Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Wednesday Wsidom: 26 August 2026


For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 20 and 26 April 1967 as a pilot in Attack Squadron 192, embarked in U.S.S. Ticonderoga (CVA-14). Leading a three-plane group of aircraft in support of a coordinated strike against two thermal power plants in Haiphong, North Vietnam, on 20 April 1967, Captain Estocin provided continuous warnings to the strike group leaders of the surface-to-air missile (SAM) threats, and personally neutralized three SAM sites. Although an exploding missile severely damaged his aircraft, he reentered the target area and relentlessly prosecuted a SHRIKE attack in the face of intense antiaircraft fire.

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Gun Advice from the 1930’s Pulp Magazines

The Thrilling Western pulp magazine from January 1937 featured an article by Col. John J. Boniface (1874-1943), of the US Cavalry, on “How to Be A Good Pistol Shot”. That article was part of a series he wrote called “Straight Shooting.”

In the 1930’s, radio, movies, and pulp magazines were the dominant entertainment media, and Westerns were very popular. From the 1930’s to the 1960’s, gun ownership was common and normal, so it made perfect sense for a magazine full of cowboy stories full of shootouts and gunfights to include non-fiction articles about firearms. Western Story magazine’s “Guns and Gunners” column, mostly written by Charles Edward Chapel and Philip Sharpe, was in every weekly issue from 1931-1949.

To transpose this to the modern era, it would be like a major network putting a YouTube video about new guns, shooting skills or other real world gun topics as an insert in a TV action show like S.W.A.T., Navy SEALS, or any other program that included shootouts in every episode.

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A Winchester 1911?


Manufactured c. 1918, this is an extremely scarce example of one of a very small number of the John Browning-designed Model 1911 pistols which were made during the initial tooling up phase of a U.S. Government contract for 500,000 pistols from the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. 

The U.S. Government contract with the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. to produce Model 1911 pistols was placed with the Winchester company on 4 March 1918 and the contract was officially signed on 30 March 1918, with Winchester designating the pistols the "Model G19P." The company estimated that they could begin delivering pistols by early December of 1918. As the year progressed however, it became clear that the M1917 rifles that Winchester was also producing were in much higher demand than Model 1911 pistols, leading to the initial contract for half a million pistols being decreased to just 100,000 and ultimately canceled.

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Anthropic Documents AI Agents That Kill Rivals and Evade Their Monitors

Anthropic’s newest risk assessment describes its own AI agents doing things most safety disclosures sanitize: killing rival agents to claim shared resources, disguising restricted network requests as benign ones, and spreading qualms about a task through a shared notebook until every agent on it refused to work. The August 2026 Risk Report, the second the company has published under its Responsible Scaling Policy, also raises its misalignment risk rating from “very low” to “low,” citing what it calls “general increased uncertainty” after recent disclosures about model behavior in cybersecurity evaluations.

Misalignment?

However, in one experiment Anthropic tasked multiple Mythos 5 agents with solving math problems and, by mistake, spawned them in a shared working directory with common files, utilities, and API rate limits. In that competitive environment, the company reports, “many independent Mythos 5 agents kill the agents with which they shared resources and try to avoid being killed themselves.” 

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The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) Guidance on NFA Transfers

Lots of confusion remains, so the NSSF has requested the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) issue guidance to the industry so that federal firearms licensees (FFLs) can remain in compliance with the law. In the meantime, NSSF is providing its understanding of the state of play. This is not legal advice.

Who Does the Injunction Apply To?

The bottom line: the scope of the injunction is limited and only extends to the named plaintiffs, their current and future members, and in the case of commercial plaintiffs or commercial members of plaintiff organizations, their current and future customers.

If you are not a named plaintiff, the injunction will only cover your activities if you are a member of Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, Gun Owners Foundation, Gun Owners of America, Texas State Rifle Association (NRA's Texas affiliate), Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms or FPC Action Foundation.

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What Barrel Length Do You Really Need for .223?

Even though velocity data is something rifle shooters frequently ask about, real-world numbers are surprisingly difficult to come by. Ammo manufacturers typically publish the velocity of each load on their websites, or sometimes right on the box. And we usually include this info on our own 223 ammo product pages as well. But that velocity probably came from something like a 26-inch test barrel. It’s enough to give you a relative idea of what kind of velocity a specific load is technically capable of, but it’s rarely a reflection of what it will do out of your personal rifle.

Whether you’re looking for a starting point for optic calibration and ideal zero distance, or researching terminal ballistics and effective range, having real-world velocity data from a given load for multiple barrels can be extremely useful.

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Big Brother is Here: New Flock-style scanners can now record the devices in your car

Flock is continuing to face public ire over the ways that its national network of license plate readers can be used and abused in the US, but there's bad news for anyone worried about their personal privacy and widespread surveillance: technology that's even more concerning is on the way.

