Glock Model 29 10 mm
It is back, and it works great. Last weekend the Glock armorer replaced the ejector. Last night we went through 100 rounds of Blazer 10 mm 200 grain ammunition, plus a few rounds of Winchester 175 grain Silvertips. The Model 29 is not a small gun, but it is smaller than the full size Model 20, and it is easy to conceal. When the Model 29 first came out, several of the writers complained about its recoil with full power loads. What a bunch of wussy writers... The Model 29 handles recoil very well. It is not for everyone, but if you are willing to trade a little more recoil for a lot more power (remembering that pistols aren't very powerful to start with...), then the Model 29 is an excellent choice. Right now I'm trying to find out if anyone makes a .357 SIG barrel for the Model 29. That caliber would be ideal in a gun the size of the Model 29.
"...trying to find out..." doesn't take long now that we have access to the Internet. I found a place that sells a .357 SIG barrel with a compensator on it for the Glock Model 29. The barrel was just over $100. I doubt that it is as good as a Bar-Sto or Jarvis barrel, but this is just for experimenting anyway. Putting the .357 SIG ammunition in a heavier gun like the 29 should reduce recoil to a very low level.
Now that the Glock appears to be reliable, I hope get some of the original Norma 10 mm loads for it. These are "screamers." The 10 mm has a lot of potential, and current factory loads (even the Silvertips and CorBon's) are a little bit below that potential.
With the arrival of the Glock 29, the choice for a "carry gun" is made more complicated. Given the choice of a Colt CCO (.45), SIG 239 (.357 SIG), H&K USP Compact (.357 SIG), or a revolver in either .45 or .357 Magnum, you're faced with a tough choice. All of these guns meet the essential requirements for concealed carry (reliability, heavy caliber, reliability, accuracy, reliability, and ease of use). For now, the Glock Model 29 is at the top of the list because of its reliability and its caliber. Short of knocking down a grizzly bear, the 10 mm is a more than adequate pistol cartridge, often overlooked because of the lower recoil of the .40 S&W or the shortage of suitable guns for 10 mm still on the market, or the popularity of some other caliber because the people who write for gun magazines like it a lot.
"In other news," the Smith and Wesson "Mountain Gun" is heading back to the factory for a trigger job and the installation of an Ed McGivern gold dot front sight.
Today (May 28, 2000) we had a couple of students at our local range. One of the women was shooting the Mountain Gun (.45 ACP) and had no problems with the size or the recoil.
June, 2000 has arrived. I wound up at a gun show in Nashville, Tennessee last Saturday. There was a Glock armorer there who had the titanium parts that improve the trigger, so I had him install those in the Model 29. The parts made a difference. The Model 35 trigger is still "better, " but part of that description is due to the 3.5 pound connector. The Model 29 connector will stay stock at around 5.5 pounds.
After the gun show, several of our friends from Tennessee got together to shoot at IPSC targets, balloons filled with water, and those small, but powerful exploding targets. The pictures should be developed, digitized, and displayed here very soon so check back.
We fired a 1939 Luger (lots of fun), the Model 35 and Model 29 Glocks, and a Smith and Wesson Model 60 revolver. A lot of water balloons got hit, and so did all of the exploding targets. The Model 29 worked fine with the new titanium parts and some Blazer 200 grain ammunition.
As Britney might say, "oops...I did it again" by getting yet another H&K pistol. This time it was part of a trade for the H&K USP Compact .357 SIG. After reading an article about the new .40 Super cartridge, I thought about upgrading one of the .45 pistols, but then decided to get the larger USP .45 and convert that to the new caliber. This afternoon (6-11-00), I had a chance to fire the new USP and learned a few things: the pistol will not feed the Aguila 117 grain .45 ACP cartridges. Too bad, but there are plenty of other good .45 ACP loads. Also, the "drop free" magazines will not drop if the slide is locked back. That's weird. In most altercations, you wind up at slide lock without thinking about it, and then need to reload in a hurry. That is not the time for the magazine to bind up in the grip. The magazines do drop free in all other circumstances. This is the latest version of the USP, by the way, because it has the internal key lock, so you'd think someone would have noticed that the magazines don't drop out as they should.
Here are some targets from this afternoon's range session. The target on the right was set up at 15 yards, slow fire, single action. Each shot was aimed. The target on the right included shots from 7 yards, and some point shooting from much closer. The pistol handles very well.
The H&K USP .45 was back in action on June 24 in Idaho Falls at an IPSC match. For more details, check out the match page . In general, the gun worked very well. When the slide was locked back, the empty magazine wouldn't drop free, but I noticed that in the middle of a match that doesn't seem to matter much. As soon as you realize what's going on, you strip the empty magazine out with one hand and load the new magazine with the same hand. The time I may have lost on that move was insignificant compared to the rest of the stage times. As expected, the USP was 100 percent reliable, and pretty accurate, too. I manged to score in the middle of the pack in the limited class, and close to the middle in the overall match, quite an accomplishment for an older person who gets tired typing on a keyboard.
Next weekend is the annual Al Kimery Memorial Match in Missoula, Montana. It's hard to believe how many years we've managed to get there, and so far things are on track for another visit. I plan to use the Glock Model 35 for the match. Here's a picture of the Model 35...
Thanks to Glock, I managed to get an orange hi-capacity magazine for the Model 35. I have a second hi-cap and a third one that holds 12 rounds. The 12 round magazine drops free, and the other two will drop of they have maybe 4 rounds left in them. After the experience with the USP, I'll just get those other magazines out in a hurry if necessary. There are some ten rounders here, too. I need to study up on the match stages (available on www.bspsc.org). I may start the stages with the ten rounders, all of which drop free, and finish with the hi-caps. A little strategy is called for in these matches.
This weekend's big movie is "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson. Gibson plays a Revolutionary War hero who fights with hatchets, knives, muzzle loading rifles and pistols, and, when necessary, his wits. Parts of the movie are not in keeping with the historical record, but the overall message of why we fought for independence does come through. Let us hope that some of the high schoolers who learned to read and write by watching MTV (I wonder if they even know it stands for "Music Television"), will get this one small exposure to history and learn something.
In the movie, the main character's son is captured by the British. In an attempt to free him, two younger sons are asked to help their father by shooting at the British soldiers. I understand that test audiences with soccer moms have been shocked at this scene. Young boys and young women have had to shoot at bad people throughout the history of this country. That's fact. In our classes, we talk about the very narrow sets of circumstances in which people are justified in firing guns toward other people. War is one of those circumstances. Self defense is another. The graphic scenes in "The Patriot" remind us of how terrible the effects can be...and they were using older black powder firearms. Imagine what it would have been like to face a line of enemy soldiers with a Glock Model 35 and several high capacity magazines filled with modern ammunition.
When we teach firearms safety classes, I always get to present the lesson on revolvers. In the past, I started the lesson with the parts of a revolver, how it works, and stayed pretty close to the NRA lesson guidelines. I still follow the guidelines, but now the lesson introduction includes information on the history of revolvers, starting with Sam Colt's original idea for the cylinder and how to lock it in position for each shot. When I get to the material on single action revolvers, I use a Cimmaron "Sheriff's Model." Here is a picture.
This firearm has a 3 inch barrel and and ejector rod, not often found on a short barrel single action revolver. Cimmaron revolvers (and rifles) are made in Italy. The quality is excellent. Several of us had a chance to fire the new Sheriff's Model last Friday night with .357 Magnum ammunition. My preference is to fire the gun one-handed. The grip is smooth, unlike the one shown in the picture, so the gun just rolls up into your hand. This, by the way, makes it easy to cock the gun for the next shot. Like all original single action designs, this "six shooter" should only be loaded with 5 rounds with an empty round under the hammer. There is no modern transfer bar safety on these old designs.
"New Glock." No, I don't have a Model 36 .45 single stack Glock yet, and may never have one, but I do have a .357 SIG barrel that fits into the Model 29 Glock (10 mm). This is an experiment to see how an after market barrel works. If the tests go well, I may get a higher quality barrel from Jarvis and convert the Model 29 to .357 SIG on a permanent basis. Why do this? The gun is larger than the Glock .357 SIG compact model and fits my hand better. Stay tuned for the test results.
And here are the results... The "Federal Arms" barrels are made in Korea. I didn't know that. There were a lot of tool marks on the barrel, but that's not a big deal. Makarov pistols have lots of tool marks, but these pistols are very reliable. The new .357 SIG barrel fit into the Glock 29 with no problems. The recoil of the different caliber was pretty mild compared to the 10 mm. The only bad part of the test was that the point of impact for the ammunition tried was high and to the left. This could be fixed with adjustable sights, but I have the Ashley Express sights on the gun, and they're right on the money for 10 mm. Even so, I would recommend the barrel if you have adjustable sights to compensate for the different bullet weights and velocities.
On this same subject, I replaced the factory plastic front sight on the Glock Model 35 with an Aro Tek red dot sight. This setup has not been to the range yet.
