Molly Wins!

Congrats to Molly who won the Ladies match at the May 17th Dayton Glock GSSF Match.

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She shot pretty well, straight up factory Glock G34 and only her 2nd GSSF Match.  

Bring forth the prizes.

Oh and Claudine did well too, so did Maria who shot her first ever glock match and had only been ‘checked’ out on the 9mm Glock that morning on our range.   She’s going to do well in the future.

Once again I had a horrible time with my Unlimited gun (Ammo Case Check FAIL)

Sorry no photos at this time.   I hope to scrounge some up later.

First Real 17c Shakedown.

July 21, 2013 Results:

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(Other competitors names blurred to protect the innocent, but let’s just say I know 2 of them pretty well and they are very very good shooters.   I don’t know the guy who was A4)

Seriously though, it was a good outing, even though I blew it on Stage 2.   But as someone once told me; “A Win is a Win”.  Smile

It was also the 2nd fastest non-rimfire time for the evening.   Beaten only by Sean, who’s not human so he doesn’t count.

This is my poor man’s 9mm Open/Unlimited gun:

17c

  • Glock 17c (compensated), factory ported barrel.
  • Trigger mods (polishing, connector, lightened striker + springs, 11lb recoil spring, more polishing).
  • C-More STS 7MOA, plus lever so that you don’t grab the C-More to rack the slide.  C-More is currently mounted in the rear site dove tail with the standard adapter.
  • Not shown: Extended Magazine Release (catch).

Last week did not go so well, as I had forgotten to add the extended magazine release, and reloads were neigh impossible at speed.

Is the 17[c] part significant?  I don’t think so.  It certainly makes more noise but I’m not convinced it shoots any flatter than my non c 17, and certainly not any flatter than my 34.

But it sure is fun.

If you’re interested in shooting steel.  Friday Night Steel is a great place to start.   Very laid back and noob friendly.

-MD

Kudos to Raven Concealment Systems

Last fall at the Steel Challenge Indy State meet, we won a couple of gift certificates for Raven Concealment holsters.

At first I thought, yeah, uhm, well OK.   Just what I need another holster.   I need that like I need another hole in my head.   Years ago when we took our CCW class the instructor said, “There are 8 million holster possibilities, and you’ll probably go through, on average 8 per gun, until you find one you like.”.   Yeah, sure what ever.   Turns out that’s not all that far from the truth.

Let’s see for the Glock that I normally carry, I have:

  • A custom leather inside the waist band holster from a local firm.
  • Multiple paddle holsters from various manufacturers for IDPA and what not.
  • Even the Cheapie Glock $14 Duty holster, which for on the belt use is the best value out there hands down.
  • And of course a Cross Breed super-tuck, which I initially hated, but it grew on me and I now find it very comfortable.
  • Plus various other IWB holsters of ebay.  You do get what you pay for.

So when we got these gift certificates I thought great, just what I need.   Then I looked at their website.  $80 for a kydex holster, are you kidding me?  That thing is HUGE and ugly.

And it is:

PhantomSlick1260-500x500-500x500

On top of that there’s an 18 week wait?  You can’t be serious with this real lenders here.

So we looked at how we’d best spend our award.   Ordered a holster for the G19/G26.  One for the P238 and one for the LCP. 

We received them Saturday and I’ve worn it for two days.   Wow.  It hugs close, and is super comfortable.  Easy to draw and re-holster.     I hate to say it, but it’s worth the money and worth the wait.

Well done Raven, well done.

Claudine’s new heater.

Claudine has hinted around, asked for, and basically used passive aggressive techniques to indicate that she wanted her “Own” Glock 34, which is what she mostly shoots when she shoots production, IDPA, or what ever.   She was also quite clear that she wanted a pink or purple gun.  Of course I always told her; “Hell no, that’s dumb, once you paint it you can’t ever go back, why would you do that?”

So for her birthday I decided to hook her up.

ClaudinesBirthdayHeater

How this all fell into place.

1) I used my GSSF Annual purchase discount to buy a Glock 34 ($695 list but they can generally be found for around $600).   The GSSF price was $507, so that’s a pretty darn good deal.  If you’re not aware, GSSF is Glocks Sport Shooting Foundation It’s Glock’s sporting arm.  In order to shoot in a Glock sponsored match you need to join the GSSF.  One of the benefits is the ability to purchase 1 gun a year per membership after your first year at a reduced price.  What they don’t make clear is that nobody knows how to do this.  Most dealers don’t.   What you are essentially buying is a Glock “blue label” gun, or a gun for and at law enforcement discounts.    There aren’t many Glock LEO dealers around.   Of course there is TargetWorld, but when I asked them about it they looked at me like I had 3 heads, even though they do the indoor GSSF shoot there.    Skipping to the chase, you can also buy them from Miami Valley Shooting Grounds.  So I talked to Dana the owner and made the trip.   The purchase was simple.

2) Even thought the Gen 34 has a better ‘trigger’ than most, I still did my magic.  Connector, polishing, springs.   Trigger is at a true, solid 3.2 lbs.

3) Added the green high-viz sight that Claudine says she prefers.

4) Converted this Gen 4 to use a Gen 3 recoil spring.   New guide rod, spring and adapter thingy.   We tune our loads and need/want tune-ability and that’s not currently readily available for the Gen 4 with their new double-recoil spring set up.

