For many years, and even to a lesser degree still today, one of the oft-debated topics in the gun community was the question: What’s better for a magazine? Leave it loaded, or unload the mag at a given interval to allow the springs to rest?

The general consensus is frequent loading and unloading of mags induces more wear on the springs than does leaving a magazine loaded for any length of time.

With that being said, I decided – somewhat accidentally – to put the latter to a long-term test.

Loading the magazines

Thirteen years ago, I picked up a handful of 15-round KCI Glock magazines. These Korean-manfactured mags were some of the first non-OEM Glock mags to hit the market, at about half the price. At the time, I figured I’d test them out to see how good they were. At the time they ran fine and dropped free.

I decided to load up two mags with some FMJ rounds and tossed them in the ole bug-out-bag with some real Glock mags. Over time, my carry gun shifted from a Glock 19, but those two Korean magazines still stayed loaded. They eventually ended up in a box with all my other Glock 19 mags, tucked away in a closet. Not sure why I didn’t unload them or just shoot them. I’m sure I had a reason back then.

Finding the magazines

Last year, I picked up a Gen 5 Glock 19 MOS and dug out the ole Box O’ Glock mags to head to the range. The two loaded KCI mags were still in the box.

Doing a little mental math, I figured they’d been loaded for at least 12 years. I decided to keep them loaded for one more year and then see how they fared.

The magazine spring results speak for themselves, along with the fact that certain Mexican ammo sure does get really smokey after more than a decade of storage.

As you can see, both magazines functioned with no problem.

Although it’s a case study of one, I figured if two aftermarket magazines run fine after all these years, long term storage of loaded pistol mags is a non-issue for me. (Magpul magazines are another story for another time.)

Inspect your gear

As a related side note concerning magazines, while getting ready for the range test, I noticed that one of the baseplates had a hairline crack in it.

I can’t say when it happened, or how long it had been like that, but clearly it held together. A quick swap with a Vickers Tactical Glock Floorplate and it’s back in action.

Just another reason to check your gear on a regular basis.

As a child growing up during the 80s, it’s no surprise my first “gun crush” (and likely MANY others like myself) was a Beretta 92. Martin Riggs and John McClane did for Berettas what “Dirty Harry” Callahan did for S&W Model 29s. It wasn’t until relatively recently that I finally picked up one. Now, there are three in my safe. They seem to multiply.

My first Beretta was a 92G. Anyone will tell you, once you go “G”, you never go back. For those of your not familiar, on “G” models the safety lever acts only as a decocker. When my father passed away, I inherited his M9A1. It was completely stock and I intended to leave it that way.

After a while the thumb safety started bugging me, so I order the “G” conversion kit. While I was at it, I figured I’d drop in the seemingly-mandatory “D” spring as the factory trigger pull, well… stunk. And while I was at it, might as well bling it up with some Wilson Combat grips, steel guide rod.

So much for keep it stock!

About this time Ernest “Ernie” Langdon with Langdon Tactical Technologies came out with his Trigger Job In A Bag. Touted as equivalent to 90 percent of his custom gunsmith work, it had my attention. When it comes to gunsmithing, Ernie is to Berettas what Bruce Gray is to SIGs. For $165, it was almost a no-brainer decision.

Langdon Tactical’s Beretta 92 Kit Includes:

• Wilson Combat Ultimate Trigger bar
• Elite II hammer
• Sear
• Sear Spring
• Trigger Spring
• Hammer Strut
• Wilson Combat Reduced Power Mainspring of your choosing. (12, 13, & 14 pound are the standards options listed – I went with the 12 pound spring.)

(The trigger bar, hammer, hammer strut, and sear come pre-polished and stoned.)

I’ll be honest, before the kit showed up, the extend of my gunsmithing skills had been installing Apex Tactical trigger kits into M&Ps and the occasional deep Glock cleaning. I was a little… anxious, you might say about taking the Beretta all the way apart. However, watching Ernie’s YouTube installation video and one or two others made installation a breeze. I’d venture to say that Berettas are one of the easier pistols out there to work on. Start to finish, installation took me about 45 minutes – and that was including multiple rewinds of the videos.

