Tag Archives: SIG

Weapons

Ellott Brother’s Show in Columbia

4 Comments

Pre-SHOT Show so not a lot of the newest.  Mostly it’s Pre-Shot clearing of older products.  But there was some new things:

B6r4GJKCIAAAsN_

This is SIG’s new BRAVO 4 optic.   Much larger field of view than the Leupold HAMR, with brightness and clarity that rivaled ELCAN.  SIG has a whole new line up of Optics and looking through them all… It competes square up against the Leupold HAMR and ACOG. It’s a fixed 4 power. HUGE field of view, wider than the ACOG, wider than the HAMR. 4 inches of eye relief – they said – felt more like 3.5 to me… but massive field of view and clarity I’ve only seen in an ELCAN. It’s MAP is about 1299. This is a staggering good optic.
When I asked how they did this – SIG snatched a lot of guys from Leupold. They have a Prismatic as well, called the Bravo 3. And other AR type optics and hunting optics…  Binos and such… 
SIG is doing them right too. These are good. I want one.

B6r4Y1aCAAAt4dH

This is the CZ EVO… It’s very smooth, very cool, and I think I like it more than the SIG MPX.  Especially since the mags are half the price of SIG’s.  There is an adapter for a SIG arm brace – which means it’s a perfect vehicle for an SBR.

B6re1KPIQAACLLr

Leupold wasn’t just thinking outside the box here.  They threw the box away.  What you are seeing is a small 6 power optic with an objective lens on the side, and the occular lens were your back up iron sight would be.  It’s lower than the mini red dot… so you can use the red dot for fast work and tuck in for a more precisely aimed shot.  It’s weird and I’d really have to get used to it – but I like the concept.  Optical quality was not that great though – which defeats the purpose.   But hey – it’s just a concept.  I like where it’s going.

B6rjyizCcAArFvQ

We’ve seen the pictures.  They don’t do the Curve justice.  It’s a lot stupider than it looked.  I like they are trying something new.  But they just need to try a better idea.

B6rkqvzIQAINh-a

New handguard on the Mossberg 464 SPX.  Thinner, lighter… I love it.  I’ll have to order one soon.  Seriously.  I’m going to have to.

B6sTOmTCAAEz2Sp

The newest Ruger GP100 Match Champion… Now with an adjustable rear sight.  It feels better in the hand than the photos suggest.  For a Double Action Revolver – I think Ruger found perfection.  I WILL have one.

Weapons

Pick The Brand

20 Comments

SIG-P220-1-Courtesy-Ryan-Finn

DA/SA Service Grade Automatics.   Who’s your favorite?  Okay, we’re talking the Brand on the whole, considering all the related models and variations they make.  Who’s your Top Brand and why?

SIG?
Beretta?
CZ?
Other?

The Traditional DA/SA auto seems to be in the gold years with more and more trainers and advocating striker fired guns with uniform trigger pulls from first to second shots.  Glocks, M&P’s, an XDM’s being the Striker Triad.   But I think that the DA/SA platform still has its place, and I still love them.  Especially for Open Carry, Duty Service… They are big, menacing, sexy, and very stable and accurate.   Outside of 1911’s I shoot them them best.  A lot better than Safe actions or DAO guns.

I’m thinking the Holy Trinity for DA/SA’s is SIG, Beretta, and CZ.  Across the board, I think the Beretta Brand takes the lead for consistent quality.   From what I’ve seen and dealt with with 8+ years behind a Gun Counter and… ahem… a few more years of shooting… I’ve seen problems with all of them.  I’ve seen far fewer though with Beretta.  But that’s not just the thing. It’s also how good they’ve been.  How smooth the triggers and slides were.  How tight they locked up.  I don’t think any brand for any type of auto is nearly as smooth as Berettas.  SIG’s are second and CZ is 3rd overall for smoothness.

