written by Randy Mays
This episode of "Page 2" covers the period from July to May 2002...
It seemed like a good time to start another part of "Page 2" so here goes. It is now July, 2001 and two of the year's major shooting matches are now in the history books, or at least on the score sheets. While there have been several fun matches in Virginia and West Virginia, these can be considered the "minor leagues" when compared to shooting along the Continental Divide. On June 30, I participated in a "3 Gun" match near Idaho Falls. A "3 Gun" match means you must shoot a rifle, shotgun and pistol, and the best of these mix up stages so that you may start the stage with a pistol and finish with a rifle or shotgun, or just about any other combination.
These Idaho guys are serious about shooting rifles. Dave is firing at targets between 20 and 220 yards.
Here are the rifle targets. Having trouble seeing them? So did I. There's nothing like firing a rifle until the Uncle Mike's sling melts and falls off, and you have trouble finding a place to hold the rifle that does not produce a third degree burn.
In the shotgun stages, the guns would heat up also, and the threat of a serious burn increased. You would think it might be very difficult to hold a shotgun only by the wooden "pump" and not touch any metal, and reload with your other hand. When the gun is blazing hot, you do what you have to do. We fired regular shot shells and slugs. Loading and firing 18 slugs is a real adventure in pain management when all you're wearing is a t-shirt. Murphy's Law says that under the pressure of rapid firing, the gun stock will move from any area where clothing might protect your shoulder to an area where there is no protection and it hurts the most. On the other hand, as the Marines say, "pain is weakness leaving the body."
We had the usual pistol stages, and this one was called "Nuevo El Presidente." You draw and fire two shots to each IPSC target, trying not to hit the black (hard cover) or white (no shoot) parts of the targets. Then you reload and fire two more shots at each IPSC target. Some people can do this real fast. At least I hit all the targets. I'm still not sure what the old tires were for, unless the cowboy shooters use them to simulate evidence of a herd of cows.
The match in Idaho lasted from 0900 until after 5 p.m. I had to leave to get to Missoula, Montana, a five hour drive from Idaho Falls and missed a couple of the stages. It was just as well because I managed to miss a few spots with the suntan lotion and was hurting a lot. That didn't stop me from getting running a bore brush through the trusty CZ-75B (shown above) late Saturday night to get ready for the July 1, 2001 Al Kimery Memorial Trophy match on Sunday morning.
The CZ-75B ran like clockwork, except for the one time when I loaded a round, then loaded a full 15 round magazine in the gun. It would not feed the first round out of the magazine, something that would not have happened if I had put only 15 rounds in the gun to start with. This is an old lesson re-learned with the CZ.
This was the 6th year in a row that I've attended the match in Missoula. In 1996, I used an EAA Witness in .45 ACP...
...a stainless steel model, not blued like the one in this picture, but otherwise identical. In 1997, I used a Glock 20 10 mm...
The Glock 20 I used was the older model without the flashlight rails and the finger grooves on the grip. With regular, not full load, 10 mm ammunition, the Model 20 was very pleasant to shoot and I did pretty well. The picture on the Piedmont home page was taken that year. The picture shows me shooting the Model 20 though a barrel.
In 1998, and don't those years just go flying by, I brought a Beretta 92FS to shoot. This is the Brigadier model with the heavier, stronger slide. This is a great pistol, but not what you would pick for an IPSC match. The first shot is double action and subsequent shots are single action. If I was going overseas into an area where there was trouble, I would want a Beretta 92 as a back-up because it is one of the most reliable pistols available anywhere. I might want a Makarov as the back-up to the Beretta, by the way, for the same reasons of reliability.
Most IPSC shooters use a 1911 style pistol. In 1999 I used a "loaded" (with features) Springfield pistol with several 10 round magazines. The Springfield is an all steel pistol, heavy, and reliable. I like it a lot and still have it.
At the turn of the century, I used a Glock 35 for the 2000 match. This particular Glock 35 didn't like my older hi-capacity magazines, but otherwise worked great. For the new "Limited 10" class or for IDPA shooting, which is limited to 10 round magazines, the Glock 35 is just about perfect.
And, as noted above, in 2001, my choice was the CZ-75B single action pistol. I like it, and suspect it will be around for a long time. I may shoot something else next year, but that will be from curiosity rather than anything negative about the CZ-75. I may even be tempted to get one of the CZ-75s in .40 to replace or augment the current 9 mm version.
Having said all this about what I used in competition, I should also mention the gun and holster combination I like for travelling out west. Here is a picture...
The pistol is a Glock Model 29 with Hornady 200 grain loads, and the holster is a Buick LeSabre. Not many holsters cost this much or come equipped with decent cup holders.
Back to the land of traffic congestion... Why would anyone want to live on the east coast? Now the good times in Motnana and Idaho are over. Darn. Now we're back to shooting indoors again. Friday night July 13, I had a chance to continue shooting the Kimber Pro CDP pistol ("Commander" size). It worked very well. Saturfday afternoon, the next day, I shot it a little more and it had a problem. All problems are relative, but this one fell into the Big Problem category. When I pulled the trigger, the gun would not fire. This is not good and almost guarantees a particular pistol is heading for the "sell or trade" category, although in this case I do plan to let Kimber fix the problem to see how well they respond to something wrong with a CUSTOM SHOP pistol. Gee, did I put some emphasis there, or what? Here is a picture of the Kimber Pro CDP...
The Kimber Pro CDP is the same size as the Colt Commander, a size I like. Nothing is perfect, of course. The full size grip makes is harder to conceal the pistol, but it does allow for more ammunition and standard 1911 magazines to be used. The 4" barrel seems to be ok in terms of reliability. The shorter barrels worry me a little, in particular when I see unburned powder residue at the firing position. When the gun failed to fire, I figured it was the trigger stop adjustment. With the CZ-75, I'm familiar with adjusting that until the gun won't fire, then backing off enough to leave room for the trigger to release the sear. I thought this adjustment on the Kimber might be the problem, but something else is wrong. When the hammer does fall, it takes too much pressure on the trigger to make this happen. I'm sure this will take a gunsmith just a minute or two to fix, but for a gun that retails for this much money, this is an annoying problem. As I said to someone at the range, if you want to it to work every time, you get a stock Glock and it works.
