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Rifle Links

Kalashnikov Rifles

AK-47 From Wikipedia

Assault Web – Discussion forum for battle rifles including AK-47

Choosing The Right Magazine For Your Kalashnikov

The Kalashnikov Site

Kalashnikov AK-47 and AKM assault rifles (USSR)

Kalashnikov Home Page – AK Site. Kalashnikov Arms Catalog. From AK-47 to AK-100

Red Star Arms – Interesting Add-On and Replacement parts for AK’s and other guns.

AR-15/M-16 Rifles

AR15.com – AR-15 resources and discussion forum

Welcome to ArmaLite, Inc. — A History of Innovation – The developers of the AR-15

Fulton Armory – AR-15 Stuff, Garand Stuff, and More! – Fulton Armory specializes exclusively in the AR-15, M14/M1A, M1 Garand & M1 Carbine. It’s all we do! We offer world class rifles, services, parts, accessories, tools, gauges, books, everything you need.

SKS Rifles

SKS Disassembly – Disassembly and cleaning of the SKS 7.62 x 39 rifle. We have a series of detailed pictures of each step of the operation, notes and cautions.

 

Ruger 10/22 Rifles

The Sight Ruger 10/20 – My Ruger 10/22 site

Gunstocks, rifle stocks, stockmaking, glass & pillar bedding.

Michaels of Oregon

Power Custom

Richards Microfit Gunstocks

RimfireCentral.com Main Page

Rimfire Sports & Custom

Ruger 10-22 Accessories

Ruger 10-22 Home

Ruger’s Autoloading Rifles And Pistols – Page One

Volquartsen Online

Other Rifle Links

AR15 M16 SKS AK47 Accessory Directory – High performance parts and accessories for rifles

ArmaLite, Inc. Technical Manuals and Books

Civilian Marksmanship Program

Sniper Country – My favorite site for long range precision rifle

M14 7.62mm Rifle – M24 7.62mm Sniper Rifle

The M1 Garand Rifle – An American Companion In Three Wars

Other Good Gun Links

Biggerhammer’s Miscellaneous Firearms Technical and Training Manuals

Cornered Cat – Well written site which addresses armed self defense from a woman’s point of view

Davidson’s Gallery of Guns – Explore over a 1000 different firearm models from their affiliate manufacturers with great color pictures, detailed specifications, suggested retail pricing and availability.

Dillon Precision – The Best Reloaders

Encyclopedia of Bullseye Pistol – This one really is an online encyclopedia of precision pistol shooting.

Frugal Squirrel’s Survival Site – Like no other, home of the Survivalist Library

Firing Line – Online discussion forums for firearms enthusiasts.

Gabe Suarez International – Gabe is one of the premier trainers and authors in the fields of tactical operations and self defense.

GunBlast.com – Honest, most down-to-earth Webzine for firearm aficionados. Lots of gun and equipment reviews

GunZone – Dean Speir’s Site. The Gun Zone is a resource of authoritative firearms-related information for the internet-enabled gunperson as well as journalists seeking to authenticate elements of their stories and avoid “stupid gun mistakes.”

International Defensive Pistol Association – My favorite competitive action gun club, stresses realistic self defense scenarios.

Hi-Powers and Handguns – Stephen A. Camp’s excellent treasure trove useful handgun articles

Jim Scoutten’s Guns & Cars – Everyone’s favorite gun show host, Jim Scoutten, host of American Shooter, posts this site devoted to his two favorite things, guns and cars.

Kel-Tec Owner’s Group – Site for all things Kel-Tec and host for the Kel-Tec users listserv

Knob Creek Gun Range – Home of the famous Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot

Makarov.com – The best source for all things Makarov

M.D. Smith’s Reloading Pages

Metal Detectors – Another good outdoor hobby, from my buddy John 

Mouseguns.com – A mousegun is a small pocket-size gun, lightweight, easy to conceal, and used only as a last resort to save your own life, or the lives of others

National Bullet Company – Good bullets at good prices

National Rifle Association – Defending our rights as gun owners

Rich’s Firearms Page – A wealth of info for the firearms enthusiast

Rich’s Firearms Page Gun Chat – Web-based gun chat

Shotgun News – The Marketplace for gun stuff

The Snubnose Files – My little homage to the bellygun

Spwenger’s Defensive Use of Firearms – Steven P. Wenger’s site devoted to defensive use of firearms, contains some very good practical information on shooting techniques, guns, ammo, etc.

Texas Rangers Hall of Fame Museum

United States Practical Shooting Association – The Race Guns Guys

Winchester Ammunition

Yahoo Groups – Host to the 1911 TechTalk list hosted by Geoff Beneze and the IDPA List. Go to Yahoo Groups and use the search to find the discussion lists you want and follow the subscription instructions.

You Might Be a Gun Nut… – Funny. The thread from rec.guns

Library Menu

Next to shooting them, my next favorite aspect of the M1911 is the study of the pistol. I know of no other single firearm which has richer lore.

There is the glorious history of its service in the hands of warriors the world over.

There is a huge body of technical information since few firearms have been subjected to such a plethora of modifications. It remains the most popular single platform for competition guns.

Use the links below to select the areas of the Library which interest you. If you happen to have some knowledge, a story, review or tips, consider contributing your thoughts to this collection of articles.




Good Gun Quotes

MODERN LEADERS’ THOUGHTS ON GUN CONTROL:

Mohandas K. Gandhi: “Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest. If we want the Arms Act to be repealed, if we want to learn the use of arms, here is a golden opportunity. If the middle classes render voluntary help to Government in the hour of its trial, distrust will disappear, and the ban on possessing arms will be withdrawn.” Mohandas K. Gandhi, Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Chapter XXVII, Recruiting Campaign, Page 403, Dover paperback edition, 1983.

