First Impressions 2005
Written (always) and Photographed (most of the time) by Randy Mays
H&R .38-55 Winchester caliber Target Rifle
Smith and Wesson Model 15 "Combat Masterpiece"
It's 2005 now. Time to start a new
page. The last gun to arrive during 2004 showed up on New Year's
Eve. It's the H&R rifle shown above. The .38-55 caliber
cartridge goes way back to the black powder days. This cartridge
has lower recoil than the .45-70 and is not as well known, but what
I've learned so far suggests the .38-55 may be fun to shoot. Look
for a report Very Soon.
The Model 15 is shown as a reminder that one of the objectives for 2005: expansion of the "Double Action Shooting Society." DASS is an outgrowth of local (eastern Idaho) interest in revolver shooting.
Late January and there's already been one trip to Front Sight for a Four Day Defensive Handgun Course. After taking basic handgun training at Front Sight a few times, I got into the habit of using either a Glock or a revolver. With the arrival of the new year, it was time to try something different - a Colt 1911 .38 Super pistol. The 1911 requires more manipulation than the Glock or a revolver. The 1911 has a thumb safety that has to go on and off at various times. In the four days, I suspect I operated the thumb safety many more times than I pressed the trigger in dry practice or in live firing.
In the history of firearms in the U.S., the Smith and Wesson revolver and the Colt 1911 semi-automatic pistol are the two most recognized firearms. Both designs are quite old, although modern technology has done wonders for each of these firearms. S&W has machines that can drill an 8 shot .357 Magnum cylinder with great precision. Colt, and the many "clone" manufacturers, can make a 1911 pistol that's got the kinds of features we used to have to go to a gunsmith to obtain.
Colt .38 Super and Blackhawk "CQC" Holster
Colt .38 Super in Blackhawk "CQC" Holster
So, what was learned at Front Sight with a 1911? Lots. It takes awhile to adapt to the 1911's external thumb safety, because it goes on and off a lot, at different times, and for different reasons. Aside from the trigger safety, there are no external safety devices on a Glock (other than the operator's skill). The same is true for revolvers. With the 1911, you have to learn when to take the safety on and off during a chamber check prior to shooting, and you need to learn when to take the safety off during the 5 count presentation from the holster, and when to put the safety back on when holstering.
Anybody you know use the term "re-holster?" Speak to them about this. "Holster" is a verb. It means to put the handgun back in the holster. "Re-holster" means going out and buying a new holster to replace the old one. By the way, another often mis-used term is "clip." Clips to not have springs. Ammunition held by a clip is external to the clip. A magazine has a spring and the ammunition is internal. "Draw" is a verb that describes making pictures with a writing instrument and paper. "Present" is a verb that describes bringing a handgun out of a holster to either a ready position or "pointed in" at a target. This ends today's vocabulary lesson. Thank you for your attention.
The Colt .38 Super is one of the best guns to take to Front Sight. Once you've completed the steps of the presentation from the holster, you see the clear front sight in the big opening of the rear sight, your thumbs are holding the safety down, and it doesn't take much of a trigger press to fire the gun. The thumb safety on and off business is extra and sometimes annoying, but when the sights are on target, the 1911 is the way to go. I've found that in a four day handgun course, due to my age and physical stamina, I "peak" on the third day and shoot the best then. On the fourth day, when we're tested, it's a challenge to do as well as on the third day. On day three of the most recent class, I was doing very well with the Colt, and that's a good clue as to how well I would do with more dry practice.
The final day's test has a break point at -12. You have to score 90 percent or better to gain a Distinguished Graduate certificate. I've done that once with a Glock and a few times with a revolver. The score is a combination of shooting and gun handling exercises. In this class, I had a -12 on the target after the shooting was finished. I made at least one mistake on the gun handling (too slow to complete an exercise), and that dropped me into the "graduate" category. That's ok. This month there's a Handgun Skill Builder class and the Colt and a case of PMC .38 Super ammunition are going back to Front Sight. In the Skill Builder class, you can peak on the second day and that's the day of the test. That should be fun.
Another aspect of the 1911 is that it's like a sports car. You can get some exciting results from it, but you have to be precise and do everything right. All handguns are a challenge, but the 1911 is in a special category.
Taurus 24/7 .40 S&W
Back to Front Sight! There
are going to be a lot of visits to Front Sight this year for all sorts
of reasons. This year's Single Stack Classic is set for July in
Missoula, Montana and I need to improve my very meager skills with the
1911 before July. This past weekend (February 19-20) offered a
good opportunity to practice by taking the Front Sight Handgun Skill
Builder class. The conditions were not great during the weekend
with a lot of rain and cool temperatures. Here is the best and
only photo I got all weekend.
The Model 15 is shown as a reminder that one of the objectives for 2005: expansion of the "Double Action Shooting Society." DASS is an outgrowth of local (eastern Idaho) interest in revolver shooting.
Late January and there's already been one trip to Front Sight for a Four Day Defensive Handgun Course. After taking basic handgun training at Front Sight a few times, I got into the habit of using either a Glock or a revolver. With the arrival of the new year, it was time to try something different - a Colt 1911 .38 Super pistol. The 1911 requires more manipulation than the Glock or a revolver. The 1911 has a thumb safety that has to go on and off at various times. In the four days, I suspect I operated the thumb safety many more times than I pressed the trigger in dry practice or in live firing.
In the history of firearms in the U.S., the Smith and Wesson revolver and the Colt 1911 semi-automatic pistol are the two most recognized firearms. Both designs are quite old, although modern technology has done wonders for each of these firearms. S&W has machines that can drill an 8 shot .357 Magnum cylinder with great precision. Colt, and the many "clone" manufacturers, can make a 1911 pistol that's got the kinds of features we used to have to go to a gunsmith to obtain.
Colt .38 Super and Blackhawk "CQC" Holster
Colt .38 Super in Blackhawk "CQC" Holster
Modifications to the Colt .38 Super (by Peters Custom) included
working on the trigger, adding a Heinie rear sight and Dawson Precision
front sight, along with the beavertail, extended thumb safety,
"Commander" hammer, and the "usual" 1911 mods. I added the
magazine well and the Barnhart grips. At Front Sight I had a
Blade-Tech 1911 holster, and a Fobus holster, and an Uncle Mike's
holster, and wound up taking the class with the Blade-Tech model.
I saw one of the other students with this new "CQC" holster and ordered
one of those after the class. In a practice session today
(February 4), I found the CQC to be a very good holster, and my first
choice for 1911s. I'm not sure if I can get a full firing grip on
a Glock in one of their holsters, but since I putmy firing side thumb
on the safety, I don't have any problem getting the proper grip with a
1911 in this holster. As you can see from the first picture, the
holster can be adjusted for different "cants." I like the holster
to be straight up and down ("straight drop" is the correct term) so I
left it as is. You can also adjust the hoster to the exact belt
width. This is a great product.
So, what was learned at Front Sight with a 1911? Lots. It takes awhile to adapt to the 1911's external thumb safety, because it goes on and off a lot, at different times, and for different reasons. Aside from the trigger safety, there are no external safety devices on a Glock (other than the operator's skill). The same is true for revolvers. With the 1911, you have to learn when to take the safety on and off during a chamber check prior to shooting, and you need to learn when to take the safety off during the 5 count presentation from the holster, and when to put the safety back on when holstering.
Anybody you know use the term "re-holster?" Speak to them about this. "Holster" is a verb. It means to put the handgun back in the holster. "Re-holster" means going out and buying a new holster to replace the old one. By the way, another often mis-used term is "clip." Clips to not have springs. Ammunition held by a clip is external to the clip. A magazine has a spring and the ammunition is internal. "Draw" is a verb that describes making pictures with a writing instrument and paper. "Present" is a verb that describes bringing a handgun out of a holster to either a ready position or "pointed in" at a target. This ends today's vocabulary lesson. Thank you for your attention.
The Colt .38 Super is one of the best guns to take to Front Sight. Once you've completed the steps of the presentation from the holster, you see the clear front sight in the big opening of the rear sight, your thumbs are holding the safety down, and it doesn't take much of a trigger press to fire the gun. The thumb safety on and off business is extra and sometimes annoying, but when the sights are on target, the 1911 is the way to go. I've found that in a four day handgun course, due to my age and physical stamina, I "peak" on the third day and shoot the best then. On the fourth day, when we're tested, it's a challenge to do as well as on the third day. On day three of the most recent class, I was doing very well with the Colt, and that's a good clue as to how well I would do with more dry practice.
