WARRIOR TALK NEWS

TEXAS WEAPON SYSTEMS KALASHNIKOV HANDGUARD

We had done a few "tail checks" before I saw the items in Rafaga's backpack. The best way to describe the floor at SHOT comes from the words of Sir Alec Guinness playing Obi Wan Kenobi as he described the bazaar at Tatooine.

"Never has there been a more wretched hive of scum and villany".

Well...maybe not exactly like that...but the place is full of idea thieves.  Think of a "spook convention" at the height of the Cold War and you will have an idea.  It would not be a stretch to have some "eastern european businessman" or "asian entrepreneur" catch a glimpse of what I was now holding in my hands and have a knock-off made and for sale using slave labor and substandard materials before our plane touched down back in Phoenix.

Thus we took precautions.



The handguard is much more than that....it is a system, and unlike anything ever made for a Kalashnikov rifle before. It replaces the OEM gas tube with a precision made tube that is encased in the handguard chassis. Both units bolt to each other in a solid unmovable style. The lower handguard bolts to the barrel with a patented bushing design that will accommodate any thickness of barrel. The bushings also tension the barrel fore and aft, thereby improving barrel harmonics.



The handguard and top cover reach all the way to the gas block at the front totally covering both barrel and gas tube, and offering a modern and sleek high-speed look.

There are many handguards on the market these days ranging from stamped airsoft trash, to handcrafted olympic weight quality units that even Hulk Hogan would find challenging to shoulder.

The holy grail of these in the AR market for many years has been to make the rails optional and modular, and to make the units themselves as light as possible. But the AK market has gone the other way...making handguards that were so grossly oversized and overweight that they made the handy rifle into an ungainly beast.



Texas Weapon Systems has grabbed on to that holy grail and set the bar for AK rails as things stand today in early 2012. These will not be "cheap" by any definition of the word in either quality, or cost, but I do think they are the best, and the standard to which the industry will now aspire.

Available at One Source Tactical, and on TSD Combat Systems Rifles.

PRE-ORDER HERE FOR DELIVERY IN APPROXIMATELY FOUR WEEKS

Beating the Reaper: Vol. 1: Trauma Medicine for the CCW Operator

Review By Chris Upchurch, Suarez International Staff Instructor

Last week I received my copy of Beating the Reaper!!! Vol. 1: Trauma Medicine for the CCW Operator by Dr. John Meade and Sua Sponte. I began eagerly devouring it immediately.

With a life and death technical subject like this, it’s important that the authors have the knowledge and experience to credibly write on the subject. In this case, the authors have this in spades. Dr. John Meade is an emergency room physician, SWAT medic, and medical director for several EMS agencies. Sua Sponte is the nom de gurre of an active duty Special Operations medic with extensive experience overseas. Both have been there and done that.

The book begins by laying out the context of these skills for private individuals. It introduces the M.A.R.C.H. acronym. M.A.R.C.H. stands for Massive hemorrhage, Airway, Respiration, Circulation, and Hypothermia/Head Injury. This defines both the major problems we need to address when treating penetrating trauma, and the order in which we address them. The rest of the book is structured to address each of these in turn.

Before diving into the medical elements, the second chapter covers the tactical elements that distinguish tactical medicine from other types of trauma. Most other causes of trauma, a car accident for example, the cause of the trauma is generally over and done with before any opportunity for treatment arises. In a tactical situation, however, the incident may still be going on. If someone is out there shooting at you, finishing the fight is often a higher priority than immediately treating injuries. Even if you think you’ve finished off the adversary, or he’s moved away from your immediate area, you need to be ready incase a new threat emerges while you’re treating injuries. Despite the fact that both authors come a team tactics background (SWAT and Special Operations respectively) the tactical portions of the book are written with the individual operator in mind. The book describes the Suarez International after action assessment process, one-handed gun manipulation, and discusses tactical considerations like light discipline, cover and concealment, and moving injured individuals.

Chapter three is in many ways the heart of the book. It’s the longest and most detailed chapter, with good reason. Massive hemorrhage represents the biggest threat and most likely cause of death from a gunshot wound. After a quick overview of the circulatory system’s response to major leaks, the chapter goes through the major methods of dealing with serious bleeding: direct pressure, hemostatic agents, and tourniquets. In most circumstances, direct pressure is the standard treatment for major bleeding, but in a tactical situation it has the drawback of tying up the responder’s hands applying pressure. With penetrating trauma the effectiveness of direct pressure can be increased by packing the wound, exerting pressure deep inside rather than just at the surface. The book covers both of these in detail. Hemostatic agents are chemicals that promote clotting, stopping bleeding. They are not a magic bullet, however, and are best used in conjunction with direct pressure.

