This might be the distance of a rapid encounter, but this is not how you want to engage in a gunfight.
There seems to be raging debate in the concealed carry crowd about gunfights. First of all, does everyone understand that real gunfights are not like you see in the movies? Do you get the whole three rounds, three seconds, three yards dynamic? Things happen quickly. You have to move, draw your concealed carry handgun from a holster, engage, deal with police, witnesses, EMS. Let's face it there is a lot going on.
But I ask this hoping to get a response. What is the goal? Is your goal to shoot the other guy? Or is your goal to not get shot? So tell me how you win a gunfight. Do you shoot the other guy or do you make sure you don't get shot? Let's hear it.
In the world of carrying handguns, a number of phrases have evolved to describe exactly what reason or method a handgun is carried in a particular way. There is “open carry” which is simply to carry a sidearm in plain sight. There is “concealed carry” which is self-explanatory. There is “constitutional carry” where a person is not restricted by law or permit to carry a firearm. There is the concept of “home carry” where a person carries the handgun around their home at all times because they want to be ready for a possible home invasion. “Backyard carry” is another one. That is for rabid raccoons and off-leash pit bulls. Related to that is “barbecue carry” which is to open carry a very fancy looking sidearm to a social gathering like a barbecue for the sole purpose of showing it off. There is also “church carry” where a person carries a firearm in a place of worship since a violent scenario could just as well happen there. There is also “bath carry” for those that think they might be attacked while in the shower like in the movie Psycho. They keep their handgun in plastic baggies. Likewise there is “swim carry” for self-defense options at the beach against man-eating sharks or armed sand-kicking bullies. There is also “sex carry,” usually done with an ankle holster since a belt or shoulder holster could get in the way of the lovemaking gymnastics. This type of carry is smart for those that fool around with other people's spouses and want to be prepared when the scorned other half barges into the love nest with a loaded shotgun.
Adding to this lexicon is “vintage carry.” It will be first coined in print in the upcoming May 21, 2012 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine. In his Collector's Corner column, Phillip Peterson defines vintage carry as using older handguns for concealed carry. He writes, “One of my favorite vintage carry guns is the Colt Model 1903 Hammerless Pistol. Designed by firearms genius John Browning it was introduced in 1903. This single-action, semi-automatic pistol was known to Colt as a Model M .32ACPbut was marketed as the Model 1903 Hammerless. It is chambered for the .32 automatic / 7.65mm cartridge. It has a 3 ¾-inch barrel. The dimensions of the gun are 6 ¾ inches long, 4 ½ inches high and one-inch wide at the grips. It has both a grip safety and a manual safety. The magazine holds eight rounds and is marked “CAL. .32 COLT” on the base. The magazines usually have what is called a two-tone blue finish. The top section is bare white metal with the rest being blued. The gun weighs 26 ounces with a loaded magazine.”
He continues, “Colt made the Model 1903 Hammerless from 1903 to 1945. There were over 570,000 Colt 1903s made during that span.”
So the Colt that Mr. Peterson carries, depending on when it was manufactured, could be around century to over a half-century old. Imagine that. And he trusts the firearm enough to use it to defend himself in a dangerous encounter. And if it is mechanically sound, dependable and accurate, why not? I know of plenty of people that carry modern Glocks, Kimbers, Kel-Tecs, and other modern pistols but rarely have I met someone that carries what would be classified as a “vintage” handgun being used for concealed carry use.
It is an interesting concept in today's new-is-better world. And maybe the older handgun is already combat-proven. The Colt Model 1903 that Mr. Peterson writes about were given to agents of the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA, and also to US military officers during and after WWII.
The vintage carry challenge: if you were to carry a pre-WWII handgun for concealed carry, what would it be?
After paging through the Standard Catalog of Handguns, the Collector's and Price and Reference Guide (763 pages), I realized that the pre-WWII requirement really knocks out many of the handguns in existence and limits of the pool of sidearms to choose from (unless you want to carry around a flintlock pistol). After some perusal, I decided on a Smith & Wesson .32 Automatic pistol. Only 957 were manufactured between 1924 and 1936. Seems like it would fit the bill.
