Category Archives: Weapons

Weapons

Some thoughts on a Saturday Morning

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I’m a 1911 guy.  I became a 1911 guy when I was a teenager.  My girlfriend’s father, Dave, instructed me on the ways of the Old Slab Sides.  I think I was the only guy that dated his daughter that he liked.  He was a cool guy too. But he introduced me to the gun and how it operated.  Which is good.  Because not very long later the US Government put a 1911 in my hand without any instruction.    I really liked the 1911.  Dave too.   Looking back, I liked hanging out with Dave more than his daughter.     I’ve had a lot of 1911’s since.

1911’s have developed a reputation for being less than reliable.  This is because saying “1911” is like saying “Pickup Truck”.   You can’t say all pickup trucks are unreliable.  Make, Model, Condition, and Maintenance Records are all important, no?  I’ve found 1911’s can be just as reliable as Glocks.  Can.  Not all.    There’s one specific word though that when combined with “1911” that should always be avoided.  That word is “Ultra”.  Don’t get any “Ultra” 1911.  Any 1911 that has the word “Ultra” on it, or even near it – just don’t do it.   Also, any barrel length below 4″ is best to be avoided.  This goes along the same lines as the word “Ultra”.

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Weapons

I’ve not seen that since…

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I can’t remember when I had last seen it… Not for at least 15 years.  So long, I didn’t even think it an issue.  Like Small Pox, I thought it had been cured.

We had an AR-15 at the range that was having problems.  We looked at everything and we finally found the cause.

A loose gas key.

This was a S&W M&P15.  And the Gas Key was not staked.  It had worked loose and was causing every issue you can think of.   It was the last thing we looked at.   The bloody Gas Key.  Huh.

 

Weapons

Why you need to buy a Ruger LC9S Pro

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We’ve seen some interesting developments in defensive pistols this year.  And by Development, I mean product enhancements, changes, tweaks… that may or may not be Earth Shaking, but are nice none the less.    Here’s my favorite one for 2015.  The Ruger’s LC9S Pro.
Ruger-LC9s-Pro
Ruger finally made the LC9 right.  This is finally what the gun should have been right out of the gate.  In fact, it’s so good, that not only does it top this list… but it’s so good that if you already have an other version of the LC9 – just sell it and go buy this one.

It’s not what Ruger put into it, it’s what they deleted.  Ruger deleted the manual safety.   Thank You.  The unnecessary and redundant safety on this gun is like a pretty girl with a festering boil between her eyes.   The poor dear… It’ll be alright…

The other thing Ruger deleted was the magazine disconnect safety.   A Magazine Disconnect Safety is to guns what Double Clutching is to Cars.   It’s outdated and unnecessary, and pisses you off when you come across it.  Whoever thought it was a good idea to put that in there in the first place, needs to explain that to Jerry Miculek.

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Here’s the great things about the LC9S Pro:

1.  It’s affordable.  MSRP is 450 with Retail around about 400 bucks.  One place I know had them for 389.  That’s crazy.
2.  It’s light.  The thing weighs nothing.
3.  It has a good trigger pull.  Some have said it’s a bit long, but come on.  This is an EDC CCW pistol, not a Match Blaster.  The trigger is excellent for the purpose of this pistol – and I’m a Trigger Snob and I’m saying this.
4. It has good sights.  And by good I mean they are usable and you have a bunch of Aftermarket options that you can swap them out for.
5. It’s skinny.  Going hand in hand with the light weight, this gun being so skinny means it can disappear on you when packing… it just evaporates.  Gone.  Stealthed Out.   And since Concealed means Concealed, this is a good thing.
6.  Ruger has a 9 round magazine for it.  So if you have to go Fangs Out and Loud you can reload with a higher capacity magazine. I’d suggest buying 3 of those and one extra spare at the normal flush fit size.  So you can rotate your magazines to keep the springs in order.  I do that with all my guns, and I’d do that with these too.  Carry with the short mag in for EDC Concealment… and my Reloads will be with the Niners.  Done.

I’m going to say this now – and it’s going to be shocking.  I like the Ruger LC9S Pro better than the S&W Shield.  There.  I said it.  It’s out there.  I like it better than the Glock 43 as well.  That grip is too small for me to hold onto well, the LC9’s grip fits much better.  And its much easier to conceal than the Shield’s grip.

Here’s my top 3 compact single stack 9mm’s:
1. Ruger LC9S Pro
2.  Springer XDS 4.0
3.  Walther PPS

Uncategorized, Weapons

Mike Kupari’s “Her Brother’s Keeper”

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Mike’s new book, “Her Brother’s Keeper” is a fantastic mix of old school sci-fi and modern genre-blending.  I was highly enjoyable.  I  used an Audible credit to get the “Book on Tape”… having forgotten I had ordered the paper version.  So now my boys are reading it – and they too are enjoying it.  Get this book.  It’s an excellent Sci-Fi.  You will love it too.

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The gun is of course my Ruger GP100 Match Champion.  The Blade is… some Benchmade push dagger… I forget which.  The patch, was Mike’s “Team Duchess” patch.   It’s one of my favorites.