Langdon Tactical lists the expected trigger pull weights post-install with their corresponding mainspring weight as:

Double Action:

11# : 5.3 to 6 pounds
12# : 5.6 to 6.4 pounds
13# : 6.3 to 7 pounds
14# : 7 to 7.5 pounds
16# : 7.2 to 8 pounds

Single Action: between 3.5 and 4 pounds.

Installation Results – Beretta 92 with Langdon Tactical’s “Trigger in a Bag”

I decided to go with the 12 pound mainspring since shoot the pistol in IDPA. (It’s been stated that you can potentially run into primer ignition issues if you go below 12 pounds.)

I’m here to tell you, his kit isn’t 90 percent of a custom trigger job; it’s more like 98 percent! If you own a Beretta 92, you need to buy this kit!

The double action pull came in at 6.8 pounds, and single action was exactly 3.5 pounds. This was down from the factory pulls of 11.3 pounds and 6.6 pounds, respectively. There was zero, and I do mean zero, stacking in double action mode. To say it was smooth would be an understatement. The single action pull with crisp and clean, with no over-travel.

One thing I didn’t mention was that my 92G was worked on by another well-known Beretta gunsmith, and I’ve shot a few “slicked up” ones as well. I’m here to tell you, LTT’s “Trigger Job In a Bag” is literally a close as you can get to a custom trigger job, without having to ship your pistol off. Yes, it’s that good!

On top of that, it’s probably the best value for a trigger job out there. Just to give you an idea of what an insane deal this is, the parts and springs alone come to almost $130. So for an extra $35, you’re getting professionally polished parts from the leading expert out there on Berettas. I’ll take that every day of the week and twice on Sundays!

Just like Apex triggers kits are “must haves” for my M&Ps, Langdon Tactical’s “TJIAB” is now a “must have” for any future Beretta. If you own a Beretta, you really owe it to yourself to pick one of these up. Trust me, you won’t sorry.

For longer than I probably care to admit, I thought I had a good grasp of what I’d do if the SHTF. Some of you may have thought the same thing, or heard the proverbial lines “If someone breaks into my house I’m gonna (insert tactics here)…” or “If I get into a gunfight I’ll…”

I’m here to tell you, unless it’s actually happened to you, you have no idea. Outside of armed combat, I’d offer the next best thing is Simunition® training.

Full disclosure, I’m high drag, low speed and have never pulled a gun in anger in my life. I shoot competitively and would consider myself a decent shot. That being said, my first sims class was an eye-opening experience. It’s all fun and games until you have to go up against the likes of Jerry Jones, Michael Wray, and Bruce Gray – and oh yeah, they get to shoot back at you!

If you’ve never heard of or experienced force-on-force training with non-lethal training ammunition, think paintball on steroids. Sims uses conversions kits of real life pistols/rifles and a proprietary marking round. They are very accurate at distance, and trust me, you’ll know if you get hit.

Inside Simunition Training

My first sims class was right after I joined the OpSpec ranks. It consisted of five scenarios, all based off of actual real-world situations. While I don’t want to give away too much (and the curriculum has changed a bit), I can tell you that skinning the smoke-wagon isn’t always the best choice. No one wants to hear “Congratulations, you’re going to jail for shooting an unarmed man.”

The force-on-force portion of the class built on two days of learning “tactics” – how to slice the pie, conventional and unconventional shooting positions, light discipline and the like. The culmination of these two days ends with you against two SWAT operators and a multi-time international shooting champ, who’s also a deputy sheriff.

As I mentioned before, not every problem is solved with the gun. It’s more a “thinking” class than a “shooting” class. The motto of our class was “Stupid Should Hurt.” If you were stupid (not applying what you were taught), the hurt would come in the form of catching a sim round or two.