However, for an out of the box trigger – the very best DA/SA trigger I have ever felt was on a CZ 97B.   Just incredible!  But other CZ triggers left me disappointed.  Same with SIG, overall very good, but not quiet as good overall as SIG’s I’ve fired.  One SIG though, a 229 SAS…. Oh man.   That was truly a great trigger.   Flip side, the SIG’s have shown some triggers that were less than stellar.
Beretta though wins in the same way a Race Team wins the Championship overall without having actually taken first place.

My 92FS had a very good trigger to start out with.  I swapped the main spring for the “D Spring” and it got a lot better.  It’s not a GREAT trigger.  This makes me wonder, why doesn’t Beretta just use the D Springs as standard?  Because the difference was dramatic!

I love the 92.  I love the SIG 220/226/228/229.  I love the CZ P-01/SP-01.  Overall though, I think that Beretta takes it.

What are your thoughts?

Weapons

Current Top 1911 Picks

31 Comments

My current picks for the best production 1911’s you can buy.   I’m going to roll with some specific guns and give some more details.  But following the recent AR-15 article pattern, I’m going to stick with regular production 1911’s and not touch on Custom and Semi-Custom.  Otherwise this list would be all about Nighthawk, Ed Brown, Les Baer, and Wilson Combat.

1.  Springfield Armory:  I’m putting Springfield as a top choice because their guns are consistently well above par, and their customer service just might be The Best in the entire gun industry.  Their policy is that they want you to be happy with your gun.  So you can buy a Springfield without hesitation.   Any complaints I have heard about Springfield usually involved the person having some extreme form of Unrealistic Expectations.  “I had a problem with my GI Model so I think Springfield should give me a TRP!  With a 3 day turn around!”  That kind of thing.
Picking 3 guns out of their line up, the TRP, the MC Operator, and the Champion LW Operator.  (Champion being Springfield lingo for “Commander”)   I would really like to see Springfield do a “CCO” type pistol, and Loaded LW Commander, er… Champion.
As some do not know,  MARSOC was buying and using the Springfield MC Operators for years and years before Colt snagged the contract.  Considering Colt’s new CEO is a former Marine General… Hmmm… I’m sure that contract award was completely legit.

2.  SIG.  SIG really hit the ground running making just what could be best overall 1911’s you can buy.  Problem with them though, is that they departed from tradition with a sharp turn.  Non traditional external dimensions/profiles, with external extractors.   Then they came out with their “Tradition” series – which does look like a regular 1911, but still has that exterior extractor.    However, these guns are so good… I just love them.  Very much so.  Their C3 and RCS are amazing CCW guns.  And this gun here…. It hits all the right buttons.  Make this a Commander sized, SIG.  Please.   You can’t go wrong with a SIG 1911.

3.  PARA USA.  It’s not a secret that I’ve just never really cared for Para’s guns.  But ever since Para Ordinance became Para USA, they have been making huge strides.  Their LDA trigger system, I still don’t care for.  If you like it, that’s fine.  I just don’t.  However their regular 1911’s… They have evolved into guns that are just excellent.  Their new Black Ops 1911 is unquestionably a fine 1911 handguns by any measure.  But it’s their Elite series that I really dig.  Simple, no front slide serrations… and this one is almost perfect.   Just please, get rid of that fiber optic FSP.  I’ll take a regular tritium FSP, thank you.  I’ve talked with some of the guys from PARA USA, and they are taking their guns very seriously.  They want to be the best.  And you know what?  They keep on this road, they sure will be.  I’m liking where they are going.

4.  Remington’s 1911 R1.  This comes as a surprise to me… but Remington’s R1 family of 1911’s are just flat out excellent.  All of Remington’s problems do not exist in or effect their 1911’s.  And they are offering these well built and solid 1911’s at extremely reasonable prices.   They make one that I would be very tempted to add to my own collection.  Tell me that isn’t just gorgeous.  Remington is using a very good steel alloy, and are sporting very nice finishes.
Now if they could just put this attention to detail into the Marlin Lever Actions – I’d be a happy happy Ogre.

5.  STI.  Specifically, STI’s Lawman 4.0, and the Nitro 10.   I favor the Single Stacks, and I favor the guns that use the bushings… but that Nitro 10 is just too cool, so I can forgo the bushing requirement.

