Search the Community

I’ve never been a trigger snob and until getting an M&P Performance Center with an absolutely terrible trigger, I never used an aftermarket trigger in a semi-auto pistol. Never needed one really. But I wanted the M&P C.O.R.E. Performance Center gun to be a good range target gun. So I had to replace the Trigger. I used an Apex 100-B54 Sear & Trigger kit. The total for the trigger, assembly blocks and shipping was $223.35. The Apex was, by far, better than the S&W Performance Center trigger. But in my opinion not the magnificent day/night trigger I read about on the forums. I’m not saying its not an excellent trigger, but its not a “breaks like a 1911 trigger”. At least not like my 1911’s. So after buying my M&P 2.0 Compact 4” I kicked around the idea of adding a trigger. At the time Apex was about the only option for the M&P. Now I have stumbled onto Overwatch Precision Triggers. They cost more than an Apex. I have no idea how long they have been around, but it makes me wonder why they are priced higher than the Apex? Are they better or is it a marketing ploy? Anyone have one? https://overwatchprecision.com/smith-and-wesson-m-p-2-0-tac-trigger-system/

My son hit me up at xmas for his 21yr old BD gift, he wants a handgun but couldn't give me any details other then caliber and size. He wants 9mm Mid to compact size. My opinion he will not CCW for a few years ( junior in college) but if I buy him a gun I will insist on a CCW permit even "if" he doesn't even use it. I have been looking at Sig P320RX compact w/romeo1 sight (pkg deal) and FN509. Any insights about those guns or is there something else I should look at? Thanks JR

Just came across this. Looks cool and might give FN a run for their money. What's y'all's thoughts? https://ruger.com/micros/57/

Well, kind of a review, bearing in mind I've only owned the thing for (checks calendar...) 5hrs & 5 minutes. First impressions: It's a mini Vaquero! Fit & finish is far better than I expected actually. Joint to joint finish is very tight, although there are a few rounded corners, making it look more 'gappy' than it really is. The grips are perfect fit for the frame & are significantly nicer than those on the Blackhawk or vaquero. Yes, they're plastic, but the checkering is crisp & sharp. It feels very familiar to my hand. Like my 1860 Army. It points just as well too. The sights line up instinctively as soon as it's brought to bear. The MIM hammer has a little patch of very grippy checkering (Like the Blackhawk) making strong or support hand, thumb cocking a breeze. The trigger is rough. It has a pretty long, gritty take up & as it comes heavy break weight. I'd estimate pull weight at around 7-8lb. For a single action, that's just horrible. That said, there is a super simple mod that can be done with no permanent alterations to all Ruger single actions. Pop off a grip plate & drop one leg of the trigger spring of it's post. Instantly reduces weight by 50%. I worked the hammer & trigger a couple hundred times before shooting it & the grittiness went away, although the pre travel remains. It's 1000 times better than it was though & The break itself is very clean with minimal over travel. I also gave all the twiddly expensive bits a drop of oil & greased up the hammer strut. This reduces the cocking effort significantly. The hammer strut rides through a thin steel plate at the bottom of the grip & THAT'S the part that Ruger decided needed minimal tolerance. They bind on occasion. The best solution is to open up the hole a wee bit, but that's not really a fair thing to do before a test/review. Let's be honest, 99.9% of folks won't do it, so I slapped on some lithium grease instead. To the shooty bit..... Testing parameters: I'm working on the theory here that since this is a really cheap pistol, 99% of buyers are going to use it purely for plinking & occasional target use, but certainly not competition (CAS/SASS stuff aside) bullseye shooting. This being my train of thought, I didn't bother even trying any quality ammunition. No Eley, no Lapua. Only cheap, readily available bulk.....crap to be fair. I shot indoors, at Templar Shooting Sports range here in Tullahoma ($20+tax per lane) so wind & atmospheric variables could be avoided. Ruger state in their blurb that the sight is regulated at 15yds, so that's the distance I shot at. Shooting was done from a rested, seated position from a Caldwell sand bag. 2 full cylinders (12 shot groups) were fired at each target & the groups measured at the end of testing. The target wasn't moved during grouping. Ammunition tested: Aguila Super Extra 40gn solid Federal Target Grade 40gn solid Remington Golden bullet 38gn HP Federal Black Pack 36gn HP *Winchester Super X 37gn HP I had no ammunition failures, nothing shot or sounded 'weak' (common with bulk) or 'hot'. Not one single mechanical issue with the pistol at all in 125 rounds fired. I fired 3 full cylinders of blind-loaded mixed bag ammo to ensure hitting paper at 15yds & to ensure the cylinder & barrel were good & dirty before I began the accuracy portion. The targets: Aguila 40gn....

