I was reading Cheaper Than Dirt’s post on entry level bolt guns. I will probably end up buying a Remington 700 in stainless. However I did look at the 770. And what a piece of crap. I felt like I had to jiggle the bolt to get it to return. Not smooth like the ss 700. Here is SW Washington/Portland OR, the 770 is going for around $450-$500, the ss 700 is around $630. From what I have observed in extra $1xx is totally worth it.
Its actually kinda comical, all the local gun shops and sporting good stores either don’t carry the 770 or openly talk about its turd-like qualities.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Need a good resource for gear selection, handgun basics and CCW tips? Magpul Dynamics The Art of the Dynamic Handgun, may be for you. Obviously its no substitute for live training but it provides some great food for thought.
A friend of mine lent me his copy of Magpul Dynamics The Art of the Dynamic Handgun. It took me a while but I finally watched most of it. The Art of the Dynamic Handgun is four disks. Disks one and two are essentially the Dynamic Handgun course. Disk one focuses on the basics while disk two introduces scenarios. Disk 3 is conceal carry. Disk 4 is extras including an in depth discussion of gear that the Magpul Dynamics guys like. Like I said, it took me a while to get though and that was with a fair bit of fast forwarding.
There is something in here for everyone. The discussions on handgun types and selection as well as gear would be great for someone new to shooting. I would recommend the basics of guns section before they even purchase a handgun. The gear guides I found fascinating (maybe because I choose to spend my time writing about that stuff anyway). It was good to hear the Magpul guys back up a lot of the opinions that I have come to (such as Raven Concealments being really good and the Comp-Tac M-Tac being a great holster because if its leather backing and kydex body to hold shape.).
At one point in the gear discussion, Travis says that his wife carries a Surefire. Vindication for my wife’s last anniversary present (a Surefire 6P LED)!
My friend who lent me the disks warned that it might mess up my grip. Sure enough 5 min into the first disk Travis is talking about grip and I start to question mine. I had to rewind, go and get my XD and compare. Turns out I already was doing what Magpul Dynamics preaches. None the less that segment was a great reinforcement, as well as talking about the reasons why you would use that grip.
Even though my wife claimed that these DVDs were very boring, I found her watching more than I would have expected. Her attention was held though a lot of the basics as well as the scenarios with the red headed chick, who was wearing a really short skirt in one of the scenarios, for reasons unstated.
My wife did wonder out loud if it would kill Travis and Chris to do some situps. Guess the few occasions where their shirts came up, their abs left something to be desired. I laughed, I might be a lot more toned and have better abs but I bet Travis or Chris could out run me any day.
Overall I highly recommend Magpul Dynamics The Art of the Dynamic Handgun. One final note, anyone else think that Travis and Chris have the same on screen dynamic as Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan (from Pitchmen)?
Ever wondered about putting a reddot on a shotgun? Me Too! Thats why I did it. Stand back, I am going to try science.
The general idea of a reddot is A) faster target acquisition and B) less dependence on proper sight alignment. Both of these would be really handy trap shooting.
Of course installing a reddot introduces all sorts of new problems. You should already be patterning you gun to understand your barrel, ammo, choke combination but now you have to add a sight zero. This means you will have to zero for a certain range. In thinking about this, I would start by patterning the gun, this will help you understand you maximum range. Then I would think about the situations in which you would be shooting this will help you pick a range for the zero (it would be odd to pick your maximum effective range).
I drew this chart in paint to illustrate the issue. Normally looking down the barrel of a scattergun (the blue line) combined with the pattern is enough, but when you elevate the sight, you may have to make adjustments (the green line).
As I mentioned before sight elevation is a problem. This is made worse by my setup. If I was using the Burris Speed Bead, maybe it would not be that big of a deal. But the saddle mount I bought sits above the normal sight plain and the reddot I own is also very tall.
Another question I have been pondering is what reticle to use? I will let you know when I figure that one out.
So why would I do this? Well, obviously the answer is because I can. But I get crap from “traditional” guys when I talk about this. These are also the same guys that like their guns but are not fans of the “black guns”. I do this because I am curious and because I like layering technology to see if the performance improves or is hindered.
In the past I have suffered from really bad trigger pull problems. When I first purchased my XD, I was constantly shooting low and to the left. What helped fix that problem was a laser sight combined with LOTS of dry fire drills. Where do snap caps come in?
Well technically you do not have to use them, most modern guns you can dry fire indefinitely and you will not harm a thing but if you are worried, snap caps gives the striker something to hit. I like using them to mix up my dry fire drills (adding tap-rack-bang, ect.). Another advantage to using snap caps in you dry fire drills is not having to mess with the slide release.
Still not convinced? OK, take a few snap caps and intersperse them in a mag if live rounds at the range. This is even better if you can pull it off on a friend without them noticing. This will tell you if you (or your friend) is anticipating the recoil.
Finally it will give you an excuse to take picture of your guns, like I did… not that you really need another excuse.
I picked mine up at Fishermans Warehouse, but most local sporting good shops should have them. Or you can or online at Amazon or Brownells.