Sigmund Freud: “A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity.” (“General Introduction to Psychoanalysis,” S. Freud)

Bill Clinton: (US President, has sworn an oath to defend the US Constitution, (not to violate it, criticize it, and belittle it)) “When we got organized as a country, [and] wrote a fairly radical Constitution, with a radical Bill of Rights, giving radical amounts of freedom to Americans, it was assumed that Americans who had that freedom would use it responsibly…When personal freedom is being abused, you have to move to limit it.” (April 19 1994, on MTV)

Admiral Yamamoto: “You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass.” Advising Japan’s military leaders of the futility of an invasion of the mainland United States because of the widespread availability of guns. It has been theorized that this was a major contributing factor in Japan’s decision not to land on North America early in the war when they had vastly superior military strength. This delay gave our industrial infrastructure time to gear up for the conflict and was decisive in our later victory.

Benito Mussolini: “The measures adopted to restore public order are: First of all, the elimination of the so-called subversive elements. … They were elements of disorder and subversion. On the morrow of each conflict I gave the categorical order to confiscate the largest possible number of weapons of every sort and kind. This confiscation, which continues with the utmost energy, has given satisfactory results.” (address to the Italian Senate, 1931)

Charles Shumer: (US Congress, has sworn an oath to defend the US Constitution) “All we ask for is registration, just like we do for cars.” (Press conference, 1993, exact date being sought)

Adolf Hitler: “The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty. So let’s not have any native militia or native police. German troops alone will bear the sole responsibility for the maintenance of law and order throughout the occupied Russian territories, and a system of military strong-points must be evolved to cover the entire occupied country.” Adolf Hitler, dinner talk on April 11, 1942, quoted in Hitler’s Table Talk 1941-44: His Private Conversations, Second Edition (1973), Pg. 425-426. Translated by Norman Cameron and R. H. Stevens.

Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center: “A gun-control movement worthy of the name would insist that President Clinton move beyond his proposals for controls . . . and immediately call on Congress to pass far-reaching industry regulation like the Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection Act . . . [which] would give the Treasury Department health and safety authority over the gun industry, and any rational regulator with that authority would ban handguns.” “Dispense With the Half Steps and Ban Killing Machines,” Houston Chronicle, Nov. 5, 1999

Mao Tse Tung: “All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party.” (Problems of War and Strategy, Nov 6 1938, published in “Selected Works of Mao Zedong,” 1965)

Diane Feinstein: “US Senator, If I could have banned them all – ‘Mr. and Mrs. America turn in your guns’ – I would have!” (Statement on TV program 60 Minutes, Feb 5 1995)

Deborah Prothrow-Stith: “My view of guns is simple. I hate guns and I cannot imagine why anyone would want to own one. If I had my way, guns for sport would be registered, and all other guns would be banned.” (Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Dean of Harvard School of Public Health)

Jill Fieldstein, CBS producer, Street Stories: Women and Guns: “As a card-carrying member of the liberal media, producing this piece was an eye opening experience. I have to admit that I saw guns as inherently evil, violence begets violence, and so on. I have learned, however, that in trained hands, just the presence of a gun can be a real “man stopper.” I am sorry that women have had to resort to this, but wishing it wasn’t so won’t make it any safer out there. 29 April 1993.

And from one of your favorite gun-grabbing gods, Dr. Arthur Kellerman, stated: “If you’ve got to resist, you’re chances of being hurt are less the more lethal your weapon. If that were my wife, would I want her to have a .38 Special in her hand? Yeah.” (Health Magazine, March/April 1994)

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch: “In my studies as an attorney and as a United States Senator, I have constantly been amazed by the indifference or even hostility shown the Second Amendment by courts, legislatures, and commentators. James Madison would be startled to hear that his recognition of a right to keep and bear arms, which passed the House by a voice vote without objection and hardly a debate, has since been construed in but a single, and most ambiguous Supreme Court decision, whereas his proposals for freedom of religion, which he made reluctantly out of fear that they would be rejected or narrowed beyond use, and those for freedom of assembly, which passed only after a lengthy and bitter debate, are the subject of scores of detailed and favorable decisions. Thomas Jefferson, who kept a veritable armory of pistols, rifles and shotguns at Monticello, and advised his nephew to forsake other sports in favor of hunting, would be astounded to hear supposed civil libertarians claim firearm ownership should be restricted. Samuel Adams, a handgun owner who pressed for an amendment stating that the “Constitution shall never be construed . . . to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms,” would be shocked to hear that his native state today imposes a year’s sentence, without probation or parole, for carrying a firearm without a police permit.”

Senator Orrin Hatch: “If gun laws in fact worked, the sponsors of this type of legislation should have no difficulty drawing upon long lists of examples of crime rates reduced by such legislation. That they cannot do so after a century and a half of trying–that they must sweep under the rug the southern attempts at gun control in the 1870-1910 period, the northeastern attempts in the 1920-1939 period, the attempts at both Federal and State levels in 1965-1976–establishes the repeated, complete and inevitable failure of gun laws to control serious crime.” Senator Orrin Hatch, Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution, 97th Cong., 2d Sess., The Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Committee Print I-IX, 1-23 (1982).

Sen. Hubert Humphrey: “Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used, and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, and one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.” Sen. Hubert Humphrey, Know Your Lawmakers, Guns Magazine, Page 4, Feb. 1960.

