Folks,
I’ve decided to move. Rather than attempting to continue my thoughts in a blog that has few, if any readers, I’ve joined the team over at TheTruthAboutGuns.com as a writer. You’ll find my musings there from now on. Some of the posts that used to be here will find their way over there with some re-writes and additions.
Okay, this post is squarely in the Opinion category. One of the things that any new gun owner is going to face is the decision whether or not to buy a Glock. Now, let me share some of my biases before I get too deep into this. First of all, I do not own any Glocks. I have held them and I have shot them, but in the end, I don’t really like them. Before the vast right wing Glock conspiracy (apologies to Hillary Clinton) flame me into non-existence, please let me explain my misgivings in two parts.
First of all, Glocks are striker fired guns and I am not preferential to that operating system. In a pure striker fired system such as what Glock has, there is no external hammer and no means to de-cock. Glocks are single action meaning that the gun is cocked by racking the slide and the only way to de-cock is to pull the trigger. If you chose to carry concealed, you have a cocked pistol in your holster. Now, I know that Glock has developed one heck of a safety system to prevent a gun for accidentally going off, but the idea of a cocked weapon that close to my body really makes me uncomfortable. It’s a personal thing and it does not bother many people, but it bothers me.
One alternative operating system is the one found on my Beretta and my Sig Sauer pistols – the Double Action/Single Action (DA/SA). With a DA/SA pistol, I can chamber a round and then use a decocking lever to safely lower the hammer. Now, if I have to draw my pistol, the first shot I take has a Double Action trigger pull in the range of 10 pounds – certainly I really need to want to pull that trigger to make the gun go off. After the first round though, the pistol is now in single action mode like a Glock and only a 4.4 pound trigger pull awaits my squeezing off my next shot. The plus here is that I’ll be drawing from a holster and bringing my weapon to bear on the target before the first shot, so having some extra resistance on the trigger is welcome. For subsequent shots, my pistol would presumably be pointing at the threat and I would want an easier trigger pull to further engage the bad guy.
Lets contrast this with one of Glock’s Gen 4 pistols, the 9 mm Glock 17. Each and every trigger pull will have about 5.5 lbs of weight, for me, too light on the initial draw and too heavy for follow-up shots.
My second issue with Glocks is the angle of the grip. I still remember talking to that first gun salesman in Houston and having him put a Glock in my hands and then asking me to point at the threat. The problem is that the Glock has a very pronounced curve on the backstrap of the grip and my natural aiming point was high of the target. I had to consciously lower the muzzle of the pistol to engage my prospective assailant. Now, if you shoot your Glock every day, then you are automatically going to compensate for this higher sight aiming point. On the other hand, if you own and use a variety of guns like I do, you are going to have to remember to adjust your aim point depending on whether you are using your Glock or one of your other guns. I have several other guns in my collection including Sig Sauer P226, p229, P238, P239, H&K USP Tactical, Springfield Armory XDM, and a Springfield Armory 1911. Every single one of these guns points dead on for me whereas a Glock points high. This means that if I owned a Glock, it would be the one gun that I would have to compensate for and that is a bad idea.
I encourage any prospective Glock owner to perform the aiming test that my gun salesman suggested to me. If the Glock works for you, then by all means buy it. You won’t be disappointed. The Glock is a very reasonably priced firearm and its ubiquitousness means that the world of aftermarket Glock accessories is very rich. I really wish that the Glock worked for me so that I could take advantage of all of the things offered for it. Granted, even if I did, it would probably not be a concealed carry weapon for me for the reason already mentioned, but it might very well be a competition pistol once I start competing.
I’d love to know your thoughts. Heck, I recently trashed (then somewhat recanted my trashing) of the 1911, so why not take a shot at probably the next most popular pistol.
When people describe me, the word “impulsive” definitely fits. I am not one to agonize over purchasing decisions when it comes to gadgets or for that matter firearms. I am fortunate that I live in New Hampshire for a number of reasons. First of all, the taxes are a heck of a lot less than they were in Massachusetts, my former home state, but almost as important is the fact that NH has some of the most liberal firearms laws in the country. Add to this is the fact that NH is the home of Sig Sauer, which has quickly become one of my favorite gun makers. I own four Sig pistols; a 226, a 229, a 239, and a 238.