Another trip trip out west meant deciding on which pistol to take along in case of attack by large animals, and the Glock 29 was the first choice. The 29 is so well regarded now (by me) that I was willing to part with a Smith and Wesson classic Model 29, because I just don't need that many higher power pistols. The remaining Model 610 with hot 10 mm loads should be sufficient for the big animals that lurk in the wilds of Montana and Idaho.
August 5, 2001 The Kimber came back from the custom shop. The trigger stop screw was still forward from where I tried to adjust it before. The slip of paper packed with the gun said that the grip safety had been adjusted. The box for "test fired" had not been checked. That was interesting, but I figured they knew just what had caused the problem in the first place. So far as I could tell, the gun had not been cleaned. When I've sent guns back to Glock or Beretta, the guns were test fired and cleaned before being returned. I took the Kimber to the range for our regular Friday night activities. I fired a magazine filled with WInchester Silvertips and it worked fine. I loaded some 230 grain ball ammunition for practice and after a few more shots the gun failed to fire again. I looked and the hammer was not cocked when the slide went forward after the previous shot. The Pro CDP went back into the gun bag while I practiced with the Remington 870 shotgun I use in IPSC matches. That was instructive. The Remington 870 fired about 25 rounds in a row without a problem, just what you would expect from a quality firearm. At this point, I have asked Kimber to replace what appears to be a "lemon," and to pay for the expensive Fedex shipping costs of returning the gun a second time. For all we've said about Smith and Wesson and for all the times I've had to return firearms for minor problems, S&W has always fixed and test fired the gun and sent it back in a reasonable amount of time. I'm sure Kimber is a good company. I enjoyed their first model that came on the market, but they have not stepped up so far to support their top of the line product. By the way, it is never a good idea to blame the local dealers when something like this happens. They are middlemen, and middle women, who sell things that come in plastic boxes. Quality comes from the factory and from factory support. Kimber has not delivered a good product or good support. It will be interesting to see if they do the right now thing now.
The Range in Fresno, California
California has some very strict gun laws, but people still have guns there (although some are stored in Nevada), and there are still decent places to shoot. Fresno, a growing city in the center of the San Joaquin Valley, has a great range called "The Range" (nobody is going to mix that name up with Home Depot...). The interior is upscale with lots of quality products on display. The people who work there know what they are doing. And, I noticed one small, but significant detail. Because this is a family oriented business, targets are not plastered on the wall like you see in so many ranges and gun stores. They will sell you law enforcement type targets, as well as bullseye targets, when you ask. The subtle message often seen at other gun ranges ("Learn to shoot at targets that look like people.") isn't present here. The range itself is clean, well lit, and there is a separate area for training classes. The longest distance seems shorter than 25 yards, more like 10 yards, but that is ok for pistol shooting anyway. Pistols, when they are used at all, tend to be used at much shorter distances.
Those of you who have been reading "First Impressions" will recall that the S&W Model 909 is on my all time favorite list. I took that particular pistol to The Range. The 909 had been in storage in Tennessee and then in Arizona, and I had not fired it in a couple of years. It is as accurate and reliable as ever. Kimber could learn a lesson or two from the S&W 909... On August 4, I had a chance to shoot the 909 at an outdoor range at 50 feet and at 25 yards. This is not a target pisol, and it has a long double action pull (on purpose), but I was able to hit a 6 inch bullseye just about every time, and I'll settle for that anytime.
August 18 - the Kimber is back...but the news is not good... The Kimber Pro CDP came back again. The gun fires now. The disconnector was replaced. I used it in one of our exercises and it had no problems until it came time for the "tactical" exercise. Sorry I have to put "tactical" in quotes, but the word is used too often when writing about guns, and used to describe some of the strangest things - like a "tactical ballpoint pen" or a "tactical lunchbox." Anyway, there were some tactics involved in the exercise so it was as tactical as anything else we do for practice. The exercise called for point shooting while moving backward to cover, then firing from behind cover (a plywood car). The gun had a double feed, and that is hard to clear. In a real bad situation, that would have been a major problem. In all fairness, I decided to try the gun one more time. I took it to the range last night and fired 150 rounds of commercial ammunition, Mag Tech and Winchester. There were two failures: the slide locked open while there were rounds still in the magazine, and the gun failed to feed once. Not good news.
At this point the interesting thing about the Kimber Pro CDP will involve learning how Kimber deals with a problem like this. I have a Talon Industries .380 pistol that is pretty much useless except for teaching people how to unload a semi-auto pistol. The Talon pistol costs around $100 so I guess I can't complain, although I hoped the guys in Montana would do a little better than that. The Kimber Pro CDP costs around, or sometimes over, $1,000. For that price, I'm expecting better performance and reliability. If you buy a gun for $1,000 and fire it, it's used so most dealers will let you have 70 percent of the new value on a trade. That means that first round cost about $300 to fire. There are a number of guns around here that are accurate and reliable and I don't care how much they are worth on a trade-in, because they're not going to be traded. The Kimber, on the other hand, is in a "gray area." I could trade it and get something else, or keep it and have a gun that 1) cost a lot of money, and 2) is useful only to teach students how to unload a semi-auto pistol. This is very annoying because I can use the $100 Talon to "point the gun in a safe direction, drop the magazine, pull the slide back, and check the chamber, and check the chamber again." I hate to trade a gun that's not reliable to anyone. That's unethical. They might think that since it was a Kimber Pro CDP, it could be expected to work. I don't expect it to work, so I'm not going to tell someone else that it does.
