Choices

Xavier has an excellent post up about choosing your first 1911. It is truly fabulous, and if you don't have some 1911s, but think you might need one, you should go and read it immediately. Then don't forget to come back here.

I came to the 1911 platform...probably the way a lot of us do, although it's not a very glamorous tale.

I'd heard about the 1911, and why it was the best handgun ever made, and why the military had to be out of it's collective mind to have ditched it. But I'd never fired one (we were not a handgun family). After I got out of the Marine Corps, I made a friend who one day let me shoot his 1911.

It was a few rounds at an outdoor range. I squeezed them off generally in the direction of the target, handed the pistol back, thanked the man, and went home. And thought about it. Gosh, that's a big round, but that was a comfortable gun and it didn't have a bad trigger pull...

So I decided that I wanted a 1911. The Mister and I were not yet married (although we were Living In Sin Together), and we were po'. That would be poor, but we couldn't, at that point, afford the last two letters.

The Mister, being a pretty romantic guy in his own creepy, militant way, saved his nickels and pennies and, come Christmas, Santa brought me a 1911 - of a sort.



He bought me a Ballester Molina. This is not, strictly speaking, a 1911, but it sure feels like a 1911. And we could afford it, and I had it, and I loved it.

Loved it, loved it, loved it. But it would only feed FMJ, and so I, of course, eventually, needed another 1911.

Around that time, we became foster parents for an insufficiently loved Springfield Mil-Spec.



I have to admit, I disliked that pistol intensely. The grip safety felt sharp at the edges, the whole thing didn't quite seem...put together. And, of course, it was stainless steel. I find stainless tacky in the extreme. But! It convinced me that I really needed to find a good, well-finished 1911.

Which led to my Warrior.



I may well have fallen victim to Kimber's excellent advertising, but this gun makes me happy. It ran like a clock out of the box, it's phenomenally easy to shoot very well, all the bits and surfaces were pleasing from the get-go... Loved it.

But, of course, it's a railed 5-inch 1911, which is a little hard to tote, right? Which meant I needed another 1911.



And thus came the Pro-Carry. Which is also a sweet shooter, after a significant amount of effort and profanity were devoted to extractor issues.

But here's the point, for anyone who read Xavier's excellent post, and is still on the fence: You just have to buy the first one.

When you start asking question of the Learned (and I am not counting myself among them) about the 1911, and you start surfing the gunnut websites, you can get so much information that you don't think you should buy anything until you can afford a high-end piece by a master pistolsmith (not that I wouldn't swap a couple of toes for one). But it can keep you on the fence and off the range.

If you think you want a 1911, get thee to the local gunshop and buy one. Some weird mil-surp knockoff? Sure! A truly entry-level gun from one of the big manufacturers? Get down with your bad self.

Don't get sidetracked or disheartened by all the information and opinions out there on this most popular of firearms platforms. It's a fun pool to swim in (even down here at the shallow end), and you won't know unless you jump in.

Corrupting the youth!

Yep! That's me. Number Two Son and I packed up an armload-o-rifles and headed off to the range.

First, we set him up on my uber-tacticool Plainfield carbine.



The red dot scope seemed to work out pretty well for him.



Two out, three right in there. He was pleased, and thus, so was I.

Being a good adult, I did manage to let him shoot first before breaking out the new (old) carbine.



I know, I know. The sling is in the mail, since the one I had on hand is on the Inland. Obviously, I found the trigger spring.



A little high at 50, but I was pleased with the grouping, and the rifle ran like a clock. I am a very happy camper.

And, finally, one more. Because I am just so darn proud.



That is the young man, adjusting his firing position with my AR. And yes - that is his finger - straight and off the trigger.

Note to self:

That little spring in the back of the trigger housing on my M1 carbine? (consults book - that would be the trigger spring) It does come out. But when it comes out, it comes out with a sense of urgency.

[sigh]

Now I have to crawl around the armory/library looking for one of the few small carbine parts for which there is no "spare" in my toolbox.

[grumble grumble]

This would be easier if my "gun futzing" area didn't look like a junkyard for old military weapons parts. I have the other M1 carbine in larger pieces so I can compare, and I was swapping springs and stuff on 1911s yesterday, so the whole space is littered with springs, nasty q-tips, and befouled pipe cleaners.