6.  Dan Wesson.  Because Dan Wesson.   Their Bobtail Commanders are probable the most FLAWLESS 1911’s I’ve ever seen that didn’t cost more than a good used car.   Their 10mm Razorback is just too damn good.   But the ones to really look hard at, are the Valor Black and the CCO.   Perfection.   Where is the Valor Black Commander though?  Oh, and hey, CZ USA – Make these in 10mm as well.  I don’t really dig the Titan 10, because I don’t hunt Vampires, professionally, so I don’t need all the race-gun hints.  I want a clean and simple 1911, in 10mm… that’s not stainless.

Here’s what I look for in a 1911:  Simplicity and understated elegance.  I don’t like bushingless bull barrels.  I don’t like full length guide rods.  I really don’t even particularly care for ambi-safeties.  And the one thing I really don’t like – but they are almost universal… The Novak style ramped rear sights.  But I can live with it.   I will also stay away from anything that even resembles a “Series 80”.  I prefer Commander length barrels.  The 4″ to 4.25″ barrel lengths.  They balance just right to me.  I do prefer if I can get it, the light weight frames, but will take solid steel happily.  I also do not like extended slide releases and safety levers.  The “Tear Drop” style safety lever is my favorite.    I do prefer a bobbed hammer or commander style hammer, followed up with a nice wide high ride beaver-tail.  Those work for me.

One to keep an eye on:  Rock Island Armory is getting better and better, not every year, but every day.  They are like the Kia Motors of 1911’s… they used to be cheap and laughable, but now they will make you turn your head, “What is that?  THAT’s a Kia?!?”  RIA is having that same effect.  While not one of my top choices now, they could be at some point in the future sooner than anyone could expect.

Weapons

Sig’s Arm Brace

14 Comments

SIGar15Pistol
I was hanging out at a certain gun store the last couple days, and they have a .223 caliber pistol in stock.  I had to examine this thing closely.  I’ve avoided liking these because I fee the ATF will reverse it’s decision on these things and they well be deemed to be SBR’s at the flick of a Bic pen and then the ATF will ask for all the records of all those that bought these things.   I felt like they were a potential trap.

I made the mistake of handling the bloody thing again and thinking “why not?”  It might legally be a pistol, but it’s a little rifle in all reality.  The fact that you can take this “pistol” and shoulder it and fire it as easily as any SBR, but without dealing with all the SBR red tape is very attractive to me.   Now I’m wanting one.     DANG IT.

 

Weapons

My Top 3 Interesting Handguns

7 Comments

I’ve a rather short list of handguns that are of interest to me, at the moment.  Perhaps the fascination will pass on these, but the Want Factor has been quite high all year so far.

1.  The Walther PPQ M2 5″.
PPQ-M2-5inch
The P99 I reviewed for Concealed Carry Magazine really impressed me, overall. But a couple things that irritated me to one degree or another on the P99 was removed or fixed in the PPQ.  Namely the mag release and the decocker button on the top of the slide.  The PPQ retains everything good about the P99, just cleaned up.  Like a Subaru WRX without the Spoiler and Hood Nostril.  Talking to some other guys about the PPQ, such as Jon Hodoway from Nighthawk Custom Training… it’s quietly becoming a favorite in the class of Polyframed Striker Fired pistols.

2.  The SIG M11-A1.
SIG-Sauer-M11-A1
This is basically a reintroduction of the  very excellent SIG P228… Which is what SIG is now calling the 229… but the 229 has rails.  Don’t try to figure it out – it’s SIG and they just do things like that.  But it takes nothing away from the M11A1… Which is an excellent pistol and one that’s been on my mind more and more lately.  Slightly shorter than the full sized 226, the M11A1 comes home to that “Just Right” size for me.  For EDC work both Open or Concealed, this gun can get it done.  And has been getting it done under the 228 tag for a long time.  I had a 228 that I used as a backup gun for some time and it was quiet excellent.  I did have some problems with the trigger return spring, but that was an easy fix and it never troubled me again.  I miss that gun.  This is it’s resurrection.