"Policy" aside, I think I know what is wrong with the Kimber Pro CDP. I'm not a gunsmith, but I do see an uneven pattern of wear on the aluminum frame, and it is possible that a bad slide to frame fit may be causing the problems. Getting the guys at Kimber to deal with this is an unknown right now. Stay tuned a little longer.
Lest we forget...there are guns out there that work the first time every time. Sometimes we overlook these good deals. At a recent gun show, I saw a Smith and Wesson Model 37 with TWO serial numbers. It turned out that one of the serial numbers was an inventory number for the Japanese Police. S&W had produced a lot of Model 37s and had some left over. These extras were sold by Lew Horton, a wholesale distributor, to some of their dealers. Since I needed a snub-nose revolver for classes, and since this particular one had a story to go with it, I filled out the state and federal forms and now have a plain old S&W .38 Special Airweight revolver. Here is a picture...
S&W Model 37
Everyone knows that the .38 Special, even in the +P loadings, is too weak for personal protection, right? Well, that may be true, but the 158 grain lead hollowpoint .38 Special +P loading has been around for a long time and seems to work pretty well in those circumstances where it is most often used (close range from a back-up revolver). A Model 37 is just a back-up and not designed to do much beyond 10-15 feet. Within that "envelope," it is very useful. I have fired this particular Model 37 with a variety of ammunition. The Winchester SXT .38 Special +P has a very bright muzzle flash. I'm not sure I like that a lot, but the bullet is designed to expand from a shorter barrel. I've also fired the 158 grain lead hollowpoint +P and regular 158 grain semi-wadcutters. All are accurate at short range. The Model 37 is fun to shoot with any kind of .38 Special ammunition even though the lightweight frame doesn't do much to dampen the recoil. In the real world (away from Web page commentaries and gun magazines), you don't feel the recoil when under stress. When I shoot the Model 37, I used a point shooting technique at targets 10-15 feet away. The revolver can be fired single action, and that's good for training, but the real practical use of a snubnose revolver is close range point shooting. You get 5 shots, and may not have a chance to reload.
Is this a primary "carry gun?" Sometimes. It is very light to carry, but it will never replace a Glock Model 29, nor should it. The S&W Model 37 is a back-up that can be counted on to work five times whenver it is needed. The Glock Model 29 can be counted on in the same way (only ten times). Both, by the way, cost a lot less than a Kimber Pro CDP. Sorry, couldn't resist mentioning that.
September 9... and the Kimber is back. The fit and finish of the replacement gun is better than the original, and the guys at the factory fired the pistol with a variety of ammunition before returning it. I haven't had a chance to fire it yet, but feel confident that the problem has been solved. I still suspect that the original Pro CDP was from the initial production run and Kimber had a problem with the slide to alloy frame fit, in addition to the grip safety and disconnector problems.
Other guns have been out on the range in the meantime, including the CZ-75B single action pistol and the SIG 229. Both were used in matches and in training courses. Both worked great. It may be time time to add something new to the mix, and the Walther P99 QA is starting to look interesting. Although my overall experiences with the SW99 were interesting, I did trade the SW99 away, thinking at the time that the Walther P99, which is similar, might have been a better choice. The "QA" model of the Walther has a consistent trigger pull for each shot instead of the longer and heavier double action pull on the first shot followed by the shorter, lighter pulls for subsequent shots. The "QA" model has a trigger pull similar to the Glock (something I'm sure many police departments asked Walther to do), and the trigger itself feels better than the trigger on the Glock. So, the "QA" might be in the picture one of these days.
It is almost the end of September. Today is the 23rd. A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. Today, some of us went out to shoot an informal IPSC match. Here are a couple of pictures.
Alan is shooting in the left hand picture. He has a Beretta Elite with a nice set of skateboard tape grips. Benny is in the other picture with a new Para Ordnance pistol. Notice how Benny is looking down to make sure of his footing before running to another shooting position. Notice also how the gun stays pointed downrange. This is the right way to do this.
I used the CZ-75B Single Action pistol in today's match. An aftermarket high capacity magazine failed to drop free once and it went right into the range bag for the rest of the day. The magazine still had a number of rounds in it, and it should have dropped out. I'll go back and be more deliberate and see why that happened.
Speaking of high quality pistols from Europe, I have a Walther P99 QA on order. The "QA" model has a consistent trigger pull for each shot. Imagine a Glock trigger action without the annoying extra moving part on the trigger. Imagine a Glock with a different grip angle for more natural pointing. Imagine a Glock with a grip adjustable for different size hands. When the P99 arrives, a write-up will follow.
When S&W came out with their titanium revolvers, they instructed people not to use lead bullets when shooting +P ammunition. Lead bullets are not crimped as tight as jacketed bullets (in commercial ammunition) so the recoil of the very lightweight gun could cause the lead bullets to move forward and prevent the cylinder from turning. At a recent range session, I discovered this can happen with handloaded lead bullets in the S&W Model 37 Airweight. That crimping buisness is important, and it is also important to test any ammunition you might be using in a revolver or pistol to make sure there are no problems with it. Commercial jacketed ammunition should work without any problems, but it doesn't hurt to verify that's the case.
The CZ-75B was back in action last Sunday at an IPSC match. Although I made a mistake on the classifier last Sunday and got a lower score, the CZ-75B has helped me move from "D" class to "C" class in the IPSC ranks this summer. The gun doesn't make you fire an extra shot at a target and get points off the score. You get to do that yourself.
One of the attributes of the CZ-75 design is that it is very heavy and strong, heavier than necessary for a 9 mm pistol. This makes it easier to shoot +P or +P+ plus ammuntion every once in awhile, or to carry this kind of ammunition for personal protection. One of the local dealers had some Winchester "Ranger" law enforcement ammunition in stock the other day. This ammunition used to have different color bullets and was called "Black Talon." The box I picked up had 115 grain bullets and was marked +P+ . There was a notice on the box that the ammunition warning about the higher pressure.