Ever wonder why Modern Warefare 1 and 2 offer you both a red dot and holographic sights? I did and it turns out there may actually be some real life differences that the game applies.
Both a red dot and a holographic sights are reflex sights. Meaning they reflect a reticle. The advantage of these it you can have booth eyes open and the reticle retains its true point of aim. This is unlike iron sights where improper sight alignment screws your point of aim.
So back to Modern Warfare, in theory the red dot gives you a greater field of vision while the holographic it more restrictive. The holographic sight is more accurate due to parallax error. Essentially, what I stated before about retaining your true point of aim is not entirely accurate. When you get to the limits of the sights viewing angle, you will experience increasing deflection from your true point of aim. Holographic sights are better and retaining their true point of aim but the trade off is decreased viewing angle. Thus in Modern Warefare the holographic is more accurate than the red dot but dominating more of your field of view.
Most red dots like the Truglo that I recently bought use LEDs and the light source while EOTech uses a laser.
So there you go. Next time you are on the range or playing MW2 with your friends you can impress them with big words like, “refraction” and “parallax”, that is if you also read the Wikipedia articles I link to (which I found fascinating).
Later I will blog about my experiment with red dot sights and shotguns.
Among the things that I want to get done early this year is firearms training. So far my education has mostly been what I would classify as “informal”. I apply one of my golden principals, hang out with people who are better than you. Thus I have learned from ex-millitary, law enforcement officers and anyone else who will take the time to hand out jewels of wisdom. But to some degree what I have learned is sporadic. I can shoot left handed with one hand, but the basic ready aim fire type commands given during most instruction escape me. Thus the need to “formalize” my training, filling in all the gaps.
Training Classes Planned
I plan on taking the classes at the local shooting range. This is the same range and instructors used by the Portland (and Portland area) law enforcement agencies. 101A: The 101 class is, this is a gun, I tested out of that class. 101A is the “accelerated” course that preps you for the 102 class. In 101A you learn speed reloading, shooting faster and well as brush up on basics you may be missing or weak. 102: This is the class everyone talks about. Two 10 hours days. 1000 rounds. Essentially all the good stuff. This class has a reputation for kicking people ass.
Building the Training Kit:
Each class has a list of necessary equipment. Going through this list has been interesting. It has forced me to think about the gear I am currently using and how it applied to training.
101A:
Eyes: Check Ears:My favoriteear protection Gun: My trusty XD-9 Belt: I ordered a Wilderness Tactical Instructor Belt Mag Pouches: Now here is a place to cut corners. I will never carry extra mags, this the pouches I use in training can be cheap. I had the extra crappy XD Gear double pouch but I went out and bought a slightly less crappy Uncle Mikes double. At least 4 Mags: I had three, so I got an extra.
102:
All of the above plus. 2 to 4 more Mags: Need to hit the gun show. Strong Side Holster: Ahh… So I love my IWB Comp-Tacs but, I was strongly advised to come to training with an OWB holster. Additionally, this could be something that I get continuing use out of. An OWB would work during the winter months when I am wearing layers anyway. OWB will also work while backpacking (where I can open carry). I could go buy a $27 blackhawk but I have decided instead to order a Raven Concealment Phantom. The Raven will give me a a few more options for carry plus meet the requirements of training.
Anyway, this is what I have been thinking about lately. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, drop me a comment.
Its not often that checking the mail makes my day but yesterday was an exception. I have been carrying my XD-9 in a Comp-Tac for a while and love it. So when I got my 1911, I naturally went with the holster that I was happy with.
I opted to go with a whole new holster to make it easier and quicker to switch from one to the other. Basically, if I change my mind about which gun I want to carry, I don’t want to spend 20 min fixing the holster. Also as I have been breaking in this MTAC its clear that they setting used for the 9 are different than the MTAC settings for the .45 (which is more or less what you would expect)
I spent some time messing with the pressure the body applies to the gun, as well as ride height. At first I was having a really hard time drawing. I figure that has less to do with the kydex and more to do with the thumb safety and slide release digging into the leather. I figure that draw practice will break the leather down and fix the problem. Another inch of gun definitely affects the draw stroke.
The two guns for comparison.
My initial impression is the thinner 1911 will actually be more comfortable to carry. The extra inch does not seem be that big of a deal. Still I need to shoot this gun much more before it becomes my primary.
Feeling that I needed to branch out from RemOil, I decided to order a selection of Mil-Com and BreakFree CLP. Brownells was the only one who carried both and I looked at Amazon, Cabelas, and Midway USA.
So anyway, I placed my order and received my confirmation at 1:44 PM then at 2:44 PM I received a shipment notification complete with tracking numbers.
Like I said I have been wanting to try other oils other than what I was using (RemOil). After asking around I figured Breakfree CLP and Mil-Com were the best bets. I ordered:
As soon as I get a chance to get these slathered all over my guns and then push out some rounds, I will let you all know how they do. I as really interested to see how they do in my 10/22. Being a .22 it collects a lot of crap.
