Tag: range

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ammo Bul Armory defensive ammo fail to feed range report range visit SAS II Ultralight

Bul Armory SAS II – First Range Visit

I want to focus on two things in this after action report: 1) ammo and reliability; 2) shooting – accuracy and recoil management

About shooting reliability —

So, I took the SAS II to the range today. I took maybe 200 rounds of various types of ammo. Much of it was JHP. Some was actual defensive ammo. Some was light for caliber. Some was heavy for caliber. Some was FMJ.

I shot Inceptor ARX (65 gr), Winchester Silvertip (115 and 147 JHP), Federal Hi-shok (115 gr JHP), and Fiocchi (115 gr FMJ).

2 of the ARX failed to feed, but I expected as much with this ammo…not the fault of the gun.

There were two failures to feed with the Federal Hi-shok (of 100). Hi-shok is considered to be personal defense ammo, but it’s bottom-feeder ammo – I wouldn’t carry it but it’s good enough for the range. And again, the SAS II ate 98 of 100 of it.

I shot a total of 175 rounds. The actual defensive JHPs fed without issue. Of note, the 147-gr ammo also fed without issue, which was great (Bul Armory recommends using no higher than 124-gr).

Excluding the ARX failures, the failure percentage of this range visit is 1.14%.

I know 175 isn’t much, but JHP ammo isn’t cheap, especially legit defensive ammo.

IMO, the gun is reilable enough. I know some folks have been complaining of FTFs, extraction issues, and even some fails to return to battery. I’m not seeing any of that, but my gunnery has improved quite a bit in the last few years. There were many times where I thought a few of my guns had issues and they all turned out to be issues with me. Folks who’ve been shooting for far longer than I have can sometimes experience limp wristing, for example. The SAS II is light – it needs a firm grip, IMO.

Speaking of limp wristing, we’ll now speak on accuracy and recoil management —

I don’t consider this gun to be generally snappy, although I was shooting some loads from it today that made it snappy as hell (defense ammo). Even so, I was able to manage recoil quite a bit, which is saying a lot, because I’m not the strongest guy in the world. I did come home with fatigued forearms and wrists, but that means I’m going things correctly (from my undstanding, if you’re going home with tired arms/hands/wrists, you’re executing properly).

I keep hearing folks say that the SAS II is snappy. Recoil impulse is a subjective thing, but for such a light gun, I’d have thought the recoil would’ve been much worse than it is. I remember first shooting my Glock 22 – that was an eye-opener, as I’ve shot 40 S&W without issue in the past, but not from a Glock. The G22 is light and the 40 S&W is not known for light recoil. I’d previously shot 40 S&W from metal-framed guns without issue. The G22 took me for a ride and I was very disappointed, because the recoil was harsh. The SAS II is on par with my Springfield Armory XD9 subcompact (which I shoot very well), as far as recoil is concerned, in my opinion, at least.

Accuracy-wise, it’s extremely easy to hit where you want, at realistic distances. This is not a long distance gun, but some folks can easily hit steel at 25 and even 50 yards. The trigger is crisp, as is the sight picture of the sights, which helps.

I also was able to fit the SAS II into my Tenicor Certum holster without issue (had to loosen the retention since the SAS II is thicker than my current carry gun). I then put it inside my waistband and was quite surprised – it carries far better than my single stacked Commander! The grip is much shorter and tucks in better.

Overall, I had a great time tonight. I need to continue to test ammo with this gun. Once I find a good reliable batch of ammo and I’ve shot the gun a while, I’ll start carrying it.

Range target photos are below:

First two mags; first mag was center-mass and second mag was the lower left group.
First five mags, 7 yards, various types of ammo.
Four mags (one per target). I didn’t write down at what distance I was shooting, but I keep thinking its 9 yards.
15 yards out; me being tired and not be able to see where to aim; 2 mags
Range Footage – not pretty but not meant to be; I film my shooting for training purposes and focus on my hands and the gun so that I know when I’m limp-wristing, when I’m slapping the trigger, when I’m letting the gun control me, or other things. Sometimes it’s worth showing though.
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ACT frangible Garrison mag release Mecgar PMC SDS Imports Springfield Armory Wilson Combat

One 1911 to Rule Them All – 5″ 45ACP!

