Jonnin

  You missed my point.   Bernie would be worse in actuality but Christie would drag the conservatives down with him, be a model of exactly what we do not want that could be held up against us "we let the conservatives have office and look what Christie did..." ...   for decades.   If we HAVE to have a raving liberal in office, let it be one that wears the label proudly, not one hiding behind OUR brand.

Christie would be worse than sanders for this country.   We know what sanders is going to do.   Christie will do whatever he thinks will earn the most votes but he is a liberal through and through and will betray the conservatives that voted for him if he were to win the nomination.

you have to be a paying member.   You should read the forum rules, it explains it all.

you can make another account and be annoying that way.   Kinda like that "emails from an a-hole" guy (google it for ideas).

The two things (blast wave and sound) pretty much work the same way.   Behind the gun, with open air or soft ground, its not bad.   Inside a concrete bunker, its rough.   Make physics work for you... move to another range that is outside over soft ground, or less crowded,  or go at a less crowded time, etc.   Get behind rather than beside when you can .. even a foot or two works, as best you can while being safe.    Be wise too.. if you have 4 lanes to pick from all next to someone, avoid the guy with the AR in favor of the guy shooting a pistol or 22 rifle.   Ive shot for decades and I still have no desire to be beside someone shooting a rifle.   Ill go home or move rather that tolerate that for long .. I can feel it in my chest, eyes, nose etc and it gives me a headache and destroy my focus.  I can come back later; its not worth it.     You can handle the noise up to a point with better / doubled hearing.   The blast, try to avoid it.

true, though I'd argue that self defense is a lawful purpose and remind them that the 2nd says "ARMS" not "GUNS".

if you change your mind on aftermarket, the cz custom shop's single action trigger is nice.  Its nicer on the models that cock & lock...  then you don't have to fool with that 9 pound trigger pull.    Its a bear to get back together once its apart.   If you feel comfortable with it, polishing stuff can't hurt.

I can't wait for your range report.   My Makarov is so accurate I turned it into a target pistol.   Its one of the best designs of all time .. a handful of cheaply made parts turned into a super accurate and darn near 100% reliable firearm. 

Yep.  You don't want to go thru the airport with it, but otherwise, its fine.

The Makarov design rotates a hammer block into place when you use it.  You can see this happen with the slide off.  If you rotate it too far, it comes out, along with the firing pin.    I am basing this off the EG mak, though.  AFAIK all makarovs are the same design for the safety, so it should be the same.

I need to look into those ... are they going down the barrel, and if so, any worries about damage?

  Never heard of them but I can think of several reasons ... all speculation, of course .. - maybe they had a patent that had some value - maybe they wanted the production capability / increased capacity etc...  could literally be anything until/unless they want to tell us details.

  I think most people here should get about 20-25.   There were several that were educated guesses,  including the emu.  I was pretty sure it wasn't a gatling, so I had a 50-50.   I had no idea on the Chinese weapon of choice, and guessed it right.  I had no idea on the assassin ones, and got lucky there too. 

  Use a weaker powder.   If you use something awful like accurate #2 (its a great powder, its just HOT)  the difference between the min and max loads is TINY, 3.3 to 3.7 grains from min to max, not even 1/2 a grain which is within the error of a very cheap scale!   If you use something slower you can get at least 1 grain difference from max to min, which is much, much safer and easier to control.  It costs a little more because most powders are the same price for a pound but the hot ones go farther, but its worth it.  Your ammo will be more consistent (small errors or scale margin of error has less effect) and safer (harder for a small error to send you past the redline) and safer again (the really weak powders may not even fit in the case if you accidentally double charge it, or it should at least be visually different on a double charge!).     also use a cheap bullet if you want to save money.  I use Missouri bullet company's 380.  I use that same thing in some light 38 specials I make and my light 9mms as well.  It makes holes in paper at low cost -- and they ship in those prepaid "whatever you can get into it" post office bulk boxes so shipping isn't bad either when you buy a bunch of them.   If you want a consistent target load, weigh the projectiles and only use them if close to the expected weight.   don't reload nickel / silvery cases more than once, if that.  They split too much to fool with, generally, and 380 cases are too thin anyway.    watch using magnum small pistol primers in a 380.   I don't like to use those in anything under a 9mm, because they make the reduced powder charges harder to deal with (my opinion, some folks don't mind the light stuff but under 5 is tricky to measure with many systems esp dippers)

29/30  -- missed davy crocket's new gun.

Its neat, but yea the metal is fatigued already and will fail at the bent prongs under any real duress.    If desperate, you won't have time to make this.   Find something wedge shaped and hammer that into the door at the top and bottom etc and then leave while they beat on it.