The remainder of chapter three is largely dedicated to tourniquets. Because they don’t tie up the responder’s hands after application the way direct pressure does, a tourniquet provides more mobility and a greater ability to respond to threats. This makes them our default choice for heavily bleeding wounds to the extremities in a tactical situation. The book first deals with the myth that applying a tourniquet means certain amputation and should be applied only as a last resort. Despite what I learned in Boy Scouts, this is absolutely untrue and the reluctance to apply such an effective means of controlling massive bleeding has led to many deaths. The authors recommend three types of pre-made tourniquet: the Combat Applications Tourniquet (C-A-T), the Special Operations Forces Tactical Tourniquet (SOFT-T), and the Cav Arms Slick Tourniquet. They describe all three in detail and give application instructions for each. The book also describes how to apply an improvised tourniquet using a bandana, carabiner, and key ring. Quick discussions of abdominal and head wounds round out the chapter.

Chapter four covers airway management (the A in MARCH). After an introductory discussion of the anatomy and physiology, the chapter covers the recovery position, which can be used to keep people from drowning in their own blood or vomit. Next up is the head tilt-chin lift, used to keep someone from choking on their own tongue. Much like direct pressure, the head tilt-chin lift works well, but the fact that it ties up the rescuers hands is a disadvantage in the tactical context. A better solution is the nasopharyngeal airway: a tube that you can insert though the nose to establish a clear passage to the back of the throat.

Next up in chapter five are sucking chest wounds. After the usual discussion of the anatomy involved the book describes the pneumothorax. Essentially this is air inside your chest cavity, but outside the lungs, which keeps the lungs from properly expanding and filling with air. The chapter focuses mostly on recognizing the condition, and preventing it from occurring by covering chest wounds with occlusive bandages (basically anything airtight).

By now, we’re up to C for Circulation in our MARCH acronym. Chapter six is dedicated to shock. Shock is one of those words with a lot of varied definitions. In this case we’re not talking about emotional shock, or electrical shock, we’re talking about hemorrhagic shock: the body’s reaction to severe blood loss. The chapter describes the symptoms of hemorrhagic shock and how to treat it, starting with keeping as much blood as possible inside the body.

Chapter seven steps away from the MARCH acronym (Head injury having been covered in chapter 4 and Hypothermia in chapter 6) to cover musculoskeletal injuries: sprains, strains, fractures, and dislocations. The chapter describes each of these, then spends quite a bit of time talking about splinting to stabilize these injuries for later treatment.

The final chapter covers trauma kits and equipment. There is a strong emphasis on not including too much stuff. Much like with firearms, a bare bones kit that you have with you when you need it is better than the kit with everything that’s sitting at home when the bullets fly and the blood flows.

Beating the Reaper is an excellent book. It’s well organized, well written, and has just the right level of detail for the layman. Almost anyone who picks up this book will learn a great deal of lifesaving information. I would highly recommend it for anyone who carries a firearm for self defense.

As good as the book is standing alone, it makes an even better supplement to Suarez International’s Trauma Care for the CCW Operator (TMCO) classes. The TMCO class is kind of like drinking from a fire hose, there’s a lot of information there. Reading the book beforehand means that this won’t be the very first time you’re hearing most of this stuff, and will allow you to hone in on aspects you don’t understand or need more clarification on. If you’ve already taken the class, the book will do wonders in helping you review and recall the class material months or years down the line.

Buy Beating the Reaper!!! Vol 1: Trauma Medicine for the CCW Operator at onesourcetactical.com.

Beating The Reaper!!! Volume 1: Trauma Medicine for the CCW Operator

Dr. John Meade

Director of Tactical Medicine

Suarez International

In 2010, I introduced a radically new class into the Suarez International curriculum: Trauma Medicine for the CCW Operator (TMCO). This class was designed to be a gunfighting class, not just a classroom first aid class like so many others teach. My idea was to teach how to respond to the potentially lethal encounter and be able to not only win the gunfight, but also avoid dying from wounds received during the fight. The class teaches both halves of the situation, the gunfight and the medical care, in an integrated fashion.

As obvious to me as it was that we needed the TMCO class, it was also obvious that we needed a book to accompany the class. While no book can replace the guided instruction of a class, having a text would be very helpful. The book could serve as material for preparation prior to the class, as notes so the student would be able to pay more attention during the class and as review material afterwards. The realist in me had to admit that everyone in the English-speaking world would not sign up for a TMCO class, so the book needed to be able to stand on its own, as well, and be able to provide lifesaving information for those who could not attend the class.

