR-15 series and the AK family. These two rifles have become very popular in the last few years with a huge number of companies building and importing them. AR-15 Series: The AR-15 has been in military service for over 40 years. It can be had in many, many different versions from full out tactical military variety to a highly accurate varmint rig. Some companies are better than others with Colt being the most highly-regarded company but also has the highest cost for a basic rifle. You can buy from other companies for less money but it will cost in the form of long term reliability and overall quality. If you want to really get into the weeds of the AR-15 log into www.ar-15.com or www.M4Carbine.com and be ready to be overwhelmed. That being said, here is the order of priority I would buy an AR-15 in today: 1) Colt 2) BCM (Bravo Company Manufacturing) 3) LMT (Lewis Machine and Tool) 4) Knight’s Armament Company 5) Charles Daly 6) Bushmaster 7) Rock River Armament 8) Remington 9) Armalite 10) DPMS 11) Other ARs are highly customizable – from caliber to barrel to optics there is no peer to the versatility of the AR. You can buy upper receivers chambered in .22LR, .204 Ruger, .223 Remington, 6.8 SPC, .458 SOCOM, .50 Beowolf, .450 Bushmaster, 9mm, .40 SW, .45 ACP – and many others I’m sure I missed. You can also get ARs chambered in 7.62x51mm – aka .308 Winchester which opens up a whole new world of options. AK Family: Designed by a former tank farmer the ak series is the most prolific firearm in history with a likely number produced exceeeding 50 million copies! The AK has a reputation of being utterly reliable but less than stellar accuracy and ergonomics. AKs can now be had in 3 different calibers: 7.62x39mm (the original AK caliber), the 5.45x39mm (the answer to the American 5.56x45mm), and finally the 5.56x45mm (for American consumption and NATO compliance). Some benefits of the AK over the AR is that ammo is generally cheaper and so are the guns themselves. There are three common versions available: AK-47 style which has a milled receiver, the AKM which has a stamped receiver, and the AK-74 that is chambered in 5.45x39mm with a stamped receiver. Today there are many versions available in the US from companies importing them from Europe to other companies importing parts kit from Europe and building them with American parts. Rules of thumb with the AK are: 1) Don’t buy American made ammunition – it is more expensive than European and Chinese ammo but is not any better 2) Buy only non-American built magazines – for some reason the former-commies figured out how to make utterly reliable magazines but Americans haven’t been able to improve on them or bring the cost down at all. 3) If you are buying an AK make sure your front sights are correctly aligned – some are canted and make it impossible to shoot to the desired point of aim. If you are looking for a good AK and are willing to pay a little bit more, buy an Arsenal, Inc. rifle. Their current selections are available in 7.62 and 5.56. If you want the bargain basement model look at the WASR – built in Romania and imported to the US, they run about $400 +/- $50. They are what an AK should be – reliable and straight ugly! They’ll get the job done all day long for a few bucks.

I would look into an LMT (Lewis Machine and Tool) lower with a BCM (Bravo Company) upper and bolt carrier group. It will run about $1000 but will last a lifetime of use because they will build it right. Of the two you mentioned I would buy the Bushmaster before the Armalite. BF

There is no doubt in my mind that an Obama/Biden presidency would target guns in one form or another. Obama has a very strong and distinct record of wanting to ban any and all guns - all the way through his days as a community organizer and state senator in Illinois. Biden was one of the people who authored the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban as well. That being said, I think there are other things on their plates they will have to address first, if elected, before tackling the subject of guns in the US. First - have you looked at .308 ammo prices? The prices on it have really gone up in the last year - over double. Second - I am not a huge fan of the SOCOM - you start to deviate away from the original you are bound to have problems. Also, Springfield has more or less run out of USGI original M-14 parts and is now mostly using their inferior grade cast reproduction parts. I would shy away from current production Springfields if at all able to. I am honestly looking at picking up an old Poly-Tech or Norinco M14S because they use a nicer forged receiver than the Springfield. Swap out some parts and you'd have a superior gun. As for the Armalite - I've read a lot of negative stuff about their .308s. I would stay away. For an evil-black .308 you might want to look at DSA Arms and their FALs. I really like the ergonomics of the FAL. The DSA prices are reasonable and are high quality. BF