John F. Kennedy: “Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom.”

George Orwell: “That rifle on the wall of the labourer’s cottage or working class flat is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there.”

The Dalai Lama: “If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.” (May 15, 2001, The Seattle Times)

Laurence H. Tribe of the Harvard Law School: “The federal government may not disarm individual citizens without some unusually strong justification.” (2000 edition of American Constitutional Law)

Attorney General John Ashcroft: “Just as the First and Fourth Amendment secure individual rights of speech and security respectively, the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. This view of the text comports with the all but unanimous understanding of the Founding Fathers.”

John F. Kennedy: “By calling attention to ‘a well regulated militia,’ ‘the security of the nation,’ and the right of each citizen ‘to keep and bear arms,’ our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy… The Second Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason I believe the Second Amendment will always be important.” John F. Kennedy, Junior Senator of MA in a 1959 letter to E.B. Mann [From the 1974 Gun Digest, article titled Gun Laws]

Sanford Levinson on The Second Amendment as an Individual Right: “The structure of the Second Amendment within the Bill of Rights proves that the right to bear arms is an individual right, rather than a collective one. The collective rights’ idea that the Second Amendment can only be viewed in terms of state or federal power “ignores the implication that might be drawn from the Second, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments: the citizenry itself can be viewed as an important third component of republican governance as far as it stands ready to defend republican liberty against the depredations of the other two structures, however futile that might appear as a practical matter.” Sanford Levinson, The Embarrassing Second Amendment, 99 YALE L.J. 637, 651 (1989).

Israeli Police Inspector General Shlomo Aharonisky: “There’s no question that weapons in the hands of the public have prevented acts of terror or stopped them.”

President Theodore Roosevelt: “The great body of our citizens shoot less as times goes on. We should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the military services by every means in our power. Thus, and not otherwise, may we be able to assist in preserving peace in the world… The first step – in the direction of preparation to avert war if possible, and to be fit for war if it should come – is to teach men to shoot!” – President Theodore Roosevelt’s last message to Congress.

Louisiana Governor Mike Foster: “Most people don’t ever want to use a gun to protect themselves — that’s the last thing they want to do — but if you know how and you have a situation with some fruitcake running around, like they’ve got right now, it sure can save you a lot of grief.”

Ted Nugent: “To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic.”

James Earl Jones: “The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose.”

U.S. Sen. Malcolm Wallop: “The ruling class doesn’t care about public safety. Having made it very difficult for States and localities to police themselves, having left ordinary citizens with no choice but to protect themselves as best they can, they now try to take our guns away. In fact they blame us and our guns for crime. This is so wrong that it cannot be an honest mistake.” – former U.S. Sen. Malcolm Wallop (R-Wy.)

David Prosser, Wisconsin Supreme Court justice: “If the constitutional right to keep and bear arms is to mean anything, it must, as a general matter, permit a person to possess, carry and sometimes conceal arms to maintain the security of his private residence or privately operated business.”

Paul Hager: “One of the arguments that had been made against gun control was that an armed citizenry was the final bulwark against tyranny. My response had been that untrained, lightly-armed non-soldiers couldn’t prevail against a modern army. I had concluded that the qualitative difference in firepower was such that all of the previous rules of guerilla war no longer applied. Both Vietnam and Afghanistan demonstrated that wasn’t true. Repelling an armed invasion is not something that American citizens are likely to face, but the possibility of a despotic government coming to power is not wholly unthinkable. One of the sequellae of Vietnam was the rise of the Khmer Rouge and slaughter of perhaps a million Cambodian citizens. Those citizens, like the Jews in Germany or the Armenians in Turkey, were unarmed and thus utterly and completely defenseless against police and paramilitary. An armed minority was able to kill and terrorize unarmed victims with total impunity.” – Paul Hagar, “Why I Carry”

Daniel Schmutter: “The tragic history of civilian disarmament cries a warning against any systematic attempts to render innocent citizens ill-equipped to defend themselves from tyrant terrorists, despots or oppressive majorities,” Daniel Schmutter, lawyer for Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

Jeff Cooper: “Hoplophobia is a mental disturbance characterized by irrational aversion to weapons, as opposed to justified apprehension about those who may wield them.” Jeff Cooper, To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth

Larry Elder: “A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders.”

Click Here for Some Bogus Gun Control Quotes

Click Here for Some Quotes on Gun Confiscation from Politicians

WHAT THE FOUNDING FATHERS THOUGHT ABOUT “GUN CONTROL”

Benjamin Franklin: Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” (Nov 11 1755, from the Pennsylvania Assembly’s reply to the Governor of Pennsylvania.)

Thomas Jefferson: “The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes….Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man. Thomas Jefferson’s “Commonplace Book,” 1774-1776, quoting 18th century criminologist Cesare Beccaria in Chapter 40 of “On Crimes and Punishment”, 1764.

Thomas Jefferson: “A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.” Thomas Jefferson to Peter Carr, 1785. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, (Memorial Edition) Lipscomb and Bergh, editors.

Thomas Jefferson: “The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.”

John Adams: “Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self defense.” (A defense of the Constitution of the US)

George Mason: “To disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them.” (3 Elliot, Debates at 380)

Noah Webster: “Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe.” (1787, Pamphlets on the Constitution of the US)

Noah Webster: “The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops” (Noah Webster, 1787)

George Washington: “A free people ought to be armed.” (Jan 14 1790, Boston Independent Chronicle.)