The final day's test has a break point at -12. You have to score 90 percent or better to gain a Distinguished Graduate certificate. I've done that once with a Glock and a few times with a revolver. The score is a combination of shooting and gun handling exercises. In this class, I had a -12 on the target after the shooting was finished. I made at least one mistake on the gun handling (too slow to complete an exercise), and that dropped me into the "graduate" category. That's ok. This month there's a Handgun Skill Builder class and the Colt and a case of PMC .38 Super ammunition are going back to Front Sight. In the Skill Builder class, you can peak on the second day and that's the day of the test. That should be fun.
Another aspect of the 1911 is that it's like a sports car. You can get some exciting results from it, but you have to be precise and do everything right. All handguns are a challenge, but the 1911 is in a special category.
Taurus 24/7 .40 S&W
The "24/7" is back from Taurus.
The warranty service department move the rear sight quite a bit to the
right. The gun was shooting to the left. The sights are not
adjustable by the owner. That's pretty strange, because it had to
cost Taurus a few dollars to fix what should have been a minor
problem. At least it's back, so this $300 experiment went to the
range today and it worked. While the gun was away for repair,
Taurus sent a free 15 round magazine, so I tried that with the single
10 round magazine that came with the pistol. Both worked
ok. Glock doesn't have anything to worry about with this new
Taurus in terms of taking away sales in the law enforcement market (at
least here in the USA). For $200 less than a Glock, the 24/7
isn't a bad deal. If you like revolver triggers, you'll like the
24/7 a lot. It has a long, heavy trigger pull. That's not
bad, because at least it's consistent and predictable.
The next session will be set up to see how well S&W did with the 686 and 67 models that went back to the Performance Center for tune-ups. Both guns look great.
At this year's SHOT Show, S&W had several new interesting revolvers. I think my favorite was the plainest looking of the bunch, the new Model 619. It's not a stainless Model 19; that would be a Model 66. The 619 is a stainless (that's what the "6" stands for) 7 shot fixed sight L frame gun with the new two piece barrel setup (the value of which is uncertain at this point...). Bottom line - this would be the ultimate "retro" revolver - what should have been on the market just before the 9 mm semi-auto pistols came into vogue.
And how many Web pages about guns contain the word "vogue." Not many I'll bet. Here is a picture of the Model 619.
S&W Model 619
The next session will be set up to see how well S&W did with the 686 and 67 models that went back to the Performance Center for tune-ups. Both guns look great.
At this year's SHOT Show, S&W had several new interesting revolvers. I think my favorite was the plainest looking of the bunch, the new Model 619. It's not a stainless Model 19; that would be a Model 66. The 619 is a stainless (that's what the "6" stands for) 7 shot fixed sight L frame gun with the new two piece barrel setup (the value of which is uncertain at this point...). Bottom line - this would be the ultimate "retro" revolver - what should have been on the market just before the 9 mm semi-auto pistols came into vogue.
And how many Web pages about guns contain the word "vogue." Not many I'll bet. Here is a picture of the Model 619.
S&W Model 619
Thanks to the Cedar City, Utah Wal Mart
that was open at 7 a.m. on Friday morning, and an accurate weather
forecast, I was able to get ready for Saturday's class at Front
Sight. Dairy farmer boots aren't very warm at the end of the day
when the temperature drops below 50. The boots aren't very
comfortable either, but some $1.57 padded inserts (Wal Mart has a store
in Pahrump, Nevada as well as Cedar City - what a coincidence...)
helped a lot. Many of the Front Sight students showed up in their
Tactical Everything outfits. The mud turned out to be more
strategic than tactical and dairy farmer boots were the hot fashion
item all weekend. A lot of the time we talk about and write about
the guns, ammunition and accessories used at Front Sight, but the
difficult choices come along when it's time to decide what to
wear. It's no problem to accessorize with a Glock, but if you
don't get the basic outfit right, you're way behind the curve. As
you can see in the picture above, my wardrobe comes from Sportsman's
Warehouse, Target, Wal Mart, and Bass Pro Shops. The cap is from
Bass Pro Shop and says "Randy" on the back. This helps the
instructors to say things like, "STOP! Randy, please don't ever
do that again."
By the way, the stuff in the background are called "mountains." The other items include the Front Sight rope and rappel towers, an orange cone and the front part of a Jeep. The storm that caused the mud was the Big One that came across Los Angeles during the weekend.
This was a difficult Skill Builder because of the weather and my old age. Although I shot well enough to graduate this time, my performance was way below par. Doing a poor job once in awhile can be more helpful, and a better motivator, than always performing well. The differences between a poor performance and an excellent performance are very, very small - measured in fractions of a second in many cases. If a major league baseball player were to get a base hit every time at bat, he would be considered the greatest player of all time. Great players hit 3-4 times out of every 10 opportunities. Defensive pistol shooters have to get 10 of 10 every time. On the other hand, we can dress down when we're on the field.
The Ruger GP-100 is back from Clark Custom Guns. It looks nice and feels nice. A progress report will be issued in a few days.
And it has been a few days since I wrote that last sentence. The Ruger GP-100 was used on the year's first ICORE (revolver) match in Idaho Falls and did well enough to place 2nd behind someone who was using a S&W Model 610 with .40 S&W ammunition and moon clips. In other words, the Ruger beat everything that uses speedloaders. Not a bad performance. I'll post a picture of the modified Ruger, but here's something very similar. Just imagine the hammer is bobbed (spur removed) and the trigger is smoother and shiny.
Ruger GP-100 3" Fixed Sights .38 Special
By the way, the stuff in the background are called "mountains." The other items include the Front Sight rope and rappel towers, an orange cone and the front part of a Jeep. The storm that caused the mud was the Big One that came across Los Angeles during the weekend.
This was a difficult Skill Builder because of the weather and my old age. Although I shot well enough to graduate this time, my performance was way below par. Doing a poor job once in awhile can be more helpful, and a better motivator, than always performing well. The differences between a poor performance and an excellent performance are very, very small - measured in fractions of a second in many cases. If a major league baseball player were to get a base hit every time at bat, he would be considered the greatest player of all time. Great players hit 3-4 times out of every 10 opportunities. Defensive pistol shooters have to get 10 of 10 every time. On the other hand, we can dress down when we're on the field.
The Ruger GP-100 is back from Clark Custom Guns. It looks nice and feels nice. A progress report will be issued in a few days.
And it has been a few days since I wrote that last sentence. The Ruger GP-100 was used on the year's first ICORE (revolver) match in Idaho Falls and did well enough to place 2nd behind someone who was using a S&W Model 610 with .40 S&W ammunition and moon clips. In other words, the Ruger beat everything that uses speedloaders. Not a bad performance. I'll post a picture of the modified Ruger, but here's something very similar. Just imagine the hammer is bobbed (spur removed) and the trigger is smoother and shiny.
Ruger GP-100 3" Fixed Sights .38 Special
A long time ago I got a Blade Tech
holster made for this revolver and used that holster in this
match. Holsters for the GP-100 are not that common.
Since then I taught an NRA Basic Pistol class and brought along a Glock 19. Here is a picture of a Glock 19.
Glock Model 19 9mm
Since then I taught an NRA Basic Pistol class and brought along a Glock 19. Here is a picture of a Glock 19.
Glock Model 19 9mm
There is nothing special about a Glock
19. It's a mid size, not full size and not compact size,
pistol. The only differences are in the barrel and stock ("grip")
length. The distance from the trigger to the backstrap is the
same on the Glock 17, 19 and 26. What I discovered, or
rediscovered, is that the Glock 19 just may be the ideal size pistol
for lots of reasons. It fits most hands, and it's
lightweight. That makes a difference when you have a maximum of
One Second to bring the gun from the holster to pointed in on the
target. The Glock 19 has very little "wind resistance" in that
situation and not much mass to overcome. Now that our three
branches of government have permitted ordinary people to once again own
standard capacity magazines (15 rounds in the case of the Glock 19),
these guns are a lot more useful for competition, and for training.
