I wanted a place to discuss my handguns and firearms in general. Everyone seemingly has lots to say about guns, so I promise you this won't be a rant blog.
So, I picked up the gun today. It was listed as fair condition on the website. I think they under-rated it. There’s hardly any slide wear, there’s NO wear/tear on the grips (I think it had Talon grips on it because the grips are a tad bit sticky, but that would explain the lack of wear/tear). There’s a sticker on the box that says “TNS”, meaning the sights are Trijicon night sights; they still have some glow to them. The sticker also has “5.5lb” which means it has a 5.5lb trigger. Not only that, that trigger is very nice…there’s little take up, and the trigger is crisp…it also has very little reset. PD trigger. The gun was listed as only having one mag, but it came with two. The case has everything a new Gen 3 Glock 22 would have. The gun had a sticker with the pricing of $399. I got it for $319. It was $30 for the transfer, which I couldn’t avoid. I couldn’t have found a cheaper Glock in the same condition…no way.
I basically stole this gun. That site is dangerous. I’ll definitely be looking for other potential buys. My next Glock might be a Glock 29, but I probably won’t find bargains or police trade-ins for a G29.
So, I’ve a range visit in my future. Hopefully, I can go tomorrow, as they’ll be closed on Sunday and Monday (Jan 1st and 2nd). I need to visit Walmart for ammo. 🙂
More pictures of the G22 with a G19 Gen 4 and Canik TP9SA:
I came into a bit of money this month (owner of the company I’m working for gave me $200 as an impromptu bonus since I’m still a contract-to hire worker).
I used the money to fund a Glock 22 Gen 3 purchase. It’s funded 2/3rds of the cost of the gun. “Say what?” you say? I found a used police trade-in Glock 22 Gen 3 at Sportsman Outdoor Superstore. For $319. I’ve not seen it yet but they sell them as Fair Condition. The comments of previous buyers say that they received theirs in better condition than listed. Plus, they sell with one 15-round mag but many people have been reporting that theirs arrived with 2 mags. Some of the guns have metal sights and even tritium sights. I’ve no idea what mine will have.
This will be my first .40 caliber handgun. I’ve fired .40 before so I know what to expect. Well, maybe not. The .40 I fired was a Sig. This is a Glock. I’m not sure there will be a difference but we’ll find out.
I intend to use this as a range gun. I may not even fire much .40 out of it because I’ve an ulterior motive in buying the gun. I’m going to buy a 22TCM9R conversion kit for it. 9R ammo a tad shorter than the normal 22TCM ammo…it’s designed to fit into 9mm/40 mags. I will not have to worry about finding non-spec mags to use with this conversion. The kit comes with a slide and barrel. The slide is compensated. Whenever I feel the need to go back to .40, I can just swap back the Glock barrel, slide, and recoil spring assembly. Hell, I can convert my 22TCM 1911 to shoot 9R…I already have 1911 mags that fit in the gun (it came ready to shoot either 9mm or 22TCM)…all I need is 9R ammo to use the 9mm mags, otherwise I have to use .38 Super mags.
So, the used Glock was $319. The conversion kit is very difficult to find and if I order from Armscor, it may take up to a year for them to get one to me. The pricing is high for the kit, as well. MSRP is $431 but I’ve seen others reporting getting them for $100 less. So, I’m going to end up with a $650 specialized Glock. So be it…I don’t care.
Now, I could’ve gone another route in doing this. I also have a Glock 19. They’re planning to make a similar kit that’ll fit G19s and G23s, but I’ve been waiting for them to hit the streets for about a year…I’ve heard nothing but crickets. The G22 conversion kit will also fit G17s, but I wanted the option of firing .40. Hell, if I wanted I could get a Lone Wolf 9mm barrel for the G22 and that gun would end up firing 3 different calibers out of it. 🙂
We’ll see how things develop. As it it, I may have to wait awhile for the 9R conversion kit…everyone appears to be sold out of them.
I went to the range after work on 12/12. I decided to bring my Metro Arm 1911 and the Bersa Thunder 380 Plus. I only ended up firing the Bersa and my carry gun, the Grand Power P11. I thought that 3 guns in a one-hour visit was too much, and I felt the need to be shooting more ammo out of the Grand Power since I’ve neglected to frequent the range.
I shot a total of 100 rounds out of the P11 (for a total of 816 rounds out of the gun). There were no feed issues.
I shot 125 rounds out of the Bersa (for a total of 159). There were no feed issues.
As with all my range sessions, I shoot at 7 yards.
First 15 rounds of the session, using the P11 (using GP P1 mags…bought 3 of them), 7 yards.