SIG 239
It's back... The SIG 239 (9 mm) came out of semi-inactive service for a couple of range sessions. The 9 mm version looks like, feels like, and shoots like the more powerful .357 SIG version. It is very expensive to have two almost identical pistols, in different calibers, but in this case it works out pretty well. At our regular Friday night range session, I shot the 9 mm version at various ranges, from contact distance where you hold your elbow at your side, to 25 yards where the 239 shot a very small group. This is a great pistol.
(Watch This Space)
A new project has started. I traded a new rifle for an old Smith and Wesson Model 15 revolver. Today (July 24) the revolver, minus grips, went back via Fedex to S&W's repair shop. I've asked them to bring the revolver up to new specifications and re-blue it. Once that's done, it should be good for many years. It was already in pretty good shape, but had some rust on it. Stay tuned for the results.
Kel-Tec P-32
Kel-Tec's gunsmith Marty Smith sent a new assembly pin for the P-32 semi-automatic pistol, but that didn't solve the problem of the pin coming out while the gun was firing. The P-32 went back to Kel-Tec for repairs. Since most of the parts in the P-32 are inexpensive, and since the gun should be under warranty, I expect it will be back soon and working great. The P-32 should never be considered anything other than a back-up pistol, and maybe even a back-up to a larger primary back-up like a 5 shot revolver. More news on this pistol when it gets back.
More Adventures with the Glock Model 29
A mystery. The Glock Model 29 works great with Hornady 200 and 180 grain "hot" loads, but doesn't always eject the cases from fired UMC or Blazer 180 grain loads. This is a consistent and predictable problem, but I'm not sure why it is happening. I went to the www.glocktalk.com discussion board on the Internet and asked, and a couple of people suggested the slide isn't cycling all the way with the lighter loads. Duh. Yeah. That is the problem all right, but so far there haven't been any suggestions for a solution. At least the testing will be cheap because the problem can be duplicated, and solved sooner or later with the less expensive ammunition.
The H&K USP .45 is going away. There's nothing wrong with it except for some annoying characteristics like the failure to drop magazines when the slide is locked back, and it is a Large pistol. I enjoyed shooting it, but decided to put it up for sale on consignment at Virginia Arms.
The Big Hat and a Ruger Bisley Vaquero
Sport shooting is a serious hobby. No room for mirth, smirks, or inattention. This picture shows the Big Hat from the western store in the Grand Teton Mall in Idaho Falls, Idaho along with the new Ruger Bisley Vaquero. This is the second Bisley Vaquero I've had. The first was a .44 Magnum, but was only fired a few times with .44 Special loads, then used as a prop in Home Firearm Safety classes. The first one was blued with a wood grip. The new one is a polished stainless with fake ivory looking grips. Tonight (8-4-00), I had a chance to try out the new Vaquero with some Magtech .45 Colt "cowboy" (lower velocity, lead bullets) loads, and with Winchester .45 Colt Silvertips. Both of the loads shot almost to the point of aim at 25 yards. Most of the time, single action revolvers have some extra metal on the front sights so you can grind them down to adjust for elevation. That wasn't necessary with the new Vaquero.
S&W Mountain Gun .45 ACP
The Mountain Gun was also at the range on August 4. I wanted to be sure the new Eagle oversize grips worked and the Speer Gold Dot ammunition didn't present any problems. The ammunition was fine. The oversize grips put one of my fingers a little too close to the trigger guard, so my finger gets rapped when the gun fires. I'm going to see if the Eagle Grip people will exchange the grips for a smaller pair, something closer to the Hogue grips that came on the gun.
It's been awhile since I sent a note to Eagle. So far, no reply, and the original Hogue grips are back on the gun. Sunday, August 13, I had a chance to shoot the S&W Mountain Gun in an actual IPSC match in West Virginia. Three of the stages were 18 rounds, which required at least three reloads. On the classifier stage, I did pretty well, but on the final stage we had to shoot at least 53 shots and I lost many, many points because of the many required reloads. One good bit of information came from the exercise: on the first six shots, the revolver is very competitive.
New stuff. The Ruger SP-101 now has Crimson Trace laser grips. These are great fun. The laser is built into the grip and can be adjusted with a very small Allen wrench. I set it for around 35 feet and it gives a good sight picture at 7 yards and at 50 feet.
It is time to update this page. The Labor Day weekend has just ended. Several of us Training Counselor type folks taught ten people to be NRA Instructors. This takes three days of hard work by everybody involved. The first day we covered Basic Instructor Training and Home Firearm Safety. The second day we covered Basic Pistol, Teaching Women, Teaching People with Disabilities, and the range (shooting) lessons for Basic Pistol and Personal Protection. The final day the students went over the rest of the Personal Protection lessons, took tests, and got all their paperwork together to send to the NRA.
While at the seminar, I did some gun trading and came up with a SIG 229, the same 229 that I owned several years ago. Like many of the guns I used to own, I did not appreciate its value at the time, so I was fortunate to get it back. With the 229 arriving, the old 226 went away. I still have the Beretta Model 92FS, another high capacity, reliable 9 mm service pistol. I would never carry the 226 or the 92 for personal protection because the 9 mm cartridge is just not very poweful. The 229, on the other hand, fires the .357 SIG cartridge. This pistol holds 11 rounds total (plenty...). With a barrel change, the 229 can also fire the .40 S&W cartridge.
Speaking of cartridges, the Smith and Wesson "Mountain Gun" (.45 ACP) seems to work great with Triton's .45 Super "Quik Shok" ammunition. I did some research on the .45 Super and the .460 Rowland, checking the pressures, and determined that the S&W 625 wouldn't have any problem with the hotter loads. The Quik-Shok has 165 grain bullets that shot below the point of aim for regular 230 grain .45 ACP bullets. The sights can be adjusted for that if necessary, or I can just hold a little higher for the lighter bullets. The recoil is very similar to ordinary .45 ACP +P ammunition, but a Quik-Shok bullet splits into three parts on impact, each portion taking a different track through the target.
The S&W Model 15 is back from the factory, all re-blued and looking good. CDNN Investments, a company that always has several pages of ads in "Shotgun News," has a lot of wood grips for the S&W "K" frame revolvers, so I ordered a couple of sets for the Model 15 to add to its appearance. The revolver looks so nice, I'm afraid to fire it, but I'll get over that soon enough. As it turned out, when the CDNN grips arrived, they did not look that classy so I got a pair of wood grips from Pachmayr. Here is a picture of the "new" Model 15.
The Model 15, re-blued, new grips, the works.
Note: although we're jumping around on the dates a little, several of use had a chance to fire the "new" Model 15 on Friday evening, September 15, at Blue Ridge Arsenal. It worked great, and cleaned up pretty good after the range session. It still looks like it just came from the factory.
I have wanted to see how the Glock Model 35, a great competition gun in .40 S&W caliber, would work with a good .357 SIG barrel. I ordered a KKM Precision barrel from Glockmeister and it arrived this week. Friday night, I fired the gun a few times and only had one minor problem - a misfire due to a light primer strike. At the time I didn't think anything of this, but I should have paid more attention. Today, Sunday September 10, I took the Model 35 (.357) to the North Mountain Practical Shooter's match in West Virginia. This was also a chance to check out my high capacity .40 magazines. When I had trouble on the first stage, I assumed it was the magazine and did a quick reload. On the second stage, the gun started mis-firing. When I pulled the trigger, the slide would move. As someone said in a recent movie, "That's not right." As luck would have it, Joe Lynn was there and took the Glock apart for me. Joe knows Glocks inside and out. The new titanium striker and roller pin both had metal shavings on them. The striker (firing pin) was binding a lot. We took out the titanium parts, and replaced regular Glock parts and the problems went away. I was able to finish the match without any problems.
And here is the explanation. It has been almost a week since the match. I gave the slide from the Glock 35 to a much more experienced person (Sandy Sanders) and he took it apart. After all, titanium is not supposed to have shavings. Sandy informed me that the firing pin channel was dirty, enough to cause problems with any kind of striker, titanium or otherwise. A thorough cleaning solve the problem and the titanium parts are back in the slide. Sandy also helped me take the Glock apart, and I mean apart with the pins and parts and springs all over the place. The gun is back together, and we both fired it with the stock .40 S&W barrel and there were no problems. Since this is a competition rather than a "carry" pistol, it is going to be cleaned a little more often. At the very least, I am going to make sure nothing gets into the firing pin hole and gums up the works. That will mean a little more care during routine cleaning, but it will be worth it.
I am also going to disassemble the Glock 29, which is a carry gun (with some serious Georgia Arms Golt Dot ammunition), and make sure the firing pin channel is clean. I like the feel of the trigger with the titanium parts and don't want to go back to the original parts. So far, so good.
Here is a picture of the new hybrid Glock 35...
The KKM barrel is stainless, and the gun has AroTek ghost ring sights.
Here is one more picture, followed by an explanation.
