Category Archives: Weapons

Weapons

S&W M&P Shield

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Smith’s new Shield pistol is going to be a rare find this year… but if you stumble on one – SNAG IT.

It’s very compact, but because of the magazine extension, you can actually get a good solid grip on the weapon.

It’s narrow, but not too skinny as to be awkward.  M&P Lines, so it looks like an M&P, not an upsized Bodyguard… Being a Striker fired gun, it’s all M&P genetics here.  The safety lever is the only wart, but it’s a very unobtrusive one… which means actually using the safety lever is more difficult and of course completely useless.  This is a Bodyguard trait that should have been erased.

Right now, they are out in 9mm.  But they have already gone out to the allotted dealers.  If you see one and pass on it… good luck finding another one in 2012…

It’s kind of like an M&P Compact’s anorexic little sister.

The magazine holds 8, so you are not giving up much on the M&P Compact.  They said they improved the trigger of the standard M&P’s trigger… and that’s true.  They did.  But there are already people out there working on an Improved Improved trigger for it.

It’s not a straight up Single Stack… it does have a slight stagger to it.  This is why it gets as many rounds as it has, and feeds well, and gives you a bit of a funnel for a quicker reload when you need it.

Overall, I’m impressed.  S&W’s M&P line up is all excellent stuff and this gun is no different.  Let’s see, there is the new SIG 938 and the new Beretta Nano, the newest of the Sub Compact Slim Nines… The SIG is a mini 1911 and thus in a class by its self… the Nano is a Double Action.  So while not a real Apples to Apples gun, the Shield smokes it.  The only thing really like the Shield is the Walther PPS and I think the Shield is a much better pistol.  It feels better in the hand, better trigger, and feels like a more solid built gun.   And, I believe, the Shield is less money  These are about 400 bucks and the PPS is, if I remember, about 500.  That’s enough left over for a very nice holster.

Weapons

Walther P22 KB

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Ever see a Rimfire KB before?  I hadn’t.  Until today.  Customer brought in a Walther with a “Problem”.

The KB cracked the P22's frame and subframe is damaged.

This isn’t just from one bad round.  The customer had a second piece of brass that looked exactly like the first.

It wasn't a squib or barrel obstruction... I think the ammo was double primed.

When we have a KB, there are are two Culprits we look at… The Gun or The Ammo.  Most of the time, the Ammo is the cause.  Remington Golden Bullet Bulk Pack.  I don’t have a lot number or anything.  The Customer Cleaned and Lubed the gun, fired several magazines full with no problem and then suddenly had a jam… then another jam and the slide wouldn’t go forward with the magazine in.  Then he noticed the frame and the brass.  Looking at the brass, the way the casing was blown out like that… I think we have some cases that were double primed.  If it was fired out of battery, the brass would be blown out differently and distinctively, indicating it… in this case, the primer material in the rim blew out the rim.  A normal amount of primer wouldn’t do this, and there isn’t enough case volume for a double charge… but the pressure spike from too much primer – would do exactly this.

Luckily no one was hurt, nothing else was damaged.  We’ll see what Walther and Remington does.

Weapons

S&W M&P Shield

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I think I’d be interested in this in .40… I like it. An improved trigger, which the M&P line needed, in a size factor that S&W needed to get into. Julie’s hair looked fantastic too.
Okay, let’s take a closer look at the gun. I think it could have been 1/4 inch longer in the barrel… I know they wanted to hit a size point, but I think the took the barrel length dimension a bit too short. The addition of the thumb safety is unnecessary. Oh sure, it’s small enough to be unobtrusive, but it’s also too small to be really useful. It’s like a 3rd Nipple. Still, overall, I like this gun and look forward to trying it out.
Other guns it’s competing with… PF9, Nano, 938, LC9, PPS, PM9… Yeah, I think S&W nailed a Home Run Winner.

Weapons

Henry’s US Survival AR-7

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The gun shop I work at is now stocking (Well, we got in a few of them) the Henry US Survival AR-7.

Normally, I’d avoid anything having to do with Henry rifles… Not that there is anything wrong with them, I just don’t favor them.  I don’t like Ranch Dressing either.  Nothing wrong with it, I just think it tastes like rotten mayo made for the devil’s own excrement… So it’s just a matter of taste.  Everyone likes different things, and this is why the Gun Industry has such a wide varieties of ways to kill things.

The AR-7 was originally made by Armalite for the US Air Force.  The idea was that this was a part of a Pilot’s survival kit should they be downed in a nice woodland area filled with tasty furry critters so the pilot could have a couple days of hunting before they get picked back up.  (Yes, that was intentionally tongue in cheek) I don’t know how many the Air Force picked up, but they did buy a few.  But not enough for Armalite to hold on to the gun… They sold it to Charter Arms for couple hundred bucks and a bag of roasted walnuts.  Charter made them for a few years and then just stopped.  Henry picked up the old design and is now making a slightly improved version.

