February 2010 Archives

Kind of a mixed bag.

On the positive side, at times I shot like I knew I was capable of. 3 out of 6 stages, I felt like I shot really well. (For me.)

El Presidente was something new, and it threw off my draw a little bit and I never really did a get a good sight picture on the first half of it. I didn't have any misses (I don't think), but my score was like alphabet soup.

The Texas Star continues to be my nemesis. I think it took me 13 shots to finish it. I think my problem is that I don't lead the plates. If you get a sight picture on the plate, by the time you pull the trigger, and get a bullet down range the plate has moved. That's my theory anyway. That and any trigger yanking will make the star that much harder.

On the last stage of the match I put my foot over a boundary. I didn't even realize I had done it. Every shot from that position had a procedural penalty. To top it off, I then ran past 2 targets, so there's more penalties. I was concentrating so hard on not getting any misses on steel that I lost a lot of awareness of the stage. Normally I'm thinking ahead, or at least trying to think ahead of what I'll be doing next, but I really wanted to drop all the steel cleanly on that stage and kind of became engrossed in it. (For what it's worth there were 14 steel targets and I used 16 rounds for steel.)

So, I'm mad at myself for making some stupid mistakes, and I still have some tendencies to not drive the gun well at times.

On the plus side, when I drive the gun well, I am shooting well. I just need to do that consistently.

Update:

Scores went up quick. I placed 5th out of 9 competitors. If not for the procedurals and penalties, I think I would have placed 1 or 2 spots higher, but I admit to being clueless about the scoring.

I sighted my Wilson Combat CQB in at 25 yards today. I have adjustable sights on the gun, and figured I might as well take advantage of them. They weren't off too much as it turns out, but they are dead on at 25 yards now. (2 clicks up, and 1 click to the right if anyone cares.)

I also wanted to see how 200 rounds of my gaming load ran in a dirty gun (I left it dirty since the last time I shot it) and it ran fine, other than the slide didn't lock back a couple of times, but I blame the magazine for that. It had never been cleaned and has a lot of rounds through it, well over 1000. I swear .5 grains of unburnt powder was in it. :)-~ (BTW, It's an ACT magazine that came with my RIA Tactical. For the money, they are damned good magazines.)

After 25 rounds of sighting in, I went over to the "plinking" range so I could practice my draw. I wanted to work on drawing and picking up my sights. I don't have a shot timer, so I don't know what the speed was, but this was more remedial type practice. Did 175 rounds of that and left.

Oh, and I sold my Glock to a guy at the range. I think I will get an M&P Pro. That STI GP6 looks pretty cool though. I just don't know if I can live with DA/SA. I can do ok with it just target shooting, but as soon as I add coming out of the holster I start pulling that first shot bad. The SA mode is supposedly superb, as in 1911 like superb, though.

I got to use LINQ for the first time in a project today. I spend a lot of time writing SQL queries, so the ability to query pretty much anything using a SQL-like grammar is pretty appealing. I haven't had a chance to use it until now because our main application is written in C# 2.0 and we haven't had the time to see what's going to blow up if we change platforms. I'm working on something new though, so that didn't apply.

It took me some googling to figure out exactly how to do it, but what I need isn't very complex so the learning curve wasn't too steep. If you're querying a list of objects, there's some machinations to do if your list doesn't implement IQueryable, but other than that if you know SQL, you should be able to figure out the basics of querying fairly quickly.

I couldn't help but think, you know self, we could have done in this in 2 minutes with a foreach loop, and it does appear that your list has to implement IEnumerable so I suspect it basically does that under the covers.

Still, I'm thinking about some of my previous projects and how much cleaner they would be using LINQ. I don't think performance would be much different given that it's still looping through everything, but the code should be a lot faster to write and maintain.

This is just wrong.

Got back from the range after putting about 125 rounds through my new G17.

Keep in mind I am a 1911 guy  ...