Weapons

Ruger SP101 GunPron

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The Ruger SP101, .357 Magnum, 3″ Barrel. Equal parts sophistication and malice. Astute and Brutal.
This one isn’t mine.  Mine, is just like it, but it’s loaded and on my hip while I took the photos of this one.  Those are my rounds though.
I love Speed Strips.  So much easier to carry than Speed Loaders.

We discussed revolvers on ArmedAmericanRadio.com Daily Defense Hour.  Packing a .357 Magnum is a luxury… an obscene display of power and glory, in a subtle little package of satin stainless malice.

Weapons

Beretta 92FS change?

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I love shooting my Beretta.  I just do.   But I’ve had a “Wake up” moment about it.   Let me explain…
I’ve never had a problem with the safety.  In fact, I rather like the safety mechanism as I consider it to be one of the safest safeties in the industry.  Now, when I carry my Beretta, my routine is to safe the gun, holster, and then flick it off safe.   This allows the first trigger pull to be unhindered.  More like a SIG.  I like that.

Friday the 30th, I participated in PointBlankRange.com’s Zombie Shoot.  It was a blast!   However in one stage, at two different points, I ran into some thorns.   From the first position of 3, you fire your string and safe your weapon and move to the second position to engage.   So I hit the safety, scooted to pos-2, and tried to engage.  Trigger was nothing but slack.  Two pulls, “Oh”, *flick*, bang bang bang… And then it happened again, exactly the same going into pos-3.

This was all me.  I recognize and own this.   It was not the gun – it was me.  Normally, the safety never “gets me” because I almost never keep it engaged.  I just don’t.  But because I did – broke from my routine – it got me.  twice in a row.   And I really really don’t like that.

Also, I’d normally have run my 1911… I just don’t run the Beretta enough.  Again – this is all me and my Ogreish habits.  How I do things.  And I was tasked to do things outside of my operating procedures – and evidently I don’t do that well.   I’m not making excuses here, I’m recognizing my malfunctions.

I think it’s time to look at doing “The G-Mod” on my Beretta.  Converting my 92 FS to a 92 G.   This changes the safety mechanism to a De-Cock Only.  So the lever will automatically spring back to the Fire Position.  This is evidently something that is so much of an issue for enough folks that Beretta even HAS a G model.

So now the question that I must ask myself… and only I can answer this for me.  Is do I get the G-Mod done, or do I train on this safety more so I don’t have those stumbles again?

Weapons

SIG on my Mind

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I really wish SIG had an M-11 Legion edition.  I’ve been thinking about SIG’s more and more lately.   I sold a P229R the other day and it’s just reminded more and more how much I enjoyed shooting my 229R and how much of a mistake it was selling it.
I admit to be very smitten with the M-11 pistol  (P228) and that itch to get one is getting very… itchy.  The new 229 pistols and the M-11 are the same pistol, the M-11 just doesn’t have the frame rails.
The enhancements on the new Legion series – I really dig.  And quite frankly, I need.  I love the color of the finish, and grips are just cool.  The extra checkering, yes, I’m a fan of it.  But most importantly is the big bright front sight post.
I need that.M11-A1-D-LARGE

Any SIG 22X pistol (Any SIG model that starts with 22) is a Shooter’s Pistol.  They are exceptionally accurate and reliable, hammer fired and made of metal, the way I like it.  The double action pull on most any SIG 22X is very good.  Not too heavy, not too long for DA’s.  It’s good.  But what’s even better is the SA pull.  In Single Action mode -maybe I’m just used to them – the trigger is divine.  And the stability of any of the SIG 22X guns is incredible.  They handle the recoil, with no drama.  Sure, there’s a bit more muzzle rise during recoil than say a Glock thanks to bore axis… But the SIG’s come back on target perfectly.  And no matter what trigger package I put in a Glock, I can get better accuracy out of the SIG’s.
And I like the fact that the hammer is set up in the Rebounding configuration so manual safeties are not a bother.  You don’t need them.  Just take your finger off the trigger and/or decock… the weapon is perfectly safe.  It’s probably the only semi-auto pistol that I’d feel perfectly comfortable packing Appendix.   I trust the SIG safety more than any other semi-auto pistol out there.  I just do.

There’s a thing there… that word.  Trust.   I trust SIG.  I trust several gun brands… but SIG is probably at the very top of that list.

Weapons

Magpul’s Shotgun Stock on a Mossy 500

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Mossberg’s model 500 shotgun is a very simple little beast.  The one I picked up was rather lacking in that it was a Pistol Grip Only shotgun.  I was going to do something else with it, but decided to sandbag that and go a different round.  So I needed a stock for it.  After some consideration I decided to give the Magpul stock a shot, and I am really glad I did.  I almost always throw on a Butler Creek folding stock, but wanting “different” this time really paid off.
The location of the safety switch on the Mossy shotguns is on top and at the rear of the receiver.  Which makes it’s position perfect for this stock.   It’s awesome if shot from either shoulder.   If you have a Mossberg – this is the stock you need.
The grip angle looks exaggerated, but actually feels very comfortable, and the length of pull is adjustable by adding or removing the spacers.  It comes with no spacers in, making it too short for me.  So adding 2 puts it just right.  For me.  You might be different.