Quest For A Carry Piece: Introduction

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have decided that I am definitely going to get my Pennsylvania License to Carry a Firearm, or LCTF (to be referred to from here on out as a carry permit). However, I find myself facing a not-so-insignificant issue with possibly carrying a gun Namely, my gun. Don’t get me wrong, the SIG-Sauer P228 is a fine firearm, and I love mine, and it could make a great carry piece… for someone else.

See, I’m 5’11″ and skinny as a rail, and the P228 is a very wide firearm, particularly in the grip area. If I were to carry it under a shirt or jacket, it would be obvious that I was carrying a gun, which is a big no-no if you’re carrying concealed. OTOH, open carry is legal in PA without a permit, so I really couldn’t get in trouble legally if my pistol were to print, but all the same it’s a hassle I’d rather not deal with. Also, the P228 is a relatively heavy gun, weighing in at just under two pounds unloaded. Add a full 13-round magazine, or 15 rounds if I were to use my Mec-Gars (which I would), and the gun’s loaded weight tips the scale to two pounds or more (depending on bullet weight). Not a problem for most folks, but I’m discovering that I have apparently not escaped the Raptor Clan Family Curse (TM) of lower back problems. The idea of walking around with three pounds (gun, spare mag, holster) on my hip all day is not at all appealing.

Now I know that a good pancake-style holster can help better distribute the gun’s weight, which may help my back, and carrying inside-the-waistband can aid in concealability, but IWB carry requires wearing pants at least 1 inch larger in the waist than what one would normally wear to accommodate the gun, and I don’t feel like spending the time, energy, or money to replace my entire wardrobe.  I hate shopping for clothes!

Plus, this also gives me a convenient excuse to buy another gun. *wink-wink*

So what exactly am I looking for? I’ve been thinking about this for a little while, and I’ve come up with a short list of specifications. Specifically, I am looking for a compact (not sub-compact) semi-automatic pistol chambered in either 9mm or .380 ACP, with 9mm being preferable. It is a more powerful cartridge than the .380, and I already have plenty of 9mm ammo on hand, so I won’t have to stock up on another cartridge. The pistol must me no longer or taller than my P228 (7.1″ and 5.4″, respectively) and significantly thinner (1.5″) and lighter (1.8 lbs w/ empty magazine) as well. Actual retail price (not MSRP) should not be higher than $550, though I can be somewhat flexible here.

Ultimately, these requirements are probably going to lead me to a single-stack, polymer-framed pistol, though I may wind up choosing something completely different. I’m not looking at revolvers at all: nothing against them, I’m just much more experienced with pistols. That said, aside from the aforementioned specifications, I really don’t have any strong preferences. I’m starting with a blank slate, as it were. Fortunately, I do have a few ideas already:

• Kahr CW9
• Ruger Lc9
• Ruger LC380
• SIG-Sauer P239
• SIG-Sauer P238
• SIG-Sauer P938
• Springfield Armory XDS-9
• Smith & Wesson M&P Shield
• Walther PPS

If any readers have a suggestion for a pistol not mentioned here, please feel free to mention it in the comments.

As luck would have it, Targetmaster has a very large selection of rental guns, including all of the above-listed pistols (or at least a close approximation), so I will be able to try them all out before I make a decision. And, lucky for y’all, I’ll writing an informal, thoroughly-subjective and completely unscientific review on each gun. Chronicling my quest, so to speak.

I actually tried out the Kahr CW9 this afternoon, so that will be my first review. I’ll have the post up on that by tomorrow evening.

Until then, peace.

-Raptor

Further Adventures of the New(ish) Shooter

It seems I’ve been remiss in updating the blog. Again. Yeah, I know, what else is new This time, I’ve been really remiss, because I’ve neglected to write about two gun-centric events that took place over the last month.

First: I found what I’m pretty sure is my Perfect Pistol. This is not a Holy Grail Gun, i.e. the a gun I dream of owning one day regardless of practicality or shoot-ability. Rather, this is my Ideal Handgun, the one that fits me perfectly. I made this discovery purely by accident, as I was only shooting it for research purposes: the protagonist in a manuscript I’m working on carries one. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to like it very much. Imagine my surprise when I fell in love at first shot.

What is this Perfect Pistol? Surprise, surprise, it’s a Browning Hi-Power.

Image from Browning.com

John Moses Browning’s final design, what I’ve come to consider to be the finest handgun ever made. Sorry, 1911 fans, but I call it like I see it.