I take back what I said earlier about the trigger not being horrible. It takes a lot of concentration to keep the sights on target. That last little bit of trigger pull before the shot breaks can induce a lot of disturbance on the gun. It was the most frustrating shooting experience I've had in a while. The trigger is definitely going to get worked on, if I keep the gun. I shot my neighbor's M&P 9 this weekend and that gun out of the box is a lot easier to shoot, for me, your mileage may vary.

On the plus side, I took the gun right out of the box, didn't clean it, didn't oil it, didn't do anything to it, and it ran perfectly. Shot two-handed righty, two-handed lefty, one-handed righty, and one-handed lefty. No failures of any kind.

I put 75 rounds of my "+P" reloads through the gun. These rounds are loaded to simulate my carry load, 124 grain +P Gold Dots. They were very snappy and not very fun to shoot as compared to the same round out my Hi-Power. The load is a 115 grain FMJ, over 7.0 grains of HS6, a max load that makes something like 1150 fps, if I recall correctly. (It's on the blog here somewhere.)

I also put 50 rounds of Monarch brass through it which felt extremely soft compared to my reloads.

Anyway, some pics ...

I ended up getting the Glock 17 Gen 4.

I wanted the 34, but they weren't sure when they would get any in stock, and with my GSSF certificate expiring on April 1, I decided to just get the 17 and not look back.

I am liking the new grip size and grip texture. If anything I wish it was more aggressive, but I think it will be fine.

I am not liking the finger grooves, my fingers are too big and the ridges actually end up under my fingers. I guess they are made for girly hands. The ridges are going to be sanded off, if I decide to keep it.

The trigger is ok, nothing great. I like the very noticeable click on the reset though. I will be getting a 3.5 lb disconnector for it.

I don't like the "U" on the rear sight, but I only really pay attention to the tops of the sights. I'll be getting some target sights for it eventually.

I am looking forward to experiencing the famous Glock reliability. Hopefully, I can get out to the range soon.

I'm looking to try my hand at Production class in the USPSA fairly soon, and I don't have any guns that would be allowed in that class.

The gun will also do double duty as a night stand gun (in a locked container, I do have young kids). I've shown my wife how to use all our home defense guns, but I just don't think it has sunk in for her. She's an excellent shot with a pistol though, and I think the simple "point and click" interface of a Glock would better serve her in a bad situation. Also the pistol would allow her to use have only one hand on the weapon should she need to open doors to get to our kids, move 'em out of the way, whatever.

I also want something with a rail so that a light/laser combo can be attached. I've taken some classes in night shooting, and a weapon mounted light is going to be far easier for her to use than the flashlight techniques that I learned, and again gives her the ability to use only one hand if the need arises.

I think I'm going to get a Glock 34, but the new Glock 17 is what I originally wanted when I decided to get a Glock.

Decisions, decisions ...

Had another range day with the neighbors today, but a different set this time.

It started out with the 3 of us going up to Academy to buy ammo, so we could try out Neighbor C's new Ruger SR9 Compact. I was also wanting to try out my new .45ACP loads.

Neighbor R wanted to try out some Glocks while we were there, as he really thought the Glock 19 was going to be what he wanted in his first gun. Long story short, he winds up buying a M&P in 9mm.

We swing by and pickup the Mrs. (far.c), and head out to the rifle club.

As far as my loads went, I think the middle of the road loading was just about perfect. I didn't chrono them, but it should be somewhere around 750-800 fps which more than makes major power factor. They were much softer recoiling than my current load, so I'm happy. Much cleaner burning too.

R's new M&P is friggin' sweet. I liked it a lot. I'm seriously considering one for use in production instead of a Glock now. It ran flawlessly, was easy to shoot, and was under $500. Not bad, IMO.

I liked the trigger on the SR9 Compact more though, but it wasn't as easy to shoot accurately as the M&P. As it got dirty the SR9 began to suffer from light primer strikes. When we got home the culprit was ruled to be a very dirty firing pin and firing pin channel. The SR9 was thoroughly soaked in oil and it attracted a lot of powder residue. I cleaned it and made sure it was dry, and I think that will cure it.

I recently started using Precision Delta bullets because they were A) cheap and B) in stock. (Their FMJ bullets are cheaper than most lead and plated bullets.)

