Archive for December 19th, 2010

Valley Forge Gun Show in PA, finding gun parts

It has been  year since I got out to the Valley Forge Gun Show here in Pennsylvania.  It is probable the 3rd largest gun show after the Pittsburgh NRA Convention, and the Harrisburg Farm Complex.   There are some pretty big fluctuations from year to year.   Two Years ago there was a run on ammunition and firearms because Obama was elected.   Then move forward 2 years and there are a lot of good deals on used firearms because all of the people that lost their jobs are looking to get there money back.   I predicted that and I also predicted that there would be a reset on ammunition prices.

This weekend I went to the show to price gun magazines, ammunition, rifle accessories and reloading supplies.   I picked up large primers, small primers, pistol primers and rifle primers just because I could.   That was another thing that just flat out disappeared.   Primers seem to be under $30 now and that’s not too bad.  I next went to the pistol and rifle magazine section and picked up Glock 19 magazines.  I saw piles of Wilson Combat magazines, but I never noticed any shortages on those magazines, EVER. I noticed the Korean Glock 19 magazines looked well made, and they were only $10 each, but I didn’t want to take the chance since I knew nothing about their reputations.

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Does a small semi-auto CCW gun mean more fragile?

It sure use to mean that, but pocket guns have come a long way.   Defensive ammo has gone a long way in recent years and the 38 special ammo your grandfather used in Law Enforcement is not the 38 Special you have today.    I did some chrono tests with a Smith & Wesson Model 19 and the  feet per second velocity between that and j-frame Model 637 was dramatic.   I was breaking 1000ft per second with the j-frame and it really literally blew me away.   I always thought that having a 4 inch barrel on a gun meant that it was shooting a load faster, but not the case with these two guns.

A friend of mine told me that everything he thought he knew about ballistics was thrown out the door when he got his first Chronograph and I agree.   I also though that because a gun fit in my pocket that it had to be weaker.  I am still trying to unlearn what I had learned with pocket guns, but another buddy of mine did some ballistic tests where he proved that his 32acp penetrated ballistic gelatin as well as a 38 special.   While there is definitely some variations in results from firearms, the ammo you put in your Kahr PM9 and the 6rd or 7rd Kahr magazines that you are using, may be far more potent than you realize.   The Kahr firearms are probable one of the most durable small guns out there and they have had several improvements over the years that put them above their competitors.

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