3.  The Ruger Super Blackhawk, 4 5/8″, .44 Magnum.
ruger_70181
Nothing quite says “You’re Doomed” like thumbcocking back the hammer on an accurate and powerful single action revolver.  I’m more fond of the western style revolvers than I am the more “modern” double action types.  There’s something about the classic heritage of the breed that is both fascinating and just… I don’t know how to say it… “The way it should be”.  Especially when dealing with full potency magnum loads.  The only thing I’d do to this gun would be to get a Gold Bead front sight put in.  That’s it.  The reason I picked this over the Vaquero… the sights… the magnum frame… and a grip that fits my hand better.  The Vaquero felt too small to me.  Nice, but too small.  That and with the Blackhawks I can really place my shots.  For me, that’s a requirement with a gun with only a few rounds in it.  The shorter barrel looks properly handsome as well.    If I was in a rural area again where Open Carry didn’t even cause folks to look twice – That’s what I’d be packing most of the time I think.  (Along with a Truck Gun in the same caliber… Such as a Rossi 92 20″)

Weapons

Pistol Braces

2 Comments

I am quite tempted to get an AR-15 Pistol and but a “Arm Brace” on it.   Because I love SBR’s but hate the red tape that goes will them.   Here’s the thing though, and the reason I am hesitant about this… The ATF has changed it’s mind in the past about things and there is no reason that they couldn’t change their mind on this.  This “Brace” thing looks too much like a stock, even if it isn’t.  For some reason.

Because I look at these things… and the first thing that comes to mind is “Stock”.  It just does.  It has the profile of a stock and you can shoulder it like a stock, so realistically, what’s the difference?  I’m afraid at some point in the future, the ATF is going to change their mind on these and all the sudden you are going have an illegal SBR on your hands.   Or even worse, you can be well within the guide lines and yet some local Officer Captain America is going to see it and declare it to be an SBR and arrest you and confiscate the “pistol”.   Because Cops in general, do not have the best track record of knowing all the ins and outs of Gun Laws.   We would think that they do, and a lot of them really do… but some don’t.  MAC talks about being That Guy, well, there is always That Cop.  And you don’t want to be that guy that meets That Cop.    Especially considering that these things could be legally reversed overnight.

What we need to do is just get rid of the Barrel Length restrictions on rifles and shotguns.   Just do away with those line items in the NFA.  And well, if we are doing away with those, let’s just toss out the NFA altogether because it’s a package of regulations that only serve to create infringements and stumbling blocks for things you can still get if you are willing to jump through the hoops.  So they effectively do nothing but piss us off.

So I’m going to avoid a potential ATF trap with these Braces.

Weapons

Your Gun Company’s Top 5 changes

46 Comments

Pick a Gun Company.   Any existing Gun Company, big or small.  You are now the CEO, Chairman of the Board, and Majority Shareholder.  It’s your company.  You can do anything you want with it.    What are the TOP FIVE things you would do with your Gun Company?

I’d take SIG SAUER.
1.  First thing I’d do, right off the bat… End the relationship with iTAC Defense.  iTAC is SIG’s goiter.  It’s the unwanted, unloved tumor that people tend to get rid of as soon as possible.  You have well engineered and made firearms, and then you have this cheap plastic crap that devalues the weapon system that the iTAC item is bundled with.  It’s AOL installed on your new computer.  The holster is a terrible knock off of the SERPA… it actually makes the SERPA look good.  The Red Dots are okay on the outside, but the field of view is too small and the Dot is too big and the optical quality is much like trying to see through a Vegas Fremont Street dive bar… DANK.  Dark and murky.  Do not get me started on the SIG Lights.
If SIG is going to Bundle holsters and lights and Red Dots… SIG has got to realize it’s intended market position and select accessories that are in that same position.  SIG wants to be the Mercedes Benz of the Firearms World – Who’s the Mercedes of those accessories?  Red Dots?  Trijicon.  Lights? Surefire.    Make some deals with those guys and make it happen.