May 30, 2005
Well, the Glock 19 did get a recent workout at Front Sight, and I learned a few new things about it that I would never have suspected. First, some background. The class I took at Front Sight is called Handgun Combat Master Prep. This is an advanced pistol shooting class, and "advanced" is just too mild a term to describe this course. The first thing you have to do on the first day is take the skills test from the 4 day Defensive Handgun class (or the 2 day Skill Builder). The only difference is that you don't have to use concealment. That's a hard test, and to shoot it cold is very stressful. In order to stay in the Master Prep class, you need to shoot a 90 percent or better score. None of us did, but we all came close and were allowed to continue.
After that, some new techniques are introduced and the times lowered. Things that were hard to do in the basic class, are harder by several tenths of a second. There is an Intermediate Skills Test and an Advanced Skills test, all before the Master material is presented. If you think you're a good shooter coming into the Master Prep class, you change that opinion real quick.
I trust Glocks, so I started the class with a Model 34. This is the longer version of the basic 9 mm pistol (17 and 19). The 34 comes with a 3.5 lb connector ("trigger pull") and I had replaced that with a 5.5 lb connector, so that all of my Glocks have 5.5 triggers. I also replaced the sights with some Heinie sights that are plain black and much easier to see. The 34 comes with an extended magazine release and I had no idea how important this would be when it came time to do the malfunction drills. This is an area where the Model 19 came up short, a good lesson learned.
After shooting the Glock 24 for three and a half days, I decided to switch to the 19 to see how it would perform against the Master times. That was a mistake. It didn't work well in the 34 holster (it should have, but "should" is a dangerous word), and the magazine release was slower to manipulate than the extended release on the 34. Interesting, unanticipated problems, but that's why we train. Better to find these things out at the range than in more stressful settings.
Here is a picture of the 34 for new readers who have not seen one.
Glock Model 34
FN FiveSeven
May 30, 2005
Well, the Glock 19 did get a recent workout at Front Sight, and I learned a few new things about it that I would never have suspected. First, some background. The class I took at Front Sight is called Handgun Combat Master Prep. This is an advanced pistol shooting class, and "advanced" is just too mild a term to describe this course. The first thing you have to do on the first day is take the skills test from the 4 day Defensive Handgun class (or the 2 day Skill Builder). The only difference is that you don't have to use concealment. That's a hard test, and to shoot it cold is very stressful. In order to stay in the Master Prep class, you need to shoot a 90 percent or better score. None of us did, but we all came close and were allowed to continue.
After that, some new techniques are introduced and the times lowered. Things that were hard to do in the basic class, are harder by several tenths of a second. There is an Intermediate Skills Test and an Advanced Skills test, all before the Master material is presented. If you think you're a good shooter coming into the Master Prep class, you change that opinion real quick.
I trust Glocks, so I started the class with a Model 34. This is the longer version of the basic 9 mm pistol (17 and 19). The 34 comes with a 3.5 lb connector ("trigger pull") and I had replaced that with a 5.5 lb connector, so that all of my Glocks have 5.5 triggers. I also replaced the sights with some Heinie sights that are plain black and much easier to see. The 34 comes with an extended magazine release and I had no idea how important this would be when it came time to do the malfunction drills. This is an area where the Model 19 came up short, a good lesson learned.
After shooting the Glock 24 for three and a half days, I decided to switch to the 19 to see how it would perform against the Master times. That was a mistake. It didn't work well in the 34 holster (it should have, but "should" is a dangerous word), and the magazine release was slower to manipulate than the extended release on the 34. Interesting, unanticipated problems, but that's why we train. Better to find these things out at the range than in more stressful settings.
Here is a picture of the 34 for new readers who have not seen one.
Glock Model 34
And now for something a whole lot
different...
FN FiveSeven
The next pistol to be tested around here
is the new FN FiveSeven "USG" model. This pistol holds 20 rounds
of 5.7 x 28 mm. It has a light rail and adjustable sights.
The safety is in an unusual spot, above the trigger as shown in the
picture above, and the magzine release can be moved to the other side
of the gun. Since slides should be released by grasping the slide
with the support side hand, pulling back and releasing, it doesn't much
matter which side the built-in slide release is on.
Although ammunition is hard to find, and expensive, the 5.7 offers some unique attributes: high magazine capacity, low recoil, good sights, good ergonomics, and ease of operation (different from ergonomics...). The 5.7 has a reputation among those politicians with low IQs and reading skills as being a dangerous, because it will fire a round that can go through body armor. It is a military pistol that was designed to have this capability. Those of us who shoot as a hobby have no interest in this capability, but rather are intrigued by the flat shooting characteristics of the round. A pistol that can hit at 100 or even 200 meters is interesting, because most pistols don't do well at longer ranges. For personal defense, the 5.7 caliber may or may not be a good idea. We know that all pistol rounds are weak when compared with shotguns and rifles, and the 5.7 will not be an exception to that general rule. On the other hand, bullet placement is a key to an effective defensive shooting capability. The 5.7 should be very good in that respect, and a 20 round magazine and low recoil offers the chance to place several bullets in the same time another heavier caliber pistol's front sight would be coming back on target.
There is a discussion forum about the FiveSeven. Hard to believe, but the URL is www.fivesevenforum.com. Who would have ever thought of such an obvious name for a Web site.
Taurus 905
Although ammunition is hard to find, and expensive, the 5.7 offers some unique attributes: high magazine capacity, low recoil, good sights, good ergonomics, and ease of operation (different from ergonomics...). The 5.7 has a reputation among those politicians with low IQs and reading skills as being a dangerous, because it will fire a round that can go through body armor. It is a military pistol that was designed to have this capability. Those of us who shoot as a hobby have no interest in this capability, but rather are intrigued by the flat shooting characteristics of the round. A pistol that can hit at 100 or even 200 meters is interesting, because most pistols don't do well at longer ranges. For personal defense, the 5.7 caliber may or may not be a good idea. We know that all pistol rounds are weak when compared with shotguns and rifles, and the 5.7 will not be an exception to that general rule. On the other hand, bullet placement is a key to an effective defensive shooting capability. The 5.7 should be very good in that respect, and a 20 round magazine and low recoil offers the chance to place several bullets in the same time another heavier caliber pistol's front sight would be coming back on target.
There is a discussion forum about the FiveSeven. Hard to believe, but the URL is www.fivesevenforum.com. Who would have ever thought of such an obvious name for a Web site.
Taurus 905
Now here's something
you don't see every day, a current production 9 mm revolver that uses
moon clips. The Taurus 905 CHSS (concealed hammer, stainless
steel) is a very small revolver with a 1.75" barrel. It holds 5
shots. I guess "905" then becomes a descriptive model
number. This kind of gun is effective, in most cases, at
closer ranges because of the limited velocity achieved in the short
barrel, and the short sight radius. For those in Rigby, "radius"
is the distance between the front and rear sights. I saw the 905
at the SHOT Show and, like many of the things I saw there (including
the FN USG) thought it might be interesting to get one and try it
out. These small revolvers are not expensive, and do not cost as
much as an equivalent (if you could find an equivalent) S&W or
Ruger recolver. I'm not sure if there is a prohibition against
using +P or +P+ ammunition in the 905. When teaching students to
select the correct ammunition for a firearm, we remind them to match up
Four B's (brass, barrel, box, and book). I've not read the book
on the 905 yet, so will stick with standard pressure 9 mm for the time
being.
When I picked up the 905, the shop owner had some 5.7 x 28 ammunition. That will permit a tryout of the new FN pistol before the large crates of ammunition arrive in the next week or so.
July 17, 2005! The emphasis on the date is to admit I'm falling behind on my writing. The FN FiveSeven pistol is great. It works fine and is very accurate. I'm not sure of the exact long term uses of this firearm, but it sure is fun to have access to the latest technology to see how it works.
Yesterday, July 16 to be exact, we took the Idaho Fish and Game Hunter Education Instructors, juniors and seniors, out to the local range to let them have some fun with some different types of firearms. We provided Glock and Springfirle (XD) semi-autos in 9 and .40, a new S&T 686 7 shot with 5 inch barrel, and the little Taurus 905 shown above. With the Hogue grips from the S&W 500 revolver, the 686 firing 158 grain .357 Magnum loads felt like shooting a .38 Special. With mild .38 Special ammunition, the 686 felt like it was shooting an even smaller caliber. If you need to shoot 7 heavy .357 Magnum rounds in a hurry for some reason, this is the setup.
