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.
1. We bought Remington R1 mags (45ACP doublestacked) for use with my RIA 10mm HC, since I can’t find any Armscor mags. One mag feeds well, the other does not. Also, the R1 mags will fit the OEM 10mm base plates.
2. We had feed issues with the RIA 22TCM extracting spent cases (the cases were getting stuck in the chamber). This was an ammo issue – I had half a box of older ammo that I’d put aside because I was blowing primers and one case refused to come out of the chamber. I’d forgotten that this was a box I wasn’t supposed to finish shooting. In fact, there was one primer that was blown out in this range visit (I forgot to mention that in the video).
3. I’ve been frustrated with all of my 1911s, thinking that I can’t shoot them because I’m never able to have tight groupings or that I’m always hitting low left (meaning I’m flinching or have bad trigger discipline). Well, I prove that’s not the case on this range visit, as I also took my 9mm RIA Rock Ultra. My groups were tight and directly under the bullseye. I was shooting this gun the same way as the other two. This proves I need to make sight adjustments. In this case, I need to move the POI up 2 inches. In the case of the 10mm, I need to adjust the sights up and to the right a few inches. Not sure yet on how I need to adjust the sights on the 22TCM (maybe 2″ to the right).
When I bought my RIA 10mm 1911A2, I tried to order A2 mags from AdvancedTactical.com (Armscor parts/support site). The showed as having plenty in stock but apparently, they were out, because my order sat for a month before I told them to cancel it. In fact, they’re still showing as out of stock at the time of this posting.
I tried looking at other places but most stores are out of stock. The only stores I saw that had them were in places like Alaska and Canada and they required $100 in purchases before they’d even consider sending to you (shipping was free, though).
I then saw in a 1911 FB group where a guy stated he’d bought Remington R1 .45ACP double-stack mags and that the mags latched into the gun. The mags fed ammo reliably into the handgun.
I decided to seek out that magazine type. Again, I had a difficult time finding a place that had them in stock, but I finally found that Century Arms carries them. I ordered two of the mags on 3/9. It is now 3/18 and they’ve arrived at my door.
The first mag latched without issue, but the second one initially would not latch. Ground the top of the mag’s catch hole just a tad. It now latches.
Both fit without issue, although latching is pretty tight…this can be fixed by ordering thinner base plates (or slightly grinding the top of the catch hole on the mag). The mags are designed for 45ACP and will hold 16 rounds of 45ACP. I loaded one mag with 10mm and was able to load 18.
I will be visiting the range tonight or tomorrow to test feeding/functionality with both mags. I’ll test with 16 rounds as well as 18.
These mags are $9-$10 cheaper than the mags Armscor sells and they appear to be more readily available. I’ve been trying to get mags since 1/31 and Armscor went out of stock around that time. I could find Para mags but didn’t want to hack/cut/file a mag. Granted, I had to grind one of the mags I bought, but it was a 10 sec grind where you wouldn’t even notice an alteration.
The base plate on the R1 mags are rather thick. They protrude from the magwell a bit, but they can be changed to something less thick (or they can be ignored for shooting purposes).
OEM magazine
R1 magazine
As of 3/9, Century Arms had them in stock. I’m not sure if they’re still showing as in stock but if you need 1911A2 mags for your RIA, Century Arms is currently the place to visit.
UPDATE (3/19/2021): I took off the base plate on the OEM mag to see if it’ll fit on the R1 mags. It does. So, if you buy the R1 mags, you can buy OEM base plates from Armscor and fit them on the R1 mags.
UPDATE (12/21/2021): Century Arms has stopped carrying the Remington R1 double-stack mags. 🙁
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.
I’ve been getting an influx of comments on my last Grand Power YouTube video.
Many people think that I need to be using oil (one person stated to not use TW25B and another recommended to use oil and not grease).
I tested the theory that I was using the wrong lube. I stripped off the TW25B from the helical cut and breech area of the barrel and used a light coat of Breakfree CLP instead…I kept grease on the rails, though.
Remember, on my last visit, I fired 263 rounds of various ammo (50 x Tula steel-cased, 200 x Remington UMC 147-grain flat-nosed FMJ, and approx 24 rounds of Winchester Personal Protection JHP). Of that ammo, I had two failures to return to battery (down from “many” failures), both of them being with the Remington ammo.