2.  Kill the P250.  The P250 is SIG’s SIGMA.  You might think it’s just fine or you may have thought the SIGMA is fine.  You are wrong, and all your taste is in your mouth.  You are a Philistine, and your opinion is invalid.  The new 320 may be an improvement on the P250, but that’s a low hurdle.  I’d kill the 320 as well.   Because a Modular Handgun is a good idea, being able to fit a handgun to the hand of the shooter is idea thats time has come.  But the P250 is a really bad execution of that idea.   Everyone else has done this the right way, simply and effectively with swappable panels.  This started with the Walther P99 and now most everyone has done this – HK has done it the best.  SIG goes and does something completely different, which is fine… but they did it completely wrong.    Changing grip frames to go up and down in sizes of the gun it’s self… We’ve see that before in the Dan Wesson revolvers.  Nice execution there… but not exactly a success in the market.   Why is that? Because no one really wants that.  Why have 1 gun that changes when you can have 2?  I’d rather sell someone two guns.  They would rather own two guns.  How do I know?  Because I’d rather have two guns.  Changing calibers is different.  That’s cool.  Look at the TC Contender and Encore pistols.  That works.  But if the Contender or Encore was all the same caliber and only let you change barrel lengths – I don’t think it would have been the success that we see today.  The other thing the Contenders and Encores have going for them are that they are well crafted.  The P250 may be well crafted – but it doesn’t feel that way to me.  It feels as solid as a 68 VW Beetle that every time you shut the door you leave a line of powdered rust under the door sills.    It feels tinny and hollow.  Exactly in the same way a Glock or XDM or M&P doesn’t.  SIG needs a serious polymer framed Stryker fired pistol.  Not a 250 with a conversion kit stuck in it.

3.  This.  And This.   What are you making guns in Turkey now?  Sarsilmaz your contractor now?  Come on.  What the hell is this?  This is SIG’s version of the DONK.   This has got to stop.  Along with it, all the different color variations that are separating the SIG Brand from the SIG core foundation.  I counted 26 different versions of the P226.  Twenty Six.  I’m sorry, but that is just pants on the head retarded.   That needs to be trimmed down.  You make 20 different pistol types and each one has a couple dozen versions.  And that’s not even counting the pistol versions of the rifles… If I did, that’s 26 again.  That just… It gives me that sharp stabbing pain right behind my eyes… that headache… SIG – you give me THAT headache.

4.  The P210 is literally more than twice the actual price it should be.  I’ll give you 1200 bucks MSRP on them.  No more.  I’d make the P210 pistol something that every enthusiast can obtain… and by doing that I’d burst open the flood gates and take the single stack 9mm market by storm.  And don’t tell me that it’s so bloody complicated to machine.  This is the age of 5 axis CNC milling when you are talking about a pistol made in the age of hand machining.  You can make it faster and cheaper without sacrificing quality.  By limiting the production you inflate to value.  Look at it this way – everyone competing with an X5 – should be competing with a P210.  Make that your flagship line.  Don’t call it a “Legend”  Others will call it that for you.

4.  Your State Compliant guns.  GONE.  Screw those states.  I’m not going to make a special gun that compromises my product to capitulate with Anti-Gun bullshit legislation.   I wouldn’t sell a single item in those states.   Not only that… I’d move out of New Hampshire and move to a state that is unquestioned in regards to the Second Amendment.  I’d move to Arizona.  The right to keep and bear arms in AZ is not up for debate.  That’s where a premier gun maker needs to be based.  Not in New England.  New England had the industrial roots at the turn of the century, which is why the great gun companies grew there – but that time has passed.   It’s time to go to where your supporters are.  The tax dollars you generate for a state that doesn’t support your industry – is folly.  Move.  Close every office, move ever person and asset, liquidate what’s left.  Restart anew.  That’s what needs to happen.

5.  Where’s my Shotgun?   Specifically, where is my semi-automatic, tactical shotgun?

Weapons

Top Service Pistols for 2014

23 Comments

I’ve talked about the best choices for Concealed Carry, but what about for the guys who have to carry openly?  Law Enforcement, PMC, Security Contractor, or general Open Carry use, these are going to require a different type of handgun.  Basically as much gun on your hip as you can get.  Full sized, full capacity, none of the compromises required for Concealment.

