Glock Meltdown?

I’m not really sure why it was ever a question as to whether someone could fire enough rounds to melt a Glock, but the video sure is cool. Happy Monday!!!

Photo Updates – (Like Us On Facebook)

Recently it became clear the links to many of our photos are broken. It is a cumbersome process to go back through all the posts over the past three years to fix the issues. In some cases it may not be possible, but many of the photos are mine and I just need to revise each post. If you find a broken photo link, feel free to post a comment and I will get to it. I’ve gotten about half way through both 2014 and 2012 and will continue to work on it with the goal to have the photo links restored where possible in the next two months.

If you feel so inclined, please like our Facebook page. The button is at the bottom right of the cover photo which is the same photo as on the blog.

Customize at your own risk!

Recently I have seen two firearms up for sale where the owner customized the firearm and turned it into something only a mother could love. One was a Taurus 1911 with a retail price of about $600 and after all the customization they wanted $850 and the gun was orange and black. I would never pay 30% more than a gun was worth new unless there was something super special about the custom work which was done, but making it orange lowered the value IMO as opposed to raising the value. Another was a Glock with a cerakoted frame which was OD Green. It wasn’t bad, but why would I want that? Another one was a Glock with $175 worth of custom grip modifications which to me look like someone took a hot paperclip and stippled the grip. There were other modifications, but why would I want a $550 used Glock when I can get a used Gen 3 for $400-450 all day long.

If you are going to modify the firearm there are a couple of considerations. First and foremost is the modification just for you. If so they gopher it. If you are doing the modification with aspirations to eventually sell the firearm and recoup the cost of the modification be aware the chances of this happening are slim to none. So if you stipple the grip on a Glock, know it is lowering the value to many. If however you were adding night sights to the Glock you would potentially increase the value. You can change grips on some guns and other things, but save the original for when someone like me walks up and says that’s good, but I’d prefer original.

SAFE-DRAW Review #1

The other day GEARHOG sent a solicitation for a deal on SAFE-DRAW and I thought it might be interesting to get it at the low price point and see what my thoughts were. I had never heard of it before so after looking at their website I see it is a piece you mount on the Glock trigger guard which increases the trigger pull for the first round and each subsequent round is the normal trigger. I don’t really see the need for it, but the idea is to stop accidental discharge when holstering or other activities. So I ordered the kit for $9.95 and it indicated shipping would take up to 10 days, no bid deal.

A package arrived yesterday in the mail and it is a small manila envelope which contained a zip bag with the pieces and zero instructions. It had a packing slip with minimal information which made me question if it even came from SAFE-DRAW so I went back to GEARHOG and sure enough it is direct from the company. I’m not upset it came in a manila envelope or that the packing list had little to no information on it. What I’m perturbed about is no instructions. None, nada, zilch. They do have an email address listed on the GEARHOG receipt and a website so I can probably figure it out, but I should not have to figure it out, it should come with instructions for proper installation. My current impression is they get an F for allowing someone to potentially install something incorrectly. At the very minimum place installation instructions on the website.

More to come.

Not The Norm

Sometimes I run into people who think they can size me up at first glance. I was in a shop yesterday and the guys were doing an excellent job of trying to find out what I wanted, but every time they guessed they were so far off the mark it wasn’t even funny. They pulled out a beautiful Dan Wesson 1911 which would have been a joy to own, but I would have needed to take out a second mortgage just to afford the down payment. I was dressed nicely, but when they pressed me as to what I was looking for I said a Star Model B and you could see the puzzled look on their face. Then I went on to explain the Star was a Spanish firearm similar to a 1911, but I wanted it in 9mm. They were all over the surplus market a few years ago, but now I rarely see them pop up in stores.

I checked out the inventory and then made another sweep around to check out the wheel guns. Another employee asked what I wanted and I explained I had most of the firearms they had in the case. Then he proceeded to whip out a Smith & Wesson revolver chambered for .45 ACP with moon clips and the most awful looking grips on the planet. I’m just not into the moon clips and even with different grips this would still have been an ugly firearm. My tastes are about as random and I doubt anyone could predict what I would and would not like especially by just trying to size me up by the cut of my cloth.

