Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Just enough hotter, apparently.

So today was the date with the chronograph for the TulAmmo and PPU full metal jacket stuff. How much hotter does a round have to be than the Blazer Brass 115gr to ensure reliable functioning in this C9-A1? If you'll remember, the CCI load averaged 1097fps for a string of ten rounds, with the slowest being a decidedly subsonic 1055.

First, the Prvi Partizan...
PPU 124gr FMJ
LO: 1031
HI: 1090
AV: 1067
ES: 58.38
SD: 16.03
Slower than the Blazer Brass, but not by much, and with a heavier bullet, these rounds functioned the weapon just dandily.
And then the TulAmmo...
TulAmmo 115gr FMJ
LO: 1116
HI: 1201
AV: 1163
ES: 85.42
SD: 24.75
So, a pretty wide velocity spread, but the slowest was as fast as the fastest Blazer Brass, and the fastest TulAmmo round was a good bit faster than that.

It wasn't all sunshine and buttercups, though...
 
Russian primers are notoriously harder than woodpecker lips and striker-fired guns sometimes have issues popping them reliably. Round number 42 of the day (#472 of the test) didn't go off on the first time around, but when reloaded into the mag and cycled into the chamber again, it ignited normally. That goes against the gun, then.

This makes 530 rounds fired through the Steyr C9-A1 without cleaning or lubing, with two failures-to-fire (#8, #472), three failures to extract (#234, #266, #276), and one failure to go completely into battery (#116). 1,470 rounds left to go.
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Monday, May 16, 2016

Rain, rain, go away...

Hopefully the rains will stop long enough to clear out the raised beds in the front and back yards this week. Flowers would be nice, and maybe some herbs and a pepper plant or two. The frost warning yesterday morning was jarring. Good thing we didn't have any tomato starts going.
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Bigger booms are better booms...

So I ordered some ammo that I suspected would be warmer than 115gr Blazer Brass to see if that had any effect on reliability. Judging from the ejection patterns, I wasn't wrong about the TulAmmo and PPU being hotter than the CCI plinking loading.

Over the hundred rounds, there were no malfunctions of any type to report.

This makes 430 rounds fired through the Steyr C9-A1 without cleaning or lubing, with one failure-to-fire (#8), three failures to extract (#234, #266, #276), and one failure to go completely into battery (#116). 1,570 rounds left to go.
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Sunday, May 15, 2016

A training deal for a good cause...


WHEN?   JULY 31, 2016  8AM to 5PM.  Registration begins at 7:30AM!
WHERE?  4607 Sloan Rd, Nashville, TN 37209
WHY?  This is a tactical training conference to raise funds to help save the Oinkin’ Acres Farmstead, owned by US Army veteran, medic, Tactical Response Instructor, Paul-E-Palooza Cadre Member and Legendary Hebrew Hogger, Eli Miller.  In early 2016, Eli was involved in a lawful self-defense situation and his legal defense has caused enormous financial distress. All funds raised will go to saving the Farmstead.  In addition to the training, Eli will have available for purchase a variety of his prize-winning, heirloom pork products!  Support the Farmstead in the most delicious, bacon-y way possible.
WHO WILL BE PRESENTING?
Dr. Sherman A. House (The People’s Dentist and Revolver Science)
Dr. William Aprill (Aprill Risk Consulting)
Claude Werner (The Tactical Professor)
Mark Luell (Growing Up Guns)
Dana McLendon  (McLendon & Milligan, Attorneys at Law)
James Yeager (Tactical Response)
Paul Sharp (Sharp Defense)
WHAT?  Topics covered will include self preservation, criminal psychology, emergency medical skills, edged weapons, security and more.
COST? $100  LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE, SO REGISTER NOW
HOW?  Email Conference Administrators therealdoctorhouse0021@gmail.com for registration information, and liability release waiver.
PLEASE SHARE THIS ON YOUR BLOG, FACEBOOK PAGE, INSTAGRAM, AND TWITTER PAGES.  THANK YOU!

$100 for that training lineup is a steal, and the proceeds go to a good cause.
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It's a metaphor for the rest of the world.

There's a lot of running around and emoting while producing very little (in the way of points) and constantly wondering why America doesn't care more.

If it's Sunday, it's Meet The Press...unless those taint-snorting pretentious Euro wannabes at 30 Rock think I'd rather be watching Limies run around in short pants than yell at senators like grownups do on Sunday mornings.

Thanks NBC, you have thoroughly ganked my plans for a relaxing Sunday morning in bed. I guess I'll go get donuts and maybe go do some shooting at Indy Arms Co.
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Saturday, May 14, 2016

Super Mega Chrono Nerd Post

Six different .357SIG loads from Lucky Gunner had their date with the chronograph yesterday. The MCF&G range was still swampy in places, but there were more dry spots than wet ones in the bays. You wanted to watch where you walked in sneakers, though.

