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GunByte

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  1. GunByte

    1911 thoughts

    Having bought about 8 of them in the last two years I can recommend the new S&W's 1911 E models that come out of their performance center. For the money you get a gun that is ready to go without any need for modifications. It has all the bell and whistles and is reliable. I had bought 3 Colts and none of them was 100% reliable which when you carry guns, is not good, but OK for other uses where your life is not on the line. Kimbers are not what they were when I bought my first one back when their Customs shop was not just a name put on mass produced guns. The new Ruger 1911 is supposed to be good as most Rugers are. I tried the new Remington and it was bad out of the box and I got my money refunded. Plus Remington has nothing to do with the gun other than licensing their name to another company. When you have a problem you do not talk to Remington but rather the corporation that makes them using the Remington name, I recommend the new S&W line. I bought this one for $1100 and it was well worth the money. They have it also with a scandium frame for carry and a new model with cuts in the slide that is just gorgeous. They are positioning themselves to offer custom gun features in a mass produced gun and are succeeding.
  2. Not unusual. When I first started buying guns I was routinely ignored. Now that I have bought 30 from the same store the salespeople rush to help me. It seems the only way to get good service is to be a frequent buyer, missing some front teeth or driving a pickup.
  3. Here are the popular guns used around here for IDPA: Glock 34/35 M&P Pro Glock 17 Glock 19 M&P 9mm Springfield XDM CZ 75B 1911 Your normal home defense or carry gun I understand the advice about shooting what you have and it is a very good idea to attend and see what everyone is using BUT if none of your current guns are suitable to make you at least feel competitive, you may get discouraged and quit. I see that happen all the time. It is a rare shooter who shows up regularly to be beaten by almost everyone else match after match. As to your choice of using a gun that you admittedly say you are terrible with, you will quickly find out if you are competitive or not. I am competitive so I do not compete with my snub nose or pocket nine that I carry. I use an M&P Pro with 5" barrel and a Comp-tac paddle holster and mag carrier for easy on/off during the match as I rather not carry the gun while waiting for my turn. As far as shooting sports go, if they keep score and/or rank you, it is a competitive event and I will use anything that gives me a competitive advantage. I do not need to win or even place near the top. I do however need to know that it is my lack of skill rather than equipment holding me back. Follow the excellent advice given by the other posters and shoot a match or two and then decide if you even like the stress of competition, IDPA in particular, and would enjoy not being competitive due to you equipment. If I were you I would take a look at Steel Matches because they do have a .22 division and it is a lot of fun. I also have an M&P22. Another fun sport is bowling pin shooting but I do not remember anyplace in NJ hosting that. Popular down here though and a lot of fun. Basically I prefer the sports that use reactive targets without a lot of things to remember for each stage. If nothing else, shooting in matches will give you increased skills, especially in quickly clearing jams, shooting faster than most do at the range and using cover.
  4. I got that out of my system in Vietnam but a lot of guys I know are still fascinated with full auto weapons. I see no use for them other than fun at the range. It is my experience that you end up spraying and praying that you hit something. Having seen them used in combat they miss a lot more than they hit unless you are highly trained. Then there is the issue of where do you draw the line on weapons? Lots of crazy people out there that can legally buy firearms in many States. When I moved from NJ to Florida I thought it would be gun heaven but instead I am concerned about being around so many people who carry guns that they know nothing about or never even shot because the price of range time and ammo is so expensive. Most do not even use holsters and just last year we had 3 guns discharged in our local Wal-Mart and one in a restaurant. I do not know if I want these kind of people owning full automatic weapons. I have learned to be careful about what you wish for because you may get it and it might not be as you imagined. In short, while it would be fun to shoot them, I have to always remember that not everyone is like me, or you, and would use them responsibly.
  5. NJ is already pre-cancerous so I have no doubt about it. At least here they do not register guns or do we have any requirement to record any private sales so it would be very difficult to take our guns because they have no idea of who has what. I suspect that the real initial goal is to compromise at requiring registration of such guns and more in deapth background checks. No ban, just registration of assault weapons. Then when that proves to not have any impact on mass shootings, the government and/or antigunners will be in a better position to confiscate our firearms. I am convinced that the future will not find private citizens legally owning firearms except for special needs like hunting, sports shooting, etc. and even then you may have to store your gun someplace authorized by the government. If you do not think this is possible all I can say is that having worked in London for a few years and often visited Australia, they thought it was impossible too and predicted an uprising. However when it came down to it no one really wanted to give up their nice comfortable life and drag their families to the Outback or hills to join a rebel band to fight the government. As much as I love shooting and my guns I am not so concentric or afraid of life to give up the very comfortable life I have built for myself to defy gun laws as most will not. I will use the power of my vote but if the rest of the country out votes me than they win. It is funny how so many people only seen to like democracy when it goes their way.
