boo

While I've never encountered it myself, I have read reports of transferring FFLs charging "tax" on the value of the firearm. So if an FFL quotes you "xx dollars plus tax", make sure they clarify that the tax is just on the NICS/transfer fee, and not on the value of the firearm. I'm not aware of any forum vendors following this practice.

Just curious. Is the popularity of Critical Defense/Duty due to the hope that it won't be considered hollow point should legal complications arise? Anecdotally, it doesn't seem to be as popular in Free America compared to Speer Gold Dot, Federal HST, etc.

If a Glock 17 has too much recoil for you, then you'll hate any 1911 because they will have even more recoil. Having said that, you probably have a heightened sensitivity to recoil right now only because you're a new shooter, and that will go away with practice. I'm assuming that you don't have some sort of physical ailment that makes you overly sensitive to recoil.

First of all, I suggest an intro to handgun class. That way you'll know what gun feels like in your hand the way you're supposed to be holding and shooting it. I think it also depends on how often you plan to shoot (or at the minimum, if you're willing to put in the dryfire practice). If you don't see yourself going more than maybe once/twice a month, I'd go with the glock. No safety to worry about and only one trigger pull to get acclimated with. Another thing to decide is what's the worst case situation for you, a gun that doesn't shoot when it's supposed to, or gun that shoots when it isn't supposed to. I'm referring to the manual of arms, not reliability. Yeah, I know with proper training it shouldn't matter, blah, blah, blah. But if you're worried abou the former, Glock, latter Beretta. And as far as trying out different guns, I suggest visiting RTSP. You only pay one gun rental fee and you can try as many guns as you want in the same caliber. GFH might be worth considering if you're willing to spring for a membership because of the free gun rentals that you get. All IMHO. In the end it probably won't matter since once you start, you're probably going to end up with at least 5 different guns and will end up buying both anyways

Welcome

Anyone have any particular experience doing voter registration drives? Anything one needs to be aware of? I called the NJ Board of Elections in Trenton and they said they don't care what you do, but you need permission of either the business your doing it at or from the municipality if you're doing it in a public space (like a park). On another thread, I see District 38 had a really close Assembly race and might be one that can be turned around. Ideally, I'd love to walk around the hunting section at Dick's in Paramus with a clipboards, but I'm not going to hold my breath on management approving it. Maybe Ramsey Outdoor? Meltzers? edit: oops, I didn't realize Assembly elections are until 2015. House elections don't give a very promising picture. When democrats take a lead, they really take a lead http://elections.nbcnews.com/ns/politics/2012/New%20Jersey

You sure that isn't a typo and you meant 25 feet? I don't think I'm even capable of 2" groups at 25 yards from a rest!

Here's a comparison. I don't think the white box is actual blaster ammo because those are reloads and these are all new brass. I've never actually ordered blaster ammo so I don't know what the box looks like. I know what you mean about the black boxes being in a different shade. They to be more of a faded black this time. Here are pics: white box is from the free shipping promo, black box was from the last $5 shipping promo I could really care less about what color the boxes are, but the wear on this latest shipment has me a bit worried. As if they were tumbled in a dryer or something Here's the white box ammo with the usual "AMMOLOAD" headstamp Here's from the latest shipment and I haven't seen this before. I think the headstamp is "IMT" surrounded by dots

9mm 115g new. Picked out the box that looked the most beat up, inspected the ammo and nothing seemed out of the ordinary, at least to the naked eye. FWIW, I noticed my shipment from the free shipping promo came in white boxes that I hadn't seen before, but this came in the usual black/red/blue boxes.

Anyone notice anything strange from their shipment? Just got mine today and the boxes looked pretty beat up. And not that it means anything, but I noticed the headstamps were different and weren't the usual "AMMOLOAD".

My Springfield XD9 had a huge double-feed problem that appeared somewhere after 300-500 rounds, and it would happen 1-3 times per magazine, with some ammo more susceptible compared to others. I finally got around to contacting customer service at around the 1400 round count and they were an absolute pleasure to deal with. They replaced the extractor, and though I've only put 50 rounds through it since getting it back, so far so good. I guess a plus from the whole experience is that I now have a ton of experience clearing double feeds.