Thomas Jefferson: “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” (T. Jefferson papers, 334, C.J. Boyd, Ed. 1950)

James Madison: “Americans have the right and advantage of being armed, unlike the people of other countries, whose leaders are afraid to trust them with arms.” (Federalist Paper #46)

William Pitt: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” (Nov. 18, 1783)

Richard Henry Lee, Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, Initiator of the Declaration of Independence, and member of the first Senate, which passed the Bill of Rights: “To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.”

Patrick Henry: “Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined…The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun.”

St. George Tucker: “This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty… The right of self defence is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any colour or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.”

Thomas Paine: “…arms…discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. …Horrid mischief would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived the use of them.”

Bogus Quotes Attributed to the Founders

Quotes on Liberty and Freedom from America’s Revolutionaries

WHAT THE FOUNDING FATHERS MEANT BY THE “MILITIA”

George Mason: “I ask you sir, who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people.” (Elliott, Debates, 425-426)

Richard Henry Lee: “A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves…and include all men capable of bearing arms.” (Additional letters from the Federal Farmer, at 169, 1788)

James Madison: “A WELL REGULATED militia, composed of the people, trained to arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country.” (1st Annals of Congress, at 434, June 8th 1789, emphasis added.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Back in the 18th century, a “regular” army meant an army that had standard military equipment. So a “well regulated” army was simply one that was “well equipped.” It does NOT refer to a professional army. The 17th century folks used the term “STANDING Army” to describe a professional army. THEREFORE, “a well regulated militia” only means a well equipped militia. It does not imply the modern meaning of “regulated,” which means controlled or administered by some superior entity. Federal control over the militia comes from other parts of the Constitution, but not from the second amendment. (my personal opinion)

Patrick Henry: “The people have a right to keep and bear arms.” (Elliott, Debates at 185)

Alexander Hamilton: “…that standing army can never be formidable (threatening) to the liberties of the people, while there is a large body of citizens, little if at all inferior to them in the use of arms.” (Federalist Paper #29)

“Little more can be aimed at with respect to the people at large than to have them properly armed and equipped.” (Id) {responding to the claim that the militia itself could threaten liberty}” There is something so far-fetched, and so extravagant in the idea of danger of liberty from the militia that one is at a loss whether to treat it with gravity or raillery (mockery). (Id)

Joseph Story: “The militia is the natural defense of a free country against sudden foreign invasions, domestic insurrections, and domestic usurpations of power by rulers. It is against sound policy for a free people to keep up large military establishments and standing armies in time of peace, both from the enormous expenses, with which they are attended, and the facile means, which they afford to ambitious and unprincipled rulers, to subvert the government, or trample upon the rights of the people.” (Story, Joseph. Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. 3 vols. Boston, 1833.)

President James Madison: “…to support the Constitution, which is the cement of the Union, as well in its limitations as in its authorities; to respect the rights and authorities reserved to the States and to the people as equally incorporated with and essential to the success of the general system;… to keep within the requisite limits a standing military force, always remembering that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics–that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe;…” President James Madison, First Inaugural address, Saturday, March 4, 1809.

Tenche Coxe: “Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American… The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.” Tenche Coxe, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788.

William Rawle: “In the second article, it is declared, that a well regulated militia is necessary to a free state; a proposition from which few will dissent. Although in actual war, in the services of regular troops are confessedly more valuable; yet while peace prevails, and in the commencement of a war before a regular force can be raised, the militia form the palladium of the country. They are ready to repel invasion, to suppress insurrection, and preserve the good order and peace of government. That they should be well regulated, is judiciously added. A disorderly militia is disgraceful to itself, and dangerous not to the enemy, but to its own country. The duty of the state government is, to adopt such regulation as will tend to make good soldiers with the least interruptions of the ordinary and useful occupations of civil life. In this all the Union has a strong and visible interest.” William Rawle, “A View of the Constitution of the United States of America” (1829)

CONTEMPORARY THINKERS COMMENT ON “MILITIA”

Professor Akhil Reed Amar: “The ultimate right to keep and bear arms belongs to the ‘the people,’ not the ‘states.’ As the language of the Tenth Amendment shows, these two of course are not identical and when the Constitution means ‘states,’ it says so. Thus… ‘the people’ at the core of the Second Amendment are the same ‘the people’ at the heart of the Preamble and the First Amendment, namely Citizens…Nowadays, it is quite common to speak loosely of the National Guard as ‘the state militia,’ but…in 1789, when used without any qualifying adjective, ‘the militia’ referred to all Citizens capable of bearing arms. The militia is identical to ‘the people’ in the core sense described above.”

Professor Joyce Lee Malcolm: “The Second Amendment was meant to accomplish two distinct goals…First, it was meant to guarantee the individual’s right to have arms for self-defense and self-preservation. These privately owned arms were meant to serve a larger purpose as well…and it is the coupling of these two objectives that has caused the most confusion. The customary American militia necessitated an armed public…the militia (being)…the body of the people. The argument that today’s National Guardsmen, members of a select militia, would constitute the only persons entitled to keep and bear arms has no historical foundation.”

Alan Dershowitz: “Foolish liberals who are trying to read the Second Amendment out of the Constitution by claiming it’s not an individual right or that it’s too much of a public safety hazard, don’t see the danger in the big picture. They’re courting disaster by encouraging others to use the same means to eliminate portions of the Constitution they don’t like.”

