OT: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
doctorevil
Evil Lair
It has a polymer frame, which makes it light, and is striker fired, which usually means no external manual safety. However, the Army specifications required the addition of a manual safety, which I like. It’s located on the frame where it can easily be flicked on and off with the thumb of your shooting hand. I always disliked the slide mounted safety/decocker on the Beretta, which required your other hand to operate.
The gun is very accurate and its fun to shoot. The trigger is a bit mushy like most striker fired pistols, but it’s more than adequate for a combat pistol. I fired 100 rounds of ball ammunition with no malfunctions. And it looks cool. It’s finished in a desert brown color, which is officially called “coyote,” has a diagonal crease along the length of the slide (no apparent function but looks cool), has serrations at the front and rear of the slide, and an accessory rail forward of the trigger guard. It’s very modern looking.
In the standard size, it’s a little big for a carry gun, but one of the nice things about it is it’s modular. The trigger mechanism is the serial numbered component that’s actually considered the “gun” by BATF, and therefore the only controlled item. This can be easily removed and installed in a smaller frame to fit smaller hands or for concealed carry, or used with a different caliber slide/barrel combination, or all of the above. This modularity is actually the main reason the Army went to a new pistol.
I’m not sure there was a compelling reason for the Army to adopt a new pistol. It’s undoubtedly the least useful weapon in the arsenal for modern combat, except maybe the bayonet. But it’s a very nice pistol.
Thoughts? Favorite gun stories? Anti-gun diatribes?
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Kahr CW 45, Kahr CW 9, Kahr 350, Chiapa Rhino 357 magnum, Buckmark 22.
My favorite long guns are my M1 Garand, M1 Carbine 30 cal, Remington 870 tactical, Mosin nagaunt.
I have really nice Mini 14 that I am
Picking up for $650. Got him down from $950. 10 magazines included.
Having said this - it's been on my mind to have a gun for self-protection - Miami is f'ing shitty w/ a ton of shitty people - I know there's shitty people everywhere but every time I travel out of Miami/SoFlo it feels less shitty.
Out of curiosity, how much does that new gun go for?
What does that mean exactly - no safety at all - if you drop-it it can go off?
If you are actually considering purchasing one for self defense, as a gun novice, the way to go would be something like the Ruger GP 100 mentioned by MackTruck, which is a revolver. Revolvers are basically fool proof and completely immune to malfunctions, except a possible ammunition misfire, which are extremely rare. Except MackTruck's is .357 Magnum, which is powerful cartridge and not really for beginners. But you could also shoot 38 special in it for familiarization and then transition to .357 Magnum.
https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2017/…
The weapon Starsky carried in the TV show was Colt .45, which the military designated the M1911A1, and was the standard military side arm from 1911 until the Beretta was adopted in the mid 1980s. It's a great weapon (I have one), but not really for beginners.
If it's something you're really interested in, you should find a local range that offers classes and allows you to fire different types of handguns, including revolvers and automatics. There are many in Georgia and I'm sure Florida is the same way.
A revolver will not have an external safety. It is double action, which means the trigger pull takes more force because the trigger first pulls back the hammer and then releases it. A revolver will not go off unless you pull the trigger with a lot of pressure.
A semi-auto is single action. The force to pull the trigger is much less. Some people want an external safety so you can't accidentally fire it.
Glock, however, put the safety on the trigger itself, so the safety is always engaged unless you pull the trigger. My Sig-Sauer P-229 is double action for the first shot, which makes it safe to carry, and single action for succeeding shots (which makes it easier to fire.)
Modern revolvers and semi-autos will not go off when you drop them. They will not fire unless the trigger is pulled.
Yeah - it seems .45's are outta style - I was just trying to say I like the style/wait-it-looks, over a revolver
Check out the regulations for concealed carry in Florida. You will probably have to take a course and pay some fees to get your license.
Actually, the Colt 1911 .45 caliber is not out of style at all. Despite being over 100 years old, there are many that even today consider it to be the perfect automatic handgun design, and I wouldn't necessarily disagree with them. Marine special operations forces are using a variant of it today. And as far as pure style goes, it's a beautiful piece of machinery. Its form follow function, and there is nothing in its design that does not have a function.
You can also get it in smaller sizes designed for concealed carry with shortened grips and barrels sizes. Again, however, I think it's not really a beginner pistol, but if you go to the range, become familiar with firearms, which really wouldn't take that long, particularly if you are a technologically adept person, which you probably are as an engineer, it wouldn't take that long.
When I drive, I check the laws of each state I go through. I have driven from Michigan through Ohio and into Pennsylvanian with a gun. I can do this because Ohio and Pennsylvania have reciprocal agreements with Michigan about concealed carry licenses. If I tried to drive into Illinois, I would be breaking the law.
Anyone ever heard of anything like this?
As far as what a drop safety is ... it is basically a physical blocking device within the gun that does not allow the hammer or striker to rest on the cartridge so that in the event of dropping, the firing pin cannot come into contact and fire the cartridge. The only guns that are commonly without a drop safety are the small revolver derringers. Thus, when I carry my small 22 derringer revolver, I carry with one empty chamber.. the chamber that the firing pin sits on. Thus, if dropped, it will have no cartridge to hit, yet when you press the trigger it revolves the next loaded chamber to fire the weapon.
😄
Typo, .380 and when one has a number of different caliber weapons, confusion reigns. To damn many calibers out there! :)
-- Vintage Fox Savage Model B Double Barrel (20 ga.)
-- Mosin Nagant (Finnish sniper variant)
-- Smith & Wesson Model 586 (.357)
-- Remington 700 (30-06)
-- Ruger 10/22
Some purchased and some simply found their way to me. I don't own an automatic handgun. Possibly the next acquisition. Probably will be a Sig 229.
If you are worried about an accidental discharge, get more training and spend more time on the range. Cleaning and maintenance wise, I clean after every 400-500 rounds.
Mosin Nagant: When you absolutely, positively, have to hit the side of a barn two counties over.
Paraphrased from this:
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinHumor.h…
I'm not sure why unchambered carry is called the Israeli carry. I don't think they invented it. In fact, I think it's pretty common. In the U.S. military you don't walk around locked and loaded all of the time, even in a combat zone. If you're in a rear area or on the FOB, your weapon is kept clear. Only when you go outside the wire, where there is higher probability of an engagement, do you lock and load. Does that mean there's no threat in the rear or on the FOB? No, there could be infiltrators or insider attacks, and in fact there have been. It's just safer not to have chambered rounds all the time.
Wasn't challenging your experience and expertise, just offering what the "hardcore" self defense experts mostly teach. That said, they will say do what you have confidence in and train for. Good topic and discussion.
As for The Israeli method ... I was referring to their training style when drawing their handgun. They heavily train in methods to draw, rack and assess to the point of it being absolutely second nature. Not necessarily that they invented the technique more so than they actually train heavily on doing the technique. Just style more than anything.
As far as self defense is concerned, cops vs non cops, I would challenge the thought that cops need to be chambered more so because they never know when their contact may turn bad. Cops carry OPEN on the belt with much quicker access for that reason. When you are forced by law to cover your weapon (as many states do), then you are adding more valuable seconds to your need for applying self defense. I have defended myself 6 times in my life, 2 times were against more than 3 attackers at one time. That was when I was younger (40 ish) and still had good speed and power in my Martial Arts skills. I’m not certain that it would have turned out so good for me had those incidents occurred to me now in my mid 50s. That is why I now carry a weapon. When attacks occur to citizens, it has been my experience that they occur rapidly and when the citizen is most vulnerable.