This target shows what the Glock Model 35 with the KKM .357 SIG barrel can do. All of the hits around the center of the target are from the .357 SIG. The hits on the upper part of the target (what animal rights people might call "the head"), are from a brand new Glock Model 20 (10 mm) with a 6 inch hunting barrel. I wish this target had been 25 yards away, but it was only 15 yards away. Still, that's pretty good shooting for someone my age. Pistols, in the real world, are often used at distances measured in feet rather than yards, so this is a bit academic. It is also a lot of fun. The Model 35 has ghost ring sights, and the Model 20 had the standard night sights. Both are great pistols.
More Ammunition News. Last Sunday we did a little ammunition testing. It wasn't very scientific. I tried the Georgia Arms .45 ACP +P Gold Dot ammunition in the Springfield 1911. There were a few misfeeds. The combination of +P and hollowpoints might not be right for the recoil spring and feed ramp in that pistol. I will try it out with some regular pressure 230 grain ball ammunition next weekend and see if that works. We also had a chance to try the new Cor Bon .45 Colt Magnum +P ammunition in the Ruger Vaquero. It felt like firing a .44 Magnum in the same size gun, so the new Cor Bon ammunition is moving right along. There was also a box of standard pressure 200 grain .45 Colt ammunition from Cor Bon. This is not cowboy action shooting ammunition by any stretch of the imagination. Having fired the .45 Colt Magnum, which is restricted to modern guns like the Ruger Vaquero, I would not mind carrying this ammunition out west. It appears to compare well with the 10 mm. This is very subjective and un-scientific observation, of course. If the gun kicks hard, the barrel comes up, and a big heavy bullet goes downrange and hits the target, then that ammunition goes into a special category. The same category includes the 200 grain 10 mm Hornady ammunition.
It is very frustrating to discover ammunition like the Hornady 10 mm only to find out they don't make it anymore. Bad timing on my part...
Friday night before the big ammunition test on Sunday, I had a chance to fire a Colt Delta Elite 10 mm version of the 1911 design. I'm pretty sure this was the first time I had ever fired a Delta Elite. It kicks pretty good. That doesn't bother me any, but I'm wondering what sort of wear and tear it might produce on the gun itself over a long period of time.
Of course, the big treat of the weekend was firing an Armalite AR-10 carbine with a C-More dot sight. The AR-10 is a .308 caliber. Armalite quality is excellent. And, after you've fired the .308, it's difficult to go back to the .223. Why does this always happen? It just leads to spending more money for "instructional aids" for our NRA safety classes. Oh, well.
Winchester Model 94 "Trapper" .44 Magnum caliber
It's here! There was a big gun show at Dale City this weekend. OK, there was a gun show - the big shows are in Richmond. I wandered around the Dale City VFW for awhile and almost bit on a few things at different tables. I couldn't resist $5 for a video tape of the Knob Creek machine gun shoot. There's not much of a plot to the tape, but it is fun to watch. I did get ammunition. I always get ammunition at gun shows. You can never have enough ammunition. I had hoped to see a Winchester "Trapper" at a good price, but nobody had one. After getting back to the international world headquarters of the Piedmont NRA Instructors, I called the firearms department of the Galyan's sporting goods store in Fairfax, Virginia (sometimes known as the People's Republic of Fairfax). Not only had they just received a shipment of WInchester "Trappers" in .45 Colt and .44 Magnum, but the price was great. I know the wholesale price on a "Trapper" so I know how much dealers mark up this model. I don't mind paying extra over wholesale, because I want to be able to go to a local gun store when I feel like it, and that would not be possible if people didn't buy things in these stores. As an aside, this is why I like stores like Virginia Arms in Manassas, Virginia. After some thought, I decided to get the .44 Magnum rifle rather than the .45 Colt. For cowboy action shooting, either would be ok. Both can shoot lower powered lead bullets. The .44 Magnum shoots .44 Specials all day long. And, there are some very powerful .45 Colt loads (which I've shot in the Ruger Vaquero revolvers). The bottom line was very subjective. I grew up watching "Dirty Harry" movies. Back then, the .44 Magnum was "the most powerful handgun in the world." That may not have been 100 percent true in those days, and it sure is not true today, but we tend to be influenced by youthful experiences and perceptions. So, it was a toss-up. Since there may be a remote, very remote possibilty the rifle could be used to shoot at something dangerous, I opted for the .44 Magnum. Cor Bon's .45 Magnum +P ammunition is not available that many places, but you can get .44 Magnum cartridges at many places out west (along with 10 mm Silvertips for the back-up Glock 29).
That was the big purchase for the weekend. This afternoon at our Sunday range session I had a chance to fire the "Trapper." Wow. What a great rifle. I need to tweak (an electronic verb which means to adjust) the open sights just a bit, but the gun is great at 25 and 50 yards. Those are 16" barrel carbine ranges, and that's where the "Trapper" would be used.
Here are some short notes from today's range session, typical of what we do each weekend. "Test Glock 35 with new Glockmeister magazine extenders. Didn't work. Followers are hanging up on internal ridges. Not a good fit. Put the magazines back into stock condition." "Spot for someone sighting in an HK .45 carbine with C-More 'railway' sight. Result, some center hits at 50 yards. Why would someone want to shoot any kind of .45 beyond 50 yards, anyway?" "Make sure the 'loaded' Springfield is ok with 230 grain ball ammo. One failure to extract; case stuck in slide (not a stovepipe; worse). Check out the magazine. Wilson magazines aren't supposed to have problems. Putting everything into the IPSC 'A' zone regardless." And that's about a third of what we did today.
Another Westlance Shooting Match
Don and Sue. Don is wearing purple cammo pants.
It is obvious Don is making a fashion statement with his color coordinated outfit and two-tone Beretta Elite pistol. As you can see from the large buckets next to each shooter, there are still plenty of people who chew tobacco in West Virginia. In a close match, competitors have been known to spit at each other. This often puts Sue at a disadvantage.
Here are Joe and Sue in the middle of a stage.
At first I thought this person just wanted to "see more," but it turns out that's the name of a company.
Speaking of C-More (a Virginia Company that makes dot sights used by some of the best shooters in the world), last weekend and the weekend before that, we had a chance to see just how good these sights are, and how easy they are to adjust. C-More makes several sights for rifles, pistols, and shotguns. Two weekends ago, as noted above, we had an Armalite AR-10 with the "rail" on top. Here is a picture of the AR-10 carbine with the rail and a regular telescopic sight.
Imagine the telescopic sight is out of the picture, and instead you see one of these on the rail:
...with the knobs to the rear of the rifle.
Against all impulses to do otherwise, we followed the directions and started close to the target, got an approximate zero then rechecked and adjusted the dot at 25, 50 and 100 yards. The shooter and the AR-10 were nailing the target each time once the sight was set.
Last week, another C-More railway sight showed up, this time on top of Heckler & Koch's new .45 ACP carbine.
The result? Same as before. I am beginning to like the C-More sights, enough to consider making the great leap from Limited to Open class in IPSC shooting. I understand there are a couple of companies making lightweight mounts for the C-More pistol sights for the Glock. Now that the aluminum trigger has been installed in the Model 35 and all the titanium parts are humming right along, it's time to drop in a compensated barrel and add a better sight, and maybe get one of those fancy holsters that holds in the pistol with rare earth magnets. Just when I thought the Model 35 project was completed, here comes another idea.
Now, as hundreds of people can verify, I am not a very good rifle shooter. This doesn't prevent me from teaching people to shoot rifles, but I'm not very good. After shooting the AR-10 off hand (standing up with just the regular carrying sling) and hitting the target at 100 yards, my self confidence has increased quite a bit. The difference was the C-More sight.
Remember the movie where the guy said, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning?" Well, there's something to be said for being at Quantico on a fall morning at 0800 when you can hear the crack and thump of high power rifle competition. Here are some targets from the morning of October 1, 2000.
The red "Bravo" flag which lets people know the range is "hot." In fact, the range was on the cool side with fog. "Hot" means people are shooting. See the four targets? Each time a shot is fired, the target is lowered and two marks are placed on the target. One shows the point of impact (white dot) and the other shows the scoring ring (placement of the orange dot around the edge of the target).
Today was a regular IPSC match. These guys are good, so good that I wonder why I go there at all. I mentioned to one of the experts that I had figured out the two reason I wasn't doing very well. Reason number one: I don't have an IPSC t-shirt, or the accepted substitute (a Harley Davidson t-shirt). Reason number two: I showed up. I don't do well when I show up at IPSC matches, because almost everybody is either better, faster, smarter, or younger.
This is a "walkthrough" where the competitors get a chance to scope out their moves, tactics, strategies, reloads, etc. when it is their turn to shoot. In this stage, part of which is shown in this picuture and the rest in the following picture...
...you had to start in the box behind the barricade and shoot the targets and plates, then run to the box by the fence and shoot the targets behind the black sheet. From there, you had to shoot additional targets through the hold in the distant barrier. This is a field course, because you get to run between positions.
Here is Dave holding the timer while someone else shoots. Dave is the "RO" (range officer). ROs are responsible for safety first, then scoring the stage. Notice the "race gun" with the C-More scope on time. If you put the dot on the target and press the trigger, the bullet hits the target. Simple, but effective.
Dave is one of those good guys you find in every sport who are willing to teach the newcomers how to do their best.