Time for a new digital image. Here goes...
In the spirit of "Where's Waldo," where is the new Glock?
When I picked up the 905, the shop owner had some 5.7 x 28 ammunition. That will permit a tryout of the new FN pistol before the large crates of ammunition arrive in the next week or so.
July 17, 2005! The emphasis on the date is to admit I'm falling behind on my writing. The FN FiveSeven pistol is great. It works fine and is very accurate. I'm not sure of the exact long term uses of this firearm, but it sure is fun to have access to the latest technology to see how it works.
Yesterday, July 16 to be exact, we took the Idaho Fish and Game Hunter Education Instructors, juniors and seniors, out to the local range to let them have some fun with some different types of firearms. We provided Glock and Springfirle (XD) semi-autos in 9 and .40, a new S&T 686 7 shot with 5 inch barrel, and the little Taurus 905 shown above. With the Hogue grips from the S&W 500 revolver, the 686 firing 158 grain .357 Magnum loads felt like shooting a .38 Special. With mild .38 Special ammunition, the 686 felt like it was shooting an even smaller caliber. If you need to shoot 7 heavy .357 Magnum rounds in a hurry for some reason, this is the setup.
Time for a new digital image. Here goes...
In the spirit of "Where's Waldo," where is the new Glock?
Here's the order from
top to bottom: Model 21, Model 24, Model 19, Model 34, and the
little one is a Model 26. Wait a minute! Glock no longer
makes the long slide (6" barrel) Model 24, but oh yes they do.
Glock has started shipping Model 24 in the latest generation setup
(finger grooves, etc.). The 24 is a .40 S&W caliber pistol
with adjustable sights, an extended magazine release, 3.5 lb connector,
and extended slide stop lever. Notice the holster wear on the
finish of the Model 34, second from the bottom. This pistol gets
a
lot of use around here and at Front Sight.
The Model 24 will be getting Heinie "Slant Pro" sights and a 5.5 lb connector. The 3.5 connector might be great for bullseye target shooting, but all of the Glocks here have the standard 5.5 lb "feel." There's no such thing as "muscle memory," but there is such a thing as memory. When I pick up a Glock I expect it to have a 5.5 lb trigger. Yesterday, I was shooting a very nice 1911 with a much shorter and lighter trigger pull, and it felt a lot different.
The little Taurus 5 shot 9 mm revolver was a lot of fun to shoot. All we had was American Eagle practice ammunition, so the revolver hasn't been fired with +P ammunition yet. It seems to work ok. At short ranges, you can get the 5 rounds off pretty quick and hit the center of a target or what we call the "thoracic cavity" (where all of the important plumbing is located). The little Taurus would make a very nice back-up gun.
Glock 24
The Model 24 will be getting Heinie "Slant Pro" sights and a 5.5 lb connector. The 3.5 connector might be great for bullseye target shooting, but all of the Glocks here have the standard 5.5 lb "feel." There's no such thing as "muscle memory," but there is such a thing as memory. When I pick up a Glock I expect it to have a 5.5 lb trigger. Yesterday, I was shooting a very nice 1911 with a much shorter and lighter trigger pull, and it felt a lot different.
The little Taurus 5 shot 9 mm revolver was a lot of fun to shoot. All we had was American Eagle practice ammunition, so the revolver hasn't been fired with +P ammunition yet. It seems to work ok. At short ranges, you can get the 5 rounds off pretty quick and hit the center of a target or what we call the "thoracic cavity" (where all of the important plumbing is located). The little Taurus would make a very nice back-up gun.
Glock 24
The Glock 24 went to
the range today for the first time. Before shooting the new
model, I replaced two parts. The first was the trigger return
spring and the second was the 3.5 pound connector. I've seen one
trigger return spring fail before, so now I replace that part with a
Wolff spring. There's nothing wrong with using a 3.5 connector in
a Glock, unless you have more than one Glock and the other one has a
different trigger weight. I like having all of the Glock triggers
feel the same.
The 24 is very easy to shoot. The longer barrel gives the gun a nice balance. It will take up to six weeks before a new Blade-Tech holster for the 24 will arrive, but Blade-Tech holsters are worth the wait.
The 24 is not legal in IDPA or IPSC competition. Models 34 and 35 are shorter to meet the requirements of these sports. So why would anyone want a nice competition pistol that can't be used in competition? My reason for getting the 24 is simple: I didn't have one. What better reason could there be for purchasing something related to a hobby? Also, if this afternoon's range session is any indication, the 24 is just plain fun to shoot. There's a lot to be said for a long sight radius. Size does matter. Of course, the sights that came on the 24 are, to use a technical term, awful. I know that Glock can put good sights on a pistol, because they do that with night sights, but the little plastic front sight and adjustable rear sight are just not what you'd want if this pistol was to get a lot of hard use. The Henie "Slant Pro" sights will be here soon and can be installed in a few minutes.
It's August 21 and the Heinie sights aren't here yet. Maybe real soon.
We had a big IDPA "back up gun" match the other night and I decided to shoot my very cool Walther PPK/S-1. This is the latest verison of the PPK with a larger beavertail to reduce, but in my case not eliminate, cuts and abrasions as the slide goes back. I ran the gun with Remington green box .380 ammunition, a type that should work in any .380 without problems. On a couple of stages, I got a "Type 3" malfunction ("double feed"). Well, darn. You can clear a Type 3 with most pistols in a few seconds IF you can lock the slide back. With the PPK, you can't lock the slide back, so stripping the magazine out of the gun (part of the solution) is Very Difficult.
The Double Feed Special
The .380 That's Reliable
The 24 is very easy to shoot. The longer barrel gives the gun a nice balance. It will take up to six weeks before a new Blade-Tech holster for the 24 will arrive, but Blade-Tech holsters are worth the wait.
The 24 is not legal in IDPA or IPSC competition. Models 34 and 35 are shorter to meet the requirements of these sports. So why would anyone want a nice competition pistol that can't be used in competition? My reason for getting the 24 is simple: I didn't have one. What better reason could there be for purchasing something related to a hobby? Also, if this afternoon's range session is any indication, the 24 is just plain fun to shoot. There's a lot to be said for a long sight radius. Size does matter. Of course, the sights that came on the 24 are, to use a technical term, awful. I know that Glock can put good sights on a pistol, because they do that with night sights, but the little plastic front sight and adjustable rear sight are just not what you'd want if this pistol was to get a lot of hard use. The Henie "Slant Pro" sights will be here soon and can be installed in a few minutes.
It's August 21 and the Heinie sights aren't here yet. Maybe real soon.
We had a big IDPA "back up gun" match the other night and I decided to shoot my very cool Walther PPK/S-1. This is the latest verison of the PPK with a larger beavertail to reduce, but in my case not eliminate, cuts and abrasions as the slide goes back. I ran the gun with Remington green box .380 ammunition, a type that should work in any .380 without problems. On a couple of stages, I got a "Type 3" malfunction ("double feed"). Well, darn. You can clear a Type 3 with most pistols in a few seconds IF you can lock the slide back. With the PPK, you can't lock the slide back, so stripping the magazine out of the gun (part of the solution) is Very Difficult.
The Double Feed Special
What is super
annoying about all this is that this pistol had been worked by on
Cylinder and Slide. They do excellent work. The pistol had
just been cleaned and lubricated and it should have worked ok with
factory ammunition. I am now not confident in its reliability and
we all know what happens in that instance (TRADE!).
The .380 That's Reliable
Not all foreign made
.380s act funny. I have a new CZ-83 that works great. The
new one has a nickel plated slide, sort of two tone deal that looks
more like...
The CZ-83 came out a
few years ago as a competitor to the Makarov pistol. The CZ has
some additional features, and is missing some. The CZ can be
carried "cocked and locked" or fired double action for the first
shot. The Makarov is always DA on the first shot.
The safety is a de-cocker on the
Makarov. I have to admit that while the CZ looks nice, I might
decide to take the Makarov along on a dangerous journey (although none
are planned at this time). The 9X18 is a tiny bit more powerful
than the .380, and I have never experienced a malfunction with a
Russian or East German Makarov pistol.
It's almost September, 2005. Labor Day will be here soon... The August 2005 ICORE (revolver) match is the day after tomorrow. I was bound and determined (ok, I wasn't bound in the traditional sense) to shoot the S&W 646 at least once this year in a match. Here is a picture of the 646...
