TGO David

Initial thoughts: Grip texturing is great! I like how they used different textures for different parts of the grip. It's as if they spent some time thinking about it rather than just smearing the same texture all over. It really is the same size as Glock 19 or an M&P M2.0 9mm Compact and, for me, that is a good thing. With the larger of the two backstraps installed, as it came from the factory, the grip profile has a soft curve that a cover garment should drape across more gracefully and not be as "identifiable" as is with a Glock 19. The mag release on the 509M is easy to manipulate but not so easy that it could happen accidentally. Deep undercut on the trigger guard allows you to get a good, high grip on it. The polymer there has a super-fine texture that shouldn't agitate anyone but I may polish it to a mirror at some point. I prefer an undercut that is as smooth as glass. The stock sights are steel, which is good, but I prefer a very prominent front dot and no, or subdued, rear dots with a U-notch. I have a set of Trijicon HD sights on the way. The barrel is crowned, which is nice to see. I also noticed that the final half-inch (approximate) of the barrel right before the muzzle is a thousandth of an inch or so larger in circumference than the rest of the barrel's length. I assume this aids in accuracy much the way a bull-barrel in a 1911 does by providing a snug fit between the barrel's terminus and the portal that it passes through in the end of the slide. The slide release lever is a piece of cake to manipulate with either hand, unlike the M&P M2.0. The extractor is a monster and looks hella stout. The slide serrations, fore and aft, are perfect and exactly what I prefer on a fighting gun. The trigger is NOT BAD AT ALL! It's a bit heavy but seems to be lightening up and smoothing out a little as I dry fire it. I'll put a trigger gauge on it tomorrow. Wish I'd done that before dry firing it a hundred or so times, for comparison. Whoopsie. I doubt seriously that I will swap the trigger out for an Apex part. The OEM trigger seems just fine for me.

Have you tried the Smith and Wesson M&P Shield 380 EZ yet? The "EZ" in that is, as you might guess, pronounced easy and is a nod toward the fact that it was designed to have a slide that is easily manipulated. https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/mp-380-shield-ez-0

McCain will be voting for someone on the Arizona Democrat ticket next election, guaranteed.

What's your point? Let's be complacent and ignore her again because that punch she's thrown the past 20 times never made contact?

Are you shocked? This is my shocked face: Feinstein proudly announces that she and other Senators (you know, the ones who supposedly work for all of us) have announced a new Assault Weapons Ban that would prohibit the manufacture and sale of 205 different firearms. If you've been on the sidelines and not calling, emailing, writing, and visiting your elected representatives to oppose this garbage... get after it. You can't expect the NRA, GOA, 2AF, FPC and other orgs to do it for you. YOUR voices matter more than theirs do to your representatives. https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/1/senators-introduce-assault-weapons-ban?fbclid=IwAR3xTTd5SgGw-982yQdwkmLFY5voI9YyDZF3eaUK944avP9-QMVx_6ZpjmY

FN America has announced that the 509 family has expanded to include the new 15-round FN 509 Midsize as well as a black 509 Tactical. The Midsize is dimensionally similar to the Glock 19. FN 509 Midsize Specs: Check back with me sometime next week. I'll be able to offer some first-hand thoughts on it, as I have one on the way.

Oh my.

I sincerely hope that you are right. I am finding it very hard to be optimistic about the public these days.

Those were my experiences with the P365 as well. Oddly, I didn't like the larger P320 one bit, but the P365 is top of the line for pocket carry and deep concealment.

Guys, we need to fight this with every ounce of energy that we have. The time for letting the NRA, GOA, 2AF, and everyone else fight for our rights is long past. It's time to actually get off our butts and make it important enough that we call, write, email, and even VISIT our elected representatives and tell them that there will be hell to pay at the voting booth if they support this.

My prediction is that Officer Delke will be spending time in prison now that it is up to a jury to decide his fate, regardless of what the law says an officer can do to a fleeing felon. Juries are made up of the public, and the public increasingly cares less about facts or laws and more about feelings and social justice. This guy is sunk.

So, Judge Blackburn recommended that the Delke case go to the Grand Jury. https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2019/01/07/andrew-delke-ruling-daniel-hambrick-shooting-nashville/2500355002/ @bud, my condolences on your loss of $5. I'm glad I didn't make any bets on this one.

My experience has been that the 2.0 triggers are a lot better than the first generation. I put an Apex trigger in one of my M2.0 Compacts just to see if it really made that much difference and, in my opinion, it really doesn't. Bear in mind too that a lot of Glock owners swap triggers for aftermarket kit despite the Glock trigger reset having become the example of what a polymer striker-fired gun's trigger should feel like. While some people may replace them in pursuit of a certain aspect of an aftermarket trigger's feel or function, I think a lot of people -- on both the Glock and S&W sides of the aisle -- swap them because folks are chronic tinkerers or gear-whores. Tinkerer's gonna tinker!

How did it go?

You probably know this, but wear rubber gloves or do everything in your power to keep your skin's oil from fingerprints and such off of the bulb when you install it. The minuscule amount of oils on your skin can actually cause bulbs to burn hot on the area where the oil is present, and consequently fail early.