FOUNDING FATHERS INTENT BEHIND THE CONSTITUTION:

Samual Adams: “The Constitution shall never be construed to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” (Convention of the Commonwealth of Mass., 86-87, date still being sought)

Noah Webster: “Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority…the Constitution was made to guard against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.” (Source still being sought)

Thomas Jefferson: “On every occasion…[of Constitutional interpretation] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying [to force] what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, [instead let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” (June 12 1823, Letter to William Johnson)

Joseph Story: “The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.” (Story, Joseph. Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. 3 vols. Boston, 1833.)

RELIGION, WEAPONS AND SELF DEFENSE:

“Now there was no metal smith found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “Lest the Hebrews make for themselves swords or spears”…But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, each man to sharpen his plow blade, his coulter, his ax and his maddock. So it came to pass on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul or Jonathan; but with Saul and Jonathan there was found [other lethal weapons] 1 Samuel 13:19-22)

“Jesus said, ‘But now whoever has a purse or a bag, must take it and whoever does not have a sword must sell his cloak and buy one.'” (Luke 22:36)

“If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so he dies, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed.” (Exodus 22:2) (Note, the test later indicates that this right to kill does not apply to a daytime break in. So in daylight, self defense must be shone.)

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are safe.” (Luke 11:21) (Note, the text later states that a stronger or better armed criminal could overpower a weaker or poorly armed victim, so get a 1911 .45 ACP!)

“A patriot without religion in my estimation is as great a paradox as an honest Man without the fear of God. Is it possible that he whom no moral obligations bind, can have any real Good Will towards Men? Can he be a patriot who, by an openly vicious conduct, is undermining the very bonds of Society?….The Scriptures tell us “righteousness exalteth a Nation.” Abigail Adams

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Adams, Oct. 11, 1798 Address to the military

“The thing that separates the American Christian from every other person on earth is the fact that he would rather die on his feet, than live on his knees!” George Washington

“God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.” Daniel Webster, Jun. 17, 1825 – from a speech at the foundation of the Bunker Hill monument commemorating the soldiers of the American Revolution.

“Though defensive violence will always be ‘a sad necessity’ in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men.” St. Augustine A.D. 354-430

“Without doubt one is allowed to resist against the unjust aggressor to one’s life, one’s goods or one’s physical integrity; sometimes, even ’til the aggressor’s death… In fact, this act is aimed at preserving one’s life or one’s goods and to make the aggressor powerless. Thus, it is a good act, which is the right of the victim.” [There are three conditions under which legitimate self-defense must lie:] “That he who is the target of the force is an aggressor and an unjust aggressor… That the object of the defence is an important good, such as the life, physical integrity or worthy goods… [and] That defensive violence is proportionate to aggression.” [Under these conditions,] “One is also allowed [not required] to kill other people’s unjust aggressor.” Thomas Aquinas, Dizionario ecclesiastico (“Ecclesiastic dictionary”, UTET, 1959)

The Conditions of Readiness

The legendary guru of the combat 1911, Jeff Cooper, came up with the “Condition” system to define the state of readiness of the 1911-pattern pistol. They are:

  • Condition 0 – A round is in the chamber, hammer is cocked, and the safety is off.
  • Condition 1 – Also known as “cocked and locked,” means a round is in the chamber, the hammer is cocked, and the manual thumb safety on the side of the frame is applied.
  • Condition 2 – A round is in the chamber and the hammer is down.
  • Condition 3 – The chamber is empty and hammer is down with a charged magazine in the gun.
  • Condition 4 – The chamber is empty, hammer is down and no magazine is in the gun.

The mode of readiness preferred by the experts is Condition One. Generally speaking, Condition One offers the best balance of readiness and safety. Its biggest drawback is that it looks scary to people who don’t understand the operation and safety features of the pistol.

Condition Two is problematic for several reasons, and is the source of more negligent discharges than the other conditions. When you rack the slide to chamber a round in the 1911, the hammer is cocked and the manual safety is off. There is no way to avoid this with the 1911 design. In order to lower the hammer, the trigger must be pulled and the hammer lowered slowly with the thumb onto the firing pin, the end of which is only a few millimeters away from the primer of a live round. Should the thumb slip, the hammer would drop and fire the gun. Not only would a round be launched in circumstances which would be at best embarrassing and possibly tragic, but also the thumb would be behind the slide as it cycled, resulting in serious injury to the hand. A second problem with this condition is that the true 1911A1 does not have a firing pin block and an impact on the hammer which is resting on the firing pin could conceivably cause the gun to go off, although actual instances of this are virtually nonexistent. Finally, in order to fire the gun, the hammer must be manually cocked, again with the thumb. In an emergency situation, this adds another opportunity for something to go wrong and slows the acquisition of the sight picture.

Condition Three adds a degree of “insurance” against an accidental discharge since there is no round in the chamber. To bring the gun into action from the holster, the pistol must be drawn and the slide racked as the pistol is brought to bear on the target. This draw is usually called “the Israeli draw” since it was taught by Israeli security and defense forces. Some of the real expert trainers can do an Israeli draw faster than most of us can do a simple draw, but for most of us, the Israeli draw adds a degree of complexity, an extra step, and an opening for mistakes in the process of getting the front sight onto the target.

