Category: Guns & Ammos

A jerky gun is a great easy to use tool that simplifies creating beef jerky. Using one of these tools can save you time and hassle. They eliminate lot of clean up because when you’re done you just simply drop the gun in the water to soak. While beef jerky can be made by hand we want to show you why it will save time. I mean it’s simple enough to roll out your own meat dehydrate it on trays and serve right? This begs the question, do you need a beef jerky gun?

Most people are scared of using tools like this. However, keep in mind how simple using something like this really is. First, you mix up your meat mixture into a large bowl and add herbs, spices and anything else. Most jerky kits come with a ready to use mixture so it makes making the actual jerky much easier. Then you load the mixture into the jerky gun and then pull the trigger and it instantly pumps out the jerky into the desired strip length.

After you’ve made the jerky then you just put it into the food dehydrator to be dehydrated. After the jerky becomes tender and dehydrated you can then pull it from the dehydrator and lay it on a cooling tray, wax paper or baking sheet. Clean up the jerky gun and store away. Now you have fresh home made jerky that you can snack on. At this point you can add pepper or any other type of additional spice to it and go from there. The nice neat strips the jerky will come out in make it easy to serve to guests, family or friends.

In closing I don’t think a jerky gun is a priority but it can be a good addition to your kitchen. Since they are so easy to use my question for you is “why not own one?” You are not just limited to beef either you can make lamb, turkey, pork and any other type of jerky meat you can think of. So, this may be the one thing your kitchen has been missing.

Most people have only been exposed to John Styers work through the book “Cold Steel”.

It is important to remember that first and foremost this book outlines a BASIC course of close-combat instruction. The elements covered in this system include bayonet, knife, stick and unarmed combat. Styers developed this “system” for BASIC training.

The framework of all of these methods remains CONSISTENT through out. The fundamentals for employing the bayonet, knife, unarmed combat and even the stick work are ALL the same.

Note in particular the “stance” used for the bayonet, the knife, and for unarmed engagement. SAME stance. The “body” mechanics involved in all the methods presented are at their core foundation ALL similar. This in itself shows “genius”.

What we see in “Cold Steel” is NOT the STYERS method! It is a “system” that STYERS developed for use in BASIC training. John Styers was a man of both great knowledge and SKILL in a number of man to man combatives.

Those who knew Styers personally have told us about his vast interest, knowledge and proven skill in a number of close-combat methods. From the “French” style of bayonet fighting, to “Russian” knife fighting, to boxing, wrestling, jiujitsu, and of course “dirty” fighting.

As concerns the STYERS knife work as shown in “Cold Steel” it must also be considered that this was but a SMALL part of Styers overall skill and ability in KNIFE FIGHTING. Again this was a system of BASIC TRAINING!

Other sources show this quite demonstrably. The man was a MASTER of bladework.

Now the knife system taught in “Cold Steel” is excellent. The “problems” that are often cited by others has FAR MORE to do with a lack of understanding in the tactics and techniques as “they” present them, than it does any practical faults in STYERS method.

ON TO THE METHOD……………………………….

First, Styers was training men for battlefield COMBAT! NOT for a “duel”. He assumed(rightly so) that in the so-called “fog” of war men will revert to pure “animal” instinct and move right in for the “kill”. Think about this! During the frenzy of real combat you and your enemy are REDUCED to fighting with knives. Men are killing and being killed ALL AROUND YOU. YOUR natural instinct for SURVIVAL will seize you by the throat. You will grip that knife as strongly(your LIFE NOW depends on THIS ONE WEAPON) as possible and MOVE RIGHT IN FOR THE KILL!(WASTE ANY TIME and someone else is going to KILL YOU) You are NOT going to “spar” or “duel”, you ARE going to KILL, survive and move on to your next threat or objective. Styers KNEW what real “kill or be killed” combat was like. He realized that MOST men in this dire situation will instinctively SEIZE their knife either in an “overhand” or “ice-pick” grip or an “underhanded” type “hammergrip”. They will ATTACK with a determined KILLING intent. THAT IS THE BASIS for the Styers method!

Now the “elements” of Styers method rest on BODY position, ARM position, and KNIFE position.

Here is where so many “experts” go right OFF TRACK. Forget any “technique”, thrust, slash or “whatever”. WITHOUT the FOUNDATION of proper BODY, ARM, and KNIFE position all the “technique” in the world is MEANINGLESS!

Without a REAL understanding of Styers FUNDAMENTAL tactic and what MUST be done to make it EFFECTIVE, all THIS becomes NO MORE than two guys trying to cut and stab each other. THIS IS NOT what Styers envisioned.

