Resources

When we last left off in 1958, the Army had canceled all future funding for AR-15 development. They got the M-14, and the SALVO project was the future.

But that decision wasn’t good enough for one hard-nosed Air Force general who had no problem “cracking skulls” to get what he wanted.

I collect manuals and books dealing with the Cold War era. Today, I want to take a closer look at one of those books. I find this particular one relevant to the topics of community defense and working with a team to provide security.

In 1950, Donald Hall sought to explore alternatives to the full-sized battle rifle cartridge. He built upon R.H. Kent’s work decades earlier, and found similar conclusions that challenged Army thought.

The Hitchman report from 1952 is one of my favorite bits of Army research. Like the 1930 Kent report before it, the findings eventually led to the adoption of the M-16 rifle and 5.56 NATO cartridge.

Way back in 1930, R.H. Kent proposed that a small bullet at high velocity would be as effective as the common 30-06. This report had the potential to change the direction of small arms development.

Range reports are a bit of a review for shooting facilities I find myself at from time to time. Silver Eagle Group in Ashburn Virginia is the first of the “Guntry Club” facilities I’ve ever been to.

This is a review of Don Mann’s book, The Modern Day Gunslinger: The Ultimate Handgun Training Manual.

TC 3-22.9 is the US Army manual on rifle and carbine marksmanship. Every shooter should be familiar with it and what it contains. Revised in 2016 using experiences from Iraq and Afghanistan, 3-22.9 is a fantastic starting point.

This is a review of the Small Unit Tactics manual written by Max Velocity Tactical. In short, it’s probably the best book I’ve come across on the topic.

During the SCHV trials, and performance testing of the AR-15. The Army did a study in 1959 that showed the little rifle to be a more potent combat weapon than the larger .30 cal.