There's an Ap for that.

It had to happen sooner or later.

Update on the Taffy Grips

All fixed and installed.

Custom PurNurple Grips

I picked out these colors for the grips' creator to work with:

The colors swirled together perfectly and they came out awesome.
One glitch.
I had to contact the maker back because with the grips installed, the thumb safety can not be toggled "Off"...which is kind of important.
The difference is shown below with black stock grips vs the custom ones:

Stock grips with the safety ON:

And here are the stock grips with the safety "OFF" (note the position of the thumb safety in relation to the plunger tube):

Here's the custom grip with the safety flipped on, and there's no way it can be flipped off. As soon as the safety is part way down, it is bumped back up and "ON" by the hump in the top of the grip that is meant to protect the plunger tube, but is actually hindering safety function:

Here are the stock grips showing the plunger tube cut out and the custom grips showing the cut out:

Here's a top view lined up where you can see just how much is a little bit too much overhang...

I'll be sending them back for a better fit. I really like them otherwise, and can't wait to get them installed and usable... but I hate paying for shipping again. Such is life.
In other news, more cool things just around the corner from Brownell's.
Stay tuned.

New Grips Came for the Kimber

I sold those Crimson Trace grips for a couple hundred bucks and after a long wait, got these;

Next up, I'll be checking around for something different for the Series 70 Colt.

It's a great shooter!

♥ XO ♥

That's right. I said "XO". With hearts. Why? Because I LOVE this Sig Sauer XO with the Nitron finish, a flat mainspring housing, swept beaver-tail with a memory bump, enhanced hammer, checkered front/back straps, contrast 3-dot sights, XT grips... and the whole shebang!

I put her on layaway a few days ago, but couldn't stand to leave her there. So today, she's in the safe with the rest of her fam. Tomorrow = RANGE DAY. She's right at home with the rest of the herd;

Springfield

This was my Merry Birthmas present to myself.
Since the gun store where I work is a Springfield dealer, I'm considered a Springfield employee and I can use their ProStaff Program for a big discount (as in "below" wholesale!).

So far, I've got about 300 rounds through it, and can't wait to send more. It's difficult since I work past dark and the weekends are jam-packed with errands and such... but I go to the range whenever I can.

MiniMe bought me some targets for my birthday, and the very first shots I fired were at the targets she gave me... here's the first mag:

Then I stapled up a zombie target. Holy crap, those are fun.
First shot with the Springfield at the zombie...
BOOM! Head Shot!

It's incredibly fun to hit them.
But somewhere in the zombie melee, I inadvertently clipped off the girl's thumb;

Well...if you ask me, she should be thanking me. I mean really... bringing an ax to a zombie fight? Come on.
Weighing the pros and cons of missing a thumb or becoming undead...I did that chick a favor.

1911 Extractors

The function of the extractor is to extract the case from the chamber, then provide a pivot point for the ejector to toss the case out of the ejection port.
There are external extractors and internal ones, too.
Here's how to tell the difference by a glance at the gun...
With a gun design incorporating an external extractor, such as my Kimber Ultra Carry II, you'll see the extractor immediately behind the ejection port;


With an internal extractor, the appearance of the slide is smooth from the ejection port all the way back, such as the Rock Island Armory:


The damage to brass is sometimes done by extractors. To ensure they do their job efficiently, you have to take care to not misuse them. It's possible to over stress them, causing them to lose tension and possibly breaking the hook in the process. One way that happens is when people manually drop a round in the chamber and then let the slide slam full battery (shut) on that round. This forces the extractor to pop over the case rim instead of the way it was designed to function. The intention is for the case rim to slide up under the extractor's hook, which would not force the extractor to bend awkwardly backward.
Always let the firearm perform the intended function...stripping off the round from the magazine and feeding it into the chamber. Forcing the extractor to *pop* over the case rim is hard on the mechanism...and your 1911 will thank you not to do it.
Shoot safely!

New Toy

*Plus Update*
So I brought home a Dan Wesson to add to the wheelie family.

I found some original grips floating around the net and snagged them for $20 bucks.

I have to find a tool to change them out...

Ammo is ready to go...now I just need the time to go shoot.
*Update*
Just got a box in the mail with some lead cast by my net-friend Don in MardiGrasVille!
THANKS, Don!

Things are not always as they seem.

Mr.Jet took the day off because I had the day off...
He took me to lunch and then we just bummed around Ft.Wayne.
One of the things we like to do is hit the thrift stores. He likes looking through the books and junk and I just kind of wander around until something catches my eye that I didn't know I couldn't live without.

I never look through stuff like purses and such... because I don't carry one.
However...