Using the “half-cock” as a safety

The half-cock notch on the M1911 is really intended as a “fail-safe” and is not recommended as a safety. However, it has been used as a mode of carry. From Dale Ireland comes this interesting piece of service history from WWII:

When the hammer is pulled back just a few millimeters it “half cocks” and pulling the trigger will not fire the gun [on genuine mil-spec G.I. pistols]. I imagine this is an unsafe and not a recommended safety position. The reason I bring it up however is that it was a commonly used position especially by left-handers in WWII. My father carried his 1911 (not A1) to Enewitok, Leyte, first wave at Luzon, the battle inside Intramuros, and until he was finally shot near Ipo dam. He tells me that he regularly used the half cocked safety position especially at night and patrolling because bringing the weapon to the full cocked position from the half cocked created much less noise and he was left handed so he couldn’t use the thumb safety effectively. He said using the half cocked position was all about noise reduction for lefties while maintaining a small amount of safety that could quickly be released.

Again, the half-cock is intended as a fail-safe in the event that the sear hooks were to fail, and it is not recommended as a mode of carry. It should also be noted that on guns with “Series 80” type hammers, the hammer will fall from half-cock when the trigger is pulled. This would include guns from Springfield Armory and modern production Colts. But, if you happen to be a south paw and find yourself in the jungle with a G.I. M1911A1 and surrounded by enemy troops, the half-cock might be an option.

For more detailed discussion of the safety and internal functions of the M1911, see “Is Cocked and Locked Dangerous?”

Concealed Carry and the “Large” Auto Pistol

By Jim Higginbotham

I run into people all of the time who think that they must have a small handgun in order to conceal it. I am reminded of the time when eminent authority and author Tom Givens and a fellow off duty officer were cooling off from the summer heat at the local indoor range – you look for alcoholics at the local tavern, you look for “gunaholics” at the range or gun shop. They became engaged in conversation with a customer who was waxing eloquent on the virtues of this or that weapon in the gun case. Eventually he allowed as the .45 auto was a fine weapon but of small use to most people since they couldn’t hide one. Tom told him that it was indeed possible to hide a .45 if one used the right holster, which brought a rebuttal that there was no right holster, the gun was simply too big. This discussion went back and forth for some time until my friend Tom ended all debate by pulling his Government Model out from under his cotton shirt, worn with the tail out, and placed it on the counter. I have seen him pass close inspection by a police officer – though not a frisk – when he was wearing a T-shirt. Tom, by the way, seldom even has to resort to inside the pants holsters to hide his weapon.

Folks who are new to carrying weapons concealed are a bit self-conscious about the matter. They think every one can see them. I have worn a concealed weapon for over 25 years and have never had anyone inadvertently discover that I was armed. Once I was even frisked by a federal officer who failed to find my Star PD .45. Of course I was carrying it legally and it would not have mattered if he did find it.

None of this should be taken as a suggestion that you should be complacent about concealing your weapon. If you are one of those who has an inborn desire to be “seen of men” and think having a concealed carry permit makes you something special, and you would really like someone to ask you what that bulge is under your arm, then you need more help than I can give. This is not a game. One of the reasons to conceal weapons today is tactical. If the bad guys can tell you are armed before the fight starts you just may take a bullet in the back of the head before you even know there is a fight on. Don’t just cover up your weapon CONCEAL it! At any rate, there are those who feel that the .45 Government Model, or one of its variations or copies, is the finest fighting sidearm ever produced. With some reservations (see the chapter on custom modifications) I agree. But I began my education on weaponcraft back when there were very few serious options. Today we have several adequate designs which will suffice quite well.

Personally, I can do more with this gun than with any other. My “hammers” (two very fast shots with one sight picture) are in the neighborhood of .15 to .17 seconds apart, something I cannot even improve on when I use a .22 auto. My trigger finger simply won’t operate faster – old age I guess. These rounds will impact in the vital zone about 95% of the time back to about 7 yards (further if I practice regularly) Perhaps one reason is that I have shot one so much with this type of weapon (about 250,000 rounds) that it is second nature to me. But try as I might I cannot get hammers this quick or accurate with a double action. auto. I can keep the rounds pretty close together with the Glock and the DAO autos as well as DA revolvers but the time creeps up to around .20 seconds between shots. This might seem adequate – and probably is – but why take the lower level of performance if you do not have to.

While the reliability of the Colt .45 auto – a John Browning design – is legendary, I must point out that this reputation is built using full metal jacket (FMJ) or “ball” ammo. With today’s JHP bullets it is not as sure fire unless the weapon has been “throated” to feed the alternative styles of ammo. Modern Colts are designed to feed modern bullets as are most of the copies, never the less I have seen plenty of new examples that needed some attention in order to feed 100%. The key is to shoot your new gun about 200 rounds with the ammo you intend to carry. If you have a malfunction then seek help. But then again this is true of any weapon you may purchase, either new or used.

Two variations of the Government Model, the Commander and the Combat Commander might be considered by some to be compacts but since only the barrel and slide have been cut back 3/4 inch I do not consider it so. Still, they are fine weapons for concealed carry and the 3/4″ may allow you to more comfortably hide a weapon in an outside the pants holster. These weapons are about the same size as any duty type auto on the market today and so are a good choice.

The Commander, which has an aluminum frame weighs in at 27 ounces empty while the all steel Combat Commander is around 34 ounces. There are literally millions of used .45s out on the market and, barring abuse, it is difficult to wear one out. The only trouble with the older guns is that the sights were a bit difficult to see but this can be fixed (see the chapter on modifications). Magazines for this weapon are as common as dirt but beware there are some really poor aftermarket suppliers which sell real junk.

As mentioned there are many makers who are producing copies of this weapon. Their quality can range from outstanding to really poor so “buyer beware”. It is not our intent here to run down any maker’s product but to encourage you to investigate and find out what works. I will say that the new Kimber Custom 1911a1 is one of the best examples of a Government Model I have encountered – including some of the standard package guns of big name gunsmiths! Also you should know that Colt Series 80 and Para Ordinance guns are equipped with a firing pin safety which blocks the firing pin except when the trigger is pulled.

