MWest Blog

The other month, I was at a local gun range qualifying with my department when a gentleman showed up on the range. We were supposed to have the range all to ourselves, with no "civilians" allowed. Since this was an indoor range with separate shooting bays, I didn't push the issue (since he was sent over there by the range's management and they weren't charging us to shoot!) During a break, I noticed the gentleman had a nice variety of VERY NICE and VERY PRICEY pistols! Being nice, and not running the guy off paid off, as he happily let us fire his small arsenal. Aside from the NightHawk custom 1911 that I fell in love with, he had one of Sig's new P938 9mm compact pistols. Granted, I probably should be blogging about shooting the 1911, but I will honestly say that the little Sig impressed me. I have always been on a constant search for the "perfect" pocket pistol. I have a Kel-Tec 3AT and a Ruger LCP which I carry all the time, but the double

I know it has been awhile since my last blog, but work and family have kept me busy! Now that I have a bit of down time, I wanted to write about my latest carry pistol, the Smith and Wesson M&P 40C. This is the compact version of the M&P 40 which has gained popularity in the last year as many large law enforcement agencies have ditch their Glocks in favor of the M&P. I am not going to go in great detail about this gun since, for all practical purposes, it is identical in in function to its full sized big brother, which I wrote about in my last blog. Like a majority of the Glock pistols in the same caliber, the compact version of the M&P will accept magazines from the full size gun, which was a key factor in the purchase. Just as with the full size model, the compact has the beaver-tail style grip that allows a secure and firm fit in my hand. Also, I love the way S&W has designed their different sized grips. Ironically, even though the grip diameter is the same

In the late 1800s, Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson formed a partnership that began a legacy of one of the most widely known firearms companies in the world. Just in case you haven’t had your coffee yet and missed the last names of the company’s founders, I am talking about Smith and Wesson! My first encounter with any S&W firearms were during my youth shooting a Model 65 and Model 686 which were my dad’s duty pistols. These pistols where accurate and reliable, which being a duty pistol, one would hope to be the case! In fact, S&W revolvers have a reputation as being some of the best on the market. When I was 18. My dad gave me my very own S&W Sigma for a home defense pistol. This was a first generation model with a stainless slide and grey receiver. I thought it was the coolest gun ever! This was around the time when Glocks began mainstreaming into law enforcement. Side-by-side, the guns were almost identical, that is until it was range time! The first time I sh

Here, the author practices barricade shooting using the Harries Technique Historically, police officers spend at least half of their career working nights, especially as a “new boot” out on the streets, yet a majority of law enforcement officers receive little to no training when it comes to low-light tactics.  For many states, low-light firearms qualifications is only mandated once a year and is done in a static environment. Wanting to improve our agencies firearms training, I set out to find some advanced low-light tactical training.  Over the past decade, I have attended a few courses on low-light training from some of the companies that are sponsored by tactical light manufacturers. While I did pick up on some good techniques, these were honestly nothing more than infomercials with a few practical exercises thrown in with their demo lights. FAST762 Owner and Trainer Kenan Flasowski reviewing basic pistol shooting concepts. Since my search for tactical low-light tr

 One of the perks of being a firearms instructor is that I get to test fire many of the newest pistols on the market, without having to purchase or rent them on my own! Recently, I had the chance to test fire one of the newest pocket pistols on the market, the Beretta Nano 9mm. Over the last few years, a majority of sub-compact pocket pistols were chambered in either .32 auto or .380 auto, while there is nothing wrong with these calibers, many concealed carry owners were looking for a pocket pistol with a little bit more "oomph". Recently, a variety of pistol manufacturers have introduced single-stacked 9mm pocket pistols for under $500, adding the more "oomph" to these popular little guns. Upon first sight, the Beretta Nano is not as sleek as many of the other pistols out there; in fact, the Nano seems a bit square (literally) compared to pistols such as the Ruger LC9, Kel-Tec PF9, or Sig P290. But hey! The A-10 Warthog was not the prettiest plane in t