  6. I can understand that as I switched from $1K customized Sigs to Glocks because I no longer wanted DA/SA guns and Glocks are just as reliable for my needs. However, as a posted, they did not provide me with any joy so I went to HK's that do float my boat. I have been shooting since 1970 and only bought my first Glock in 2011. Learned to disassemble them completely, did my own modifications, etc. but since I can afford HK's, what the heck.
  7. I have been buying and carrying S&W Snubbies for a while and hate to say it but the Ruger LCR has a much better trigger out of the box, is lighter than the typical 642, and has better grips. I just sold the last of my S&W Snub Nose guns and this from a guy who loves all metal guns. But everyone should shoot a S&W .38. The only problem I see is that they are more carry a lot but shoot little type guns and you will soon find it to be a safe queen and hard to sell. How about a Ruger GP100 or S&W 686? My last fun handgun was a Ruger .357 Blackhawk. Love the SA guns. Reminds me of my childhood when I played cowboys and indians. You seem to be missing a Glock. I no longer own any but I did own 7 in the last few years. However if you are like me, a revolver guy, you owe it to yourself to get a SA, perhaps a Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt to see how the Cowboys felt when they shot their guns. In my case I bought a Colt SAA as I wanted the real thing but $1300 for a gun I shot a few times a year did not play out and I sold it for a few other guns. At least I have experienced what it feels like in my hand.
  8. Although I do not need permits, I am approaching retirement and promised my wife that I would only buy one more gun after buying 30 in the last 3 years. What did I choose? A Ruger 10/20 Takedown rifle. After 42 years I have never owned a takedown rifle and this one is a winner. It is at the gun store now waiting on a scope arriving tomorrow. This rifle will hold its zero after taking it apart and putting it back together again and it is as simple as pressing a lever and a 90 degree twist. Comes with a backpack that holds the two halves of the rifle and scope plus 4 25 round magazines and some room for whatever. The ranchers and farmers around here tell me that a .22 rifle or handgun will handle most of their daily needs from taking down coyote and smaller critters to warding off 2 legged critters too. Since we have to deal with hurricanes every year, most of us have hurricane kits of essential items to toss into our cars at short notice if we have to head out. The Ruger 10/22 Takedown fits into that role very nicely and its case also has enough room for me to slip one of my larger handguns with spare mags into it to suppliment whatever gun I am carrying on my belt. The case has molle straps so I can also attach some of the many bags I have that hold guns and ammo. Very useful and fun firearm.
  9. Had many different ones over the last four decades but currently it is a Ruger Blackhawk .357. Like the slow paced simplicity of a SA revolver plus I do not burn though two boxes of ammo in 15 minutes like I do with my 17 round M&P Pro. I get looks from the firing line loaded up with people with Glocks and similar, when I pull out my big SA revolver and blast off a few hot .357 rounds. All my other guns are for home defense or carry so when I shoot them it is mainly to test reliability and proficiency; rarely just for fun. For fun I shoot the already mentioned Blackhawk, a derringer, NAA mini revolver, Raven .25, various .22's. Below is my favorite defensive gun to shoot:
  10. I was banned from a gun forum for protesting against the paid advertisers being able to troll the forums and solict business without being identified as paid advertisers. Seems that they never missed an opportunity to remind us that we are not prepared at all without their training. When you face stiff opposition for not agreeing to the need to carry a gun into your own shower because of a few newspaper articles about it and statements that statistics and odds are meaningless because if something was possible, no matter how unlikely, we need to prepare for it, from people who ignore more likely threats to their health and welfare because they do not involve using a gun, being banned is a good thing.
  11. GunByte

    Long slides

    I went with an M&P 5" 9mm Pro. Perfect for competition, range and home defense use. It is my only high capacity handgun and all that I need. Most of my guns have 3-4" barrels. I find that length balances well in my hands and allows me to quickly put the gun on target. I dislike barrel heavy guns and have sold a few that were like that. At my age my hand gets tired just trying to hold a long barreled gun straight for extended periods of time. I like the weight of my guns to be in my hand so that they feel like an extension of me when I point them.
