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.
Well, I bought Hogue rubber grips (with finger grooves) for my PX4 Storm Compact. I’ve been carrying that gun the last 6 weeks, non-stop. I’m not sure why I moved from the XD45 to the PX4, but when I was going through the safe and checking to ensure the firearms weren’t in need of oil, I noticed (again) that the PX4’s grip is rather slick.
I researched online to see what others were using to enhance the grip of this gun. I didn’t want to use Talon Grips, because that involves adhesive. I have Talon Grips on my Glock 22 and it was a pain to ensure they were in the correct spot (and then I had to heat up the tape to ensure they stuck).
I have Hogue grips on my Sig P220. I like the way they feel (I like that slightly tacky rubbery feel), so I decided to go with Hogue again.
These grips work very well for this handgun but one con is that they make the grip thicker in girth than it already is (it’s thick enough without adding anything). They feel very good, though. They were also a bit difficult to install, as the rubber is stiff (it is recommended to use a heat gun or hair dryer to heat up the rubber, which makes the rubber more pliable – I didn’t use either).
I bought some other toys for other firearms as well, but I’ll post about those separately.
While I believe in fighting for 2A and general freedoms, the recent pandemic requires social distancing. I can understand why indoor ranges should be temporarily shut down. Some folks state that with modern indoor ranges having ventilation systems that would negate some of the infection vectors, it would not vacate all of them (ie, surfaces that will be contaminated such as stall walls and benches, door knobs, and range equipment).
A large majority of my wife’s extended family are either doctors or nurses and they’ve seen people directly affected by the virus. This is no joke and I’m very sure they’re not embellishing when sharing their daily happenings, yet there are folks in the gun community that are accusing folks of lying or embellishing the truth (so that they can have their boogaloo, maybe…dunno). They’ll tout the 2% death stats but I’d rather not rely upon the luck of the draw when we can just keep away from each other for a 3-4 months. That type of crap is easy to say when you’ve stake in the game and I’d rather not have someone decide that type of thing for me.
In my opinion, there has to be a balance of things. The current situation requires distancing. As well, everyone forgets that we’ve been through something like this before with the Spanish flu. For those that need education on that, here is a video published in 2018 regarding that worldwide pandemic (please watch it ALL before leaving any comments):
They had issues containing that pandemic as well. In fact, we were hit 3 times in 1918, with the virus mutating each time (probably because people were not taking the virus seriously). Each mutation was more dangerous than the last.
We as people are very short-sighted. A Japanese friend actually told me that. He said that compared to other countries in the world, the U.S. is young, yet we continue to make the same mistakes. I was a bit offended at first but came to understand that what he said is true.
I believe we can balance the need for freedom while also doing what’s required for the nation to stay as healthy (economy-wise) as possible. It requires compromise (from both sides). If the VA governor was as nasty as people say, he could’ve just outright told citizens that outdoor ranges had to be shut down as well. I can’t stand Northam. I hate him with a passion. That doesn’t mean that he’s wrong in everything he says or does, though, and remember, he has a staff that’s helping to guide him in making his decisions.
I do miss going to shoot. I can go to an outdoor range but it will require additional commuting and the closest outdoor range requires a max shooting time of 30 minutes, using their ammo (reloads). I’m not going to drive 1 hour to only shoot 30 minutes. I’m not going to shoot reloads, either. Yes, there are folks that are new gun owners, but really, if you’ve not prepared until now, it’s quite late in the game, IMO.
Lastly, those same folks hating government are the same ones giddy with excitement about the government giving them surplus money, which most say they’ll spend on a gun. Wait a minute. I thought that you hated big government. You’re frothing at the mouth at the mention of this hand-out, though. IMO, that’s no better than the folks you complain about (the welfare abusers). If you’re going to take that money, better to put it away in case you need it later or in case they decide to take it back next year (they may have told you that they won’t ask for it back, but it’s not like they can’t change their mind later…it’s the government). And before anyone asks, no, I’m not taking any of it. I don’t qualify. The wife and I make too much, yet either one of us can be laid off at any time, but I wouldn’t take it anyways (we’d have put it to the side to give it back if we’d have qualified) because we already get raped annually…I don’t want to give them an excuse to dig deeper.
For those of you that need to shoot (new gun owners, existing gun owners that need to shoot new or repaired guns), Clark Brothers is still open – they’re an outdoor range. See below:
I had fun today! I ended up shooting 199 rounds from the AK-V. In an hour. I had 100 rounds of Wolf 115-gr FMJ and Winchester White Box 115-gr FMJ.