For 2012, Nikon has expanded its precision AR optics line with the introduction of the new P-223 series. Built specifically for the .223 cartridge, the P-223 line is available in 3-9×40 and 3×32 Carbine models, each with Spot On™ optimized BDC AR-specific reticles.
Nikon has really sweetened the deal on these all-new P-223 scopes right out of the gate by also including them in its MOUNT ‘EM UP Promotion. This limited time offer earns the P-223 purchaser a new P-Series AR mount—regularly priced at $49.95—to take home at the time of sale.
Even if you have your heart set on the new P-22 AR rimfire scope or a scope from the flagship M-223, line, worry not—these scopes are also included in the promotion—which runs through April 22, 2012.
Long, heavy, sleek bullets at 2,950 fps make the .338 Lapua the choice of many long-range snipers.
Bullets travel in arcs. You knew that. Actually, they’re parabolic arcs. A bullet drops faster as it goes farther.
Well, not really. Gravity determines how fast a bullet drops, and its force doesn’t change over the course of a bullet’s flight. But the arc does get steeper at distance. Why?
Gravity's Effect on Bullet Trajectory
Consider the bullet not as a rocket but as a fragment driven by an explosion. This spinning shard exiting the muzzle at, say, 3,000 feet per second (fps) hurtles headlong into a dam of air that resists penetration. When you swim, you feel resistance. It’s more palpable when you cannonball off the high-dive or take a spill behind the ski-boat.
Target knobs calibrated to specific bullet trajectories let you “click” to known distance and hold center.
Air isn’t as thick as water, but you’ll feel it when you reach outside an automobile window. At 60 miles per hour, that car is traveling 88 fps. A bullet at 3,000 fps is moving 34 times as fast. The headwind it meets is 34 times stronger than what you feel against your hand at highway speed.
Because a bullet has no rocket, it begins to decelerate as soon as the powder’s thrust loses out to air resistance on its nose and air friction on its sides. At the same time, gravity starts hauling the bullet to earth. Clearing the muzzle, that bullet starts to drop immediately, at an accelerating rate of 32.16 feet per second.
But few bullets stay aloft for a full second. A 7mm magnum bullet started at 3,150 fps reaches a deer 250 yards off in a quarter-second; given deceleration that brings average velocity to 3,000 fps. During that quarter-second, the bullet drops three feet (not eight feet, as gravity pulls it faster and farther the last quarter-second than the first).
If your line of sight were parallel to line of bore, the bullet would strike three feet low. A slower bullet drops the same distance in the same interval. It just doesn’t go as far. Say your .308 bullet clocks an average 2,400 fps over its first 200 yards. Instead of landing three feet low at 250 yards, it prints three feet low at 200.
The slower a bullet goes the less ground it covers per unit of time. Because a bullet decelerates, it gives gravity more time per unit of distance at the far end of its arc. That’s why the arc is steeper there. If you dropped a bullet from your fingers next to a rifle just as a bullet was fired horizontally from that rifle, the two bullets would come to earth at very nearly the same time.
Seeing a bullet’s arc is a distinct advantage in learning about trajectory. That’s why machine guns and anti-aircraft cannons are fed tracer bullets. Drift and deceleration show up in tracer paths. Air gunners trained during World War II were often started with BB guns that made trajectory visible.
Distance's Effect on Bullet Trajectory
The author allowed a minute of wind to nail this gong at 480 yards with a GreyBull rifle, .243 VLD bullets.
Distance lays a heavy hand on bullets. A .30-06 zeroed at 200 with 180-grain Partitions at 2,700 fps puts them 50 inches low at 500 yards, 400 inches low at 1,000 (double the range, but eight times the drop).
A .300 Winchester launching the same bullet at 2,960 gives up 43 inches at 500 and 352 at 1,000. While speed flattens arc, the rate of deceleration matters, too. A heavy bullet started slower than a lightweight bullet of the same shape and diameter drops more steeply at modest ranges. Farther out, a heavy bullet can actually pass its lighter counterpart. Its momentum is greater. It has a higher ballistic coefficient and a lower rate of deceleration. So drop at very long range is less with the heavy bullet.
