A few new gun reviews

[lunker 274]

I was in a bit of a quandary. I got a new pistol and a new shotgun, and didn't want to write one post in the handgun section and another in shotgun, so here I am.

First is my Mossberg 930 Home Defense. It is not the tactical version with AR sights. It just has a standard receiver and front bead. I know how to shoot a regular shotgun fairly well (i.e. pointing, not aiming) and wanted to keep the manual of arms the same. I have never been a huge fan of Mossbergs. They are sort of the Glock of the shotgun world. Ugly and gets it done would be the best description of them. For some reason that it OK with my rifles, but I like more refinement in my handguns and scatterguns. For quite a while I had a Remington 870 Police as my home defense gun. But the quality autoloaders kept calling my name. The difference in speed is really substantial between a good autoloader and a pump. So I sold the Remmy (beautiful gun, nice wood, a Wingmaster in matte black). If the FN SLP Police or Mark I had regular sights, or were a little more reasonably priced, I would've bought one. And the Benelli's were stupid expensive. But I kept reading good things about the Mossberg 930's reliability and recoil management. So I bit the bullet. I added a Nordic Components extension to put the gun at its Jersey legal max capacity.

Today I took the gun out to Central Jersey Rifle and Pistol and ran 100 mixed 00 buck and slugs through it, to break it in. The gun runs like a champ. I then proceeded to put twenty rounds of 7 1/2 birdshot target loads through it. Again, not a hiccup. As fast as I could pull the trigger, the rounds would come out, and the hulls were deposited in a nice pile a few feet to my right. A few times I thought that I was miscounting because I knew I loaded five rounds and only counted four shots because I was hammering them so quickly. And my shoulder isn't even in pain. I would not be able to say that after shooting 100 through my 870 Police. In fact I might not have even been able to get through 100 full power loads.  So I broke the Mossberg down after I got home. Not too dirty. I wouldn't mind a nicer stock, and the forearm is just a rough hunk of plastic, but the gun is too good a shooter for me to care much. The Mossberg 930 is a winner and it is not that expensive (~$600 new).

 

Now my other acquisition,. I just picked up a HK 45 Compact. After having winnowed my handgun collection down to four, I was trying to keep the manual of arms the same with my two 45s. I have a Dan Wesson Valor, and now the HK 45C. A big reason I bought it was that the folks that had a hand in the design and testing were big 1911 guys who were able to incorporate modern manufacturing techniques into a reliable self defense gun. The best part of the gun is that there are nine configurations that it can be changed to, including various combinations of SA/DA, DAO, LEM (like a Glock pull), light LEM, and lefty or right controls. And this is by simply swapping detente plates and control levers. Right now the gun is in variant 1, which is the control lever is set for a righty shooter (i.e. it is on the left side) and it can act as a safety and decocker. My personal bugaboo about 1911's i that they are a righty gun. Most of the lefty thumb safeties are not very robust, and do get loose if used enough. For you rightys with ambi safeties on your 1911's who are saying "He's full of shit. My right side safety isn't loose." try shooting weak hand a lot, ride the safety, and see what happens. The closest I have seen to a really good solution is the Caspian or Wilson Combat ambi safety setups, both over $100. I love that I can turn this gun into a true lefty pistol. Not ambi. LEFTY, hell yes!

Today I was in the Central Jersey pit with the knock down steel. At a dozen yards I couldn't knock them down as quickly as with the 1911, and the recoil was definitely more than the 1911, but it was less than the Glock 21 I once owned. Not bad for a compact gun. My only real complaint is that this gun has one of the worst double action trigger pulls I have ever felt on a pistol. What is surprising is that the single action pull is so crisp and without creep.

And the HK 45C feels good in my hand. Some of the earlier USP guns felt even more blocky than a Glock. I just wish that HK put the silly looking spider man grippy material on the compact's grip. The gun only has front and rear checkering, not enough to keep a great grip in bad conditions IMO.One thing I had been planning on was switching to a right side control, since I am a lefty pistol shooter. And now after today, I am also planning on removing the decocking feature. It is a little too easy to push the safety lever past the horizontal if you ride the safety (I practice shooting righty too). I never actually accidentally decocked the gun, but the extra range of motion threw me off a bit. And removing the decock allows me to shoot the gun like a 1911. I won't have to put up with that awful DA trigger.

