Gee-Gaws and Doo-Dads.

I’ve been carrying a G19 again for a bit, instead of my usual G17. It has an RMR HD and my 17 has a regular RMR. So far, I prefer the HD version. Aside from the easy battery changes, it has a slightly bigger window than the RMR. It may not be much on paper but it is a noticeable improvement in use. I think a closed emitter is a superior idea, especially for SWAT or patrol cops, but there are very few good options on the market and none that are available to me for work. If you can use an open emitter and deal with the issues that may arise, I highly recommend the RMR HD.

While the SRO is my favorite shooting pistol optic on the market, it is too big for me to conceal. It is also very fragile and not suitable for serious use. The RMR HD is not as big, but feels like it shoots almost as well while being as concealable for me as the old RMR.

Part of the reason it may conceal well for me is that I am using a new holster with it. I have been asked to wait a little before talking much about it, but I will say that it has a V and a 5 in it, and comes from one of my favorite holster companies. Not since Milt Sparks have I worn a holster, belt, and mag pouch from the same company, but I have been doing just that for some time now, and I only recently realized that if you carry kydex, there isn’t much opportunity for that to be true. Let alone with best-in-class options.

Finally, I took my youngest daughter to a Project Appleseed shoot last weekend. This was my second experience with the organization, and the people running the shoot were just as nice as the first group many years ago. Though I have spent a couple hours teaching her basic safety and gun handling, we have not really spent much time shooting or training. My wife and I teach the girls almost everything, but in this case I thought it might be nice for them to hear it from someone else.

My daughter really liked the program and after we figured out some vision issues, her scores climbed steadily throughout the shoot. She ended up as a sharpshooter, but I think she will make rifleman with just a few more hours of practice. She was awarded a nice patch for her excellent safety habits, as well as her overall attitude at the shoot. Her smile was worth the trip. She also enjoyed the history lessons and particularly liked the stories about the dangerous old men.

I was dealing with an injury that made prone shooting very difficult, so I shot the course from sitting for much of it. I managed to shoot in the 230’s from sitting, which was useful practice for me. Those small prone targets are tiny! Given that I wanted to see how well I could shoot, I shot a few runs from prone. The pain and numbness made me shoot fast and get out of the prone, but even so, I managed to shoot a 248, which I think is a one-point improvement over my last score. If you haven’t tried Project Appleseed, give it a shot. The program is inexpensive, well done, and a challenge to shoot. If you manage to shoot a 250, let me know!