CCO 1911 & the SIG 320

 Is anyone hack sawing SIG 320s?

CCO 1911 & Glock Hacks

The "ideal" carry Glock in .357 SIG would have a G17-size slide with a G26-size handle. So, maybe. There is a lot to unwrap here, BUT there might be a short cut.

Can you just short circuit the whole problem by throwing a G31 barrel in a G33 gun?

Actually, it looks like it won't work: https://www.glocktalk.com/threads/are-glock-handguns-barrels-interchangeable.1787366/

So, well. Time to get out the hacksaw. And it'd be cheaper. The original work around.

The Most Pedestrianly Exciting Shot Show 2022 Release

There is enough to be all aflutter about a few releases that were actually or sort of made at Shot Show 2022. 

Mega-boutique gunmaker KelTec's P15 demands a response from the blue-collar gun makers. 

.30 Super Carry raises many questions including: (1) Is it hype? (2) Will it ka-BOOM pistols? (3) Will it gain traction? 

A four-column (A)rmalite (R)ifle magazine receiver. 

A hunting cartridge that is perfected for a shorty bolt-action. And it is 8 or 9mm or something.

Franklin Armory's ridiculously expensive G-S173 binary trigger system (pretty much everything but the frame, barrel, and recoil rod and spring). 

credit: TheFirearmsBlog

Harrington & Richardson has been reinvented with a retro M-16A1 clone being its first release. H&R really does still holds some trademarks to and full technical specifications for the M-16, because H&R was one of the original manufacturers. And guess what. Palmetto State Armory bought H&R in the Remington liquidation.

So what's the big news? Taurus has a .327 Federal Magnum revolver already cataloged on its website. It looked very exciting, because it looks very similar to the 856 UL revolver - the 6-shot .38-Special Ultra-Lite version of Taurus's 5-shot model 85. Unfortunately, the current offering of the Taurus 327 is a full-weight albeit snubnose 6-shot format tipping the scales at 22 oz. It's at a nice MSRP of $371 and 5 cents.

I really hope Taurus has a 327 UL in its back pocket. Maybe it will be called the 3277 UL - keeping the trend going for Taurus of adding a round at the same time that the Ultra-Lite version appears.

credit: Shooting Illustrated

KelTec's NEW P15 vs. the OLD PF9 (and, yeah, of course the SIG P365)

credit: KelTec

KelTec Joins The Fun

The #Micro9 craze has been going great guns, since SIG Sauer introduced the P365. Well, not really. It took the other players a few years to catch up. Unfortunately, KelTec was early to the party and sat in a folding chair on the edge of the dance. Let me digress.

KelTec had the P11 for years. It sort of took Smith & Wesson mags that were from S&W  old metal DA/SA pistols, but it came with a 10-round "proprietary" mag based on the S&W mag. It was everything the SIG P365 came to be. Don't laugh!

Before we get into the nitty gritty, who are the players in the industry?

Micro 9s (order of intro)

KelTec P11 (1995-2019)

SIG P365 (2018-now)

Springfield Armory Hellcat (2019-now)

S&W  M&P Shield Plus (2021-now)

Ruger MAX-9 (2021-now)

KelTec P15 (2022-now)

And to celebrate the P11 that was ahead of its time - a Viking funeral.

The Nitty Gritty

How does the KelTec P15 stacks up to the gun it sort of pretty much replaced - the KelTec P11? And how does it compare to the lightest 9 - the KelTec PF9? How does it size up to the SIG P365 - the quintessential micro 9?

Well, hell that's inconclusive! Is the KelTec P15 a SIG P365 killer, or is it just a little bit too tall?

NEXT: KelTec P15:  Glock-19 Killer! 

.30 Super Carry IS .32 Super!

 UPDATE:1/6/22 4:00 PM

UPDATE: 1/6/22 11:43 AM

Why is no one saying this?

Same caliber: .312

.30 Super Carry (credit: American Rifleman)

.32 ACP (credit: Wikipedia)

This all looks pretty much the same as the .38 ACP/.38 Super situation - except the semi rim. Oh, and also the fact that .30 Super Carry has a bigger case. Close enough.

.30 Super Carry (credit: The Gun Dungeon)

Well, The Gun Dungeon on Rumble.com did make the connection that .30 Super Carry is pretty much a .32 ACP Magnum, which dismisses the logical conclusion that it really is a .32 Super.

Of course, Glock could have cut this off at the knees by producing a guaranteed-to-be-unsuccessful .32 GAP.

.32 ACP (credit: LoadData.com)

Revolvers Are Great: Revolver vs. Autoloader for CCW (Part 3)

Differences. It's all about the differences.

Will You Carry It?

It's all about size, weight, ease of concealment, and feeling comfortable with the damn thing. All of the above could be a deal breaker. Two people could buy the same 16 ounce revolver and have two different outcomes as far as being willing to carry the gun. Different modes of carry affect how it prints and feels. People are shaped differently. 

There are so many factors, but different holsters can mitigate any issues. So I believe that choosing between a revolver and a semiauto will depend on other factors more than exact comfort. I could be wrong, especially when someone that wears more form fitting clothes has to make a choice, which means more concern about comfort and printing. 

Training Up

Revolvers seem to provide more of an "easy entry" path to conceal carry. Checking to see if a gun is loaded and basic functions seem so obvious and intuitive with a revolver. That's why gun-store clerks seem to naturally try to put snubnose revolvers in the hands of women. Small revolvers can be a handle to shoot, but so can the lightweight .380s. 

Of course, the modern "troupe" is that you can getting anyway hitting the target, if you hand them a Glock G19. But I am not so sure that they wont' be shooting themselves in the thigh, if they take such an easy-to-shoot gun as their CCW gat.

