Weapons

Still Love 1911’s

22 Comments

Still love the 1911.  In fact, this one particular handgun is probably my favorite pistol in the world. I brings joy and comfort to me when I just look at it… Warm fuzzies when I hold it… Bliss when I shoot it. As is… no modifications.  Just Use and Care and a bit of some Slipstream.  It runs very well when I use good magazines and shoot Ball ammo.

As much as I am fond of this gun… I do not consider it to be one of my Fighting Guns.  One of the guns that would be used should there be an unwanted/unexpected bump in the night.  I was issued a gun exactly like this one… it said Colt on it though.  But the feel, the weight, the wear marks… Fond memories of a time when I was lighter, faster, and younger.    But I’m wiser, and better looking now.  I still respect the 1911 and it’s History.  It still has a place in my heart, and it always will.  When I was on the ground and someone was aiming a weapon at me… it was a 1911 in my hand that stopped what could have come next.

While the 1911 was an epoch moment in handgunning, my chosen handgun is the second epoch… The Glock.  It’s an evolutionary leap, as was the 1911 when it was adopted by the US Army.  I very much look forward to the next leap forward.

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The Avengers

9 Comments

I liked it and I didn’t like it.  First off, let me go over what I didn’t like…

I hated the stupid flying aircraft carrier that turns invisible.  Okay, the Carrier was cool to a point… that point being right up till the moment it started to lift off up out of the water.  That suspension of disbelief request by the film makers was just too much.  Then on top of it… it can go invisible.  No… I don’t think so. You have all this great technology but still can get shrapnel out of Tony Stark’s chest?  Really?
The huge amount of CGI with so much crap happening on the screen all at the same time… it gives me a headache.  This is one of the reasons I didn’t like GI Joe and it looks like the same people that did that did this.
But what I liked –  Joss Whedon’s script.  The dialog and the way he wrote the interaction between the characters was absolutely brilliant.  You have Super Heroes here, which requires a lot of suspension of disbelief already, but you have dialog that makes them human and makes them real.

I also liked how you have these super heroes with earth-bending powers… and a chick with a pair of Glock’s can keep up.  In her tight black cat-suit. Wish her hair was longer like in the last Iron Man, but still.  I liked Hawkeye too.  The actor, the lack of high collars and capes on him… I liked that.  The Arrow Head selecting quiver was a bit much… but it was still good.

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Ultra Concerns

4 Comments

I have to agree with our friend Rob Pincus.  Rob is one of the most active trainers in the Gun World.  He’s always on a range.  And he’s describing exactly what I’ve been seeing as well.

I’ve only had and seen good results with small 1911’s from two sources.  SIG and Detonics.  None of the others have run properly.  I don’t know exactly why that is as I am not a Mechanical Engineer. I’m a Low Brow Knuckle Dragging Gunslinger… I know what works and what doesn’t. I’ve seen more failure to function with 1911’s than any other handgun type. In fact, I’ve only seen one 1911 run through a course without a failure. That was an STI in 9mm run by our friend Larry Correia. His “Cheater Heater”. Anyways, back to the caution on these Ultra Compacts. Be careful with them. Find loads that run in your pistol. Lubricate them with Slipstream Weapon Lubricant. Find how many rounds you can go through before the gun starts acting up and needs to be cleaned again. If your gun is not reliable – then for the love of all that is good in the world… Don’t use it for defense. Just Don’t. To do so would be to make a Jump with a Chute packed by the kid that takes out the trash at Wendy’s. Not Bright. If you have an Ultra and you like it… and it isn’t quite reliable. Have a Gunsmith go through it and tune it up.

Uncategorized, Weapons

Quiz: Shire to Mordor

15 Comments

Your backpack is full of all the essentials.  Your party is outside waiting for you.  You have a long walk ahead.  You open your Arms Locker… It is full of your life’s collection… all your favorites… with magazines and ammo to spare.  But you can only pick one, because you are going to have to carry it a very long way.

You don’t know what you will face… but you know that out there… outside the borders of The Shire… are dark horrible things and you could run into some or all of them.  Orcs, Trolls, Uruk-hai, Dunlendings, Goblins, Olog-hai, Easterlings, Wights, Wargs, Ring Wraiths, Nazgul, Skin-Changers, Giants, perhaps a Dragon and Balrog (with wings… because freaking Balrogs have wings, damnit), and if you are unlucky… a Tom Bombadil .

You reach in, grab the gun and head out.

What was it that you grabbed?

This was a question asked in the very early days of TheFiringLine.com… I remember it well because I thought about it a lot before I answered, and I have thought about it still since then.  My answer at the time was a Krinkov.  Smallish, Lightish, but reliable and potent.  I think it was a good answer then.  I think it’s a good answer still.

 

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Got this from a friend.

2 Comments

I became confused when I heard the word “Service” used with these agencies:
Internal Revenue ‘Service’
U.S. Postal ‘Service’
Telephone ‘Service’
Cable TV ‘Service’
Civil ‘Service’
State, City, County & Public ‘Service’
Customer ‘Service’

This is not what I thought ‘Service’ meant.

But today, I overheard two farmers talking, and one of them said he had hired a bull to ‘Service’ a few cows.

Weapons

The Chop Glock

5 Comments

When an old battered Glock got traded in, I had to get it.  It was in horrible condition and the trigger wouldn’t reset.  I replaced all the trigger parts and cleaned it out and Slipstreamed it.  It functions flawlessly now.

Glock 22 Chopped to 23 Length.

I cut the Grip Frame down from normal Glock 22 length to Glock 23 length so I can use both mags.  You can see the 22 Mags stick out a bit, but it’s functionally flawless.

With a G23 Mag locked in.

The G23 magazine locks in solid.  Reason for doing this is to make the Glock 22 more concealable. The result is like a Colt CCO or SIG C3.  Longer barrel and slide on a more compact frame.  Greater Concealment without sacrificing shootability, accuracy, or ballistics.  You can see in the second picture the grip is now devoid of texture.  Stippling will commence shortly.  I find it’s best to sand the grips to make a nice blank canvas to work on.  One gets better results that way.  It also narrows the grip a bit, making it feel nice and danty.

You can see the Prior Owner tried to make the slide look Stainless.  This didn’t work so well.  The slide will have to be media blasted and Cerakote finished.  I’m thinking a Dark Gray color.

Weapons

Colts and 1911’s

8 Comments

I spend a good portion of the day cleaning up a bunch of handguns at the gun store. Some Smiths and such… And a couple of Colts. I’ve come to appreciate the Colts more. The way they are designed and built is very clever and well done. From an old Police Positive to a Python, they are impressive machines. What I didn’t like about them was the very rough machining in hidden non-critical areas. These had some of the worst tool marks and hacked finishes I’ve seen on this side of a Mosin Nagant… But then in the working areas and exterior finishes it’s the best I’ve ever seen. I really liked the little Colt Cobra. Light weight, small, what a gem.
About the 1911’s. I am growing to like them less and less… As serious use guns. Don’t get me wrong… I love them for what they are, and cherish the one 1911 that I have that reminds me of my darkened and probably best forgotten past… But it does still give me the warm fuzzies. But if I hear a bump in the night it isn’t a gun I would grab. I’m becoming more and more of a Glock Guy. By that I don’t mean just Glocks specifically, but all of the newer polymer double stacked striker fired pistols for the purpose of dedicated fighting guns. For serious use, would take one over any 1911 any day.

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