Personal Firearms

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Tell you Dwayne, it made it like a brand new trigger. Funny thing is the tangent sight model and the .40 have good triggers with the mag safety in place. I guess what with it being a military issue pistol to start with they figured it was insurance against a recruit who didn't have enough experience or sense to cycle the slide to make sure the chamber was clear. The old ,"I didn't know the gun was loaded."

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The 9mm HiPower was the first handgun I ever shot and ever owned. I bought one that had the mag safety removed. Then I drank the Kool-Aid in the 90's and bought a Hi-Power in .40. HATED the trigger until I had the mag safety removed on that as well.

I sold both of them in 2008, and regret it to this day. My Glocks are great, they always work, and I like not having to think about the manual safety, but those Hi-Powers had some serious character! Seriously considering getting one in 9mm again...

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Originally Posted by Grizzley1

Jimmy, one question, those are a couple of very nice pistols, But when carying something of that size would'nt you prefer the wallop of a 45? I've never compared them side to side but I think my commander is a little smaller and lighter and packs a bigger punch.

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I don't carry those. I carry mostly carry a Kahr P380 .... on the supposition that the 380 you are carrying is better than the 45 you left at home. :D

OTOH, I do have an IWB holster for them. Too big for me to keep one on my hip for a 10 hour shift. The 45 does hit harder than the 9mm but a Hi-Power has a capacity of 13 and one in the pipe. IIRC the government model is 7 in the mag and one in the pipe. So if I had to choose I guess I'd go for more rounds with less bullet weight. Todays hollow point ammo is pretty deadly even in a 9mm AFAIK.

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Originally Posted by HamburgO

The 9mm HiPower was the first handgun I ever shot and ever owned. I bought one that had the mag safety removed. Then I drank the Kool-Aid in the 90's and bought a Hi-Power in .40. HATED the trigger until I had the mag safety removed on that as well.

I sold both of them in 2008, and regret it to this day. My Glocks are great, they always work, and I like not having to think about the manual safety, but those Hi-Powers had some serious character! Seriously considering getting one in 9mm again...

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Don't feel too bad about selling off your guns. I sold mine off two years ago and still kick myself to this day:banghead:

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Originally Posted by HamburgO

The 9mm HiPower was the first handgun I ever shot and ever owned. I bought one that had the mag safety removed. Then I drank the Kool-Aid in the 90's and bought a Hi-Power in .40. HATED the trigger until I had the mag safety removed on that as well.

I sold both of them in 2008, and regret it to this day. My Glocks are great, they always work, and I like not having to think about the manual safety, but those Hi-Powers had some serious character! Seriously considering getting one in 9mm again...

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I was a S&W revolver man and swore I would never own a plastic gun. Then about fifteen years ago I was at the range and a buddy of mine finally got me to shoot his Glock 23. I fell in love with that gun after 1 magazine. So I talked my buddy out of his G-23 with three hi-cap mags. It is the first gen of that model and is my knock around gun.

On stuff like the Brownings they get cleaned, wiped off after handling or use. My Glock gets cleaned once every few years whether it needs it or not. I've never worried about the exterior finish from day one and the odd thing is it is still pretty good in spite of neglect. It always goes boom when I pull the trigger. It is the ugliest gun I own but if I could only keep one that would be the one.

Jimmy: The last 10 years I worked as a Railroad Cop I was issued a Glock Model 23. Part of that 10 years I was a firearms instructor and rangemaster. I fired and witnessed thousands of rounds go through these Glocks and never saw a failure to feed, fire, eject or extract. Relationsships with firearms are very unusual. For instance in a recent thread the short barreled, compact 1911 were praised by many. My expierence and a lot of people I know has been negative. I know about 12 people who own Keltec pistols. Half of them think they are the greatest thing since Monday Night Football and the rest have either sold them or sent them back to the factory to be corrected. I have had problems with Kimber, one a 1911 and the other a .22 bolt gun. Others swear by them. My brother in law loves Browning A5 shotguns, is the best quail and dove shooter i have ever seen and loved the old Winchester Model 97. I have owned two model 97s and had problems with both of them. Several of my cousins own Winchester Model 12 pump shotguns and many people believe this is the best pump action shotgun ever made. Again, I had problems with them. Have used a Remington Model 870 pump, a Crescent Arms side by side double and a Winchester Model 37 for well over 50 years and they have never failed. As the saying goes your expierence may be different from mine. I guess the best thing to say is never make a judgement on one man's expierence.