  12. During the last AWB my main gun was a CZ75B with 10 round mags. I had no problem with that for home defense/competition and carry less than that most times now. My 2 civilian encounters found me with a 5 shot .357 mag snub nose loaded with .38 +P's. It seems that it is true that most people do not want to be shot with anything as the mere display of my gun ended all bad intentions towards me both times and one of those times involved 3 men who surrounded me in a parking lot. After 62 years I tend to prepare for the possible that is most likely to happen rather than the unlikely merely because it is possible. Keep the gun. It is one of the great guns of all time and most people can shoot 9mm faster and more accurately than a .45 plus the cost of .45 ammo will make you practice less. I recently sold off all my .45's in favor of 9mm's. I can shoot them faster and more accurately and with the new ammo around they do perform well in real life.
  13. I have. Sold off my Glock 26, 19, 17 and 30SF for an M&P 9c and 9 Pro. Replaced the 9c with an HK P2000SK but still have and use the Pro for competition and range. Just never felt anything about any of my Glocks to make me want to keep them. Very reliabile except for the 2 26's that were defective out of the box but I seldom felt like picking them up or carrying them like I do with my other guns. Sort of like my wristwatches which I take pleasure in wearing. I could get a Timex and it may even keep better time than the ones I have but the ones I have give me pleasure and Glocks do not.
  14. I assume that NICS is NICS no matter where you buy your gun. I just bought two guns on Saturday and NICS went through immediately from a store in Florida. I do not know how they assign phone numbers to gun stores but it sounds like a problem with the store and not NICS.
  15. Last time NJ not only allowed grandfathering but also the buyging and selling of grandfathered magazines if you had the $100 to buy one. They were pretty common during IPSC and Steel matches. I used to borrow one or two for a major match because I was not as smart as others who stocked up on them in anticpation of an AWB. I do not see how they can make you give them back since most have no serial number and there are many millions of them out there. I bought 5 high capacity magazines for every firearm I own before the panic buying set in so I am set for my needs. Funny thing is that I wanted to even get 12 round mags for my M&P22 too but could only find the 10 rounders. However I found out that they are both the same mag except one has a removable metal piece to block the last two rounds. So I ordered 10 rounders, removed the floor plate and metal tube and now have 12 round magazines. I remember during the last AWB, many people blocked their high capacity mags to limit them to 10 rounds and then removed whatever it was that they installed so that they could used the high capacity for competition. Always discussions about how legal that was but the last AWB law was written by people who did not know much about guns so it was vague and never heard of anyone getting into trouble for it.
  16. Not only seen them but have one sitting under the xmas tree which I get to open tonight. Real sweet rifle. Easy to put together and take apart and keeps its zero. I choose this over an AR15 because it will serve 90% of my needs and I figure with so many guys with AR's that have never trained for combat or fired a shot in anger, it would be a simple task for an old combat vet like me to get one of theirs using my .22.
  17. Huh, I am kicking myself in the butt for not emptying my bank account to buy as many as I could in Florida. I knew from the last AWB that I could nearly double my money once the panic buying set in and supplies were deleted. I
  18. Hate to disagree but just what rights were violated? They were responding to a call of shots fired and rapid fire semi autos can sound like full auto to non gun owners. They had no way of knowing who you were at the time so they approached you as they would any other suspects with guns. Once they ascertained your identity and the types of guns you had they wrote down your serial numbers to run against their list of firearms reported stolen or since you are in NJ, not registered. I do not see how your rights were violated because they did what they had to do and no one got hurt. You live in a State where gun are required to be registered so it was not like they were getting any info that was illegal to obtain. Just how do you expect our police to behave when responding to two guys with a lot of rifles? They did as they were trained to do and I certainly can understand why you did not like it as I did not like it when stopped in Florida with a legal gun in my posession but was put into handcuffs for the officer's safety while he ascertained that I had a legal right to have that gun in my car. How was he to know that I was not a felon?
  19. No way to ban the millions of mags already in circulation and no proposed laws to do so. I forsaw the panic buying and a month ago I bought 4 guns and many 17 and 25 round magazines for my firearms that needed them. Heck I even bought some hi capacity mags for popular guns that I do not even know just in case I buy that gun model in the future. At worse I have a nice supply of mags obtained at cheap prices. No down side.
  20. When I lived in Monmouth County, Shore Shot is the place I went. TruGlo sights are very nice and the ones I get on my guns. Get the ones that are combination fiber optic and tritium and you will have the best of both worlds. Good in daylight and at night.