Once I had prepped it and done what I do, I handed it off to my buddy for paint. He used Duracoat Firearm Finish (paint), hard ass enamel like paint.

Colors used on this gun:
Frame: Lars Larson Commie Pinko
Slide:  Goddess Purple

My buddy Jeff painted it up and it was done a few weeks ago.  If you’d like a gun painted reach out to him:  jeffsteley[at]gmail.com  His standard pricing is:

Single color 100.00
2 tone 150.00
Revolvers (needs quoting)

The picture doesn’t really do the purple justice.   It’s a sweet nice dark purple.  I felt like a pink slide would be too distracting hence the darker color up top.   Some people find Glock frame’s a bit slippery and the DuraCoat doesn’t help hence the grip thingy.

So there you have it.  Yes men, I bought my wife a gun for her birthday.  No I did not buy a vacuum cleaner, which is what we really need.   She genuinely seems to like it.  I have not been threatened or penalized in any way for doing this. Smile

But Claudine is a special person/wife.  So that might have something to do with it.

Love you honey.  But yes, your gun was in the house under your nose for the last 3 weeks.  And yes you came downstairs and sat next to me and carried on a discussion while I did the trigger job.   Though it wasn’t yet pink.  Smile

Reloading, with new components.

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Reloading is fun and economical.  I outlined why I wanted to do it in an article a while back, almost a year to the day:  Reloading 101

For the last year we’ve mostly shot ammo that we’ve reloaded.  Except for maybe 300 rounds of factory, everything we shot this year was reloaded.

So here are the things I’ve learned this year.

1) Cast Lead, while economical, pretty much sucks.  I’ve shot it for a year now, about 12k rounds through various guns (All Glocks), some with aftermarket barrels but we’ve probably put 6k rounds down the Glock 34 this year alone with no ill effects.   Accuracy is fine, it’s just dirtier.

Disclaimer:  Glock says don’t do this.   I’m convinced the reason they say that is because people don’t clean their guns.  I do, before and after every match and generally speaking every time I shoot them.  Yes, I have shot a GSSF match with my LEAD reloads.  I could also give my gun to the Glock Armorer after cleaning and they’d never know it had lead through it.  You just have to keep it clean.

Cast Lead, even good bullets from SNS Casting are dirty.  Speed shooting through a smoke screen is no fun, and in fact I’m kind of tired of it so I’m switching.

Cast Lead is dirty, you will need to clean your guns more often if you use it.  You should clean them anyway, which is why the dirty gun part didn’t bother me.

Cast Lead with a compensator sucks though, the comp will lead up and it’s a bitch to get off.   Another reason I’m switching up.

It’s dirty when you reload, and well, it’s lead.   I’m very diligent about washing my hands after I reload or shoot.  But reload 400 rounds and your bullet handling hand will be frickin dirty, scrub brush required dirty.   Reloading with plated bullets eliminates this.

I’m about 2/3rds the way through my first order from Montana Gold Bullet, Inc. and I’m really liking the results so far.

Reloading is cleaner, shooting is cleaner, and no smoke screen after things get heated up.  

So if you have $340 just laying around, hit them up and order me a box of 9mm 115gr FMJ’s.   You’ll find them here

Your purchase will help further my shooting as well as further promote “Super Molly” in the shooting world.   She needs your support cause I can’t afford her alone Winking smile.

Here’s Molly on one of the stages.  Strings 3 and 5 where her best, but it wasn’t her best day by a long shot.  We’d all been sick and struggling with bronchitis.  So that kind of sucked.

Molly, Glock 34 @ Steel Challenge 2012

I just finished reloading 800 rounds tonight which will get us through Friday Night Steel and the GSSF Match this weekend.  Yep it’s work, but the cost is still about half of factory.

I have never bought new brass.   From the day we started shooting I’ve been saving it.  So when we started reloading, I already had a bunch.   I was given a bucket load by a fellow shooter who had more than he could ever use.

We’ve pretty much maintained that quantity all year long.  We pick up the brass we shoot when we can, but there have been plenty of lost brass matches.   We pretty much volunteer at the local shoots, and if you get your hands dirty setting up or tearing down, you’ll likely be able to pick up some brass.    Again, we’ve bought absolutely ZERO casings.

So, CASE CHECK YOUR AMMO.

Especially before a match.   I’ve had a few ‘issues’ but only about 3 and never if I case checked it.    I get in a hurry and sometimes don’t and I’ve had two rounds stick in the camber that had to be pounded out with a squib rod.  WHOLE rounds mind you, no squibs.

I have had 2 squibs this year with FACTORY FEDERAL .22 ammo that we shoot in Rimfire.  Too bad I can’t reload that.  These were show stopping, bullet stuck in the barrel squibs.  From FACTORY AMMO.  So I’m convinced, do it right and you too can have better ammo than factory.

I’ve used Federal Primers exclusively.  We’ve ‘slicked up’ our Glocks and they can be prone to light strikes with CCI primers, so I just don’t use them.  I’ve had 0 failure to fires this year with my reloads with Federal primers.

Powder, still using Alliant Bullseye.   I like it, it works.

So yeah, if you shoot, you should reload.  It’s fun, and far more economical.  We honestly couldn’t afford to do it if we didn’t.

Happy shooting.