Here is a picture of another stage. On this one, we had to shoot with both hands, strong hand, and weak hand. That's much harder than it looks. IPSC is a long way from shooting at bullseyes at 7 yards on an indoor range for practice. I don't mind that all of these people shoot better than I do. I learn something every time I show up at one of these matches, and so does everyone else.
The Glock 35 continues to be my primary IPSC gun, and today was no exception. The 35 now has an aluminum trigger to go with the titanium parts. Yesterday in West Virginia I discovered that one of my rare high capacity magazines does not like a certain brand of ammunition with flat nosed bullets. By learning that yesterday, I avoided equipment problems today.
The first autumn of the new century. Today, October 8, we had that perfect fall weather that is so rare and so great whenever and wherever you experience it. Of course, we spend the best part of the afternoon at our outdoor range. Today the beginners stayed home. The only revolvers in evidence were shooting calibers like .32 S&W Long or .45 Super, not the sort of calibers a beginner might use. We shot from 25 yards, not 7. At 7 yards, anyone should be able to put all of their shots into one hole. This becomes more of a challenge at 25 yards.
Would someone ask me if I like the Winchester Model 94 "Trapper" carbine in .44 Magnum caliber? Well, I do. What a great rifle. Today a couple of taps with a plastic hammer on the rear sight moved the groups right into the center of the target. Initial adjustments were made with .44 Magnum ammunition. Then I shot some .44 Special cowboy loads and those made holes in the center of the target, too. It doesn't get any better than that. Yesterday, I was in the firearms section of the local Wal Mart store and noticed the Winchester "Trapper" in .357 Magnum caliber was on sale for just under $300. This is a very good deal. I don't know why you often see the .30-30 caliber Winchesters costing less than those in pistol calibers, but then there are a number of marketing mysteries that I will never understand.
The "Mountain Gun" was at the range today. The last time I fired it with the 165 grain Triton .45 Supers, the groups were quite low. I had only 12 rounds with me, but used those to crank up the rear sight quite a bit and moved the group closer to the center of the target. I understand that Triton has stopped producing .45 Super ammunition because they are concerned about liability. The .45 Super can be chambered in regular .45 ACP semi-auto pistols, as well as Model 1917 era revolvers. This is not a safe practice. You may shoot the .45 Super in guns strong enough to handle it. While I'm not the final authority, I did some research and it appears as though the pressures are within the capabilities of the "Mountain Gun." Since the Triton ammunition is getting hard to find, I ordered several more boxes in order to have an adequate supply for the future. There is no reason to leave the Mountain Gun's sights adjusted for .45 ACP. There is a very nice "loaded Springfield" here for .45 ACP shooting.
The next Big Project is to get an RCBS "Rock Chucker" reloading setup and concentrate on the .460 Rowland, .45 ACP, .45 Super, .45 Auto Rim, and whatever else fits that general setup. Part of the Big Project is to try one of the new Dan Wesson .460 Rowland revolvers. The .460 Rowland takes care of the problem mentioned with the .45 Super. While the overall cartridge length of the .460 Rowland is the same as the .45 ACP, the case length is .1" longer. The .460 Rowland will not chamber in the Modfel 625 Mountain Gun or any other gun designed to use the .45 ACP. But it will fit into a .45 ACP magazine because the overall length is the same. The reported ballistics of the .460 Rowland put it into the .44 Magnum league.
Now that the tricked out Model 45 Glock is finished, and the "new" Model 15 is done, the next Big Project is on the front burner. Think .460 Rowland. Stay tuned.
The gun magazine editors have a major problem. So do the "gunwriters." They want to write, edit and publish articles about new guns. After all, there aren't that many new guns worth writing about. Smith and Wesson is producing several new, innovative revolvers and pistols these days, but the Smith and Wesson management has made what many believe is a "deal with the devil" in an attempt to avoid paying to litigate a series of lawsuits filed by cities, states, and "tobacco lawyers" against the U.S. firearms industry. This so-called sellout has a lot of people refusing to buy Smith and Wesson products. One result is that a magazine article takes the following course. "Some say Smith and Wesson sucks. Well, they do. However, there is this very neat new gun they just put on the market. It's made of Bolonium, weighs a half ounce and fires a .44 Magnum with a maximum bullet weight of 90 grains. Oh, yes, boy does it kick. Great technology. Great gun, but don't forget that Smith and Wesson sucks." All the while, the craftsmen and women of Smith and Wesson suffer because of something their management did. And, I just read a report that says the former S&W CEO who did all this has left the company to run another company that makes lawn mowers. Maybe that's where he should have been in the first place. In any event, guess what? I got a new Smith and Wesson pistol. It's great, and I don't know for sure if it was made before the "sellout" or not, and I don't care. Why? Because it's a great pistol made by an American arms company. Are we going to let them all go out of business just to make a point about how pure we are? I'm not. I bought one of their products today because I like it.
The SW40E .40 S&W Law Enforcement Pistol
The last time I owned a Smith and Wesson "Sigma" series pistol, it was their failed effort to market something in .357 SIG caliber. The pistol I owned would not feed .357 SIG cartridges from a high capacity .40 S&W magazine. I lost money on the magazine purchase and was a little bit ticked off. A month ago, one of our students brought Sigma 9 mm to the class. His was the "Value" line model with a stainless steel slide and plastic sights with white dots; inexpensive, but ok. I shot the 9 mm version and it felt great. The ergonomics of the pistol are perfect. You point it and that's where the sights line up. I should mention that S&W made some mods and improvements to the original SIgma design, with a better grip surface and some improvements to the trigger. The trigger still feels like the double action trigger on a good revolver, of course. It's no Glock 35 with titanium parts inside by any means. Well, the same student with the same 9 mm Sigma showed up at our October 14 Personal Protection class and I shot the pistol again, and liked it again.
I don't see much point in having a 9 mm pistol, so I thought about maybe getting a Value series in .40 S&W at one of the gun shows. Voila! Today at Bealeton I found a Sigma just like the one shown above, the police model with tritium night sights at a very good price - not much more than the Value model. I was able to get a high capacity magazine with it and made the deal. This particular pistol had been on display at a police convention so it was "used," but brand new as far as I was concerned. I don't see any difference between someone handling a pistol at a police convention or handling it at a gun show before I buy it. It looks and feels new.
I got 150 rounds of 155 grain .40 S&W ammunition from one of the quality reloading outfits, and ran those through the gun this afternoon. Several of our Sunday afternoon range crowd tried the gun. It never failed to feel. It never jammed. It provided two highlights of the day. The very first shot went dead center at 10 yards. At the end of the day, I loaded 5 rounds of 180 grain cartridges into the pistol and fired at a target 50 yards away. Every shot would have been inside of a paper plate sized target, with the group centered. Now I'll bet I can do that with the SIG Sauer Model 229 in .357 SIG, but that pistol costs a whole lot more money.
The SW40E is a very nice gun. Yes, Smith and Wesson management sucks, but the people in the engineering and production departments have made a pistol that runs circles around the equivalent Glock (Model 22). Score one for the Gringos!
Sometimes the scope and rings are included...
...like they were included today with the Taurus Raging Hornet we got to shoot. Taurus firearms are made in Brazil, and while they have a mixed reputation the newer revolvers seem to be of high quality. The Raging Hornet model shoot the .22 Hornet cartridge, good for varmints. Our biggest challenge with the Taurus revolver was to get a good stable shooting position. If you have the gun braced, and the scope dialed to a lower power so it doesn't dance around a lot, this gun will fire very small groups. Would I take one hunting? No, and for a couple of reasons. First, I don't hunt. Second, if I did hunt, I would use a .45-70 rifle for any size game. The .45-70 would be a little too much for smaller animals, resulting in what the novelist Stephen Hunter might call a "pink mist." On larger the game the .45-70 might be a little light. You might want to double tap a moose for example.
Autumn continues...and the result is that almost every Sunday afternoon is a great day at the range. Friday night is another story, however. A sad thing happened with the very ergonomic S&W SV40E "Sigma." Last weekend, the pistol didn't reset a few times after firing. I thought this might be due to my technique of releasing the trigger, but alas, it was a problem with the gun. And, how many times do you see the word "alas" in gun magazines? Anyway, it turns out that the Sigma's mechanical action is a little different from the Glock's in the way the firing striker is released. The Sigma seems like a nicer design when it works, but on this model the part that holds the striker back until the trigger is pulled isn't always moving high enough to hold what I would call the "sear" on an ordinary gun. By "ordinary," I mean a revolver that fires every time, or a Springfield that fires every time, or a SIG Sauer that fires every time, etc. You get the picture. So, the Sigma goes back to S&W by Fedex at great expense. I'm not holding my breath that S&W will reimburse me for overnight shipping. Darn those UPS and Fedex weenies who can't control their theft problems. Now, it should be possible to fix the Sigma, but I'm not going to place a lot of trust in that pistol until it has fired a few hundred more rounds without any problems. Is it just me, or does it seem a little weird to others that a company, any company, that makes a lifesaving product (the good guys' description of a firearm) should ship someting that's unreliable? Do the pacemaker companies do this? I wonder. I don't think so. Does SIG Sauer do this? Of course not. Darn those rascals at S&W.