At last night’s range session, I used 100 x Remington UMC 147-grain flat-nosed FMJ, 50 x American Eagle 124-grain FMJ, and 28 rounds (of a box of 50) of Geco 124-grain FMJ, for a total of 177 rounds. I had five failures to return to battery (FRTB). The first happened on the 3rd magazine. Then the 4th, 5th, and 6th magazines. The gun wasn’t dirty, but remember, I was using a thin coat of oil vs a coat of gun grease.
Yeah, so much for that theory. I had less failures during my previous range visit with the P11, and shot maybe 100 rounds more, too (with Tula being 100 of that, and both Remington UMC and Tula are very dirty).
But here’s a revelation…of the five failures to return to battery and of the 177 rounds, guess which brand failed the most in this gun? Remington. All five failures were with the Remington. I made a point of paying attention to which brand I was shooting and keeping notes on each box’s tabs. I also ejected each round that generated a FRTB. In one case of FRTB, I found that the front lip of the case had bent when the gun tried to ram the round into the chamber. I decided not to fire that round.
Here’s a picture:
If it’s difficult to see the damage, here’s a video.
So, maybe it’s a combination of the oil I used as lube and the ammo? No, I think the ammo is the issue, as I shot 75 rounds of ammo AFTER the Remington that didn’t get hung up at all.
This gun does NOT like the Remington ammo I’m shooting. I’ve other Remington ammo (non-flat-nosed and 115-grain FMJ) that I can test but I really don’t think I need to test any more.
I cleaned the gun and looked at it’s internals last night. The claim that the oil is easier to clean after a range session is false. The oil migrated to the slide and coated the whole underside of it. In fact, it was everywhere and I didn’t use a lot…just a thin film. It took quite awhile to clean. The gun wasn’t quite that bad when I used grease as the primary lubricant. The oil collected the carbon exactly as the grease did (it basically made mud), but I can’t contribute the failures to the oil. All I know is that I had less failures with the grease but if the ammo is the problem then all perceived lube problems are exonerated.
I’ll post the video once I’ve edited it and posted it to YouTube.
UPDATE — here’s the video:
For now, I’ll continue to use the CLP as the primary lube. I’ve even put it on the slide and frame rails. I’ll watch for wear and/or trouble for awhile.
I also took my SIG Sauer P220 and gave it a quick run to test the new Hogue rubber grips. Man, that gun is a beast. Recoil is less of an issue with these grips. I’m able to put ammo (half the mag, in this case) in the red, too.
All DA shots, first 8 rounds, at 7 yards
I fired a total of 44 rounds (I had five mags that have been loaded since Jan 2015 that I wanted to shoot…Perfecta hardball in 230-grain). The gun ate it all up without issue. My aiming did get progressively worse, though. I might need to get glasses I can use at the range (or it might be time to have my eyes checked again), as I was having a difficult time seeing the front sight and my vision got worse as I shot.
I brought the Glock 19 and intended to shoot it, but got too engrossed with the P11 (let’s face it…as my EDC and with my recent issues, it needed the attention).
So, this range visit was very valuable for me, as I learned that not all ammo is created equal. I still have a lot of Remington flat-nosed ammo left (I bought 500 rounds of it). Some of my other guns will eat it without issue, so I’ll use it up, but I won’t be buying any more of it.
I’ll take it to the range again with grease applied to areas that didn’t have it prior to my last visit. To summarize the video, I fired a bit under 300 rounds of various 9mm ammo from it and only had two failures to return to battery. Both failures were with Remington UMC 147-grain flat-nosed FMJ. I had no failures with TulAmmo steel-cased or Winchester PP JHP.
And, as usual, the gun was certainly accurate (my trigger discipline aside):
GP P11 – 9 yards out (instead of my normal 7 yards), 24 rounds (2 mags) of Remington UMC flat-nosed 147-grain FMJ
I also spoke awhile back about the lack of a holster for this gun. Someone who viewed one of my videos gave me a point of contact that could make one. I was thinking on trying to make one myself. Either route would be good, I think. I just need it to be an in-waistband holster. Once I have that and once I get the battery issues resolved, I may consider carrying this gun.
Ordered some heavier grain ammo from Gander Mountain, Remington HTP 147-grain JHP.
