Thoughts on the Crowdstrike Outage

By now you're probably aware of the massive outages caused by a bug in Crowdstrike. The bug is the result of an update pushed out overnight, which caused Windows systems to become unusable. Unfortunately, Crowdstrike is very widely used by large corporations so the impact is immediate and widespread. A Symantec Enterprise Antivirus update had a similar effect about 12 years ago, but this one is much more widespread.

We are lucky that only Windows systems were directly affected. Crowdstrike also makes endpoint protection software for Mac and Linux. We use it on everthying. Several of my coworkers who use Windows were dead in the water this morning. The fix was to reboot into safe mode and delete the affected file. PCs with Bitlocker disk encryption enabled needed a recovery key from IT. I use a Mac so I wasn't directly impacted but because user authentication servers run on Windows I had trouble accessing some systems.

This could have been a lot worse. If this had affected Linux systems, it potentially could have taken out DNS and NTP servers, and the Cisco Network Registrar systems used to provision cable modems. That would have killed voice, video, and Internet service for any customer's device which rebooted. Recovery would have been greatly impeded because IT personnel wouldn't be able to communicate or get the fix easily.

AIUI, it's taken out several airlines, shipping companies, banks, and various point of sale systems.

It's a perfect example of the dangers of IT software monoculture where one bug can take out a huge swath of systems.

Consider it a sign to increase preparations for grid (power and Internet) collapse.

Prime Day Deal on the Frankford Arsenal Hand Priming Tool

It's Prime Day at Amazon and something that's on sale is the Frankford Arsenal Hand Priming Tool. I bought one a couple months ago and have primed at least 500 cases with it. Compared with the Lee Hand Priming Tool I used for years, the FA is much better built, robust, and also allows adjusting the primer seating depth.

Using the Lee tool I'd usually lose 1 or 2 primers out of 100 due to them seating sideways. I haven't lost one primer yet with the Frankford Arsenal tool.

Normally it's priced at $79.99 but for Prime Day it's $59.99. It's worth it at the normal price. The Prime Day price is a great deal.

Guns for Jews v3.1 Now Live

My ebook, Guns for Jews v3.1 is now live. Compared with the earlier versions it is greatly expanded including additional gun recommendations, discussion of ammunition, child proofing your guns and safe storage, and much more.

Get it here and please share:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qR9S2erlML7xpfHhcx1yjpRKWk41U7If/view?usp=sharing

Sig Sauer P365X Micro 9mm

The other day I traded off a few guns and came home with a Sig Sauer P365X. The gun comes with two 12 round magazines. I had enough store credit that I also got another 12 rounder and a 17 round extended magazine.

The P365X is part of Sig's family of compact and micro-sized 9mm semiauto pistols intended for conceal carry. The original P365 is exceptionally small, while the P365X is just slightly larger with a longer grip, and has a slide already milled to accept RMS-c footprint dot sights.

Overall the P365X is a tiny gun, especially when you consider its capacity. It's 6" long, 1.1" thick, and 4.8" tall. The barrel is 3.1" long. The slide is fitted with Sig's own night sights and is cut for an optic, as mentioned above.

Top-to-bottom, P365X, S&W Model 640-1 .357 Magnum, S&W M&P Shield 9:

The P365 family is very modular because the actual "gun" for legal purposes is the fire control unit (FCU), which includes the major mechanical components. You buy different grip modules and mix and match barrels and slides to create the configuration you desire.

For several years I've owned a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9, which is in the micro-9 class, but never really warmed up to it. (In contrast, I like the mid-size M&P 9 2.0 and full-size M&P 9 1.0 A LOT.)

Before shooting any new gun I always field strip it, remove any factory oil, and lubricate it per the owner's manual. I do this as a quality control check and to familiarize myself with the gun in case I need to resolve any issues at the range.

Field stripping is very simple and doesn't require any tools. First clear the gun to ensure it's unloaded. Then lock the slide to the rear. Next rotate the takedown lever on the left side of the frame downwards. Release the slide (which is under spring pressure) and pull it off the front of the frame.

Then pull off the recoil spring assembly and pull the barrel out of the slide.

Reassembly is in reverse order.

To remove the FCU, first clear the gun, then field strip it as normal. Then drive out the pin at the rear of the frame, from right to left. Next, tilt rear of the FCU up and pull the unit out of the grip module.

To drive out the pin you need a 3/32" punch. A Glock disassembly tool works well.

Strangely, Sig doesn't include a printed version of the owner's manual with the gun, which comes in a nice lockable plastic box with an extra mag, chamber flag, and a cable lock. There is a basic safety pamphlet included, which has a QR code on it to scan which takes you to the Sig website where you can download the manual.

In this litigious age I am amazed Sig's lawyers approved shipping a gun without a full owner's manual. You can call Sig to have them mail you a hard copy of the manual, which I intend to do so it can stay with the gun. Seriously, Sig Sauer, what are you thinking?

Yesterday I took the P365X to the range and put a mix of S&B 124 grain FMJ and Wolf Polyformance 115 grain FMJ for a total of 105 rounds through it. It had 3 or 4 failures to fully go into battery, which were resolved with a gentle tap on the back end of the slide.