I’m old school, I like revolvers and lever actions. I like interesting firearms and while I own several mainstream offerings I tend to go off the rails at times. Needless to say I am not your normal firearm shopper and since I already have a Glock I don’t see any reason to own a second Glock at the moment. I realize there are several variations and calibers, but my Glock doesn’t feel lonely because it doesn’t have a companion. It gets along just fine with everybody else on its own. Maybe I should carry around my wishlist so people will know what I am currently after. That might save a bunch of time and energy. My current wishlist looks something like this:

• SAA – .44-40
• Uberti Buntline – .44-40
• 1873 Winchester – .44-40
• Ruger Alaskan – .454 Casull
• Star Model B – 9 mm
• Ruger Red Label – 12 gauge
• Benelli Ethos – 12 gauge
• Rossi Rio Grande – .410

Don’t Ride The Slide

I recently saw a forum post where someone thought something was wrong with their Glock because it would not chamber the round. They shot a video of what was happening and it was simple, they were riding the slide and not letting the springs do their job. There are two ways to rack a slide, slingshot and power stroke. There are a handful of firearms which require a slingshot position, the Ruger Mark I/II/III and 22/45 come to mind, other than those firearms you should always employ a power stroke when possible.

So what’s the difference, slingshot is like pulling a slingshot. It works, but puts your hands in an awkward position if you keep the muzzle on target. Try it, hold your strong hand like a gun and point in front of you downrange. Now take your weak hand and get in a position to pull the imaginary slide back like a slingshot. It’s an awkward position and only becomes comfortable if you rotate your dominant hand (the gun hand) to the side which would be off target. Power stroke is much more comfortable and works for everyone. Slingshot relies on your hand strength to pull back the slide. With power stroke you can use your arm strength to push the slide. Same scenario, strong hand is the firearm, weak hand operates the slide. Approach the firearm with the hand open and grab the back of the slide with the weak hand. The palm of the weak hand is positioned at the thumb of the strong hand and the fingers wrap across the back sight and are position on the side with the back of the strong hand. You can either push the strong hand forward and release the slide with the weak hand, or pull the weak hand back and release the slide. Most people will find it easier to make the weak hand/arm a rock and solidly hold the slide in position and push the strong hand forward. When the strong hand goes forward release the slide with the weak hand.

Now there is yet another way to move the slide forward and that is to use the thumb to push down on the slide stop. This is a bad idea in the long-term. It can wear down the edge of the slide stop and eventually make it difficult for the stop to hold back the slide. I have a firearm where it was continually released using the slide stop and now it will barely hold back the slide and the slightest bump releases the slide. Use it as a slide stop, not a slide release.

The bottom line of it all is to remember to release the slide. Do not ride it back down the frame. Pull it back and release or hold position and push the firearm forward and release the slide. I picked the first YouTube video I found on the topic, viewed it quickly and it demonstrates the slingshot and power stroke if I did a crappy job explaining them. If these concepts are new to you, take a few minutes to view the video.

It’s not the length

I’ve seen people worry about all sorts of things when discussing handguns for concealed carry, but one which just isn’t worth your time is the length of the barrel. It’s certainly easier to hit a target more accurately with a longer barrel, but with concealed we really are only talking about stopping a threat and if someone is shooting further than seven yards I would begin to wonder if they really were threatened.

Below is a video from hickok45 and his results with three Glock pistols using a chronograph. While the results may differ in different firearms it really goes to show length is just not a consideration for your concealed firearm. The difference in stopping power is going to be negligible. What you should spend your time on is being able to engage the target and your marksmanship. It’s a video well worth your time.

Yes, I would like fries with that!

I feel like I need to post something firearm related today and just cannot come up with a suitable topic. There are a myriad of ideas at any given moment running around in my brain, but if I forget to start a post in draft they will be gone in an instant. So since I cannot come up with anything miraculous this morning, lets discuss something which happened this week and it’s really a pet peeve.

This week I was out-of-town and so I went with a friend to a very nice range in Richmond, VA. They have a smorgasbord of rental guns so I typically rent what they offer when there. The last time I was there we rented a Springfield XD and I got a light strike on the primer. Well this time we rented a Walther PPQ. The magazine held 12 rounds of .40S&W and the first round off the magazine chambered correctly all but a single time and it lodged on the feed ramp. That was irritating, but the real irritation was every time we shot the gun the second round off the top lodged on the feed ramp. So out of eight full magazines, one jammed on the feed ramp with the first cartridge and all eight jammed with the second cartridge. The interesting thing was after the magazine was down to 10 rounds we never had an issue. The magazine release sucks on a PPQ, but that is a topic for another post.