Luger, p08, 9mm

Updated 02-05-20 https://www.targetsportsusa.com/federal-hst-law-enforcement-9mm-luger-ammo-147-grain-jacketed-hollow-point-p9hst2-p-3547.aspx Targetsports USA has both 9MM and 40 Federal HST in 50 round boxes for $20. No code, just add to cart. It's even free shipping if you buy a case.

Liked the looks, features, and feel of FIREFLY when first saw these a year or so ago at $189.99 (that day decided on the GSG 1911 22LR for $239.99). BTW, you may know GSG made the Mosquito for Sig and Sig gave it up. Anyway, for a Low Priced Gun Buyer like me to spend the extra $50 for the GSG was a struggle. BTW, I say Low Priced vs saying Cheap cause makes me feel better. LOL Might add the GSG 1911 is a "I LIKE", feels good, shoots good and accurate , basically reliable (a few hiccups now and then). Anyway, Smoky Mtn Gun & Ammo sent E Mail (get them near daily) on the FIREFLY for $159.99 with TWO MAGS (normally gun comes with one MAG). Don't laugh cause it is a Robin Blue Color Slide (only one on sale, at least it ain't Pink). Actually, I like the look - it's just that it is a bit "girly" looking. I add U-Tube Reviews are not the best (AMMO SENSITIVE) but it is advertised as needing 22LR HV AMMO (think 1250FPS or over is recommended). It does come with am extra Recoil Spring for lower velocity AMMO (not sure that helps and I have not tried it). So far so good, cleaned and lubricated before the first shoot where I ran 4 different AMMOS (Remington Golden Bullet, only had 20 rounds of that, and Remington Thunderbolt, Federal AM Eagle, and Blazer (made by Spear, CCI)). All worked OK in my mind, but did have three Fail To Fire (one with the Federal three trigger pulls that fired later when I inserted the round rotated to a different angle) and two Remington Thunderbolts (fired on the second trigger pull). The gun is single or double action, has a hammer release, slide safety, and easy breakdown lever. Trigger pull is heavy double (I think advertised as around 11 or 12 lbs and around 7 lbs single action). I am not as accurate with it as the GSG 1911 (say 3 or 4 inch circle at 30 feet). FIREFLY might need a bit of sight adjustment as seem to get a bit left of target (but also get some on target. BTW, I am not a 1 inch circle shooter at 30 feet, more like 4 inch circle (maybe 3 inch at my best). ANYWAY, main thing is so far I am satisfied at $159.99 with two MAGS.

I recently purchased a RIA Ultra 1911and have put 450 rounds through it to get it broke in. For the most part, the gun hasn't had any issues. There have been about 3 times where the gun seemed to go out of battery I think. The gun would fire and eject a round but once a new round was chambered, the gun would not fire. There was a round in the chamber and the hammer cocked back but it would not fire. The first 2 times I simply racked the slide to eject the round and put it back in the magazine and continued shooting. Today while shooting I had the same thing happen except that racking the slide would not extract the live round. I locked the slide back and used a cleaning rod to push the round out of the chamber and clear the gun. I wonder if I need to have a gunsmith do some work on it or hope that the issue resolves itself. Today I also had a round nosedive into the chamber and get stuck. I was using 200 grain Gold Dots. The first 400 rounds I have fed the gun have been 230 grain FMJs. I wanted to run some JHPs through it also to see how it handles them. I've read that I may need to get the feed ramp polished to help with that issue. Overall, the gun has been a joy to shoot and I haven't had many issues with the gun. I look forward to shooting it whenever I can. Being my first .45, the recoil isn't as bad as I thought. It's not any worse than my .40 Glock. The heavy frame helps absorb most of the kick. I just hope I can get the bugs worked out because I would like to carry the Rock as a EDC when desired. Anyone have any suggestions or ideas as to what I may need to do? Thanks.

Who has used (if anyone) the 9mm US Cartridge Remanufactured Clean Barrel polymer coated lead core ammunition? https://www.ammunitiondepot.com/us-cartridge-cleanbarrel-remanufactured-9mm-115-gr-bronze-tpj.html?unit_type=21 It seams a decent price per round in bulk, but not a “can’t pass it up” price.

Another mania is taking hold of me in my old age... 9MM AR pistol or carbine... Build, by, or forget and keep shootin your pistolas.. Thoughts, experiences, recommendations, comments... " J Thaddius " leroy...