It's almost September, 2005. Labor Day will be here soon... The August 2005 ICORE (revolver) match is the day after tomorrow. I was bound and determined (ok, I wasn't bound in the traditional sense) to shoot the S&W 646 at least once this year in a match. Here is a picture of the 646...
...and the 646 is the revolver on the
bottom. As you can see, or may have even seen before, it has a
titanium cylinder and, if you could see it except that it's on the
other side of the revolver, the barrel says .40 S&W. The
other revolver in the picture is a .38 Super. The 646 came from a
limited production run at Smith and Wesson. Since I bought it,
the revolver has had a lot of misfires that could not be cured with
changing moon clips or ammunition, so Radical Steps were taken.
First was the installation of an extended firing pin. Now the
firing pin comes out a little bit more and should hit the primers hard
enough to solve the misfiring problem. Second was the
installation of a Miculek S&W Revolver Spring Kit, made by "Bang,
Inc." (and available from Brownells). Once the extended firing
pin is installed, dry practice requires the use of snap caps to protect
the firing pin from damage. Now, as we all know, the world is
unfair. When you go to buy .40 S&W snap caps, the assumption
is that you want to use them in a semi-auto pistol, so you get 4 or 5
in a pack. This is a SIX shot revolver so that means getting two
packs. These things aren't cheap and, woe of woes, Murphy's Law
applies to the retailing of snap caps. The store had just one
package left. Drat. Another store had more, so the problem
was solved although, as usual, at great expense.
Nobody makes a holster for the 646 per se (a little Latin lingo there...). The Fobus roto-paddle holster made for generic S&W revolvers fits just fine, as does the Uncle Mike's fabric #3 size revolver holster (after you shove the revolver in there a few times to expand the holster a little). Practicing presentations with both holsters suggests that there's no real difference in presentation time between the two, and the Fobus retains the gun a little better, so that's the holster I'll use in the match on Saturday.
Ah, ha! It pays to experiment. Just to be sure the hot setup on the 646 was in fact the hot setup, I went to the range this afternoon to make the gun worked before tomorrow's Big Revolver Match. First 6 shots were Federal. No problem. Second series of 6 shots were Blazer. Misfires. Ok, still no problem. Just don't use Blazers. Switched back to the Federal (American Eagle) and on the 6th shot, the cylinder bound up tight. I suspect the extended firing pin is stuck in the primer. Oh, darn. At least this didn't happen in a match. So, no 646 tomorrow.
There are a lot of revolvers to choose from around here, but since this is Idaho, I figure it's time to get serious and take the Model 29 Mountain Gun to a match. The 29 is blued and looks very nice. It looks like a Smith and Wesson revolver ought to look (like it was used in a Clint Eastwood movie). Just as Dirty Harry once admitted to doing, I plan to shoot .44 Specials in the Model 29. It's a big gun with rubber grips so that should be a lot of fun. With the diameter of the .44 Special bullet, I may get some rounds to bring into the next scoring zone. With the FN FiveSeven, the little tiny holes didn't always make it to the next line on the target. Here is a picture of the Model 29 Mountain Gun.
S&W Model 29
Nobody makes a holster for the 646 per se (a little Latin lingo there...). The Fobus roto-paddle holster made for generic S&W revolvers fits just fine, as does the Uncle Mike's fabric #3 size revolver holster (after you shove the revolver in there a few times to expand the holster a little). Practicing presentations with both holsters suggests that there's no real difference in presentation time between the two, and the Fobus retains the gun a little better, so that's the holster I'll use in the match on Saturday.
Ah, ha! It pays to experiment. Just to be sure the hot setup on the 646 was in fact the hot setup, I went to the range this afternoon to make the gun worked before tomorrow's Big Revolver Match. First 6 shots were Federal. No problem. Second series of 6 shots were Blazer. Misfires. Ok, still no problem. Just don't use Blazers. Switched back to the Federal (American Eagle) and on the 6th shot, the cylinder bound up tight. I suspect the extended firing pin is stuck in the primer. Oh, darn. At least this didn't happen in a match. So, no 646 tomorrow.
There are a lot of revolvers to choose from around here, but since this is Idaho, I figure it's time to get serious and take the Model 29 Mountain Gun to a match. The 29 is blued and looks very nice. It looks like a Smith and Wesson revolver ought to look (like it was used in a Clint Eastwood movie). Just as Dirty Harry once admitted to doing, I plan to shoot .44 Specials in the Model 29. It's a big gun with rubber grips so that should be a lot of fun. With the diameter of the .44 Special bullet, I may get some rounds to bring into the next scoring zone. With the FN FiveSeven, the little tiny holes didn't always make it to the next line on the target. Here is a picture of the Model 29 Mountain Gun.
S&W Model 29
The Model 29 was not
the winning revolver in the match, but I had fun shooting it.
Reloads with the old fashioned speedloaders were a little bit
slow. I think the gun looks better than it shoots for me, but
that's because of some physical challenges and not because there's
anything wrong with the revolver. After we shot all of the
regular stages, I switched to the trusty Model 64 (.38 Special 3"
barrel), and had a lot more fun with that.
The 646 was at the match, but only to be opened up for a look at the jam. A lot of people get the terms "jam" and "malfunction" mixed up. At Front Sight, a jam means the gun stops working and requires a gunsmith to fix it. A malfunction is a temporary problem that can be cured by the operator, a misfire for example. It turns out when the 646 was reassembled, one of the parts associated with the firing pin was left out. That's been fixed so testing will continue next week. Getting the cylinder unlocked took the application of a .17 cleaning run with a pointed end. This was used to push the firing pin back out from the front of the revolver. There's always something new to learn about these things.
Labor Day weekend 2005. The 646 went to the range today. There are two terms I like. One is "sorted out" and the other is "squared away." Both apply to the 646 now. The extended firing pin works fine now that all of the parts are in the gun. The polymer moon clips are great. I fired both Federal (American Eagle) and Winchester (white box) 165 grain loads in the revolver and it worked just fine. It would be nice is someone other than Fobus made a holster for this revolver, someone like, oh, say, BLADE TECH! But so far I've not been able to get a 646 holster from them. That's ok. I suspect that a 686 (.357 Magnum) revolver holster might work with the 646, but don't want to invest in an experiment to find out. The 646 will be my ICORE revolver now that it's working. This winter, I may load some lighter .40 rounds and those would be more fun to shoot, even though they represent a "minor" category load.
I also had a chance to break out the Model 625 today. That's a .45 ACP "Mountain Gun" that has had some very nice trigger work done on it. The 625 is an "N" frame so it's bigger than the 646 on the "L" frame, but they feel about the same when fired.
The long awaited Heinie sights came for the Glock 24 so those will be installed and tried out this weekend.
Tomorrow will be the first day of October, 2005. The Heinie sights work great on the Model 24. This is not a surprise. The 24 with those sights and a Blade-Tech holster make a very good combination so, of course, now it's time to try something else. Here are a couple of pictures with more text to follow in the coming days.
This .22 Magnum revolver is fun.
This .40 S&W pistol is Nice.
The 646 was at the match, but only to be opened up for a look at the jam. A lot of people get the terms "jam" and "malfunction" mixed up. At Front Sight, a jam means the gun stops working and requires a gunsmith to fix it. A malfunction is a temporary problem that can be cured by the operator, a misfire for example. It turns out when the 646 was reassembled, one of the parts associated with the firing pin was left out. That's been fixed so testing will continue next week. Getting the cylinder unlocked took the application of a .17 cleaning run with a pointed end. This was used to push the firing pin back out from the front of the revolver. There's always something new to learn about these things.
Labor Day weekend 2005. The 646 went to the range today. There are two terms I like. One is "sorted out" and the other is "squared away." Both apply to the 646 now. The extended firing pin works fine now that all of the parts are in the gun. The polymer moon clips are great. I fired both Federal (American Eagle) and Winchester (white box) 165 grain loads in the revolver and it worked just fine. It would be nice is someone other than Fobus made a holster for this revolver, someone like, oh, say, BLADE TECH! But so far I've not been able to get a 646 holster from them. That's ok. I suspect that a 686 (.357 Magnum) revolver holster might work with the 646, but don't want to invest in an experiment to find out. The 646 will be my ICORE revolver now that it's working. This winter, I may load some lighter .40 rounds and those would be more fun to shoot, even though they represent a "minor" category load.