So off to rent another firearm and get rid of the Walther jammaster. We selected a Glock 22 in .40S&W to eat up the rest of the rounds we had purchased. I shot first and my group was nonexistent. Now I am the first to admit I am not the best shot on the planet, but with the Walther PPQ I made a group less than half a fist at seven yards with the very first magazine even with the jam issue. With the Glock my shots were to the left and scattered. To me the trigger felt “gritty” and by the end of our shooting session I had rubbed a spot on the skin on the side of my trigger finger. My shooting partner was heading left as well and he agreed the trigger sucked. Everyone should know I am a Glock fan and my position has always been you can bury them in the backyard, dig them up years later and the gun will fire. Well this POS had some trigger issue and on top of that the sights were off. I’m not even sure how the sights can be off on that far at seven yards with a Glock, but they were. By the end of the session we had both tightened up our groups and figured out where to aim, but if this was my first exposure to a Glock I would just say no.

So I can see you are thinking my pet peeve is rental firearms. Bzzz, wrong answer! My pet peeve is the snotty guy at the counter. When I took back the Walther the person at the counter was very nice and said they would have the gunsmith look at it. I think the nose was slightly flattened on the range ammo and the angle made with the magazine on the 2nd round off the top was just enough to catch. A little polishing of the feed ramp would probably fix the issue or use ammo with a round/smooth bullet. The next guy was just a joy. Some snotty mid-20’s puke whose comment when I returned the Glock and told him the trigger was gritty went over to the side, pulled the trigger and said, “That’s just a Glock trigger.” I left without telling Captain Know-It-All that two experienced shooters found the trigger to be crap and the sights to be off significantly left. My pet peeve is people like our young friend who shrug off what others are telling them and do not listen or act on what they are saying. Maybe I should have flashed my NRA credentials, but this guy was so apathetic it would not have mattered. I hope this gentleman is offered the chance to find new employment soon if this is his normal attitude. He could have been having an off day, but that was not the vibe I was feeling. I think he probably goes through life in this manner and I wish him well in the future when I will no doubt encounter him at jobs which mandate his level of expertise, knowledge, and customer service. When I do I will gladly tell him, “Yes, I would like fries with that!”*

*Note: Most fast food employees exhibit better customer service than this gentleman. I’m not sure he would find long-term employment in that industry.

Used M&P Anyone?

I happened upon a story which indicated the North Carolina Highway Patrol is looking to replace nearly 2,000 Smith & Wesson M&P pistols for failure to eject issues on some guns. I’m not exactly sure why they went with .357SIG in the first place, but they could just swap out the barrel and have a .40 or change out the barrel and magazines and have a 9mm. I seriously contemplated getting a M&P, but shot one at a range and did not fall in love. I much prefer a Glock or my Ruger SR9C.

The Highway Patrol says they are still considering models. If it were me I’d just swap the M&P if S&W is willing to do the trade out. My guess as to the reason for the issue is lint in the extractor causing it to not extract properly. Before I swapped out 2,000 firearms I would have them cleaned professionally. It isn’t like it is rocket science to clean the firearm, but it may take some gunsmith skills to remove the extractor and clean out the area.

Anyway if they do decide on some other firearm for the force you may be able to pick up a used M&P in .357SIG for a song. 😉

Speed Loaders

When you hear the term Speed Loader it seems to imply you are off to the races. In reality what they generally do is either make putting ammunition into the magazine easier or quickly fill the cylinder of a revolver. Generally a magazine speed loader depresses the follower and spring against the floor plate of the magazine. They come in all shapes and sizes depending upon whether they are an aftermarket item or came with the firearm and magazine. The Glock speed loader is nothing more than a plastic piece which fits tightly over the magazine and has a leg to depress the follower. It allows you to do the work with your hand instead of your thumb. The Ruger speed loader from the SR9C is very similar, but stamped out of flat steel and bent. Some of the aftermarket loaders have more ergonomic designs, but I would suggest if you don’t have a loader to do some research online to find the one which will work best with the magazine you are going to work with. We actually have about five magazine loaders in various sizes because I have several different firearms which use magazines.

Now a revolver speed loader is a device you fill with ammunition and then with a twist or push you release the ammunition into the cylinder. For that reason these are not universal. So if you have different makes, models or calibers chances are each will require a different speed loader. I’ve had wheel guns for years and unless you are shooting in some sort of competition or need the ammo as backup, I don’t really see the need for a speed loader. Sure it speeds things up at the range, but how long does it really take to shove six rounds into a cylinder. They are nice to have, but certainly not required.

So there’s a nickel overview of speed loaders. My opinion is if you have a magazine, you need a loader. At some point your thumbs will be tired of doing all the work. However if you have a revolver you probably do not need a speed loader. For my home defense .357 magnum I do have the firearm loaded and a speed loader nearby, but the only place I have used it in the past 21 years is at the range.