On to the “meat & potatoes”:

1. Stance-

Whether you assume the “Styers” position from a “classic” fencer’s pose, as Styers demonstrates(for continuity) or simply advance(lead leg) retreat(real leg) one pace, as long as your UPPER torso remains square and you body rests “springlike” on your legs you’re doing OK. BALANCE must be rested on your center point and the rear heel RAISED. Toes and KNEES pointed FORWARD!

KEY POINT: Body SQUARED. Torso ERECT. Chin PULLED IN. BALANCE centered. Rear HEEL RAISED.

2. Arm Position-

Gripping the KNIFE: Blade vertical to ground. Thumb EXTENDED down backstrap. Slight upward CANT or “cocking” of blade.

Weapon bearing hand and arm: Pulled IN. Upper arm slightly BACK from vertical. Elbow tucked into, not away from side. LOWER ARM raised on a plane EVEN with opponents THROAT/EYES. Weapon hand SHOULD NOT break the latreral plane of the upper torso! THIS IS KEY!

Offhand hand: Pulled in just like weapon bearing hand.

COMMON ERRORS:

Wrong foot placement.

Leanining over or into the opponent.

Chin/Head THRUST out.

WEAPON HAND EXTENDED and/or SPLAYED OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Read THAT AGAIN!

Knife LEVEL with ground and NOT POINTED at opponents EYES/THROAT!

Offhand SPLAYED out to side.

Now the WHY’S that make this method succeed or FAIL.

First, try this experiment(THIS IS SOMETHING YOU MUST DO). Don’t even talk about this “method” if you HAVE NOT honestly followed this example:

Grab a REAL SHARP FIGHTING KNIFE.

EXTEND IT at FULL arm’s length with shoulder “twisted” in for added reach.

Tell your training partner to DISTANCE himself from the weapon to a RANGE where he feels at a combatively “SAFE” range. Have someone measure that distance.

PULL your weapon arm in to a 3/4 extension and repeat. Have someone measure that distance.

PULL in FURTHER to a half bent 90 degree position and repeat.

NOW pull the weapon back to the hip and do it all again.

COMPARE the measurements at each “distance”. MOST people will REMAIN quite consistent in the ACTUAL “measured” distance of safety from tip of weapon. THEY will ALMOST always MOVE in as YOUR arm moves back, BUT the “measured” distance remains very close between ALL the given positions.

THAT is the KEY to Styers.

Extend your arm and knife all the way OUT. Your partner maintains that critical safety zone FROM the tip of your very real and sharp blade. COULD YOU cut or thrust him EASILY from that position? Not really. A committed BODY lunge or step is about all you could do to close the “gap”. Too slow.

NOW-Pull that arm ALL the way in so that it barely breaks the lateral plane of the body. AGAIN, your training partner will have a DEFINITE tendency to MAINTAIN the measured distance of the safety zone, but HE will MOVE in. The actual measured distance between him and the tip will vary little. HIS safety zone is STILL his safety zone.

What HAS changed is your ABILITY to REACH HIM in the fastest most NON telegraphed manner.

FROM the PULLED IN arm position, SQUARED TORSO, and BALANCED stance you can execute the most rapid, cobra-like attacks or counter-attacks with a great amount of RANGE.

ANY position OTHER than this one, taken by your enemy WILL put him at a SERIOUS dis-advantage. He will almost ALWAYS be offering YOU something, whereas YOU will be offering NOTHING.

His range and speed will be effected by HIS position. Your range and speed will be ENHANCED by YOURS.

IMPORTANCE of BLADE POSITION: Keep that blade tip POINTED at the angle stated. WHY? At that angle it is MUCH more difficult for the opponent to gauge the size and length of your blade. May seem like a MINOR “point”, but in a real KNIFE fight I’ll USE anything that MAY give me an edge.

TECHNIQUE:

ALL you REALLY need is a thrust, a snap-slash(DO NOT use the back snap cut with this!), a “stop-hit”, and the “hand-cut”. The step over and stab is also useful.

If “In-Quartata and Passata-soto” are NOT comfortable for you, DON’T use them! Since BOTH of these moves are MEANT as “defensive” counter-attacks against an OVERLY committed assault they are NOT mandatory.

The FIVE moves stated above are MORE than enough. PRACTICE THEM moving forward, backward and flanking left and right. I personally DO NOT train the “back” snap cut on the “snap-slash” because I know of an incident in a real fight where the knife was dislodged from the grip on the “return” when the target reflexively pulled his shoulder up after taking the first slash across the right temple and eyes. This is the story I have heard so I won’t comment further.

TARGETS: As far as “targets” go……………well the BEST real world advice I can offer is just GO for FLESH! If you see skin, GO FOR IT!

Fingers, hands, wrists, throat/neck and face. The “step over and stab” SHOULD be saved for the coup d’ grace.

John Styer’s influence was really BROUGHT to bear AFTER WWII. His methods were developed during the Korean War era, long after his discharge from the USMC.