I started out at 10 yards, then went to 25, then to 20, then focused on 15 yards. I had no issue staying on the paper while out to 25 and when I moved to 20 (to better see where I was shooting), I ate the bulls-eye up! This pistol is easy to shoot. It has very little recoil and you can shoot it fast with ease.
I did have 4 FTEs, though, with one mag. It was the CZ Scorpion mag that I believe is the issue. It’s spring is very stiff, to the point that my finger is sore from loading it. I think it may break in. We’ll see. It wasn’t related to ammo because it did it with both brands of ammo. As well, the bolt didn’t hold open several times. There was also a time where one round didn’t want to feed and was jammed into the chamber. When I tried to get the bolt to hold open so I could get the round out, it slammed shut, forcing the round into the chamber. When I tried to eject the round, I couldn’t get the bolt open, but the trigger was live so I fired it out. The casing came out but I didn’t see where it went (so I could look at it). It did this a second time as well, but I was able to get the round out.
I have range footage but my camera wasn’t positioned well (I couldn’t preview the footage to ensure proper framing).
Hopefully, I can get better range footage next time.
While I was waiting form my PSA AK-V to ship, I decided to order two Manticore Arms CZ Scorpion EVO mags from Prepper Gun Shop. They were $20 each. I didn’t want to order PSA mags because I’d forgotten to order them with the firearm and they were taking a long time to ship the gun.
These are the clear mags that are made for Prepper Gun Shop to sell.
They are very nice. Whereas the PSA mags are 35-round, these Manticore mags hold 32 rounds. The PSA mags have plastic feed lips that are metal-reinforced. The Manticore mags’ feed lips are all metal. PSA mags have a soft rubber base plate. The Manticore mags do not.
The Manticore mag springs are stiff as hell. It took awhile to load the mags…they were that stiff. The PSA mag spring wasn’t anywhere near as stiff and loaded easily. We’ll see if the CZ mags will break-in, otherwise I may have to get two PSA mags to replace them.
I also had to wear leather gloves when loading them because the metal feed lips are sharp! I might have to take a file to them to lessen the sharpness of them.
I meant to go to the range today but ran out of time. I’ll try again tomorrow (Sunday).
I had been spending a good bit of time researching my next rifle purchase.
I was looking for a 9mm AK variant (but was also considering a Grand Power Stribog). I wanted a pistol caliber rifle, preferably short-barreled.
I had the following list:
Century Arms NAK9X
Century Arms NAK9
Palmetto State Armory AK-V
The Stribog was on the list but dropped it after a process of elimination.
I’d also struck the AK-V off the list because it was, 1) never available, 2) when it was available, it was a high dollar variant, and 3) compared to the NAK9 and NAK9X, it was expensive.
Last night I was looking at NAK9s and I wanted one with a brace already on it. That raised the price by ~$120. For a few more dollars more, I could’ve gotten a fully-optioned 9X. So I nixed the NAK9.
I found a NAK9X that had a great price (no tax and no CC fee). I had it bookmarked (on Gunbroker.com).
Then I checked PSA’s page as a last minute check before committing to the NAK9X. They had an AK-V for $799. While that was a quite a high price for me, I decided to get it anyways. Why? I can make it match my AK-P by ordering the red wood furniture later, it has a lifetime warranty, and it doesn’t have that cheesy plastic magwell that the NAK9 and 9X have. Full price for the firearm was $864.99. That does not include transfer fees at my end (it will be another $32). I balked at the $900 AK-V’s price but I’m close to that now. Granted, the $900 AK-V would be close to $1K when all the fees were added.
This WILL be my last firearm for a while (the next 12 months at least). My wife might flip, but I did let her know that with the anti-gunners on a rampage, I wanted some guns that might be banned from purchase in the near future.
UPDATE – 10/16/2019: The AK-V will ship tomorrow (it has a UPS tracking slip and number but UPS hasn’t picked it up yet. It’s two day shipping so it may not even get here until Monday. The FFL will probably call me on Monday to arrange for me to get it on Tuesday. I’ve no idea why PSA waited 8-9 days to ship. They said they were very busy with orders but they still took my damned money. I do NOT like spending that kind of money and waiting for them decide to ship…that’s hokey as hell and that’s one reason why I don’t buy from Bud’s Gunshop anymore. This will be the last time I buy from PSA. As well, I bought two 32-round CZ Scorpion mags for this pistol (they will fit). I’ll discuss them more in an upcoming video.
UPDATE – 10/21/2019: The AK-V was delivered around noon time at the FFL. I’m awaiting their call.