Happy Dance!

Let's get this out of the way right up front - that whole FedEx delivery guaranteed by 1030 line is bull. The Big White Truck of Happiness showed up around 1130. But...whatever.

I had to put it in a chair and look at it for a moment.



Fortunately, there are kids here who bring a little normalcy to the house - otherwise I'd probably still be gazing at the box. "C'Mon, Abby," they said. "Stop being weird and open it."



The first thing we must do is look past the godawful M2 birch stock. There's a reason I keep spare M1 stocks in the garage, and this is it. So let's look more closely at the rifle itself, shall we?



That's gorgeous. The barrel is an Underwood 11-43, which seems to make it possible it's the original. The bore is bright and clean, the moving parts show almost zero wear. Although the dates make it likely the rifle saw considerable service, it looks like it may have skated through its time in US service, and in Italy's being assigned as the weapon of someone who didn't go outside.

And getting an office-dweller's weapon, if you ask me, is awesome.

I slapped some BLO on my extra M1 stock and put it all together. I will tear the bolt apart and clean it up (it's the only really grungy looking bit), and we should be good to go for some range time this week.

Yipee!

Look what's coming to Bad Dog Central!!!



(that'd be the M1 carbine)

Monday, by 1030. I think perhaps I shall get up with the Mister and sit in a lawn chair in the front yard, drinking coffee and waiting on the Big White Truck of Joy.

Range trip!

I took Barney's advice from the last set of comments and took off to the rifle range in order to be doing something other than sniveling about the CMP.

Up front, it would have been a more productive range trip if, in addition to the Inland carbine and 100 rounds of ammo for it, I had remembered magazines.

It turned into a wringout trip for the .308 that came to live here recently. Does this look like a good time or what?



The first group of shots (at 50 yards) was...well, it could have been worse. It took a couple of figure out the whole bipod thing, and several more to be sure I was shooting where I was shooting, then an adjustment right and up, then a few more...



I am a terrible "adjuster." I could singlehandedly use an entire ASP zeroing a single M16, making sight adjustments one click at a time. So after I pulled the above target down, I'd totalled 6 UP and 4 RIGHT. So I took a deep breath, cringed, and added another 4 UP.



Which worked. Cool. Having by this point become buddies with the range officer (another recovering Marine), I trudged over to the 100 yard line to see where I was.



'Twas good.

DISCLAIMER - That is NOT a photo of the target! I didn't want to call a cold range after three shots so I could go get it, so there IS no picture! This is an "artist's rendering" of said target, made crudely from the image from the 50! The flyer was the first shot at that distance, and the other two were nice.

150 grain Federal softpoints of one sort or another. I was pleased. I still don't really see the point of the bipod, but it doesn't offend me, so I don't see any need to take it off right away.

Kudos to the guys down at Alpine, who were helpful and non-irritating all the way around. Props to the friendly dude inside who boresighted my scope, and the nice old boy running the range. But maybe you guys should stock a couple of M1 carbine magazines...

Since that was so much fun and the Mister is out of town, it occurs to me I have a ton of .45 acp and couple of pistols to match.... I'm off again!

[sigh]

The CMP people are tormenting me. My S'G' order went to open/processing on the 15th, and it looks kinda like it'ss running about three business days before they are shipping.

[taps fingers]

Any time now...

Oddly, clicking on the "pending orders" button 37 times per hour doesn't seem to be speeding the process along at all.

well, lookee here...

I logged into the CMP E-store this morning to see...well, if anything had appeared.



So I peed myself a little, then checked out the details. It's a service grade Saginaw S' G' (Grand Rapids). No idea on shipping yet, but I'm checking. Regularly. Like every 10 minutes.

And in other thrilling news...

When I fired up my email here at the airport (let's hear it for the Columbia, SC airport and its free wireless!), guess what showed up in my inbox?