I fired maybe 20 rounds of the +P+ ammunition and it worked great in the CZ-75B, and was accurate enough at 50 feet so that I would not worry too much about hitting a small target. Until I can get more of this, I'm going to hoard the remaining rounds.
October 9...and no need to hoard... Virginia Arms had more in stock and now I have plenty. This isn't something you shoot very often so 100 extra rounds will last a long time. During a visit to Nashville, Tennessee, where the gun shows are always interesting, I found some Aguila 9 mm "IQ" ammunition. This is high speed ammunition with very light weigh bullets. I need to try some of this for accuracy and will do that later this week.
Time keeps marching on...and there isn't always time to write new things for this Web page... so now it is almost the end of October.
The S&W 909 did very well with the Aguila ammunition. The picture shown here has a lot of contrast, but you can still see the effect of the flash. The IQ ammunition comes in boxes of 20 rounds. I've fired enough of it now so that this is the preferred ammunition for the 909. It is very accurate, has light recoil, and I suspect this bullet will perform very well in a variety of situations.
You are a big wuss if you shoot an air pistol, true or false? Sounds like a question from a test of some sort, doesn't it? Most of us who own these giant powerful shotguns, rifles, and handguns think that only the most timid would have any interest in an air pistol Well, that's just wrong. There are some great air pistols out there including the orange framed copy of the Walther P99 shown above. This air pistol is made in Germany, and while it is a very useful high quality air pistol, it isn't even the best one they make. Another copy of the P99 has the single and double action triggers, while the "CP Sport" model has only a longer DA or "Quick Action" type trigger. Either way, it fires 8 shots without reloading, has the same weight and feel as the Walther P99, and offers adjustable sights - and an external safety (which the real P99 does not have).
I was able to go to the Izaak Walton League range in Poolesville, Maryland in November. This is a great outdoor range for rifles and pistols. I took the Bushmaster (with a 16" barrel; the picture above shows a 20" barrel) and a "loaded" Springfield (blued, not stainless). Both had problems. The Bushmaster would lock open before the last round chambered and the round would be loose in the area right above the magazine. The Springfield would lock up on the last shot with an empty case stuck in the magazine (hard to believe, but it happened).
I sent e-mail to Bushmaster and they said to try a decent (my word; they were more tactful) magazine, one with writing on the bottom (words like "Colt" or "Property of the U.S. Marine Corps" - anything signifying the magazine was not made in a garage in West Covina, California). I haven't had a chance to test that theory yet, but will see if they're right this weekend.
I took the Springfield pistol to the range on a weekday afternoon so that I could concentrate on what it was doing. There are just too many distractions on Friday Nights. I don't mind signing autographs and shaking hands with people who have seen the Web site, but it can be annoying at times. When I tried a new magazine, the problems with the pistol disappeared. The "bad" magazine was from Wilson Combat, but there is a good chance the magazine got dropped and the configuration of the top of the magazine changed. I'll continue shooting the Springfield with the newer magazine until I'm satisfied that the pistol is as reliable as it was before. The Springfield is a great pistol. I can only try to imagine what it would be like to own their "FBI" model. It's the same gun, but with everything tuned up, a match barrel, etc.
Lessons Learned... Always use a quality magazine in an AR-15 rifle. Using the right magazine makes a big difference. When I went back to the range with Colt or genuine U.S. military surplus magazines, the Bushmaster rifle worked fine. No problems. I got some great off hand groups at 50 yards.
Walther P99
Well, shucks, I went ahead and got a new pistol, a Walther P99 in .40 caliber. As regular readers know, the similar SW99 wasn't around too long, but I suspect the P99 will be in the inventory for awhile. I am still hoping to get the hard to find "QA" model which has a trigger pull similar to the Glock's, but for now the DA/SA (double action first shot, single action subsequent shots) is ok. This afternoon (12-8-01) I picked up the pistol, went to Clark Brothers range in Warrenton, and was the only pistol shooter there. The locals may have been out hunting deer, or maybe they didn't want to shoot in a cold rain as the late faded toward the end of the day. Those things don't bother me too much, but it was a little bit annoying not to have my shooting glasses. Even so, I put my reading glasses on under a pair of safety glasses and was able to see the front sight very well. At the same time, the targets became these dim white blurs out in the distance. Even so, the P99 did a great job. At Clark Brothers, you have to buy their ammunition in order to use the range out back. The ammunition costs a little bit more, but it was worth it to verify the gun is working right. At 7 yards there was just a big hole in the center of the target, and at 50 feet I hit within three inches of what it appeared I was aiming toward. In the middle of the session, I changed the grip adapter from the middle sized adapter (for average hands) to the larger adapter for larger hands, and the gun felt more comfortable. The gun does move around a little in recoil. I wonder what this gun would be like with a .357 SIG barrel...
I don't know the answer to that question yet, but a couple of weeks after getting the P99, I've had a chance to try it with two more kinds of ammunition and it continues to be 100 percent reliable, and accurate, and easy to shoot. The next project is to find out if I can put the QA trigger mechanism into the pistol.
And I do know the answer to this one. The answer is, "yes, but no." Each of the Walther related places I found on the Internet came back with the same answer. They said "no" and the stated reason was liability. I remember once wanting to put a Ruger P-95 trigger on a P-90, which would have made the P-90 into a great pistol. For liability reasons, Ruger did not want to sell a P-95 trigger part. The fact that the QA trigger on the regular P99 or the P-95 trigger on the P-90 represent great moments in the history of ergonomics don't seem to matter. I hate to say this, but I suspect there are lawyers involved in decisions like these.
