Personalizing your weapon

In my limited experience, I've owned the following pistols:
Ruger P95
Kel-Tec PF-9 (2)
Sig P239
S&W SD9
Sig P226

I've had that P95 going on fifteen years now.  About the only things I did to it was adding a Hugh slip on grip, which I removed and buying a cheap nylon pancake holster.  Junk.  It's been a good gun, I just never really loved it.  A great gun if you want something that will shoot forever and doesn't attract thieves.

The Kel-Tecs got treated a little better.  Kel-Tecs are kit guns.  The moldings aren't very smooth and you spend some time making them better.  I bought an armalaser RSS, and two custom leather holsters.  But these are work guns.  Designed to disappear no matter what you are wearing.  Cute, but not lust worthy.

The P239 is IMO an ugly gun.  The two tone is nice I guess.  When I bought this gun, it came with everything.  Lasergrips, three nice holsters, ten magazines.  I really haven't had to do anything to it at all.  The previous owner had already gone to all the work.

The SD9 was an impulse purchase.  I didn't really need another 9mm, but the price was just too good.  It got a couple of holsters.  I blacked the rear sights.  But there wasn't anything else to do.  It's handsome as plastic guns go.  But I didn't shoot it that well.  I didn't like the way it pointed.  I sold it.  The first pistol I've ever done that with.

The P226 is another story.  It needs night sights.  It's brand new.  Nobody else has ever owned it.  I'd love to put stainless control levers on it to accentuate it's gorgeous black nature.  The new E2 lines are reminiscent of the CZ75.  It fits my hand as well as the Jericho 9mm.  I love the way the slide stop falls under my thumb.  With no shift in my grip, the force of inserting a magazine magically chambers the first round.  Here is a gun I can love.  It's big, it carries a lot of rounds.  It's going to get beautiful gun leather and possibly a tactical light.  Right now, this looks like the last pistol I will ever buy.  I love that I can get a .22 upper for it.  Or a .40 S&W.  If that isn't enough, .357sig.  Perhaps a P229 might find it's way into my gun cabinet.  But not before I've made this pistol my own.

Don Hume

I've been trying to figure out exactly what holsters I want to buy for the P226.  I've got a Don Hume on the way.  It should be here tomorrow.  This isn't any cheaper than the holsters I usually have Erik over at SideGuard make for me.  However, I don't have to wait six weeks to get them.  I'll probably have Erik make me an IWB for it.  The question is, appendix carry or 4 O'clock?  The butt on the P226 is so large that I'll have to have a pretty extreme cant on the holster to wear it on my strong side.  But the 4 inch barrel means that appendix is going to require a perfect storm of pants, underwear, junk and belt to be comfortable.  I might get  a Tuck-This II to play with before throwing down on the custom leather.

Memories

Our youngest son really wanted to do something for Memorial day.  When I was a kid we would go put flowers on the grave of some distant Aunt that I never new.  My mom always acted like it was some big chore.  At least that was the impression I always got.  With no other dead relatives that I am aware of, we went to the military cemetery and watched the presentation of the flags, the bagpipes, and the twenty one gun salute.  While we were there we walked the older parts and placed flowers on the old neglected graves that no one seems to care about any more.  We found a Masonic section with a stone monument in the shape of the Masonic alter.  Lilacs aren't really the correct offering.  Next year I'll have my sprig of Acacia and perhaps a lambskin apron.  Well done good and faithful servants.  This city wouldn't be here without you.

Weekly Practice

In preperation for weekly practice.  I ran all my reloads through a Lee factory crimp die.  This seemed to help a lot but I still had some problems with failure to go fully into battery and rounds that were difficult to extract.

Tonight's course of fire had two silhouettes and two small steels on the right at 10 yards.  Then you ran 15 yards to the second box and engaged two more silhouettes and two large steels at 10 yards on the right.  My firt run was about 20 seconds.  My second was 14.  By the end of the night I was under twelve.  Accuracy improved on every run.  A very good night of practice!

Total rounds tonight: 200
Total through the gun: 400

I did clean the gun after tonight's practice.  I know what you are thinking:  What about the 2000 round challenge?

Well there are three major reasons:
1.  I shoot lead.  Leading the barrel isn't the norm for a defensive handgun.
2.  I don't like to depend on a gun that isn't in tip top shape.  Cleaning the gun makes sure that I don't end up having a gummed up gun when I need it most.
3.  I like cleaning my gun!  I know very CDO of me (alphabetical order, duh). 