I also bought more of the Remington HTP 115-grain +P JHP ammo that I shot earlier this week.
Both are listed as home defense ammo, so I think I’ll use them in that manner (will have to test the 147-grain ammo, though).
I also ordered 10 9mm-sized snap caps and 10 .45ACP-sized snap caps, from ST Action Pro. I already have a few snap caps (5 x A-Zooms and 5 x Tiptons…they were expensive for 5 packs). These were much cheaper @ between .95 and .98 apiece, so I ordered 10 of each caliber.
I also ordered a cheap Trinity Force rail-mount laser sight from Anthony Industries, for $30. I’m not sure if this will crap out on me since it’s cheap, but I want a laser sight so I can practice dry fire (to monitor my trigger pulls and try to keep them steady). I didn’t feel like spending a large sum of money to use a laser in such a manner. I’ve a cheap light as well and that hasn’t crapped out yet, so maybe this one will be OK.
I spent an hour at the range last night and shot 130 rounds out of my XD and 60 rounds out of the Grand Power.
It felt so good to not divide my attention between more than 2 guns, although I did want to shoot one of the 1911s.
I started with the XD first and immediately put 9 of 10 rounds in a close grouping.
7 yards out, using Remington UMC 115-grain JHP
The thing about the Mod 2 is that it shoots extremely well for a subcompact 9mm, as the sight radius of such guns is very small. This gun still has a small sight radius, but the recoil and snappiness is somewhat negated by the Grip Zone texturing of the grips. The front fiber optic helps, especially since I’ve problems focusing on the front sight (I wear corrective lenses).
As I shot five different targets, my groupings got progressively worse. I’m pretty sure it was due to incorrect finger placement on the trigger and not being smooth on the trigger, as I began to impact left of aim. Still, it was fun to challenge myself.
I also fired the XD better with the shorter magazine (vs. using the longer magazine that has the mag sleeve). Don’t ask me why that was the case.
The Grand Power was acting wonky. It didn’t jam or fail to extract, but it may’ve been failing to feed due to a dirty feed ram, as the gun was failing to fully go into battery after expending and ejecting a round. It was an intermittent issue, though, because it didn’t happen every magazine bu when it did, it was almost back-to-back failures to return to battery.
The weapon was clean when I brought it to the range. The ammo I was shooting must’ve been extremely dirty to cause issues between 1 and 60 rounds…in fact, the gun was extremely dirty after that range visit…more than I expected for 60 rounds. The gun was lubed, and I made sure the pivot point on the rotating barrel had lubrication.
I don’t think it was the mags that were the issue. When I racked the gun slowly, I didn’t notice any binding. The only thing I can think of is that the feed ramp got dirty quickly and was hampering the feeding of the next round, which would keep the slide from fully going forward.
Possible causes:
Ammo that doesn’t have enough powder.
Dirty ammo that gets the feed ramp really dirty.
Limp wristing (I highly doubt that’s what happened, but I list it anyways, just in case I AM limp wristing).
Feed ramp doesn’t like hollow point ammo.
Feed ramp needs to be broken in (I doubt this, but read that someone had an issue with a ramp being too polished).
UPDATE: Well…look at this –> http://www.handgunforum.net/beretta/30881-failure-feed-px4-storm-compact-9mm.html. This looks similar to my bullet list above…looks like I am on the right track. How does this relate to my P11? Well, the small Beretta PX4 Storms have rotating barrels as well. It seems that these type guns might not like lighter ammo and might be prone to limp-wristing as well.
Of the two guns, I fired the XD better. That wasn’t the case the last time I took the P11 to the range. Blame the failures to go into battery.
I did not get any video footage, as my camera wasn’t charged before I left for the range.
I fired 100 rounds of Remington UMC 115-grain JHP, 20 rounds of Remington UMC 115-grain FMJ, and 10 rounds of Remington HTP 115-grain +P.
I’m looking forward to the next range visit so I can put more rounds through the XD and become more proficient with it. I’m not quite looking forward to re-experiencing issues with the P11, though.
I submitted for my concealed carry permit on 13 February 2015. I received the permit on 21 February. I’m now able to carry concealed. Yes, that is probably a record timeframe of submittal and approval for the state of Virginia.