AND……………………His job as a FLAG salesman is what brought him into contact with military bases and servicemen ACROSS the country!

There are more anecdotes and more info but this is enough for now.

I always get a “kick” when guys dismiss different methods and/or ideas out of hand. Then when I ask them to “show me”, they get the WHOLE GODDAMN thing WRONG! Of course it looks like SHIT. BECAUSE YOU”RE DOING IT LIKE SHIT!

Ok, hope some of you got some useful insight.

Copyright 2003 thetruthaboutselfdefense.com ©

Fortnite is the name of a hit new game that was released back in September of 2017. When it was first released there was very little hype about it and did not receive much attention at its initial release. Due to that simple fact, the company that created it decided to offer a portion of the game for free and since the game has become probably the most popular in the world now. There are many aspects that make the game unique.

First off, it is a third person shooter but very animated in its positioning so not very serious in a manner of terms. Along with being a shooter game you are able to harvest materials such as wood, brick and metal and craft different building structures like ramps, walls, floors, and really anything imaginable. The point of the game is to be the last player or squad standing. The game starts out with one hundred players all dropping in from a school bus held in the air by a hot air balloon to a giant island with different little towns and places marked on the map. Each person drops off of the bus and once they land they loot for weapons and shield before someone else finds the loot first. There are many different types of weapons like shotguns, rifles, rocket launchers and many other different weaponry to find. Players open up golden chests that give you multiple items usable in game like potions and weapons as mentioned above. Once a player has the loot they want they must move into the storm circle as the outside storm closes in slowly and forces players together. The storm will slowly decrease your health if you are caught in it till eventually your health runs out. Once your health runs out there is no respawning into the same game as you must start over from the beginning.

The ultimate goal is to be the last one standing and achieve a “Victory Royale”. It is a difficult feat as there are many highly skilled players out there that play and compete viciously on a regular basis. The key that has been found by most of these highly skilled gamers is to be able to build more efficiently and quickly in the heat of a gun fight. These builders are usually the most skilled of players and tend to win more of the games they play. Inexperienced players that are still learning the overall flow of the game do not usually find their first win till many games played. As time has gone on the developers of the game have added special limited time game modes to the mix as well to keep the game interesting and their die-hard players entertained and not becoming bored after so long. The mode that has become a favorite of many is the high explosive mode which takes away all normal weapons and leaves players wandering around the map finding grenade launchers and rocket launchers and a few other specialty weapons to win the game with. These additional modes provide a skill change and allow newer players to become more accustomed to items that are less prevalent in the normal mode and allows them to experiment more freely so they are not unprepared in the regular mode.

Overall, the game is fun for all ages and provides a very good challenge for the competitive person in all of us. Fortnite is a fad for now but look for it to stick around for a while longer as more and more players continue to join the ranks as each day goes by.

While most serious airsoft players will never sacrifice quality and performance for a lower price tag, there are still many beginners out there who are not ready to shell out $100+ for an airsoft rifle. Luckily, there are many, MANY airsoft guns that cost under $100, but they are usually significantly lower quality than the more expensive ones, and tend to shoot at a lower velocity as well.

So what are the biggest benefits of the higher end airsoft guns? Well, most of them are either “mostly metal” or even “full metal”, meaning that many the parts on them are made out of metal, rather than plastic. Not only does this make them much more durable, it also makes them much more realistic looking as well. Also, more often than not, the higher end airsoft rifles tend to shoot at a much higher velocity, and have greater accuracy than the cheaper, lower quality rifles. However, even the cheaper, lower grade airsoft guns still shoot at a pretty high velocity, and those made out of ABS plastic are fairly ruggid and durable as well.

When it comes to the electric airsoft guns, the lower end ones are generally referred to as “electric airsoft guns”, while the higher performance airsoft guns are usually known as “automatic electric” or “AEG” guns. The cheaper, lower grade “electric airsoft rifles” generally shoot at about 200-300 FPS, while the more expensive, higher end airsoft rifles usually shoot at 370+ FPS. Also, much like with the electric airsoft rifles, the airsoft sniper rifle guns pretty much follow the same rule of thumb: the cheaper ones shoot at a lower velocity, are less durable, and are less realistic looking, while the higher end ones shoot at a higher velocity, while also being more durable and realistic looking.

As far as price goes, the cheaper, lower quality airsoft rifles, such as the airsoft M4 rifle, usually sell for between $30 and $80 or so. The higher quality AEG airsoft rifles usually sell for between $120 and $300. Lastly, the airsoft sniper rifle guns are pretty much in the same price range, however, the low end electric airsoft rifles usually cost a little less than the low end airsoft sniper rifles.