Tonight's cleaning was pretty basic.  I ran a dry patch on a jag through twice to pull out the lead.  Wiped the rails down to check for wear.  Brushed the breach face and chamber area.  Stripped all three mags because they all hit the dirt tonight.  Relubed and put it all back together.  Total time, about 20 minutes.

Range Time

Well, after careful measurements it is obvious that this gun has  a tight, but standard chamber.  Even one ten thousands over will cause the round to hang up.  Fortunately the Lee Factory Crimp Die will bring the rounds into spec without much trouble.  I"ve backed the crimp part of the Die all the way out.  Because I shoot mostly lead rounds, crimps can be very problematic as they will have a tendency to undersize the round.  This is just to take the 'Glock' bulge out of the case.

In 200 rounds I had:
1.  Squib load.  Very embarrassing.
 a.  Two failure to enter battery.  A light tap solved the problem.  These were on rounds that I didn't factory crimp.
2.  Three failures to lock back using magazine number three.  Hopefully it will settle out.
3.  Awesome little one inch groups at 15 yard.  On a couple, all five rounds were touching.  And this load is just my generic 135pf USPSA load.
4.  Rapid fire kept everything in the 8 ring without any trouble at all.  The gun comes back on target quickly and without any drama.  It appears that I'm pushing to the left a touch in rapid fire.  Probably because this trigger is so much closer to the grip than I'm used to.  It's a trigger to die for and I won't change a thing.

Other thoughts.
I've been shooting enough iron sight rifle stuff to be irritated with the "combat sight picture."  For those of you who haven't heard that term, with a defensive handgun you simply place the front sight right where you want the hole and if you've gotten everything else right, that's where the hole will be.  I really prefer the six o'clock sight picture, where you place the target right on top of the front sight.  When shooting for defense it's much easier to cover the target, but when checking loads, or trying to get feedback on fundamentals, a six o'clock hold is better.  I may get a taller rear, or adjustable rear to make it shoot the way I want.  I wanted to get some Warren Tatical sights anyway.  :)

Normally I'd require  a lot more rounds down range before a gun goes in the carry holster.  But normally a gun doesn't shoot this well right out of the box.  This Sig is everything I wanted it to be, but I didn't expect it to be this good, this fast.

Possible Problem

The new Sig P226 feels like it was built for my hands.  I seem to shoot Sigs better than any other gun I've tried.  This one is no exception.  Unlike my P239 which seems to love any bullet you happen to feed it.  This one is young enough to be a picky eater.  Picky enough that about 10% of my reloads won't even chamber.  Hopefully the super tight chamber will loosen up as the Nitron coating inside the barrel gets worn down.

END OF THE WORLD!

Good thing I didn't run up my credit card.  Looks like I'd have to pay it off.  No end of the world today folks, go back to your lives.....

New Gun

Sig P226.   Born May 11th, 2011.  Brought home May 19th, /2011.  No range time yet.  Hopefully sometime today.  Bought it at my favorite LGS.  Beartooth Cash & Gun.  A great supporter of the local shooting sports!  Price was the same as the internet, but I didn't have to pay shipping on top.

SD9 Update

I've got about 3000 rounds through my SD9 at this point and it's time for it to move on.

This has been a pretty good gun.  I had some problems with the sights loosing up with I solved with locktite.  But it's just not quite right.  So I found it a new home.  James, I hope it treats you good.


Things I liked about this gun:
1.  Striker fired.  Consistent trigger pull from first to last, excellent feedback on the reset.  Perhaps a little too much over travel.
2.  Fits M&P Holsters.  Going with this gun is a Serpa, a custom leather pancake, and a MTAC.  All fit beautifully.
3.  Wonderful grip.  I have small hands and this gun was perfect.  16+1 in a grip that rivals a 1911.
4.  Light weight.  The polymer design made all day carry a dream

Things I didn't like:
1.  Light weight.  With a full magazine the gun came back on target fast, by the end of the string it was noticeably harder to control.
2.  The sights coming loose.  And eventually the front dot lost it's radioactive goodness.  S&W made it right and it went to it's new home with a brand new front post.
3.  Trigger reset, just a little long.  The M&P has a shorter reset, but it's almost impossible to feel.


What now?  Well, I've got a new gun to pick up.  That's a story for another day.