Springfield Armory's New Pistol(s)
Gun shows in Tennessee are often more interesting than shows in Virginia. The people are a little bit different, and sometimes you see new guns in Tennessee before you see them in Virginia. One example is the new polymer framed pistols being imported from Croatia by Springfield Armory . These are called "XD" pistols, and you can figure out what the XD stands for by looking at the picture. About a year ago, an importer in Knoxville, Tennessee, brought in the same basic pistol in 9 mm with a promise of additional models in .40 S&W and .357 SIG calibers. I saw all three calibers at a gun show in Nashville just before Christmas, 2001. The finish on the polymer is a bit different from the original imports, and it appears there is a slide rail now for lights and lasers. You can read about the details of the HD somewhere else, but the main features seem to be a grip safety, a loaded chamber indicator, a "cocked" indicator, and the safety on the trigger that, when you depress the trigger, doesn't feel as weird as the trigger on the Glock. The magazines are nickel plated. The pistol has a nice feel to it. Considering the very reasonable price, I would consider getting one someday. In Virginia, we have a "one gun a month" law, which means one pistol or revolver a month. Most of us try our best to do our civic duty and buy a gun every month. Maybe in January, I'll find a Springfield Armory "XD" pistol and give it a try.
December 28, 2001 was just another Friday night at the range, but this time there was a little science thrown in with the fun. It seemed like a good time to try out the S&W Model 37 Airweight .38 Special revolver with some different ammunition. The following day, the Model 37 was going to be tried out by someone who did not have a lot of experience with snubnose revolvers so I figured it would be fun to let him see the differences between standard ammunition and +P. Shooting +P+ did not seem like a real good idea in the Airweight, but the revolver is supposed to be ok with +P. I also wanted to see where the MagSafe Defender 52 grain +P ammunition would shoot with the sights centered on the target. Ammunition included the MagSafe (three rounds at over $2 per round), Speer "Lawman" total metal jacket +P, some Cor Bon +P, a few Winchester Silvertip +P, and some Winchester 125 grain jacketed hollow point +P. The Silvertip, one of my favorite bullet types, may be seen in front of the revolver barrel in the picture above.
The first test was to see where the Magsafe rounds would impact. Out of three shots, I figured I'd have the sights lines up at least once. The Magsafe ammunition uses very light bullets with lots of velocity. The lowest three holes on the target shown at the left were made by the Magsafe ammunition. Since all three were in the IDPA "-0" zone, that was ok, but they do shoot a little bit low. Lighter bullets tend to do that. It's difficult to see in the picture, but I marked the brands next to the different holes. The most accurate and best centered was the Winchester Silvertip ammunition. In the picture to the right you can see the first target on the right, and the target on the left was from some close in point shooting with the different brands and loads. The bottom line is that the Model 37 will shoot to the center of the target with just about anything you can put in it. The Winchester 125 grain +P rounds produced a lot of recoil, as did the Speer Lawman ammunition, but the recoil was never a big problem. The greatest effect of the recoil is to move the grip in the shooter's hand. That grip is designed for maximum concealment. Besides, to keep this all in perspective, a Model 37 is a back-up gun. If it is fired at all, it is because a Glock or Walther or SIG has been fired many times through a bunch of spare magazines and the problem still persists. Or, the Model 37 was the only gun that could be carried in a particular instance because of its size and weight.
From this very unscientific test, my conclusion is that I will use the MagSafe .38 Special "Defender" ammunition for the first 5 shots, then reload with Winchester Silvertip +P or Winchester SXT +P (their latest bullet design, like the Black Talon, but without the sharp points on the expanded bullet). Is there a situation where a Model 37 is going to have to be reloaded in a hurry? Maybe. Possible. I hope not.
More thoughts on the Walther P99 and FN FortyNine...
While my friend was trying out the Model 27 on Saturday December 29, I was shooting his FN FortyNine pistol. The FortyNine has been mentioned here before, and so has the Walther P99. I had both of them at the range at the same time to compare. During this process, I came to a profound conclusion. From now on one of my criteria for usefulness with pistols is that they facilitate retaining the initial firing grip. In other words, the Model 37 with +P ammunition has to be gripped again after each shot because it tends to move in the hand. The FN FortyNine, and the Walther P99, I'm pleased to say, do not move around. The only thing that needs to be done for a follow-up shot is to get the front sight back onto the target. The SIG 229 is like this, and so, now that I think about it, are all of my other favorite pistols and revolvers. We teach that a consistent grip is one of the keys to accuracy. That's very important when it comes to follow-up shots.
It is unfortunate the FN FortyNine pistol has not enjoyed wide acceptance in the law enforcement community. In many respects, it is superior to the S&W Sigma and the Glock. In my opinion, the FortyNine is one of the all time bargains. You see the FNs at gun shows and advertised by distributors at very reasonable prices. If you picked up an FN, Glock, and Walther and tried the triggers, you would be surprised at how well the FN trigger feels compared to the other striker fired pistols. In fact, one of the best striker fired pistols is the Walther P99 QA model, and the "QA" denotes a Glock-like trigger pull. The FN is better.
After shooting both pistols, I had to clean them. This provided another side by side comparison. The quality of the FN pistol, at least from a layman's perspective, is equal to the Walther and the Glock and, of course, the S&W Sigma. All are well made. The FN looks as though it should cost more than it does. If the same quality is present in the FN military guns, including their machine guns, then our armed forces are well equipped.
I wish someone at FN would "discover" the .357 SIG caliber. They would have to rename the FortyNine as the FortyNineThreeFiftySeven, but it would be worth it.
Our "Friday Night Group" has a tradition of someone bringing an unusual gun for others to try. We call this the "Gun o' the Week" or "GOW." You can read about these guns at www.irighti.org/gow.html. As 2001 comes to an end, I thought it would be a good idea to go back and look over some of the guns mentioned here, and there, and see which ones are still in the active inventory and why.
