Lethality

Yankee Hill Machine Backup Iron Sights

With the quality of primary optics being at an all time high, I’ve noticed a trend of many shooters skipping back-up iron sights (BUIS) on their primary fighting rifle. I feel that if a gun is to be used for more than competition or as a range toy, BUIS are still a critical component to have. I was able to get my hands on a set of Yankee Hill Machine’s (YHM) HK styled front and rear quick deploy sights (QDS) to see how they held up.

These BUIS’s are made from solid aluminum and are hardcoat anodized in matte black. They are a scant .435 tall when folded. They lock when up or down, with a small button on the left side (or port side for you squids) unlocking spring-loaded deployment. The front sight is adjusted for elevation using a standard A2 front sight tool. The rear sight is adjusted for windage by twisting the knob on the right side. While the front sight has the HK “hooded” design, this set of BUIS’s differs from traditional HK sights by moving away from the “diopter drum” rear sight. Much has been made by internet commandos on how this setup being used by YHM isn’t functional without a rear diopter, the argument being that without a fixed front post being centered in the rear sight, the eye won’t naturally center the post in the circular sight picture provided by the rear sight. I call BS! In using the YHM sights, I found them to be perfectly functional. More on that after this picture.

Sight picture YHM BUIS. Photo by Rex Nanorum

Take a look at the sight picture there: Sure it’s hard to get the camera to duplicate what the eye sees, but you can use that for reference. The circle of the front is centered naturally with the circle of the rear sight. Minor adjustments for elevation can be made by adjusting point-of-aim slightly while keeping the circles lined up. With that out-of-the-way, I can say the BUIS’s I have here are solid. They spring right into place and lock up tight. Zeroing was easy and they’ve held zero just fine during a number of range trips. Adjustment clicks are crisp and tight. These don’t feel flimsy or weak in any particular area. I’ve actually taken off the primary optic (a red dot of middlin’ quality) and am using these irons for deer hunting.

As fate would have it, I was finishing up a near-ish Honey Badger clone when I came across these and the YHM’s hooded front sight fit in nicely with the intended aesthetic. From a functional standpoint, these have performed very well. Most of my experience with flip-up BUIS’s has been with the ubiquitously common plastic ones. These feel very solid in comparison. These run $218 on the yhm.net website and $184 on midwayusa. These are good irons and I’ll keep banging away with them on my primary rifle. As always, if I get more pertinent info on them (such as failure due to engineering flaw) I’ll post an update.

Liberty Civil Defense 9mm | Further Review

Recently I started a two-part review of Liberty ammunition’s Civil Defense round. Part 1 can be read here. A +P defensive load zipping out around 2150 FPS, this diminutive 50gr bullet looks impressive. I had some doubts during my first range day as my chronograph was recording high variability in the velocity. This manifested in an extreme spread (ES) of 216 fps and a standard deviation (SD) of 87.5 fps. This led to inconsistent groups as well. I took the ammo out to another range a couple of weeks later to see if it would fare any better the second time around.

First, I measured up some “white box” ammo as a control group to compare against. Average velocity was 1167 fps with an ES of 85 and SD of 34.8. I ran a number of firing strings through the chrono using the Liberty ammo and came up with average velocities of 2145, 2171 and 2167 fps respectively. The SD’s were 12, 21 and 28 fps. Extreme spreads came in at 33, 52 and 75 fps. This is markedly more consistent than the last time I took the Civil Defense ammo out and ran it through the chrono.

I didn’t shoot for groups this time, opting instead for a more lively pace and reactive targets. As Halloween just ended there were plenty of pumpkins lying around at my rock pit of choice. I had no trouble hitting the 8″ pumpkin at 50 yards during hasty draw and shoot drills. Likewise, slow-paced shooting at 100 yards netted easy hits on a 6″ pumpkin. It should be noted that despite a match trigger, the Glock 17 used for testing is still running stock sights. Dented and dinged stock sights. Notorious stock sights. Liberty advertises “twice the effective range of traditional ammo”. During this range session, I believed it. I was nailing everything I aimed at out to 100 yards. With such a high velocity, I really wasn’t holding over much at all. Normally at 100 yards with a handgun, I’m imagining myself throwing a football at the target to help guide my holdover.

