Tag Archives: 9mm

Reviews, Training

TOC Vehicle Ambush Tactics – Pistol AAR

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After training with TOC last year in a really well-thought-out carbine class, I had made it a priority this year to try to take another class with them. Thankfully, they scheduled their “Vehicle Ambush Tactics – Pistol” class on a day I could take it, so I signed up ASAP.

I’ve never done any shooting in or around vehicles, so I had almost no expectations walking in. I just wanted to learn some new skills, do a little shooting under stress, and maybe have a bit of fun. I think I accomplished all those goals. Read on for more.

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Reviews, Training

Green Ops Defensive Pistol Clinic I AAR (Maxim 9 Edition)

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It’s December, and that typically means I’m trying to get in that last class or two to finish up my training year. I had been debating whether to take the Green Ops Defensive Pistol Clinic I. On one hand, it’s a great class, but on the other hand, I’ve come pretty far with my pistol shooting and I wasn’t sure it was going to be as relevant to me.

I decided that one way to make it relevant was by using a gun I was not at all familiar with: the Silencerco Maxim 9. The Maxim 9 is an integrally suppressed, roller-delayed 9mm pistol, and I wanted to see if it was really up for some harder use… or if it was just a range toy. Read on for my impressions of both the class and the gun.

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Training

JDC Speed Shooting & Shot Calling Class AAR

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As I’ve progressed as a shooter, I try to tailor the classes that I take to address my particular needs. It’s a little hard to list out my needs, as my shortcomings are myriad, but tightening up my speed while maintaining accuracy is certainly high on my list. When I saw Justified Defensive Concepts’ 2020 schedule, and the Speed Shooting & Shot Calling class on it, I knew I was not going to miss it.

If you want some indication just how much I was not going to miss it, here’s the story. I am writing this AAR from Las Vegas, where I will be attending SHOT Show for the first time. I got home from this class at 11:15 PM on Sunday night – as expected – secured my weapons, went to sleep at 11:30 PM, and woke up at 4:15 AM on Monday to catch a flight to Las Vegas. That is punishing, and I was pretty fatigued on Monday, but I think it was worth it.

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Matches

Unsanctioned Steel Challenge Match at AGC – 1/5/2020

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In an effort to start off 2020 right, I participated in the unsanctioned Steel Challenge match at the AGC range near Baltimore. I have never shot Steel Challenge before, so this was going to be an interesting experience. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t going to count towards classification, but in a way, maybe that was for the best.

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Reviews, Training

Green Ops Defensive Pistol Clinic I AAR

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I had the pleasure of attending the Green Ops Defensive Pistol Clinic this past Sunday. I was looking through my blog to refresh my memory about it, and it turns out that it has been a full year since the last time I took this clinic. This was kind of a surprise! I go to a lot of these clinics, but it seems I’ve branched out quite a bit. It did make me excited to see how it has evolved since then, and I was not disappointed!

Read on for the AAR!

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Reviews

Federal Syntech 130gr “PCC” 9mm Ammo Review

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I was recently contacted by the TargetBarn company – an online ammo and targets retailer – and asked to do an ammo review for them. I was humbled by this opportunity, and we spent a couple exchanges deciding what ammo made sense for this and what protocols I’d utilize for such a review. Obviously, reviewing some bulk blaster 115gr was not going to be terribly interesting to anyone involved (including my readership), and I lack the facilities and time to do proper gel testing on JHPs and similar self-defense ammunition.

We landed on Federal Syntech 130gr “PCC” 9mm ammo. Did you know Federal made PCC-specific ammo? I did not before encountering this ammunition! I am broadly familiar with the “regular” Syntech ammunition, having successfully shot about half a case of the 150gr 9mm variety in competition and classes, but have never used this stuff before. I felt that that made it a good candidate for a review.

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Matches

USPSA Match at NRA HQ Range – 11/20/2019

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I finally got myself back to the NRA HQ range for a USPSA match last night. This was my first one in like seven months.

It was not my finest hour – I’m out of practice. But I absolutely noticed substantial improvements to my shooting, and lost it more on unforced errors and equipment problems more than simply bad shooting.

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Industry News

Silencerco Omega 36M Announced

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In some industry news, Silencerco announced the Omega 36M yesterday. I am a SiCo guy, and own a bunch of their products, so this was of interest to me. I will say that I was slightly disappointed by the final product, at least in the sense that it was not quite what I expected it to be, but on the other hand, it appears to be a pretty worthy upgrade to the current Omega 300 that provides it much more versatility without much of a weight trade-off.

To explain my disappointment: it’s modular, but unlike the Switchback, you don’t have the option of using the front baffles as your entire can. Recall that the Switchback has a serialized rear end module to prevent you from splitting it and using it on two rifles. The serialized portion on the 36M is the rear tube; the front tube is essentially a Charlie endcap with baffles and a Charlie endcap interface on the front. This is cool, but prevents you from using the front module as a K-length suppressor. Modular is a bit overdone in the current market, but being able to go K-length, standard-length, and extra-length with the same can would have really been a selling point. Perhaps we’ll see a Switchback 36 in the future.