Many shooters have been bamboozled into thinking a bullet rises above line of bore during flight. Nope. The misunderstanding results from trajectory illustrations that aren’t carefully drawn. Sight-line is not parallel to bore-line, but at a slight converging angle. Sight-line dips below bore-line and the bullet’s arc. Sight-line never meets bore-line again, as both are straight. They cross once and forever diverge. A bullet travels above sight-line at midrange because the sight-line tilts down through the trajectory. Later, the bullet drops below sight-line.
Temperature's Effect on Bullet Trajectory
Shooting at game, closer is always better. But long-range practice makes all shots afield easier.
Temperature affects trajectory. Warm air is thinner than cold, so your bullet meets less resistance on a warm day, just as an airplane gets less lift on a warm day. But the effect of extreme heat or cold on bullet placement has little to do with the influence of air temperature on flight. Figure no more than half a minute of elevation for every 100-degree change in temperature.
A bigger change caused by temperature results from its influence on breech pressure. Pre-heated powder generates higher pressure. A chilly day can make the cartridge perform sluggishly. Tests run by Art Alphin (A-Square) with a .30-06 showed that at 40 degrees a charge of 51 grains RL-15 generated 54,600 psi to push 180-grain Nosler Ballistic Tips at 2,675 fps.
That rifle and load registered 59,900 psi and 2,739 fps with the air temperature at 120 degrees. Cartridges left on a hot dashboard in a safari vehicle can get much warmer than the rifle and cause higher pressures than the thermometer suggests. Rule of thumb: three fps for every degree of temperature change.
Altitude's Effect on Bullets
Altitude also influences bullet flight. The higher you go, the thinner the air and the less resistance it offers. But as you climb to thinner air, temperatures usually drop. So elevation and temperature changes can cancel each other. In the mountains, air resistance can be greater because of the cold and less because of the elevation.
Technical Rifleman Digital Download
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This Glock Gen3 in Flat Dark Earth is offered by Lipsey's. There are also Gen4 Glocks in the same color.
Looking for a Flat Dark Earth Glock in Gen3 or Gen4? Now you can get one, thanks to Lipsey's. If you're into the all-business look of a two-tone Glock, here is where to look.
A Glock is no 1911 in the looks department. Unless you're into that eastern-European industrial look. But some believe a tan or Flat Dark Earth Glock is one of the best-looking handguns one can own. I happen to be of that opinion myself.
And up until now, the only choice was to look on the used market for one of the few remaining Glock Gen3 guns that were offered in the company's “OD” color, or to take the plunge and spray the thing with Duracoat.
However, firearm distributor Lipsey's has announced a third option: GLOCK Pistols featuring Flat Dark Earth frames. Nine different models will be offered, including the Generation 3 Model 17, 19, 22, and 23, as well as the Generation 4 Model 17, 19, 21, 22, and 23.
This will mark the first time that any GLOCK Generation 4 pistols are offered in a different frame color.
“GLOCK set the standards by which all other polymer pistols are judged. The addition of our exclusive Flat Dark Earth models gives the consumer a choice other than all black,” said Lipsey's buyer Brett Frey.
I asked Jason Cloessner, also of Lipsey's, where in the world these were coming from.
“These are straight from Glock,” Cloessner told Gun Digest. “We have been working on this project for some time. Glock made some Gen 3 22's for a certain Special Forces Unit in the past, but in very limited numbers. These are the first FDE guns offered commercially and for sure the first “non-black” Gen 4 guns.
“Just a side note, the Gen 4 extra backstraps are FDE too on all the guns except for the G21.”
To see Lipsey's full line of Flat Dark Earth Glocks click here.
Marines were recently issued a new directive concerning what gear and weapons they can use for their annual marksmanship qualifications.
According to The Marine Corps Times, a Marine administrative message, released on March 12, 2012, noted that, “Only individual rifles, their designated optics, and pistols that are current Marine Corps programs of record are authorized for use” during qualifications. “Marines will continue the use of approved modular weapon attachments and authorized modifications. The intent is to ensure Marines train with the weapon system with which they will fight.”
The Times reported that, “Pistols authorized this year include the 9mm M9 and M9A1, and the .45-caliber M45. The Corps also authorized the use of the M16A4 rifle, M4 carbine, M4A1 Close Quarters Battle Weapon, and M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle (IAR), each of which will be used with their respective standard optics.”