UPDATE: I posted to Reddit about the new gun here.

I went to the range today to have my new 1911 transferred to me – the SDS Imports 1911 Duty B45R.

I got there at 9 AM. I turned in the paperwork by 9:15 AM. I was given the gun at 9:20 AM.

The gun was immaculate. It also appears that someone cleaned the gun. It wasn’t pristine-clean, but it had no cosmoline on it (I’m not sure how these guns are normally shipped/stored – many are covered in preservative, which is what cosmoline is). It did have lube on the the frame and slide rails. I cleaned it anyways.

Surprisingly, the gun came with two Mecgar mags! I was expecting one mag, so that’s a big plus. I’ve spoken with other folks and they state that theirs came with one mag. My gun also came in a case. Those other folks stated theirs came in a cardboard box.

The gun is cerakoted but almost looks like it’s parkerized. It is black with a silver trigger and barrel. It has backstrap serrations but has a bare frontstrap. The ambi safeties are not bulky and have extended levers…they look nice!

I’d two other mags – branded Wilson Combat. I planned to use them with this gun at the range this evening. I also planned to use my ACT mag that came with my Metro Arms ACC 1911.

I had a small stash of 45ACP – two boxes of International 155-gr frangible ammo, which doesn’t perform all that well. I also bought two 50-round boxes of PMC Bronze 230-gr FMJ from the range when I arrived. Before I’d left for the range, I’d had the time to swap out the black plastic OEM grips with brown/tan/black grippy G10s that complement the gun.

I ended up shooting the two boxes of International and shot one of the two boxes of PMC. The PMC felt as if it were hot ammo (it always does). The International ammo surprisingly had no misfeeds.

One of the mags caused a failure at the very first round within it’s mag – It was the ACT mag. I ejected the mag, stripped it of ammo and put it to the side. I would not use it the rest of the range session.

The Wilson Combat mags were not flawless, but I’ve found it wasn’t a fault of the mags. The gun has a mag release that will work for the Mecgar (and ACT) mags but will not work well with the WC mags because it needs to be beveled. The mags would sometimes not want to be inserted. To fix this, I need to order a mag release from Wilson Combat. It will swap into the SDS 1911 without issue and will work with non-WC mags.

Pics of the gun:

A photo of the SDS 1911DB45R after the transfer.
These grips are NICE but a bit too slick for range use.
I shot the gun for the first time tonight (17 Feb). I used these G10 grips. I’ve no complaints…they work well, and I had no issues controlling/gripping the gun.

Pics of the range targets:

SDS 1911B45R first shots.
This is 32 rounds of PMC Bronze 230-gr FMJ at 7 yards. I was getting familiar with the trigger, sight picture, and the ammo.
I wanted to directly compare the PMC Bronze 230-gr FMJ and the International frangible 155-gr ammo. I bought maybe 250 rounds of the International maybe 2 years ago and it’s inconsistent ammo but it’s better than not having ammo. Upper left and lower right is PMC. Upper right and lower left is International. All targets have 8 rounds. All were shot at 7 yards.
These were shot at 10 yards, using International frangible 155-gr ammo. First, I shot center, then I shot upper left, then upper right, and lastly I shot lower left. I’m getting tired and it’s showing…the rounds aren’t hitting where I’m aiming. The groups are still decent, though, especially the first group.
These were at 10 yards, and all are shot with International 155-gr frangible ammo. 8 rounds were shot at each target. I’m getting tired. The groups aren’t bad, though.
This is 4 mags of 8 rounds each. The distance is 7 yards and I used International 155-gr frangible ammo. These were fast (not exactly rapid) fired, maybe 2 shots a second, starting from low ready for each mag. Not bad for me.

Before I left the range, I looked at their store items. They carry WC mags and had one full size 1911 mag left. I bought it (since it’s price was $34, which is rather inexpensive from what I remember of WC mag prices).

The gun is solid. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, aside from the mag release. It’s accurate. It’s smooth. The trigger is awesome. The finish and fitment is on par with $700-800 guns (Springfield Armory Garrison), in my opinion, yet I bought this gun for under $500. My only misgiving was that I didn’t get it in stainless steel (that version is $100 more).