That tech is SignalTrace from security company Leonardo, a system that takes the license plate reading approach of Flock and raises the sophistication a notch. SignalTrace scanners can identify the types of devices that are in a car as it passes by, and link them to a person even if the license plate number isn't visible.

For example, a car of interest to the police might have an iPhone, an Audi stereo, and a pair of Bose headphones in it. The next time that specific combination of devices is detected on the SignalTrace network, an alert can be sent to law enforcement showing the vehicle's location.

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The Evolution of the Martial Arts Part II: Why Modern Martial Arts Exist


In part one, Matt Larsen discussed martial systems' evolutionary framework, arguing that one can best understand martial systems through the adaptive problems they evolved to solve rather than through their techniques or historical lineage. That historical perspective remains extremely valuable because it reveals a process that occurred with unusual clarity in Japan. It does not, however, provide a complete framework for understanding the enormous diversity of martial systems that exist today. Modern martial arts no longer differ primarily because of their historical lineage. They differ because they have evolved to solve different problems.

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Wolfpack Armory Romulus 5.56 Suppressor


The Romulus uses DMLS (direct metal laser sintering) commonly called 3D-printed technology. This allows Wolfpack Armory to make heretofore unprecedented designs both possible and affordable. A quick look at the Romulus 556 tells you its a little different. The shapes incorporated in the muzzle are designed to disrupt airflow as it exits the crown. There’s also a series of tiny holes, ports where gas is allowed to exit. These ports shroud the main gas flow from the crown of the suppressor, creating additional disruption. 

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With the MPS 2.0, Steiner Made the MPS Red Dot Better…Much Better

Steiner has released a significant upgrade to its MPS ACRO-footprint red dot sight: the MPS 2.0. Why the upgrade? There was certainly nothing wrong with the original Steiner MPS, one of the best enclosed red dots on the market. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be improved.

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SIG Sauer P365 DH3 AXG Review


Making the P365 larger and heavier. The SIG P365 DH3 AXG is one of the newest evolutions of the wildly successful P365 lineup. This model blends several of the best ideas SIG has introduced across the platform, combining the larger format of the P365 Fuse with the flatter-shooting expansion chamber concept seen on the XMacro and an AXG metal grip module.

Anyone familiar with the P365 knows how much the platform has changed since its introduction. What started as a trend-setting micro-compact, high-capacity concealed-carry pistol has grown into a modular family of handguns that can fill everything from deep concealment roles to larger defensive and duty-style applications.

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The Thompson Submachine Gun

Developed for the trenches of the First World War, but as it arrived too late, the Auto-Ordnance Corporation marketed the Thompson submachine gun for police and private citizen use. US and Allied soldiers used it extensively in World War II. The range where I do most of my teaching has full auto arms for rent including an M1928A1 similar to the subguns the Prime Minister and Gen Eisenhower are shooting in the picture above. I worked out a deal where any shooter in my Short Range Match could fire a Thompson at a discount. What a hoot! 

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Winchester Model 1876 History and Legacy


2026 celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Winchester Model 1876. Often overshadowed by the more famous 1873, 1886, or 1894 models, the 1876 occupies a singular place in the story of American firearms.

It was the first true “big-game” lever-action from the Winchester factory, a rifle that stretched the toggle-link action first perfected on the Henry Rifle, and a firearm that captured the spirit of a nation celebrating its Centennial.

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Powder Selection: Why Clean-Burning Isn't Just Marketing


 
If you've been shooting long enough, you've noticed that some ammunition leaves your gun looking like it spent the day in a coal mine, while other brands leave significantly less fouling. The ammunition industry loves to tout "clean-burning powder" as a premium feature, but is it actually meaningful, or just clever marketing?
 
The answer: it's one of the most underrated factors affecting your firearm's long-term performance and your maintenance schedule. Here's what's really happening inside your gun, and why powder quality merits more attention.
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Direct Impingement vs Piston Driven Systems

While we are on the topic of clean powders. The oft-asked question regarding Direct Impingement vs Piston Driven systems is: Which one is better? There are many semi-auto platforms using either the Direct Impingement system or the Piston-Driven system. The one that really seems to garner the most controversy is the AR-15 with the Direct Impingement system.

The AR-15’s gas system uses a gas port in its barrel that siphons away a portion of the gas expended when a round is fired. The gas travels through the gas block and down the gas tube until it reaches the bolt carrier group. The gas reaches the gas key that’s mounted on top of the bolt carrier group. When the gas hits the gas key, the bolt is unlocked, pushed to the rear, and the spent casing from the round is ejected. It’s a reliable but dirty system.

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How to Clean a 3D-printed and Traditional Suppressor

Suppressors are great tools to cut down on the sound output from your firearm. They not only catch the sound and some of the recoil energy from every shot, but also the residue from the actual explosion of gunpowder. This means that routine cleaning should be part of your regular maintenance. With traditional suppressors, this means disassembling and user serviceability, but what about the suppressor models that are constructed using additive manufacturing processes? You still need to clean a 3D printed suppressor. Here’s how you do it.

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