SIG 226/220.  This full sized SIG is a classic and the choice of a great many gunslinging professionals.  A big capacity and rugged construction combined with reliability and accuracy. It’s everything you could want in a Side Arm.  Unless you want a larger caliber.  The 220 everything you like about the 226, but in .45 Auto.  This big bore auto is known as “The Thinking Man’s .45” and that does indeed make sense when you’ve spent time with the gun.  Same capacity as a 1911, but offers a decocking DA/SA fire control profile.  This is probably the safest autoloading handgun I know of. (226 included)  They are also very accurate.

Glock 17/22.  Depending on your choice of 9mm or .40 cal, these guns are probably the first choice of more police departments than anything else.  Very low bore axis, and a simple striker fired trigger mechanism makes these guns very easy to shoot well with once you get used to the triggers.  17 rounds of 9mm was an improvement over the typical 15 rounds others guns had, and 15 rounds of .40 cal is nothing to sneeze at these days.

Glock 20/21.  10mm or .45, these full sized beasts give you everything you need to pull duty on a dark and storm night.    A lot of Law Enforcement Officers are running the 21 and I know a few that are running the 10mm.  15 rounds of 10mm is a lot of firepower.  With good accuracy and legendary reliability – A Glock is never a wrong choice.

Beretta 90 Series.  The 92FS, 92F, M9, M9A1, 92A1, 90-TWO, 96, 96A1.  Shooting the big Beretta is like driving a Cadillac.  Big, comfortable, comforting, reliable and accurate all with Hollywood good looks.   Beretta has a lot of visual style, but what I like best is the almost straight line feeding.  Mine can feed empty casing.  Super smooth action as well, thanks to it’s unique locking block.  The Beretta won the US Army contract for a good reason.  Like it or not – and I know I’m going to open a can of worms here – it kicked SIG’s ass in the Trials.  It kicked everyone’s asses in the Trials.  So much so that the Army actually had to “dumb down” the test just so the SIG could stay in the race and the Beretta wouldn’t be a lone competitor.  The 90 Series is battle proven around the world.

Beretta Px4 STORM.  This is Beretta’s newest service auto.  It uses a unique rotating barrel action with a traditionally Beretta like DA/SA trigger mechanism.  This action makes the Storm a soft shooting pistol as it takes more energy out of the recoil.  Like the 90 Series, the sights and the barrel maintain their relationship, they are very accurate shot to shot.  With good triggers and comfortable recoil – it’s easy to be a good shot with the Px4 STORM.  Even the Mid sized version… But the full sized is seriously just a pussycat.  You can get it in 9, .40, and .45 auto.  It’s one of my favorite new autos.

S&W M&P.  S&W decided to get serious with the Poly Striker platform and forced Glock to rush the Gen 4 to market.  Smith took a lot of LEO sales away from Glock. The Swampy as some call it, is a good pistol and a huge step up from Smith’s prior Glock Attack, the SIGMA.  *shudder*.   I bought one for my eldest Son, who upon getting the pistol, loading it, and having never fired it before – drilled the X in the target as perfectly as an Olympic Marksman from 20 yards.  They are accurate guns.  Like my Glocks, his Swampy has never failed.

Walther PPQ.  This gun surprised me.  The prior P99 was a gun that surprised me too.  500 rounds of mixed ammunition, it never failed.  But it had a couple characteristics that made it an oddity.  Such as the push down mag release and the top of the slide decocker button.  The PPQ does away with the decocker on top and gives the gun a normal and familiar mag release. Honestly I didn’t mind the P99’s mag release and I found that I would use my trigger finger to drop the mags, just like I did with my HK.  The PPQ is now available in either 4 or 5 inch barrel lengths and in 9mm or .40 caliber.  The PPQ feels good in the hand and is probably one of the best and most under-rated service autos on the market.  Let me put it this way – I really want a PPQ and will be buying one this year. Or Trading for it. A few years ago I had said that Walther was struggling to maintain it’s validity.  The PPQ anchors it.