Shipping speed it not everything, I am a huge fan of Comp-Tac and you have to wait at least 7 days for production.
I was tempted to title this post something like “1911gasm” but I resisted. Needless to say there was a lot of lead-up to my purchase and now I could not have been happier.
Sorry in advance if this post is a little Portland OR/Vancouver WA centric.
Ahh… The look of the barrel and guide rod is on of my favorite aspects of the 1911.
Background:
I started shooting 1911s more by accident than anything else. I have a membership at the Public Safety Training Center. A shooting range (run by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office) that I love due to its clean, safe and friendly atmosphere.
They have a large selection of rental guns that my friends and I were slowly working our way through. I had shot the HK USP.45 and thought that it was a piece of junk so I moved on. It might have been the subtle guidance of the staff but I ended up trying the Kimber Custom II 1911. It was love at first shot. Not only was it point and shoot simple but it had a recoil that did not feel that much more than my XD9.
In the following weeks, my wife got a chance to shoot the 1911. Prior to that experience she was thinking a Glock might be the right gun for her. She instantly changed her mind. My wife tends to pass immediate and final judgment. When she shot the USP, she fired one magazine, put it down and walked away. After firing one mag from the 1911, she turned around and told me to go buy another box of .45.
The Hunt Begins:
Having received my wife’s blessing to add yet another gun to my collection (yes I run it by her first because of all the people you piss off, your wife should not be one), I started looking around. The local big box retailer has one or two 1911s and maybe one Kimber. Other local gun shops were either saying six month wait or forget it, we can’t get them. Dealer friends were telling me to look a Gunbroker.com because I was not going to find them anywhere in Portland.
So not expecting much I attended the Portland Gun Show. A co-worker had told me to check out Keith’s Sporting Goods (a shop that generally occupies two full rows at the show). They had a large selection of Kimbers but did not have one with an all steel frame.
This is important. I was looking for the most basic Kimber 1911 I could find, with the requirement that the frame be steel. The reason for this is mostly about recoil but also about wear and tear. This requirement came from the range officers and trusted friends who know their guns.
So I left the show with no gun. I called Keith’s Sporting Goods the following Monday to see if they had what I was looking for in the store. The lady who answered the phone said they did! She also told me that these guns were at the show, which the staff at the show contradicted. Anyway I drove myself out to their store which took almost an hour with traffic. Low and behold they had my gun. They had lots of Kimbers, a huge inventory. Impressed with Keith’s selection (but not their service) I bought the gun.
Field Stripping My New Kimber Stainless II For The First Time
The gun was transferred from Oregon to Washington the next day. I picked it up and Clark County Gunsmiths (a really nice guy, by the way). Then I waited until the next day to go shooting.
In the mean time I figured I would field strip it and start getting familiar with the guts of this gun. I loaded up some youtubes on the subject and began. As soon as I rotated the barrel bushing, the recoil string plug blasted out the front of the gun and hit the ceiling. Luckily, I was practicing good gun safety and did not have the thing pointed at my face. Otherwise this post would have been titled “Love/Hate: How My Kimber Stainless II 1911 Took Out My Eye”.
Shooting My New Kimber Stainless II For The First Time
My buddie did not know I had a new gun. When we walked into the range he asked if I though we should rent the Kimber. I said maybe. When we got to the counter I asked for a box of .45. My buddie, knowing that I have a 9mm, knew something was up. I produced the case from my range bag and proudly showed off my new purchase. The range officers were all excited as well. They started handing out all the information I would need to know as a new 1911 owner. Wear goggles when you field strip (which I found out by myself), break in periods, spring change periods, cleaning and stripping advice, magazine advice, and modification advice. And in to the range we went.
My friend recorded the following:
As soon as he turned off the camera he said, “its like its someone else shooting”, referring to my usual lack of skills compared to his natural talent and military training.
As soon as we were done at the range, he insisted that we drive directly to Keith’s so he could buy one too. Even thought he has been planning on buying one as well, shooting mine lit the fire under him. He ended up buying the Kimber Stainless TLE II.
Oh the trigger on a 1911… This should he high on the list of things to remember doing for the first time.
Final Note on Keith’s Sporting Goods
There are some good places for gun n00bs and there are some not so good. Keith’s sells like 800 guns a month so they are very transactional, you have to know what you want when you go in there. The staff is not friendly and not chatty. They do however have more guns than anyone else in Portland and maybe the Northwest. This is not a rebuke of Keith’s, its a family run shop that hits what they aim for. You just need to know that going in.
New to Guns?
Gun Nuts just like any other group are a mixed bag. Some will talk to n00bs for hours others are arrogant. If you are new to guns check out shops like C&C guns in Vancouver where the volume is lower, the prices are the same, they lack the inventory but the are very nice and will tell you anything you want to know. Also there is no shame is saying you are a n00b up front. That’s how you get the best advice.
Break Free 4OZ. Bottle
Break Free, 4OZ. Aerosol
MC2500 OIL .4 FL OZ Syringe
TW25B Synthetic Grease .5 Oz Syringe
TW25B Weapons Grease 1.5 Oz Tube