First things first, the AK-P is NOT a good firearm for indoor shooting. It was seriously loud.
My range notes are below:
First time shooting a pistol in 7.62×39.
Oh man. The bang is LOUD and BRIGHT (my range is an indoor range).
I shot 3 different types of mags (two metal imports and one 10-round Magpul). There were no issues.
The gun got hot but was still manageable. I shot all the rounds standing up, but I did change my grip from handguard to mag (mag grip was better).
I recorded but the footage was corrupt when I got home and checked it. 🙁 WTF Polaroid…this isn’t the first time this has happened. All the more reason to visit the range again soon.
I should think about shooting this outside. It is super loud (I’m not exaggerating). I’ve no doubt it was pissing off the guys next to me.
I was mainly hitting upper left (I usually hit low left), but was hitting bulls-eye at the beginning…I think I got fatigued toward the end of the 1-hour session.
All ammo was RSA FMJBT 7.62×39.
Also, note that I didn’t zero the firearm, but it shot well enough (I hit the bulls-eye several times when firing the first mag).
What ticked me off was the camera not working. That’s inexcusable, IMO. It recorded but the footage corrupted. I may need to get something that’s more dependable.
I plan to go again tomorrow in an attempt to capture footage again.
I wanted to quickly mention that with some makes of ammo (ie, Browning or Winchester), you see flat-nosed and JHP. Most people think flat-nosed is for guns that have issues feeding reliably (vs. JHP, which can sometimes jam a gun such as a 1911). That’s not always the case, though.
Same bullet wt. and velocity as BXP Personal Defense Ammo
Provides the same feel at the range as self-defense ammo
Black-nickel shell plating improves reliability and feeding
Confidence at the range corresponds to confidence in self-defense situations. Browning’s Performance Target Pistol Ammo provides the same performance as BXP Personal Defense Ammo. Matched-performance ammo has the same bullet weight and velocity so you get the exact same feel at the range as you will in real-life situations with your BXP Ammo at a lower cost. Created with the highest standards of innovation, precision and technology. Black-nickel shell plating improves reliability and feeding.
There’s a product that matches this ammo, only it’s JHP. They’re meant to compliment each other:
Notice that the above rounds are JHP. The first depicted box of ammo is FMJ but shares the same bullet weight as the JHP product and has the same velocity as well. The FMJ is meant for the range (practicing/training). The personal defense ammo (the JHP) is meant for defense — you can train with it but it is not cheap and is sold in a box of 20 (vs the 50 of the FMJ). The FMJ mimics the JHP ammo (it’s nose is flat to mimic JHP). It’s bullet weight and velocity is the same so that you can train as if you were using the JHP variant of this ammo. This is ideal, instead of having to spend a lot of money training with your defense ammo.
Winchester also uses the same scheme. I think that’s pretty cool, but wanted to inform folks of this, in case they’re not aware.
Today I ordered a red PSA AK-P with an SBA4 brace. This is an AK pistol chambered in 7.62×39. This will be the first AK I bought that has actual wood. I was going to get a Magpul version but was torn on what color of polymer to get. Then I saw that they had red wood and the red is deep in color.
I wanted to get an AK pistol before they were banned/restricted. (Sorry, I’m not interested in AR pistols at this time, although that may change; at one point, I wasn’t interested in 1911 nor AKs.)
I’m not sure when this will be arriving, as I ordered it the Wednesday (night) before Labor Day. It may arrive this coming Tuesday or Wednesday.
As well, I tried to order a PSA AK-V (9mm AK pistol), but I spent too long trying to decide between it and the Century Arms NAK9X…I tried to add the AK-V to the shopping cart and found that someone already bought it…it was the last one. :/ So, either I wait for more to be available or I get the NAK9X. I wanted the PSA due to it’s warranty, but they are very similar. I believe the PSA is cleaner. Neither have been heavily reviewed. I can actually wait on this purchase. Maybe I can find something cheaper than these two, like a decent Draco with a tube brace.
UPDATE – 9/2: Well, it actually shipped today (9/2/19), although UPS says it’s not shipped yet — only the shipping label has been created. It’ll actually ship tomorrow, probably (9/3/19). This is so that people have an idea of how fast PSA ships firearms. I ordered the night of 8/28. That was a Wednesday night. It is currently Monday (Labor Day).
UPDATE 2 – 9/3: And, it really shipped today; so sayeth UPS. It’ll be here on Thursday (9/5).
UPDATE 3 – 9/7: It is here (I picked it up yesterday) —