This is not a Smith and Wesson product.
This is a picture of a Ruger Mini-14 and it is very reliable. I just finished installing a Simmon's dot scope on the Mini-14 and it works pretty well. Nothing is ever simple. I had hoped to install a C-More railway dot sight, but the combination of a Ruger Mini-14, Millett scope mount, and a C-More sight was just not meant to be. The C-More sight, through no fault of the sight's design, hits the area on the Ruger receiver where the rear peep sight used to be. This is the fault of the Millett design (more rascals!). Doesn't anyone measure anything anymore? Have these guys heard of Mass Production? Mass Production has been around for several years now. When I installed the Millett mount in the first place, it required a lot of filing that seemed unnecessary. In spite of all this, I was able to get some Burris mounts at Clark Brothers gun store and install the Simmons dot sight. With a Mini-14, you need to make sure the mounting screws are screwed down tight, but once they are it is very easy to sight in the rifle. At first I thought I should move the dot so that it sits on top of the front sight which is visible in the scope's field of view, but then I realized that by moving the dot down, the front sight was coming up and the gun was shooting high. That was easy to fix. It was what we call a momentary conceptual error, or at least that's what I call it.
Guys who have been to Bangkok often come back and tell stories, and one of the follow up questions is, "What does the third one do?" In this case, the question is, "What do you do with the expensive C-More railway sighgt?" Easy. Buy a mount and put it on the Glock Model 35 and clean house with the bowling pins at Westlance over in West Virginia. That's the current plan. Pictures to follow.
Now, imagine a .38 Super with a 1 pound trigger, compensator and incredible 1911 type ergonomics and I got to shoot one of those today. This gun has no other purpose than pure competition. It has the "hair trigger" of all hair triggers. Wow. Needless to say, I borrowed it, but it was exciting to shoot. No wonder the big time IPSC shooters, often called the "Big TIme IPSC Shooters," use the .38 Super. It is an underappreciated caliber.
Every shoot a Ruger "Security Six?" Me neither until today. If Ruger made a GP-100 with a three inch barrel and adjustable sights, it would be an improved Security Six. It is unfortunate Ruger stopped making the Security Six. The GP-100 is great, but the older model has some character and, to use a technical term, shoots real good.
The S&W Sigma is back. They fixed it. I haven't fired it yet, but it is obvious the new parts feel different from the old parts. I'm still waiting for the higher capacity magazine to arrive via UPS. A progress report will be issued when this gun gets to the range, maybe later this week.
This past weekend we taught a rifle and shotgun instructor class. As always there were lessons taught and "lessons learned." Instructors often learn as much as the students. In the rifle class, we used an inexpensive air rifle, a Ruger Mini-14 (the cheap Simmons sight did not work very well), and an M-1 Garand. In the shotgun session, we had a very fancy Remington over and under trap gun and an "ordinary" Remington 1100. Since I was teaching, I didn't shoot the shotgun except once - and dusted the target (one shot, one little puff of orange dust...). Blind luck. Maybe the students will think I can do that every time.
November 6, 2000, the night before the election. This past weekend I got a chance to give the SV40E a workout, and it passed with flying colors. Not only did it work, but I managed to find a number of 15 round magazines for it at a gun show in Nashville, Tennessee. Whatever was wrong with the Sigma is no longer wrong with it (and how's that for a technical explanation?). It shoots real good now, so good that I'm going to use it in an IPSC match this coming weekend.
The Range at Millersville.
Last Friday, I went by a nice gun store near Goodlettsville, Tennessee to see what it would cost to use their indoor range to check out he Sigma pistol. They charge an annual membership, and require Win Clean lead free ammunition. I approve of both, but didn't want to pay an annual membership to shoot 50 rounds. The clerk, a very nice guy, said that there was another outdoor range I might be able to use. I went to another gun store, and they said you have to take their personal defense course before using the range. I mentioned that I was a famous NRA Training Counselor, and the store clerk asked to see my instructor card. After he saw all the ratings, he said I could use the range and to leave $5 in the box when I was finished. Above are two pictures of the range area, and there is also a training area not shown. The picture on the left is the rifle range. I'm sure those beer bottles came out after the guns were put away. The picture on the right is the handgun range, taken from about 20 yards back from the target board. A very nice place to shoot, and I look forward to going back there soon.
After the shooting on Friday, I went to an Event Saturday which has nothing to do with firearms, but a lot to do with explosives. I got a bunch of great pictures of things blowing up and burning, but for some reason my favorite picture from the event is this one...
Have you ever been somewhere and said, "I wish I had a camera?" Well, I was there and I had a camera. Remember the movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor? I'm thinking of a rewritten remake titled "Toga! Toga! Toga!" which will answer that age old question, "What does the third one do?"
If that last paragraph made no sense at all, there is a good chance you have not been to Bangkok.
November 12... and another three day weekend draws to an end. Drat. At least this weekend provided lot of opportunities to put a few rounds downrange with a bunch of different guns. The weekend started on Friday night. The Glock 35 now has a blue Aim Tech "Tiger Shark" scope mount with a black C-More "railway" sight on top. The mount went on without any major problems. The scope fits the mount, and, as usual, it did not take long to adjust the C-More sight for some dead center hits with the .40 caliber ammunition. There would have been a chance to try the Glock at an IPSC match in West Virginia this morning, but no suitable holster was available. The next bowling pin match will provide that opportunity. I was happy just to be able to hit small targets at the indoor range at Blue Ridge Arsenal with the C-More sight.
Saturday morning, I attended an M1 Garand match at the Izzak Walton League (of America) site near Poolesville, Maryland. Check out the link for more details. It was great fun, and rekindled my interest in rifle shooting. Although we didn't have slings, we were still doing what people did at Army bases all over the U.S., and on battlefields all over the world, during World War II: lock and load, safety off, sight alignment, sight picture, hold your breath, squeeze, and follow through. What a great experience to fire the M1 Garand from prone, sitting, and standing positions.
Sunday morning, this morning, it was off to Westlance in West Virginia for the North Mountain Practical Shooters' November match. There were four stages, each requiring a different skill of some sort. I shot the Sigma, had plenty of high capacity magazines (but didn't need them), and didn't do too bad. I'm having some problems trying to figure out if it is better to focus on the front sight or the target. The book says "front sight," always, no exceptions, but when the targets are at 50 yards, as they were in one stage today, when the front sight is in focus, the targets disappear. I need to do a little more research on this, even though at first reading it is a no-brainer. The Sigma points well, and I enjoyed using it.
This afternoon was our regular range session in Warrenton. I fired the Glock 35 with the C-More sight a few times, then continued working with the Montana-made "Talon" T200 9 mm compact pistol. So far this pistol has had misfires, failures to feed, and doesn't shoot a very small group even at 7 yards. I hoped this would be a real bargain even though this is a very low cost pistol. Instead, it is going back to the factory for another look-see. If I wanted a low cost compact 9 mm pistol, right now I'd stay the Kel Tec is better. The Glock 26 is much better, and the SIG 239 is best of all. Oh, I guess the new Kahr with the polymer frame would be ok, too. The Talon needs some work. The Talon needs a lot of work.
After all the .40 S&W ammunition was expended, and the students were through shooting at huge targets only 7 yards away, three of us moved back to the 25 yard line to see who could shoot the smallest group. Rather than use different guns, all of us used the same S&W Model 15 revolver and the same kind of ammunition. Since we didn't have to hit the bullseye, but just get the smallest group it was possible to line the sights up with the top line on the target and just let the bullets hit where they hit. The Model 15 is a great gun for this kind of precise shooting. A SIG P-210 or an accurized 1911 would have been better, but we had fun. There was even an older S&W Model 27 available, a reminder of when revolvers were "impressive" looking.
RIFLES!
CZ Model 452 Rimfire Rifle
Last Friday I was in a local gun store and saw a new CZ .22 bolt action rifle. The stock was full size, and the sights were like those found on a Russian SKS or AK-47 rifle. The price was only $250 for what appeared to be a very high quality rimfire rifle. I almost bought it right on the spot, but remembered two things 1) I was in a store and this was a retail price, and 2) there was a Big Gun Show at Bealeton, Virginia this weekend. As soon as I could get to the Big Gun Show, I found two dealers selling this new rifle for $199. One dealer even had several of these rifles in boxes on his table. I wandered around and came back and bought one. Today, Sunday, I had a chance to try it at the range. I shot the rifle from 25 yards, about the distance I'd go after some sort of small animal which represented a threat to our way of life, and I was able to hit the target each time, standing. After getting the rifle on Saturday, I stopped at Clark Brothers gun store in Opal, Virginia and bought a sling for the rifle. Rifles should have slings for any number of reasons. The new CZ .22 rimfire rifle is not only a good deal. It is a great deal.
