Fancy Triggers

Someone asked recently on M4C about triggers for SBRs, and below is my response, expanded somewhat for the blog.

I am a fan of the GI trigger.  I have never missed a shot that I blamed on the trigger* (more on that in a minute) but have missed many shots that were the fault of the shooter.  With aftermarket triggers (Excluding the ALG, which I have not tried yet, or even seen on the market) I have also not encountered a fancy-trigger that I believe is robust enough to consider using that wasn't also money better spent on an equal cost in ammo and some time on the range learning how to shoot.

SBRs are, for me anyway, about close range and fast shooting.  Can they be shot at distance?  Certainly.  We had a shooter in my 0.5 class last week that went from never having spent any time with the AR FOW to hitting A/C steel at 200 yards with an A1 profile 10.3" barrel, GI trigger, and Aimpoint T-1 (which, according to most of the internet is just physically impossible).  I myself have reliably made hits on 8" steel with 11.5" A1-profile barrel and an Aimpoint Comp ML2 with GI ammo (something else the internet says is impossible)

Now to really piss you off.  The fancy-trigger is a crutch.  I personally believe they have a place in precision shooting, and that some who come from such a professional background or spend a lot of time doing civilian nappy-time shooting get used to that crutch and they need it, or at least want it, all the time.  That doesn't mean it's not a crutch.

I also don't like the two-stage for close-range, fast shooting.  Because I'm not used to the crutch, I will sometimes bobble the reset when going fast because I'm not resetting the trigger far enough, because I'm used to the GI trigger.

As to my own experience...

*Prior to the 0.5 class last weekend I had been shooting a gun for an article with a Geiselle SD3G trigger in it.  Since January of this year virtually all of my AR shooting has been with this gun and I'm just over 1400 rounds with it.  Besides that the only rifle  I've been doing has been a Winchester Model 70 which I took to a 3-day practical rifle class and put about 600 rounds through.  Trigger on that frankly rivals the S3G in terms of how easy it breaks.  In that 0.5 class last weekend I had occasion to shoot my BCM T&E loaner gun both up close at speed and at 100 yards for zeroing and 200 yards at the A/C steel.  My performance in all cases was sub-par.  I could not go as fast as I used to, nor was I as precise as I used to be.  To be sure, some of this is simply that I've been focusing on handgun shooting in place of carbine this year to date, but some of that is absolutely that I got used to the crutch.

Speaking of handgun shooting...
I originally started pistol shooting with Glocks, then went to mid-grade 1911s (think Wilson, Brown, Yost-Bonitz), then back to Glocks.  Using the IDPA Classifier as a metric I went from Sharpshooter with the Glock in the beginning, to Sharpshooter with the 1911s, and then dropped down to Marksman with the Glock when I went back to it. Why?  The crutch.  The trigger of the 1911 allowed me to get away with being sloppy.  What is interesting is that I didn't use that crutch to excel, I used that crutch to devolve!  Logically I should have easily moved up in the Classifier with the better trigger (although the Classifier is weighted to negate this to some extent, the times for a Glock are not the same as the times for a 1911) but I didn't.  Instead I got lazy (lazier?) and I am paying for it now with the Glock.  I just recently re-shot the Classifier after YEARS of shooting the Glock again and finally managed to pull myself back up to where I STARTED almost 10 years ago.  But I didn't learn.  I purchased and installed a Vanek Classic trigger in one of my Glock 19s and took it with me to a Hackathorn Advanced Handgun course a couple of weeks ago.  My performance was no better than with the stock Glock trigger and "-" connector but I'm now $100+ lighter in the pocket.  Know what I should have done with that money?  Ammo and range time.

If you're ok with the crutch, and willing to install the crutch on all your guns, and willing to accept that if you need to shoot a GI trigger you may not perform as well due to being spoiled by the crutch, then by all means have at it.  If you do shoot a whole slew of triggers and find that your performance is not impeded by going from the fancy-trigger to the GI then you're simply a better shooter than I am.  But if that's the case, it begs the question, why would you spend all that money on a crutch you don't actually need?

I'm not saying there's no place for aftermarket fancy triggers, but what I am saying is that I haven't been able to find a place for them in my guns, for my needs, that doesn't come with serious drawbacks and eventually lead to an actual negative overall result.