50 rounds, same target as above, same range, same gun. Â Ammo is American Eagle ball FMJ, 115-grain.
Here’s the 2nd box of American Eagle, same gun, same distance.
Here’s the Bersa Thunder 380 Plus. Â I’m not used to shooting this gun. Â It feels too small for my hands (having issues with finger placement on the trigger since my hands are so big). Â Taking my time, I can be accurate with it, though. Â This is 15 rounds at 7 yards.
Here’s the whole 125 (100 rounds of  WWB flat-nosed FMJ and 25 rounds of Federal ball FMJ).  I couldn’t tear a ragged hole in the red like I can with the P11.  The P11 is built a lot better, though (better trigger and sights, less recoil reaching my hands).
Comparing the two guns, both are roughly the same size. Roughly. The P11 has the shorter barrel (3.3″, compared to the Bersa’s 3.5″ barrel). The P11 is heavier (22.6 oz vs the Bersa’s 20.5). Both are DA/SA guns, but the P11 has a very precise trigger in either mode. The P11 fills my strong hand in a way that lets me put my trigger finger pad on the trigger. The Bersa’s grip fits oddly in my hand, which hinders my finger placement. I’ve to fumble around with the gun to get my finger pad on the trigger. After awhile, I quit fumbling and accepted my fate that my hands may be too damned big for this gun’s grip.
Both guns have manual safeties. The P11 has a frame safety that flicks up and down, similar to a 1911. The Bersa has a slide safety that is counter-intuitive. It works the opposite as what would be on a 1911. As well, it is oddly placed, so that even if you train, you’re going to have to move your hand to get to it (unless you’ve super-small hands). As well, the safety is very stiff. Both of these issues mean that you’re probably going to have to train to engage or disengage the safety with the off-hand. Also, the Bersa’s safety is also functioning as a decocker. You can’t carry cocked and locked with the Bersa, since the decocker is also a safety and when you actuate the safety, you’re also decocking the gun. Well…let me rephrase. You can carry cocked but you’ll be doing it without the safety engaged with this gun, and that is unsafe unless you’ve trained for that; plus, you’d better have a good holster that protects the trigger. Better to get a different gun if you’re looking to carry in a cocked and locked fashion…it won’t work well with this gun.
The Bersa also has a magazine disconnect. This makes it very difficult to practice dry-firing, unless you keep the mag in the gun. I’m thinking on removing the mag disconnect. IMO, there are no cons in doing this (closet lawyers, please go back to your closet), especially if you’re already using sound safety practices…I mean, what’s keeping me from blowing a hole in the drywall with my guns that don’t have mag disconnects? Good safety practices…
I thought that the Bersa would choke on the flat-nosed Winchester ammo. I bought that ammo by mistake. I’d heard from other Thunder 380 owners that these guns do not like flat-nosed ammo. I saw a box of 100 at Walmart and it was labeled (on the box) as FMJ. When I got home and opened the box, it was flat-nosed. IMO, it should’ve been labeled as such on the box, especially since most sellers don’t accept returns on ammo. But it didn’t choke on that ammo at all. It ate it all without complaint.
Overall, the Bersa is a good enough gun. I won’t be carrying it, though. Because of what I’ve stated above, I’m unwilling to carry it. This gun is not something I want to adjust to. I’d have to find a way to thicken the grips so that I’d have less of an issue with trigger finger placement. I’d also have to get used to the odd decocker (it’s in an odd position and training will not help that…then again, I can always carry decocked but with the safety disengaged…DA/SA guns can get away with this).
I’m still in love with the P11, although I’m thinking I might need more grip area with this gun as well. The option would be to move to the P1 (maybe the P1 Ultra). Grand Power markets that as a compact-sized gun with a 3.5″ barrel. It also has swappable back straps (the P11 doesn’t have this…it should). The P11’s grips are a bit slick, too. Grip tape may be in the future of mine’s. Oh, and Grand Power has also upgraded the P11 to have a decocker. It is not a dedicated decocker…it’s a decocker/safety, similar to how Bersa implements it. A dedicated decocker would’ve been better, IMO. For now, I’ll stick to manually decocking (training is key — closet lawyers, go home).
I’m close to 1000 rounds out of the P11. One range visit should put me over the 1000 round mark. I know I’ve reported that it was experiencing FTFs/FTEs and failures to return to battery, but I’ve not seen that occurring since I’ve stopped using Remington ammo. The issues of the past year were exclusively due to Remington ammo (and another gun choked on the same ammo in the same fashion). I’ve also learned how/where to lube the gun. There’s no wear on the gun’s internals, either.