We have received and verified your recent order. There is nothing that we will be able to tell you about the order until we have input all orders received ahead of yours into the system. Your order will now advance to our sales area and from there to our shipping area. Please note, that unless otherwise listed, our order to ship time is 30 days. You will receive other emails as the order progresses

.
From my buddies at the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

[insert Happy Dance here]

Now, the only thing is, until they process my order and I see some details, I don't know which carbine I got. There were only 540 Saginaw S'G' service grades available, so I asked for one of those or a Saginaw S'G rack grade or a Saginaw service grade. Any would make me happy, but I am curious.

Just so long as I was clear and only end up with one. Funding one carbine is tolerated, but funding three might mean I'd have to sleep in the back yard.

Look what followed me home

No. Not another dog. No way in Hell.

[shudders]

Anyway.



Cousin Randy won this, I think, at an NRA banquet or something. He goes to a lot of those. He doesn't need it, I might be able to use it, and so it came home with me, with only the vague instruction to see if I could find "something kinda like" my ProCarry to send up to him. Eventually. Someday. No hurry.

I guess that means I can keep it and send him a pistol, or trade it for a pistol for him, or sell it and buy him a pistol, or take no action for quite some time.

I think Randy mostly wanted to send me home with a rifle of the sort I'd told him I was seeking.

It's a Remington 700 in .308. The scope is a Nikon, and I have no idea what the heck the story is with the bipod. Front and rear irons are in a little baggie, along with some sort of green Remington locking safety doohicky. It hasn't been fired.

I was looking more for a .270, but there's not a thing in the world wrong with .308, and it is in fact what the Mister's open-country scoped rifle fires.

It's in the gun room, hanging out with its bipod extended. The Mister ought to be home soon (your tax dollars bailing out of work early!), and I think we'll stand around and scratch our heads and try to figure out its fate.

Pro Carry Wringout

Ladies and Gentlemen, that was money well spent. A big shout-out to Euless Guns and Ammo which, although $30 higher than my other nearby funstore, actually had what I wanted in stock.

So, without further ado, let's get down to brass tacks. I trudged off with 100 rounds of WWB 230gr FMJ and 100 rounds of Blazer Brass 230gr FMJ. The recommend break in is 400-500 rounds, so I figured I'd get a good start. The first 50(ish):



Yes, there are a couple of low ones there. I had a couple of failures to chamber the first round completely. I was using two Wilson Combat magazines, a Kimber ProTac magazine, and a MecGar. All 8-rounders. So I started downloading them 7 rounds to see if it made a difference. I also had a couple failures to return to complete battery, easily remedied by a whack on the mag.

The second 50(ish):



At this point, I was falling in love. I was expecting this to hammer me a little more, what the shorter barrel and the aluminum frame. I was surprised to find that wasn't the case. I was futzing around with where I wanted my finger on the trigger, and managing a couple more failures to return to battery, but this critter was hitting very easily where I put the sights.

The third 50(ish)



Yes, I was starting to lose it a little here. I had some 185gr JHPs with me so I thought I'd fire those up before everything went to hell.



I was pleased. The fourth 50(ish) looked a lot like the second and third, so I'll spare you the picture.

Overall, I was very happy. I'm standing off on the failure to return to battery issue, since a lot of the complaints I've read about Kimber pistols have seemed to disappear once the "break in period" is through. Whether or not a new pistol should require a break-in is a different matter, but I'll adhere to the instructions before I start worrying.

All in all, I'm really liking it.

New gat

in da house, yo!



As soon as I suck down some more coffee and a few more of these wonderful little chocolate things the Mister brought me for Valentine's, I shall be off to the range.

If I can find more AA batteries, the camera will go with me.

Out of control

If any of you ever drop by Bad Dog Central, and begin to notice odd little piles of ammo here and there...



It's not some crazy paranoia thing. I am not under the impression that we're going to end up in a situation where I need 50 loose rounds of super-quiet .22 while digging through my desk, or 20 rounds of 7.62x39 while doing laundry.



No. It's that I have Jack the Black Puppy. And apparently, there is nothing on earth more fabulously yummy than the cardboard boxes they pack ammo in.

[sigh]

Both of those were today. I should have snapped a shot last summer when he snagged 50 rounds of 9mm and took it out in the yard to devour the packaging. Making the yard safe mowing was like an Easter Egg hunt, only creepier.

There are times

when Abby cannot be trusted to do anything.