Carbine 0.5 Proof of Concept

Last weekend, 14-15 April 2012, I ran the first prototype course of the Carbine 0.5 shooting class.  For those not familiar with the concept, the idea is this...

I have noticed more and more instructors moving away from the introductory courses.  I have no idea why this is, but it leaves a void in the training market that also leaves shooters looking for ways to begin to get involved.  Much like the waiter jobs I tried to apply for in high school, you can'get a job if you don't have experience, but you can't get experience if you haven't gotten a job.  New shooters are left with a similar challenge when they WANT to train but they find that all of the courses they want to take have pre-requisites.  Additionally, many shooters new to the sleepaway training class don't know what to expect and don't want to shell out the cash (easily $1k+) or the time (2-4 days depending on travel) if they aren't ready or aren't going to like it.  Enter the 0.5-level course which addresses all of these concerns.  This is not the course for the guy that's already been to several classes with name instructors, but is more for the shooter that may have a safe full of stuff he really doesn't know how to use, or perhaps a wife or adult child that has always been interested in what dad is up to but never had the outlet to learn it.

So, last weekend at Rocky Creek Ranch, a friend and I ran the first prototype of the Carbine 0.5 course.  The format at this location included a 2-3 hour portion on Saturday before dinner and then an all-day range portion on Sunday.  We had a total of 4 students for the Saturday portion and one could not return for the Sunday portion so we had three on the range day.  Experience levels varied from pretty used to running the carbine, to familiar with handgun shooting but no real carbine experience, to little to no shooting experience at all.  The students were great, and I want to give a big thank you to Justin, Keith and Anna.

During the Saturday portion of the class we began with Cooper's four rules of safe gun handling

1. All guns are always loaded.
2. Never point your muzzle at anything you are not prepared to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target.
4. Be sure of your target.

We discussed what each rule meant, how they work together, etc.  From there we moved on to the controls of the rifle, from the charging handle, to the magazine release, to the bolt catch and release, to the safety and performed dry manipulations of them all, finishing up with discussion of ready positions (indoor, low, and high port) and dry manipulations of the trigger getting the feel for the ease to reset.

Once the classroom portion was done we had an excellent meal of BBQ chicken and ribs, mashed potatoes, and salad.  This is one of the benefits of training at Rocky Creek Ranch, having lodging and (great) meals provided right on site. While training sites should be all about the training first, I'm certainly not going to complain if I can stay in a nice place, have a nice meal, and save driving all over God's creation getting from ranges in the sticks into town to stay at some fleabag hotel.  Total commute time at Rocky Creek Ranch from the lodge to the range is 5 minutes.

On Sunday we began with breakfast of bacon, eggs, and grits along with coffee, orange juice, yogurt, and bagels.   Once we moved out tot he range we had a review of the four rules and gave BCM Gunfighter charging handles to the two students that were able to repeat a rule on demand.  Special thanks to Bravo Company USA for helping sponsor this event with the charging handles and hats, posters and stickers for all the students.

Once we had refreshed everyone's memory on the safety rules we went over the ready positions and controls again before we covered loading and unloading the carbine with several rotations through to get the hang of it.  This was followed by an explanation of the mechanical offset of sighting systems.

We then walked the students through a method of demonstrating the offset to themselves.

We then had the students shoot while holding on the X of the NRA B-8 Repair Center to further demonstrate mechanical offset and holdover, and then had them compensate for same by holding high as necessary.  During this portion of the firing drills we covered easing to reset, and had the students hold the trigger to the rear after each shot so that they could feel the gun ease to reset and get the feel for the concept.

Positions followed, and we covered prone and kneeling positions and had the students shoot from these positions at 25 yards in order to minimize walking time on the range.  Once they had a handle on things at 25, we moved out to 50.  Before lunch we wound up with malfunction clearances and an introduction to speed/emergency reloads.  Again, being able to retreat to the lodge for a nice lunch of sandwiches in air conditioning was a welcome change of pace from courses where you eat lunch huddled under a shed.

For the afternoon portion we covered other topics such as shooting at cadence, prone at 100 yards, live-fire practice of emergency reloads, and we finished up with a walkback drill on steel plates.  We then moved out to 200 yards and ALL students were able to reliably hit the A/C-zone steel plates from 200 yards with regularity.