The first category would be "carry." These are the pistols or revolvers deemed suitable for concealed carry. Suitability is based on power and reliability. Fit would be a consideration in buying a new gun, but none of these are new, so they all fit. Right now I'd list the following guns in the "carry" category, along with a comment or two.
Carry Guns
S&W Model 37 Airweight - very easy to carry and conceal; not enough difference in weight to pay extra for titanium parts; .38 Special +P not very powerful, but loaded with MagSafe "Defender" ammunition with Winchester "SXT" as a back-up; lots of holsters available. When other pistols might be inconvenient to carry, this revolver can go anywhere.
SIG Sauer 229 - heavy, but compact; grip is perfect; .357 SIG caliber used by Texas Rangers and Secret Service; very accurate with Speer "Gold Dot" ammunition; fits Fobus holster just right; powerful caliber; accurate, reliable.
S&W 909 - lightweight, thin; loaded with Aguila's high speed 9 mm; 909 not fancy, not even in production anymore, but always reliable and accurate; converted to double action only.
Glock 29 - Ashley Express sights; sighted for Hornady 200 grain 10 mm ammunition; carried in Idaho and Montana more than east of the Mississippi; back-up "bear" gun if bells, pepper spray and negotiations with large animals fail.
Ruger GP-100 - three inch fixed sights blued; the basic .357 Magnum revolver; sort of like the S&W Model 13 carried by the FBI for many years, but much stronger frame; not fancy, but always works. Kramer holster is a perfect fit.
Walther P99 - still learning about this one; .40 S&W caliber is powerful; grips can be adjusted to fit most hands; very accurate and reliable. Lighter weight than SIG 229.
S&W 386PD - [removed from list in February; see comments below]
Second category is "competition." In most cases, this means IPSC, but can also mean bowling pins.
Competition Guns
For a "3 Gun" (rifle, pistol, and shotgun) IPSC match, I prefer the following...
Remington 870 shotgun - there are other pump shotguns out there; this is my favorite; 12 gauge with extended magazine and "side saddle" provides quite a few shots before a reload is required; Hi-Viz clip on front sight making aiming easy
Bushmaster AR-15 with short barrel - there's a lot to learn about the AR-15.; Bushmaster carbine is great handling, and accurate; 20" barrel would be better for longer range shooting, but Bushmaster can also be used for home protection in rural areas and the carbine length barrel is better in those circumstances
CZ-75 B single action - CZ-75 is easy to shoot; accurate; has hi-cap magazines; 9 mm caliber is "minor" in IPSC, but worked well enough to get from class "D" to class "C" in competition. Good holsters hard to find, although the Fobus Beretta 92 holster fits pretty well.
Home Protection
Ruger SP-101 .32 H&R Magnum - having a revolver that any member of the household can shoot with confidence is a good thing. Not powerful, but six shots with MagSafe ammunition and there's bound to be some effect.
FN FortyNine - in .40 S&W. Reliable. Points well. Could be equipped with night sights. Simple. May replace the S&W 909 in this role.
S&W 909 - is reliable, points well, and is simple to operate. May be replaced with the FN FortyNine to get additional muzzle energy of the .40.
Remington 870 "Youth Model" - a 20 gauge shotgun provide more than enough muzzle energy for this application. Youth Model is shorter and lighter, like an M-1 carbine in terms of quick handling. Alternative is the Remington Model 1100 (semi-auto) in 20 gauge.
Ruger or S&W .38 Revolver - Ruger GP-100, S&W Models 66, 686, 19, 13, etc. They're all good.
Smith and Wesson Model 386PD Scandium-Titanium 7 Shot .357 Magnum 17.5 oz
The picture caption says it all, well almost all. Here's the deal. The seach is always on for the perfect "carry gun," and there are a lot of candidates. Criteria: powerful, reliable, lightweight, points at the target, and so forth.
The new S&W 386 meets all of those criteria and more. In the picture in the center above, there are examples of the different kinds of ammunition fired during the first session with this new revolver. Starting from upper left and going clockwise (to the right for those of you with digital watches), are .38 Special semi-wadcutters, .38 Special 125 grain +P, Speer "Gold Dot" 158 grain, and good old Federal 125 grain jacketed hollow points. Although the front sight is a bit on the high side, which means the rear sight needs to be elevated a little more than usual to zero the gun at "normal ranges" (out to 25 meters), you can get the sights adjusted for a preferred load (125 grain JHP). The factory trigger on a S&W revolver is heavy. That can be fixed, although the single action trigger is great right out of the box.
Pointing? Yes. Points right at the target in "target focused" mode (where you look at the target and not the sights).
What is Scandium? Who knows. The story is that some Russian scientist mixed a rare element called Scandium with aluminum and got a very strong alloy. Sounds reasonable. Titanium, which is used for the cylinder and other parts of the 386PD, is used to make the SR-71 airplane. Titanium gets better each time it is heated, and the cylinder of a .357 Magnum revolver gets pretty hot.
Is this the greatest "carry gun" yet? Might be. Seven shots is equal to a lot of the smaller auto pistols. 17.5 oz is a very light gun for the power. Does this mean the recoil is unacceptable? No way. If you can shoot a .44 Magnum revolver without flinching, the 386PD is no worse than that. In fact, it's fun to shoot, just as the S&W AirLite .44 Special is fun to shoot.
Later in January... The new 386PD has been back to S&W for repairs and is on it's way back a second time. I was concerned enough about the shots going to the left, and the need for a large adjustment to the right to bring the hits close to center, to send it back. The service ticket that came back with the gun said that the barrel had been replaced. Even so, the problem remains, so I sent it back again after firing 50 rounds of 125 grain American Eagle (Federal's less expensive practice brand). The barrel and front sight appear to be canted to the right, which is weird. When the gun was new, it looked the same way. If that is a characteristic of the Scandium guns, then something isn't right with that layout.