Bushmaster Carbine
Another good deal is the Bushmaster 16" barrel carbine with a muzzle brake. One of our instructors bought one of those this weekend and several of us got a chance to shoot it. I compare everything with the Ruger Mini-14 which, while not the most accurate rifle on the planet, is pretty good, and very reliable. The muzzle brake on the Bushmaster was remarkable. You fire the rifle and the barrel doesn't move much at all. The recoil is reduced and all I noticed was the bolt coming back and going forward again. Wow. What a great carbine.
There are many, many, many comments on this Web site about various calibers of pistol cartridges, but few about rifle calibers and cartridges. The .223 has its place, of course, for the real rifle shooting I'm starting to think that you need a .30-06 or .308. There is a little more recoil with the larger calibers, but not that much. I've had a chance to fire the Armalite AR-10 .308 carbine, which is very similar to the Bushmaster we shot today. The Armalite .308 has a muzzle brake, too, and is very easy to handle.
In the middle of all this fancy rifle shooting, the plain old SIG Model 239 in 9 mm came out of the gun safe for some exercise. I got some pretty good 3-4" groups off hand (standing) at 25 yards with the .22 and .223 rifles, and then shot the SIG 9 mm (with Federal's American Eagle brand 124 grain FMJ ammunition) and got group sizes about the same. This means that the SIG pistol is quite accurate and I have a rough idea how to shoot it, and it also means that I am a lousy rifle shooter. All handguns exist to provide protection until you can get to your rifle of shotgun, but there are times when the rifle ammunition runs out or there might be a mechanical problem. The "transition" from rifle to pistol is an important skill.
December 9, 2000 - Time for another great picture...
"Loaded" (with features) Springfield .45, Ruger SP-101 .32 H&R Magnum, S&W SV40E .40
Pretty good picture if I do say so myself. This picture and many of the others on these pages was taken with an Olympus D-360L "Camedia" digital camera. The camera is a "1 megapixel," but I use it in the 640 by 480 mode most of the time to get Web page size pictures. This picture was cropped and the brightness and contrast changed a little.
The guns shown form what I suppose is a very basic set of handguns if you are 1) married, 2) must have a 1911 (which makes a lot of sense), and you need a reliable pistol for concealed carry. The "loaded" Springfield comes with just about all the options you would add to a basic Colt 1911, things like an extended thumb safety and beavertail grip safety, etc. If you look close, you'll see a recessed magazine well and a Wilson Combat magazine. The .45 is big and heavy, but it is going to work all the time if you take care of it. These days I'm experimenting with the Triton Quik Shok 230 grain loads in the 1911. Another favorite, with less penetration, is the Aguila 117 grain high velocity ammunition.
The Ruger SP-101 in .32 H&R Magnum with laser grips is perfect for someone who doesn't shoot on a regular basis or who may not like a lot of noise and recoil. The .32 H&R Magnum isn't going to stop a grizzly bear (most handgun calibers wouldn't anyway), but it is close in performance to the .38 Special. Shot placement is more important than caliber so a good shot with a .32 is better than a miss with a .44 Magnum.
In a "defensive encounter" (don't you just love the terms used in gun magazines...), the distances will be close, there will be an element of surprise and slowed reaction time, and you need something that points well because you may not have time to bring the pistol up to get a good look at the front sights (no matter what the Big Time Shooting Schools say). This is when you need a natural pointing, very reliable, somewhat powerful pistol. The SV40E fills the bill. These days I'm using Federal 155 grain ammunition in the SV40E. This ammunition is powerful and accurate.
The nice holster shown in the picture is from Dillon. It was made for the SV40E and it fits just right. Kramer holsters are the best when it comes to fit, but they cost a lot. The Dillon holsters are more than adequate. I see a few regular shooters at our end of the month bowling pin matches who have gone through more than one Beretta, but still use the same holster. I should explain that "going through" a Beretta means you start with a stock Model 92 or 96, change the spring to fix the trigger, and then shoot it a lot. After that you get one of the Border Marshal or Elite models, which are very nice, but not that different from the basic models (can you say "marketing?"). The Dillon holsters seem to last through a lot of IDPA, IPSC, and other matches.
BULLETIN
Remember the CZ Standard IPSC pistol that was ok, but just didn't feel right? If you don't remember, go back up the page(s) and the story is there. Anyway, at the time I let that pistol go in a trade, I wished that CZ would make a single action in the standard size. They had one at the SHOT Show last year in .40, but did not plan to sell it here in the states. Today, I saw a model that they do sell here: a CZ-75B (the right size) single action in 9 mm. That model is now at the top of the shopping list. Expect a report Very Soon. It would be better if this were a .40, but the classic CZ-75 was designed as a 9 mm and it may be best to leave things as they are. Sometimes an "improvement" can be a mistake. S&W did this with their .40 SIGMA when they tried to make it into a .357 SIG pistol. The single action CZ-75 should be a winner. Oh, the magazine drops free now. That was the first thing I checked when I saw the new model in the store today. Stay, as always, tuned.
After a hectic non-stop dash across America, from Los Angeles International Airport to Reagan National in 4 hours and 5 minutes, I made it to Virginia Arms before closing time on Friday December 15 to pick up the new CZ-75 single action pistol, shown above. The first shots were fired at 7 yards with the results shown in the right hand picture. After that, I put a blank target down at 25 yards and got about a 5 inch group. WIthout prescription glasses, and with a two handed hold, this wasn't a bad group. Better yet, the group was where the sights said it should be. The CZ shoots to "point of aim" close in and at 25 yards with MagTech 115 grain 9 mm ammunition. WIth a little help from friends anxious to try out the new pistol, we went through 100 rounds with no problems whatsoever - a good beginning for a new gun.
Today, December 16, the Piedmont NRA Instructors taught a Personal Protection course in Woodbridge, Virginia. I helped one of the students go through the exercises with his Beretta Model 92 FS 9 mm pistol. When he was finished, I fired 5 rounds of Triton Quik Shok premium +P ammunition in the CZ, then let him fire another 5. He had not experienced the differences between regular 9 mm ammunition (in his case some 147 grain subsonic rounds) and the higher performance +P. There was a big difference. The Triton ammunition also shot to point of aim and cycled the pistol with no problems. Were I to carry the CZ, I suspect that would be a good load for it.
The CZ-75B single action is more of a competition than a carry gun. There's nothing wrong with carrying a single action pistol "cocked and locked" if you know what you're doing, pay attention, and practice, but the 9 mm caliber, even in +P, is a little on the light side compared to the .357 SIG, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP. There are some IPSC and IDPA classes where the CZ 9 mm should be great. The CZ 75 series has always had the best ergonomics of any semi-auto pistol. It points well, and the large thumb safeties (on both sides) make nice thumb rests while shooting. Now, I'm not about to put the S&W Sigma up for sale. In a stressful situation, the Sigma's revolver-like trigger and excellent pointing characteristics, and it's heavier caliber, would be more useful, but the Sigma is not, as an engineer would say, elegant.
CZ-75 with Hogue Grips
Looking back, the new CZ-75 is the 5th one for which I've had some "first impressions." The initial CZ-75 had the "it bites" hammer. The second one was a CZ-75 made in the Czech Republic, post Cold War. Nothing was wrong with it, but it was tricket to de-cock. The third one was the CZ-75 compact model. These were all 9 mm pistols. Then I got the much larger CZ-75 Standard IPSC model in .40 caliber. Nice gun, but it found another owner. One thing I learned along the way was that I like the Hogue wrap around grips with the finger grooves. I have those on the Beretta 92 and the SIG 239, but not the SIG 229 (.357 SIG). I don't have the strongest hands so I prefer a grip that helps me with the follow through after each shot. With standard pressure 9 mm ammunition, the result is almost like shooting a .22 - some recoil, but not much and the sights get back on the target sooner.
Last Saturday we fired the Triton +P ammunition in the CZ-75. Sunday afternoon, with light snow falling, I had a chance to try two other "hot" loads - the Speer "Gold Dot" +P and some Federal +P+ ammunition. The Speer 124 grain bullets seemed to recoil more than the higher pressure Federal 115 grain hollow points. I guess the hottest ammunition I have in this caliber is the Hirtenberger +P+ which appears to be designed for use in sub-machine guns. All things considered, including reliability, the Federal +P+ ammunition might be optimum for the CZ-75. The Federal bullets are just plain round hollow points. The Triton bullets are very sophisticated, but are just angular enough that one might stop at the feed ramp. All of this is theoretical, because to date the CZ-75 has never failed to work with any ammunition I've put in it.
Too bad this is the dead of winter, because the CZ-75 would be great to shoot at one of the local IPSC matches. I found a CZ (Mec-Gar, I'll bet) 15 round magazine for it, and know where to order more. For a holster, it turns out one of the Fobus holsters, made for the Beretta 92, is supposed to hold the CZ and it appears there will be no conflict with the extended thumb safeties in that holster. I need to find one of the Fobus holsters. They appear to be flimsy, but people I know who carry guns in bad places use the Fobus holster. That's a good recommendation.
