I became involved in the shooting sports way, way back in 1980 or so. (Old fart alert!) Money was always in short supply, so I usually opted for surplus/used guns in order to stretch the budget.

When dealing with older firearms, one has to be very careful when cleaning. All residue has to be cleaned out or else they will rust like crazy! Pay attention to all the nooks and crannies, even the magazines, or else a surprise may be found lurking there. Kind of like making sure to brush your teeth thoroughly, I suppose.

Then, a few years after I started, Glocks made their way to US shores.

Polymer frame. Amazingly resistant to corrosion, particularly when compared to those old dinosaurs I usually shoot. But the magazines were a gigantic pain to disassemble and clean. Really set my teeth on edge, as all those carefully nurtured habits of gun cleaning were frustrated. What to do?

Many people, most with a lot more experience with Glocks than myself, said I didn’t need to clean out the magazines that much. Still wanted to, though.

I received an email from Steve Pagac, who is a managing member of Vector Garrison Research International, LLC. He said that his company had come up with a tool to easily and quickly disassemble Glock magazines, and had a video showing the product in action. If acceptable, his company could partner with this blog for advertising and sales.

Long time readers know why I maintain the blog, to provide unbiased advice to those who are desperate to protect themselves and their loves ones. I have no objection whatsoever to commerce, but not here. Integrity over all.

That being said, I really hate taking Glock magazines apart! So I ordered one of the gadgets for my very own. It arrived a few days later.

On my way to work.

Gee, don’t I look serious?

My yard is fenced, and I keep the grass trimmed short. No one has lived in the shacks to either side, and the foliage is not only poisonous, but tall.

I was tossing the ball for the dogs the other day, and it rolled right up against the chain link. As the beasts wrestled to find out who was to have the honor of carrying the orb back to me for a repeat throw, I heard a rabid buzzing from right on the other side of the fence. Something just a few inches from the ball was not happy my dogs were there, and was letting their displeasure be known.

An unseen creature, hidden in the tall grass, was making an angry buzzing sound when my dogs approached. Gee, I wonder what would be doing such a thing? Here, in West Texas?

I was armed at the time, of course. (I’m always armed, if legally possible to do so.) But I was armed with a small autoloader loaded with jacketed hollow point ammunition, perfect to deal with legged predators. What I needed was a handgun loaded with these.

Handgun cartridges with the standard bullet replaced with a plastic capsule loaded with tiny lead shot. Turns a handgun into a short range shotgun, perfect for greeting uninvited slithering visitors.

Want to take a closer look?