I promised to do some poor mans ballistic testing in my last article. I lined up three milk jugs full of water a few times and shot dead center. Each time, the bullet penetrated the first jug centered and passed into the second jug at an angle before departing the second jug out the side. I set up the jugs a few times and this kept happening. I ran out of jugs before long and wasn’t able to recover a single fired round. I did recover a few sheared petals, as pictured below.

Pumpkins, bearing almost no similarity to mammalian tissue, nevertheless provided dramatic results. Each round left a nice, small entry channel and a significant exit hole. One can expect the all-copper round to be deforming significantly inside the target, having hit at such a high velocity.

My first range trip showed inconsistent projectile velocity and poor groups. This was true out of multiple guns. My second showed much more consistent velocities and dead-on accuracy. Despite being a +P round, the light projectile means recoil feels light and mild. I did get more blowback than normal when shooting suppressed, which is normal for a +P round. My first range trip was a single box of 50 rounds whereas my second trip was closer to 300 rounds. I’m really starting to feel like I had one inconsistent box followed by six good ones. On my second range trip the Liberty round was far more consistent. As I got further into my 300 rounds on that second trip, the more I started to be a believer in the Liberty Civil Defense round. This is an easy shooting round and gave me zero troubles in hitting all the targets I engaged. The holes blown in the pumpkins were impressive for a light 9mm round. At $26.49 for a box of 50, I’d definitely give them a shot here.

Environmentally Friendly Ammo | The Green Bullet?

I guess all of the depleted uranium and lead we’ve been firing overseas in recent conflicts has got our government concerned. According to Washington, the The Army is switching from lead bullets in many small-caliber arms to “environmentally friendly” rounds. The new green bullets will slowly start to replace the M855 (5.56 mm) and the 7.62 mm. The M855, which was designed in the 70’s, will be replaced by the environmentally friendly M855A1 (green bullet) which is 100% lead free.

For those of us who have used the standard M855 ammunition on live targets, most of us would agree that it lacks the “punch” to put a target down as fast as we would like, often taking more than 3 rounds to incapacitate a threat. The new “green bullet” is currently being tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The new round claims to be deadlier and faster than the Army standard issue 5.56 mm.

If the new projectile packs a deadlier punch than what we are being issued in combat, I have no issue with the new “green bullet”. I just hope that it holds up to its claims, I don’t think we could use anything with “knock down” than the M855. The Army predicts “the use of green 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition could eliminate the purchase of 3,683 metric tons of lead between 2013 and 2018.”

The M40A5 Sniper Rifle!

For those of you who are interested in long-range precision/sniping and are thinking about purchasing a sniper rifle, I would like to introduce to you one of my favorite rifles, the M40A5.

There’s a plethora of rifles on the market that we can choose from, but for the most of us, they can be out of our price range, especially if you’re just getting into the long-range precision hobby. The M40A5 or any M40 variant can not only fit most of our price ranges, but it is also has excellent accuracy. For those of you that don’t know, I am a huge fan of the M40 and M24 .308. This was the first sniper rifle that I was issued in Ranger Battalion, deployed with, attended multiple schools with, and also used this weapon system in the International Sniper Competition where my spotter and I placed top 5. In order to get a good grasp on ballistics, wind, etc., I feel that you should start off with the .308 (168 – 175 gr HPBT). There’s nothing like consistently engaging a target (IPSC) at 1000 yards with the .308, you have fully applied all the correct fundamentals and you truly understood the wind and the ballistics of that round, especially when considering the fact that the .308 was designed to be an 800 meter round, after that your encountering transonic issues depending on the environmentals.

What I also love about the M40A5, is the stock. The shape of the stock and where the firing hand lies on the rifle feels natural, allowing the shooter to “become one” with the rifle, or almost making it feel like an extension of your body.

The accuracy of the rifle is also something that you cannot ignore, and I feel, can compete with some of the “top of the line” rifles on the market to date. During my time at the International Sniper Competition, which is held at Ft. Benning GA, where the top snipers from around the world come to compete, I held true to what I believed in the M40. Going up against competitors such as Delta Force snipers, SAS, Israeli snipers, etc., who used the .338, .50, and .300 Win Mag, you would think that my basic M40 sniper rifle would be surpassed by far. Not the case. On my best days, I could hold around or less than a half-inch group at 100 yards (5 rounds), and on any given day a 1 inch group. The M40A5 stood its ground with the best, even at extended ranges (980 – 1050 yards). There is a reason why Law Enforcement and top tier Special Operations units still have this weapon in their armory and utilize on the battle field. This weapon is a fighting precision rifle. You can bang it up, drop it, lug it around the mountains of Afghanistan or the streets of Iraq, and when it comes time to perform and place a single round where it needs to be, it will do so.