Wow! This P698 Glock 26 Style Spring Pistol is really a nice little piece and has a lot going for it, especially in this price range of spring airsoft guns. First, the overall appearance is pleasing, if not entirely accurate with regard to the surface texture variations between the slide and molded grip-frame which would be typical of the real Glock. There are very noticeable molding lines on the trigger, slide, frame and magazine base, but in this price range this is to be expected.

Also, the gun is pictured with an orange colored muzzle end slide face, but as supplied comes with a full length black slide and orange barrel extending approx 1/4 to 5/32 inches beyond the slide, which I at least find more attractive. The picture also indicates ‘COMBAT DELTA’ and 9×19 indented into the left slide face, but mine arrived ‘smooth’.

So….how does it feel and shoot. In a word – good. It’s no wonder Glock’s are so popular. It just naturally fits, at least in my hands. The grip contouring and thumb indentation, even including the ‘pinkie rest’ on the magazine extension, the back strap shape and radius, trigger and trigger guard notch are all ergonomically correct for an intuitive ‘grip’, site picture & target acquisition. What I find remarkable is how the front site blade visually indexes so accurately within the ramped Novak style rear site blade (and on such an inexpensive pistol), allowing a very precise site picture which minimizes the effect of the short site radius.

I’m sure this makes perfect sense to those of you who appreciate such things. The magazine holds 9 BBs, and is fed by manually retracting a spring loaded ‘follower’, thus allowing the insertion of BBs into the ‘ammo well’. The follower incorporates a detente notch allowing the user to lock the follower spring in the base position while loading – a nice touch – though perhaps not really necessary. Just remember to release the follower to ensure proper feeding prior to reinsertion of the loaded mag. Depressing the magazine release when the pistol is vertical will immediately drop the mag – there’s no binding – yet the mag catch clicks and holds securely. Being that it is a spring airsoft gun, the slide must be manually retracted to compress the spring and cock the pistol for every discharge (shot). By the way, I’m certain this is ho hum stuff to most of you, but for those new to Airsoft, it’s not bad info., especially since this is such a great ‘starter gun.’

Anyway, the spring feels really firm, perhaps because this is such a small pistol, and I found it necessary to grip the slide pretty much along it’s length between the four fingers and thumb of my left hand. I suppose one ‘can’ cock this pistol by gripping just the cocking serrations on the rear of the slide, but I don’t recommend this method, as doing so requires a grip tight enough to dimensionally compress the slide. After a few times though, it becomes second nature. The first shot was a real surprise. This thing shoots hard for a low cost springer, and I highly advise proper eye protection, especially if there’s any chance of a ricochet. I didn’t ‘bench’ this thing for accuracy, but it would be interesting to see how it groups and at what distances.

Trigger action was also a nice surprise, with no take-up like most real Single action/double action Euro wonder nines. Apply pressure and the trigger moves rearward about 1/8 – 3/16 of an inch and releases crisply (on my example). Trigger pull is tactile but not too stiff. By the way, I didn’t subject the pistol to any torture tests or put a gazillion rounds through it, but then again, it still impresses me at this price. The gun comes in a molded Styrofoam box with a printed cardboard cover and a sample pack of.12 gm. BBs, all of which were quickly dispensed through my example, without a hitch. So….there it is. I really like the P698, to the degree it’s kind of hard to put it down. I just wonder if any real Glocks might be sold as a result of someones discovery of this fun little thing?

Addendum thoughts: First of all, why such a lengthy review of an inexpensive spring pistol? First, there isn’t always a distinct and technically measurable correlation between the cost of an item and the enjoyment one experiences in connection with it’s use. In other words, it doesn’t always take a lot of money to have a lot of fun. In some cases, there’s an an inverse expenditure/benefit correlation (more money, less fun). Besides, Airsoft customers seem to be very passionate regarding their opinions of everything Airsoft, and no wonder.

Airsoft is now worldwide. So whether an individual is considering a low cost or expensive item, a review is a review. When buying a car, the astute customer consults both professional and consumer reviews to find out as much as possible in order to make an informed decision. Imagine looking for an econobox just to discover little or no evaluational information is available because you’re not shopping for a Ferrari.

Your unit will announce when they’re considering promotion board packets. They’ll send correspondence to their subordinate units. This correspondence will outline what they expect the packet to look like. In many cases, they’ll ask for the “Promotion Packet Composition, Elections and Preferences” on the folder’s left. They’ll ask for Tab’s A through E on the folder’s right.

What you’ll need:

Before you start, make sure that you have the following: Two-hole-punch; a manila folder, two sheets, tabbed, with metal clasps centered at the top on each side; cut-out single manila folder sheets to separate the different tabs; tab labels; and your promotion packet parts.

Your unit should have the manila folder with clasps centered on the top. All you need is one that opens up, two sheets only. You could purchase the plastic tabs at a store that sells office supplies. These usually come with instructions on how to produce the labels on Microsoft Word. You’ll have to access a website to download the template.