Armalite, Charter, and Henry… this is a trifecta of Uncomfortable Dislike for me… As I am not fond of anyone having anything to do with this rifle.   Yet there is something about the little AR-7 that I like.  It’s very light, simple, and it does what its designed to do perfectly.  The gun its self though, is far from perfect… its sights are poor, its action is overly heavy and gritty, and its trigger… well, I have a house full of wall switches that have a better pull… Yet there is something about the collective whole of the little rifle that is most appealing.  It’s not that it is light, because it balances very awkwardly with it’s fat hollow asymmetrical stock.  It’s not that it’s cheap… you could buy a number of other .22 rifles that are more accurate and better built… just better rifles… for the same price as an AR-7.  And it’s not that I am planning on flying over Russian Wilderness on some mission that might get me shot down.  And it’s not that “It Floats”… because I was diving once in a lake and found one of these on the bottom.  (Okay, I had found an older Charter and it was filled with water… Evidently Henry has improved the Floating qualities) I’m not planning on going Kayaking with a rifle.     The AR-7 has an intangible quality to it… something I can’t quantify… but it’s there.  It’s Cool.  The AR-7 rifle is a Cool little rifle.  It’s stripped down and simple, like a rifle version of a Cafe Racer type Motorcycle.  Being Cool, the AR-7 makes no apologies for not having a forearm, good trigger, or decent sights… it doesn’t have to… because it’s Cool.

I’d love one if it had a folding stock instead of the bloated hollow stock.  And I’d love it even more if someone made a version in .22 Magnum.

 

Weapons

Federal

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Federal, the makers of some of my favorite ammunition, is expanding their Fusion line.  In the new 2012 Catalog they are showing Fusion shotgun and handgun ammo, as well as new calibers and even a Reduced Recoil option coming out.

But one item I really like, that kinda snuck up on me… 7.62x39mm.  Oh man… Break out that CZ 527 or Savage Scout and take it hunting!  This is an excellent offering that you will probably have to special order from your Local Gun Dealer, and you might have to have some patience for it… but it should be very much worth it.

I think this is an excellent move on Federal’s part because the Fusion line is very good stuff.  What it is, is simply a premium quality loading using a less expensive, but very consistent bonded core projectile.  Think Speer Gold Dot here.  This is where the line gets its name… the bullet Core and Jacket are fused together.  The results are very satisfying on big game and the same results should translate into other applications, such as defense and handgun hunting.  Hunting Guides have reported great success in the field with Hunters who have used the Fusion ammunition.    I am looking forward to trying some of the handgun stuff out in the future.

Weapons

Bi-polar guns

18 Comments

Guys, don’t let your guns get bi-polar… Your AR doesn’t need everything out of the MAKO and Blackhawk catalogues to be cool or effective.
Here is a rule of thumb for you.  If you have a VFG or an AFG on your rifle, you don’t need a bi-pod.  The reverse is also true.  If you put a 4-16 Nikon Monarch on your gun, you don’t need to try to put flip up iron sights on it. 
AR builds tend to fall into three classes.  Short, Intermediate, and Long Range/Precision.
I’ll post more about these three build types tonight or tomorrow…

Weapons

Kimber Sucks

48 Comments

I’m going to throw down some hate on a gun company favored by many.  Kimber.  They freaking suck.  Kimber is backlogged so deep, ordering anything from them is freaking useless.  The little Solo pistol they put out is virtually vaporware as we’ve had some on order since last summer and still haven’t seen any.  We could have sold a hundred of them if we had them.  The institutionalized corporate arrogance is astonishing.  Last year we ordered a simple 9mm 1911 at the beginning of the year.  It was a Christmas Present from a mother to her son and she knew Kimber was slow.  We had estimated dates from Kimber and it looked to be fine.  He didn’t get the gun till late January.

Kimber’s attitude is worse than their guns.
1400 dollar pistol and they put in plastic mainspring housings?  Really?  Come on.
We had some pistols that had waves inside the barrels.  Kimber’s response was flippant.  “Oh, that wont effect accuracy.”  The hell it doesn’t.
Brand new Tac Custom II’s… With Slide Release and Safety Levers that look like they went through a Rock Chipper.  They didn’t want to send us new parts so we just sent the guns back to them and we had to pay for the shipping.  Nice.  And to top it all off – they only include 1 magazine.  WTF?  How useless can these people be?  Come on.  But people put up with all that BS because Kimbers have one thing going for them… They are Pretty.  People will happily pay for arrogant, tacky, high maintenance shit if they are pretty.

Yes, I just compared Kimber to Paris Hilton. My apologies to Paris Hilton Fans.

What people are going for when they ask to look at a Kimber is a good quality 1911… If that is what you want – Get a SIG 1911.  Seriously.  In many cases, you will even pay less money for the SIG which is a much better built gun. Feature for feature you are about 200 bucks less for a better made SIG than for the similar gun made by Kimber.  And you are going to get a more accurate gun as well.  My SIG C3 spanked the hell out of my Kimber Tac Custom II and Custom II, and Warrior, and Raptor, and CDP Pro II.  Look, if you have a Kimber that you like, that’s fine.  Enjoy it and be happy.  If you are looking to buy a Kimber… Buy a SIG.  You will get a much better gun and it even comes with a spare magazine. How novel is that?

Crusader, Weapons

Glock Rescue

7 Comments

A customer traded in an old and battered Glock 22 Gen 2. All the finish is worn off the slide, the frame is hammered, the trigger wouldn’t reset. This pistol had certainly seen better days.
As a pistol to take in for trade… we probably shouldn’t have, because we can’t resell it. So I’m taking it so I can rebuild it.
I had stock trigger group components from my Glock 23 that dropped right in and fixed this old Gen2’s main problems. It’s a working gun again. Not the best of guns, but at least it’s functioning. Dirtpile ugly, but it’s going to be reliable. The slide is going to have to be refinished completely and the frame, I’m going to have to retexture to hide the wear and dings. I’m thinking about cutting the frame down to a G23 length, so I can use 23 and 22 magazines, making a Hybrid gun that a lot of custom Glocksmiths have done… allowing one to conceal well, yet still shoot well. Like what SIG did with the 1911 C3.
This is already a fun project.