Last year or so this has been a big push, to claim that guns are worse than cars.   Its true once they factor in ALL gun deaths (suicides, cops, accidents, defense shootings, assaults) and factor out certain types of vehicle deaths.

Watch comparing prices on anything "witness".   The names all sound alike and they range in price from like 400ish to 3000ish.    Its easy to mix them up.

Well good, if you have wanted it for 5 years and finally have a chance, congratulations!   That is a long wait!   Don't let us nay-sayers get you down,  enjoy your new pistol and may it serve you well!

Not sure how your condition will play out but I am very sure (not 100%, but very) that being discharged for a medical reason (existing or not) is NOT going to be a problem.  Dishonorable discharge is a totally different thing.   Your discharge was honorable if it was medical.   I am not a military guy but I worked with enough of them... from what I understand, to get a dishonorable you need to do something that equates to a felony for civilians more or less (the military is actually a little more strict in some cases but even so, its a major offense).  

Kimbers are not "bad" but they focus on making a *beautiful* exterior on an at-best slighty above average pistol and charging you out the wazoo for it.  They shoot pretty good, but they just strike me as showpieces more than serious.   I advise you look into it, and then if you still love the kimber, buy it.  Its fine, they shoot well enough.  I just prefer my value isn't spent on cosmetics.   I carry a micro 9mm "1911" .. the sig 938 ... in my pocket.  So I can't help much there, but I have a lot of range time on a 1911 full sized.  

not sure what you are buying but sig has guns for way, way, way less than 1000 a pop.  Those wouldn't be their top end all metal 1911s, but they have them.

I carried the sig ready to go with safety on, its the 9mm upgrade version now, but same thing, safety on and ready to go with a click.   I have practiced draw/shoot drills etc.  It does not snag for me.  I have smallish hands, though, if that matters.    I picked it because I can shoot it.  I can't pull the trigger on the DAO guns.  A few of the better models, barely, some if I use 2 fingers on the trigger.   Too much computer and such, my hands are shot and I could empty my sig 9 3 times including reloads in the time I could empty a heavy DAO once, and I can do it accurately whereas I can't put all my might into the trigger pull AND control the aim.  Also practice, I can shoot the 380 all day with no problems, the 9 one box and recoil starts to add up,  but a dao, I am done practicing after 2 mags tops and even that leads to severe hand cramps.     People make a mountain out of thumbing off the safety, which is easy to do with minimal practice.   But somehow a trigger pull that is too heavy to use is never an issue, its almost taboo to mention it as a problem even when it is.       It all adds up to the DAOs being unusable for me.   DA/SA I can handle; I carried a Makarov for many years before the sigs.   I cocked the hammer for the first shot, practice and I could do that while drawing.    DA/SA have a LOT of trigger slop though, its unpleasant even though I can use them -- I converted the mak to a sao target pistol and have largely put my DA/SA guns aside.    I do have some usable DA guns.  I have a fixed ruger gp 100 revolver that I can shoot DA all day long, and wife has a low trigger weight (but gigantic) full sized 9.     But you can't fix most of the autos or smaller framed stuff, and I do like my pocket sized guns... so...   Snag would be a legit concern if your pockets are very small/tight/etc.    Lint won't stop it from working unless you have it caked into the gun deep.  You can gum up a dao that way too, though.  It would have to completely stop a significant portion of the hammer impact, which is going to be very unlikely.   The hammer isn't exposed in a way that snags, though.  Its small,  rounded but textured,  its entirely blocked by the frame ... to snag it you would have to rotate the gun in your pocket and try to draw it out crooked.  Straight out of the holster, there isn't anything to hit.   Its not a classic revolver hammer with a big hook on it for your thumb or anything.     Shoot what you like.  Safeties bother some people.   Light/short triggers scare some people (including the entire NYPD).   I can't use the heavy stuff, so my options are more limited.   I supposed I could get a no-safety glock 380 or whatever, but I think I like what I have an awful lot.   

speaking of the walther and what I call "practice guns"  (look and feel like a 9mm carry gun in .22)  ... wife has an amazing one.  The cz kadet.  Its just like a cz75 ... even uses some sort of special converted 9mm mag ...  very good pistol and less well known.  Very accurate, too, for what it is (its got nothing on the fixed barrel guns though).

this is a very DIY activity; I am not very mechanical either and I managed it.  So *any* gunsmith should be able to do it for you easily.     I'd help you if you came this way or there are a few smiths around Chattanooga if you can't find one you like where you are.    When you do it,  adjust the trigger slowly and carefully with a snap cap or something.  If you get all the slack out, you often end up unable for the trigger to reset, so you have to back off a little and have just a touch of wiggle in most guns.   Once its set up in both directions and the gun functions, lock the screws down.