AR 15

Well heck, its been....May of 2009 since I posted. I'm sure this blog has been declared dead.

But ah, resurrection!!

I recently bought an AR-15. Olympic Arms UM-1P. 20" bull barrel, JP muzzle brake, JP gas block, 6 position adjustable stock, Wilson trigger, free float handgaurds, winter trigger guard, adjustable cheek weld. Its a super gun.

However, it is not for me. I want a lightweight carbine. This gun is a bit heavy, meant for a bipod and nailing prairie dogs from 300 yards away. As such, I am selling the rifle, to get something I'll shoot. Closet queens have no place in my home. This is a good gun for target shooting and hunting, but not the kind that I do.

If anyone is interested, its on gunbroker.com. Buy it now is $1500. Reserve is lower.

Mossberg 835

Finally, I have my first shotgun. Its also my first long gun in something other than .22lr. To see the story of buying it from the old man I named Joe, click here.

The gun I bought was a Mossberg 835. Its used, the cosmetics are probably 85-90%. Its internals look great. That's exactly what I was looking for. A slightly used, decent pump action. Its old enough that it is still finished with shiny lacquered wood, which I love. Not the cheaper looking stuff you see today. This gun came in at $175 even.

To be exact, its the Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag. 28" barrel, built-in Acu-choke, accommodates shells up to 3.5" You can find specs from the company here.



I still haven't shot the thing (lets hope it works!), but have several offers to shoot clays soon. I'm looking forward to trying my hand at pheasant and duck this year. I've never hunted birds, so should be a new experience for me.

I am debating buying a second slug barrel for it, cutting it down to 18.5", and using it as my home defense shotgun. Then, when I want to go sporting I'll pop on the longer barrel. I'm emailing Xavier to get his opinion on this.

I'll post an update after I've shot it. Cheers

Glock 23

After selling one of my guns I used some of the money to finance a new purchase. Glock 23.

Yes, thank you ladies and gentleman, Tarak has again joined the bandwagon. What? This is his second Glock? Pathetic.

Whatever, they work.







I bought this gun with the purpose of carry/self defense. I wanted something bigger than my J-frame and in a larger caliber, but a little cheaper to train with than a 45. It rides in my nightstand. It often has a place in the bag I'm carrying. Now that its fall I can carry in an IWB holster with a sweatshirt, heavy shirt or coat if I want. Also looking forward to taking it hiking/camping/backpacking as it holds up well in the elements.

Featured above is my strongside nightstand-type holster by Cheap-Target-Nightstand.

I plan on replacing the terrible Glock factory sights, of course. I'll be getting different sights on my Glock 17 for competition, and will pull the nightsights off of that and put it on my new G23.

Fit and finish is all fine and dandy. Came with the usual: case, 2 mags, speedloader, lock, paperwork. It cost $499. Its chunky in my hand- there are certainly any number of guns that feel better in the grip, but I'm used to my G17 for competition, so I wanted the same platform for a carry gun. Its comfortable enough.

Shoots as well as I can shoot it. I would have to say it does have quite a bit of snappy recoil that took some getting used to. Made my wrists hurt a bit after about 150 rounds.

After some slow fire I worked on point shooting at close ranges, as that's what I anticipate I would need it for. After a bit, my groups began to clean up. At first, they were all over.




I have a cheap nylon holster that it sits in in while in various bags, etc. I picked up an Uncle Mikes IWB holster for $10 that actually works fairly well, though the cheap Velcro release leaves much to be desired. I will be getting better holsters for it. For ammo I have 185 gr. Federal Hydrashocks, which is in pretty much any gun I carry.


Overall, I'm happy with the 23 and think it will serve me well for its intended purpose.

Glock 17

Say what you will, I'm just a huge 9mm fan. I love it. 9mm, 9X19, 9mm Parabellum, 9mm Luger...a rose by any other name is just as sweet. 9mm is by far my favorite caliber to shoot. I think its fun, has very manageable recoil and muzzle flip while still being an effective round (yes many would argue that.) I don't remember who, but someone on the internet once mentioned that he was being heckled by a .45 shooter about his "weak 9mm". His reply is that if the 9mm is so ineffective, perhaps the gentleman would stand back and allow him to double tap two rounds into his chest. This ended the discussion.

I have a friend in police reserves who frequently teases me about my "wussy" little 9mm. She loves her tough 40 S&W. But when I asked her and her deputy husband if they were interested in joining competition shooting, she said "No, 40 ammo is getting way to expensive". Guess what? Mine's cheaper!

Which brings mention of the benefit that can't be ignored: it is a more affordable caliber to shoot these days.

I would love to have several weapons chambered in 9mm. Right now I have one. I had a Springfield XD, but I sold that as I wasn't a huge fan of the trigger.

While not a complete Glock guy at heart, I stumbled across a good deal on one so ended it up getting it. Used but absolutely flawless, with nightsites and 3 mags for $500. I had my eyes on Berettas and Sigs, which I probably still prefer, but like I said, it was a deal and I just ended up getting it.

So I joined all the little lemmings with my full size, 9mm Glock: G17. It everything you hear. Its chunky but actually fits my hand pretty well. My XD, M&P, Beretta, Sigs all feel better, but the G17 still feels fine. Shoots where I point it/where my terrible trigger pull aims it. It eats any ammo. Its impossible to get the thing to rust.

At first I was not really impressed with the stock trigger pull. It felt heavy and it just seemed hard to shoot well with it. However, after buying and shooting my S&W 642 with its very long hard DA pull, the G17 feels like an absolute hair trigger. Its changed my perspective quite a bit, and now I enjoy shooting it more. I think I will probably get the famous Glock trigger job with a 3.5# connector. I can get pretty decent groupings with it now that I've shot it a bit.