I've never been "taught" a particular grip and kept finding myself cycling through different versions. I check out forums such as this and youtube, and everyone and their grandmother has their own idea on what's the proper grip. Some say death grip pressure, some say firm handshake pressure, some say equal pressure from both hands, while others are 60/40 weak vs strong hand. So I would never be consistent in my grip and never really know what to practice. He advised me to grip with the upper half of my hands, which would naturally cause my elbows to open up outwards, which would help to soak recoil. I also had a problem with my upper arms/shoulders getting tired. If I were doing his grip properly, there should be zero tension on my upper arm/shoulder and all tension should be on my hands. When I did this I shot perfectly. At least now I have one consistent grip to practice. He was also helpful in terms of trigger. His method was actually different than I've learned from other people. He advised taking up the slack in trigger and then slapping it before it breaks. He considers this to be more of a combat trigger pull as opposed to a bullseye trigger pull, but again, I seemed to do really well when I did this. Another helpful idea was getting a firm grip on the gun, same as your shooting grip, before drawing it. I was probably told to do this before but I guess I've forgotten. I was using a Safariland ALS holster, and because of small hands, I tend to want to shift my hand to the left to better allow my thumb to reach the retention unlocker (or whatever it's called). Those are probably some of the more immediate things that come to mind. And as far as mag direction, I can't claim any sort of military training. I just tinkered around with what seemed to be more comfortable and facing backward seemed easier. It's hard for me to explain in words, but he pointed out that if you have the bullets facing forward, you sweep your hand along your belt line and have your hand rest on the mag with your index finger resting lengthwise pointing toward the follower. You then remove the mag and effectively "point" the mag to the mag well. I found it very intuitive to load the mag without looking. And as far as reloading in your workspace, I was holding my hand too far away from my body which made loading harder. I'm probably not explaining it very well. I think he mentioned bullets facing rear is a common technique in the military for ARs, but I'm not positive. I've done zero rifle training, so I can't really comment there.

Short version I really enjoyed my private lesson with a Spartan Group instructor and I highly recommend them. Long version I had attended the Spartan Group grand opening and taken an interest in Advanced Combat Pistol class. The prerequisite is to have completed RTSP Tactical Handgun, which is the highest level “regular” class, or equivalent training. I’ve taken my share of Gun for Hire classes (Urban Pistol 1&2, Low Light 1…which reminds me, I’ve been meaning to do a write-up on the Urban 2 class), but I’ve been shooting for less than a year (about 5k rounds), and I wasn’t completely confident to claim I was fully qualified. I chatted with Tier 2 instructor Charles Mollineaux and he suggested beginning with a private class where I could also be evaluated for eligibility. I’d found myself becoming inconsistent lately, some days accurate enough to castrate flies at 10 yards, other days with shots all over the place. I figured it was due to not having fundamentals down pat, and I figured this would be a good opportunity to get it sorted out and scheduled a 2 hour lesson. Fast forward to about two weeks later our session got started. I think he normally starts in a “classroom” setting, but because of my experience he offered we could go straight to the range. I brought a Sig Sauer P229 as my main gun and a Springfield XD9 as a backup. I brought three 15-round mags for the P229, and wish I had brought more. I’d often find my rhythm being interrupted by having to stop and reload, and next time I’ll bring five. If you have a lower capacity mag, e.g. 1911, I think you’ll want to bring a lot more to minimize interruptions. He started off evaluating my stance, draw and grip. Five minutes into the session, he was providing me with tons of great tips. Ten minutes in, I was wishing I had brought a note pad or something to write everything down. He was able to fine tune everything, be it my stance, grip, trigger pull, reloading, malfunction clearing, etc. I realized I never really had a consistent, repeatable grip. But he made a suggestion that helped tremendously, and that I’ll be able to repeat consistently. He noted I loaded my mag pouches with ammo facing backward. Never having been instructed on it, it just felt natural to me and what I’ve been training. He showed how reloading can be faster and more reliable under stress with ammo facing forward. That’s another thing I had been doing wrong. I thought understood the concept of reloading in my “workspace”, but he showed me that I had been doing it incorrectly. Most of the remainder of the session consisted of drills, where he would diagnose misses, observe what I did wrong, and suggest necessary corrections. I found this immediate feedback to be particularly helpful. He later incorporated 90 and 180 degree turns where one maximizes stability and minimizes unnecessary body movement. He also drilled on “scan and assess”, where I realized I’ve been doing more head turning as opposed to true scanning. I went through a lot more material than I was expecting within a relatively short period of time. I have to admit I don’t have much endurance in shooting. On range trips, I generally keep to about 125 rounds and only spend 30-40 minutes. After that I start to lose concentration and end up throwing lead downrange with no real benefit. Charles noticed me starting to run out of gas after a while, but kept pushing me. Fortunately, I caught a second wind and started to get back into it. I had actually started to get discouraged with guns over the past couple weeks. First Drake, then Utah non-res permits, and it didn’t help getting zilch during the spring Turkey season. I was almost getting ready to dump my guns on Bloomberg’s door step and take up knitting. Honestly, if I hadn’t already scheduled this lesson a couple weeks ago, I wouldn’t have bothered anymore. But I think it will make such a dramatic improvement in my shooting that it’s relit a fire in me. Thanks Spartan Group (and Charles), and I’ll be back.