We finished up with a totally voluntary fam-fire portion wherein I laid out the various T&E carbines I have, as well as my personal guns, and gave anyone that wanted to an opportunity to check out different triggers, brakes, optics, slings, etc. to help inform their own future purchases.  I believe this portion is something that will help set the 0.5 courses we offer apart.  We don't want to prioritize gear but in today's market you can't ignore it either and if we can help students make an informed choice then so much the better.

For her vast improvement from 08:30 to 16:30, Anna received a Blue Force Gear Vickers Combat Applications sling.  Thanks go out to Blue Force Gear as well for their participation and sponsorship in this.  Anna began the day almost totally inexperienced with the AR platform and finished by hitting steel at 200 yards, which is a great improvement in my book.

I believe the course went extremely well, and all of the students saw improvement and indicated positive feedback when the course was complete.  A partner and I are starting a new training company based around this concept of the 0.5-level course, so keep your eyes peeled for announcements of more classes in the near future.  If you'd like to be added to our mailing list to be notified of future training events you can drop me a line at rob@tacticalyellowvisor.net and we'll keep you posted.

I also want to thank everyone that was involved.  Anna, Keith, and Justin were great students, listened well, performed the drills we asked them to and were patient with each other when someone else was struggling.  I couldn't have asked for a better group.

Chris, Gene and Nic of Rocky Creek Ranch were similarly fantastic.  Meals were great, lodging was seamless, and all of those in attendance were impressed and anxious to come back.

To Paul from Bravo Company and Stephen and Brittany of Blue Force Gear, thank you again for the schwag.  I appreciate the confidence in this new venture, and the students always like getting good gear as a reward for good performance.

Be sure to find all of these guys at their websites but also at their facebook pages
https://www.facebook.com/rockycreekranch
https://www.facebook.com/blueforcegearinc
https://www.facebook.com/BravoCompanyUSA

and my own page
https://www.facebook.com/TacticalYellowVisor

and the placeholder page for our new training venture
https://www.facebook.com/GoalOrientedTraining
("like" us for updates as we roll out more 0.5 training)

And finally, extra special thanks to my friend Kevin who acted as assistant instructor for this course.  He did a fantastic job and knew exactly when to pipe up to add to what we were discussing without breaking the tempo of the course.  He also worked individually with students who were struggling with one thing or another so that the rest of the class could keep pace.  Kevin was "never a disabler, always an enabler", to quote Pat McNamara.  Fantastic having you there bro.

Rob (Instructor), Kevin (AI), Keith, Anna, and Justin (students)

Gunwriting

In certain circles, the term "gunwriter" gets thrown around as an insult.  I can certainly understand this, especially with the influx of "bloggers" and "youtubers" that consider themselves writers (and no, the irony that I've recently started a blog and a youtube channel is not lost on me).  Often the writer is considered inexpert in whatever he is writing about, perceived as having insufficient skill at arms to be allowed to write in the critic's opinion, or is even just viewed as a poor writer.  All of these things are often true.  However, there are certain realities faced by those of us that choose to put ourselves out there are "gunwriters".

First among these realities is the pay.  If you think anyone is getting rich off of writing for gun magazines, you're wrong (or I'm doing it wrong, in which case please share the secret).  What I typically get paid for an article is barely enough to cover the ammo, range fees, and travel expenses I'll put into an article.  Factor in that oftentimes I'm writing about a class, or using a particular piece of gear in a class, and I'm in the hole before I ever even write the first sentence.  Given this, it is certainly easy to see why a writer would choose to fire a minimal number of rounds through the gun and then get to the business of writing, and why he would be most interested in writing about the items that he can get for free, to potentially be sold after the fact to increase the bottom line.  But even in this model, it would be damn tough to make any kind of appreciable living off of writing alone.

Which, then, leads to the second challenge, which is finding the time to do both the shooting and the writing.  Even the writer that fires a minimal number of rounds has to get himself (and possibly a photographer) to the range, do at least that minimal amount of shooting and take pictures of same, edit the photos, and THEN set about doing the actual writing portion.  Strictly in terms of time invested for dollars earned it is a loosing proposition at best when you break down your fee by the amount of hours you have invested.  That time spent reviewing photos and doing the writing is time not spent shooting, performing dryfire practice, reloading, etc.

