A few weeks ago I added a Ruger 1911 Lightweight Commander to my personal collection. I wanted to go back to a lightweight Commander style 1911 as an EDC for some time, for a variety of reasons… Namely style, accuracy, hard first shot hits… and I’ve always been a 1911 guy and it’s been a few years since I really carried one. I really appreciate the narrow profile of a 1911. So I started my shopping process. I wanted to try something a little different. And I’ve been impressed with the quality and value that Ruger has been churning out lately. So I overlooked my normal Go To brands… and I’m glad I did! Continue reading RUGER 1911 Lightweight Commander .45 UPDATED
Tag Archives: .45
Beretta Px4 Storm .45
I like this gun. It felt very good in my hands, shot very accurately… Much closer to point of aim, point of impact for me… just ran “Good“.
Good isn’t really the right word… Freaking Awesome is about right. It felt freaking awesome. I know the Storm isn’t a SIG or a 1911… But it’s a wonderful shooting gun. 10 rounds in the mag isn’t all that impressive, but the mag is smooth and easy to load and feels like its a higher quality piece than most other mags.
I don’t mind the Beretta Safety. I even like it. I don’t mind the DA/SA trigger. I even like it. I don’t mind the funky action – I really like it. I’m weird that way. But when you have a .45 that shoots like it’s launching Nerfs instead of 230 grain slugs… that’s something. When you have a gun that puts the first 5 rounds into the same bloody hole, right where you wanted it to go – That’s awesome. I know this group doesn’t look like its really all that much better than the Glock 30s’s group. But the gun felt like I had much more control, and that I was placing my shots better…. It felt like that. I knew where the bullet was going to go before I looked at the target. I could call the shots with it. Normally I can only really do that with a 220 or 1911… but I could with the Storm.
Now, the Storm is not up there like a SIG P220 is, or a nice 1911 is… But it’s right up there, real close. I like this gun. A lot.
The trigger pull could use some work. It’s not all that smooth on the example I fired. Which was a Range Rental Gun, that I think I was the first guy to try it out.
Five Stars, Beretta. Five bloody Stars!
Glock 30s
There was a time… 2013, where the Glock 30s was the object of my desire. Having spent some quality time with one… I’m not all that hot to trot for it anymore.
At 30 feet, that’s a respectable group. But I just feel… “Meh” about it. Not that there was anything wrong with it. The gun shot very well. And 10+1 Capacity of full bore .45 Auto is nothing to sneeze at. That’s more ammo on board than a full sized 1911, in a package that is much smaller and lighter. Trigger was typical of Glock’s 5.5 pound trigger… You feel one, you’ve felt them all. And I know that can be altered at will thanks to our friends at Lone Wolf Distributors. And the sights too. The sights on factory Glocks… Why THE HELL are they so stupid? Seriously. They suck. Balls. They suck balls.
The grip needs a bit of work being rather slick in my hands. To me, really, Glocks are project guns. Spend some time with them, making them feel and fire how I want them too. And then once the project is over, I just feel done with them. I like them enough to want to play with them… But I am not emotionally attached. Like Vegas hookers or something.
I know all the arguments for the Glocks… I do. I sang them myself when I was drinking the Glock-Koolaide. But… I’m just… Done with Glocks. They are just not me. I don’t feel that connection with them. I don’t feel that connection with my Microwave Oven either. But I do with my old fashioned Weber Grill. One is an appliance that I use to get a job done. The other gets that job done, but takes time and care… and I spend more time with it and come to love it all the more every time I use it. Not the Microwave. And not the Glock.
But if you like it – I understand way. I respect your opinion. Mine just differs.
Still Love 1911’s
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.
Kimber Sucks
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.
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?
Love for the .40
The Gun Community is starting to drift away from the .40. A lot of Trainers that I respect are moving away from the .40 to the 9mm. They can shoot faster with it. They have their reasons… Cost of ammo is higher than 9mm, it has more recoil than 9mm, and you can get more rounds in the same size magazine in 9mm. That’s all true. Sure. But I think some of them just like to wow students with Buzz Gun firing rates. Sure, you can shoot a 9mm really fast and look like Chris Costa doing it… but you are doing it with a smaller and weaker cartridge. The .40 has more recoil because you are putting out more punch.
