Category: Gun and Other Self Defense Stuff

This section is pretty broad and actually covers more than it says. This is a catch all for prepper related gun and weapon things as well as self defense training. If I don’t have a better place to put it and it is dangerous it will probably be found in this section.

How to Easily Remove Carbon From a Revolver Cylinder

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Do you want to know how to easily remove carbon from a revolver cylinder? It is easy. Remove the cylinder from the revolver first.

I really love shooting revolvers.

(I love shooting double action so much I modified my Glock 17 to have a trigger that is more like a double action revolver.)

However, cleaning the cylinder is not something I enjoy, rubbing lead remover cloth around the face of the cylinder has always annoyed me because the crane and extractor rod always get in my way.

When I was going through the TN Department of Correction firearm instructor course (TDOC uses revolvers at its institutions) I learned this really cool trick.

How to Remove a Revolver Cylinder

If you remove the screw that holds the cylinder crane to the frame the crane and the cylinder will slide out. This will allow you to easily clean the cylinder.

The cylinder will slide back in the firearm when you are done. (Generally this is the single screw right below the bore end of the cylinder, on the frame, on the side opposite the cylinder release)

Do not over tighten the crane screw. If you do, the revolver will not easily open and close. Use proper screwdrivers, as this is a common place to “bugger” up your gun.

This tip is pretty simple, just don’t loose the screw, and always use the proper screwdriver for the screw.

March 22, 2012
Ayoob Demonstrates Stressfire Reload for Revolvers

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According to Wikipedia Massad Ayoob is an internationally known firearms and self-defense instructor. He has taught police techniques and civilian self-defense to both law enforcement officers and private citizens since 1974.

He was the director of the Lethal Force Institute (LFI) in Concord, New Hampshire from 1981 to 2009. Ayoob now directs the Massad Ayoob Group (MAG).

More than that bio Mr. Ayoob writes some of the best firearm books on the subject of the legal aftermath of a self defense shooting. I widely quote his work in my classes, and recommend his books courses and videos to my students.

I own his stressfire books, and am happy to share this clip of him explaining the stressfire reload for revolvers.

What I like about the stressfire system is that it explains current training methods and shooting techniques, dissects them and then shows his techniques with explanations of why they solve current problems. It advances current techniques rather than supplants them.

An example of this, while I teach the FBI method of revolver reloading, the revolver can get hot after firing numerous rounds and that is uncomfortable. In the stressfire reload for revolvers the way you hold the gun prevents burns.

March 20, 2012
Fundamentals of Marine Corps Marksmanship

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This video is an older (1999) video from the US Marine Corps dealing with the fundamentals of Marine Corps marksmanship. Every Marine is a rifleman, and the Corps prides itself on its marksmanship training.

This video may be old but its message is timeless.

(it was created in 1999, the year I was discharged)

Being a marksman is a vital skill for preparedness. Ammunition is only going to become more expensive and harder to find. The day is looming that ammunition will be registered or otherwise strictly controlled.

Being able to get rounds on target quickly and efficiently without waste is a key skill.

In my years as a firearm instructor I have learned that marksmanship is partly knowledge (knowledge that is found in the great video below.) but is also the willingness to apply that knowledge and the discipline to practice when it is not convenient, easy, or fun.

I learned to shoot a rifle in the Marines, and while I am rusty, some things are never forgot.

Due to the quality of Marine Corps rifle training, I can pick up a rifle and remember the hours spent aiming at the white drum pained with targets. One thing the Marine Corps does well is make riflemen out of teenagers.

March 13, 2012
How to Field Strip a CETME Rifle
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Today’s post is to show you how to go about CETME Field Stripping.

As with all gunsmithing, remove all ammunition in the room while you work on your CETME.

I know you are an adult, and smart enough not to accidentally load and fire your gun negligently. However, but so were thousands of other folks right before they fired an “unloaded” firearm.

I am light on the pictures because I was videotaping the process of CETME Field Stripping, so if anything is unclear just watch the video.