Specs (Basic):

Caliber: 308 Win / 7.62 NATO

Action: Remington 700 Short Action

Barrel Type: USMC Countour, 1-12 Twist, 6 Groove Stainless, .925″ at muzzle

Barrel Length: 25″ (24″ from recoil lug)

Stock: Adjustable McMillan A4, Spacer Sys.

MOA: 1/4, 1/2, 1.0

MV: 2,550 – 2650 fps

MSRP: $2,800 (Basic) – $4,000

You can also check out http://www.gaprecision.net/mil-spec-rifles/m40a5.html for an awesome rifle!

The Heckler & Koch USP .45 Compact

Today’s review comes to you from a Load Out Room reader. Hope you enjoy!

– Nick

The Heckler & Koch USP .45 Compact

By Eric Maudsley m

(Former Mil/LE)

I’ve been in the military or law enforcement in some capacity for the last 24 years, so I’ve seen plenty of different guns come and go, especially in my own gun locker at home.

Having reached the point where we have all “lost” a few good guns to ex-wives, to fund buying a kayak, or for money to fix a muffler, the conversation with my buddies inevitably turns to the guns we wish we’d never sold. !

Laugh now. It will happen to you.

The best pistol I have ever owned for concealed carry was a Heckler & Koch

USP .45 Compact. It is definitely the one I kick myself the most for getting rid of.

The USP series is HK’s take on the standard Browning locking system, and an attempt to compete with Glock in the polymer-frame service pistol market.

The USP series benefitted from the hype surrounding the adoption of the Mk23, and while there are similarities, the USP (and especially the USP Compact) is not a Desert-Eagle sized, crew-served pistol. In the intervening 20 years, the USP series has earned a reputation in it’s own right as a reliable, accurate service pistol.

HK’s claim to fame with the USP series is that there are a nine of different combinations of trigger/safety/de-cocker that can be changed in the field by an armorer, so agencies and individuals can have any combination of safety and de-cocker they’re comfortable with.

Mine was the “Variant 1,” which very conveniently combines a 1911-style safety with a de-cocker in what HK calls the “control lever.”

The safety works whether the pistol is cocked or not, and the de-cocker works and feels similar to the de-cocker on the SIG 226. Unlike the Glock, the USP has a traditional exposed hammer. The hammer on the USP compact is bobbed to reduce printing and snagging, both big issues if you carry concealed. It has an external extractor that, like almost all modern semi-auto pistols, also acts as a “loaded chamber indicator.” Don’t trust it – get in the habit of doing a press-check with any firearm you use.

I generally carried condition 1, (Chamber and magazine loaded) with the safety off, hammer down. This provided a double-action first shot and a subsequent lighter, shorter trigger press and reset for follow-up shots. I tried carrying hammer-cocked, safety on, but found it to be quicker to stick with the same mode as my duty gun.

HK also markets the “Law Enforcement Modification/ LEM” trigger that it developed for the US Border Patrol, which is a double-action only trigger with no safety or de-cocker. It’s about as close to a Glock trigger as you’re going to get in an HK, but not my favorite or their best. On the plus side, the LEM trigger is light years better than the horrendous “DAK” trigger that the Coast Guard chose for their SIG 229s, which, in my opinion, were designed to be hard to shoot so Boarding Team Members wouldn’t try.

Other possible variants include de-cocker only, safety only, and switching the control lever to the right side of the weapon for lefties.

Like the 1911, I find it comfortable on the USP to index my grip by resting my strong thumb on the safety and rolling the meat of my support thumb underneath it. The grip angle is the same as a 1911 and the USP points well, and recoils straight back due to a low bore angle. The grip is stippled and checkered for a reasonably good purchase as it comes out of the box. I tried skateboard tape for a while until it tore up the inside of my shirts & baby-soft skin and discarded it as unnecessary.

The metal parts are treated with the HK proprietary “hostile environment” finish, which is essential, since you’re not going to find an environment more hostile to metal than inside my waistband in August. I’ve had rust show up on my Kimber TLE and other guns in a few hours, but it was never a problem with the USP.