The above was written several years ago. Today as we near the Millenium, I believe it still holds true – it is a testament to John Browning that nearly 90 years (the model of January 1910 was essentially the same as the 1911) after its birth the 1911 remains the finest combat pistol ever made en masse.

DVC

Jim Higginbotham

Related Articles:

  • Custom Auto Pistol Modifications for Serious Duty by Jim Higginbotham
  • Defensive Marksmanship by Jim Higginbotham
  • Handgun Power by Jim Higginbotham
  • Recommended Modifications to the Colt .45 Auto for Self-Defense Use by Les Bengtson
  • Selecting a Pistol for Concealed Carry By Syd
  • The Case for the .45 ACP by Jim Higginbotham
  • The .45 ACP Cartridge – Development, Specs, and Performance

The .45 ACP Cartridge

.45 ACP cartridge
The famous .45 ACP cartridge.

When you take a look at the large missile-shaped cartridge of your average deer rifle, and better yet, when you put the rifle to your shoulder and fire it, a little alarm ought to go off in your head about pistol cartridges–all pistol cartridges. They are all inadequate in terms of real power. I like Clint Smith’s definition that “a pistol is something you use to fight your way back to your gun.” Pistols have their place due to the ease with which they can be carried and brought into action, but it’s important to recognize their limitations. Notice that no fighting force in history has gone into battle armed with pistols as their primary weapons.

Some pistol cartridges are less inadequate than others, and one which comes pretty close to adequate is the .45 ACP. “ACP” stands for “Automatic Colt Pistol.”

John Browning is credited with having designed the .45 ACP cartridge. Browning’s .45 ACP ammo was built specifically for the pistol that many of us regard as one of the greatest pistol designs ever, the M1911. However, I’m not at all sure that the M1911 wouldn’t have been chambered for .38 Super had Browning been left to his own devices.

The man who pushed the Army into adopting the .45 caliber cartridge was Gen. John T. Thompson, the father of the Thompson submachine gun and a member of the Army Ordnance Board during the time that the M1911 pistol was being developed by John Browning and Colt. After the disastrous showing of the Army’s .38 Long Colt pistols in the Philippines, Gen. Thompson was committed to the idea that the Army should be packing a real man-stopper in its handguns, a big .45 caliber bullet.

It was the cartridge tests conducted by Thompson and Major Louis Anatole LaGarde of the Medical Corps in 1904 at the Nelson Morris Company Union Stockyards in Chicago that resulted in the adoption of the .45 caliber as the official U.S. Army handgun cartridge. They tested various calibers on live cattle, deer, and human cadavers to determine the best load. From these tests it was determined that the .45 was the most effective cartridge for a handgun, but with reservations. In their report, they state:

“the Board was of the opinion that a bullet, which will have the shock effect and stopping effect at short ranges necessary for a military pistol or revolver, should have a caliber not less than .45”. But they also said, “…soldiers armed with pistols or revolvers should be drilled unremittingly in the accuracy of fire” because most of the human body offered “no hope of stopping an adversary by shock or other immediate results when hit.”

In response to the Ordnance Board’s specification, Browning designed the .45 ACP for the pistol he was submitting to the board. Browning’s first loading was a 200 grain bullet running at 900 feet per second, but the Army wanted a larger bullet. Browning responded with the loading we have today, a 230 grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 830 feet per second.

Stopping Power

It is interesting to observe that we are still arguing this basic question of terminal ballistics which was articulated by Thompson in 1904. The tag-team wrestling match in the terminal ballistics field is currently between Ed Sanow and Evan Marshall in the “small and fast” corner, and Dr. Martin Fackler (backed up by Thompson and LaGarde) in the “big and slow” corner. This discussion quickly degenerates into a lot of arcane mumbles about temporary and permanent crush cavities, energy transfer, hydrostatic shock, and the Miami FBI shoot-out. It’s interesting if you’re a physicist or a forensic pathologist, but it gets kind of academic for the rest of us. “Small and fast” works really well with high-powered rifles when their small 80 grain bullets are traveling at 4000 feet per second, but hand gun cartridges don’t operate at those energy levels. The best of the small and fast pistol rounds is the 125 grain .357 Magnum which has enjoyed an impressive service record in the “one shot stop” statistics. It has also suffered some spectacular failures in which the bad guy was shot multiple times center of mass and remained on his feet.

Evan Marshall and Ed Sanow have worked up a set of statistics based on results of actual shootings in which one shot was fired into the torso of the attacker stopping the assault, and from these studies they have developed percentage ratings for “one shot stops” for cartridges from .22 to 12 gauge. The Marshall and Sanow numbers show a tendency for small and fast cartridges to do somewhat better than large and slow ones, i.e., .380’s do slightly better than .38 Specials from 2″ barrels and .357 Magnums do a percentage or so better than the .45 ACP. Understand that controversy still rages about the Marshall and Sanow study, particularly about their methods, sources of data, and the shootings they chose to exclude. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting study.