The Hi-Power gets a lot of grief today for a few reasons. First, it’s a 9mm. Second, the magazine “only” holds 13 rounds. Third, it has a magazine disconnect feature. Forth, because of said mag disconnect, magazines don’t drop free. Well, I got news for you, all those so-called flaws are easily corrected. With modern defensive ammo, 9mm is more than adequate. 15-round magazines are available from Mec-Gar (who also make the standard 13-round mags for Browning), bringing capacity up to modern standards. And the magazine disconnect can easily be modified to allow mags to drop free, or else removed entirely if you don’t want it. Personally, I don’t care either way.

I will own one someday. That’s not a dream, oh no: that’s a fact!

Second, and what y’all will probably find more interesting: I fired a submachine gun last week. Specifically, a Colt M-635 9mm.

Image from Wikipedia.

What did I think? Let’s put it this way: I now understand why a full-auto selector switch is known in some circles as “the giggle switch.” It’s been over a week, and I still can’t talk about it without starting to cackle like a crazy person. Heck, I’m smiling right now as I type this.

The gun itself was in sad shape. The pin that holds on the dust cover and brass deflector had backed out about a third of the way and had bent so it couldn’t be re-inserted, and the gun jammed on me at least one a magazine. And I don’t just mean a simple failure to eject, I mean stovepiping and double-feeding at the same time.  But even so, it was a crazy-good time. Honestly, the only reason I don’t do it more often is because it’s expensive! It took me just fifteen minutes to burn through two boxes of ammo, and the vast majority of that time was spent being instructed on how to operate the gun and then loaded (and reloading) the magazine. I read someplace once that “full auto is the fastest, easiest way to turn money into noise.” Whoever said that wasn’t kidding.

Doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it again, though. *wink-wink*

I’ve also decided that I am definitely going to obtain a concealed carry permit. However, this has yielded a small issue: my SIG-Sauer P228 is to wide for me to easily conceal. Now, it’s not a big gun, nor is it overly wide, but I’m 5′ 11″ and skinny as a rail, so if I carry the SIG, it will almost certainly print. And I don’t feel like going out and purchasing a whole new wardrobe to try and solve this problem. So that means I’m looking for a dedicated carry piece.

I’ll be dedicating an entire series of posts to this, writing informal reviews on each gun that I test. In fact, I’ve already began. The first review, as well as an introduction to the series, will be up shortly.

Until then, peace.

-Raptor

I Need a Shotgun.

Stopped once again at Targetmaster today for a long-planned purchase: a year-long membership to the shooting range. I went with a mid-level membership, which gives free, unlimited range time and free non-full-auto rentals. Kinda pricy, but given the amount of shooting & renting I plan to do, it should pay for itself pretty quickly. Also picked up a case of Remington 9mm ammo. They had it in stock, and at a decent price to boot. And given the nation-wide ammo shortage, who knows when I’d see a deal like that again? So I jumped on it.

Anyway, I’d gone to Targetmaster not only to get the membership, but also to get some practice with my P228 Now, their range offers many different firearms to rent, long guns as well as handguns (and some full-autos too!), and on a whim, I decided to rent a shotgun. Specifically, a Remington 870 Tactical with a BLACKHAWK Spec-Ops II stock. They had an 870 with a “regular” stock as well, but given that a) the Spec-Ops contains a recoil-reduction mechanism, and b) I’d never fired a shotgun before and therefore had no idea what the recoil from a 12-gauge pump gun shooting buckshot felt like, I figured that I’d play it safe.

Okay, yes, I wimped out.

Side-note: I have handled both the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500 in the past, and while both are fine, quality firearms, I prefer the Mossberg as I find the placement of the safety & action release to be more intuitive and therefore easier to manipulate. Unfortunately, Targetmaster does not appear to have any Mossberg shotguns available for rent, so I went with the Remington.

Okay, back on topic: Targetmaster allows you to shoot shotguns so long as you use either buckshot or slugs. Birdshot & target loads are a no-go because the pellets are apparently so light and moving so (relatively) slow that they have a tendency to ricochet off the back-stop and spray everywhere. Makes a mess, and poses a hazard to the shooters on the line. So I bought a box of Remington low-recoil 00-buckshot shells, got set up, loaded up a single shell, and fired.

Within about five seconds of putting that shell downrange, I came to a conclusion: I need a shotgun. Not want, need. Forget home defense, forget hunting, forget skeet & trap shooting. Shotguns are just fun to shoot. A whole lot of fun! Seriously, it took me the better part of an hour to wipe the grin off my face that that first shell put there.