After mentioning that, I feel inclined to clarify the purpose I have for this gun. I bought it with the idea of getting into USPSA and (hopefully someday) IDPA in the stock/production divisions. If I was carrying for defense, I'd leave the trigger as is, but it is going to be a range/competition gun. For self defense I use the above mentioned .38spl, and in my nightstand at home is my Kimber Custom II.

Overall, this is a good gun. But due to my love for the 9mm round, I'm sure I will end up with a different (or additional) gun in that caliber. If I'm shooting a caliber I love, then I want a gun I love. Beretta, Sig, CZ, and HiPower are the main contenders. Recently, I had a chance to look over and dry fire a Ruger SR9, and that seems like it has real potential.

Smith and Wesson 642

As promised, I picked up an S&W arlite revolver in .38spl today. I actually got a 642 instead of a 637. Check out that story (and accompanying fiasco) here. This a review of the gun I purchased. I got it for $450. They sell the 637 (exposed hammer) for a constant "sale" price of $399. Bummer.

So, I bought my my 642, an assortment of ammo, and hit the range. I've only ever shot a .22lr revolver at this point. I was kind of in for a surprise.

The gun, at first glance and inspection, is quality like you'd expect from S&W. The trigger is a very heavy double action as would be expected on this kind of gun. Sights are nominal but, we're talking close range self defense. Everything is kosher as far as fit and finish. I suit up, head into the range, and load up.

Somehow, I expected the recoil to be just like my 9mm. It wasn't. This thing is defiantly for self defense....5 rounds, maybe one reload, and done. Any more than that, and a guy's hand starts to hurt! This light little aluminum frame doesn't stop much recoil. The guys at the shop recommended some Glaser 100 grain Pow'r Ball and I'll just say it.....Holy Crap! You could feel those in your chest even behind the gun. Those suckers kicked compared to what I was used to. Even my Kimber 45 has less recoil than this sucker! Guess that's what all steel will do for you. After 50 rounds, I needed a break! I found myself anticipating and jerking the gun like I haven't done since the first time I shot. I was almost afraid of the shot because of the pain it was causing, and my shots were flying everywhere. They all hit the body, but they hit every single part.

I put it down and switched to my Glock 17. Up to this point, I thought the stock Glock trigger was a heavy pull and wasn't a huge fan. Suddenly, this thing felt like a hair trigger. My first round went off almost on accident as it seemed like nothing to pull. It took me a couple clips to get things back together. Soon I was shooting fine again and getting good groups.

Back to the S&W. I collected myself, got back in long DA mode, stopped being a baby about recoil that was more than I expected and got back to work. Very soon I was shooting decent groups with fairly rapid fire at what I consider to be appropriate self defense range (10-15 feet). I shot some American Federal in 130 grain, Federal Hydrashocks in 129 grain, Black Hills Ammunition in 158 grain, and Glaser Pow'rball in 100 grain (kicks like a mule). After about 130 rounds of .38spl (plus 100 rounds of 9mm), I was getting a blister, my hand was sore, and it was time to be done.

As far as concealment, I'll have to say I find that it doesn't quite disappear into a pocket like you hear about. I bought a Galco IWB holster (clip style) and an Uncle Mike's #3 pocket holster recommended by Xavier. With a thin T-shirt the IWB holster provided okay coverage. Very often it was apparent there was something under my shirt, but not a gun. Honestly, the clip showed through the shirt more than anything else. I think I might look into a different IWB. I shopped for groceries with the IWB, and I could help but feeling a bit...exposed. I was adjusting my shirt constantly, only helping to draw attention.

The pocket holster in my shorts was quite bulky. It was very obvious there was a large something in my pocket, but again, not necessarily a gun. (spaaaare the puns and jokes) I've only tried this with one outfit combo (thin T-shirt and shorts) so we'll see how it goes. Unfortunately, no one in town seems to sell any leather pocket holsters.

Overall, I'm fairly pleased. Thus far, its just not as concealable as I'd hoped. I will have to work on that. Fall is around the corner, so all the shirts will help. But, it beats carrying my .45 or G17

Colt Single Action .22lr

I decided to take pictures of my oldest gun. I found this just wasting the years away in my grandma's closet. Its a Colt Single Action Frontier Scout .22lr. I think its from the 70's. Its old. Its dirty. Its fun.


When I found it, I had never held a revolver. Ever. I had no idea what to do with it. It took me 5 minutes to figure out how to load it. Then I didn't dare shoot it, who knows what shape it was in. I was sure it would explode, taking with it my youthful face, banishing me to a leper-like existence. You could feel grit when you pulled the hammer back. There was rust and pitting everywhere.

I took it home (dorm room at the time) to clean it up. Except, I had no idea what I was doing. I decided I needed to completely take it apart. I started removing screws and parts at random. Bad idea.

Eventually I found plans for it on the internet, printed them out, and taped parts where they belonged. I cleaned it up.


And now reassembly. Not good. Remember- I know nothing about wheelguns at this point. Long story short, it took me 3 hours and multiple attempts at getting the trigger back together. Sweating, stringing together impolite phrases (think the father vs. the furnace in "The Christmas Story"), and slowly becoming inebriated from cleaning solution in a small room, I battled. Twice I had it all reassembled only to realize the trigger wasn't working.

But eventually I got it. I took it out, shot it nervously, and was happy to find it worked, it did not explode in my face, and it was accurate.

So now I have this old gun. Its not pretty. The blueing is worn everywhere and the cylinder is full of bright silver spots where I took rust off. But dang it, Grandpa's old gun is kind of a fun little thing, and I might just make me a believer in the revolver, even with the smallest of bullets.




If anyone knows where and how I could get grips that would be a little nicer than the old plastic ones on them, let me know at: gunandstrum@hotmail.com