Look at these as well: Glock 26 - 9mm, 10 rounds Sig P239 - 9mm, 8 rounds Smith and Wesson 3913 - 9mm Kahr PM9 - 9mm Revolvers Smith and Wesson 342 - .38 Special (neat package with 135gr +P Gold Dots and a Crimson Trace laser grips - big dollars at that point) Smith and Wesson 649 - .38 Special again... BF

M2, Nice additions! Are they from the gun show? The old 1911s are a tough gun to beat! I can't believe in the last 100 years we're still comparing everything to John Browning's masterpiece... What mags are you running them with? If you want to run a light on the Operator I would suggest the Surefire X300 - there is a place called BrightFlashlights that sells them very cheap with a military discount - all Surefires for that matter. I've actually never seen them cheaper than through him. I took a class last year with a well-known instructor and this is what he said during our training on malfunctions: "If you have a true ball of shit, which means if you’ve shot a 1911 for more than about a half hour, then this is how you clear the malfunction…” And he's one of the most sought after 1911 gunsmiths in the world. His builds bring almost $10,000 and they are strictly utilitarian and not engraved with a ton of gold! BF

Has anyone else seen the new memo from AFFSA about sunglasses? It is floating around the squadron here. Bottom-line - no "civilian" sunglasses in the cockpit anymore only the approved, NSN'd types. No more Oakleys... Doesn't AFFSA have anything better to do? BF

Flying the NATS one night on 123.45... United (male voice): "Hey, Delta ###, when you gettin' in tonight?" Delta ### (female voice): "United I'll be in before you. Want to meet up?" - and she sounds niiiice... United (male voice): "Sure, I'll see you at the hotel." Unknown #1 (male voice): "What hotel?" Unknown #2 (male voice): "Can I come too?" ---- The pattern around Abilene/Dyess on 243.0 Unknown: "This f!cking radio won't work." Tower: "YOU ARE TRANSIMITTING ON GUARD!" Unknown: "I can't believe this radio is so f!cked up. F!ck this thing." Tower: "YOU ARE ON GUARD. CHECK YOUR RADIO." And it went on for about 5 minutes... ---- Student in T-1s gives their entire "practice emergency separation" briefing over ABQ's freq - ending with "any questions?" ABQ Center: "Yeah. Can I have my frequency back now?" ---- And the "8 out" thing is really stupid...

I honestly have never really gotten into the XD craze. I keep hearing their new M model is the heat though. I know Bud's has really great prices on all the other guns I've been interested in. Remember about gun shows - Texas (and San Antonio in particular) has great gun shows - other states have one a year that is a quarter of what the Saxet shows are once a month! Glock's program is very good - they must be scared of the newer polymer guns. I think even EMTs can get the discount. I've got the info for the San Antonio dealer if you're interested. Drury's on the SE side of town... And thanks for the help on the link! BF

If you're going for cheap - you can't beat the Glock. The military discount gets the basic models (9/40s) down to $400. Upgraded night sights will cost about another $75. And the big bores (.45/10mm) cost about $500. You can call Glock and find out what local dealers have these specials or you can order through Glock and have it delivered to your local dealer. An excellent source for great prices is Bud's Gun Shop - I've dealt with them before and they have excellent customer service and their prices are very, very hard to beat without a lot of searching and effort... BF

You sir are correct - I was just looking into his history the other day and got his name mixed up... Other good books: "Cheating Death" - great Vietnam story about A-1 Skyraiders "Above the Treetops" - O-1 pilot's story

I flew C-5s for a few years and I am headed back shortly... Most load masters were pretty young - you can end up in the load master pipeline pretty quickly out of basic. Many of our loads were 18 and 19 years old. On the other hand, the FEs were a bit older - the youngest one was a SrA and he was the saltiest crew dog I ever met. Most engineers were older because they were required to have a maintenance background which took a long while to develop. FEs are super smart when it comes to the systems of the C-5 and there is a lot to know. Their pipeline is long and much of the training is done on the road and flying the line versus in the school house. As for which would benefit you more for being a pilot - I think the FE would have a slight edge because they get to see what the pilots are doing and get ultra-familiar with systems - lets face it if you can master the systems on a C-5 you can master darn near any system out there... BF