I went to the range today, right? And, being a good gun owner, I thought I'd give the guns a little cleaning action. So I set up my space, and got a nice cup of coffee, sat down and started in on the 1911.



Those of you who've taken a close look at where we are in the field-strip process can tell where this is going, can't you?

Folks, I shit you not. I have never managed this before, and would not be able to do it again on a bet.



Fortunately, the coffee was not strong enough to instantly dissolve the recoil spring plug, and the plug is not a really nasty part, so there was no need to wash the cup. I did have to dump out almost all the coffee, though.

Well, crap

[sigh]

I swear, the Civilian Marksmanship Program people exist only to torment me.

We have been discussing the new pistol issue, right? Back and forth, and I've been getting some good input, and some thoughts on local gunshops that might not be populated entirely by Trolls.

And then what comes from the CMP today?



Other than that, I mean. And before you ask, I can only wish they delivered root beer.

No - they sent the periodic CMP Sales Update.

Allow me to quote you an excerpt:

CHANGE TO CARBINE SALES DATES: Inspection & Repair and grading of M1 carbines has progressed faster than expected. CMP will now accept mail orders for Saginaw, Saginaw S'G', and National Postal Meter carbines on 28 April, 2008. Order acceptance date for Standard Products and IBM has now been set as 7 July, 2008...

I now have two options:
1 - Budget responsibly and put off the pistol purchase, devoting my "fun gun money" to the carbine.
2 - Buy new pistol as scheduled, then act surprised at the April release of the Saginaw S'G' carbines. Sell blood, risque online dog pics, and Mr. Abby's stuff to fund that purchase.

Methinks I'll go with number two.

More gun discussion

Barney brought up a good point in the comments on my "which pistol" post below. The Pro Carry does "feature" a full-length guide rod and a "bushingless" bull barrel.



A full-size 1911 with a GI (that is, partial) length guide rod takes about five seconds to field strip (and that's if you allow a little time for fumbling). The only tool I use is a plastic bushing wrench, and that's on one pistol with a tight bushing. It's not necessary, but it does save some time wrestling that little piece off.



It's that little silver-colored bit under the right end of the spring that we're talking about - that's the guide rod. It fits into that end of the spring, which sits under the barrel. The other end of the spring goes into the plug (which you can see under the left end of the spring). This is a "GI-length" guide rod setup, and the entire thing rides under the barrel, and the plug is held in place by the bushing (the black thing between the guide rod and the plug, below the spring).

Cosmetically, when it's assembled and the slide is locked to the rear, you can see the difference top image in that the guide rod does not protrude.



I've read several exhaustive discussions on the topic - the full-length guide rod requires a tool for assembly and disassemly, and that might be evil. It may be more prone to becoming screwed-up (if something full length bends, even a ilttle, the whole mechanism will be off).

However, that's really kinda irrelevant. If one wants an off-the-shelf lightweight 4-inch 1911, it's going to come with a full-length guide rod. One has some options, from several good names, if it's a major hangup.

I'm over it, though. I'll have a gunshop guy (assuming I can find a shop not populated by the dreaded Evil Gunshop Trolls) demonstrate the takedown, and if it's not rocket science, I'll work with it.

Incidentally, I assume a similar tool requirement for the Walther I'm contemplating. It seems to be of the same design as the P22, and there's nothing painless about field stripping that. Well, the stripping is painless, but the reassembly requires one to curse like a sailor.

Decisions

There is Mildly Unexpected Money inbound, and after the Priorities, I have some to play with.

This, of course, means a New Firearm.

The preliminary decision process was easy. I thought about another Garand, but I'm still looking for a place that will let me shoot FMJ and which has a big/long range. So that was out. I thought about a nice little .270 and scope, but, life being what it is, there's going to be plenty of money between now and my next chance to do any open-country hunting. So that left a new pistol.

I am choosing between two. I have always like the feel of a lightened 4-inch 1911, and so I'm thinking about the Kimber Pro Carry.



I love my 1911s, and this is a very carry-friendly pistol. I don't trust the shorter models, and I don't need laser grips and all the other available insanity. I like these, and I know I'd shoot it.