Reasonably lightweight and small enough to hide under a T-shirt with an inside the waistband holster, the USP Compact has a smaller grip circumference, barrel/slide length, and over all height than a full-size USP.

The closest Austrian competition would be the Glock Model 30. The USP compact is comparable in height (5.06” vs. 4.76”), length (7.09” vs. 6.77”) and weight (1.6 lbs vs 1.5 lbs), and slightly thinner (1.14” vs 1.27”).

Thinner is a key requirement for a concealed pistol. A thick, blocky pistol is more likely to “print” or show under your clothes. Combined with holster selection, the thickness of your pistol is going to be the determining factor whether you are able to carry inside the waistband with a T-shirt over your gun, or be a member of the “big guy with a crew cut, wearing an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt over a T-shirt” club when you’re at the zoo with your kids. I’ve been that guy, and all the cops (and bad guys) know who you are. You might as well open carry. The only thing worse would be a tan 5.11 vest at the mall or a fanny pack. Don’t be that guy.

The USP 45 Compact has a 3.8” barrel that is sufficiently accurate, in that it is most likely more accurate than the shooter, and inside the projected operating environment (>10 yards) fist size or smaller groups when running drills are common. I shot one PPC match with mine, just for fun, and scored roughly the same as with my duty handgun, at that time a Beretta 92F. The USP Compact is a good choice for IDPA if you choose to shoot those type of matches.

The USP .45 Compact does not share the recoil-reduction system used on the USP and Mk 23, but with normal defensive loads it was not an issue. The barrel is adequate to develop enough velocity from standard loads to cause them to penetrate and expand as designed, which is why you’re carrying a .45 in the first place.

The extra ⅓ of an inch in height is in the grip, and unlike my subjective impression of the Glock 30, the HK has a reasonably full-sized grip and offers better control. Extended magazine plates can help with this if it’s an issue for you. I generally ran with a magazine with the standard flat plate in the gun for better concealment, and extended floor plates on my backup magazines for a fuller grip.

The USP .45C uses an 8-round, staggered column box magazine with single position feed. One issue I ran into, and it’s a small one, is that the length of grip combined with my larger-than-average hands usually results in a blood blister on the knife edge of my shooting hand after a few speed reloads. That is why, if we ever shoot together, you will see that I do reloads with my pinkie extended like an English woman sipping tea. It is not a problem confined to the USP Compact, and is specific to me. Results may vary.

A word about reloads. The USP series has a different method of releasing the magazine than almost every other pistol you’ve used before. Some love it, and some hate it.

The release is in the same place, but instead of a button on the left side of the gun that you push IN, there is a lever just behind the trigger guard that is pushed DOWN on either side.

I found that it is easier and faster for me to activate this magazine release with my trigger finger. I can do this without shifting my grip, which I have to do to activate it with my thumb. This has an added benefit of getting my finger away from the trigger while reloading. On the down side, you train how you fight, and practicing a different reload technique with a USP may hurt you if you’re required to use other pistols in your job.

HK was an early member of the accessory rail club, but buyer beware; HK rails are NOT milspec rails, they are proprietary. Rail adapters are widely available if you choose to mount a milspec-rail compatible flashlight. Meprolight and Trijicon both make luminous sights for the USP series, and other accessories and holsters are widely available.

After 1999, all USPs were equipped with a “lockout” feature, a small key lock located in the back of the magazine well. This allows you to “turn off” the pistol when it’s stored, as no one without the key (and knowledge of this feature) can fire the gun when it is disabled without first unlocking it. Thank you, legal industry.

The USP .45 Compact was undoubtedly the best pistol I’ve carried concealed. It’s size, weight and design all contribute to be controllable while concealable, and 9 rounds of .45ACP was a tradeoff I was willing to make when I wasn’t specifically looking for trouble. Although the MSRP is around $1,000 now, the advice “you get what you pay for” has always applied to Heckler & Koch in the same way it applies to Audi and Mercedes, including the availability and cost of repairs and parts.

In my experience, the USP .45 Compact is a solid choice for working professionals and civilians who need to a reliable, powerful, accurate pistol to carry concealed. It is not a general-duty handgun due to low magazine capacity and short barrel relative to full-size weapons, and I probably wouldn’t carry it overseas anywhere that I wasn’t sure of the availability of .45ACP, but when used in it’s lane, the USP .45

The Compact is a good choice.

