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Bul Armory fail to feed FMJ FTF range report SAS II Ultralight

SAS II UL Range and Progress Report for 10/2023

I’m currently very near to crossing over the 1,000 round threshold with the Bul Armory SAS II Ultralight.

I visited the range a few days ago, bringing 200 rounds of ammo. I ran out of range time before I was able to shoot it all. I visited after work since I’ve to be at work every Wednesday now. I may make this my range day every Wednesday since my work isn’t far from XCal.

While I was waiting in line for a lane assignment, I happened to see some of the range’s rental selection. They’ve Staccatos, as well as several really nice 1911s. What I really want is to try the G43X and G48 (I may be purchasing one of those next year). I didn’t see those guns in their rental section but their rental section is very large and I’m sure they’ve a good selection of Glock rentals. I’ll check next time I go. I also wanted to try their P365, since I’ve seen more than one person asking, “Why buy a SAS II UL when a P365 is better?” In my opinion, that’s a rather lame comment since most folks aren’t cross-shopping those two guns (due to price as well as platform — both of those being quite different frome one another). Yeah, a P365 will conceal better, but P365s are also more difficult to shoot quickly and accurately. The SAS II UL has a bigger grip than the P365, but that doesn’t mean that an owner will have issues concealing a UL. The UL will almost certainly be less snappy and quicker to shoot. It’ll probably outshoot the G43X, too.

I shot 187 rounds of the 200 that I broght with me. Most of it was Fiocchi 115-gr FMJ, although some of it was Blazer 124-gr FMJ and Remington 124-gr FMJ. That puts me at 986 rounds through the SAS II UL, thus far.

I had 6 fails to feed (FTF) prior to the pistol course I attended a few weeks ago. I had one FTF during that class and one at the range visit this week. The total FTF count is now 8. 8 of 986 is 0.81 — that is the current failure rate in percentage.

The prior percenage was 0.96, with 6 fails at 623 rounds (back in May 9, 2023). I had several range visits where I didn’t have any failures. This could be due to me learning how to better grip this handgun, as well as me not shooting as much JHP (which tends to be high pressured, which may induce limp-wristing).

Why do I report this as a percentage? So many folks look at failure counts as hard numbers. They want it to be zero. In my opinion, to expect no failures is an impossible ask. Sooner or later, a gun will fail, especially since failures can be induced by the shooter, as well as out-of-spec ammo. Some ammo will be in-spec but will have large hollowpoint projectiles (which do not meet a specification). I don’t think it is logical to expect a handgun to meet every single variation of ammo specification, as well as account for owner-induced failures. So, I post the round count and count of failures and then convert both to a percentage. Percentages have better meaning, IMO. It tells a better story than a raw number of failures.

I still need to purchase the targets that were used in the pistol course I attended (as well as the target stickers).

I’ll post some range footage as soon as I’ve cropped a few sections for viewing. I mainly shot at 7 and 10 yards, some at somewhat fast paces. I also tried to practice accuracy. I shot several times at 15 yards, too. I’m still struggling with grip. I keep readjusting my weak hand after a shot — I need to find a better way to stop doing this. I’m subconsciously doing that.

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1911 45ACP 9mm extractor FTE FTF HTP light strikes Remington

Metro Arms 1911 Fixed, 1911 Trigger Pull Issue

I went to the range for a quick visit today. I brought two 1911s this time:  my RIA midsized 1911 in 9mm and the Metro Arms AC Commander 45.

The first thing I did was fire 50 rounds from the 1911 that was a solid shooter (the 9mm)…it ate all the ammo without issue, but at first I was shooting very low left with it as well.  See the picture’s captioning.

I started at the left corner, then went to the right corner, then stopped because I wasn’t hitting point of aim (the red).  When I did very slow trigger pulls when aiming at the center target, I hit point of aim.  I’m having issues with the 1911 trigger…it wasn’t the Metro Arms that was the issue.  That was at 7 yards.

I then began to focus on my trigger pull. I still had trouble trying to figure out which part of the finger to use, but I found that if I shot slowly, I was dead-on. I went through most of a box of ammo pretty much hitting point of aim. It’s an issue of me not being used to the trigger mechanics of a 1911.

I also had two light strikes, which was weird…I’ve not had such issues before.  They both fired when I reloaded them into the mags.

Ammo was Remington UMC 115-grain FMJ.

I then went to my trouble-maker 1911. I had no issues aiming after my 50-round session with the 9mm 1911, although my hands were sweaty and I ended up using gloves.

This is MUCH better than my last range visit, when I was hitting very low left and not being even close to center target.

I also shot 49 rounds of Geco 230-grain FMJ without ANY feed/extract issues. There was 50 in the box…yeah, I had one issue where the round didn’t extract (this is a first…this gun has an exclusive history of not feeding properly). But one in 50 is NOT bad, especially when I was having feed issues several times (ie, 2-3) with each magazine. I think the extractor needs to be replaced, but the tuning I did on it helped a LOT!

So, I’m glad I sorted these issues out.  I think I’ll put the 1911s away for a while, because they don’t shoot like my other guns and I don’t want my muscle memory getting mucked up.

Oh yeah, I decided to shoot some extra ammo I had sitting around (Remington HTP 147-grain JHP subsonic).  I shot 50 rounds of it through my Grand Power P11.  The P11 did NOT like that ammo at all.  There were lots of failures to return to battery, so much that I was hitting the back of the slide almost as much as I was pulling the trigger.  I thought that HTP wouldn’t be as bad as UMC…I was wrong.  I need to remind myself to not shoot Remington out of the Grand Power.  EVERY time I do, I’m disappointed.