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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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shooting spring break Texas Texas Ranger Museum

I Visited Texas During the Spring Break of 2022

My wife, son, and I visited Texas during Spring Break. We have friends of the family that live out there and wanted to visit. As well as visit, we wanted to sight-see and maybe check out homes/land out there.

I took off a week (5 business days but a total of 9 days including two weekends). We drove from VA. We left on early on a Saturday and couldn’t arrive until Monday, so we took our time. We could’ve arrived that Sunday but the Airbnb we were staying at wasn’t available until Monday.

We stopped in Paris, TX, which was cool…we visited their veterans’ memorial there. We also visited the Texas Ranger museum, which I highly recommend if you’re interested in history or guns. We also visited Magnolia (Two Silos), which is Chip and Joanna Gaines’ place – that was very nice.

Much of our visit was driving and socializing. My son loved both the drive and the visit, as we did some fishing and he was introduced to farm life. He was also able to shoot his first guns (Note: I have not taught him about firearms due to personal reasons, but he has now had a taste and I will begin his firearms education now).

Of the shooting, we shot on my friends’ farm. That’s the first time I’ve ever shot steel. I LOVED it. It was also the first time I shot suppressed. I got the chance to shoot a Ruger Take-down, which was suppressed, and a CZ bolt-action 22 (not sure of it’s name), as well as another Ruger 22 bolt-action.

Before I left, I had a difficult time deciding what to bring with me. I ended up bringing a lot of 9mm and 22TCM9R ammo, and my RIA MS 1911 with both 9mm and 22TCM barrels, as well as my Grand Power P11 and Canik TP9SC. Sadly, I didn’t get to shoot much, since I spent a majority of my time with my son. My friends absolutely loved my 22TCM 1911. They kept referring to it as the hand cannon! Even my wife and son thought it was loud. It shot steel (didn’t damage the plates, though, as it was AR500 steel). One thing of note, the front fiber optic filament was super-bright in the sunlight.

I think I might have to find an outdoor range. There’s only one near me and it’s maybe 50 min away and requires you shoot their reloads, but the lanes are free with unlimited time – they don’t have steel, either. There’s another range further out that has steel, but I’ve never shot there. They also allow you to bring your own steel.

About Texas – I’ve lived there in the past, once as a child while my dad was stationed at Fort Hood, and once when my wife was stationed at Fort Hood. I’ve spent the largest portion of that time as a child, but I was old enough to where I remember everything. We’ve been looking to move somewhere nearer to my wife’s folks (who are in CA). We’ve considered Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. We’d never considered Texas because I never asked my wife about it (I assumed she hated it). Well, we’re now seriously considering Texas as our next home. The home would have to be at least 10 acres so that I can have a shooting range. Our move timeframe is 5 years out, so we will begin prepping our current home to sell. I’ll look again at properties at maybe the 6-12 month mark to see if we can find land/home in Central Texas (between Austin and Dallas, preferably, there’s so much area, that we’ll look well beyond that area too).

I think Texas will gel well with my family’s mindset. I’m glad I visited my friends, as they shared a wealth of information to help us look for our next home. I’m very excited and hope we’re able to visit again in a few years.