I also had a chance to break out the Model 625 today. That's a .45 ACP "Mountain Gun" that has had some very nice trigger work done on it. The 625 is an "N" frame so it's bigger than the 646 on the "L" frame, but they feel about the same when fired.
The long awaited Heinie sights came for the Glock 24 so those will be installed and tried out this weekend.
Tomorrow will be the first day of October, 2005. The Heinie sights work great on the Model 24. This is not a surprise. The 24 with those sights and a Blade-Tech holster make a very good combination so, of course, now it's time to try something else. Here are a couple of pictures with more text to follow in the coming days.
This .22 Magnum revolver is fun.
This .40 S&W pistol is Nice.
Today
is October 20, 2005. The new SIG P229 "SAS" pistol went
to Front Sight last weekend and performed very well. I shot it
for the first day with no problems (as long as I seated the magazines
the first time). The grip screws in the picture above are not
what was on my 229; it had torx IP20 fastners instead. As is
often the case with SIGs, the screws loosened up on one grip, but not
until the end of the day. I was lucky not to lose the fastner
that came out back at the hotel. When I get the right tool to
replace it, I'll use that and some LocTite to help keep the grips in
place. That's a pretty minor, and typical for SIGs,
complaint. The pistol has the new DAK trigger, but you couldn't
prove it from the way I was shooting. There are two trigger reset
points after the first shot is fired. The first reset point isn't
that far forward, but I think I was letting the trigger go all the way
forward, as I would with a revolver. Regardless, the gun shot
very well when I kept the trigger under control. Reliability was
perfect. Sights were right on the money. My only real
complaint after firing several hundred rounds was that the combination
of .40 S&W (165 grain Blazer rounds), wooden grips, and a steel
frame resulted in some discomfort in the area between my thumb
and trigger finger. Considering that I shoot a lot more than most
people do in a single day, that's not a big deal at all. The
pistol handled very well in presentations from the holster, and during
malfunction clearances.
The second day of the class, I changed to a Glock Model 24, the long slide (6" barrel) .40 S&W pistol. Just before the final skills test, the Heinie front sight disappeared. I borrowed a .40 barrel for my Model 31 (.357 SIG) Glock and shot the skills test cold with that setup. After getting used to the length and weight of the 24, the 31 felt much lighter - and I put a couple of shots higher on the target than I wanted to until I figured that out. Even so, I was down -14 on a total score of 125 points. I'll take that with a pistol I've never fired before.
Until this past weekend I wasn't a huge fan of the .40 S&W in any pistol, but now I've developed a taste for it. If you pay attention to the Front Sight instructors and do what they say about recoil control, a .40 is not a big deal. There's a lot more energy in the .40 should that be needed. I do not agree with people who say you can practice with a .22 conversion or a 9 mm pistol and have all of those skills transfer over to a .40, .45 ACP, .45 GAP, or the 10 mm. Each caliber is different, and you notice the differences.
Not to Scale: SIGARMS Mosquito .22 LR Pistol and Taurus Tracker .45 ACP Revolver
The second day of the class, I changed to a Glock Model 24, the long slide (6" barrel) .40 S&W pistol. Just before the final skills test, the Heinie front sight disappeared. I borrowed a .40 barrel for my Model 31 (.357 SIG) Glock and shot the skills test cold with that setup. After getting used to the length and weight of the 24, the 31 felt much lighter - and I put a couple of shots higher on the target than I wanted to until I figured that out. Even so, I was down -14 on a total score of 125 points. I'll take that with a pistol I've never fired before.
Until this past weekend I wasn't a huge fan of the .40 S&W in any pistol, but now I've developed a taste for it. If you pay attention to the Front Sight instructors and do what they say about recoil control, a .40 is not a big deal. There's a lot more energy in the .40 should that be needed. I do not agree with people who say you can practice with a .22 conversion or a 9 mm pistol and have all of those skills transfer over to a .40, .45 ACP, .45 GAP, or the 10 mm. Each caliber is different, and you notice the differences.
Not to Scale: SIGARMS Mosquito .22 LR Pistol and Taurus Tracker .45 ACP Revolver
The new SIG Mosquito arrived this week -
for the second time. The first one had all kinds of problems and
SIGARMS replaced it. After a couple of small problems with
standard velocity ammunition, the pistol seemed to start breaking in
and working ok. I haven't tried it with the Mini-Mag higher
velocity ammunition. That will require a spring change and I'll
do that during my next leisure visit to the range. The other gun
shown here is a Taurus Model 455 revolver. It's in the break-in
period also. The sights were a little bit off, but can be
adjusted.
Since neither of these guns replaces any of the older acquisitions, one might ask, and it would be a reasonable question, why add these to the collection? The Mosquito, if it proves reliable, will be used in NRA Basic Pistol classes. The Taurus, and here's where it gets interesting, will be used with .45 Super ammunition. Revolver cylinders have cuts in them so that the mechanism can turn the cylinder. On a Smith and Wesson revolver, these cuts are in the thin part of the cylinder - in the chamber wall. This makes it a little bit risky to use higher pressure ammunition. The Taurus, on the other hand, has these cuts between chambers for a stronger setup. There are lighter .45 Super loads and loads that are more exciting. I may stay with the lighter loads. These are still superior to the standard, and even +P, .45 ACP loadings.
Beretta PX4 "Storm" 9 mm Pistol
Since neither of these guns replaces any of the older acquisitions, one might ask, and it would be a reasonable question, why add these to the collection? The Mosquito, if it proves reliable, will be used in NRA Basic Pistol classes. The Taurus, and here's where it gets interesting, will be used with .45 Super ammunition. Revolver cylinders have cuts in them so that the mechanism can turn the cylinder. On a Smith and Wesson revolver, these cuts are in the thin part of the cylinder - in the chamber wall. This makes it a little bit risky to use higher pressure ammunition. The Taurus, on the other hand, has these cuts between chambers for a stronger setup. There are lighter .45 Super loads and loads that are more exciting. I may stay with the lighter loads. These are still superior to the standard, and even +P, .45 ACP loadings.
Beretta PX4 "Storm" 9 mm Pistol
There's always something new coming onto
the market. The latest item to hit the shelves here in Idaho is
the Beretta PX4 pistol. The PX4 has a polymer frame, and the
basic rotating barrel action of the Cougar. Look for more
impressions on this new addition to the Beretta line in a few days.
Has it been a few days yet? Don't know. It's November 26 now, a couple of days after Thanksgiving and the day after our first substantial snow of the year in Idaho Falls. Here is a picture of the test crew for the Beretta PX4. This is the best group we could assemble on a day when ordinary people had sense enough to stay indoors.
Dan, Tim, and Bruce, all members of the Southeastern Idaho Practical Shooters.
Has it been a few days yet? Don't know. It's November 26 now, a couple of days after Thanksgiving and the day after our first substantial snow of the year in Idaho Falls. Here is a picture of the test crew for the Beretta PX4. This is the best group we could assemble on a day when ordinary people had sense enough to stay indoors.
Dan, Tim, and Bruce, all members of the Southeastern Idaho Practical Shooters.
I had already fired the PX4 a few times,
noting that 1) there were no malfunctions (using Winchester "white box"
115 grain 9 mm cartridges), and 2) that the gun shot to "point of aim"
at close range and hit a steel plate about 50 yards away with a slight
6 o'clock hold. One of our regular revolver contest stages had
six targets, four NRA D-1 targets and two IPSC targets. The stage
required the shooters, using 5 shot back-up guns, to place two rounds
into the D-1 targets and one round into each of the IPSC target's
"upper scoring area" (head). This required a re-load. When
we finished that, we all loaded ten round into the Beretta and fired
the same course without a pause - starting from a ready position in the
double action mode for the first shot. I think I did it in 8
seconds, and could have done better. We were all using gloves
today - except for Dan.
I suspect that a lot of people like the very smooth trigger action on the Beretta 92/96 pistols, but these are Big Pistols and hard to conceal. The PX4, with its rotating barrel action, is much smaller, but has the same decent trigger mechanism. On the 92, I used to replace the mainspring with a firing pin spring from a 1911 to get a lighter, yet reliable trigger weight. No need for anything like that with the PX4. At this point, I am still a purist in wishing for a single type of trigger, and the PX4 does have double action on the first shot and single action on subsequent shots. I am not a fan of this "DA/SA" stuff, but the PX4 shoots so well that it's worth the tiny effort to develop the extra trigger skills.