The other option is the Walther P99 in 9mm. (sorry about the retail link, but Walter's website was being special)



I really like the ergonomics on the P22, and I think I'd love the 9. They make a .40, but I have no intention of adding another caliber to the stable. I find the "QA" trigger concept interesting. I may go to a nearby range and see if they have one to rent.

The decision is probably just going to come down to which one feels best in the hand. Both are attractive, and both would be used.

I love these dilemmas.

New rifle thoughts

I've done a bit of poking around to figure this out. I have an FEG SA2000-M rifle. These are, it seems, a Hungarian rifle imported during the Bad Old Days of the AWB, and were manufactured (or at least heavily modified) specifically for US sale.


(image swiped from the highly informational folks at The Guns Network)

Therefore, they have the dubious distinction of having been somehow modified to accept only a proprietary 10-round magazine.

This is, of course, not necessarily a positive thing. Other than that, what little information I have found seems to indicate they are, in general, a good, servicable rifle.

It appears there is a conversion option, but information is scanty as to whether this is one of the easiest things in the world or a very difficult one requiring talent and specialized equipment.

For the time being, I think I'll let that ride. I've ordered a couple spare 10-rounders, and I think that will be entirely sufficient for my needs. I do reserve the right, if I eventually decide it's necessary, to get down with my bad pseudo-machinist self and start making modifications.

But I am thinking of some slightly more traditional wood furniture for it to wear. Hmmm...

Range trip!

Finally got the Garand out to the local range. The place was packed, but it was a nice day for it.

I was shooting at Alpine and, like most ranges right around here, they're anti-FMJ ammo, so I had to pick up another box of 150 grain softpoint.

The older gentleman behind the counter was helpful, after we got on the samge page.

"Need targets?" he asked.

"Yes, please. And if you have a large target, that would be nice. I have a new gun."

"You boresight it yet?" This, folks, is the part where doubt crept in.

Boresighting is a process wherein you line up the crosshairs on a newly mounted scope with the barrel (or "bore") of your rifle. You can do it Old Skool and simply remove the bolt from a bolt-action rifle and line up the crosshairs with what you see peering down the barrel, or you can get all high-tech and use a laser device stuck in either your chamber or in the barrel of your rifle. You can save a lot of time, energy and ammo that way.

I've never heard of anyone boresighting with iron sights, but you know, logically, it could be done.

This whole thought process resulted in me standing in front of the gentleman at the counter like an idiot for several seconds before saying, "no."

He pointed out that they could do that for me for $5, but I declined and pointed out that I was not using a scope.

"I've got a new Garand," I explained. "Well, an old Garand, but new to me."

Only at this point did the gentleman behind the counter decide I was not a maniac, and that, in fact, I should hear all about his Garand-related experiences. He was a nice guy, so that was fine, but I did finally have to break away while there was still daylight outside.

Ladies and gentlemen, to paraphrase Larry the Cable Guy, this looks like a good time no matter who you are.



And it is a good time, oh yes. The poor gentleman several benches down from me with his deer rifle was a good sport until after shot number eight, when the ping and clatter of the clip hitting the concrete made him look over with great concern.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I giggled. "That's a good sign."



I started out low, and slowly adjusted. After getting pretty close, it became clear to me that I don't think I've got the rear sight tensioned correctly. This will either require much reading, or a pathetic call to Charley.

But in good news, it shoots realiably and straight, and works wonderfully as a conversation starter. And since it works, I'm now all about getting a good sling (leaning on Santa about that issue - tan and numbered, if you're reading, Santa), figuring out the rear sight, and then finding somewhere where I can back off the target a little more.

Finally, an urge I am resisting

The evil CMP Sales Update email arrived today.

The last time this happened, I was forced to order a Garand. The time before that, an M1 carbine.

Needless to say, I opened it with no small amount of dread - what fiendish plot, I wondered, could they have come up with to make me spend even more money?

Nada.

Garand receivers and barrels...don't need those. Sights for .22s...don't need those. Rack grade M1 carbines...tempting...but I don't need one of those, either.

I feel so morally superior for resisting all that temptation that I think I should be allowed to order a field grade Garand.

[ducks as Mister Abby throws a coffee cup at my head]

Okay, maybe I'll hold off on the field grade another month or so.