I have been taking a number of classes at Sig Sauer Academy and found the quality of instruction to be nothing short of excellent. One of the very dangerous things though is the presence of the Sig Sauer Pro Shop which has most of Sig Sauer’s lineup of guns available for 20% off retail for class attendees. I have had my eye on Sig’s assault rifles for some time now and during my most recent class, the Sig Sauer Armorer course, I decided to pull the trigger and acquire a Sig Sauer 516 Assault rifle.
This is not my first assault rifle. I already own a Colt LE6920, but since I purchased it, I have been learning more about AR-15 style rifles and have decided that I would much have preferred to have purchased a piston system based rifle over the Direct Impingement operating system that is present in my Colt. Lots of electronic ink has been spilled in many places on the pros and cons of the piston versus DI operating systems, but I have decided that the piston system is indeed superior to the DI one if for no other reason than the fact that it is a cleaner system. The fact that Sig’s own promotional videos showing how the the 516 continues to work fine after being buried in sand, in mud, and dunked into a lake only helped to seal the deal for me.
One major advance in the 516 over my Colt is that the 516 ships with a full battle rail as opposed to one with a large handgrip that precludes the mounting of a decent scope system. Sure, you can (and I did) purchase a quad rail to replace the existing handrail on my Colt, but having it built in is a plus in my mind. Add to this the fact that Sig’s version ships with a set of flip up front and rear sights puts it over the top as compared to the Colt’s own LE6940 which may or may not ship with a set of flip up iron sights depending on where you purchase it. The price at the Sig shop was slightly north of $1,200, which makes it comparable price-wise to the LE6940 which like the LE6920 is a DI operating system.
The gun is a dream to shoot. Smooth trigger pull and dead-on sights right from the box. Sig also thoughtfully includes a hard case for the 516 whereas Colt ships in a cardboard box only.
For me, this gun is a no-brainer. I was initially concerned that my CMMG .22 conversion kit might not work as I have read that some piston-system AR15 rifles do not have enough space to accommodate the .22 conversion kit, but a trip to the range today with the conversion kit assuaged my fears. The 516 is a battle ready rifle and I’m looking forward to dumping my LE6920 in the not too distant future as I really have no need for two AR15 rifles.
It’s kind of funny how things change. I’ve always been a gadget guy, so one of the things that I have always looked forward to was the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) every January. Up to a few years ago, January also held the MacWorld conference, which was far more relevant while Apple remained a participant.
This year, CES barely got my notice, while the show that I was really looking forward to was the Shot Show, the big firearms industry trade show that happens around the third week of January every year. I think that the transition really became apparent this year due to the fact that for the last couple of years, CES has been filled with a lot of me-too ho-hum announcements. One year it was HD TVs. The next year it was 3D TVs. The last couple of years have featured a lot of tablets and smartphones – again – pretty ho hum, particularly since many of these devices won’t be available for purchase for at least six months. Sure, I know that CES has its share of other electronic gizmos, but information on those seem to be less voluminous than that on whatever is that year’s poster child product.
In any event, I have spent a fair amount of time this year reading the posts covering the show at several of the firearms blogs (see my blogroll for some suggestions) and was really intrigued at the vast variety of products that will be depleting my bank account over the next year or so.
I am particularly looking forward to picking up one of Sig’s new P938 guns which is their excellent .380 platform extended to support a full power 9 mm. I’m not going to rehash all that has been posted on this gun in other places, but given how nice the P238 is, I expect great things from the 938. That said, I have learned the hard way to shoot first and ask questions later where it comes to guns. While I’m certainly interested, I want to get one in my hands and gauge the feel before I buy. My experience with the lightweight Ruger LC9 taught me that small frames plus high power 9mm rounds do not always a fun experience make. Assuming that the P938 shoots and feels like the P238 it will certainly be a gun that I will be acquiring before the year is out.
I was playing around with my Kindle Fire the other day and noticed that Massad Ayoob’s book, “The Gun Digest Book of Concealed Carry” had made it into Amazon’s free borrowing program for Kindles. Now, I’d heard a lot about Mr. Ayoob but had never really read much by this prolific and extremely well respected gun author. As an aside, I hope to take a class from him this coming fall assuming he does something in my area. Since the topic of concealed carry had been on my mind recently, I figured that at the price of $0.00 for the loaner, I might as well grab it and give it a read. I highly recommend this book and will probably end up purchasing a copy in paperback for my library as it is so chock full of good information.