How to Field Strip a CETME Rifle
1. Remove the magazine. A forward press on the magazine catch will release it. Then just pull it down.
2. The cocking handle will not work if the firearm is on safe, so put your CETME selector on anything buts “S” – some rifles have “T” for single shot and “R” for burst, mine just has “S” and “F” for fire. In case you are wondering “T” stands for “Tiro a Tiro” (shot by shot) and “R” stands for “Rafaga (burst).
3. Pull firmly the cocking handle rearwards. (The cocking handle is on the left side of the gun forward of the receiver and almost to the front sight). This is not the easiest thing to do, it’s not like a poodle shooter – you are fighting the resistance of both the recoil and hammer springs. When you get the handle fully to the rear, push it up into its lock notch.
4. Check the chamber both physically and visually for any rounds – then do it again – You may think its stupid to do it twice, but there are no records of a negligent discharge by checking twice, and many of them for failing too.
5. Next perform an “HK Slap” to release the cocking handle so as to relieve the tension on the spring. (Just take the palm of your hand and give a slap to the top of the charging handle to knock it out of its locking slot – This action adds enough cool points to make up for checking the chamber twice – sometimes I do it just so I can feel “Teddy Tacticool”.
Remove the Buttstock
1. The buttstock assembly is kept in place by a couple of pins. Those pins are just pushed out like the pins holding an AR together. Some CETME buttstocks have two holes to put the pins in so you don’t loose them. (some may tell you to use your magazine feed lips to help remove the pins, but that is stupid because the magazine lips are one of the most stressed parts of your rifle, pretty fragile, and damage there WILL cause cycling problems.
2. Pull on the butt stock to release the assembly – mine takes a good slap, and not a gentle tug, but they all slide out.
3. Next you need to remove the fire assembly, it tilts downwards. A nice slap on the back of the pistol grip towards the muzzle will release it.
4. Now, with the rear of the gun angled downwards, grab the charging handle and pull it back a little. The barrel assembly should slide right out.
5. That is pretty much fully field stripped, however, if you want to remove the bolt and get to the firing pin, you will have to rotate the bolt head counterclockwise 180°. This can be a little tricky, so you may need to use a pair of pliers.
6. Next rotate the bolt carrier 90 degrees counterclockwise and remove it to expose the firing pin and spring.
7. Pull out the firing pin and the firing pin spring.
To Reinstall, Reverse the Order

When installing the barrel, the two round rollers will be pushed out and locked, and the assembly will not slide into the receiver. The bold has to be retracted to allow the rollers to unlock. The way I do it is to reverse the bold and slide it backwards and “slam” it – (forcefully, but not violently) in the gun, this unlocks the bolt rollers, so I can then pull the assembly out, and reinstall it normally and it will then slide right in the gun.

Remember, once you get it all back together to function test it to make sure it works. That is another reason you don’t have ammo in the room.

When function testing a defensive gun that I keep loaded (say my carry pistol) I will then say OUT LOUD “I am done cleaning my gun and am not loading it” It may seem overkill, but it sets up a mental stumbling block to keep me from function testing my gun after I load it – another way of preventing a negligent discharge from “cleaning my gun”
March 12, 2012
How to Install Gas Checks Cheaply

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If you reload long enough the draw to cast your own bullets becomes almost impossible to resist. It is one thing to assemble to bullets. However, to actually make them is something entirely different. After that comes swaging. Unfortunately, I am still trying to convince the wife to let me spend that money. Casting is relatively simple. But when you start using cast lead in high velocity rounds you have to ensure that the bullet does not get eroded by the hot gasses. Additionally, you must prevent it from being stripped bare by the rifling leaving heavy lead accumulations in your barrel.

What is a Gas Check

It did not take gunsmiths and shooters long to invent the gas check. They discovered that if you apply a thin coating of copper to the base of the bullet it would protect the round from the hot gasses. It also would protect the barrel from excessive leading. This cup of copper is called a gas check.

Gas Checks are so pliable that they are not matched as precisely to the caliber of bore as a round would be. This is because the process of installing the check to the round will swage it to the proper size. For example a .30 caliber gas check will work from .300 to about .315 so it will work on .30 caliber, 7.62, 308, and .303 British.

Gas checks are generally sold in boxes of 1000. The most recent price I found was around $30 a box. This is pretty inexpensive. However, you will need a tool to seat and crimp the base of the round.

You can buy premium tools that do this. However, I have discovered a Lee Precision sizing die will; work very well, while still being inexpensive.

This die fits in your press and is designed to size cast bullets to an exact diameter. Different lead alloys shrink by different amounts. Additionally, some molds are a little large. The sizing die allows the bullet to be forced through the die. Basically, swaging it to the proper size. If you put the check on the base of the bullet as you size the die, the copper check will also be smashed into the bullet allowing a very tight connection.

The Process is Simple

The process on how to install gas checks cheaply is pretty simple. My video shows it all. However, I will tell you that I left the lubing step out in the video. I was going to try tumble lubing the bullets after I installed the checks. It did not work like I had thought.

If you have a pan lube bullet, you will need to go ahead and lube it before you install the checks. You will need to wipe as much lube off the base as possible before you install the check, but otherwise the video shows all the steps.

Internet searches I have done while researching this video say to run the bullet in backwards to allow the check to be swaged first, but I got pretty good results (as well as it being much easier) to run the bullets in tip first just like I was simply sizing them.

Like I said, this is a pretty simple process, and pretty inexpensive, but it is absolutely vital if you are going to shoot lead bullets in centerfire rifles, or very fast handguns.

March 8, 2012