And for the writer that DOES actually get out and shoot, it means a constantly revolving set of firearms through one's hands.  In this regard I'm lucky, to some extent, to specialize in the AR15 family of weapons such that at least the basic manual of arms stays the same.  But even with that given, rotating handguards, optics, stocks, grips, triggers, etc. is hardly conducive to improving proficiency.  "Beware the man with one gun", they say, "he probably knows how to use it".  If that's the case, what do we say about the man with a different one each week?  And does it really matter if he isn't as good a shooter as the guy next to him on the line at a class?  Does that somehow make him incapable of evaluating a piece of equipment?  If so, how?

It strikes me that what is truly necessary to perform well as a writer is to have an analytical and critical mind, an understanding of machinery and engineering, and the ability to communicate one's findings.  And I have another news flash for you, you don't have to agree with everything someone writes in order for them to be considered a good writer!  I know!  Shocking, right?

If this sounds like I'm bitching, I'm not.  I truly enjoy almost every aspect of writing.  It's cool to check out new guns and gear.  It's nice to get at least a portion of the cost of training offset by my writer's fee.  It's an ego boost to be recognized as an SME to however small a portion of the population.  It's fun to come home and find a package on the doorstep that you didn't order that is full of some new hotness you weren't expecting.  All of these things are what keep me writing and keep me interested.  But some of the perceptions of the public, that this is somehow a full-time gig, that I should be a master-class shooter or a professional face-shooter to be able to evaluate a piece of equipment, are kind of silly when you really think about them.  Which isn't to say that there aren't writers that get themselves fully out of their lane.  Or that there aren't people that think I do it with every stroke of the keyboard.  But not every gunwriter needs to be the bestest, fastest, baddest-ass shooter on the planet just to evaluate gear and write about what he finds.  and in fact, it is highly unlikely that someone is likely to be both.

Asking for advice, and getting the advice you want

I was talking with a friend last night on the phone, and he mentioned that one of his friends, who I've met a few times, was looking to buy a new AR for himself, and that he wanted something "cheap.  When my friend suggested to his friend that he talk to me about it, the friend-of-a-friend said he didn't think he would get a good response from me based on "what he wants to do with it."  I thought that was interesting.  Of course, at first I wanted to think "why would anyone not be willing to ask me for my advice", but the truth is I can see how someone might read what I've written and think that if they come to me asking about something they think that I see as frivolous they'll get a harsh response.  The truth, however, is that if you're just honest about what you want and why I will always try my best to help anyone I can.  If a guy tells me "I want an Oly to defend home and family" then yes, you may get a little tough love.  But if you tell me "I want a 300 WTF just 'cause and for fun and to have something to play with and maybe shoot a hog with to see how the round performs" I can respect that.  I may still be inclined to ask if your training and practice time is being constrained by funds or by time, and offer that if it's being constrained by funds you may be better off spending your money learning to hit with the bullet you have rather than worry about missing with a bigger bullet, but if you want what you want and you're honest about what it is that you want and why, I'll offer whatever knowledge and experience I have in that realm, up to and including simply telling you "yeah, I don't know much/enough about that and can't really help you".

As it turns out, in this case the friend-of-a-friend wants a second, less-expensive, AR as a range toy and also as a platform to check out new parts and accessories that come onto the market.  He may be surprised to find that I think this is a GREAT idea.  In fact, I think it's such a great idea that I do it, and have done it, myself!

If you have read A Tale of Two Carbines (ToTC), and followed it up by reading Back in Black (BiB) you will see the beginnings of this process.  What happened over time was that the gun that started out as the Green rifle stayed pretty much as it was in the first article, while the gun that was the tan gun went on to become the Black gun and beyond.  And in fact, to this day, the Black gun is my training/competition gun where I change and try new parts, and the Tan gun is the HD gun that gets only the best New Hotness that I try on the Black gun.  For example, in ToTC both guns wore Tango Down BG-16 pistol grips, but in BiB the Black gun wears a Magpul MIAD. Once I realized which inserts worked best for me in the MIAD and Magpul released the MOE which happened to use those same two inserts, the MOE made it's way onto the Tan, or HD gun.