As I was reading it, it became apparent that Ayoob is a huge fan of the classic Smith and Wesson J-Frame .38+P for concealed carry. His reasons are many and include the simplicity of operation, the ease of concealment and the impressive power to weight ratio particularly of the Aluminum and other exotic metal models. To put things in perspective, the only gun that I have which is in the 15 oz range of the S&W is my Sig Sauer P238. I think that most people will agree that five rounds of .38+P kind of trumps even 6-7 rounds of .380. Now, while in my relatively short experience with firearms, I have had close to a dozen automatics come through my house (some I still have and some I have sold), but to date, the only wheel gun that I owned was a Beretta Single Action Army six shooter in .357. I didn’t think that I had much use for a revolver, but I trust Ayoob’s experience enough that it made sense to make my way down to the local gun range and rent a J-Frame to try it out.
While I’m not a huge fan of the feel of shooting a .38+P out of such a light gun, the fact is that at 15 oz. for the gun plus a few more for five rounds of ammo, I simply don’t have anything in my collection that comes close to that weight and packs a decent amount of stopping power. The closest is my Sig Sauer P239 and that tips the scales at nearly 2 pounds – twice as much as the S&W. This fact combined with the relatively low cost of the S&W (less than $400) prompted me to add one to my collection this week. I opted for the model 642 for a couple of reasons. First of all, the 642 can accept ammo in moon clips (more on this in a moment). Secondly and perhaps even more importantly, a 642 was available from my local gun merchant whereas some of the other models were out of stock (this is what I get for going handgun shopping a couple of weeks after Christmas).
I also decided to order a set of Crimson Trace laser grips for my new pistol. My main reason for this is that I see this S&W as a defensive gun and a laser helps you get on target faster in an emergency. Instead of having to bring the gun up to eye level to use the sights, simply pointing the laser dot at the target gives me a fair amount of confidence that I’ll be able to put the bullet where I want it to go, even if I have to shoot from the hip. The Crimson trace model I selected had another advantage as well. Since I went with the larger 305 grip model, the new laser grips are long enough for me to get my entire hand on the handle of the gun as opposed to leaving my pinkie twisting in the wind as would have been the case with either the stock S&W grips or one of the smaller Crimson trace models. While it does make the gun a bit larger in the grip, I consider the tradeoff is acceptable as I have better control and practice sessions are less painful since the grips are soft rubber and cushion the rather sharp recoil somewhat.
I can’t emphasize enough how important this fact is. The simple truth is that if you plan to rely on a gun to one day save your life, you better plan to put in some fairly significant time at the range with it. If you truly believe that you can only occasionally shoot a few practice rounds at the range and then expect to hit a target some day when your life is at risk, then you are kidding yourself. Shooting .38 let alone .38+P out of a 15 oz gun is never going to be a fun experience. The gun simply does not have the weight to cushion the recoil much and your hand is going to feel it. With the softer and longer Crimson Trace grips, it makes putting 100 or so rounds down range in a practice session tolerable.
I’m not going to do a full review of the 642 here. Eddie Coyle already did a great job of this and you can find his extensive and informative view at VintagePistols.com I will say that the only place that I really disagree is his opinion on the Crimson Trace grips. He didn’t like them, I do, for the reasons already stated. I will add a couple of additions to his discussion. First of all, I mentioned that one reason I got the 642 was that is was built to take moon clips. You don’t have to use them, but it is nice to have the option. That said, I have come to the conclusion that moon clips are best used for the defensive loads on the street rather than practice on the range. Moon clips are essentially little stamped pieces of sheet metal that hold five rounds ready for quick loading into your pistol. One of the old arguments against revolvers and in favor of automatics is that once you shoot the bullets in the gun, it is very quick to slap a new clip into an automatic, but reloading a revolver is more tedious. The problem that I have with the moon clips is that it requires a fair amount of force to get the five bullets clipped in and you will likely destroy a few moon clips learning the process. Add to this the fact that extracting spent casings from the moon clip is even more annoying as the spent casing expanded a bit and is a bear to get out of the clip without ruining it. I’ll probably carry one or two clips with my gun so that I have 5-10 spare rounds, but on the range, I find it easier to just put the rounds in manually at the range where time is not of the essence.