I carried for the first time today. I carried the majority of the day. I decided to carry my XD 9 Mod.2. The holster I used was a Blackhawk nylon holster (non-ambidextrous with no mag holder). I was actually looking locally for the Blackhawk ambidextrous holster with mag holder (product #40AM06BK, specifically)…I tried two Walmart stores but someone has been opening the packages, removing the holsters and switching them, because I’d bought two holsters and upon getting them home, I’d found that the holster in the package wasn’t what was advertised on the package’s labeling. The first holster wasn’t even close to what I was looking for, as it was a large holster made of slick black nylon. The second holster (what I’ve since discovered is a Blackhawk Sportster in size 8) wasn’t what I was looking for but was a small holster that was able to hold my two sub-compacts and three compacts (I’ve no idea if it’ll hold my SP2022, but I doubt it…that gun borders on being full-sized).
So, if you’re looking for a cheap (~$20) holster, this may fit the bill. Most people do not like cheap holsters, but it fit my XD 9 perfectly and didn’t feel uncomfortable. I kept the holster at my 4-o’clock strong side and wore a long thick plaid work shirt over it (my wife said I wasn’t printing). I probably need a better (stronger) leather belt, but the one I was using is actually pretty thick…there was only a tad bit of sag. I’ll look for a better belt tomorrow, as the local gun stores will be open and I’m off work.
What other guns will fit in this holster? My Glock 19 fits perfectly and will slide in/out without issue, as will my XD. My Grand Power P11 fits well, also (not as good as the XD, though). My P320 fits great but the take-down lever hangs on the inside of the holster when trying to remove it. I’m wondering if a bit of tape will fix the issue, but I also realize that I should be glad I can use this holster with the other 3 guns without issue. I want to reiterate that this is probably one of the few holsters you’ll find that fits the Grand Power P11…there are NONE specifically made for the P11, so I searched for holsters that would support guns of similar size/dimensions.
I’ve also ordered two Alien Gear Cloak Tuck 2.0 IWB holsters: One for my 1911 commanders and one for my XD 9. I also ordered an extra shell for the Sig SP2022. When I was looking, I saw that they had a two-holster combo deal, which was a lot cheaper than I’d thought it would be to buy two. UPDATE: I’ve received the holsters and conducted a quick assessment here.
The above pictures highlight a potential issue: The 1911 shown doesn’t have an ambi-safety like my RIA does. The right side of the holster doesn’t look to be able to accomodate an ambi-safety. I’m not sure if that means I’ll have to alter the holster. :/ UPDATE – No, the ambi-safety doesn’t cause any fitment issues.
I also bought a Pro Carry HD from The Holster Store. It’s supposed to be an IWB holster but I keep looking at it, wondering, how the hell is it supposed to mount to your belt? I guess I’ll see when I get it tomorrow. Another thing that grabbed my attention (but only just now and not when I’d ordered it) was this blurb buried within the description:
The Pro Carry HD can be worn both both strong side and cross draw. For carrying this item in the small of back inside the waistband, you will need to select the opposite shooting hand.
I plan to carry my gun at the 4-o’clock position with this holster, but this holster won’t give me the option of carrying in the small of the back IWB, which limits me. If I’m understanding the maker correctly, if I want to carry IWB in the small of my back with this holster, I would need to buy a left-hand holster? Thinking on it a bit, and if that’s indeed the case, that would be the more comfortable way to draw a weapon from behind your back…I might order another of these just to try it out.
The Pro Carry HD is also described as being bulky by customer comments on Amazon, although some customers are defending it by reminding gun owners that they should be buying pants with enough waist room to allow for such a holster.
So, tomorrow, I trek to find a nice gun belt (or even two, if they’re priced decently). I’ve one gun store in mind (Trinue in Warrenton), and if the pricing is too high, maybe Guns and Ammo Warehouse. UPDATE: I ended up going to The Gun Shop, which didn’t have any belts, so they sent me to Virginia Arms, and I left with a black Galco 1.5″ gun belt. I also plan to go shooting either tomorrow or Tuesday morning. I need to begin the break-in process of the Glock 19, my P320, and my GP P11. I will probably carry the XD there so that I can fire off a box of SD rounds (Remington HTP +P 115-grain JHP) to see how well the XD responds to that ammo.
