American Handgunner

Tactical Foolery Or Effective Concealment?

By Tom McHale|2023-01-10T20:35:15-05:00January 10th, 2023|

It seems all the “cool kids” are carrying concealed in the appendix position these days. You know, the guys with beards, high-speed, low-drag instructors and all manner of serious gun folk.So, is it a “tacti-cool” fad or a responsible and effective method of everyday concealed carry?

Fizzics ‘R Us

By Tom McHale|2023-01-10T14:46:38-05:00January 10th, 2023|

I’m not a physicist, but I did read Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson. He attempts to explain such things as how, at the moment before the Big Bang, all of the matter and energy in the known universe was contained in a space a trillionth the size of the period that ends this sentence. Now that I think about it, trying to wrap my head around stuff like that is likely why I’m not a physicist. I can’t even comprehend a miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup being packed into a wrapper that small, much less the sum total of all stuff that ever existed anywhere in the cosmos.While the deGrasse Tysons and Hawkings of the world can ponder the great expanse in their studies, we mere mortals can make more practical use of the physical sciences for our shooting activities.

1,2,3,4… I Declare a Gun Lube War

By Tom McHale|2022-11-13T15:26:40-05:00November 13th, 2022|

Like all those “Housewives of Toad Suck, Arkansas” reality TV shows, capitalism is subject to the immutable and universal laws of unintended consequences.Take the gun lube market, for instance. We all need it, and presumably, there’s always room for a better mouse grease trap. So, in theory, I have no real problem with the onslaught of miracle gun lube products.Entrepreneurs everywhere have figured out you can package stuff auto repair shops purchase by pallet-loads of 55-gallon drums into teeny, tiny, plastic bottles with eyedropper attachments and charge a per-ounce price equivalent to platinum, and, these days, gasoline. It is not unusual for a container small enough to legally carry on an airplane to cost $15, $25 or even $40. If a container won’t cause anxiety and suffering among TSA agents, it’s small indeed.

Regulate This

By Tom McHale|2022-08-05T10:31:59-04:00August 5th, 2022|

Once again, the Second Amendment debate is front and center in the news. Whenever people violate the rules of human decency, exposing foundational flaws in our society even a turnip knows will never be fixed with some new law, people scream for action. “Just do something!”Predictably, the “do something” drumbeat points to proposed new gun laws and a challenge to the Second Amendment in principle. Then the pontificating begins (from those who’ve not read seven syllables of writings by our country’s founders) with, let’s say, creative and again predictable, hot takes.

Gunnysack: NOVX Ammo

By Tom McHale|2022-07-30T11:03:24-04:00July 30th, 2022|

And now for something a little different. NOVX Pentagon ammunition uses a patented two-piece stainless steel case instead of the de facto standard “brass.” Why? Weight is a factor. I weighed an empty case and came up with 32.8 grains. A comparable brass case is about 62. So, we’re talking a weight savings of nearly half. If you’re wondering, that works out to about 1 oz. per 15-round magazine. I did check case volume, too — it’s about the same.