About Stopping Power
Some of you reading this will have concerns about the stopping capability of FMJ rounds, and those concerns are valid. No FMJ round will be as destructive in tissue as an expanding bullet, with the exception of FMJ rounds out of the 1:14 twist M16 or the police-only armor-piercing 5.7×28mm rounds which also tumbles in soft tissue. I tested some of those AP rounds out of the FNH-USA Five-seveN pistol into a cylinder of ballistic media. One penetrated six inches, tumbled, and blew out the top of the tube of media (perhaps sideways) and bounced off the ceiling of the indoor police range. The hole it blew in the media was three inches-plus in diameter—that should tend to take care of most threats.
Quality controlled-expansion rounds such as the Hornady TAP line do a great job. The Columbus, Ohio, Police S.W.A.T. team has found that a three-round burst of TAP in a charging pit bull does a better job of stopping them “dead in their tracks” than 00 Buckshot and it doesn’t over-penetrate like buckshot will. Like I said, if you can afford those rounds over FMJ 5.56mm buy them, but if you can’t, then ball is your round of choice. And do this. Practice all you can on silhouette targets aiming for the heart/spine and head areas. It may take more rounds to do the job than the expanding rounds, but it will do the job. It is going to end up being an issue of quantity going down range, not the individual quality of each bullet. Suppressive fire isn’t cheap, and barrier penetration is going to be a more important component of those rounds than expansion in soft targets. It will be a different world.
CHAPTER TEN
Off-Duty Carry for the 21st-Century Cop
In case you didn’t know it, there are boatloads of cops out there who now believe in what we are talking about, the concept that society is on the edge of imminent collapse unless things take an immediate turn-around. Not one of us wants to see this happen. We have sworn an oath to protect and defend the Constitutions of our individual states and the United States. We—at least the cops from my generation—love and respect our nation and its traditions, things we want to see continued and strengthened, but we are preparing for the worst, and hoping for the best. This includes cops who never gave much thought to politics in the past, cops who have surprised me when they expressed their concerns and said that they, too, were preparing. I say this to inform the reader that this is not just a concern of the civilian world or the Tea Party or whatever. This concern reaches across all strata.
All this brings me to the point of off-duty carry for the readers of this book who are law enforcement. I have been a cop for 32 years and a police firearms instructor for 26 of those. For all of those 32 years, I have carried a handgun off-duty nearly every day, but have seen other cops in my own agencies go carelessly about their days not carrying at all. As a police academy commander for 21 years of my career, I have preached to those students the imperative requirement that they carry off-duty at all times. Ever since 9/11, that has included in church, which I didn’t do previously. Take into account the skyrocketing number of psychotic shooter attacks, with a concomitant increase the last few years of shooting attacks on police officers, and my off-duty carry, as well as that of numerous other cops, begins with an off-duty AR-15 stowed in the trunk of my vehicle. It is what I recommend to my cadet classes, as well. I still carry a pistol on my person, of course, but that’s going to be used in an emergency, when I am too far away to access to my rifle.
The rifle I have at the ready in my vehicle is just that, a rifle. And I have one in each vehicle. The first is a full-size AR-15 A2 configuration by Del-Ton, while the other is my aforementioned favorite, the Century International Arms CA-15. I have qualified with both guns. There are plenty of spare magazines stashed in the excellent Drago rifle case. The rifles are stock; no lights or optics. Their carry slings are standard military. The only aftermarket add-on I’ve opted for is the XS Sight Systems tritium stripe front sight on the Del-Ton rifle. Either of these iron-sighted rifles allows me to fire accurately at long range, and while I might not be able to easily make a 300-meter headshot with this setup, I can certainly hit the rest of the body. Nothing to turn on or off, flip up, or close. Just take the rifle out, pull the charging handle, and fire.
While I prefer the full-length rifle, since the longer sight radius helps me to maintain a sharp sight picture, an M4-style carbine works well, too. For example, DPMS makes the AP4 A3-style carbine. A3 weapons have the removable carry handle that allows alternate access to the Picatinny rail hidden underneath. The AP4 is essentially the same as the military M4 with two exceptions. First, of course, it is semi-auto only. Second, the round, military-style front handguards are the DPMS patented Glacier Guards, designed to dissipate heat through long rapid-fire sessions.
The advantage that the M4/AP4 has, of course, is that it will take up less space in your trunk or vehicle interior. Make sure you have passe your agency’s annual qualification with your rifle, as you are carrying it as a perilous times off-duty weapon.
Should your agency not authorize rifles, there is always the shotgun. Get the model your department carries and set it up in the same configuration as the issue-duty version. Having a good supply of rifled slugs with it is imperative, as this is the weapon that you may have to go up against an active shooter with, and buckshot probably won’t get it done when the range gets long. It should have rifle sights on it, rather than just a bead for precision. A bandolier full of spare ammo to throw over your shoulder is important, as well. BLACKHAWK! Makes a bandolier that holds 90 rounds, enough to keep most bad guys plenty busy.
While a five-shot .38 on the body, with reloads, still makes an excellent off-duty piece, it is really not enough, especially if you don’t carry a rifle in your vehicle. You may need to carry a larger handgun with more ammo, and I understand that certain weather conditions, like the heat of summer may not make this practical or comfortable. For times like that and while on vacation, I will still use a fanny pack due to its convenience, and especially for use in areas where there are a lot of tourists, because I’ll stick out less. For other times and locations, the shoulder sling packs, like Maxpedition’s Sitka, are a better answer.
The Sitka is an absolutely outstanding sling pack for short-term use. In my case, the Sitka, which is larger than the Versa-Pack series, is set up for left shoulder carry since I am right-handed. Once slung that way, just snap together the cross-chest strap and off you go. If you need to carry it longer term, you can also sling it over your head for a kind of cross-body carry. Inside the pack there’s a compartment for your handgun—you will need to get Maxpedition’s Universal Velcro Holster to complete the package—as well as compartments for spare ammo, another large pocket for adding a hydration bladder (there’s an area at the top to pull the tube through), MOLLE attachment points on the strap and body of the pack, and clever ways of blocking access to certain compartments by pickpockets. There’s also an outer Velcro area for attaching a name tag or other identification. The back of the pack is padded for comfort against your body.