My uncle and I will soon have matching Walther P99's. He already has one, and I liked it so much I went out and bought one for myself. I just need to wait for my 21st birthday to go get it... odd law in Indiana, USA... you can own and carry a handgun at 18, but you have to be 21 to buy one at a dealer or buy ammo for one... you can legally buy one in a private sale, just not from a dealer.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I don't carry those. I carry mostly carry a Kahr P380 .... on the supposition that the 380 you are carrying is better than the 45 you left at home. :D

OTOH, I do have an IWB holster for them. Too big for me to keep one on my hip for a 10 hour shift. The 45 does hit harder than the 9mm but a Hi-Power has a capacity of 13 and one in the pipe. IIRC the government model is 7 in the mag and one in the pipe. So if I had to choose I guess I'd go for more rounds with less bullet weight. Todays hollow point ammo is pretty deadly even in a 9mm AFAIK.

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I, just don't know,10 hrs your compleatly right, But when I used to go out to collect rent,I always grabbed the .45,instead of my Beretta 92, with the 16rd,mag. In this neiborhood I found that a bigger barrel made me feel better.JMHO

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Originally Posted by Grizzley1

I, just don't know,10 hrs your compleatly right, But when I used to go out to collect rent,I always grabbed the .45,instead of my Beretta 92, with the 16rd,mag. In this neiborhood I found that a bigger barrel made me feel better.JMHO

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Interesting. I ended up selling my .45s because I decided that for me, in a carry gun, capacity is always going to be king. I prefer my 9mm w. a 16rd. mag to the .45 with 8. Then again, there's an XD in .45 with a 13 rd. mag, I could probably live with that :-) Even better, but this is a big hunk of plastic 'n iron - the Glock 20 in 10mm w. a 15rd. mag! My only worry there is just blowing holes through everything.

I do find accurate follow-up shots faster with 9 than .45 or 10...

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Originally Posted by HamburgO

I do find accurate follow-up shots faster with 9 than .45 or 10...

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I was going to the range fairly regularly for awhile a few years back. Haven't been for a year or so now. Anyway, in the '70s I shot NRA competition. The Camp Perry type of stuff and I got pretty good with target shooting with handguns. So for the short distances usually practiced for combat shooting I can keep the groups tight and punch them out fast.

One day I stopped by the tattoo shop on the way home from the range. One of my co-workers was tattooing a guy who was an instructor of combat shooting for the state police. I had brought a couple of targets I had shot with me to brag a little bit. The LEO looked at the target and said something like .... if you are in a combat situation and point the weapon, align the sights and squeeze the trigger, as if you are at the target range, chances are you will be dead.

Point shooting is what he teaches. Stick it out there and use instinct to mark your target. So the next time I went to the range I began to do some strings point shooting. I didn't bring any targets to the shop to brag about that day. When I do go to the range I get some practice in with that method. Much more difficult, but while I don't get tight groups , if I point center mass I am 9 times out of 10 scoring a hit.

In a self defense situation you're responsible for every shot that comes out of that weapon. That's where caliber and practice comes in to play.

Like Jimmy I used to practice almost every month for years, now I just go but twice a year.

I practice combat shooting and it is 85% points shooting and 15% aim shooting. Everything from 5' to 30' (I think, 7 or 10 yards) is point shooting, beyond 30' is fast target shooting. Closer than 5' is hand to hand combat. Longer and lower caliber weapons are easier to point and shoot than short high caliber ones ( like .357mag snob nose) and require more practice to be effective.

When I carry the snob nose my combat range is shorter for this reason. I extend the range by using .38 special instead of .357mag. If caught outside of my combat range is best to take cover and retreat. When I carry the H&K 40 compact, I feel confident on a longer (50') combat distance.

Also every time you let go, you should do it in sets of two or three every time. More holes on center mass, lower the blood pressure quicker, assuring ( in most cases) incapacitation of the bad guy.

I also found that buying an air soft gun ( replica of the on I carry) gives the best practice to be fast and accurate for your dollar. I set targets in the garage or sometimes on the back yard and practice drawing and point shooting. It's fun, convenient and low cost.

Double O