In .40 I have a bullet that has a 27% increase in Diameter, heavier bullet weights. It performs more like a .45 than it does a 9mm, yet I get roughly double the capacity of a .45 in a pistol with the size and comfort in the hand of a 9mm grip frame. A .40 caliber will typically give up only 1 or 2 rounds from a 9mm. Yet we have about double the capacity from your typical .45 pistol. Considering that you are not really giving up any actual power from a .45, that’s a good trade.
The .40 is the cartridge of choice for a majority of Law Enforcement for a reason. Police, both Federal and Local tend to be picky about what they choose to carry and usually do a lot of testing. This is why they usually end up picking a .40. They don’t just adopt a cartridge because it’s popular. Let’s not forget that reason we have the .40 is from the unfortunate event with the 86 Miami Massacre. During that event, the 9mm failed to do it’s job. So did the .38 Special. The result was the FBI’s search for a better cartridge. This gave us the 10mm, which was fantastic, but too much for the Lawyers and Accountants of the FBI to handle. S&W then developed the .40… which is where we are now.
So I do like the .40 S&W cartridge, and will continue to use it. I don’t need to follow the typical path of going backwards. .45 to 9, back to .45, then back to 9mm… See this goes back to the Old West days… we all had .45’s. Then the Army went to the .38’s. After we fought the Moros, we had the Trials of 1905 where we decided we needed a .45 again… this the 1907 trials that lead to the 1911 adaptation which served just fine until the 80’s when we went with a 9mm again. I’m done with all that, and so is Law Enforcement… I’ll stick with .40 caliber.
Springfield’s XD .45 Tactical
The other day I was shooting with The Fellas, and my buddy gave me a loaded magazine and an empty pistol. The XD Tactical in .45. He had stippled the gun the same way I did my Glock… and I have to say that it really improved the feel. I also have to say that the pistol shot extremely well and was uncannily accurate. This was the old XD model, not a newer M class. But in the .45 guns, there’s not a lot of difference. Same Mags, same cold hammer forged barrels… the M triggers are nicer, and of course, the outside cosmetics. But I don’t like the way the M’s feel slippery in my hands. Some texturing work fixes that real easy.
Now, I respect the XD’s and know they are all very good guns… but I’m not particularly fond of them. This one though… I like it. The XDM’s I think are a bit better and I like them more. If anyone out there are thinking of getting an M model… it is a good buy. Especially the long barreled versions if you are looking for an accurate, easy gun to shoot, with a lot of capacity.
While I’m not going to line up to buy one… if any of The Horde does, it would be a good choice.
Another SIG is in my brain.
I keep coming back and looking at it, handling it… Yes, another 1911. Then I read a good review. I don’t know why, I am pretty much a Glock Guy now… I don’t need another 1911. I don’t even want another 1911… but I want this 1911.
Freak. Working at a Gun Store has a serious drawback.
Colt’s Double Eagle.
Terry let me shoot his Double Eagle. A unique pistol that I actually like. What it is, is Colt trying to make the 1911 into SIG. It didn’t really work all that well, and they did have some problems… but I would have liked to have seen Colt make a better effort in the idea.
Gun Lust of the Day: SIG P220 Compact SAS
The SIG P220 Compact SAS. It’s all I want for Christmas… just this…
In all seriousness, I’ve always wanted a compact P220 and have never had one. My respect for the P220 goes so far that I could almost forgo the companionship of 1911’s, in favor of the P220’s. I’ve had several full sized SIG P220’s. One was a duty weapon for me in Richmond, VA. Fantastic gun. However back then, compacts were just not around. If you wanted one and were flush with coin, there were a couple top level gunsmiths that could do a chop job and make you one. It was the stuff of dreams. Then there was the P245, a factory cut down. I don’t know the difference between the P245 and the P220 Compact, if there is any. But it’s still the gun I’ve always wanted and never had. Looking back at the Custom versions from gunsmiths… they featured melting and trigger work and all that. One I saw was about 2500 bucks into the work. And now here is a Compact, Melted/Dehorned, with an even better trigger… from the factory.
Why do I not already have one already?