The SHOT Show is coming up this weekend and that will provide an opportunity to see another 386PD. The guns on display at the SHOT Show are always in very good condition to show off what is possible. I am hoping that when the 386PD comes back again from S&W that it will be fixed, shoot straight, and live up to all of the other good characteristics noted so far.
In the meantime, I had a chance to introduce new shooters to the SIG Sauer 229 (.357 SIG). They were both interested in getting a 9 mm pistol, but now are at least considering the relative merits of 1) a powerful caliber, and 2) a high quality pistol. This reminds me of another hobby, amateur radio. For many years, Collins Radio made the best ham radio equipment in the world. The Japanese came along and took over the market, but none of the less expensive radios with more features ever said "quality" like the Collins radios. Even today, older Collins radios bring a good price. If there is a comparison in the gun business, it would have to be SIG Sauer. In the midst of all of these other new fangled guns, with Scandium (and crooked barrels) and Titanium (wow, for every two ounces less weight, I got to spend another $100!), the SIG Sauer still says "quality."
February 16. The headline reads "Bummer." The S&W came back again, but the work not done and the comments on the warranty repair sheet resulted in additional correspondence with S&W's Customer Service, and this afternoon I sent the 386PD back for a refund. When I got the 386PD back last week, the repair order said that the "customer complaint" was that the barrel was loose. Wrong. I said that the front sight was canted to the right. Didn't use the word "loose" once. When the gun came back, the front sight was still canted to the right, although not quite as much. This is a $600 revolver, and even today that's pretty expensive. You would think that after going back for repairs TWICE, someone would have picked up the revolver and looked to see if the sights lined up. I liked this revolver, and do not retract any of the comments made already. At the same time, life is too short to accept half assed workmanship and a failure to fix a problem.
After dropping off the 386PD at Fedex, I took the older Model 610 to the range and fired about 150 rounds of .40 S&W in it. It worked great. The 610 may go to a match or two this season to see how well I can do in the revolver division of IPSC. Smith and Wesson can make decent guns, and there wasn't that much wrong with the 386PD, but life is too short...
I have some real nice things to say about Colt in the middle of all this discussion. I returned the Colt CCO for a minor repair. The gun came back pretty quick, repaired, with a new manual and what appear to be new sights. I've fired the CCO maybe 200 times since it got back, and it runs great. Colt is back under new management, and they are doing a great job as far as I'm concerned.
So, what's next? The hunt for a Walther P99 QA continues. One of these days I'll find one. A gun dealer mentioned last month that Walther had lowered prices on the P99 series in order to be more competitive with Glock.
March 3, 2002. It's Here!
I picked up the long awaited Walther P99QA yesterday at the Big Gun Show in Richmond. This one is a 9 mm and I plan to get the Walther P99QA in .40 in the near future. The regular P99 is great, but when firing single action, the trigger comes back too far for my taste. It is a minor thing, not important, but not right either. The QA "Quick Action" model has a trigger movement more like a Glock, short and to the point and quick to reset, and that has made a big difference.
The new P99 QA went for a test firing today, worked great, and the next accessory for the 9 mm will be the HiViz front sight (already here, just waiting for the pistol to arrive). Here is a picture of the sight.
Next to that picture is a snapshot of one target from today's range session. The first shots were fired at the "Q" in the "center of mass" area. The ammunition was Federal's 124 grain "9BPLE" +P hollow point. The bullets have a round nose with a small opening in the end, and I figured this would facilitate reliable feeding. Since the gun worked with every ammunition I tried, it would seem that reliable feeding is an inherent characteristic of the pistol. The top group was fired with Speer Gold Dot 124 grain +P. The group right above the pistol was fired with Federal's Expanding Full Metal Jacket ammunition. This is also 124 grain +P. I read somewhere that the 9 mm Luger pistol was designed in the very beginning to cycle with 124 grain bullets, so I tend to stick with that bullet weight for premium 9 mm ammunition. For practice, the good old Winchester 115 FMJ ammunition in the white box is great. I fired 50 rounds of that today, too, and it worked as it should. The Federal 9BPLE (Law Enforcement) ammunition seems to have the greatest recoil, with the Gold Dot in second place. The Federal Expanding Full Metal Jacket has less recoil than the other two. Right now I would be comfortable using any of the premium ammunition brands I tried today. When I left the range, the pistol was loaded with the Expanding Full Metal Jacket ammunition.
The P99QA sights are right on the money, at 7 yards and out to 25 yards. I could pick a spot on the targets at 25 yards and the group would be there. The groups were not always small, but I could see the groups tighten up a little when I concentrated. Often I practice shooting as though there was very little time available so I trade absolute accuracy for time. Even so, being able to fire several shots into the center of a "Q" target at 25 yards in a few seconds is pretty good for someone of my advanced age.
...and now for something different...
Yesterday, I helped a friend sell guns and accessories at a gun show in Richmond. I wanted to see what it was like on the other side of the table, and to use a technical term, it's weird. One of the guns we sold was a Kel Tec Sub 2000 rifle. The particular Kel Tec we had used Glock Model 17 (9 mm) magazines, and that opens the possibilities of using not only the Model 17 "hi-caps," but also the longer magazines designed for the Model 18 full auto version of the Glock 9 mm pistol. In order to demonstrate the rifle, I had to take a quick course in how it worked. I always thought these things looked pretty weird and never had any interest in getting one, but now I've changed my mind. There are a couple of other carbines that fire 9 mm ammunition, one by "Hi Point" and another by Ruger. The Ruger is expensive, and the Hi Point is very inexpensive. Both have gotten good reviews in gun magazines (for what that's worth), I owned a Ruger PC-9 soon after it came on the market. The idea of a large, carbine size 9 mm rifle never made a lot of sense. The Hi Point made more sense, assuming it was accurate and reliable, and according to Gun Tests magazine, it is accurate enough and very reliable. Now I'm thinking about getting this Kel Tec rifle, not to use it for anything other than plinking. I think it will be fun.