Something caught my eye that gave me a good idea.
I saw this neat purse that had a roomy interior, big expandable side pockets, a zipper pouch inside, and lots of divided sections sewn into the inside walls.

Upon seeing this, most chicks might think "Zippered pouch = keys/wallet/phone security at the mall."
CLOSE. It's "keys/wallet/phone security at the range."

They might think; "expandable side pockets for sunglasses, camera, novel, gloves..."
No.
It's "expandable pockets for electronic earmuffs, shooting glasses, stapler, 1st aide kit, PatchWorm."

They might say; "inside divided sections for pens, paper, nail files, hair barrettes, chewing gum"
No.
It's "inside divided sections for magazines, small ammo boxes, speed loaders, chewing gum."

Now you might think this set me back a pretty penny...
but it just so happened that we landed there on some kind of "everything is half off" day.

My coolio impromptu chick range bag...
cost a whole dollar.

The GSG 1911

It just keeps gettin' funner and more funner! :D
Spent a couple hours sending lead downrange with shooterchick.
I'm so glad I bought this gun.
For the first time today, I tried shooting with winter gloves on. It was really different, not being able to feel that trigger break, but it was fun to do something new. It was shooterchick's idea...I always have gloves in my winter coat pockets, but rarely ever wear them. I don't know why...I just don't.
Anyhow, I tried it with the GSG since it feels the same in my grip as my Kimber or Rock. Here's the target from a few mags plus a few more shots. There were three dots on it initially. The middle one abandoned ship.
Take note of the upper left corner of the cardboard...see that hole blown away?
Shooterchick pinned a key chain up there and blastinated it. It blew the key chain through the cardboard. We found part of it, but not the middle. She's gonna put it back on her keyring and carry it...

Today's Date: 1911

For all you 1911 lovers on 1-9-11...

A Compliment and a Pay it Forward!

The gentleman who owned the GSG 1911 I borrowed and returned via a mutual friend came to see me at work today. He said he was seeking me out for two reasons...
One was that he wanted to hear how his gun shot and was relying on my AAR to cut to the chase and clue him on some details that he might want to know before he gets to take it for a spin himself. (He landed in the hospital and won't be going to any range for a bit).
The other reason was to tell me how impressed he was at the care I took with his gun.
He told me that he's very picky about the way his guns are cleaned and doesn't loan them out as a rule...but when he occasionally does, he cleans them whether anybody else did or not. But not this time. He actually shook my hand when telling me that I did an excellent job in his book and he sure wasn't expecting it. He extended an open invitation to shoot any of his guns at any time because he can tell that I really take care of the things in my charge.
That felt good.
But...
Totally wasn't all on me. I owed the pay-it-forward compliment to Jay, who taught me what I know so far about how to care for my stuff. His things are well loved and cared for and it shows. I only hope that years from now, someone will think the same about the things I have loved and cared for...thanks to being taught the right way from the start.

Color Me Happy.

Decided to run back to the range and try some hi-vel today while it was still light out.
Grabbed a box of CCI Stingers and a box of Winchester Super X. Shoved a handful of hi-vel Federal in my pocket for good measure.
Intentionally over-lubed the moving parts...and voila! I'm calling all the issues "fixed". :)

It Figures.

Well...I shot the GSG 1911/22 yesterday.

I did some things that I should have known better about...so I ended up screwing the pooch.

Had about 4 stove pipes and twice that many failures to extract. By failure to extract, I mean when the trigger was pulled, the round was fired, but then the slide either never slid open/closed, or if it did, the spent case never got pulled out...because when I pulled the slide back manually, there sat the empty case with the next round either in place (or in a couple instances) trying to get into place.

Probably the crappy ammo (Federal Champ, Rem Golden...those are the only ones I had on me from yesterday, but I'll try different ones next time because it sounds like High Vel will be the order of the day)...

Also...could have been the cold. It's windy & below freezing temps and I used regular oil instead of synthetic (which I usually DO use in the winter)... Anyhow, I won't get a chance to go again until Saturday, now...and the forecast is STILL not my friend.

I'm gonna clean it again, I'll over lube it (which sounds like what's being suggested all over the gun boards), and use the synthetic stuff this time. I'll also try some better ammo. I should have known better...but honestly, the crappy dirty junk works fine in the revolvers, so that's why I even still had it with me...

Lesson learned.
I'm about 93% sure it was ammo/cold related.