Make copies of your packet items, both hardcopy and digital.

Make sure that you make copies of your packet, both hard copy and electronic. Scan every item in your promotion packet. Save these in a folder on your computer, then save that folder to multiple computers, multiple saving devices, and personal storage accounts on the Internet.

Here’s how it’s supposed to work.

Before moving on, here’s a breakdown of the “Promotion Packet Composition, Elections and Preferences” tab system.

Your Army promotion packet will have the items from Section B of the “Promotion Packet Composition, Elections and Preferences” form. You’ll see three columns titled; Initials, Tab, and Description/Instructions. The first two blank spaces under the “Tab” column are for items that will be at the top of the right side of your packet. They don’t have their own tab label.

When the reviewer opens your packet, he or she will see the “Promotion Packet Composition, Elections and Preferences” form on the left side. They’ll see your promotion point computation worksheet (SGT/SSG promotion) on the right. This is the DA Form 3355. If you’re writing a letter to the President of the Board, this’ll be under your promotion points computation sheet.

Under your promotion points worksheet, the reviewer will see a bunch of “tabs” to the side. These tabs are named after the tab number, or letter, that you’ll find under the tab column. Each tab will be labeled as follows: A, B, B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, B-5, B-6, B-7, C, D, and E.

When the reviewer holds the tab-label holding “B” and lifts the attached single manila folder sheet that it’s attached to, he’ll see your DA Forms 2A and 2-1. When he lifts the B-1 tab, and attached folder, he’ll see your PT card. This concept applies throughout the Army promotion packet. Use the “Promotion Packet Composition, Elections and Preferences” sheet as a guide.

How to put the packet together:

Place the “Promotion Packet Composition, Elections and Preferences” on the left side. Apply the two-hole punch, then put it on the clasps on the left.

Have several single sheets of manila folder sides ready. Start at “E,” this is your “Tab E.” As of this writing, it includes military awards, decorations, and letters/certificates of commendation appreciation or achievement.

Align the two-hole punch to the metal tabs, then adjust the metal measuring device. You don’t want your copies to fold when you close your promotion folder. After placing copies of your awards documentation, take the first manila folder sheet. Use the same two-hole-punch principles that you did before. Place that manila sheet over your awards documentation.

Turn to the items that go into section “D,” your “Tab D.” As of this writing, this tab contains your military reports, like DA Form 1059, and other evidence of military education. Make sure you include the DA 1059 from your latest NCOES course. Include all of your DA Form 1059s in this section. Apply the two-hole punch using the same principles that you applied when working with section E (Tab E). When you get all the documents in, apply the two-hole punch on the single manila folder sheet. Put that on top of your section “D” items.

Repeat this process for the remainder of the packet. Each tab gets its own section. When you’re done, the tabs, on the right, will be in the order they show up under the “tab” column.

Attach the tab-labels, to the single manila folder sheets, after you put the packet together.

You could either type, or hand print, the tab-labels. Since you want your work to stand out, you want to type those labels. Read the directions for the size of the tabs that you purchase. They’ll provide you with instructions on how you could download a ready made tab sheet. Type the above tab labels into the blocks, then save. Print these tab labels out. Cut them out and slide them into their respective tabs… one by one.

Once you get done, do a final look through. Go through every item in every section of the promotion packet. Make sure that you signed everything that you’re supposed to sign. Once you’re complete, submit it to your first line leader. Make sure you’re available to make corrections.

Some helpful tips.

1. Take your professional counseling sessions, formal and informal, seriously. Promotions are earned. Even if you’re in the primary zone for promotion, your leadership doesn’t have to recommend you. If you’re not ready for promotion, they’ll provide you with a counseling statement explaining why.

2. Strive to perform at the capacity expected at the next higher rank. Never stop learning your MOS. Always build on the MOS knowledge that you already have.

3. Start building your promotion packet early, before you’re eligible for promotion. Update it as soon as you gain more promotion points. Sometimes, promotion boards are announced at times where you wouldn’t have enough time to put a promotion packet together.

4. Max out on your APFT and your weapon qualification scores. Do additional PT in addition to morning PT. Civilian gun ranges offer opportunities to improve your marksmanship between Army range visits.

5. Army correspondence courses are the easiest points to get. If you’re not doing Army correspondence courses, you’re denying yourself easy promotion points.

6. Obtain a copy of the “Course Promotion Point Eligibility” document. This document lists courses that qualify for promotion points. Try to get registered for the courses that offer promotion points.

7. Take on-line college courses if your training schedule allows you enough time.

The right to carry and bear weapons is important to maintaining personal protection, but certain weapons have been deemed more dangerous than good. Since the acceptance of the National Firearms Act of 1934, the Federal and various state governments have been regulating the commerce of firearms and the types of weapons that citizens may possess, carry, or control. Each state has individual restrictions that serve to protect the public against weapons that have been deemed dangerous.