April is almost over and still no Kel-Tec rifles...
The Kel Tec 9 mm rifles are so popular that they are backordered by the major distributors. I've asked a local dealer to try to get one that uses either the Glock or Beretta magazines.
Since the last report, Smith and Wesson did a Good Thing. I sent the Model 625 .45 ACP recvolver back to repair a timing problem. Sometimes the revolver would skip a chamber during rapid fire shooting. Not only did S&W fix this at no charge, but they also replaced the gold dot front sight which had loosened.
Anyone who is active in any hobby always wants to try new stuff, or go back and try old stuff again after putting the old stuff aside while looking at other newer stuff. With shooters, many start with revolvers then move to semi-automatic pistols. Since there are so many different types, models, variations, and calibers, it can take several years, and a lot of money, to try out different pistols. If you need proof of this particular statement, go back to the beginning of "Page 2" and see how many pistols have been discussed.
S&W Model 624 .44 Special
Yes, that is a terrible digital picture, but it does capture the essential features of a rare six shot .44 Special made by S&W to be distributed by Lew Horton (who often gets and sells one of a kind models from S&W). This is a large (N frame) revolver, heavy, and fires an "obsolete" caliber. The .44 Special is a low pressure caliber based on cartridges used on the old west. The bullets weigh about 200 grains and the cartridge produces less velocity and muzzle energy than the .45 ACP. So, if this expensive gun is obsolete on all counts, then why on earth would anyone want one? One reason is that the revolver is a lot of fun to shoot! Another reason is that with Winchester Silvertip ammunition, or some of the Cor Bon loads, or even a Mag Safe load (very expensive, but often very effective), the .44 Special is still effective. While the .44 Special may be obsolete in terms of technology, the idea of accurate placement of a large caliber bullet moving at several hundred feet per second is still a good idea in many circumstances.
Another revolver that has been discussed here before is the S&W 610. Here is a picture...
The 610 is a 10 mm revolver that uses "moon clips" (shown at left). Since the .40 S&W is the same diameter as the 10 mm cartridge, but a little shorter (sort of like the .38 Special and .357 Magnum), the Model 610 can fire the .40s. The 610 weighs over 50 oz so firing the .40s are like firing .38 Specials in a large frame .357 Magnum. There's not much recoil and follow-up shots are fast. After watching Rudi Waldinger shoot a Smith and Wesson Model 627 8 shot .357 Magnum in a recent IPSC match, I decided to enter a match with the 610.
The match was scheduled for Sunday morning April 28 and it rained and rained and rained that morning, only to clear off for a few hours before thunderstorms moved through Virginia and Maryland. In spite of the rain, we were able to set up an IPSC qualifier (with a plastic cover over the single paper target) which had several "Poppers" (steel knock down targets), and later shot another IPSC stage. I borrowed some moon clip holders from Rudi, took his advice every time he gave it, and while I could have done better with a semi-automatic pistol, I'm not sure I would have had as much fun as I did with the revolver. My shots were as accurate with the revolver, but my times were slower because I had to reload after 6 shots.
Moon clips make reloading a very fast proposition. Right now the 3" barrel fixed sight Ruger GP-100 is at Clark Custom Guns being modified to use moon clips for .357 Magnum cartridges. To use a popular term, the result should be an "awesome" revolver.
May is here and activity is picking up. The recent Glock Shooting Sports Foundation match near Richmond proved again to be a good test of equipment and skills. I took a Glock Model 31 (.357 SIG) pistol with an Aro-Tek combination orange dot and tritium dot front sight. The addition of the extra sight put the gun into the "modified or Master" class, which also included guns with fancy optical sights and lighter trigger pulls. During the first stage, the tritium insert in the front sight disappeared into the weeds. I took the gun to the Glock armorer (there were two factory armorers at the match) and he replaced the front sight with a stock front sight (at no charge). Now I had a stock gun, but had to finish the remaining two stages in the same "modified" class as before. Life, as usual, is very unfair. Except for the front sight, which was an aftermarket item, the Model 31 worked great. It's an accurate gun and an accurate caliber. I'm sure I didn't win anything, but I was able to shoot at least as well as some of the people with the Model 34 and Model 35 competition guns. Here is a picture of the Glock 31...
Glock 31 older model without the finger grooves
The "new" S&W Model 624 got a test run a week after the Glock match. There is a picture of the Model 624 .44 Special revolver up the page a little bit. The first 50 rounds fired were cowboy action shooting loads with lead bullets. These had very little recoil. The next 50 rounds were Blazers with 200 grain Gold Dot bullets. As usual, the Gold Dot bullets were very accurate. I also fired a few rounds of regular Gold Dot ammunition with the same bullets and brass cases. The brass cases were much easier to eject than the Blazer aluminum cases.
The Walther P99 QA model had been in the gun safe while all of the revolver shooting was taking place, but since the P99 QA will be going to the Front Sight training facility in a few weeks, the weekend of May 4-5 seemed like an appropriate time to make sure all of the magazines worked, including the very expensive 15 round P99 magazine. I had a chance to work with the P99 at the very nice NRA indoor range. At 50 yards, the P99 put every round on an IDPA target. I know there are people who can hit these size targets at 100 yards. I am just pretty much thrilled to do this at 50 yards, and also to get a decent group at 25 yards.
The CZ-75, Beretta 92, Glock 29, SIG Sauer 229, Ruger GP-100, S&W Models 37 and 909, and a few other guns are great for "carry" for a variety of reasons, but the Walther P99 gets very close to having the highest marks in every category (reliability, light weight, accuracy, simplicity, etc.). No wonder these things keep showing up in the James Bond movies.
Now June 2002 has arrived. It's time for a new page with some very interesting current information. Look below where it says "Click Here to continue to next page." Ready. Set. GO!
Click Here to continue to next page...