There was some questions about allowing the new IAR into this year's qualifications.
“The free-floating barrel on the weapon makes it more accurate than the M16A4 and M4, but marksmanship officials observed the advantage was minimal, resulting on average in a five-point increase in a Marine’s score on the range. Additionally, only automatic riflemen assigned the M27 will use it during quals, and they'll compete for promotion against personnel in their own military occupational specialty.”
“The topic of fairness comes up every time we do something different or introduce an improvement to marksmanship,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Timothy Dankonich, a range officer involved in the study. “If you look at what five points on the rifle range does on a cutting score in terms of eligibility for promotion, you're better off doing one or two more pullups on your [Physical Fitness Test]. The fairness issue is essentially moot.”
If you collect military firearms, your best insurance policy is to know what you're collecting and how much it's worth. There's no better source of this knowledge than the updated, revised 6th edition of Phillip Peterson's Standard Catalog of Military Firearms.
From handguns to rifles to shotguns and fully-automatic machineguns and submachineguns, Standard Catalog of Military Firearms provides a remarkable complete guide to the world's military firearms and their accessories.
The folks at Rock Island Auction Company have been busy. Based in Rock Island, Illinois, they will be hosting their best firearms auction ever in their two-decade history on April 20th, 21st and 22nd. They claim this will be their biggest of the decade so far.
The auction will be heavily populated by Colts with over 700 up for sale. A cased presentation Colt Model No. 3 Paterson with full accessories is currently the top ranked item with a pre-auction estimate of $275,000-$450,000. This firearm was the first model produced by Samuel Colt. It is considered one of the rarest firearms to acquire.
Another Colt for sale is a Colt Navy cartridge revolver with a number one serial number. It is the first true catridge gun made by Colt and it is inscribed to Lewis Sheldon, a Colt employee. It's been in the Sheldon family ever since–almost a 150 years.
Extremely Rare and Historic Serial Number, 1, Exhibition Quality Deluxe Factory Engraved, Cased Presentation, Colt Model 1861/72 Navy Cartridge Revolver
And then there are over a 100 Colt percussion guns up for bids, one of which, is a Colt Calvary Model single action that was on the Discovery Channel's Ready, Aim, Sold program. There is much more: a U.S. inspected Model 1883 Gatling gun, the first “true” Winchester, a Briggs Patent Henry Rifle; a rare prototype Winchester Model 1876 “Centennial” revolver, a huge collection of Lugers; numerous makes and models of M1911 and M1911A1’s from WWI and WWII, and overover 400 shotguns and over 900 modern firearms. And more and more. The catalog for this auction can be viewed at www.rockislandauction.com.
A huge variety of firearms will be crossing the auction block but what about the popularity of the Colt revolvers?
It is an American icon. It is the gun that won the West. It made men more equal. They are dependable, tough, and accurate. It is elegant in a simple way and the form follows the function so well the Colt Single Action revolver should be enshrined in a museum of design.
It's no wonder that the Colt Single Action was included in the book the Greatest Guns of Gun Digest edited by the late firearms expert Dan Shideler. In the chapter on the Colt Single Action, author James M. Triggs wrote in the opening paragraph:
“Ounce for ounce there is probably;y has been more unadulterated baloney written, published, and otherwise disseminated about the Single Action Colt revolver than any other handgun ever manufactured. The reason for all of this ballyhoo is simple: the old “thumb-buster” was — and still is — one of the finest handguns ever made. It's few disadvantages are often outweighed by its pure romantic appeal alone.”
Triggs then goes into a highly detailed history of Colt revolvers and covers every technical aspect in the handgun's design and manufacture. In the last sentence he wrote: ” . . . Single Action Colt, the more you shoot it the more you will appreciate its rugged dependibility. It is truly one gun that is here to stay.”
So perhaps that explains why Colt revolvers will always be in demand whether at an auction or at a gun shop. It's a classic built to last.
When a van pulled up next to a Milwaukee couple walking a dog on March 24, 2012, something didn't feel right. The couple's fears were realized when the driver pulled a handgun and demanded their belongings. What happened next is a perfect example of how concealed carry keeps law-abiding people safe.
Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry by Massad Ayoob
Carrying a concealed firearm starts with knowing the laws of your area. But that's not where it ends. There are many things you need to consider before ever slipping on that holster.
Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry is the definitive source of concealed carry information. Author Massad Ayoob is one of the most respected experts in the field, and goes in-depth to prepare you for the responsibilities that come with carrying concealed.
Three versions of the Kimber Solo (left to right): Solo Carry, Solo Carry STS and Solo CDP.
The Kimber® Solo® 9mm pistol has been selected as the 2012 American Rifleman Handgun of the Year and will be receiving the Golden Bullseye Award at the NRA Convention this spring.
Now in their 10th year, NRA Publications Golden Bullseye Awards acknowledge the finest products available in the shooting sports. The winners are selected by a seven-member committee consisting of editors, graphic designers and veteran NRA Publications staff, representing more than a century of collective experience in the shooting and hunting industry.
Solo pistols incorporate many of the great 1911 ergonomic features for intuitive operation and natural pointability. Precision manufacturing and several patent-pending features maximize accuracy and make them easy to control under recoil. Three models are available, including the new Solo CDP (LG) with night sights and Crimson Trace Lasergrips. Like all Kimber pistols, the Solo is proudly made in America and available at Kimber Master Dealer locations across America.
Suggested retail prices begin at $747.
Complete information on Kimber firearms, accessories and Less-Lethal products is available at kimberamerica.com or by phone at (888) 243-4522. A detailed product catalog is available upon request.
Gun Digest is the source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. Readers benefit from in-depth editorial expert advice, show reviews and practical how-to instructions. With your subscription, you’ll also learn about threats to your Second Amendment rights.
This best-quality sidelock by Holland & Holland boasts finely-engraved plates. The sidelock is still considered the most elegant of double-rifle mechanisms.
Wayne Van Zwoll examines the double-barrel boxlock and sidelock antique rifles in “The Technical Rifleman.”
A modern boxlock, this well-built Heym double is chambered in .470 Nitro Express.
About the time George Armstrong Custer made ready to round up wayward Sioux on the flanks of the Little Bighorn, a couple of gunmakers working at Westley Richards of Birmingham, England fashioned a new rifle mechanism. Like the dropping-block rifle John Moses Browning would build just a few years later (marketed by Winchester as its Model 1885), the hinged-breech action of William Anson and John Deeley was stout and reliable. It housed the sears, hammers and hammer springs of a double-barrel rifle or shotgun in a compact frame without sideplates. It would come to be called a boxlock. And it shifted the tectonic plates of British gunmaking.
Earlier doubles held the firing mechanism on plates that extended behind the hammers, the first of which were external. On a back-action sidelock, the springs lay behind the hammers; bar-action sidelocks carried the springs in front. Makers had to choose between removing wood from the grip or from the standing breech. In both cases, they introduced some weakness to that part of the firearm. The Anson & Deeley boxlock not only retained more material in this critical section, it made internal hammers practical. While sidelocks remained (and are still) popular, the boxlock was quickly adopted around the world. It was much less expensive to produce in quantity and easily adapted to cartridges of any size.
This boxlock sold for much less than sidelocks of its day. Now both are costly.
These days, sidelocks deliver a generous canvas for engravers. They also invite the hand of uncommonly gifted craftsmen; hand-detachable sidelocks are a hallmark of fine gunmaking. But best-quality boxlocks now command utmost respect, and prices rivaling those of sidelocks. A boxlock double rifle from a maker with deep British roots can cost more than a sports car.
I used one recently to hunt Australian buffalo. A Webley and Scott chambered in .500 Nitro Express, it dated to 1910. But despite a century of service in the bush, and the terrific pounding delivered by those cartridges (570-grain bullets at 2100 fps) the rifle was still tight. It opened and closed sure and silent as a hydraulic press. Quite a tribute to William Anson and John Deeley.
Double rifles have long been favored by hunters of dangerous game, for several reasons. First, they have two separate firing mechanisms. If one (or a cartridge) fails, the other is instantly available.
Wayne van Zwoll fires a Webley & Scott boxlock in .500 Nitro Express, a rifle built in 1910.
