Gun Appreciation Thread

Originally Posted by Shikar

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Sunday was a fun day at Academy Sports...My 7 yr old daughter has been going to sporting clays with me....and so I got her a Rossi 20ga/.22 single shot, hammer, break open 2bbl combo....she was soo excited. Bobby Fowler is already her friend and has lessons lined up for her.
My Beretta is a little too big for her...and the Perazzi she has trouble lifting!
Also got her...

...and next week its the M&P 15-22 for her.
Her 5 and 3 yr old brothers are envious!!

Regards.


i LOVE my walther for summer afternoon plinking! took me awhile to find the right ammo (i.e., ammo that didn't cause stovepiping as can be seen with this Ruger Mk II), the bulk .22 ammo just isn't good enough.

This is my latest, a Colt Officer's Model Special, maybe the best .22 revolver ever:



and couple more:






Like my long guns I use these for target shooting and the occasional hunting trip only, as I prefer less than lethal means of self defense.

Wow, nice stuff, Andrew. Especially that .22.

Looking for opinions: Botach isn't coming through on the Aimpoint Micro, but I can get it elsewhere. I'm debating between the Eotech XPS and the Micro H-1. The XPS has probably a more versatile reticle, but the Micro is lighter, smaller and has unreal battery life (like 5 years in the on position). They cost about the same. Anyone have any opinions? I don't have access to either to try out unfortunately.

Get the aimpoint. Eotech is generally more fragile, anecdotal evidence though. My 552 went down when I put it on a 12ga (it was on a .223 before). It works intermittently now.

Originally Posted by Duff_Man

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Get the aimpoint. Eotech is generally more fragile, anecdotal evidence though. My 552 went down when I put it on a 12ga (it was on a .223 before). It works intermittently now.
I hear the XPS is much more durable than the older Eotechs because they changed the battery to transverse mount (better protection from recoil). Thanks for the data point though, I think the Aimpoint is the way I'm leaning unless I can try out an Eotech.

Return of the Coonan .357 magnum: http://www.coonaninc.com/news2.php

So what should I get as a first gun? A CZ? An HK? 9mm? There are a million things out there on the net about a first gun, but I'd love to hear a more focused explanation of what makes a gun a good first gun.

9mm - light recoil, cheapest to shoot, lots of options, and should you want to use it for defense, ammo is available that does a fine job.

I'd look to the biggest names - Glock, S&W, H&K, Springfield, Ruger, etc. and see which of their models fits your hand best. By and large, everything from the major manufacturers is going to be good quality and reliable right out of the box.
I have a soft spot for CZs (a 75b was my first gun), but aftermarket support isn't great and they're somewhat more complicated to field strip/clean than any given polymer pistol. The aftermarket part is true of Springfield and Ruger (the SR9, at least) as well but they're generally solid, simple polymer pistols.

Originally Posted by akatsuki

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So what should I get as a first gun? A CZ? An HK? 9mm? There are a million things out there on the net about a first gun, but I'd love to hear a more focused explanation of what makes a gun a good first gun.

what, IMO, makes a good first gun

1) easy to field strip (you can't shoot it if you can't put it back together)
2) a cheap(er) choice of ammo like 9mm (you can get these in bulk for pretty cheap)
3) universal ammo choice (you can get 9mm at wal-mart, at least in indiana you can)
4) fits your hand properly (go to a reputable gun shop to have them take a look and make sure your fingers are in the right placement, etc)

Originally Posted by akatsuki

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So what should I get as a first gun? A CZ? An HK? 9mm? There are a million things out there on the net about a first gun, but I'd love to hear a more focused explanation of what makes a gun a good first gun.
First handgun? How about a Ruger MkII? .22lr is a great round to learn to soot with, is very affordable and the MkII is an excellent pistol ot learn to shoot well with.

Turned a Glock into a Sig 522 and the new Ruger 22/45 RP (even more 1911-like than previous 22/45s) today. Pictures to come.

I think the most versatile first handgun is going to be a compact/subcompact 9mm Glock. They shoot almost as accurately as the full size but conceal much better, the DAO-ish trigger means consistent trigger pull and no accidental reholstering with a DA/SA hammer cocked, there is no external safety to fumble with or forget, ammo is as cheap as anything is going to be and functional for most purposes, and most importantly they have by far the widest range of aftermarket support. Cheap extra mags and parts, and pretty much any holster you might want will be available for the Glock, which is definitely not true for many guns, even those from big makers like Sig. And they have decent resale value. If one of them fits your hand (they have a new slim frame version of many of them too) it would be an excellent choice.

Buffalo Bore will be releasing a +P JHP round in 9x18. When they do, I may start carrying my CZ82 again. http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php...duct_list&c=58

I'm trying to consolidate down to one centerfire 9mm (or maybe one semi-auto in all). Partially because I can use the money from moving everything else, partially because I just want one that I'm really really comfortable with.

Candidates:
Sig P226 - feels good in the hand (particularly the new E2 model), holsters available from the folks I like (Raven, Milt Sparks), Sigs have the smoothest DA/SA triggers around IMO;
cons - slide release is just far enough back that my thumb rests on it just a bit with a thumbs-high grip

HK P30 - first HK that I've actually enjoyed shooting, fantastic ergonomics + customizable, accurate, has the sight/holster options available that I care about;
cons - LEM (Glock-like) action is hard to come by and needs some springs replaced to be lighter than 7.75# give or take

S&W M&P9 - probably the most comfortable gun in my hand, I already own one, lots of sight/holster options, S&W service is the best (if you have a problem, they send out a call tag and repair it without me having to deal with shipping other than dropping it off);
cons - trigger on mine is terrible, trigger jobs tend to make the trigger pull shorter (which I don't trust on a pistol with no safety, particularly if it makes them lighter). Safety models have the thumb safety in a bad position - I can't ride the safety nor can I comfortably shoot with my thumb below it.

Apex has a kit that replaces several parts and allegedly clears up my issues (long, weak reset, spongy break), but I'd need to have it installed by someone as I don't trust my gunsmithing abilities for things that get that deep into the internals.

Glock - not really in the running. If you're comfortable with them, they're great pistols, but I just didn't bond with my G17 RTF2 over ~2000 rounds in ~3 months. Between the large grip and the angle, it never felt right.

Tried to ship a couple of handguns to Bill Springfield for trigger jobs today, went to the usual UPS hub where I've shipped before (but not for some time).

Clerk tells me that they need proof I'm shipping to a dealer. I tell him that no, they don't (per their policies that I've shipped with before) and that the address printed out is for a gunsmith. "Is that a dealer?" Uh, sure (didn't want to explain the concept of FFLs). Still no dice, they want him to fax them something to prove it. (Which obviously isn't going to happen.)

So I'm trying to decide what to do:
- Call UPS customer service and spend who knows how long trying to talk to someone and find a solution.
- Print out their policies and showing them that there is no proof requirement.
- Taking a copy of my C&R FFL and seeing if they assume that means I'm a 'dealer.'