First, the full metal jacket practice ammo from the major domestic manufacturers:
Remington 125gr MC
LO: 1338
HI: 1369
AV: 1355
ES: 30.73
SD: 8.88
American Eagle 125gr FMJ
LO: 1326
HI: 1361
AV: 1344
ES: 35.66
SD: 12.80
Winchester 125gr FMJ
LO: 1335
HI: 1358
AV: 1349
ES: 22.62
SD: 7.14
As you can see, they're as alike as three peas in a pod, ballistics-wise, and all of them steamier by a hundred feet per second than the Speer Lawman FMJ I tested a week or so ago. Given the extra bright muzzle flash, I would have supposed the Remington to be noticeably faster than the others, but it was not to be.

I have to note that the consistency displayed by all three loadings bordered on freakish, with the Remington being especially a surprise. I may have to run another string from that lot number just because...

For defense ammo, I tried two pretty conventional .357SIG loadings from Winchester and Federal, and a wild card from Hornady. Remember that the .357SIG is, in design intention at least, a one-trick pony: It's intended to emulate the 125gr .357 Magnum rounds that had such a mythical rep for "stopping power" in law enforcement circles in the Eighties and Nineties. Putting Hornady's deep-penetrating 147gr bullet, normally operating at subsonic velocities from a 9mm pistol, atop the bottlenecked .357SIG case is unusual.
Hornady 147gr XTP
LO: 1169
HI: 1203
AV: 1188
ES: 34.18
SD: 11.78
Winchester Elite 125gr PDX1
LO: 1326
HI: 1369
AV: 1346
ES: 42.90
SD: 14.00
Federal Tactical 125gr HST
LO: 1339
HI: 1380
AV: 1356
ES: 40.62
SD: 13.63
As you can see, the XTP is well and truly supersonic when launched from the 4" Glock 32 and should probably come close to matching the claimed box-flap velocity of 1225fps out of a 4.5" Glock 31 barrel. What this does to terminal performance awaits the arrival of some jello to discover.

Because I can't math so good, after firing the sixty rounds for the chronograph strings, I finished the remaining forty rounds in the Remington box and then fired a dozen more rounds of Winchester, giving me a total of 112 rounds for the morning instead of the 102 I'd meant to fire. There were no malfunctions of any type to report.

That makes 680 total rounds fired since the firearm was last cleaned or lubricated, with three failures to go completely into battery (#63, #78, #126) and three failures to feed (#221, #224, #282). 1,320 rounds left to go.
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Friday, May 13, 2016

pfffft!

Another hundred rounds of .357SIG from Lucky Gunner at the range yesterday, Federal American Eagle 125gr FMJ and Remington 125gr FMJ.

I hadn't yet tried the American Eagle, and I was interested to see how the inexpensive (relatively, at least) target ammo from the company that invented .357 SIG fared.

Quite well, as it turned out. There was only one jarring note to the range trip, and it came from the Remington stuff...

A primer loaded sideways that I somehow missed while loading mags went "pfffft!" when I pulled the trigger. Having flashbacks to godawful Turkish surplus 8mm Mauser, I instinctively benched the pistol and stepped into the next bay to start "One Mississippi, two Mississippi..." before I realized what must have happened and cleared the pistol. This was round #62 of the day.

As you can see, the Federal was largely kept in a 2" circle at seven yards, and without a terrible amount of effort. The Remington has holes all over the place, some of which were as a result of me trying to video the muzzle flash while shooting strong-hand-only (failed) and some of which were because I was tired and my hands were sweaty and my glasses were fogging and just whatever sort of excuse you want to blame.

That makes 568 total rounds fired with three failures to go completely into battery (#63, #78, #126) and three failures to feed (#221, #224, #282). 1,432 rounds left to go.
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When The Bubble Pops

Good post from Kevin at Misfires & Light Strikes:
"We’re in the midst of a huge gun-buying bubble right now, and have been for almost eight years. All bubbles burst. All of them, ever since the days of the Dutch buying tulips. What happens when the gun market cools off?"
Go read the whole thing.
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Automotif CXXV...

A sign that spring is well and truly underway here in SoBro: An '83-'85-vintage Series 3 Alfa Romeo Spider with the top dropped.
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Thursday, May 12, 2016

Stop me before I pun again...

Round #62 today...

A photo posted by Tamara Keel (@tamarakeel) on

Care Less

So, aspirin is derived from willow bark, a natural substance whose analgesic properties have been known for a long time, with some of the earliest recorded recommendations for its use coming from Hippocrates (or that chick in Clan of the Cave Bear, but she's fictional and doesn't count.)

But aspirin is also an anticoagulant and some folks are allergic to it and too much can cause ulcers and may contribute to kids' brains swelling up and stuff, and so acetaminophen was invented. Instead of those side effects, it just destroys your liver if you take too much over too short of a time or, apparently according to a recent study, destroys your ability to give a damn about the problems of others.

Liver-damaged zombie or hemophiliac ulcer patient in convulsions*... That'll put you right off reading the warning labels more, won't it?


*I am way exaggerating this for the yuks. Chill. Although I prefer aspirin to Tylenol myself.
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Still going...

A hundred rounds of .357SIG from Lucky Gunner came along to the range yesterday: fifty Winchester 125gr FMJ and fifty Remington 125gr FMJ.