I am an experienced Emergency Medicine/Trauma doctor, and a member of a police SWAT team. I train SWAT medics, street paramedics and EMT’s, and oversee multiple EMS agencies. I decided that two brains were better than one for this project, however, and approached a friend who is an active duty Special Forces military combat medic to co-author the book with me. He has spent most of the last decade treating gunshot wounds and other traumatic injuries on overseas battlefields, and would be able to bring another set of experiences to the project.  Between the two of us, we bring a combination of civilian, military, law enforcement, hospital, and out-of-hospital perspectives.

The focus of this book is the same as the TMCO class: the “Average Joe” who finds himself suddenly in an unexpected violent encounter. This man certainly doesn’t consider himself to be a medically trained special operator. Instead, he is someone who realizes that, just as with his shooting skills, he needs to have skill to help save someone’s life, perhaps his own, in the aftermath of shooting or other traumatic event. We call that man the “CCW Operator”. He doesn’t have a team medic nearby. He must show the same self-reliance that got him through the initial incident.  The book, and the class, are infused with the same TCCC (Trauma Combat Casualty Care) principles that are now being taught to military medics. We believe that the skills and mindset needed by the average guy robbed at his local bank ATM machine are the same as those needed by the cop pinned down in an inner city apartment complex hallway, or a soldier caught in an ambush in Iraq.

 

The result of this joint effort is BEATING THE REAPER!! Volume 1: Trauma Medicine for the CCW Operator. It is available now exclusively at the One Source Tactical store. Topics in the book include tactics, hemorrhage control, shock, airway management, chest injuries and musculoskeletal injuries. We also discuss various pieces of medical gear that we strongly recommend, and other gear that we strongly recommend that you avoid.

 

We are already at work on Beating The Reaper: Volume Two. Volume 1 is appropriate to everyone, but especially addresses how to handle things when all you have is a pistol in a reactive gunfight. Volume 2 will focus on things that are more pertinent to teams, such as military, police, and even families that train together. Armor, more medical gear, and a higher level of medical treatment will be discussed.

Sign up for a Trauma Medicine class near you, and purchase the book now! I assure you that you won’t regret either one!

Bullets Don’t Work

By Suarez International Staff Instructor Craig S. Flaherty

You have been lied to for years. Ammunition manufactures, instructors and the gun culture in general have lied to you. When it comes down to an inter-personal violent encounter where handguns are used, the bullets fired from that handgun do not work. This not an exercise in the age old argument, 9mm vs. 45 ACP vs. .40 vs. take your pick. As an example I was once told an issued .40 S&W round issued to me was the “laser beam of death”. This particular round has done things such as bounce off a cheek bone and failed to penetrate to a depth to do any significant damage to the human body, to name just two.

Why is this; clothing, angle, temperature or medical science? I feel all these things have a role in these types of incidents. Let’s look at arguably one of the most investigated and documented incidents of the last quarter of century to see what we may see.  On April 11^th, 1986 that has been talked about and reported on since. 

In the 1980’s, there were a good deal of notorious violent crimes in Miami. Most of them, were linked to the cocaine trade. But of all the violent assaults that took place during Dade County’s most violent period, the most influential and notorious of them all did not involve high-profile drug cartels. It involved two middle-aged armed robbers and eight FBI agents. What began as another morning in Miami ended as, what was at the time, the bloodiest day in the history of the FBI.

 After several robberies, murders and assaults the culmination of the investigation began at about 9 AM on April 11, 1986, Special Agents noticed two men identified as Michael Platt and William Matix in a black Chevrolet Monte Carlo on South Dixie Highway. They moved in behind them and alerted the rest of the team that they were following the suspects. Sensing that they were being followed, the robbers turned from the freeway onto surface streets, behind the Dixie Belle shopping center. As the rest of the agents closed in on the suspects, another Special Agent  passed the Monte Carlo and saw Platt loading his Ruger Mini-14.

 Platt and Matix’s vehicle was forced into a large tree in a parking lot along a surface street. Immediately after crashing, Platt fired 13 rounds at the agents from his Mini-14, hitting two agents. Matix then leaned out of the Monte Carlo, presumably to try and overtake one of the FBI vehicles for a quick escape. Matix was immediately shot in the forearm. While back inside the car Matix was hit again, this time in the head and collarbone, The head shot, while accurate and often deadly, only managed to knock the robber unconscious.