What was amazing was the things I did not do. I vividly remember my first round in the shoot house. Sight alignment and trigger control went right out the window. In a world where you’re held accountable for every round that leaves your firearm, that’s not a good thing. As things progressed, you get a little used to it. But some of those “oh here’s what I’ll do” things just didn’t happen – I was too dealing with the adrenaline, my heart going 180 bpm, trying to process things, all while trying to avoid being shot. I’ll say it will give you a newfound respect for first responders and combat veterans.

As a minor aside, one thing that has stuck with me over all these years is just how heavy a fully loaded Glock 19 can be. Holding it out at arm’s length for 10+ minutes while clearing a shoot house makes a 30oz gun feel like 50lbs.

Honestly, I’m quite surprised force-on-force classes aren’t more popular. I personally think it’s one of  the best training classes anyone who carries a gun can take.

Find out for yourself.

Marksmanship matters. What a catchy slogan. The older I get, the more I agree with it. The older I get, I also have less tolerance with some of the BS that is being put out in the industry that passes for training. Matter of fact, I think that the training industry is about due a shake up. Social Media seems to be littered with some really horrible stuff. Everything from instructors who seem to have a want and need to make sure that they post something, and then tell everyone that “I don’t care if you like it or not” to tactics that are down right scary. In the saturated training market, everyone is trying to find a niche.

That latest niche seems to be vehicle tactics. I see a lot of handgun instructors teaching vehicle tactics these days. And most of what I see has ZERO application in rural Kentucky, let alone on a crowded street in Memphis. A lot of what is being taught is flash in the pan. It looks cool. It often is a good tactic for use as a contractor overseas. It has zero application for the American Law Enforcement professional or for the armed citizen. But, it sure is fun.

The other is the two yard line guys. The one that boast the impressive splits and blinding draw times with a compensated Glock with an RMR. Most of those classes are organized practice sessions. And they can be a lot of fun.

So, you have to asking yourself. Is Jones becoming one of those crusty guys that posts stuff on social media and screams out “I don’t care what you think, get off my lawn!” Nope. Not in the least. My point is that the above are examples of classes that aren’t really training you for skills that are transferable to other tasks, and aren’t marksmanship heavy. They are fun. But not the heavy lifting necessary to become better.

Marksmanship wins fights and trophies.

How many times have you heard an instructor or personality say something along the path of “That is some good shooting. You don’t want to stack all of your bullets in one place.” I usually do a double take and ask why. The usual answer is “To do more damage to your attacker”.  almost have to wonder if those who use this line of reasoning are just trying to be nice to the student. Because guess what? You’ll be moving, your attacker will be moving, the bullets are going to spread out on their own. The shooters that have the skill to drive the rounds to a specific spot on the target are naturally going to fair better than those who spread their rounds around.

Then there are those who cross their arms and claim that shooting distance is not a self defense skill. They claim for a wide range of reasons. Some include the lack of being able to justify the shooting, “statistical gunfighting” (meaning the thrown around statistics of 1-3 feet, 1-3 seconds, 1-3 rounds “average” gunfight), etc. Active shooters don’t play by statistics. Some do their work up close and personal. Some from a distance. Why not be equally prepared? Plus, a shooter that is well versed in a 1.75 second draw at 25 to a solid A zone hit, can pretty much drive the round to which eye socket he/she prefers at 7 in half the time. The skills directly transfer, despite what social media tries to claim.

Gents, the most important thing you have is between your ears. Having the right mindset goes a long way to managing an effective training plan. Don’t let the glitz and glamour of organized practice at the two yard line or vehicle tactics (or any other highly specialized skill) pull you away from the most basic of skills. Making hits on demand. Aim Small. Hit small. Solid fundamental marksmanship must be mastered. If you are serious about it, you must be able to summon up these skills upon demand under any conditions. Yeah, go out and take classes that are fun occasionally. Just don’t lose sight of what matter.