Secondly, there’s no feeding mechanism to jam, and doubles can be reloaded quickly. Also, the double rifle has no receiver, so overall length is a hand’s breadth shorter than that of magazine rifles with same-length barrels. The shallow profile of a double, and its low iron sights, put your sight-line tight to the barrel and nearly as snug to your forward hand. Fast, natural pointing results – assisted by low-between-the-hands balance.
The mediocre accuracy of double rifles matters not to their many fans. A double is meant for close, urgent shooting with iron sights. Minute-of angle groups are irrelevant. Alas, getting right and left barrels regulated to plant bullets to the sights can try the patience of a friar, and is as much art as science. It’s also a reason few loads exist for rimmed, big-bore “Express” cartridges. Rifles regulated for one load seldom shoot accurately if either bullet weight or speed is changed.
If two federal agencies set out to tackle crime near the U.S.-Mexico border, it would make sense they'd communicate with each other, right? The latest information suggests that's not the case. Miscommunication between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives apparently resulted in the wrong “fish” entangling the nets of Operation Fast & Furious.
Guns Save Lives
It's important to keep up on stories like this one because of how they affect gun rights overall. Yet it's easy to get lost in the political noise and lose sight of why gun rights are so critical in the first place: Guns save lives.
The Guns Save Lives book chronicles true stories of instances where having a firearm meant the difference between life and death. If gun rights disappeared, the people in the book wouldn't have made it out alive.
At Fort Benning, Georgia, the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) recently announced an historic expansion with the creation of a Marksmanship Instructor Group and Paralympic Section, the first Army units designed specifically for wounded warriors deemed able to continue to serve on active duty.
This expansion of the USAMU mission was part of the Army Chief of Staff's initiative supporting wounded warriors.
“For these soldiers, serving in the USAMU will involve raising Army combat readiness by providing the absolute best shooting instruction for all Army units,” a USAMU press release explained. “They will also showcase the Army by competing at a world-class level in national and international competition as part of the USAMU's efforts to connect the Army to the nation's citizens.”
“Despite their injuries, these soldiers are stronger for serving and continuing to serve; now they will make the Army even stronger,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Hodne, commander, USAMU.
Designed by Green Berets, the BHI-15(S) takes the AR-15 platform to the next level.
When you handle guns for a living it’s easy to get jaded. There is a lot to see and even more to learn. In this business you get lots of calls that begin with, “We have created a new AR-15 that you are going to love.”
So when Erik Lawrence of Blackheart International called, he could probably hear me nodding my head as he tried to describe his new rifle. Then he said something that shook me back to reality. “What would a bunch of Green Berets know about designing a rifle?” Good point. Guys in the field know what they need. So I decided to take a closer look.
The truth is Lawrence didn’t do a great job of describing his new rifle over the phone. When I got the thing in my hands it occurred to me that someone had finally taken the AR-15 platform to the next level. And the best part is that moving to the next level is not about all the stuff you can hang on the rifle, but rather creating a rifle that functions the way it should, feels better than anything you’ve carried before and gives you the versatility your mission demands. The BHI-15(S) does all that with no apparent downside.
What am I talking about? The most noticeable thing about the BHI-15(S) is the hand guard system. It is thin. It is easy to grip and handle and it offers amazing versatility. Instead of being bristling with picatinny rails the Blackheart hand guard is knurled for a great grip. Strategically placed slots allow for the attachment of short segments of picatinny rail. This lets the operator configure the rifle in any number of ways. BHI sells rail segments in 1.5-, 2- and 4-inch lengths, making the hand guard ultra-versatile and more importantly keeping weight and extraneous gear to a minimum. Right out of the box the hand guard just feels right and it only gets better when you can put only the things you need exactly where you want them.
Could a single Marine Expeditionary Unit of 2,200 warriors armed with state-of-the-art firearms take down the entire 330,000-man army of the Roman Empire? For a student of military firearm history it’s an intriguing question.
Posed as a hypothetical question on the megasite reddit.com, the question — Could a single Marine Expeditionary Unit of today take down the entire Roman Empire? — caught James Erwin’s attention.