The gun ate 75 rounds of hot handloaded 45ACP without a problem. I would've shot more through it, but I was trying to shoot the Valor side-by-side with it to have a good comparison. Next time out I will try some mousefart loads. The gun does have a stiff recoil spring, so I wonder how they will feed and eject. All in all, a nice, well made gun. I am happy with this purchase too.

[RecessedFilter 222]

Thanks for the reviews, Lunk. 

 

I love 930's. It's on my "to buy...soon" list. It's such a workhorse and it gets the job done with anything. And it's the first shotgun I've shot 5 clays mid-air with.

[Purple Patrick 638]

Thanks for the reviews, Lunk.

 

I love 930's. It's on my "to buy...soon" list. It's such a workhorse and it gets the job done with anything. And it's the first shotgun I've shot 5 clays mid-air with.

930 for life.

 

 

 

 

Good reviews man

 

 

Sent from my hidden under ground bunker between Taco Bell and the dry cleaner

[phoenix_iii 0]

Surprised. Heard the hk45 recoil was significantly less than other 45s... Disappointed.

[lunker 274]

Surprised. Heard the hk45 recoil was significantly less than other 45s... Disappointed.

Maybe it's only with the full size HK45. I was comparing the HK 45C against a full size 1911 which weighs a good deal more. That weight soaks up a lot of recoil.

[jermz1987 243]

dude that the mossberg is sick! you got to let me shoot that puppy. U had the full size HK45 a while back and I did like it. But I wouldn't mind trying the compact version. great buys chris.

[wink-_-wink 1]

dude that the mossberg is sick! you got to let me shoot that puppy. U had the full size HK45 a while back and I did like it. But I wouldn't mind trying the compact version. great buys chris.

 

 

Bad choice of words considering there is a puppy in the first pic.... I know you didnt mean it that way but I read it that way, laughed, and said man that was messed up!

[lunker 274]

dude that the mossberg is sick! you got to let me shoot that puppy. U had the full size HK45 a while back and I did like it. But I wouldn't mind trying the compact version. great buys chris.

 

I didn't have the HK45. Quite a few years back I had the P2000 in 9mm.

You will enjoy the Mossberg.

[scig 12]

Lunk,

Great reviews, excellent writing. Have not seen you in a long time----stop in and say hello. I work Tue., Thur., and Sat. Don't come on Sat we'll have no time to talk.

Scig

[bry@n 195]

Great reviews Chris I concur about the grip vs one skateboard tape will do wonders.

 

Sorry I couldn't come over. We were busy all day.

[lunker 274]

Lunk,

Great reviews, excellent writing. Have not seen you in a long time----stop in and say hello. I work Tue., Thur., and Sat. Don't come on Sat we'll have no time to talk.

Scig

Thanks Phil. I hope to make it in sometime soon. 

 

Great reviews Chris I concur about the grip vs one skateboard tape will do wonders.

 

Sorry I couldn't come over. We were busy all day.

No worries. When I saw your text I was already headed home. I hope it was a good day. 

[jermz1987 243]

I didn't have the HK45. Quite a few years back I had the P2000 in 9mm.

You will enjoy the Mossberg.

 

oops I meant to say I had the HK45 a while back. lol

 

 

[JimmyAGR 54]

So Chris these will be for sale in 3,2,1...... Tried calling you on Friday. Hope to be able to get to the range soon.

[lunker 274]

So Chris these will be for sale in 3,2,1...... Tried calling you on Friday. Hope to be able to get to the range soon.

My cell earpiece stopped working for a day. I got your call but couldn't hear you. A reboot seems to have cured it for now.

[lunker 274]

oops I meant to say I had the HK45 a while back. lol

 

 

Why did you ditch the HK45?