Very helpful, thanks! 1. So do I understand correctly that PA LEO aren't even allowed to ask me for ID if I'm open carrying (excluding Philly, etc.)? 2. Where the f#$@ is the New Jersey version of that document????!!!!

Bloomberg might know that, but I'm skeptical that the everyday clueless lib or in-the-trenches anti knows that. We should push for a ban on CCW. If the legislature refuses, they can be attacked by their fellow lib opponents for being soft on guns and "in bed with the NRA". I think its an interesting idea.

But does it have to be to-from a range etc, or can I drive around anywhere?

Maybe you misunderstood and your local PD is saying that by the time you get the permit back that you'll only have 60 days to use it? Otherwise, it seems they'd have to retype the permit and it seems a like a lot of trouble just to keep you from getting the extra 30 days.

I've refrained from recommending Clifton with the assumption that this town is an educational wasteland. What school(s) is everyone referring to? Depending on what part you're at commuting can be very convenient. I have a train, two express bus lines, and two local bus lines within about 3/4 mile radius from my place. edit: now that I think of it, Harrison and Newark Path stations are relatively short drives as well. And unless something has changed recently, my experience with Clifton permits is 2+ months. Initial FID was 4 months, and probably would have been six if I hadn't gone to some extraordinary measures.

Whatever you do, be careful of places that require taking a bus to Port Authority. That commute has been a nightmare for the past couple years with stupid long lines and waits during the evening rush hour. Of course the problem with trains are that they put you in Penn Station, and you'll still have to take the trip downtown. You could also target train commutes that take you to Hoboken, and from there transfer to Path or ferry.

Are there any other options to carry in PA? Though who knows how long those would last...

The way you have it ordered, I could mistakenly think my AR with 30-round mags are legal.

I don't remember it being a state law issue, but being part of the agreement between the store and the credit card company. I also recall rules like that being relaxed in the past few years, e.g. stores can refuse credit card purchases below a certain amount. But I'm definitely not an authority on the subject. edit: I see it relates to Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Clifton requires a short note on why you want the extension. Was told it should only be a few days, but it ended up taking 8, but I think it was because I put the request in during the transition to a new CLEO.

That was also my experience in Paramus. Aren't permanent residents also permitted to get an FID? If so, what's the point of the question? They should ask prospective buyers "Do you intend to use this ammunition for an illegal purpose?". This might catch a bunch of criminals and terrorists off guard and lead to their capture [/sarcasm].

Is it just me or is Brownell's shipping really slow? I ordered a few things, like punches, and it took more than a week to get to me. Maybe I'm just too spoiled by Amazon.