Unfortunately, despite the recoil-reducing buttstock and low-recoil loads, the shotgun still beat me up a bit. I’m writing this about four hours after I finished shooting and my shoulder is still sore. But that’s not the shotgun’s fault: it’s mine. See, the BLACKHAWK! stock is adjustable, and I didn’t think to adjust it to the proper length of pull before I started shooting. It was too long, so as a result my shooting stance was all messed up (could barely reach the fore-end). My shoulder was aching after the first few shells, but I didn’t bother adjusting it until I was about halfway through my 25-round box. Shortened the stock by one notch, and that seemed to do the trick. I wasn’t getting beat up anymore. Next time, I think I’ll rent the standard-stock 870 and see how I do with that. Because honestly, in spite of all I’ve read about 12-gauge having vicious recoil, once I got the stock adjusted properly, shooting it was really quite pleasant.

So, like I said, I’ve discovered that shotguns are a TON of fun to shoot, and that I need one badly.

Shot My First Rifle, and Helped Get A New Shooter Get Started!

Shot a rifle for the first time today. Savage Mk.II that I rented from Targetmaster down in Chadds Ford. Unfortunately, Targetmaster doesn’t allow cameras, and I had no one to hold it anyway, so no pictures.

Anyway, I think I did pretty well. Shot a “Standard 25m Rapid Fire Pistol” target, maybe an 18-inch circular target with a 2-inch red zone in the center. Shot at ten yards first, and actually put a couple rounds into the red. Backed it out to 25 yards, which was the farthest I could send it, and got a handfull more in the red. All my shots were in the black this time, which is more than I can say for when I shoot pistols. I’m still shooting low, even with the rifle. I think it has something to do with my sight alignment.

The rifle itself was in sad shape. It was a rental, like I said, so that figures. It had fiber-optic sights, but the front post had been damaged at some point. Nearly all of the red insert was gone, so it was very dim. Add that in with the intact-and-very-bright green rear sights, and it was nigh impossible to pick up. I think there was a problem with the extractor and/or the ejector: unless I pulled the bolt very quickly and firmly to the rear, the spent shell would not be ejected from the rifle, and would instead fall back into the action and jam the bolt. That was a real pain. It was also rather difficult to get a good cheek weld, but I’ll chalk that up to the fact I was wearing my Pletor muffs.

That said, I have no doubt that the rifle’s poor performance lies solely with the fact that it was a rental. It was extremely accurate, and I would not hesitate to buy one new. Also tested out my SIG’s new Mec-Gar magazines while I was there; they worked flawlessly.

However, my shooting the rifle wasn’t the best part of the trip.

As I was still setting up my shooting station, three people came onto the lane next to me. A guy a few years older than me, and his two sisters. He was going to teach them how to shoot. And, as I learned later, he was a MARSOC Marine, so he was very qualified to do so. (and no, he wasn’t bulls***ing me when he said that: he’d gone through Parris Island with one of the range masters and I overheard them catching up). Unfortunately, his choice of training rifle turned out to be less than ideal: it was a 16-inch AR-15 carbine in 5.56mm. In an indoor range. For those unfamiliar with firearms, the 5.56mm is a very loud cartridge. Firing it indoors only makes things much worse.

So, anyway, he went over the four rules with the girls, showed them how to operate the rifle, how the sights work, etc. Then he let them go at it, one at a time. Sister #1 fired one round and said something to the effect of “WOW! This is fun!” She proceeded to put her entire allotment of ammo downrange. And she was a pretty good shot too. It was pretty obvious she was hooked.

Then came Sister #2. She fired three rounds, very slowly, and decided that she didn’t like it. She was done. I offered to let her shoot the Savage, but she politely declined. Said she really didn’t enjoy it and didn’t think she wanted to do it again. I assured her that the Savage was much quieter than the AR, but she still said no. But she didn’t leave; instead she hung out on the range, watching her brother and sister shoot. Every so often, I’d offer again to let her shoot the Savage, but she continued to politely decline each time.

Finally, when we were all just about out of ammo and time, I told her, “I’m gonna pack up soon, so last chance: you’re really sure you don’t want to shoot mine?” She politely declined. But Sister #1 said she’d like to shoot it, and asked if that would be all right. I told her sure, loaded up a few rounds into the magazine, and showed her how to operate the rifle. She pulled the trigger and said something to the effect of “Holy s***! This is nothing!” She emptied the magazine, then turned to Sister #2 and told her that she had to try it. Her brother urged her to try it as well, and she reluctantly agreed. Probably just wanted to get us to shut up.