So a revolver seems to be harder to shoot accurately. That probably is mitigated, because most non-LEO legal carriers will have to defend themselves at close range. But again, the semiauto has another advantage, mostly. Because of the long double-action trigger of revolvers, a person with an autoloader can most likely get their shots on target quicker. But then again, that is probably not needed.

For a more in-depth look at the differences between proficiency with an autoloader and a revolver, here is a video by Caleb Gidding:  

Ammo Cost

Ammo cost doesn't seem to a big deal, if you're just going to get a gun and not shoot it until you need it. But that doesn't seem very responsible. My wife wants to learn about handguns, get her CCW permit, and shoot regularly. And I want to shoot more. I'm of the opinion that you should shoot with your carry gun with carry ammo (at least analog, which ammo companies are capitalizing on) - NOT .22s or easier-to-shoot larger guns - at least when you are practicing for carrying.

So, practice costs money for range time and ammo.

(brass-cased FMJ 50 round box - 12/13/21 on LuckyGunner.com)

9mm        $23.50

.380        $37.00 (57% more)

.38 Special    $38.00 (62% more)

9mm wins this category on a round by round basis. But how many rounds would you put through a CCW gun at all - or in each caliber?

A Gun Is A Gun

Eventually, you have to make a choice. The conventional wisdom is that autoloaders have won the fight, but revolvers can ease an entry into CCW. And if one can handle the trigger pull and recoil - and make hits on target at typical non-LEO civilian ranges - then a revolver is good enough. So be it.

Kel-Tec's Chassis-System Pistol

Who knew that Kel-Tec has a pistol in it's line up that uses a serialized chassis instead of a serialized frame? Well, I did, sort of.

Credit: KelTecWeapons.com

A few years ago, I saw that the PF-9's serial number was on the back of the gun, and it appeared not to be on the polymer grip frame. So, I looked a little further, and walla! - I found nothing. So the thought of being able to easily, and without a transfer "tax" slipped from my mind.

credit: UBuy.gr

Last week, my wife said once again that she wants to get her CCW and a small pistol. .380 would be most practical size wise, but 9 mm is always more available. So I've been looking at all kinds of guns, and of course I drifted back to the absolutely lightest pistol (not revolver) - not the smallest one (that might be the Kahr CM9/PM9) - the Kel-Tec PF-9.

Then I started looking for recent, good video  reviews of and comparisons with the PF-9. There aren't many. Then I stumbled on the a recent video about the P11 - the original double stack micro 9. Which made me check Kel-Tec's sight for dimension info, and naturally to their "so long" video for the P11. Which is on You Tube, on Kel-Tec's channel. So I started scrolled and stumbled on this, their video for switching the grim frame of the PF-9.

Wait a cotton picking minute! That's a chassis system, but ...

If you watch the video, then you realize that taking the gun apart and putting it back together could be a comedy of errors. Stuff can fall off the chassis, and there is a distinct possibility that you will assemble a nonfunctioning pistol - if you're not careful. 

And what is the advantage for you to switch grip frames with the PF-9?: (1) Change colors. (2) replace a broken grip frame without having to retransfer your firearm

So for the earliest chassis-system pistol that I know of, Kel-Tec has done a piss-poor job of capitalizing on it. Could they already have done a slim double-stack modern micro 9?

Staten Island Xmas Spirit

Let's Go Brandon

"To my friends on the South Shore: You're Welcome."

The ""Perfect" CCW for Wife AND Me

 Okay, okay! You caught me. I can't stop thinking about myself, when I am researching guns. My wife is looking for a CCW handgun, but I am the guide, because I know more about guns than she does. So I look for her, and I of course think about what would be best for me.

While stopping by a gun store, my wife said that she wants to get the smallest gun possible. The salesperson said that people don't look for guns anymore, because of - cellphones. So, his opinion was the largest and controllable is ideal. Well, all around food for thought.

We have gone from the .357 Ruger LCR as the probable choice a year or so ago back to thin autoloaders. But taking a step back, we were leaning toward thin 9mm autoloaders for a couple of reasons: (1) they are thin and (2a) 9mm is the most available cartridge right now, and (2b) I've got some at home.

When my wife - let's call her Marie - was looking at the guns in the case and handling some, she was drawn toward the Ruger LCP II in .380 ACP. At the time, the gun store/range had no .380 ammo. She said fine; let's get something in 9mm that's really small.

 I went in a second time by myself, and I found out that their 50-count boxes of .380 are going for $100.  I reported back to Marie, and she was definitely on board with 9mm. On that second trip, I asked to look at the Kahr CM9. My wife doesn't have problems with racking slides, but I had heard that Kahr's were notorious for having hard-to-rack slides. She had no problem with the CW9 at our last range session (actually she had less problem with me racking the slide through the "locking-breach bum"), but I was convinced that the CM9 would be far worse. I was pleasantly surprised that the gun-handling operations were so easy. It is left to be seen if my wife feels the same way.

credit: Kahr.com

So, for this exercise that hopefully will end in an actual purchase, and I am taking that the Kahr CM9 has the idea.

credit: Kahr.com

The micro doublestack 9mms sort of put a wrench in the works, because they appear to be so "perfect," but we will see.

Wife's CCW Gun

My wife has decided once again that she wants a CCW pistol. Truth be told, I've been prodding her a bit.

And she has settled on the Urban Carry G3 holster.

AND she is now considering semiautos again. In the past, she was dead set on the .357 Ruger LCR.

So, here we go! Of course, this is all dependent on my wife's range (rental) sessions. But as a guy I feel compelled to be prepped for the chaos ;)