To put the Beretta PX4 in perspective, it has replaced a Glock 17 in a "home defense" role. It is that reliable, accurate, and easy to use.
November 2005 is almost over. December will be here very soon with another trip to Front Sight on the schedule. Although I was able to get a Distinguished Graduate certificate the last time I was there, there is still one part of the test that always causes problems - head shots. It's one thing to be able to hit a large area representing the thoracic cavity. It's quite another to take the time (measured in tenths of a second) to get a more accurate shot at the equivalent of a 3" by 5" card (maybe a little smaller now that I think of about it). It is easier to do this with a Glock because you can take out the slack in the trigger during the presentation so that when the sights are on the right part of the target, it just takes a little bit more pressure on the trigger to fire the shot. It is harder to do this with a revolver, because you are dealing with a double action trigger that's much heavier than the Glock trigger and the revolver trigger doesn't have any significant slack compared to most semi-automatic pistols.
I have one revolver that, for some odd reason (ergonomics?), is easier to shoot than my usual S&W K frame revolvers. This one is the Taurus Tracker .357 Magnum. The titanium frame combined with .38 Special ammunition lets me control the front sight while all of the trigger stuff is getting done. I've seen this gun get a lot of dead center hits on IDPA and IPSC targets, but have never tried it in the Front Sight "designated head shot" situation. It will be worth taking the Taurus to Front Sight in December just to test my theory that these annoying head shots might be less of a problem.
With the end of 2005 on its way, I'm not sure if there will be any new guns to write about. The local Sportsman's Warehouse store had Remington 870 20 gauge Youth Models on sale after Thanksgiving so I got one of those to use for Hunter Education classes. We don't let the kids shoot real shotguns (we would, but Boise says we can't), but we can show them safe handling and how the action works on the 870. The Youth Model is the perfect size for this kind of training. The ones on sale had the black synthetic stocks. I had a chance to fire a few rounds the other day and the 870 works great. I do keep reaching for the slide released in the "wrong" (Mossberg is right and Remington is wrong) location on the receiver. If you can imagine a shotgun the size of an M-1 Carbine, that describes the Youth Model. Anyone can shoot it, and shoot it well. And 20 gauge buckshot is much, much superior to any handgun round in terms of muzzle energy.
The Beretta PX4 story continues with a series of e-mail exchanges with Beretta regarding holsters and parts. Beretta responded to my question about the mission grip adapters by noting that none of their "commercial" PX4s had been shipped with adapters. I'm not sure what a commercial PX4 is, except that term suggests they may donate some to a charity somewhere at no cost. So, for now at least there are no adapters to fit the gun to different size hands. The www.px4storm.com Web site shows four different cool looking holsters for the PX4. One appears to be very interesting. Guess which one isn't for sale? Of course.
So, being a little anxious to try the PX4 in some sort of holster, I decided to invest in a Yaqui slide from Galco. I ordered one from the Galco Web site. Galco sent the wrong holster, and when I talked to them on the phone about it, the customer service person turned out to be a, to use a medical term, moron. I know there's a fine line between being an idiot and being a moron, but this guy fit the latter description. An idiot may be an idiot through not fault of his or hers, but a moron is either unconscious of his or her incompetence or conscious and doesn't care. I symphathize with someone who is an idiot. I have no sympathy for a moron's plight. The Galco person was without a doubt a moron. I say this because he informed me that it was my fault they had shipped the wrong holster because of some quirk in their Web server that every once in awhile gets the part numbers mixed up. Huh? I'm always glad to admit mistakes, but when I'm told by a moron that I've made a mistake, I tend to reject the moron's theory. Call this warfare between intellectual classes, or what you will, but it happens from time to time. I take no joy in reporting these people and their behaviors to the senior management of their companies.
As a counterpoint to this annoying nonsense, I should mention the great people at Blade-Tech who I like a whole lot. I've ordered a holster from them for the PX4, and I expect it will be well made. If there is a problem with it, I expect Blade-Tech to fix the problem, and they will. They are good people. Galco, on the other hand, employs at least one and perhaps more than one moron. Nice holsters, but the chances that I'll buy one again are, to use another medical term, kaput.
And now, a few days later, the story gets more interesting. One of the readers of this Web page wrote and asked why I felt the need to attack some unnamed, low paid worker in a holster sweatshop environment in Arizona. My response was that the only evidence I had about this person was from talking to him on the telephone. Salary wasn't mentioned, nor was the availability of air conditioning in the workplace. The reader also asked if I knew the difference between an idiot and a moron, because the behavior I described could have been attributed to either a moron or an idiot. I guess I can't argue with that point. So, to be fair, the customer service person at Galco could have been an idiot.
In talking to a number of friends who have been shooting handguns for many years, I heard many comments about how the quality of service at Galco had deteriorated as the company got bigger. That's sad because the quality of their products is very good. Mitch Rosen, Kramer, and some others make better holsters to be sure, but Galco isn't that bad.
Back to the PX4 saga. Beretta wrote today (12-5-05) to say that grip adapters might arrive in the next two weeks. That's good news. Yesterday I had a chance to try out the Beretta again in a cold weather environment and learned that the magazines do not drop free when it's cold. With 17 or 20 rounds (they offer a 20 round magazine), there may not been much need to reload the gun that often, but there are a couple of times when a semi-automatic pistol can have a problem that's fixed by putting in another magazine. Here's a quiz: what are those two times? Hints - a double-feed and an emergency reload. Now here are the answers. There are two times when a new magazine may be needed to fix a problem. One is a "double-feed" and the other is an "emergency reload." Don't think just because this quiz was easy that the next one will be easy.
Here's another quiz. For what action did Lt. Cmdr, and later President, Lyndon Johnson receive a military decoration in World War II? What was the decoration?
I'm sorry. Those were hard questions. You'd have to watch the Military Channel on cable to have a chance at getting that one, or access to Google.
The PX4's accuracy continues to be very good even when it is cold outside. Groups at 50 meters were most excellent.
Also included in yesterday's cold weather test was the Taurus Titanium Tracker, with regular .38 Special ammunition, and some .357 Magnum and .38 Special +P ammunition. The gun worked fine with the .357 Magnum loads. It seems to work best with Winchester "white box" .38 Special +P ammunition.
The aforementioned (and don't you just hate words like "aforementioned") Glock 24...mentioned up the page a bit...lost a Heinie front sight at, of all places, Front Sight. The replacement sight has a tritium dot on it. I installed that this evening, and maybe, just maybe will try this gun again at Front Sight for the December 2005 "skill builder" class. The Glock 24 has a 6 inch barrel.
Glock Model 34 (not 24)
I suspect that a lot of people like the very smooth trigger action on the Beretta 92/96 pistols, but these are Big Pistols and hard to conceal. The PX4, with its rotating barrel action, is much smaller, but has the same decent trigger mechanism. On the 92, I used to replace the mainspring with a firing pin spring from a 1911 to get a lighter, yet reliable trigger weight. No need for anything like that with the PX4. At this point, I am still a purist in wishing for a single type of trigger, and the PX4 does have double action on the first shot and single action on subsequent shots. I am not a fan of this "DA/SA" stuff, but the PX4 shoots so well that it's worth the tiny effort to develop the extra trigger skills.
To put the Beretta PX4 in perspective, it has replaced a Glock 17 in a "home defense" role. It is that reliable, accurate, and easy to use.
November 2005 is almost over. December will be here very soon with another trip to Front Sight on the schedule. Although I was able to get a Distinguished Graduate certificate the last time I was there, there is still one part of the test that always causes problems - head shots. It's one thing to be able to hit a large area representing the thoracic cavity. It's quite another to take the time (measured in tenths of a second) to get a more accurate shot at the equivalent of a 3" by 5" card (maybe a little smaller now that I think of about it). It is easier to do this with a Glock because you can take out the slack in the trigger during the presentation so that when the sights are on the right part of the target, it just takes a little bit more pressure on the trigger to fire the shot. It is harder to do this with a revolver, because you are dealing with a double action trigger that's much heavier than the Glock trigger and the revolver trigger doesn't have any significant slack compared to most semi-automatic pistols.