Jim Higginbotham, a 30-year law enforcement veteran and trainer writes the following on the subject of pistol cartridges and failures to stop:

While I have come across some lethal encounters that took a lot of rounds to settle they mostly were the result of either poor hits (or complete misses) or lack of penetration. Nearly all of the high round count cases I have reviewed involved 9mms, .38s, .357’s or smaller calibers. This is not to say they do not occur with major caliber rounds. It is to say I have been collecting data for 30 years and have not encountered many cases in which multiple hits (more than three as two or three shots are a fairly normal reflex action) from major caliber cartridges to the center of the chest have not been sufficient, – the single exception being a case involving the .41 Magnum loaded with JSP bullets which did not expand – they did penetrate – it took five hits center mass to stop the attacker – and I have not encountered any with the .45, even with Ball. I have encountered several with 5, 6 or even more hits to the center of the chest with .38, .357, 9mm and .223 rifle rounds failing to stop. Almost every one could be traced to lack of penetration with a couple of exceptions that hit the heart but just did not cause enough damage to be effective quickly. Note I am not talking about “torso” hits. There is a lot of area in the torso in which a hit will seldom produce rapid incapacitation even if hit by a 12 ga. slug or a 30-06 – we simply cannot count such data if we are going to learn anything.

My purpose here is not to argue Fackler versus Marshall and Sanow because that’s a book in itself. What is important in all of this is that regardless of which philosophy you choose to accept as true, the .45 ACP comes out well–at or near the top of the effectiveness ratings for both schools of thought.

Having established the almost universal agreement that the .45 ACP is an acceptable personal defense cartridge (kind of like proving the ocean is wet), are there negatives? Sure there are. For one thing, the .45 ACP is big and heavy. The same characteristic that makes it so admired by the big hole school also makes it heavy to carry and bulky, resulting in fewer rounds being available in compact handguns. A fully loaded Thompson submachine gun is fairly heavy if you have to lug it around through a hot jungle all day. Some people find the recoil of the .45 ACP punishing although I’m not one of them (I actually prefer the recoil of the .45 ACP over the recoil of the 9mm). The penetration of the .45 ACP 230-grain FMJ bullet is 26″ in ballistic gelatin, making it problematic and dangerous as a personal defense load. The threat of over-penetration with the military round necessitates the use of hollow points for LEO and civilian PDW applications. Some of the older 1911 pistols don’t like hollow point bullets very well and have to be throated and have their feed ramps polished for reliability. And last, there is the cost. The .45 ACP is expensive as pistol cartridges go, often $3-$4 per box more than 9mm or .38 Special.

Specifications

The specs and behavior of this cartridge are central to its success. Even people who don’t like the 1911-pattern pistol often seek other systems to launch the .45 ACP and every major gun maker builds pistols around the cartridge. Smith and Wesson even builds a revolver for it.

Specifications of the original military loading of the .45 ACP

Dimensions Minimum Maximum
Overall Length 1.256″ 1.266″
Bullet Length .657″ .667″
Bullet Diameter .451″ .451″
Case Head .4718″ .4734
Case Mouth .4672″ .4732″ (.4730″ standard)
Case Length .892″ .898″

Ballistics
Bullet Weight 230 grain (14.9 grams)
Bullet Type FMJ
Ballistic Coefficient .195
Muzzle Velocity 830 feet per second
Energy at 25 yards 350 foot-pounds
Effective Range 100 yards
Mid-Range Trajectory 1.6 @ 50 yards

Exterior ballistics

Maximum range In pistol, 1,600 yards.
In submachine gun, 1,700 yards.
Pressure 4,000 pounds per square inch.
Velocity, Pistol @ 25.5 feet, 820 feet per second.
@ Muzzle, 825 feet per second.
Velocity, Submachine Gun @ 25.5 feet, 885 feet per second.
@ muzzle, 990 feet per second.
Muzzle energy 329 foot-pounds Ball, pistol.
383 foot-pounds in submachine gun.

Accuracy with muscle test
mean variations for several targets

Range Mean Radii
Yards Inches
25 0.86
50 1.36
75 2.24

Penetration in white pine

Range Depth
Yards Inches
25 6.0
100 5.5
250 4.0
The penetration in moist loam at 25 yards is about 10 inches. The penetration in dry sand at 25 yards is about 8 inches.

Table of fire

Range Time of flight Drop Deflection due
to drift1
Yards Seconds Inches Inches
10 0.037 0.3 0.1
20 .075 1.1 .2
30 .113 2.4 .3
40 .151 4.4 .4
60 .229 9.9 .8
80 .308 18 1.3
100 .388 28 2.0
1 Drift id to the left. Based on a velocity of 800 feet per second, 25 feet from muzzle.

One of the goals of my life to which I am committed to making a reality is to render all of this ballistic speculation academic by never having to shoot anybody. Much of my time with a handgun is spent doing fun stuff like target shooting and IDPA matches. The .45 is a fun gun and cartridge to shoot. It’s hard for me to imagine myself shooting a match with a DA/SA “crunchenticker” (as Col. Cooper likes to call them). I could if I had to, but I don’t have to so I don’t.

You often hear it said that the 1911-pattern .45 ACP is “an easy gun to shoot well.” Experience and the testimony of generations of shooters bears this out. Although this ease in doing well is generally attributed to the properties of the pistol, particularly the trigger, it’s my opinion that the .45 ACP cartridge contributes to the superlative performance of the handgun. The .45 ACP 230g FMJ is possessed of great inherent accuracy. With the excellent trigger and this load, you can shoot ragged holes all day.

Related Links

Background Information on the United States Pistol Caliber .45 M1911 – Development history of the M1911 .45 Caliber Automatic Pistol including the Thompson-LaGarde cadaver tests of 1904

.45 Auto Cartridge Development – Stefano Mattioli’s article on the early development of the .45 ACP cartridge. Includes specs and drawings of these early cartridges such as WRA 1904.

Odds & Ends

Articles on CCW