Today, I did a quick field strip, clean, and relube, then took it back to the range and this time it ran flawlessly through 152 rounds of Wolf and 14 Speer Gold Dots that I had in my range bag. Today it ran flawlessly.

The P365X weighs just 17.8 oz. (500 grams) unloaded. As expected, recoil was pretty snappy. Compared with the M&P Shield, the grip is a little rounder in cross section and more comfortable for me.

The Sig's trigger reminds me of a double action revolver trigger but lighter and  with a shorter stroke. But, unlike a DA revolver trigger I can't stage it.

Shooting such a small pistol well with its short sight radius and level of recoil demands good form. If you don't have the fundamentals down pat you won't shoot well. It is not forgiving. Yesterday, I was definitely not in the zone. Today I really concentrated on my form more and shot better.

Something that will help accuracy especially under stress is a dot sight. I plan to get a Holosun green dot for it soon.

Because of the recoil I find that extended shooting sessions with this class of gun are taxing and my shooting degrades after awhile. Today I took a few breaks during the session to sweep up my spent brass and give my hand some rest.

The P365X fits a DeSantis outside the waistband holster I have for my Shield 9. It also fits a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster but is a bit too big for my pants pockets. It would probably work OK in a large coat or vest pocket.

Overall, I am seriously impressed with the Sig P365X. It packs an amazing amount of firepower into a tiny gun that with practice is very shootable.

Concealed Carry Vest

I just got one of these vests in gray for $27 on Amazon Prime, for use as a cover garment. It looks more REI rather than tacticool. Actually, it looks more Walmart-ish than REI.

It is lightweight and uninsulated, which is what I wanted. I already have fleece insulated vests for colder weather. The shell is nylon with a polyester mesh liner for ventilation. It has four pockets: two handwarmer pockets, a chest pocket, and one inside pocket. The zippers and stitching seem pretty good. Unlike the pics on Amazon the zipper pull is American-style, i.e. with the pull on the right side. There is a hanging loop on the back.

The vest should roll up compactly so it can be stuffed in a bag when traveling. It'll be handy for when you need a few extra pockets but not something that's borderline LBE.

I tried it with a few different guns in OWB holsters. On me it’s long enough to cover a 3” S&W K-Frame if I don’t raise my arm over my head. A 2.75" Ruger Speed Six concealed a little better. A 2” barrel gives more wiggle room. A S&W M&P9 Shield concealed well. A 4" K-Frame stuck out the bottom. The guns remained covered if I bent over.

I also tried it on over one of my bulkier hoodies and it fit ok with no binding in the arm holes. So, it could work also as a windbreaker over a sweatshirt or sweater, depending on the thickness.

Revolver Chamber Brushes from Brownells

Cleaning the charge holes is an important part of maintaining a revolver. If you shoot .38 Specials in a .357 Magnum it's especially important to do so to knock back the crud ring that results. However, even using a bore brush this is a fair amount of work.

Brownells sells revolver chamber brushes for .38/.357 and .44/45. They are larger in diameter and longer than pistol bore brushes. This morning I used one when cleaning my S&W Model 64-2 snub .38.

(Yes, my workbench is cluttered.)

Note how much longer the chamber brush is than a bore brush. Also note that it's longer than the frame opening for the cylnder. Do not put the chamber brush down the bore because getting it back out is going to be extremely difficutl.

I ran the chamber brush dry through each charge hole once in each direction. It got rid of a lot of crud from the .38 Special 158 grain LSWC loads I fired yesterday.

Incidentally, after I finished cleaning the gun I replaced the wood grips and grip adapter with the set of Pachmayr Compacs it had when I got it. The Magnas with grip adapter were comfortable when dry firing but really whacked the inside of my left thumb when shooting the gun.

From last weekend:

The rubber grips are still pretty small so the piece should still conceal easily under a jacket or vest when Fall rolls around. This is a 6 shot K-Frame so it's not like I'm going to be stuffing this in my pants pocket, anyway.

S&W Model 640 Range Report

I'm pleased to note that the gunsmithing I did on my S&W Model 640 I did this morning worked out. I took it to the range tonigh and put 50 rounds of my handloads through it. The loads were a 148 grain button nose, bevel base wadcutter from Matt's Bullets, 3.3 grains of Alliant Bullseye Powder, and CCI primers in Winchester wadcutter brass. The gun functioned perfectly.

Something to mention is that of the major American primer brands, CCIs have the hardest cups. So, if the gun runs well with them it should work fine with Federal (the softest), Remington, or Winchester primers.

Note that the reason I needed to work on it earlier today was because I'd installed an Apex Duty/Carry kit in it, which has a reduced power hammer spring and extended firing pin. (The kit also includes a reduced power rebound spring but I managed to launch that into the ether so my gun has the OEM rebound spring.) Even without the lighter rebound slide spring it's much easier to shoot well than as it came from the factory.

This is 50 shots at 7 yards. All of my shots were on the target.

This gun will definitely be carried.

Replacing the Hand Spring in a Smith & Wesson Revolver

If you need to replace a hand spring in a Smith & Wesson revolver this video shows how:

In the video he used a dental tool to push the spring forward so that it's in the correct position relative to the hand. I found that a spring bar tool as used for changing watch bands worked perfectly. I used one that was included in this inexpensive kit.