There is a method to this madness.  What you don't want to do is have one bone stock 6920 and one 6920 with every little bit and piece on the market bolted on to it.  I suggest changing one part at a time, and if possible having both guns otherwise be identical, or very nearly so.  You could do what I did and have a 16" Colt 6720 (mine is actually a 6520 flattop conversion because they didn't make the 6720 at the time) and an 11.5" Colt 6933.  That way you have two guns with slightly different capabilities but that are similar enough to be able to evaluate parts and pieces between them.  If you are just starting out you might consider getting the 6933 and 6720 and putting a different version of each part on your gun.  When I was starting out with ARs after the ban expired I assembled two guns, figured out what the top two examples of each part were, and bought one of each.  I wound up with two guns, with different parts on each, and then figured out which parts worked best for me and used those parts on the gun that eventually became the Tan, and later on the Black, gun.

Eventually you will wind up with a Test-Bed Gun (TBG) and a Serious Use Gun (SUG).  If you see a new pistol grip on the market, such as the BCM Gunfighter coming out next month, and you would like to try it, buy one and attach it to your TBG.  Try it out, run it in a class, a match, some practice, etc.  See if you like it.  If you do, get ANOTHER ONE and install it on your SUG.  Don't just move the one you have over.  If you've established that you like a part, keep it on both guns until you find something better, and when you've evaluated something and found it to be better on your TBG, then install the same thing on your SUG.  If you go backwards on your TBG to your old favorite part then you lose the ability to objectively compare parts.

Let's say you have both guns set up the same way, and a new optic comes out that you find interesting.  Buy one, and install it on your TBG.  Take both guns to the range and run them side-by-side.  See if you are now more accurate with one than the other.  Or if you're now faster with one than the other.  If so, and you can live with whatever negatives may exist (there are ALWAYS negatives, it's just a matter of finding a product with negatives you can live with), get the same optic to install on your SUG.  You may keep your "old busted" and not sell it, and if they are all on throwlever mounts you can always move them around as the situation dictates, but you still want to keep both guns as close to the same as you can.

Many people find hypocrisy in the fact that I tell new shooters (Buy a Colt 6720, 11 Magpul Pmags, 2k rounds of Federal XM193, a BFG VCAS, and go take a Randy Cain Carbine 1 class) to do one thing but then appear to do another myself.  Don't let a gun you see me shooting or posting pictures of confuse you.  Most of those are guns for articles or T&E, not personal guns.  Many people would be surprised to know that I only own 4 ARs personally, and only three in 5.56 (the other is a 9mm).  I now use those T&E guns as my TBG, and my personal guns are the SUG.  and guess what?  Since I wrote BiB in 2008, the only things that have changed are:

• Surefire Millenium on Larue Mount became a Surefire Scout on Larue Mount
• Tango Down Stubby VFG became a Larue Hand Stop
• Ladder and slab rail covers became Larue Index Clips
• Redimod came off (and back on, and back off, and back on... it's off right now)

So when you ARE considering that new hotness for your SUG, you might consider that someone that has access to a good bit of new hotness himself rarely finds it to be quantifiably better than his old busted.  But if you want to try it anyway, don't risk mucking up your Serious Use Gun, get yourself a Test-Bed Gun.  and by all means feel free to ask me about your project.  As long as you're honest about what you want and why, you'll never get more than perhaps a little tough love.

Priorities, barriers to entry, and cost of ownership

I just saw a post on one of the internet forums about "all these failures we're seeing".  I replied to the post so I'm going to use my reply as a jumping off point here to develop a few more ideas.


Just remember, nobody posts and says "my gun is running 100% for thousands of rounds!"  Mechanics start to think all cars are always broken, cops start to think everyone is a scumbag.  We are all victims of our frame of reference and just because every wheel you see goes "squeek" doesn't mean that every wheel in the world needs grease.

Even with the various failure posts, I haven't seen any about a factory Colt.  As Pat Rogers says "this is what we call a clue".  I get a ration of shit from some people for replying to all "I want a new AR" thread with "get a Colt 6920 or 6720".  But you know what?  We just don't see those guns fail.  And part of the reason for that is because Colt knows how to make an AR and how to make an AR that will run.  The "critique my 'build'" types of homemade guns could be a collection of the "best", most expensive parts available on the internet, but if they aren't designed to work together they aren't going to work together.  and if they do it's often nothing more than luck at best.  Will a Corvette motor just drop into the engine bay of a Dodge Magnum, and if it does will it work with the transmission from your buddy's F350 Diesel?  They all may be decent vehicles, but it doesn't mean they'll all work together.  If you want to KNOW a gun will run, buy yourself a factory Colt.  I like the 6720 but if you have to have the M203 notch, get yourself a 6920.