As for the Crimson Trace grips, this is the second set that I have purchased (the first being for my Sig Sauer P239). While the ones for the P239 are pretty good, I didn’t find the activation of the laser to be quite as automatic as Crimson Trace would have you believe. I had to fumble a bit and adjust my grip to get the laser to activate. The opposite is true for the LG-305 model for the S&W revolver. The activation switch is perfectly positioned and it comes on every time I draw my 642 from the holster. One thing that you should be aware of is that while Crimson Trace claims its laser grips come calibrated out of the box for 50 feet, I did not find this to be the case with either of mine. I needed to adjust both to bring them into sync with the steel sights on both handguns, but that is a minor matter.
One other thing where I disagree with Eddie Coyle’s comments is that I found I was deadly accurate with the 642 right from the start. I had no problem putting five rounds in a 2.5 inch circle at 25 feet, however, my accuracy degraded considerably at 50 feet. Since I am far more likely to be engaging a target inside of 25 feet in a personal defense situation, this is not really a problem for me.
The last point I want to make is that you should not kid yourself about comfort when shooting this gun. It is not super fun to shoot, but it is light, it is accurate, and it is easy to conceal. These three things more than make up for the minor pain you get from shooting. Add to this the fact that for most people who don’t shoot every day, a properly maintained revolver is going to be a lot more insensitive to problems than an automatic pistol will be. I have high confidence that this gun will go bang when I need it to and for that it has quickly become my favorite concealed carry weapon.
In a recent post, I was a tad harsh on the 1911. Following that post and the exchange I had with one of my readers, I decided to pull my Springfield Armory 1911 out of the box and give it another go at the range. I have to recant some of the things I said previously I absolutely fell in love with the 1911 after my recent outing. First of all, I imagine that as my skills have improved, my appreciation for the accuracy and consistency of the 1911 has grown. The 1911 I own weighs a ton, but that really helps stabilize the kick of the .45 cartridge. I still would never carry my 1911 for the reasons I outlined previously (weight, size, limited ammo capacity), but as a range gun, it is easily one of my best guns. I am as accurate shooting .45 out of the 1911 as I was shooting 9mm out of my XDM. Granted, the Beretta 92 still edges out the 1911, but then again, we are talking about a much smaller bullet.
The 1911 is just a damn fun gun to shoot, but cleaning it is still more of a pain in the backside than I would have preferred. They will have to pry my 1911 from my cold dead hands. I will however stand by one of my assertions – those new to guns should probably start with something else. If you are partial to striker fired guns, the XD or XDM are great choices as is the Glock if you don’t mind the angle of the grip. For those who want a DA/SA gun, the Beretta 92FS or A1 belong on your short list as do the Sig Sauer P226 or P229 although these latter two options do tend to be a bit more costly.
If however, you decide to make guns a hobby and get into collecting a few, a 1911 definitely belongs on your short list of guns to buy – just get a good one. You are not likely to be happy with a $400 1911. I would suggest either a Kimber or a Springfield 1911 Range Officer or higher gun.
I figured I’d return to posting with what will be perceived at a bit of blasphemy by many handgun aficionados. Ask just about anyone in the handgun world and you will find that Browning’s 1911 design has legendary status. Now, I’m not about to dispute that. When you consider the massive advance in technology that the 1911 design offered over what was state of the art at the turn of the century, there is no way that anyone could reasonably argue that the 1911 was nothing if not groundbreaking. The 1911 design casts a very long shadow over gun designs during the past century. That said, it is important to remember that we are talking about a design that is 100 years old this year. Sure, the Ford Model T (which was from the same era as the 1911 pistol) was a ground breaker in 1908, but you don’t see too many people aside from serious collectors clamoring to drive a Model T today. So why do so many people demand and regularly use 1911 model pistols these days when there are so many newer designs that afford many improvements over the 1911?
I’ve only recently gotten into pistols in a serious way. I bought my first one (a Springfield Armory XDM .40) in March of 2011. Many of my core beliefs about guns were shaped by that and by one of my subsequent purchases, a Beretta 92A1. One of the things that I really appreciated about the XDM and the Berretta was the ease in field stripping. Lock the slide back, flip the lever, release the slide, and the pistol is almost completely field stripped. All that remains is to remove a spring and pull out the barrel. That said, I, too got caught up in the 1911 fever. Since 2011 was the 100th anniversary of the 1911 design and I had read so much about how great the 1911 was, I had to go out and purchase one for myself. I chose a Springfield Armory 1911 Loaded model. Make no mistake, this is a heck of a great gun. It’s big, solid, was my first gun with night sights and just felt really good in my hand. The magazine capacity on the other hand left me somewhat cold. Whereas I was used to 16 round of .40 in my XDM and 17-20 rounds of 9mm in my Beretta, I was limited to 8 or 9 rounds of .45 in my 1911. Sure, I could and did buy some 10 round extended magazines, but they stick out the bottom of my pistol and wreck the nice lines it has with a flush fitting (but smaller capacity magazine). They are fine for the range, but not something that I would carry day to day. Add to this the fact that the 1911 weighed a ton and tended to pull my pants down if I carried it for any length of time on my belt.