The government has deemed that certain types of weaponry have simply been associated with unlawfulness and are not necessary for recreational use, or personal protection. Because of this status and in the name of lawful behavior, certain weapons have been deemed illegal. The following list indicates some of the weapons and destructive devices that are not legal for possession by ordinary citizens:

1. Short barreled rifles
2. Short barreled shotguns
3. Machine guns
4. Mortars
5. Destructive devices
6. Molotov cocktails
7. Cane guns
8. H & R Handguns

These weapons, among others, are illegal unless they meet the standards for “antique” firearms, which includes any firearm made before 1918 in many states. This qualifications protects antique trades that are important sources of revenue and investment for many people.

The definition of short barreled fire arms generally includes any shotgun or rifle which has a barrel length of 18″ or less. These firearms are typically modified for the purposes of concealment and for this reason have been deemed unsafe for public possession. Concealment is one of the most common characteristics among weapons that have been deemed illegal for civilian possession and use.

No matter if it’s a BB gun or pellet rifle, the air gun is a fundamental building block of marksmanship training for hunters of all ages. Not only that, in Mississippi there are worthwhile opportunities for hunters to take their air guns to the woods. With the escalating cost and limited availability of ammunition lately, those nice big tins of pellets are looking more and more attractive with each passing day.

Marksmanship Training

BB guns are low powered but are great for learning the basics of marksmanship (grip, sight alignment, trigger control) cheaply and in the comfort of your own home. Modern air rifles of good quality are by nature far more accurate than most 22LR rimfire rifles. Rimfire rounds are by nature handicapped because of low quality control when firing bulk grade ammunition and the use of a heeled bullet. In comparison even inexpensive cast pellets and BBs are more aerodynamic and coupled with a modern air rifle will deliver consistent performance.

Air guns are so popular for training youth in shooting basics that most of the hunter’s education courses being taught in the state use one for the mandatory live fire section of the course. They are cheap to shoot, accurate, and limited in range.

Pest Control

During the winter especially, there are always issues with mice, rats, and other little creepy crawlies that are classified as pests. A good pellet rifle even in.177 caliber can take care of these without much issue. Be sure that you obey local laws as some cities in the state have town ordinances about shooting an air gun in the city limits, but otherwise feel free. Obey your basic firearms safety rules with pellet guns as they can still inflict bodily harm, shoot out windows, and generally disturb the neighbors. For these types of vermin as well as nuisance birds, a good quality, medium weight, wad-cutter (flat tipped) pellet will minimize the chance of over-penetration.

According to state laws, “all species of blackbirds, cowbirds, starlings, crows, grackles, and English sparrows may be killed without a permit when such birds are committing or about to commit depredations on shade or ornamental trees or agricultural crops.”

It’s best to remember that Mississippi is home to a number of endangered species of bats, turtles and rare snakes they are best to be avoided if you are unsure of the exact species in your sights.

Small Game

It’s legal according to MDFWP regulations to hunt all small game (rabbit, squirrel, bobwhite quail, raccoon, possum, and bobcat) with air rifles during the normal season by a licensed hunter.

While almost any BB gun or pellet rifle will take vermin sized animals (mice, rats) and pest birds such as sparrows, you will need a high-powered air gun that shoots pellets only to go after anything larger.

These hunting level guns start at about $59 and go rapidly up from there. To make sure you have a strong enough air gun, make sure that the FPS (feet per second) rating is 700+ for a.22 caliber, or 950+ for a.177 caliber gun. Benjamin Sheridan pump line and Daisy’s cock-action Powerline series can be had new for about $100. Slightly better rifles such as the Gamo Big Cat and Crosman Vantage are just $30 more expensive but deliver a lot more performance. Moving up the scale are Ruger Air Magnums, German-made RWS guns, Hatsans, Sumatras, and the Benjamin Marauders that go for as much as $400.

For hunting these tree rats and flop ears, look for a good quality, medium weight, domed pellet like the Crosman Premiere Light, RWS Superdome, or the JSB Exact. These can be had extremely cheap, the 7.9 Grain Crosman Premier run about $25 for 1250 pellets for example. Gamo has a new 0.36 gram.177 pellet that can penetrate 1.5mm rolled galvanized steel sheet and keep going. Called the “Lethal,” it’s a two-body design pellet with ultra-high ballistic coefficient, more terminal penetration, a stable flight trajectory, and a polymer skirt. These top of the line pellets cost about $20 per 100. With high-end pellets and a high-powered air rifle, lethal shots as far as 50-yards out are possible.

When going after bobcats, raccoons, and possums, 22 caliber or 25 caliber pellets from high-powered air guns should be the minimum.