That said, I've noticed an uptick in "my shit don't work" threads.  Almost without fail it's somebody fiddle-fucking, using sub-par or the wrong parts, ridiculous ammo choices, or plain stupid magazine choices.  Even if you buy that Colt, GO SHOOT THE GUN before you start fiddle-fucking.  Pretty please with a cherry on top.  Why would you change parts on a factory gun with a warranty if you don't even know if the gun works on it's own to start with?  and I don't mean just going to the range and sighting it in, I mean SHOOTING.  Go take a class.  Run some drills.  Shoot a couple of matches.  Get out and USE the gun.  Along the way you may just surprise yourself and find out that all that new-hotness you thought you needed to pour into it isn't really necessary.  Or that the kind of shooting you thought you were going to do isn't what you actually like or want to do, and so all those fancy parts aren't applicable to you anymore.

Even if you insist on "building", stick with basic, quality, known parts.  Why someone would buy a BCM upper and assemble it with some kind of silly whale-jizz BCG, fairy-dust buffer, and the craptastic lower they've had laying around since the ban is beyond me.  Then to feed it bizarre import surplus ammo fed from whatever magazine they could find at the gunshow or their dad's storage bin, and there you go.  Ironically, it is the quality guns that are typically the most forgiving of other sub-par parts.  Other than the bad batches of Wolf that were out there a couple of years ago I've never had a feed issue with steel-cased ammo in my Colts.  Never had a magazine that wouldn't feed, outside of broken ones, and even then I have several Pmags with chipped feedlips that feed fine.  Which doesn't mean these things CAN'T happen in an assembly of parts, it just means a quality factory gun from a company that knows what they are doing is MORE likely to make up for other sub-par accessories.  But even a Colt isn't going to work if you drop in weird bleeding-edge parts.  Especially if you don't know what the part was meant or designed for to begin with.

It is GREAT that the younger people are getting into guns, and any new (legal) gun owner is a good thing, but there is a cost of ownership to everything.  If you can't afford to assemble your upper into an assembly of like-quality parts, feed it at least passable ammo from quality magazines, and get some good instruction on how to use it, it's probably not for you.  I would LOVE to have a Ferrari or Maserati, but even if someone gave me one for free I couldn't afford the maintenance or the insurance.  If you have budgetary constraints, you may want to choose something else.  For the cost of a barreled upper and BCG you could have a Glock 19.  For the cost of the Aimpoint or Eotech most people will inevitably mount to said upper you could pay for a class.  Ancillary support is a wash, as is load carriage, and ammo is definitely less expensive when comparing like-quality 9mm to 5.56 or .223 brass-cased.

Buy the best quality firearm of the type that you can afford.  If you have budgetary issues and want to "build" your gun from parts because you can't scrape all the money together at once to buy a complete gun, be smart about it.  Don't get lured down the internet primrose path of buying all the fancy parts you think you know how to assemble.  A BCM upper, BCG, complete lower, and some Magpul MOE furniture to round it out and fed from NHMTG GI magazines or Pmags with XM193 in them is way more likely to run (provided you lube it up well, I like Slip 2000 products over some of the more recent whale-jizz) than some assembly of chrome this, special weight that, "enhanced" other thing, and fairy dust springs.  And don't even get me started on triggers and muzzle devices you don't need.

Colt 6920 or 6720, Aimpoint, 11 Pmags, 2k rounds of XM193, Blue Force Gear VCAS sling, and a class. If you haven't done all of this first with a Glock 19, 5 magazines, 2k rounds of American Eagle 9mm, Raven Concealment holster and mag pouch, and Wilderness Instructor belt, you're doing it wrong.

There are BETTER choices to all of these individual items.  You could buy a Noveske, a 1.x-Y optic, ASYM ammo, etc. but until you know what you're doing they are ALL a waste of time and money for you.  If you're not going to get a gun you can have with you and training on how to use it, jumping into the more expensive, more complicated, and more fraught with danger (in the form of total garbage infecting the market) AR family of weapons is probably premature.

more struggling with technology

I'm working on integrating this blog into my Google Sites page, or what I call my "beta site" until I can get the URL from my actual site to point the right direction.  The actual site is www.tacticalyellowvisor.net and the beta site is www.sites.google.com/site/tacticalyellowvisor.

Starting the Blog

I'm not even sure if I'm doing this right.  Let's see how this one post comes out.