The real nasty surprise came when I had to field strip it for the first time. I simply could not figure out how to get the barrel out and ultimately went back to the gun shop to have them show me how. Even now that I know how to take my 1911 apart, I really dread doing it and as such simply don’t shoot it very often since it is such a pain to clean. I compare it to my H&K USP Tactical .45, which is only slightly more difficult to field strip than my XDM, but holds a 12 round magazine flush with the pistol and for me simply shoots better. Furthermore, since the USP was co-developed with the H&K MK-23 special forces pistol, it is a far more durable gun when exposed to harsh conditions. I was especially impressed with the testing program that included lodging a bullet in the chamber and then shooting it out with a second bullet. The USP did that without exploding and went on to shoot very accurate groups. The USP is lighter, carries more ammunition, can shoot both DA and SA and is far more durable, so my choice for regular .45 pistol is fairly simple.
The ergonomics of the 1911 are often cited as one thing that simply has not been beat. I’ll give it that. My Sig Sauer P238 is essentially a miniature 1911, but is way easier to field strip. The ergonomics on most of my other pistols are as good (at least in my mind) so while they may not exceed the 1911, they equal it and their other more modern features clearly rank them as superior. I am not yet a competition shooter, so I can’t speak to whether the 1911 is better than other guns in this respect, however the reality is that most of us will never be competition shooters and thus we need guns that are user friendly. I would say that every single other gun that I own qualifies as more user friendly than my 1911 with the one exception being my GSG .22 pistol which is based on the 1911 design.
The point that I’m trying to make is that for the average person, the only real reason that I can see to own a 1911 design is if you are a collector and want to own a classic gun in the way that a car collector might want to own a Model T. I also own an M1 Garand for the same reason. It is a cool gun to shoot and what makes mine even more special is that the receiver was manufactured in October of 1941 – two months before Pearl Harbor. The rest of the M1 is more modern and while it is fun to shoot, it is much heavier than my Colt AR 15 and holds a lot less ammunition in the clip (8 rounds versus 30) so if I need a gun for practical use, I’ll be reaching for the much lighter and more modern AR 15. If you are new to shooting, don’t get sucked into buying a 1911 early on. If you do buy one, make sure that you understand the limitations of the gun and appreciate the use. Sure, some folks will argue that they would prefer the stopping power of a .45 versus a 9 mm, but if my life depended on it, I’d take my 16 rounds of .40 in my XDM or my 20 rounds of 9mm in my Beretta any day over the 8 rounds of .45 in my 1911. I’m far more likely to hit what I am aiming at with the smaller caliber, and if I miss, I have 2 – 2.5 times as much ammunition to try again with the more modern guns.
A friend pointed me to an article today about an interesting civil rights case dealing with how police in Philadelphia, PA escalated a routine traffic stop into a case involving the bill of rights.
To summarize, back in 2008, William Lawler was stopped by police for a minor traffic infraction (which was later dismissed). His car, adorned with pro-gun and anti-police bumper stickers obviously drew the ire of the officer on the scene. Lawler was carrying his gun at the time for which he possessed a license for concealed carry, but failed to inform the officer immediately upon being stopped that he was armed. PA state law does not require citizens to inform police of firearms in their possession, however, a memorandum that accompanies the license application informs licensees that they are indeed obligated to disclose their firearms to police. The police used his bumper stickers as a pretext for asking him if he had a gun to which he answered honestly (which is required by PA state law). They then claimed that his failure to notify them initially gave them probable cause to search his vehicle without his permission, to detain him briefly, and confiscate his gun and license. He later recovered both, but it took nearly two years of litigation and over $2,000 out of pocket.
There are several issues/lessons here. Let’s look at them in no particular order. First of all, there is a clear discrepancy between state law and the firearms license memorandum concerning whether or not citizens must immediately disclose their firearms to the police. The problem here is that in the presence of ambiguity one should assume that the police will usually apply the toughest standard. Sure, it may not be legal and ultimately, if you choose to spend your time and money to fight it, you might score a civil rights victory, but frankly, I don’t have the time, money, or patience to be the civil rights test case on something, so I might suggest that when in PA, you take the path of least resistance and immediately inform the police if you are carrying (at least until the memorandum is changed).
The second issue is the one of the bumper stickers. Now, I know that I may offend some folks here, but frankly, I don’t think much of bumper stickers. I, for one, certainly am not going to arrive at or change my thinking on an issue because of some bumper sticker. In fact, I’m more likely to think negatively of the driver of the car with the sticker. Case in point – if I see a bumper sticker supporting a political candidate that I think is an idiot, I immediately assume (possibly unjustly) that the person driving the car is also an idiot and act accordingly. There is an old saying – if you keep your mouth shut people may think you are dumb, but open it and you make them sure. I think the same logic applies to bumper stickers. Now, add to this the fact that Lawler’s car was adorned with pro-gun stickers and some which could have been perceived by the police as negative messages towards them and you have a situation in the making. While many police officers are good, law abiding citizens who do what they do because they want to make their communities safer, there is a not insignificant percentage who see their gun and their badge as their ticket to act like Nazi stormtroopers and woe betide the citizen that crosses them.
The problem here is that many citizens see all gun owners as crazy right-wing nut jobs. Seeing a car with bumper stickers like Lawler’s merely enforces this opinion. I’m all for defending the second ammendment, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. The right way is with education and outreach. Gun owners should show their non-gun owning friends and acquaintances that owning a gun does not automatically make you a crazy person. As people are exposed more and more to law abiding, “ordinary” folks who also own guns, some of the crazy nut job stereotypes start to erode. I’m a gun owner myself and frankly, seeing bumper stickers like Lawler’s or for that matter walking into a Walmart and seeing someone who does not look quite right in the head with a .45 strapped to his hip in open carry does not make me feel all that comfortable. This aside, Lawler was doing nothing illegal, but unfortunately like so many things, the legal angle is less important than the social one. Get enough people against you and your rights will be legislated away. Screaming and waving the Second amendment in front of people will not get you what you want. Bear in mind that amendments are just that and they can be amended. While I can’t see the prospect of the second amendment changing in the foreseeable future, we need only look at some of the European countries such as the UK to see that such a destination is possible if the anti-gun folks are ever able to mass enough popular support around their messages.
As with my first point, the lesson that I take from this is that if you want to be the civil rights test case, go ahead and keep doing what you do. But, if you want to be perceived as a reasonable and non-threatening gun owner, then you might want to keep your more vocal opinions to yourself when you are out in public and surrounded by people who might be hostile towards gun ownership
My final takeaway his is twofold. First of all, what happened to Lawler was a travesty of justice. He was illegally treated by police of the Nazi persuasion and I really hope that ultimately he can prevail in his suits as if it costs the city of Philadelphia money, they will be more inclined to better educate their officers as to proper police procedure within the law. On the other hand, much of what happened could have been avoided had he kept his angry opinions to himself and not broadcast them to every person who saw his car. If you walk around the school yard with a “Kick Me” sign on your back, sooner or later, you are going to get kicked. The person who did the kicking should not have done that and may get in trouble with the teachers, but its going to happen nonetheless. If we as gun owners want to continue to enjoy and expand our freedoms of concealed carry, we need to spend our time and energy pushing a positive message of gun ownership rather than walking around trying to antagonize people. As the old saying goes, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”
Back in May 2011, I was very pleased with my recent purchase of the Ruger LC9. As I mentioned in that post, I was looking for a personal defense/concealed carry gun and really could not bring myself to “settle” for a gun chambered in .380. I was looking for something in a meatier caliber and the 9mm LC9 seemed to fit that bill nicely. Bear in mind that my decision making process was based on my “extensive” two months of experience in firearms at that point and I have to admit that I have learned a lot more since that time. I still am not partial to .380 guns. Yes, with some of the newer defensive ammunition available, the .380 is certainly a potential candidate for a self defense weapon when you really need something small and I may indeed pick one up someday. My current dislike for the format however has to do with the grip. I have medium sized hands and I find that most of the .380s that I have held are so short in the grip that I can only get my middle and index fingers on it, leaving my pinkie finger to twist in the wind. I’m just not yet an experienced enough shooter to feel comfortable with controlling a gun with only two fingers, so for the time being, I’m going to stick with slightly larger guns that allow me to get all three fingers securely around the grip.
The LC9 certainly passes that test, especially if you opt for the magazines with an extended floorplate that allows a good solid three finger grip. The problem though is that as I noted back in May, the LC9 is not a fun gun to shoot. It is so small and light that even a 115 grain 9mm round has a fairly substantial muzzle flip, so keeping the gun on target for successive shots becomes more of a challenge than I like. On top of this, while I initially thought that a Double Action Only (DAO) trigger was something that I was going to like, my actual experience is that it is fairly tedious. Let me digress for a moment and discuss the pros and cons of double action versus single action on concealed carry guns:
As I am not a police officer or other professional who has years of experience and training with guns, I’m very nervous having a cocked weapon in a holster close to my body. I know that modern firearms are very safe and that it is extremely unlikely that one would ever go off accidentally, but the instructors in every class that I have taken remind us safeties are mechanical and mechanical things can fail. With this in mind, I have three choices depending on the gun; no bullet in the chamber, a bullet in the chamber, but the gun not cocked, or a bullet in the chamber, the gun cocked, but the safety on. Given my lack of trust with safeties, my only real options are the first two. In the first case, if I need my weapon in a hurry, I have to draw it and then work the slide to chamber a round before it is ready to fire. This can take precious time that might mean the difference between life and death. In the second case, while there may be a round in the chamber, I still need to perform one additional step – manually cocking the weapon – before it is ready to use. If I were to consider the third scenario and overcome my lack of trust in safeties, I would still need to remember to disengage the safety after drawing the pistol before it could shoot. In a high stress situation, I would rather be in a situation where I can draw and pull the trigger knowing that the gun will fire.
The only option that makes sense to me is either a DAO gun or a Double Action / Single Action gun whereby I can fire the first shot simply by pulling the trigger and then the gun cocks itself for single action mode with each subsequent trigger pull. My LC9 went the former route – it required a very long double action trigger pull for each shot and this is another area that ultimately got to me. The trigger pull was so long that my first few panic shots would not be accurate until I settled down and got control of the trigger pull. What I really wanted was a DA/SA where the first trigger pull might be long, but subsequent shots would go off with the much shorter and lighter single action pull.
Since we are talking about safeties, there is one other “feature” of the Ruger that I grew to despise – the magazine disconnect safety. Basically, a magazine disconnect safety locks the gun from firing whenever the magazine is removed. Even if you have a round in the chamber, your gun is nothing more than a paperweight without a magazine in it. Now, I can understand why this feature is found on so many guns as it does help to prevent accidental discharges when the shooter drops the magazine and thinks the gun is empty, but does not realize that a bullet is still in the chamber. On a CCW pistol however that might easily find its way into your pocket, this could be a lethal feature. On more than one occasion at the range, I have pulled the gun from my pocket ready to fire and did not realize that while the gun was in my pocket, the magazine release button had been depressed and the magazine either was not fully seated or worse, dropped from my gun as I drew it. In either case, the gun would not have fired when I needed it to and had it been a life and death situation, it might very well have resulted in the end of my life. After this experience, I’m a firm believer in avoiding guns with magazine disconnect safeties – at least on guns that I might need to draw and use quickly in a crisis situation.
So, after that long and winding dissertation, we get to the point of this post. I have decided to replace my LC9 with a Sig Sauer P239 DA/SA in .40. The Sig Sauer P239 is 1/2 an inch longer and 1/2 inch taller than the Ruger and seems a bit wider as well. While it is not quite as concealable as the LC9, the slightly larger size is something that I can get used to. It is also somewhat heavier, but it makes good use of the extra size and weight. Before purchasing one, I compared a 9 mm version of the Sig to the LC9 and shot them side by side using the same ammunition. The difference between the guns was frankly astounding. Whereas it usually took me a couple of shots to dial in my LC9, every round that left the Sig was dead on target. Add to this the fact that the Sig I bought is a DA/SA gun, I could keep one round in the chamber and fire it DA, but follow-up shots were fired SA meaning that I could get the bullets out a lot faster than I could on my LC9. The DA/SA version of the P239 is hammer rather than striker fired and has a decocking lever so that I can safely have a round in the chamber, but still get it out without having to manually cock the gun before it fired.
The P239 lacks the hated magazine disconnect safety so in a clutch situation, I still would be able to get one round out before having to search for an ejected magazine. Sig Sauer also allows you to purchase alternative barrels for the P239, so while the gun I bought is chambered in .40, I can purchase a 9mm barrel (and 9mm magazines) which allows me to practice with the P239 using the cheaper 9mm ammunition. One thing to note here – If you buy a Sig P239 chambered in .40 or .357 Sig, you can swap out a 9mm barrel with no problem. If on the other hand, you get a 9mm version, you can’t upgrade to the .40 or .357 barrels as the spring that comes with the 9mm version is not strong enough to handle the more powerful .40 or.357 Sig rounds. Sig Sauer also offers this gun with two different kinds of DAO triggers if that is your preference, but as I said earlier, I prefer the DA/SA style myself.
Okay, so what is the downside? Well, Sig Sauer pistols are not known for their bargain basement pricing. Whereas you should be able to procure an LC9 for $350 – $375 or so, the Sig P239 is going to set you back over $700. As anyone will tell you, Sig Sauer builds some of the best pistols out there and you pay the price. On top of that, the P239 is a fully metal framed pistol whereas the LC9 has a polymer frame. At the end of the road though, you have to decide what is best for you. For a pistol that might one day save my life, the extra 3 Benjamins is a price that I am willing to pay, but your mileage may vary.
Overall, I am quite pleased with this purchase and look forward to using my Sig Sauer P239 as my primary CCW for the foreseeable future.
One of the things that many new gun owners are curious about is the legality of things like fully automatic weapons and silencers. To answer the question as to the legality of these items, one must look at both Federal and State laws.
First, we must consider the Federal Laws which supersede any state statutes. There are several Federal Laws to consider. The first is the National Firearms Act of 1934. Basically, this act established that the Treasury (read: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms or BATF) was the governing body for the transfer or automatic weapons. It also established a transfer tax of $200 whenever a fully automatic weapon is transferred from one owner to another. Now, back in 1934, $200 was a great deal of money and the purpose of the law was to discourage the transfer of automatic weapons. As with many laws that come out of congress, this law was not completely thought out, so the $200 tax stamp was not set up to adjust for inflation. Today, the same $200 tax applies and while it is not a trivial amount of money, it is far less of a barrier than it once was.
The next law to consider is The Firearms Owners’ Protection Act of May 19, 1986 which basically drew a line in the sand as to which types of automatic weapons civilians are allowed to possess. Basically, it said that automatic weapons manufactured prior to 1986 that had been legally licensed were grandfathered in. These weapons can be transferred between collectors subject to the 1934 law. In short, this means that the total quantity of available automatic weapons is essentially capped. It is not legal to possess an automatic weapon manufactured after 1986. The upshot of this is that with a fixed supply, automatic weapons are extremely expensive. You want to buy an M16? Be prepared to part with upward of $15,000 dollars for one assuming that you can find someone willing to sell one to you. I’ve found Impact Guns to be a good website for finding fully automatic weapons. Today when I checked, they had some that were as low as $5,000, but in any event, procuring an automatic weapon is not going to be cheap.
Assuming you can find one you want to buy and have the cash to do it, you must go through a number of steps to get one. First of all, you need to complete the BATF forms which include submitting a picture and a fingerprint card that is filled out by your local police department. You must also obtain the signature of the local top police official (usually the chief) acknowledging that you have his permission to buy a fully automatic weapon. You submit this application along with the $200 transfer tax and then wait until you receive approval from the BATF. This usually takes about 90 days. The downside of this is that there are a whole lot of folks at both the local and Federal levels that know exactly what kinds of automatic weapons you have in your possession.
Beyond the Federal laws, there are state laws to consider. Your state may or may not have laws regulating or prohibiting the possession of a machine gun. If so, then you must follow those local laws as well. It is especially important to know the local laws if you move from one state to another. If you lived in a state that allowed machine guns, but move to one that does not, then you need to get rid of your gun before you move or else you face local prosecution.
Silencers are also regulated by the BATF and are also subject to the $200 transfer tax and BATF transfer documentation procedures. Again, states individually regulate whether or not you are permitted to possess silencers and as a heads up here, there are even fewer states where silencers are legal than there are states that allow machine guns.
Silencers and Machine Guns are all considered Class 3 devices and you need to make sure that you are working with a dealer that holds a Class 3 license.
I have the privilege of living in New Hampshire where just about anything legal under the Federal Laws is legal in the state, but many of the border New England states are not as enlightened. Be very sure you know the local as well as the Federal Laws as the government has zero tolerance for violations in this area.