Happy New Year! Tired of the Arial font? Me, too. Time to write with the default Times Roman font for awhile. Ok, enough of that. There are a number of things to report. First was the big trip across America with stops in Phoenix, San Jose, and Fresno. Phoenix has some great gun shops, including Shooters World, Mandall's and Caswell's. I went to all three. Shooter's World is an extraordinary place with just about everything you could want. Mandall's is a smaller shop in Mesa to the east of Phoenix. There I found a new line of Kydex holsters called "Predator." Caswell's has a nice shooting range and is also located in Mesa. After visiting these stores, I learned about the Ben Avery Shooting Facility near Phoenix. If guns and shooting are hobbies for you, then Phoenix (or Mesa), Arizona would be a great place to live.
Talon Industries T100 .380 Pistol
While Phoenix, Arizona would be a nice place to live, an even more scenic part of the country may be found around Ennis, Montana. Ennis is north and a little west of Yellowstone National Park. The rivers and streams around Ennis provide some of the best trout fishing in the world. Ennis is the home of Talon Industries, a new firearms company that makes two pistols, the T100 in .380 and the T200 in 9 mm. Both are very inexpensive. I ordered one of the T200s awhile back to see if it was competitive with the Kel-Tec 9 mm. The Talon 9 mm doesn't cost as much, but the one I got had some problems. The problems includes misfires, failures to feed, and during the last session the pistol more or less broke. I sent the pistol back to Talon three times, and they sent one magazine to see if that was cauing the misfeeds. The last time I sent the pistol back, I told them it would be ok to replace the 9 mm pistol with one of their .380 models. They did that. That was either an admission that there are design problems with the 9 mm or just very good customer relations. I haven't fired the .380 yet, but from the looks of things the gun is almost identical to the 9 mm. The magazine and barrel are different, of course, and the recoil spring is lighter. I will try the .380 this weekend. I suspect that the pistol is just right for the lower pressure cartridge and too fragile for repeated use of the 9 mm. The magazine springs in the 9 mm may be too weak, because the misfeeds involve the next cartridge doing a nose dive below the feed ramp. I've read that this may be due to a weak magazine spring. A replacement magazine didn't solve that particular problem. I remember buying one of the first Kahr pistols, and having problems that were later resolved by the company in subsequent products. I should have waited a year for Talon to get the bugs out of their 9 mm, but just had to experiment. No problem. The Talons are not expensive. Right now I cannot recommend the 9 mm, but may have some good things to say about the .380 once I try it.
The CZ-75B single action pistol continues to work just fine. Every once in awhile you get a pistol that shoots to point of aim, is easy to use, and feels right. The CZ-75B does all that and more. I discovered that the Fobus Beretta 92 holster also fits the CZ-75, but the Predator holsters made in Mesa, Arizona for the CZ-75 don't fit my CZ-75B single action. That's being resolved right now because the Predator holsters have a lifetime guarantee.
January 13 Talon Update Just when I was close to complete dispair, the Talon story took a turn for the better. The Talon .380 did not do well with the MagTech ammunition a week ago. A week later I tried some PMC ammunition (90 grain FMJ), and managed to fire 50 rounds with out a misfire, misfeed or jam. Not bad. Today I got another box of identical PMC .380 ammunition and will see if these results can be repeated. If so, I will not feel guilty selling the Talon for a "move 'em out" price which will include a note advising the buyer to stick with PMC ammunition. I used the Talon in a Home Firearm Safety class today, because in that arena (where you don't have to shoot it) the Talon works very well. Students were able to point the Talon in a safe direction, drop the magazine, retract the slide, and check the chamber. The Talon fed and ejected the orange plastic dummy rounds with no problems at all. Until it can be sold, it will be a great training aid. Someone saw the Talon on the table today near a Kahr 9 mm pistol with a polymer frame and asked what the differences are. My answer was, "Several hundred dollars."
Today was also the Big Gun Show at The Showplace in Richmond, Virginia. This venue is about a 2 hour drive from our normal gun show area, but there are so many different vendors that it is worth going down there a few times each year to see things you won't see anything else. For example, I like Georgia Arms ammunition a lot and they had several tables at the show, with all of the calibers and different bullet weights. I was able to pick up some inexpensive 155 grain .40 S&W practice ammuntion. Nobody had the new S&W Model 610 with the 4 inch barrel. I can't wait for that to get on the market. Smith and Wesson may not survive, but while they're still around, I hope I can get the one revolver I've wanted them to build for a long time: a 10 mm with a 4 inch barrel.
January 14 Talon Update Just when I thought the Talon was going to work... I got another box of PMC .380 ammunition, tried the gun again, and it started to act like the 9 mm Talon with double feeds and failures to extract. If this was a more expensive pistol, I would be alarmed and dismayed. I had hoped a U.S. company could build a low cost reliable pistol. Maybe that will happen someday, but I do not believe that Talon Industries has done it with either their .380 or 9 mm models.
Guess what I got to shoot today?
Close. I got to shoot the one on the left. I want to try the one on the right.
We always have some interesting gun show up at our Sunday afternoon range sessions. This afternoon someone brought a double action only Walther P990 Military model in 9 mm and I fired maybe 15 rounds with it. I had the S&W Sigma there for comparison. The P990 seems to have a more ergonomic frame, if that's possible, and feels just right. I suspect that more people could come up with a "feels just right" impression with the P990 because you can change the size of the grip by changing the rear part of the grip itself. Great idea. The P990 we had today was brand new and had never been fired before. The gun was not lubricated, unlike the Glocks that come with that copper looking factory break-in lubricant inside of the slide. We put some MiliTech lubricant (pretty good stuff) on the barrel, the barrel underlug, and the rails. The Walther pistol worked great with no problems at all. It is accurate. The only criticism I have is that the trigger pull is very l o n g. That's not a problem when you're firing one shot after another with some deliberation in between. This is a Big Problem when you're shooting in a hurry. Most pistol shooters are used to guns with triggers that reset in a short distance. Glocks are great for this. Even the S&W Sigma, the one I like a lot, has a long trigger, but not so long that you can't cycle it in a hurry. The Walther has a long trigger pull. The reason for the caption above is that the "QPQ" model is supposed to have a shorter trigger pull. If that works as it should, that would be the best possible setup.
We stay busy most of the time. The past two weekends were filled with NRA training courses, one class of new instructors and another class of basic pistol shooters. This schedule did not provide a lot of opportunities to try many new guns, or even get in very much practice. Friday night, January 26 I did manage to get the Talon .380 and the recommended UMC ammunition in the same place to see what would happen. I also had a chance for some regular defensive shooting practice with the S&W Sigma .40. I tried some new ammunition with the Sigma with good results.
The Talon .380 worked pretty well. There were two double feeds, but I was holding the gun in an odd position both times. When held in a regular two handed grip, the gun fired the other 48 rounds without a problem. When I get a chance, I'll try another box of UMC .380 ammunition and see if it works. That will make about 200 rounds through the gun, and it still hasn't been cleaned. If the next 50 rounds go through the gun, I would feel a lot better selling it to someone with the warning that it is sensitive to the brand of ammunition used. The Talon isn't the only pistol on the market that likes a particular brand of ammunition. Even the more expensive Kahr pistols seem to work better with certain types of ammunition.
The S&W Sigma failed to feed once with some reloads, but worked ok with commercial ammunition. Since the Sigma will always be carried with commercial premium ammunition, that's ok. I had a chance to try the Federal 135 grain "Personal Defense" ammunition in the Sigma. This is expensive so experiments are limited to 20 rounds, some fired for accuracy and some fired real fast to evaluate the gun and ammunition combination in that mode. I put 10 rounds each in two of the 10 round Sigma magazines. Everything worked. I am considering putting the "Personal Defense" ammunition in the Sigma rather than the Federal 155 grain law enforcement ammunition, but would like the try the Cor Bon 135 grain loads first. These are supposed to be among the best in this caliber, and it's just a matter of whether the Sigma likes this brand or not. I would have preferred to use WInchester Silvertips, but the bullet shape and barrel ramp angle do not get along.
If you haven't seen the new Smith and Wesson catalog for 2001 yet, you can go to www.smith-wesson.com and take a look at the new products, from the factory and from the Performance Center. S&W continues to be in hot water with many gun owners, but I continue to think of the factory workers and not the managers when I decide whether or not to buy something. "Getting back" at S&W for their lack of backbone when dealing with politicians (the kind who pardon criminals on the last day of their terms) could be a classic case of throwing the "baby out with the bath water." If I have to make a decision between being a political purist and getting a new Model 610 10 mm revolver with a 4" barrel, that's not a tough decision. Politicians come and go, but if we lose a major gun manufacturer, we're screwed in the long term.
Speaking of new S&W products, even the Sigma has some changes. There are both 9 mm and .40s with ported barrels this year. Not a bad idea, although why someone needs to port a 9 mm is beyond my ability to comprehend. If you like the 686 "L" frame revolvers, there is now a Model 617 10 shot .22 revolver with a 4" barrel, a great training gun for people who plan to use revolvers in IPSC and IDPA competition.