So I showed her how to work the rifle, loaded up a full magazine, and handed it to her. Had to correct her grip & stance a little, and then, after a moment’s hesitation, she pulled the trigger.

Her first words when she realized what had happened: “Hey, that wasn’t bad at all.”

Three rounds later: “This one’s a lot better than the other one.”

Two rounds after that: “This one’s kinda fun.”

At the end of the magazine: “I really liked this one! Why couldn’t you have taught us on this, [Brother]?” Their brother apologized, and explained that he’d chosen the AR-15 because it was the rifle he knew best, because he’d been using one in Iraq for seven years.

Both sisters said together: “Damn it! We’re not going to Iraq!”

I offered to let Sister #2 shoot the rest of my ammo (only two rounds), and she jumped at the chance. When it was all over, she thanked me profusely for letting her shoot the Savage and I was right: it was much better than the AR-15.

And the best part: as the three of them were leaving, I heard Sister #2 admonishing her brother and telling him that, and I quote, “Next time, I’m gonna shoot a rifle like his.”

All in all, I’d say today was a very, very good day.

Crisis Averted

Or: To Shoot.

Disregard my previous post. Drove out to Targetmaster in Chadds Ford today… and they had plenty of 9mm Luger ammunition, and at normal (i.e. not panic-puy-inflated) prices to boot. I picked up a case of Federal American Eagle while I was there. 1000 rounds should hold me over for at least 2-3 months. So yes, I will most certainly be taking my SIG to the range (though not this week, unfortunately), and I will no longer be entertaining the idea of selling it and using the money to buy a .380 ACP.

At the same time, they had exactly one magazine for my SIG… marked at $43. Yeah, no thanks.

To Shoot, Or Not To Shoot?

No, this is not a post about hypothetical shoot/don’t shoot scenarios. Rather, it’s about a conundrum I’ve found myself in.

As you hopefully know, I bought my first gun just about a month ago. SIG-Sauer P228 in 9mm. Sweet pistol. I love it. However, I now have a problem.

In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Atrocity, and the ensuing promises from those in power to introduce powerful gun-control legislation, the nation has been seen a massive “Run on Guns,” possibly the largest one in history. Hundreds of thousands of Americans, perhaps millions of us, are buying guns. Everything from AR-15s and AK-47s to semi-automatic handguns to shotguns to .22 rimfires and everything in between. Manufacturers report selling years’ worth of stock in a matter of days, and are backordered for several months at the earliest. Most gun stores report being completely sold out of pretty much everything: guns, magazines, accessories, you name it, they probably don’t have it.  Unfortunately, ‘everything else’ also includes ammunition, which brings me to my present problem.

My SIG-Sauer is chambered for the 9mm Luger cartridge. The last time I was at a gun store was four days after Sandy Hook, and the only 9mm Luger in the store that I could see was the cheap ammo that they sell at a marked-up price to people who didn’t bring their own ammo to the store’s shooting range. And they were selling it at the marked-up price to everyone. I haven’t checked that store since, or any other gun store for that matter, but from the reports I’ve seen online, it looks like there is little to no 9mm Luger of any sort available anywhere in the country.

That said, my ammo situation is not totally bleak: I picked up a few boxes of ammunition at a gun show right before the Gun Run began. I’ve shot some of it, but I still have three boxes left. Unfortunately, three boxes of ammo is only enough for two, maybe three meaningful range sessions, and I have no idea when I’m going to be able to get any more. And I don’t have a reloading press, so I can’t roll my own (and even if I did have a press, reloading components are all pretty much gone too).

So here’s my quandary: should  I shoot the ammo I have now, or hold onto it for later in case I need it? On the one hand, I need to practice and get proficient with my SIG, but on the other hand, practicing now won’t really do me a lick of good if I end up not being able to shoot for several months because I have no ammo. Shoot, or don’t shoot? That is the question.

As a side note, I’m kind of kicking myself right now, because at the gun show where I bought my SIG, there was also a Walther PP pistol (big brother to 007′s PPK) chambered in .380 ACP that looked to be in immaculate condition, for about a hundred bucks less than the SIG. I actually thought about it for a few minutes, but I decided that I wanted the SIG more, and besides, during the last panic buy back in ’09, there was such a run on .380 that it was nearly a year after the panic ended before you could find any on the shelves.

Guess what’s one of the few calibers that hasn’t completely sold out this time? Yep, that’s right: .380 ACP. D’OH!

For Unto Us A Child Is Born

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

—Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas to all. May God be with you and yours.