Platt continued to shoot at the Agents as he got out of the Monte Carlo and began to advance on a FBI vehicle. During this charge he was shot four times, mostly in the legs and torso, and then another five times as he attempted to commandeer the FBI automobile. Platt was undeterred by the flurry of bullets hitting him as he made his assault, and upon arrival at Agents car, Platt shot them both, killing each instantly. He also shot several other agents in the process, providing cover as Matix somehow regained consciousness after being shot in the head. The two suspects crawled into the front of an FBI car and continued to receive gunshot wounds, and return fire, for another two minutes.

 Platt was shot in the feet as he exited the FBI vehicle again, presumably to fire more shots. While the wounds were not fatal, they did force Platt back into the vehicle. An Agent advanced on the FBI vehicle the contained Platt and Matix with a .357 magnum revolver, firing into the vehicle five times. Despite having both been shot in the head, chest and extremities, the wounds that finally stopped Platt and Matix were rounds that lodged in their spines during this final attack. Thus ending a nine minute shoot out.

 Autopsy reports showed that the suspects were hit 18 times by FBI bullets, incurring multiple injuries to “kill zones” like the head and chest. Following the incident reports showed that guns had functioned properly. Had the bullets done their jobs Platt would have lasted about 30 seconds after his first chest wound.

Hence my theory, “Bullets Don’t Work”. Now this very short account of the incident does not do it justice. I use it as a point of reference. Have we had weapon and ammunition improvements over the last twenty five years? Of course we have. Many variables impact why bullets do what they do. If you have ever been in one of my classes, you have heard me talk on this subject. Quite simply put. Bullets don’t work, but we are lucky. Ammunition manufactures do a great service. They include a couple “magic” bullets in every box. We as end users just have to find them.

As Gabe has proposed during courses for years, “Shoot them to the ground”. When you attend a course, you spend a very few precious hours with an instructor.  Some instructors will teach you two to the chest one to the head. In a training environment where saving ammunition and making drills easier for the instructor to control the class is part of the equation.  This may not be the best option for you when you are confronted with inter-personal violence that needs to be resolved with a handgun. If you have attended a Suarez International with course you will remember hearing “a burst to the chest and a couple to the head” your choice. When you are training and not under our direct supervision, it is my fervent hope as it is all Suarez International Instructors you remember all the lessons learned during the time we have together. Bullets don’t work and keep shooting good accurate shots until that magic bullet does its damage.

TSD COMBAT SYSTEMS CQB KALASHNIKOV

This rifle is designed as the CQB Kalashnikov Rifle. We build it to fit the guerrilla rifleman  shooting method taught in our courses without any concessions to ComBloc fashions.

The rifle is chambered in 7.62x39 or 5.45x39 and has a 14" barrel with a permanently affixed AAC Blackout Flash Hider (OAL of 16"). We add the Midwest Industries X-Rail handguard systems to aid in shooting positions as well as allowing the end user to add any mission-essential accessories they might want without excessive weight.

For a stock we add the Vltor stock adapter, and a Magpul CTR stock with an optional .75" cheekpiece. This allows for both adjustable length of pull as well as a proper American cheekweld should you opt for the addition of a 1-5x optic or an ACOG. Bottom line is that if you want to shoot with the accuracy of a rifle, you will need to have a proper stock...something that has been lacking in the AK platform since 1947.

We add the American sized US Palm pistol grip and a tuned Red Star Arms trigger kit. The rifle includes one magazine (either US Palm AK30 in 7.62x39, or 45 round Bulgarian in 5.45x39). The AK system was developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov to answer the needs of modern urban combat, it was adopted by the American Gun Community to answer the needs for the ultimate civilian guerrilla rifle, and it has now been perfected by TSD Combat Systems.

www.tsdcombatsystems.com

www.onesourcetactical.com

 

Optimizing Pocket Glocks

 

- Jon Payne Suarez International Tier 1 Staff Instructor

It’s no secret I like Glock pistols. I don’t buy into the whole “perfection” thing, but I have yet to find a more versatile, durable pistol made for killing bad guys and keeping good guys safe. Southeast Texas is dang near a tropical climate so I have no problem admitting I carry a Glock 26/27 when I don’t feel like carrying a gun, or as a backup to my carry pistol. Recently there have been a few threads on the Glock 26/27 on Warrior Talk and Texas Gun Talk. Here are my solutions into making the baby Glocks all they can be.

