#Misc

Note- This article is the second portion of an earlier article that contiues the discussion of the dynamics of being a member of a Marine Scout Sniper platoon. To read that article, please click here.

Earlier I covered the topic of the failure rates at the Marine Corps Scout Sniper Basic Course and what the Marines wanted to do to mitigate the failures. I disagreed with the solution to the problem for a number of reasons. In this article I would like to provide some in-depth discussion surrounding the Scout Sniper platoons in the active duty operational component of the Marine Corps, the Fleet. Throughout the years there has been much information dispensed surrounding the platoons and the Scout Snipers within them, some of it true, some of it false, and a number of it just plain rumor. I hope this can clear things up a bit.

Note-This post is a continuation of the earlier post that began, talking about some of the issues that are inherent with chopping the current Scout Sniper Basic Course in two. To read part one, please click here.

iVUE is an eyewear company that produces sunglasses that have an integrated camera system in the bridge of the frame and can record 1080p footage at the press of a button. The company has been around for several years now and customer videos using their products have been on Youtube in that time as well. Although I’m singling out iVUE because they are the only eyewear camera product that has seen extensive usage in the shooting sports, there are a multitude of eyewear products out there that can do the same, if not a better job of capturing what appears to be the best “First Person” angle footage we have seen. Previously this sort of footage is reserved to helmet cameras such as the Contour, GoPro head kits, and even body cameras as worn by many Law Enforcement officers these days. All of these are good pieces of kit, but sometimes they don’t get that true first person footage that we are constantly striving for, to see pretty much what that person was seeing while they were taking the footage.

We rarely get to pick the brains of the people in our industry who are the technical geniuses that bring the products we love and enjoy to fruition. In this episode of InRange TV, Ian and Karl from Forgotten Weapons have a candid Skype talk with Nathan from Faxon Firearms about various barrel making procedures. They specifically discussed the differences between Nitride and chrome lined barrel manufacturing that takes place at Faxon. Although from the outset, Nitride might seem to be of lesser quality than a chrome lined barrel because it is cheaper but really this has to do with the manufacturing process involved. Nitride is used to treat the actual bore while chrome lining is a lining that has to be inlaid into the barrel, and thus could see more imperfections over time.

Along with the recent announcement of Gander Mountain filing for bankruptcy, we also have MC Sports, a Mid-West based sporting store that has been known for a very long commitment to responsible firearms sales, is closing down all 68 of the current stores. From the news article about the Michigan based sporting goods store chain-

The Marine Corps Times (not associated with the Marines) has highlighted an issue that hasn’t entered the public domain in firearms news as of yet, but has really been smoldering at the surface for many years now. The basic premise of the issue is this: The operational active-duty infantry battalions in the Fleet Marine Force aren’t getting enough school trained Scout Snipers and it is hurting their ability to maintain peak effectiveness within the FMFScout Sniper platoons. Reasoning behind this? Not enough Marines are passing Sniper School while there are plenty of Marines that enter it. The problem? The majority of candidates in the school are failing the Scout Sniper Basic Courses taught at Camp Geiger, NC, Camp Pendleton, CA, and Quantico in northern Virginia. Currently, the rate at which classes are passing is 44 percent, which means essentially half of each Basic Course class is dismissed before going on to the advanced stages.

In what is sure to top the current craze over making music with firearms, Russia’s IPSC Grand Master Vitaly Kruchin outdoes his own performance of taking musicians to the shooting range, by taking the shooting range to musicians! In this example, he is using .22 LR converted Glocks to engage multiple steel plates designed to sound differently when hit, in order to match a classical music piece from Austria. I can’t tell if this piece is more challenging than his previous performance while on a range but either way, both are amazing skills of marksmanship and competency with a firearm. However at that range with .22 LR rounds, I would be concerned with ricochets from bullets bouncing back. Although not entirely common, I’ve seen people get hit and I myself have gotten snagged by small pieces of ricochets from steel at very close ranges. I assume the proper safety precautions were taken in regards to bullets used to prevent such hazards. From RT–

Recently my local gun shop in Bloomington, IN allowed me to sit in on one of the shop’s new AR build courses being offered. I didn’t build a rifle there myself, just simply watched the course intently and took a large number of notes and photographs of what was going on. Because I wasn’t an actual student involved in the course, this won’t be an article detailing the intricacies of putting together an AR15 but is simply more a reflective perspective of what I learned. If you are interested in a rather in-depth critique of putting together an AR15, take a look at Patrick R’s writings. In addition, I know I’ll get some particular facts here wrong, so please take this as an outsider’s perspective on a very detailed aspect of the AR15, instead of a true testimony.

With the Taurus Curve review I highlighted a sort of methodology that I consider central to carrying a handgun for self-defense. Namely being that one shouldn’t rely on a single handgun or holster but instead be flexible when it comes to the situation and attire at hand while still trying to provide as much capability when it comes to firepower and ammunition capacity. Particularly with the Curve we looked at deep concealment options with a handgun, but with the concealed carry shirt, I’ll be looking at deep concealment carry products. We mentioned the ankle holster earlier, but something that I don’t see much actual coverage of is the holster shirt. Many might immediately dismiss this sort of carry as unsafe or ludicrous. I would agree at face value but given a few modifications I believe the concealed carry shirt has its place among the deep concealment options out there on the market right now.

Earlier on TFB we reported on the South Korean Military’s insistence on picking up every single brass cartridge fired while conducting live fire training. Soon after, we received an Indian reader that emailed us with these photographs showing the brass catching practice is alive and well within the Indian Army’s INSAS and Kalashnikov rifles in training. However with the Indian Army, possibly due to funds soldiers have to improvise their own brass catchers out of bottles and wire meshes that fit over their rifles. Some of them are even painted to match the rifle they are attached to. One of the biggest problems with this brass catching phenomena is that the brass catcher can induce malfunctions on the rifle by rounds falling back into the action.

Osprey Publishing “Weapon” series is an excellent primer for those who want a book on a particular weapon system, but don’t want an overly in-depth version more appropriate for research purposes. The books aren’t intended to make you an expert on any particular weapon but do greatly improve your knowledge of a particular one when it comes to history, design, usage, and current application. This sort of approach to small arms literature isn’t new, Ballentine Books having pioneered it in the 1960s and 70s. Both publishing companies got their name for starting out with books on individual battles, then moving on to weapons. However with Osprey, the company is really getting into some depth with each particular weapon, and hopefully will expand it in the future.

The High Speed Shooting Stabilizer Fang is a neat product that we first reported on some months ago. We got our hands on one to test it in person. The device was pioneered by a fellow named James Renteria, a former Marine himself (aren’t we everywhere?), who developed the concept using 3D printers at home in Florida. Currently, his website offers the Fang in addition to the HABU cheek rest/charging handle.

Our first episode with Callum from English Shooting covered the intricacies of the laws and regulations that govern firearm and shotgun ownership in the United Kingdom. But in this episode, we discuss the growing sport of Practical Shooting. Essentially based on Three Gun, or Two Gun in the United States, the sport is appealing to British shooters for a number of reasons, one of which is that it offers a diverse and changing environment for shooters to compete in, unlike anything that has been available before.

TFB TV pairs up with Callum from English Shooting, a British Channel devoted to discussing the shooting sports in the United Kingdom. Callum talks about the differences between a Firearms and Shotgun Certificate, the various options out there when it comes to semi-automatic, pump action shotguns in addition to all things .22 LR which is very popular in Britain due to the laws not covering the cartridge. In addition we receive some excellent information on the cap & ball firearms in the UK, which are also extremely popular.