AK-47 Accuracy and Reliability

Before the price gouging of weapons, while I was stationed at Ft. Benning GA, I purchased an AK-47 (Romanian) at a local dealership for $174.00. I wanted an AK-47 after a few deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, everyone in those areas of operations had one and it seemed to serve its purpose for them just fine. I’m sure we’ve all heard the rumors about how reliable and accurate they are, but just how true are they? I must say, I’ve seen a plethora of AK’s pulled off of targets and personnel that were in really bad condition, some appeared as if they hadn’t been cleaned in at least 10 years and they shot just fine. As far as their reliability, I’m not sure, after all the guys we were fighting didn’t necessarily aim them. I wanted to see just how accurate these rifles truly were and exactly what they can withstand and why.

Accuracy

As we know, the AK-47 is not the most accurate weapon when compared to other assault rifles, such as the M4/AR-15, why is that and exactly how accurate is the AK. I’ve been shooting my AK-47 for around 7 years now and put over 35,000 rounds through it. The accuracy of the AK when I first took it out of the box was a steady 4.73 MOA rifle. Though over time, I’ve seen changes in its accuracy as I am now only capable of holding a 5.8-inch group at 100 yards. This is more than likely due to poor maintenance which I did intentionally to test reliability. When compared to the accuracy of the M4, this may seem bad to some, especially when a standard M4 can easily hold a 3-inch group at 100 yards.

I’d have to credit the AK’s lack of accuracy to its “functioning” and the projectiles ballistic coefficient. The AK-47 is made up of only a few “moving” parts. Though there are fewer parts, these parts are made up of large chunks of metal. Take the bolt for example once fired. The hunk of metal that unlocks and flies back once fired is pretty heavy when compared to the M4. As it rides the railing and slams to the back, the weapons harmonics are disturbed significantly, take a look at a few videos of the AK-47 fired in slow motion and note the amount of barrel whip. You may also find a decrease in accuracy due to the fact that the rifle’s handguard is made up of wood. Wood has a notorious tendency to bend, tighten, and loosen under temperature changes. For example, in the summertime, the doors within your home may become harder to open and close because wood expands and shrinks when hot. This shrinking and expansion of the wood handguard, though minuet, changes the harmonics of the barrel.

Another reason I believe the weapon lacks in accuracy is due to the projectiles harmonics. The 5.56 has a G7 ballistic coefficient of ≈0.304 while the 7.62×39 (123 gr) has a coefficient of ≈0.275. The lack of its ability to overcome air resistance in flight is also another reason why the rifle is “less accurate”.

Reliability

With my personal AK-47, I’ve put it through a variety of test since I purchased it. With all of the rounds fired, the environments that it’s been exposed to, I have only cleaned it 5 times. It has seen the desert, mud, cold, extreme heat (109+ degrees Fahrenheit), rain, snow, etc. With all of that being said, I have only seen only 6, I emphasize 6 malfunctions, which were all failures to feed. Why is that?

I believe this is completely due to the weapons design and function. The fact that there are fewer parts needed to operate the weapon, there are fewer parts to get obscured by any foreign objects such as dirt, mud, etc. The debris simply falls out of the rifle, or they are disturbed so much that they simply maneuver away from the critical mechanisms needed to fire the weapon. This is a “crude” weapon, its suppose to be, there is a reason why our enemies continue to use this weapon system. The next time you have a chance, disassemble your AK and compare it to an M4, note the open spaces in the trigger mechanism and the designs of the bolt, just picture how debris would and can maneuver in each platform.

Afghan Local Police recruits gather around AK47 rifles for a safety brief before beginning a dry-fire range class in Nawbahar district, Zabul province, Afghanistan, March 24. The class is part of a three-week course that teaches ALP candidates basic policing procedures, weapons handling and other skills necessary to protect and defend Afghan citizens.

Specifications

Action: Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire: Cyclic rate of fire is 600 rounds/min
Semi Auto : 40 rounds/ min
Muzzle velocity: 715 m/s (2,350 ft/s)
Effective range: 350 meters (380 yd)….. I’d beg to differ and push it out to 480 on a silhouette target.
Feed system: Standard magazine capacity is 30 rounds. There are also 10, 20, 40, 75, and 100
round detachable box and drum style magazines.

*Photos courtesy of DVIDS