Even on the well-lit indoor range, the Remington stuff made pretty epic fireballs from the Glock 32's four-inch barrel.

All one hundred rounds went off without a hitch, with no malfunctions of any type to report.

That makes 469 total rounds fired with three failures to go completely into battery (#63, #78, #126) and three failures to feed (#221, #224, #282). 1,531 rounds left to go.
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Wednesday, May 11, 2016

The Cranio Ocular Whatsis...

I wonder why?

#pewpewlife

A photo posted by Tamara Keel (@tamarakeel) on

Trigger Warning

So yesterday morning I dropped the ZEV Fulcrum Ultimate kit in the Robar Glock 17. This replaced the  ZEV connector/NY1 spring combination, dropping the trigger pull from a nominal seven pounds to four and a half.

Gone was most of the weight on the takeup. Gone, also, was the abrupt "wall" in the trigger pull before the break.

Given that I have largely shed myself of the bad habit of "riding the reset" and instead let the trigger reset and prep it again during recoil so that I'm ready to break my next shot as the sights settle, the lack of the vigorous reset shouldn't be a handicap.

The problem is that this particular trigger setup makes very little tactile distinction between "prep" and "bang", as evinced by the shot that grazed the target's shoulder, caused by the shot breaking before the sights had dropped back to the center of the target.

While I'll put more time in with this trigger in the 17 before moving it to a purely fun gun like my Glock 20, I'll likely be going back to the light connector/NY1 spring combination, and for reasons other than just trigger pull characteristics.

A gunsmith I know, Bob Howard back in Knoxville, once commented while looking into a Glock's guts "I can't get over the fact that these things are filled with toaster parts." And they are. Little coil springs and sheet metal stampings comprise the working bits of a Glock. The basic trigger return spring is a coil spring with a hook on each end that operates in tension: You pull the trigger, the spring stretches, the gun fires, and the spring contracts, resetting the trigger.

As anyone who has maintained a fleet of Glocks, whether for a police department or rental counter, can tell you, the trigger return spring is probably the most frequently broken part on a Glock. When it fails, you can keep firing the gun, but you have to push the trigger forward after each shot. The NY1 trigger spring, on the other hand, is a V-shaped piece of olive green plastic with a coil spring nestled between the two arms of the V. It works in compression and, while I'm sure that they can break, I've never seen a broken one with my own two eyes.

The problem is that with the standard connector, the NY1 spring gives a trigger pull in the neighborhood of nine or ten pounds. When used with a factory Glock competition connector (or an aftermarket equivalent) you get a seven-ish pound pull with an even takeup that leads to a rolling break. Imagine a DA revolver trigger with only half an inch of travel.

That's the setup I've been using on my guns (except my carry gun, which is stock at the moment, mostly because I haven't gotten around to changing it. It shoots fine, though, so I'm in no hurry.)

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

WECSOG

A photo posted by Tamara Keel (@tamarakeel) on
Installing the trigger assembly but leaving the factory striker spring and firing pin plunger drops the trigger weight from 7# to 4.5# according to my RCBS fish scale, versus the ZEV connector/NY1 spring combo that was in it before. The break is a little mushier and it doesn't fire off the reset as firmly as the NY1 spring does, but I'll have to wait until it stops raining to see what effect that latter effect has on the clock. It's indoor range time today, and I can't time my splits there.
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Spring ahead...

Monday morning I grabbed the Glock 32 and a Smith & Wesson 31 and headed to Indy Arms Co.

With me I had fifty rounds of Speer Lawman 125gr TMJ .357SIG and fifty rounds of Fiocchi 100gr lead wadcutters in .32 S&W Long.

I ran the target out to seven yards and commenced with the blastin'. The bottom right target is fifty rounds with the Glock. I was holding the top edge of the front sight blade flush with the bottom edge of the red circle. I need to let a couple other people try it to make sure it's not just me, but the gun's going to wind up with aftermarket sights anyway, so...

The top right and bottom left targets each represent three full cylinders, eighteen rounds, from the Model 31. The top left target was the remaining fourteen rounds in the box. All were fired double action. As you might expect, the DA trigger on a 1971-vintage Bangor Punta J-frame is not a joy to run. If that narrow serrated trigger has a pull weight under twelve pounds, I'll eat my hat.

That makes 369 total rounds fired with three failures to go completely into battery (#63, #78, #126) and three failures to feed (#221, #224, #282). 1,631 rounds left to go.

I've got to order in more ammo for the gun, and also I'm going to contact Brownell's and order some eleven-coil magazine springs on the advice of a friend who loves him some Glock 32s. We'll see if that cures the FTF issue.

Monday, May 09, 2016

Just for fun...

A photo posted by Tamara Keel (@tamarakeel) on

It'd been way too long since I just took a fun revolver out for a spin. This 4" Model 31-1 is just your basic Bangor Punta era J-frame. Objectively, the trigger pull verges on awful, but most older factory J-frames do, if we're being honest with ourselves. Still, with the soft-shooting .32 wadcutters from Fiocchi, it was a hoot to shoot.
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