The reason I say that is because (like I've said before) when I put this GSG on layaway, an acquaintance asked me if I wanted to borrow his to shoot, to see if I really liked it.
He'd had it for weeks and never took it out of the box... so I was the first one to shoot it (after I field stripped it and cleaned all the GI grease off of it.)
I used better ammo in it (Federal Bulk pack) and the weather was deceivingly "spring-like" (around 50)...it shot flawlessly and was a ton of fun.

So the differences were:
below freezing temps
Crappy ammo

I won't have a chance to run it again until the weekend...but I think I'm gonna pick up more CCI (I'm out) and maybe some Aguila, too. Somebody mentioned that, and I'd forgotten all about it. Aguila is more high vel too, which seems to be what people are saying works best. One guy said that it's stated in the manual...but I looked and I didn't see that. Maybe it's written in the section where it says you have to remove the hex screw or the area where it's stated that the spring is tapered and it should go back in with the wide end under the cap or you might bugger up your slide's function. Oh, that's right...it *doesn't* say that anywhere...

Yesss!! It's HOME!

Gave the loaner back (with sadness...)
and took mine out of layaway (with much JOY)!!

GSG 1911/22 Takedown

I asked an acquaintance how he liked his GSG since he's had it for a couple weeks.
He said he hadn't even had it out of the box yet! O_o
When I told him I just put one on layaway, he asked if I wanted to take his home for the weekend and try it out. I'd be the first one shooting it.
I didn't even have to think about that one.

I really liked everything about it, except the front sight height.
No problem...it comes with THREE. Take your pick.

When you first get it, it comes with that white GI grease on it. Clean it before you shoot it...

Pop out the slide stop;

Push out the pin next to it FROM right to left.
Use the end of the provided Allen wrench;

Use the Allen wrench to take out the screw;

Now the slide will slip right off the front;

The rest comes apart like normal...bushing turned, spring out,barrel out...just like a regular 1911;

Clean it, and reverse the steps to put it back together...sans white grease!

*note The instructions keep repeating to "decock" it, but I think since the company makes Walthers, they are sticking that in there without realizing that you don't do that. It's impossible. The act of pulling the slide back to the take down notch cocks the hammer back. And all the illustrations show the hammer back in each step. So ignore that part about "decocking".
Also... Be mindful that for a function check to pull the trigger and have the hammer fall (not dry fire...use something to cushion it!), you've GOT to have a mag inserted. I found this out after I *thought* I'd gotten stuck on the reassembly...I panicked and called Jay. After I talked him through to where I was, he told me to go ahead and put the mag in and check it again. Uh..."again"??
Derrr...
You can pull the trigger on a real 1911 with the mag out...
but not on the GSG 1911/22. So just a heads up there. :)

2011

This year marks the one hundredth anniversary of the 1911 gun platform.
Happy Anniversary John Moses Browning!
I'm celebrating by getting myself a little GSG 1911/.22 to keep the RIA and the Kimber company. Everybody needs a little brother or sister, right? They've been bugging me for one...
Besides, even though I reload...shooting .22s is way cheaper when it comes to just general plinking.

An acquaintance loaned me his GSG for the weekend and I went out to shoot it earlier just before it got dark. I'm impressed with everything except the sights. Lucky that the GSG comes with three front sights (one on the gun and two others in the case).
The GSG 1911/22 has a three dot sight. Normally,you'd want to view them as three aligned (side by side) dots to hit your target where you intend to. But I found that the factory set sights make me drop the front sight dot LOWER than the two rear dots...so it takes on a "V" rather than a straight line. When I get my GSG out of layaway, that'll be the first thing I check after a preliminary cleaning and trip to the range.
Happy New Year.

Playing "Dress Up"

I put some ebony grips on the Rock...

Rawkin' the Rock

I took the new Rock back to the range today and shot at some very expensive designer targets (i.e. stickers on a paper plate).
I had fully intended to shoot factory loads exclusively for the first few hundred rounds, but changed my mind and decided to chuck some of my reloads through it. It ate whatever I fed it like a champ!
Here are the first three shots using my most recent reloads:



To sweeten up the Rock, a member on a gun forum said that they won some ebony grips for 1911 that they could not use and asked me if I wanted them.
I offered to pay for them plus shipping, but they said it wasn't necessary.
Nice.
Since I don't really know this person well, Jay is letting me give out his P.O. box as a shipping address instead of my house address, and then he'll hand the grips off to me when we all meet up at the big show (weekend after next).

New Hawtness

Shotgun traded off? Check.
Employee discount? Check.
New lurve purchased today and dragged to the range?
CHECK!!! (Even let MiniMe shoot, because she brass-dawg'd for me)

Enjoy the awesomeness that I now bestow upon you for your viewing pleasure...
You may click for embiggenation!