Too many words here and not enough pictures. It's time to get some new guns to write about. Let's see, if the CZ-75B single action 9 mm pistol is the greatest thing since sliced bread (and, by the way, does anyone know what the greatest thing was before sliced bread?), then the only thing better would be a CZ-75B single action in .40 S&W. Well, they did it. There's a new single action .40 model now. Got to see one. Got to shoot one.
It is hard to imagine doing a lot better with the .40 S&W version of the CZ-75. This is a picture taken Friday night, February 2 at Blue Ridge Arsenal. The 9 mm CZ-75 worked great.
Smith & Wesson Model 29-2 .44 Magnum
The revolver shown here was made back in the 1960s. I traded for it today, and still need to check on the serial number to see when it was made. The gun came in the original box, with the original manual and S&W oilskin paper. It appears as though this revolver has not been fired. This doesn't make it rare or worth a lot of money, but this revolver was made back in the "old days" and has a lot of nostalgia value. The smaller picture on the right shows the revolver with Winchester Silvertip cartridges, a .44 Special on the left and a .44 Magnum on the right. If I decide to shoot this revolver, I'll treat it like a Model 19 with a lot of .44 Specials and a few Magnums. In one of the "Dirty Harry" movies, Clint Eastwood's character admitted that he shot a Model 29 with .44 Specials. In today's world of high powered ammunition, the .44 Special seems pretty mild, but this caliber does have a decent track record. In fact, there are instances when the .44 Magnum is too powerful and produces too much penetration, and the .44 Special may be more effective. Shooting a .44 Special in a heavy "N" frame S&W revolver is a lot of fun. By the way, I had to use a different type font for the caption. I'm not sure if sans serif fonts had been invented back in the 1960s.
By the way, Winchester has a nice Model 1300 pump shotgun for 2001. This new "home defense" type shotgun has a full length magazine, a nice bright green fiber optic front sight, and a smooth pump action. The shotgun comes in 20 and 12 gauge models, and I think the 20 gauge would be just fine to load and prop up behind a door. This could be a great "instructional aid" for our firearm safety classes!
The Glock 29 came out of the holster today (Sunday February 4). I wanted to see if the Hornady 200 grain ammunition would work, and it did. I fired 10 rounds then switched to the Triton 165 grain Quik Shok ammunition. Both have what might be termed "stout" recoil, and the Model 29 tends to rap your hand when shooting the heavy duty stuff. I expect that anything hit by either cartridge fall over or fall down in a hurry. It's fun to shoot and write about things like old revolvers and .44 Special ammunition, but when the chips are down, it's time for a Glock 29. It is good to know that the Model 29 is reliable with the Triton ammunition. My 10 mm "formula" is 200 grain Hornady in Montana, and Triton where the animals are smaller.
February 10, 2001 - Part of the Glock 29 is on its way to KKM Precision so that a .357 SIG barrel can get a perfect fit. The barrel came from one of my favorite Glock accessory places: Lone Wolf Distributing in Idaho. When it arrived, the barrel fit, but the slide would not retract all the way, so I wrote to both Lone Wolf and to KKM Precision, and both offered to fix the problem for nothing. Wow. Imagine that kind of service from anybody these days. I hope the slide will be back soon. I know that the .357 SIG is a very mild cartridge when fired in a Model 29.
Yesterday evening, members of the Friday Night Group had a chance to fire the Model 29. Blue Ridge Arsenal had two kinds of .44 Magnum ammunition, expensive 240 grain Speer Gold Dot and some less expensive cartridges with lead bullets. I opted for the "dollar a shot" Speer ammunition and several of us got to see how the "new" (but old in years) classic .44 Magnum worked. We were not disappointed. I fired two shots at 50 and the holes were touching. Others fired the gun and got similar results. This is a Very Nice revolver.
Today, February 11, members of the "43rd Virginia Rifle and Pistol Club" had a chance to fire the Model 29 at various distances with different loads. We had some light handloads with 240 grain bullets, as well as some Mag Tech and Federal commercial ammunition. Everything worked great. The sights need to be adjusted just a little, but that will wait until a more stable platform is available, along with at least 50 rounds of Winchester Silvertip ammunition.
Today's outdoor range session provided an opportunity to check out the new Ruger "Deerfield" .44 Magnum carbine. The one we were firing today had a C-More "railway" configuration electronic red dot sight. At 50 yards, it was possible to get a decent group. The rifle and sight combination are capable of better accuracy than I could produce from a standing offhand position, even when I held the rifle in what I call the "Olympic" position. With a good telescopic sight, and a set of "shooting sticks" to provide stability, the Deerfield would be great for deer size animals. Would I trade the Winchester Model 94 Trapper for a Deerfield? No way, but there's nothing wrong with the Deerfield. In fact, it might be a good idea to have one of each for those days when your arm gets tired of moving the lever up and down, and the semi-automatic action takes some of the effort out of the process. If you would like to get an idea of what the Deerfield looks like, just imagine any Ruger semi-automatic rifle you've ever seen (with a wooden stock) and that's pretty much what a Deerfield looks like.
The S&W Sigma .40 was at the range today. I wanted to try out the new Aguila "IQ" ammunition in that caliber. The "IQ" bullet weighs just 95 grains, and I'm used to shooting 180 grain practice loads and 155 grain personal protection ammunition. The velocity of the Aguila "IQ" ammuntion is much higher than ordinary .40 S&W loads, and that makes up for the lower bullet weight. I found the "IQ" to be accurate at 7 yards, but not so hot at 25 yards. Is this a big deal? No. If someone bad is 25 yards away from me, I should have time to 1) run, 2) dig a foxhole, 3) call for help, or 4) just get behind some cover and use that to my advantage. All of the Aguila rounds hit in the center of the target at 25 yards, but the group was large. Shooting the Aguila "IQ" in a .40 is like shooting a regular 9 mm pistol. In fact, 9 mm +P and +P+ offer more recoil than the .40 S&W "IQ" ammunition.
I also fired some Remington Golden Sabre ammunition in the Sigma. The bullet weight was 165 grains. The Golden Sabre ammunition just didn't work in the Sigma. Neither does PMC, as I learned the other day. The good stuff, Federal in particular, works great. The Mag Tech commercial ammunition, and the ammunition sold my the handloaded from New York who often attends Virginia gun shows, are both ok in the Sigma.
Today also offered an opportunity to look at the S&W "99" pistol, the one where the bottom is made by Walther and the top is made by S&W. There was a big gun show and there were several Model 99 and equivalent Wather pistols for sale. These guns have adjustable rear sights, come with multiple front sights, and three different grip sizes. Just about anybody can use one. The S&W model has a de-cocker. At first, I thought that was a bad idea, but I'm changing my mind. Having a long trigger pull on the first shot is not a big deal. The first and all the other shots on the Sigma require a longer "revolver-like" trigger pull. One gun show dealer had a green Model 29 for hunting, a "quadra-ported" S&W model 681 (L-frame, fixed sights), and an "L Comp," a very nice 7 shot .357 Magnum revolver with a single port compensator in the front. These guns came from the S&W Performance Center. The quality from the Performance Center is awesome.
Some of us refer to S&W managers as the "RBMF" crew. The "R" stands for "rat," and I'm sure our more literate readers can figure out the other initials. The men and women in the factory and in the Performance Center do outstanding work, however, and represent a true national resource. If you want to see some of the neat products from the Performance Center, go to the main S&W Web site and start navigating from there.
Brett firing SIGPro .357 SIG pistol at IDPA match in Tennessee
It's that time of the year again, time to get out and compete in different practical shooting matches. I happened to be in Nashville this past weekend, and entered an indoor IDPA match on Saturday February 17. It would have been a great match except that they weren't kidding about the "low light" part. The idea of reduced lighting didn't bother me too much, because I have this great Surefire 6P flashlight, the one with the bright light that takes the $6 batteries. We couldn't use the lights, and the front sight of the CZ-75 does not show up well in the dark. Figuring this might happen again, I ordered some "glow in the dark" sight paint to be delivered ASAP. That should solve the problem. I don't need tritium sights on the CZ-75. Those sights wouldn't help in an IPSC match, and the CZ-75 isn't carried for personal protection anyway. The guns in that category all have tritium sights already. In other words, if I hadn't blown the low light stage, my overall score would have been a lot better. Whenever I could see the front sight, I hit the target. Well, on the low light stage, I only dropped one point, but took an awful lot of time trying to pick up what little there was to see of the front sight. With the lights on, it was a different story. Murphy's Law, of course, says that if you need to use a pistol, it will happen under the worst possible conditions at the worst possible time.
Notice in the pictures above how the powder is still burning outside of the gun. That's like firing a 12 gauge shotgun with a 14 inch barrel. There is a lot of flame.
The IDPA indoor range in Joelton, Tennessee
And now for something different. There is a great new book available for those of us who want to learn more about the practical aspects of shooting. The book is Fighting Smarter by Tom Givens. This is a great book. Take a look at the Rangemaster Web site (from Memphis, Tennessee) for more information. I can recommend this book without the slightest hesitation. If you own a handgun, you should read this book.
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Copyright 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000. All Rights Reserved. Randall A. Mays