Erwin, a technical writer living in Iowa, is the author of The Encyclopedia of U.S. Military Actions. After stumbling across the discussion, he began to hammer out a fictional scenario on his lunch hour. His tale (written under the handle “Prufrock451”) involves a marine unit transported back in time to 23 B.C. during the reign of Augustus Caeser. Starting with “Day 1” his lively prose sucked readers in and propelled him to instant online celebrity status virtually overnight. A Hollywood screenwriter read Erwin’s narrative. A deal was struck. And the rest, as they say, is history. The movie is currently in production.
There was no stopping the Roman Army's seemingly endless conquest for empire. But how would they contend with soldiers armed with M4 automatic rifles?
Here’s how it began:
DAY 1 The 35th MEU is on the ground at Kabul, preparing to deploy to southern Afghanistan. Suddenly, it vanishes.
The section of Bagram where the 35th was gathered suddenly reappears in a field outside Rome, on the west bank of the Tiber River. Without substantially prepared ground under it, the concrete begins sinking into the marshy ground and cracking. Colonel Miles Nelson orders his men to regroup near the vehicle depot – nearly all of the MEU's vehicles are still stripped for air transport. He orders all helicopters airborne, believing the MEU is trapped in an earthquake.
Nelson's men soon report a complete loss of all communications, including GPS and satellite radio. Nelson now believes something more terrible has occurred – a nuclear war and EMP which has left his unit completely isolated. Only a few men have realized that the rest of Bagram has vanished, but that will soon become apparent as the transport helos begin circling the 35th's location. – Prufrock451
Reader comments flooded in. Sub-Reddits popped up, spawning side discussions. A dedicated community called Rome, Sweet Rome, emerged. One reader observed:
There was a battle in the 17th century iirc in which 200 Moroccan troops armed with flintlock guns (supplied by Europeans) defeated an army of 20,000 Mali warriors armed with melee weapons. These were 17th century front loading muskets that weren't accurate past 50-100 meters and took a long time to reload (no cartridges).
Now what do you think 50 guys with automatic weapons are going to do to 6,000 guys with swords walking in tight formation? – gegc
Sure, there are obvious problems today’s warriors would face in ancient Rome — the lack of GPS and finite fuel and ammunition supplies in a world where replacements wouldn’t exist — problems that only Hollywood could gloss over.
But setting reality aside for just a minute, could a single Marine Expeditionary Unit of 2200 warriors armed with state-of-the-art firearms take down the entire 330,000 army of the Roman Empire? For a student of military firearm history it’s an intriguing question. Keep in mind that each deployed marine will carry over three hundred rounds of ammunition in his battle pack.
To make this interesting, instead of an entire Marine unit, what could a scout-sniper team or two do against the ancient Roman legions?
Vasily Zaytsev, the Soviet's most-famous sniper of World War II, credited with 225 confirmed kills in the Battle of Stalingrad.
Consider the military marksmen as a force multiplier. In World War II, for example, famous Soviet sniper Vasily Zaytsev scored 225 confirmed kills during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Zaytsev later taught a sniper class of thirty students who racked up between 1,000 and 3,000 kills (depending on source). While Zaytsev’s kill ratio of 1/225 is impressive (his disciples were batting 1/100) what really brings this into focus is the fact the German snipers were no slouches themselves — armed with Mauser k98ks. They were a formidable adversary indeed.
They were no ancient peoples wielding swords and spears.
What do you think? Could a modern-day sniper team hold back and conquer the Imperial Roman Army? What modern firearms would play the most decisive role?
Remember this cool video I did about the Uncle Mike's Reflex concealed carry holster? I'd like to be able to say that is was my work that helped increase the popularity of this holster, but the reality is that it's a great holster that offers impressive retention, but quick access. As you learned in the video, studies have shown that fine motor skills diminish quickly in stressful or threatening situations, leaving average gun owners unable to operate holsters with buttons, levers or retention straps. The Reflex Holster's simple retention system allows users to easily draw the firearm when fine motor function has given way to gross motor skills. If you want to watch the video again, click here.
And now, the Reflex concealed carry holster is available for many more models of concealed carry handgun. Let's hope your favorite gun is on the list.
Models are now available to fit the following handguns:
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 of the best concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
The Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry
