All posts in Magazines

Concealed carry advice, how many magazines?

What caliber are you comfortable with?  What kind of gun do you want to carry,  a Smith & Wesson 38 Special airweight or do you want to carry a full size Beretta 92 Brigadier.   I always tell my students that when they are choosing a firearm, they really should be realistic about what kind of threats they anticipate.   If you are carrying for your business and carrying gold or lots of cash, you may want to wear a bullet proof vest and carry a full size auto.  If you are a civillian that is just wanting to have the ability to carry and defend yourself, a 5 shot revolver may be more confortable to carry.

When I get my students to the range, I always start off with 38 Special revolvers.  I show the difference in recoil between airweight revolvers and something like a Smith & Wesson Model 19.    Just because the gun is smaller doesn’t mean that it’s easier to control, as we work our way up the chain of firearms, the next we use is a Kahr PM9.   I think it’s extremely reasonable to carry atleast 1 handgun magazine and Kahr magazines are meant for Kahr firearms.   If you are driving in a vehicle, I also suggest you keep atleast one loaded magazine in the vehicle.

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Pocket guns with firepower

Kahr firearms has made some real grounds in the CCW world.  Whenever I talk to some of my shooting buddies about what type of gun I should consider carrying it always ends up being J-Frames, Kahr and then something else.   I never really jumped on the pocket semi-auto bandwagon, but I would have to say that many of my friends have had very good experieneces with Kahr firearms.   My only real interest in buying there products would be one of the M1 Carbines from Auto-Ordnance but I’m not sure if that really counts.    The Sig 239 has turned out to be my primary small semi-auto but I have to admit that even though it fits in a pocket, it is still too heavy to carry there.

Kahr firearms come in the popular .380 caliber, 9mm, 40 S&W and the potent 45acp.  I think the idea of a pocket 45acp is a good idea, but I highly suggest you do some reasearch into how often you will need to replace recoil springs.  Many small semi-autos need more lubrication and spring maintenance and this will play a major factory in gun magazine and recoil spring reliability.  The smaller the gun, the more you will have to be concerned about limp wristing, also.   Kahr magazines are in the $30 price range, but I would seriously consider keeping atleast 3 of them for each gun you own.

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Rotate your ammo and rotate your mags

There are various stages of CCW experience, those that have made the mistakes, those that have witnessed the mistakes and those that are doomed to see both.  Although a gun owner may be observing all of the firearm safetey rules there are still many things to keep in consideration when CCW a firearm.   Even though a gun hasn’t been fired, if it is being carried it will fill up lint or the gun can become dry.  I have carried guns through out the summer months and found out that I’ve rusted out screws or pitted firearms.  Clean your CCW guns for reliability sake, but also for protection.

It is extremely important for you to rotate your carry ammo.  Many reloaders know the importance of having the proper bullet crimp to prevent bullet setback, but this is something that is inevitable going to occur if you keep closing the slide on the same bullet.  Even if you are not shooting up your ammo, rotate the ammo in your gun magazines to make sure you are not slamming the same first round.  Defensive ammo can be expensive and I realize that you aren’t going to want to shoot it all up after a couple times of cleaning  your ammo.  If you rotate just an 8rd magazine full of defensive ammo, you should be able to dissassemble and clean the gun safetly about 24 times with the same magazine.

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Are Promags magazines any good?

Here’s the really short answer to that, that are good and they are better than they were a decade ago.  For those that went through the horror of having to deal with the 1990s and the BS from the assault weapons ban, many of us had to scrounge around looking for pistol magazines that cost 1/4 of what factory gun magazines cost.   I would normally say that you should really stick with the factory magazines that you have for your firearm, but MecGar and Promag do make decent magazines and they are considered in he B+ category.   I would say that the cost of these mags vs factory magazines insn’t significant, but you can get them for a reasonable price.

My Beretta 92FS is probable the most tested out gun I own that has used non-factory magazines.  I even have some no name magazines that hold 18rds each, but I to this date have no idea who made them and they have been extremely reliable.   I had a pistol course a few years ago in New Jersey where I had to leave all of my 15rd + magazines at home and only bring 10rd magazines with me, Promag Magazines ran the course and although I was shooting ball ammo, I had zero malfunctions out of over 300rds fired.   I never got around to testing them out with defensive ammo, but I highly suggest you test magazines with the ammo before you get into your comfort zone.

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Ruge 10/22 possible the most fun semi-auto

I’m sure there are plenty of guys out there, or ladies that have a lot of military experience and got to shoot some neat stuff.   Comparing the Ruger 10/22 to being  in fire control on an AC130 Spectre gun ship is comparing apples to oranges.  I will say that I have shot a lot of semi-auto military style weapons and although I have fun shooting them, bringing a wife or friend that lacks the experience or has a fear of recoil can limit the types of firearms you are using.   The first Ruger 10/22 I owned had a pretty long break in period.  I had a lot of issues getting it to reliable cycle, but I had  a lot of  friends that gave me advice on how to tweak these firearms and having a reliable break in period was normal.
A friend suggested that I just fire a lot of ammo through it and eventually it will break in.   Anothe friend said to use some hot ammo like 22lr stingers and it will speed up the process.   I tried both of these, but after about 500rds, I still was annoyed at how many jams I had, I thought it was the gun magazines, but we’ll soon find out.   My other friend suggested I take the gun appart and try to polish it with nylon pads, very similar to what you use to clean dishes.   I took  his advice and spent about 15 minutes polishing the gun, I used a little CLP inside and took it out for another range trip.    I tried shooting some cheap Remington 22LR ammo and the gun functioned almost 100% of the time.   I was probable getting a failure to fire less than every 300rds which for a 22LR rifle, that is not that bad.

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Ruger LCP 238 experiences

Today I got to fire a Ruger LCP along with the LCR revolver.  There seems to be a lot of breha when it comes to getting a .380 pistol these days.  I don’t think I really ever felt the urge to go that small when it comes to calibers, but since CCW is actually more popular now than it was 10yrs ago, and people are finding that small compact semi-autos are far more reliable than previously, people will take the light weight over a larger caliber.   The Ruger LCP can take laser grips from Crimson trace, and I highly suggest that you consider that.  I was never a big fan of putting lasers on handguns until I started thinking about very small and compact firearms that had terrible small sights.   The laser grips will help improve your hits and give confidence.

I have several Ruger factory gun magazines for my LCP, but I decided to pick up a few Promag magazines.   Promag had a good reputation in the 1990s for magazines that weren’t as pricey as factory magazines, but were still considered reliable.   I have several magazines for my Beretta 92FS, and although I did have a jam on one hollow point round, it has never jammed on ball ammo.   I would consider these to be excellent range magazines, but I would do a lot of testing to make sure you are sure the gun feeds reliable with an defensive ammo.   Some magazines may need to be tweaked a little and if you have problems be sure to call a factory rep.   Most gun magazine manufacturers will replace a magazine if it does not work properly.

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Keep your range mags and your primaries separate

Gun magazines have various levels of quality.   Some gun magazines are meant as throw aways i.e. 1911 magazines made in Tawain.   I have several 1911 GI magazines that were pretty good range mags, but when they jammed up on me, and I could blame it on the gun springs, it was time to toss them.   Buying Wolff gun springs that cost about $8 for an $8 magazine isn’t really worth my time, plus I’ve found that many of these have worn out followers and it’s really not worth the headach to tweak them, plus I’d consider them to not be worth using for self defense.   Wilson Combat and Chip McCormick make very good gun magazines and both of them should help get your 1911 to be more tolerant of various types of ammunition.

The one thing I have learned over the years is that no matter how much money I spent on a firearm, I’m still going to have something break.  When you put thousands of rounds through a firearm the you will eventually have to learn some level of gunsmithing.   After taking some of my guns to gunsmiths and having to wait for months to get simple things done, it’s good to pick up an AGI video and do the changes yourself.   The same goes for gun magazines.   Parts on a gun magazine can wear out and depending on how much you spent on the magazine, you may want to just toss it in the trash.  For some magazines, you will only have to replace the springs to get it back to reliable functionality.

 

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Gun holsters, concealed carry, accessories and Carbine upgrades

We carry a  lot of gun accessories and gun holsters and we are always eager to hear back from our customers about which products they like the most.   We have trimmed our inventory several times after getting feedback and reviews from our customers and we are very happy with the products we are selling.   Firearms are much better made than even just 20yrs ago due to superior technological changes in the production and manufacturing of synthetic materials and product consistancy.   Many rifle scopes and tactical optics are being made with etched glass and not mounted.  This has a huge impace on the life and durability of an optic.  I remember the tactical scopes I saw at gun shows in the 1990’s that cost $40.   I have since broken every optic that ever was mounted on a firearm that cost under $150.   I guess I do more shooting that the average gun guy, but why waste the money inexpensive tactical gear or rifle optics.

A good hunting scope can be had in the $200 price range and there isn’t always a need to have to spend a grand or more.   Get good Leupold rifle scope mounts and use loctite to on the screws for added reliability.   If you are looking for tactical gear or a tactical rifle scope, then you’re really going to  have to cough up the money and spend the cash.   There are many applications for tactical rifle optics, zero magnification like the Eotech combat optic, or low magnification with a added magnifier on your Eotech or go with low magnification medium range optics like the Trijicon ACOG.   Long range shooting means finding the right reticle that applies to the type of shooting you want to do.

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Wilson combat 1911 gun parts

Everyone that I know that owns a 1911 made some kind of upgrade or customization.   I personally think that, that is the norm and it’s good to suggest to gun buyers that you should expect to customize the gun, especially when it comes to gun grips.   There are a lot of things you can do to improve upon the GI 1911 gun that the military used.   The first thing that I always recommend is getting the sights replaced with your own preferences.   I personally love the way that Glock sights give a good sight picture and I have had very good experiences with training with my Glocks, but I still love my 1911s.   Beavertail can be dropped in and you won’t have to worry about gun smithing, 99% of the time.   The Wilson Combat Skeleton hammer and thumb safeties are also things to think about upgrading to.

An issue I have had with my big hands is that whenever I put on my preferred gun grips which are Hogue fingerless grips I sometimes it can become difficult to sweep the gun safeties or hit the slide release.  I found this out the hard way with a 1911 and had to put in an extended slide release.    You learn from experience but be aware that replacing any part of the gun may mean making another adjustment somewhere else.   Wilson Combat magazines are very reliable and lightweight and drop from all of my guns when the magazine release is hit.   Not all magazines drop freely and this is something to pay attention to whenever you are testing out your CCW or defensive gear.

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Tactical gear and clothing

There are a lot of words that get thrown around in the firearm industry that are fairly broad.    Tactical clothing these days may sound like BDUs to one person and 5.11 tactical clothing to another.    Tactical gear can mean anything from a folding stock to a knife, or a $1500 rifle scope.    The word “tactical” doesn’t really tell you what something is going to be used for in the field.    I have some pretty dressed down AR15 rifles that to some people, just look like violent weapons and scare them, while most of us that are familiar with the accessorized M4 Carbine, will find a A2 style AR15 to be  pretty bland.

The so called tactical clothing and concealed carry markets seem to be new markets and these terms get thrown around a lot but don’t really tell us much.  To the trained individual, they can spot a knife in the pocket and 5.11 style pants from a mile away and loads of pockets full of tactical gear and usually that’s a dead giveaway that someone is carrying a firearm.   Think about what purpose your clothing is to serve and adapt to it.   There are more than a few good clothing companies that are making concealed carry friendly apparel.

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