With all small game taken with an air gun, it is absolutely required to get good, accurate shots in the small 1-2 inch kill zones of your target to ensure it goes down. Headshots are the rule to live by. Unless you can hit a nickel sized target repeatedly with your air rifle at 25-yards, practice until you can before heading to the woods.

Nuisance Animals

The State of Mississippi by Public Notice LE6-3779 lists beaver, coyote, fox, nutria, skunk, and wild hogs as nuisance animals. As such, the hunting of nuisance animals is allowed during daylight hours on private lands with no caliber restrictions–, which include air guns. While.177/22 caliber guns can take polecats with no issue, going after some of the larger game on this list may be problematic unless you have a big bore air rifle.

Speaking of which deer and turkey hunting with big bore air guns, while practiced in some states, is currently off the board in Mississippi– for now. In 2007, an Alabama man took two deer, including a trophy 9-point with a.50 caliber air rifle and one 200-grain pellet. With precedents such as that one, it’s likely just a matter of time before whitetails are being taken with air guns in this state as well.

Just be sure you don’t shoot your eye out.

WE Full Metal 1911 MEU CQB Master Airsoft Gas Blowback Pistol Gun

The WE Full Metal 1911 MEU CQB Master Airsoft Gas Blowback Pistol Gun features a US Marine Metal Seal located on its grip and pro-Grip with rubberized thumb rest pre-installed. It has on frame magazine release and ambidextrous thumb safety with beaver tail.

This pistol also features full Metal frame and slide with forward cocking serration, light pull 3-hole trigger, built in lanyard hook, front and rear sights, serrated slide, metal reinforced outer barrel, chamber, recoil spring guide rod, on frame safety, slide stop, hammer and trigger. The front and rear sights are executed appropriately and accomplished with the quality you would expect on genuine steel.

This is the modern WE release from the 1911 generation and certainly a pistol that is definitely developed to stand out. The WE MEU is heavy weight and made out of great dependability. The coating, overall efficiency, appearance and feel is top notch in the Airsoft market today. It can certainly take green gas, red gas, propane and other high pressured airsoft gas.

Despite being a high end airsoft pistol, minimal drawbacks have been observed.

One, the plastic-made grips feel kind of low quality. Plus, the paint chips easily.

Two, clips are a little fragile that it can break at anytime.

Three, slide gets stuck sometimes and the sights are a bit loose.

Specifications:

Dimension: 220mm x 135mm

BB: 0.20g or heavier

Muzzle Velocity: 300~330 FPS

Range: 70~100 feet.

Magazine: 16+1

Power: Gas Blowback

Majority of consumer reviews explain that this pistol is a good quality item one airsoft enthusiast should not miss. Overall, it is a highly-recommended product with high power and accuracy you should advocate.

We probably all have a pretty good intuitive notion of what a game is. The general term “game” encompasses board games like chess and Monopoly, card games like poker and blackjack, casino games like roulette and slot machines, military war games, computer games, various kinds of play among children, and the list goes on. In academia we sometimes speak of game theory, in which multiple agents select strategies and tactics in order to maximize their gains within the framework of a well-defined set of game rules. When used in the context of console or computer-based entertainment, the word “game” usually conjures images of a three-dimensional virtual world featuring a humanoid, animal or vehicle as the main character under player control. (Or for the old geezers among us, perhaps it brings to mind images of two-dimensional classics like Pong, Pac-Man, or Donkey Kong.) In his excellent book, A Theory of Fun for Game Design, Raph Koster defines a game to be an interactive experience that provides the player with an increasingly challenging sequence of patterns which he or she learns and eventually masters. Koster’s asser-tion is that the activities of learning and mastering are at the heart of what we call “fun,” just as a joke becomes funny at the moment we “get it” by recognizing the pattern.

Video Games as Soft Real-Time Simulations

Most two- and three-dimensional video games are examples of what computer scientists would call soft real-time interactive agent-based computer simulations. Let’s break this phrase down in order to better understand what it means. In most video games, some subset of the real world -or an imaginary world- is modeled mathematically so that it can be manipulated by a computer. The model is an approximation to and a simplification of reality (even if it’s an imaginary reality), because it is clearly impractical to include every detail down to the level of atoms or quarks. Hence, the mathematical model is a simulation of the real or imagined game world. Approximation and simplification are two of the game developer’s most powerful tools. When used skillfully, even a greatly simplified model can sometimes be almost indistinguishable from reality and a lot more fun.

An agent-based simulation is one in which a number of distinct entities known as “agents” interact. This fits the description of most three-dimensional computer games very well, where the agents are vehicles, characters, fireballs, power dots and so on. Given the agent-based nature of most games, it should come as no surprise that most games nowadays are implemented in an object-oriented, or at least loosely object-based, programming language.