I have one revolver that, for some odd reason (ergonomics?), is easier to shoot than my usual S&W K frame revolvers. This one is the Taurus Tracker .357 Magnum. The titanium frame combined with .38 Special ammunition lets me control the front sight while all of the trigger stuff is getting done. I've seen this gun get a lot of dead center hits on IDPA and IPSC targets, but have never tried it in the Front Sight "designated head shot" situation. It will be worth taking the Taurus to Front Sight in December just to test my theory that these annoying head shots might be less of a problem.
With the end of 2005 on its way, I'm not sure if there will be any new guns to write about. The local Sportsman's Warehouse store had Remington 870 20 gauge Youth Models on sale after Thanksgiving so I got one of those to use for Hunter Education classes. We don't let the kids shoot real shotguns (we would, but Boise says we can't), but we can show them safe handling and how the action works on the 870. The Youth Model is the perfect size for this kind of training. The ones on sale had the black synthetic stocks. I had a chance to fire a few rounds the other day and the 870 works great. I do keep reaching for the slide released in the "wrong" (Mossberg is right and Remington is wrong) location on the receiver. If you can imagine a shotgun the size of an M-1 Carbine, that describes the Youth Model. Anyone can shoot it, and shoot it well. And 20 gauge buckshot is much, much superior to any handgun round in terms of muzzle energy.
The Beretta PX4 story continues with a series of e-mail exchanges with Beretta regarding holsters and parts. Beretta responded to my question about the mission grip adapters by noting that none of their "commercial" PX4s had been shipped with adapters. I'm not sure what a commercial PX4 is, except that term suggests they may donate some to a charity somewhere at no cost. So, for now at least there are no adapters to fit the gun to different size hands. The www.px4storm.com Web site shows four different cool looking holsters for the PX4. One appears to be very interesting. Guess which one isn't for sale? Of course.
So, being a little anxious to try the PX4 in some sort of holster, I decided to invest in a Yaqui slide from Galco. I ordered one from the Galco Web site. Galco sent the wrong holster, and when I talked to them on the phone about it, the customer service person turned out to be a, to use a medical term, moron. I know there's a fine line between being an idiot and being a moron, but this guy fit the latter description. An idiot may be an idiot through not fault of his or hers, but a moron is either unconscious of his or her incompetence or conscious and doesn't care. I symphathize with someone who is an idiot. I have no sympathy for a moron's plight. The Galco person was without a doubt a moron. I say this because he informed me that it was my fault they had shipped the wrong holster because of some quirk in their Web server that every once in awhile gets the part numbers mixed up. Huh? I'm always glad to admit mistakes, but when I'm told by a moron that I've made a mistake, I tend to reject the moron's theory. Call this warfare between intellectual classes, or what you will, but it happens from time to time. I take no joy in reporting these people and their behaviors to the senior management of their companies.
As a counterpoint to this annoying nonsense, I should mention the great people at Blade-Tech who I like a whole lot. I've ordered a holster from them for the PX4, and I expect it will be well made. If there is a problem with it, I expect Blade-Tech to fix the problem, and they will. They are good people. Galco, on the other hand, employs at least one and perhaps more than one moron. Nice holsters, but the chances that I'll buy one again are, to use another medical term, kaput.
And now, a few days later, the story gets more interesting. One of the readers of this Web page wrote and asked why I felt the need to attack some unnamed, low paid worker in a holster sweatshop environment in Arizona. My response was that the only evidence I had about this person was from talking to him on the telephone. Salary wasn't mentioned, nor was the availability of air conditioning in the workplace. The reader also asked if I knew the difference between an idiot and a moron, because the behavior I described could have been attributed to either a moron or an idiot. I guess I can't argue with that point. So, to be fair, the customer service person at Galco could have been an idiot.
In talking to a number of friends who have been shooting handguns for many years, I heard many comments about how the quality of service at Galco had deteriorated as the company got bigger. That's sad because the quality of their products is very good. Mitch Rosen, Kramer, and some others make better holsters to be sure, but Galco isn't that bad.
Back to the PX4 saga. Beretta wrote today (12-5-05) to say that grip adapters might arrive in the next two weeks. That's good news. Yesterday I had a chance to try out the Beretta again in a cold weather environment and learned that the magazines do not drop free when it's cold. With 17 or 20 rounds (they offer a 20 round magazine), there may not been much need to reload the gun that often, but there are a couple of times when a semi-automatic pistol can have a problem that's fixed by putting in another magazine. Here's a quiz: what are those two times? Hints - a double-feed and an emergency reload. Now here are the answers. There are two times when a new magazine may be needed to fix a problem. One is a "double-feed" and the other is an "emergency reload." Don't think just because this quiz was easy that the next one will be easy.
Here's another quiz. For what action did Lt. Cmdr, and later President, Lyndon Johnson receive a military decoration in World War II? What was the decoration?
I'm sorry. Those were hard questions. You'd have to watch the Military Channel on cable to have a chance at getting that one, or access to Google.
The PX4's accuracy continues to be very good even when it is cold outside. Groups at 50 meters were most excellent.
Also included in yesterday's cold weather test was the Taurus Titanium Tracker, with regular .38 Special ammunition, and some .357 Magnum and .38 Special +P ammunition. The gun worked fine with the .357 Magnum loads. It seems to work best with Winchester "white box" .38 Special +P ammunition.
The aforementioned (and don't you just hate words like "aforementioned") Glock 24...mentioned up the page a bit...lost a Heinie front sight at, of all places, Front Sight. The replacement sight has a tritium dot on it. I installed that this evening, and maybe, just maybe will try this gun again at Front Sight for the December 2005 "skill builder" class. The Glock 24 has a 6 inch barrel.
Glock Model 34 (not 24)
The December handgun skill builder class
at Front Sight was, as usual, a lot of fun, but I decided to take the
older, somewhat shorter, 9 mm Model 34 instead of the 24. The 34
is just about ideal for the skill builder class, and I was able to use
it to get a decent score. My 34 has Heinie sights, unlike the
picture shown here with Glock's adjustable sights. At the skill
builder I noticed that the rear sight had a little "play" in it, but
not enough to be a problem. We were on a 50 meter range, rather
than the shorter 15 meter range from November. This means we
traded a couple of 7 meter head shots on the shorter range for two
shots at 25 meters - just like in the "old days." I was able to
keep 13 of 14 shots in the scoring area, and don't know if the one that
slipped out was fired at one of the longer distances. At least
all of the shots were on the target.
This year is about over. I got a couple of 20 round magazines for the new Beretta PX4 the other day. Neither of the magazines will "drop free." That's ok. With 20 rounds, this is not a major problem.
I learned today that Kimber has a new polymer pistol that looks a little bit like the new S&W M&P. That suggests tehe 2006 SHOT Show will be Very Interesting.
Go to 2006 First
Impressions Page.
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This year is about over. I got a couple of 20 round magazines for the new Beretta PX4 the other day. Neither of the magazines will "drop free." That's ok. With 20 rounds, this is not a major problem.
I learned today that Kimber has a new polymer pistol that looks a little bit like the new S&W M&P. That suggests tehe 2006 SHOT Show will be Very Interesting.
It's December 31, 2005 and this will be
the last note on this page. We had one last shooting match in
Idaho Falls this year, and that match was today. The match was a
combined ICORE (revolver) and IDPA (pistol or revolver) match with
stages from each type of competition. Since this was the last
match of the year, I put a little bit of extra thought, about 30
seconds' worth, into the two guns to take. As you can see from
the very large picture right above this note, one of those was the
Walther P99QA model. The other was a Smith and Wesson Model 686 7
shot 5" barrel revolver with the grips from the .500 S&W
revolver. This is a Big .357. I shot the revolver stages
with that gun, then switched to the Walther. The P99QA has
superior ergonomics and an almost "Glock-like" trigger
reset. There were a number of stages that called for
multiple head shots, and several shots at about 40 yards. The
Wather helped me keep all of the shots on those targets. As long
as I can remember to drop the magazine with my trigger finger, the
Walther performs as well as any of the Glocks. My scores at
today's match were respectable. I owe that to equipment that
never fails to work as it should, and to the training received at Front
Sight.
Not a bad way to end the year.
Not a bad way to end the year.
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