Springfield Armory XDM.  Good trigger, good sights, and huge capacities make the XDM a solid choice.  If you can get passed it’s “only a mother could love it” looks.  While I’m not the biggest fan, I have to respect it. They are super accurate and easy to shoot well with.  I know owners who have dumped a lot of rounds with astounding accuracy through their M’s.

HK P30 and HK45.  The Germans really do engineer some fine hardware.  But the P30 and the HK45 are both over priced and in my opinion over rated.  With a standard trigger package, I find their triggers to be lacking in the quality of trigger pull that I would expect from such expensive guns.  And I don’t like glow in the dark toy like sights that come on them stock.  Again, for such an expensive gun, I want Tritiums on it right out of the box.  Don’t get me started on the price of spare mags.  For what you pay for an HK, it should come with Tritiums and 4 spares.  All that aside – these guns deserve consideration.  They are sharp looking, and they feel good in the hand.   You can not go wrong with an HK, you really can’t.  They are very well made.  And after you dump enough rounds through it… Cost wise, would be enough to put a kid through a 12 credit semester of college, the trigger does feel pretty decent.   They do look good… Like new BMW or Mercedes good looking.  Pistol-Training.com’s Todd Green did a long term test on the P30 and it ran some 93,000 rounds before forced retirement.  You could buy a new car for that much… Or you could afford to get sick or even have a (small) accident under Obamacare for that much money.  I believe that none of his other tests have run that distance… Which ultimately makes the HK’s probably the best choice out of the lot.

 

Weapons

The SIG GSR 1911 C3:

2 Comments

The SIG GSR 1911 C3:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What can I say? I had to have it when I first saw it and I’ve been working on getting one for a long time… today was the day it came home with me. Sexy little minx, the C3. The C3 is SIG’s answer to the CCW question. Colt used to make a pistol called the CCO, a gun that I have always wanted since I first saw it. Then Colt dropped it because Colt is run by a pack of useless idiots with balls slightly smaller than your average sun-dried raisins. Well, SIG, being smarter than the average bear, is making their own flavor of the CCO concept. Commander length barrel on top of an Officers sized frame. This is, and I am not saying this lightly – the PERFECT concealed carry combination.

You know how I’ve said that Kimber makes “one of the best” production 1911’s out there? Yeah, well SIG is the other part of that equation and they do make The Best production 1911 out there. I’d like to see some top gunsmiths make some top end customs based on the SIG GSR’s. In the photos, take a close look at the frame to slide fit. No, scratch that… Go to a stocking SIG dealer and look for yourself with your own eyes. To get better than that, you are going to have to buy a full house custom built gun for at least double the money… and even then I really don’t think you can get better than that. Not when you are talking Stainless and Aluminum… now if you were doing a solid steel gun with the same steel on the frame and the slide – maybe it might look tighter, but you can’t actually make it any tighter. There is ZERO play in this C3’s frame to slide fit. There is no play in the barrel.

Kimber still makes some great handguns, don’t get me wrong. I’m still a huge fan of Kimber’s Tactical series. But SIG’s GSR’s? They’ve taken it up a notch. The reason I got the C3 was that I wanted a good compact 1911, but I wasn’t quite sold on the Ultras… It’s the Bushingless Bull Barrel that turned me off. The C3 has a Bushing. It has a GI type follower… no full length guide rods… no paper clips required to take it down… no gimicks or bullshit… just a solid 1911 the way John Moses Browning would have approved of. Say hello to my new daily carry gun. To get better than this – I’d have to buy a Wilson Combat or a Nighthawk Custom.

Shooting the C3, I couldn’t be happier. It’s A+ on the Accuracy Score. Even out to 50 yards, it was precise. Reliability is exactly what you come to expect with SIG, meaning it was flawless. Yeah, you can say I’m a hard core SIG fanboy now. So what do I think is better, the SIG or the Kimber? Read this post again. The SIG’s don’t use plastic mainspring houses, let’s just leave it at that.