I ordered 2000 .45ACP 230 grain FMJ bullets the other day, and last week one package with 1000 bullets shows up, except I didn't realize it was only 1000 until this week.

I gave 'em a call, and they said they were going to check with the USPS. The next day the rest of my bullets show up.

Anyway, what I really appreciated was that they called me up today just to make sure I got them.

Not a big deal really, but atypical of most online retailers these days.

Not sure what the deal with the shipping was, because both packages were shipped the same day. My guess is the postman didn't have room in the box for both packages and forgot to bring the other one back the next day.

Found this posted on GlockTalk:

The pistol purchase program as we know it ends today, Monday February 8, 2010, and you MUST redeem your certificates by April 2, 2010. This includes certificates that GSSF is mailing out today. Use them or loose them, it's that simple.

Now the good news is, despite frequent complaints from GlockTalk members, GSSF is continuing the program with slightly different rules. GSSF is expanding the dealer base to include some non LE Dealers. Since these dealers cannot purchase pistols under the LE Program, GSSF member price is going to increase by about $25.00 to $30.00 per pistol--still one fantastic deal. GSSF cannot provide a dealer list, but when you receive your new certificate you should call Glock, Inc. (not GSSF) in order to find a participating dealer nearest to you. Starting tomorrow, GSSF will mail these new certificates to members requesting them--if it's time for one to request a new certificate.

GSSF charged my card on 2/5/10, I really hope they sent my certificate along like I asked, otherwise this feels a little like bait and switch.

Update:

More info from DannyR on GlockTalk:

If your mailed in membership application/pistol request was received as late as today, you will receive the old pistol purchase certificate. If GSSF receives your request after today, you will get the new form. I do not know if it has an expiration date, but I'm sure it's good for at least 12 months.

Good to know. I should be getting the old one.

Update 2:

I got my cert on 2/13/10, and I did get the old one. Now I just have to figure out which model I want.

The competition was really good this time, and I didn't shoot the match I could have.

I totally blew the stage with the Texas Star on it. I'm going to see if someone doesn't make an airsoft version of that thing so I can practice it. It's evil I tell you!

I also had a weird malfunction on one stage that cost me. I think I had the hammer follow the slide because the first shot went, then I pulled the trigger and nothing happened, not even a click, and the hammer was down. I racked out the round and things went fine after that, but I was all flustered. Might be time for some upgrades to my RIA.

But mostly, I blame me. I wasn't getting the front sight in focus when I should I have. I wasn't keeping my eyes open when the shot broke. I wasn't driving the gun like I know I am capable of. I kept looking for the holes in the target. Lots of silly things.

More work to do.

(Note to gubmint busybodies, I bought this for myself out of my own pocket.)

My new Tucker Gunleather Silent Thunder Champion holster.



Not sure why it says Garrett Industries though ... anyway, as you can see it's a Kydex holster with a nicely boned cowhide lining.



I haven't had a chance to use this in a match yet, but I've probably already done 500 draws with it, and I really like it. For a holster that has enough tension to hold the gun in place upside down, the draw is unbelievably good. (I still might loosen it up for matches though.)

I once had a little debate on a friend's blog about some other guy's vow to boycott any manufacturer who developed "smart gun" technology. Their point of view is that this is bad for our gun rights.

I really can't agree provided the free market is allowed to work, and is not meddled with by our "representatives". Technology isn't inherently good or bad, and it certainly can't do anything on its own (until Skynet becomes operable that is).

Anyway, here is something for them to boycott on thefirearmblog.com. :)-~

Personally, I have no desire for the silly, yet expensive, thing, but if they ever came out with something useful I wouldn't hold this against them. I think it's interesting that you have to squeeze the grip to activate the "smart" stuff. It would be somewhat cool if they integrated the P7's squeeze-cocker into that. If you have to waste time doing that, you should at least get a single action trigger pull out of it.

Just to be clear, I think it's a waste of money and damned sure wouldn't trust my life to it, but if it appeals to you, go for it.