NOTE: all targets were shot from 7 yards standing.
I was going to the range Sunday morning and the wife woke up and asked where I was going. I said, “the range.” She said, “I wanted to go too,” and I said, “well, get dressed and come with me!”
We brought four guns with us: her Ruger SR-9C, my RIA 22TCM MS 1911, and my Bersa Thunder 380 Plus. Of course, I was carrying my Grand Power P11 in a concealed fashion, too…that went with us.
We arrived and she had to take a gun safety orientation class. It was also crowded but we didn’t have to wait long for an open lane.
We decided to shoot her Ruger first. It had never been fired before and she’s owned it over a year. It was cleaned and lubed (by me) and ready to fire. We loaded the ammo (she’d never done that before…for a handgun, at least) into the two mag that the handgun came with (one 10-round and one 15-round mag). I gave her a quick summary on how to hold her gun and to not put her finger on the trigger until she was ready to fire. She knows proper sight alignment already (she’s retired US Army). Then, to demonstrate the proper hold and trigger discipline, she stood beside me and I squeezed the first round out of her handgun. The round went right into the red. That is a testament to the gun’s trigger and sights because that normally doesn’t happen with me…it usually takes me a few mags to warm up.
I then gave her the handgun and she shot her first two handgun mags ever:
All but 5 of those are probably kill shots. And one of those in the red is mine (the one that’s to the direct left of the X)! We ended up firing 100 rounds out of the SR-9C. The ammo was Remington UMC yellow box (mega) FMJ. There were no failures whatsoever.
I ended up firing more ammo from her gun than she did. Here’s my target:
If she doesn’t want her SR-9, I’ll take it…I’m happy with  the way it shoots and the trigger is exceptional!
Next, we fired my 1911. I fired the first shots so she wouldn’t be surprised. She was still surprised. I told her it was loud and shot out fire. I think she thought I was exaggerating. After the first two shots, she said, “OK, this gun is loud!” She later (after the range) said she was intimidated by it. She shot it extremely well. She loved the heft and the fact that the weight negated the recoil (never mind that it’s going to be a soft shooter anyways). I took video of her shooting this gun and I was honestly flinching the whole time due to the muzzle flash. The guy the next lane over kept looking over, probably mentally saying, “WTF is that?”
We fired 59 rounds of 22TCM with no failures whatsoever, although she kept unintentionally enabling the safety, which makes me wonder if it’s not positive enough in engagement…IMO, one should not be unintentionally enabling a safety.
I didn’t get a snapshot of the target but here’s some footage of her shooting the 22TCM:
Our time was running out so we had to decide on shooting only one of the two guns that still hadn’t been fired. She decided to shoot my carry gun, the Grand Power P11, a sub-compact. We only fired 36 rounds out of the P11, but I think she loved this gun just as much as the 1911. She loved the lack of recoil. I later showed her why it had no recoil…I showed her how the barrel rotated. And she was very accurate with this gun too. Here’s the target:
I shot a magazine and all my shots grouped under the red…very tight grouping and I wasn’t shooting slow. Â She shot a mag and started up high (the grouping around the 7 & 8, above the red) then she took better aim and plugged the middle grouping. Â She wasn’t messing around!
I shot the last mag of the day, from the P11:
I was going for head shots since we were out of targets. Â I was trying to shoot once and rapidly follow up with another (not quite double-taps). Â I had several flyers but still, that’s a pretty tight group of 12!Â
She said she wants a sub-compact. I have a few sub-compacts she’ll probably shoot: a Sig Sauer P320C slide on an SC grip module; a Springfield XD9 Mod 2 9mm; a Bersa Thunder 380 Plus (not really a true sub-compact). And she’ll probably end up renting some range guns to get a feel for what sub-compact she enjoys shooting.
We’re going to try an outdoor range this weekend if it isn’t too cold.
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Other happenings:
I ordered 3 mags for my P11 from Cheaper Than Dirt. I ordered 3 12-round mags. They sent me 3 15-round mags. I double-checked the receipt and sho-nuff it says that I ordered 3 12-round mags. I was a bit pissed. I do not want the hassle of having to ship these back while waiting for them to send me the correct mags. I opened one mag’s packaging and inserted it into the P11. It fits fine, although it’s long and hangs out of the gun by an inch or so. It’s fine for the range but not fine for carrying. I guess I can keep them for range duty and use the two that came with the gun as carry mags. :/
I also ordered 4 Jagemann 15-round mags for my Glock 19. My Glock came with 3 10-round mags. They’re supposed to be good mags. We’ll see. They were cheap @ approx $11 apiece.