  21. As a 62 year old avid gun collector and shooter I have live through the ups and downs of gun ownership. Something dreadful happens and the masses must be appeased by the politicians if they want to get re-elected as we are about a third of the population. As with the last AWB, there will be a lot of backroom deals made. The Republicans are already worried about their demographics and may not want to further lose party members who happen to not be gun owners. They may trade concessions on the fiscal cliff for an AWB ban. No matter, the future will be gunless for the coming generations and not because of a dictatorial government but because of the wimpification of America and a future population who wants to ban all guns. Gun owners will die off and those left will be spitting against the wind. Those of you living in NJ should know how futile it is to fight for gun rights when the majority is supporting gun control directly or indirectly by who they vote into office. I am hoping that a complete ban will happen after I am dead or at least too old to know. Having stated my grim belief for gun ownership in the USA I have to say that after living in a few countries and working in over 15, I would still rather live in the USA with no guns than any other country with a gun. I love shooting but am not gun centric. I moved from NJ to FL for the weather and a pending retirement where I want to be free to buy and sell guns as I see fit and not worry about regulations. If things change I still have the warm weather.
  22. I grew up in NYC's Little Italy across the street from the Italian Social club. Still remember going with my mom to people's houses to buy a new winter coat. Welcome home signs for those released from prison. Very low income and yet had an extremely low violent crime rate. My point is that what is said about income is true but there are other factors that affect crime rates.
  23. As someone who had an AR during the last ban I want to point out that you should keep receipts of purchase for any 15 round mags you buy. This was an issue back then as most of us just bought them at gun shows, etc. and did not keep receipts. Some would not recognize an email receipt as legal back then. Lots of problems for people caught with mags over 10. Also a good number of competitive shooters put blocks of wood or other devices in their mags to make them 10 rounds while transporting them and then changed them back to 20 round mags for competition. I was someone miffed about the allowance of hi cap mags for rifle competitions since I had only 10 rounders. Normally I ended up borrowing a high cap mag for the competition but not possible all the time. Even though there are no serial numbers on mags please keep those receipts. I spent some time yesterday going over credit card bills to figure out who I bought things from online and printed out my order and shipping confirmations for all my high capacity mags. Friday I will ask my local gun store for receipts for mags I bought there. They are kind of loose around here about receipts, even if you buy a gun. Most are mom and pop stores with limited computer skills. I have to sepcifically ask for a receipt and always get asked why? I just tell them that I may have to move back to NJ someday and will need the receipt unless they can guarantee me that they will be alive and in business in the next 5 years.
  24. Apparently we have a lot of young guys on this forum. Those of us who lived through the last one are thinking it out and will make a lot of money from the new ban and have the kinds of weapons that you can no longer buy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban#Provisions_of_the_ban During the last ban guns and magazines already owned were exempt and they became very valuable and commanded a lot of money if sold. I paid $100 for Glock hicap mags and more for 20 and 30 round AR mags. They have to grandfather existing weapons or they will make millions of people into instant criminals. Some people have hundreds of thousands invested in gun collections and you just do not take that away from them without compensation. My guess is that they will do as before but this time do not leave the large loopholes that existed in the last ban which focused on cosmetics due to the politicians not knowing much about guns. There is a fly in the ointment as guns are a 1.5 billion dollar business if you count the manufactrers, importers, gunsmiths, gun stores, ranges, instructors, holster and accessory manufacturers, etc.. Any legislation that puts a big dent into that will have financial repricussions for the national economy. I think that they will end up focusing on reduced ammo capacity and perhaps require fixed magazines so that you cannot change a magazine and be back in business. Much like the California law which are easily overcome with some clever devices. We will see a ban on magazines over 10 rounds and no more rifles which the public perceives as "assault" weapons to be sold to civilians. Quite frankly it will be a hard sell to defend the AR and AK for hunting purposes as there is no good argument for them. A rifle with a built in 5 or 10 round mag is more than sufficient for hunting and our preferences will not matter. I learned from the last AWB what to do. I have stockpiled hicap magazines and this weekend bought 3 new firearms that they will likely ban. I do not need them but they will prove to be a good investment. I know guys in NJ who made substantial amounts of money by buying up as many hicap mags as they could before the last ban and then selling them. What is the risk? I do not see anyone making already owned ones illegal so the risk is that you get stuck with a nice supply of guns and high cap magazines that othes will envy and that will last you a lifetime.
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