All interactive video games are temporal simulations, meaning that the vir- tual game world model is dynamic-the state of the game world changes over time as the game’s events and story unfold. A video game must also respond to unpredictable inputs from its human player(s)-thus interactive temporal simulations. Finally, most video games present their stories and respond to player input in real time, making them interactive real-time simulations.

One notable exception is in the category of turn-based games like computerized chess or non-real-time strategy games. But even these types of games usually provide the user with some form of real-time graphical user interface.

What Is a Game Engine?

The term “game engine” arose in the mid-1990s in reference to first-person shooter (FPS) games like the insanely popular Doom by id Software. Doom was architected with a reasonably well-defined separation between its core software components (such as the three-dimensional graphics rendering system, the collision detection system or the audio system) and the art assets, game worlds and rules of play that comprised the player’s gaming experience. The value of this separation became evident as developers began licensing games and retooling them into new products by creating new art, world layouts, weapons, characters, vehicles and game rules with only minimal changes to the “engine” software. This marked the birth of the “mod community”-a group of individual gamers and small independent studios that built new games by modifying existing games, using free toolkits pro- vided by the original developers. Towards the end of the 1990s, some games like Quake III Arena and Unreal were designed with reuse and “modding” in mind. Engines were made highly customizable via scripting languages like id’s Quake C, and engine licensing began to be a viable secondary revenue stream for the developers who created them. Today, game developers can license a game engine and reuse significant portions of its key software components in order to build games. While this practice still involves considerable investment in custom software engineering, it can be much more economical than developing all of the core engine components in-house. The line between a game and its engine is often blurry.

Some engines make a reasonably clear distinction, while others make almost no attempt to separate the two. In one game, the rendering code might “know” specifi-cally how to draw an orc. In another game, the rendering engine might provide general-purpose material and shading facilities, and “orc-ness” might be defined entirely in data. No studio makes a perfectly clear separation between the game and the engine, which is understandable considering that the definitions of these two components often shift as the game’s design solidifies.

Arguably a data-driven architecture is what differentiates a game engine from a piece of software that is a game but not an engine. When a game contains hard-coded logic or game rules, or employs special-case code to render specific types of game objects, it becomes difficult or impossible to reuse that software to make a different game. We should probably reserve the term “game engine” for software that is extensible and can be used as the foundation for many different games without major modification.

Clearly this is not a black-and-white distinction. We can think of a gamut of reusability onto which every engine falls. One would think that a game engine could be something akin to Apple QuickTime or Microsoft Windows Media Player-a general-purpose piece of software capable of playing virtually any game content imaginable. However, this ideal has not yet been achieved (and may never be). Most game engines are carefully crafted and fine-tuned to run a particular game on a particular hardware platform. And even the most general-purpose multiplatform engines are really only suitable for building games in one particular genre, such as first-person shooters or racing games. It’s safe to say that the more general-purpose a game engine or middleware component is, the less optimal it is for running a particular game on a particular platform.

This phenomenon occurs because designing any efficient piece of software invariably entails making trade-offs, and those trade-offs are based on assumptions about how the software will be used and/or about the target hardware on which it will run. For example, a rendering engine that was designed to handle intimate indoor environments probably won’t be very good at rendering vast outdoor environments. The indoor engine might use a binary space partitioning (BSP) tree or portal system to ensure that no geometry is drawn that is being occluded by walls or objects that are closer to the camera. The outdoor engine, on the other hand, might use a less-exact occlusion mechanism, or none at all, but it probably makes aggressive use of level-of-detail (LOD) techniques to ensure that distant objects are rendered with a minimum number of triangles, while using high-resolution triangle meshes for geome-try that is close to the camera.

The advent of ever-faster computer hardware and specialized graphics cards, along with ever-more-efficient rendering algorithms and data structures, is beginning to soften the differences between the graphics engines of different genres. It is now possible to use a first-person shooter engine to build a real-time strategy game, for example. However, the trade-off between generality and optimality still exists. A game can always be made more impressive by fine-tuning the engine to the specific requirements and constraints of a particular game and/or hardware platform.

Engine Differences Across Genres

Game engines are typically somewhat genre specific. An engine designed for a two-person fighting game in a boxing ring will be very different from a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) engine or a first-person shooter (FPS) engine or a real-time strategy (RTS) engine. However, there is also a great deal of overlap-all 3D games, regardless of genre, require some form of low-level user input from the joypad, keyboard and/or mouse, some form of 3D mesh rendering, some form of heads-up display (HUD) including text rendering in a variety of fonts, a powerful audio system, and the list goes on. So while the Unreal Engine, for example, was designed for first-person shooter games, it has been used successfully to construct games in a number of other genres as well, including simulator games, like Farming Simulator 15 ( FS 15 mods ) and the wildly popular third-person shooter franchise Gears of War by Epic Games and the smash hits Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City by Rocksteady Studios.