No books on the Germans? "The Blond Knight of Germany" - Erich Hartmann - only 352 kills in three years of flying for Germany. Great book covering his WWII exploits, his 10 1/2 years in the Gulags and then his fight against the F104 in the German Air Force. "The First and the Last" - Adolf Galland - only 104 kills - German "General of the Fighters" at age 30 - great insight into the fall of an air force. "Masters of the Air" - ??? - an account of the 8th Air Force in WWII - talks of their heroism and their losses which were greater than the entire US Marine Corps in WWII. "With the Old Breed" - E.B. Sledge - view of the invasions of Pelieu and Okinawa from a private - one of the best books about the war in the Pacific. "SOG" - John Plaster - if you liked Black Hawk Down or We Were Soldiers you'll love this book. About Army/AF/Navy special ops in Vietnam. Lots of great stories about heroic people against huge odds. "Lone Survivor" - Marcus Luttrell - great book - no more to add but that Lt Murphy did receive the MOH for his actions that day. I'm also looking into books about Ernest Udet from WWII - the most highly decorated person in the German military in WWII - flew 2500+ combat missions and at the end did it all on one leg. BF

You might want to look at the Smith and Wesson M&P series. My 9mm feels similar in the hand as compared to a Sig 229. They have a pretty decent selection of them in 9/40/45. Their "compact" .45 looks really nice right now for a large caliber pistol. They are also very light. As for reliability I'm also following a good thread on a professional shooter putting 50,000 rounds through a 9mm M&P in six months - at the 36,000 round mark he broke a spring in the trigger. Mine has been great through 2,000 rounds with no hiccups to speak of. To get the most out of your gun you might want to invest in some training... There are great instructors out there that can show you ways to shoot your pistol much better. I went to a class with an ex-Army SF guy that was very, very good. I learned lots even though I have been shooting for over 20 years and have been on several competition teams... BF

UPT at DLF - it was the week of my drop. A neighbor in the dorms came over and I turned on the TV just minutes before the second jet hit. We got recalled to the squadron and watching the T-37s, T-38s, and T-1s returning enmass was a little disturbing. We started flying after a couple days with a ton of "unknown rider" calls over guard. Lots of folks in my class went heavies to avoid being away from family in the fighter world. Lots changed that day. A few months later I was flying OEF support... And the rest is boring history... BF

Things to remember in the .45 vs 9mm debate: The 9mm MIGHT expand to .7" or so, but the .45 will never get smaller. The key is really being a competent shooter - if you can't hit anything with your .45 it really doesn't matter. I'm shooting a Smith and Wesson M&P in 9mm right now and I've shot it well since I first fired it - much easier to learn to shoot than the Glock series for me. Anyone in the market for a new handgun should have the M&P series on their list of prospective handguns... Shotguns - get an 870. I've seen a couple Mossbergs break in the trigger group because they were plastic! 870s are easy to find, relatively cheap and there are aftermarket parts for them everywhere. The one thing anyone serious about home defense with a shotgun must have is the Federal 00 buck with the FliteControl wad - that will keep all your pellets on target out to around 25 yards... As far as AR vs. Sig 556 - I'd take an AR. Similar to the 870 in that they are pretty easy to find, some are cheap (buyer beware), and you can customize them with a huge array of parts... If I could only buy on AR it would be either a Colt or an LMT. Just my $.02 though... BF

Our CC and DO were talking about this as well. Their briefing was that staff positions over the last two assignment cycles have been 37% and 9% filled. The upcoming cycle will only be 3% filled. They said if you have wings on your chest you'd better plan on being in a flying job for at least the next 4 to 5 years. Not all bad in my book... BF

I just can't wait to ops loss a line because all those not on the schedule are in blues with no flight suit in sight... Glad my blues are in order - I'd be screwed if I had to wear BDUs or whatever the new one is...