The Baby Glocks are easier to shoot, hold more ammo, are easier to carry spare ammo for, and are faster to reload than most other subcompact pistols/revolvers. The little Glocks are shoot-able as they come from the factory, but I don’t care for some of the factory options and they are easy to improve. Starting at the top, lose the factory plastic sights and opt for Warren Tactical Sights. On these little guns I like the tritium on the front with a plain black rear. I haven’t made up my mind on which I like more, the “carry” or the “competition” rear because they are both excellent. These sights provide for a nice sharp sight picture and with the tritium up front you have a great reference point for low light shooting. 

Be honest, you won’t use the three dot system to make a precise sight alignment/picture in low light anyway. Night sights just give extra input on where you’re pointed in low light. If you really want to go first class you can have TSD Combat Systems install a Trijicon RMR on your factory slide! The cool thing is the sight radius issue no longer matters and 100 yard shots is like eating lettuce, nothing to it. The con is the added size of the RMR limits where you can hide the pistol. Even with good sights and the ability to get a great sight picture, if you don’t have a manageable trigger you won’t get hits. 

The factory triggers aren’t bad, but I like a cleaner and smoother “break”. Improving the trigger pull on a Glock is so simple you can get yourself into a lot of trouble. There are many reading this that has heard me say, “Stay away from the 25 cent trigger job.”, and I mean it. All you need is a properly tuned Glock Factory 4.5 lb. connector, a Lightning Strike safety plunger, and the 1,000 round trigger job. Even without the 1,000 rounds the last two items will make a marked difference in the feel of your trigger. Next stop, the slide stop, uh…releases whatever. 

There is no need for an extended factory slide stop. It really doesn’t hurt, but I really haven’t found any benefits for me with them. I have had the sharp rear edge get caught in my shirt once, so it can happen, but I’m not too worried about it. Basically this is entirely up to you whether you use the standard or extended factory slide stop. What I won’t use here is after market slide stops. While the magazines can’t be improved, they can be safely altered without affecting reliability. 

First off, only use factory magazines. Second, always carry a spare magazine. It boggles my mind the number of people who will argue about carrying a spare mag. If you’re going through the trouble of packing a darn pistol, carry a spare magazine! Don’t be lazy, if things have gotten to the point where you have to use the pistol I don’t think you’ll wish you had less capacity or be glad you chose to go without a spare magazine. There are other problems that might require you to strip your mag out to get the gun back in the fight. Do you want to put the same mag in that may have been part of the cause of your problem, or replace it with a fresh one? Because I’m carrying a spare mag it’s not a bad thing it holds a little more ammo than the one in your gun, but be aware if you go “too big” it might cause problems.

I have seen Glock 26’s in classes using Glock 19 and Glock 17 mags hiccup when the shooter applied enough pressure through their grip. Did it happen every time? No, it didn’t, just enough times for me to see a pattern. I have added the Glock +2 extension to my spare Glock 26/27 mags. In the 26 you do get the two added rounds, in the 27 you only get one. For pocket carry or deep concealment I use the standard capacity mag with the +2 mag as my spare. I also have some of the Pearce Grip Extensions that add three rounds to the 26 and two rounds to the 27. So far they have worked out very well, and if they continue to do so I have no problem endorsing them. Again, I don’t use magazine extensions from the pocket for obvious reasons, but when using the Zack holster it really doesn’t matter and I use two +2 mags.

 If you own any Glock, especially a 26/27 you need a Zack period. Besides it being a minimalist holster that you can use with all your Glocks, it gives you a little extra piece of mind when transporting your Glocks in a range bag and it’s an extra little step to clear your mind when startled in the middle of the night. The cool thing is you can use any holster designed for your Glock 17/22 or Glock 19/23 when training with the 26/27. 

Running my Baby Glocks in the fashion I have described in this article all but guarantees me hits at 50 yards and makes me real dangerous at 100 yards! The Glock 26/27 when properly rigged up shoots just as accurately and just as reliably as their compact and full sized counterparts. I must add that Glock is not the only maker of a subcompact pistol that handles like its big brother. 

The XD series from Springfield is comparable in just about every way. There are more options for Glocks, but the XD is nothing to sneeze at. The same can be said for the S&W M&P series. An interesting note is TSD Combat Systems is getting geared up to mill XDs and M&Ps for the awesome Trijicon RMR. Unlike some make-believe fairy tale, TSD Combat Systems has opened a new market and the RMR on a combat pistol is a game changer. If you’ve ever thought you wanted more than a .38spl or a .380 ACP, look at the pocket Glock, it fills more roles than just a pocket pistol.