We were discussing this on another site and I wanted to bring it up here (again) so maybe…LPA or one of our American manufacturers gets the idea. I want these sights. But they don’t make them for the M&P’s….yet. They are made by LPA, an Italian Company, and sold by various companies here. Maybe one of our American companies will step up. I don’t know why anyone that is target shooting with open sights would want dots over these. But so be it… I just want a choice, everyone doesn’t need to use the same thing. I didn’t have to put a new trigger on the latest M&P carry gun I bought, so I can spend some money putting a good set of sights on it, for when I want to use it for target shooting. I understand why you may want dots on a carry gun (maybe, kinda, okay not at all, but that’s neither here nor there); but we aren’t talking carry guns....necessarily. White outlined sights with a red ramp that S&W used for decades would be great. We were told dots are better than these. Nothing could be farther from the truth. https://www.lpasights.com/en/ https://www.fusionfirearms.com/colt-series-80-1241

PSA has a smoking daily deal on the Shield .45. $340 shipped with CT laser. I needed something for the extended backpacking trips and hopefully this will fit the bill. It was an impulse buy, so hopefully I don’t regret it.

I'll admit that I'm bragging here a bit. But I'm happy about this buy. I've never even bought two guns in the same day, much less three. But I did just that today. It all started with some ads on Armslist. The guy listed each gun individually, but then there was a 4th ad for them as a group. I contacted him, we haggled and I believe I got a great deal. All three are Berettas. a 2016 85FS Cheetah .380, a 2001 3032 Tomcat .32acp and a 950BS Jetfire .25acp. All three are LNIB with original manuals. Not a mark on any of them. I can't seem to find a date for the Jetfire. No date code on the gun that I can find and the serial # doesn't come up on any list. The guy said it was an antique. Can anybody help with that? I'll probably have to contact Beretta. The best part? I gave $1000 for the lot. I'm tickled plumb to pieces!

Not a bad deal for $349. Double action only. https://aimsurplus.com/smith-wesson-model-6906-9mm-caliber-pistol

I’m thinking about ordering this gun. But I’m curious about the blued finish and the Ruger site picture really doesn’t show it that well. Anyone have any good pictures of this gun that was purchased recently?? https://www.ruger.com/products/newModelBlackhawkConvertible/specSheets/0463.html

PSA dropped a couple of big bombs at SHOT. First is that they are introducing a striker fired polymer pistol compatible with most 3rd gen Glock parts for $299 for the base, $350 for one with a threaded barrel, optic cut, and suppressor height sights. In addition they, have announced that the PSA5, their MP5 clone, will be out this year. Projected price is not finalized, but still expected to be below $1200. This places it several hundred below it’s nearest MP5 clone competitors, and over $1500 lower than the just released HK SP5. I swear, I’m not a paid spokesman or anything, but I am excited to see these product releases. PSA is really making some major moves right now that can have some serious market impacts with regards to pricing.

Of the last seven handguns I have acquired, only one has been a full sized or service pistol, a Taurus Tracker Model 627 .357 Mag. The rest have either been compacts, subcompacts or mouse guns. What's the last service or full sized pistol you bought? What was the last compact or subcompact pistol you bought? Which came first? And GO!

As ya'll know, i get manias from time to time... Ya would think as old as i am, this would finally stop... This one is the 10MM long slide mania... What are your collective thoughts and experiences on the new Remington 1911 R, Springfield XDM 5.25, Glock 40, or custom build 10MM pistolas..? I've got 2 Glock 20' s (...4.6" barrels, im thinkin...), but wuz thinkin a bit about the advantages of a longer slide n barrel... At first glance, It looks ta me like buyin a complete " long slide " pistola will be about as cheap as buildin a custom long slide for one of my 20's... Whattday'all think..? Thanks in advance... " J Thaddius " leroy...

Another question I'm confused on...My wife's dad purchased a gun in GA at a dealer, we were there with him, he filled out all of the paperwork for transfer/background check etc. Anyway, he gave it to us and we are in TN, is this handgun legal for us?

Colt is reintroducing the Python. https://www.colt.com/detail-page/colt-python-425

I added yet another M&P to the collection and went shooting today. Having a Shield and a Compact, it was time for a full size so i bought an M&P full size 45 ACP (4.5” barrel). It’s my first 45 and I’ve done enough reading to know I wanted a larger gun, plus I’m trying to get one of each series of the M&P line. I shot it today and though it was louder than my 9mm, it didn’t flip as hard as the 9 does. It shot like a Cadillac. Solid, heavy punch.... but not any harder to hold on to than the 9. So the question is was it because of the full size frame (vs the 9mm Shield) or was it because of the low velocity ammo? I shot standard rounds (230 grain vs 115 grain). I was very intimidated by the huge gun and bullet before I shot it, but it was an absolute joy to shoot and ended up finishing the first mag as quickly as i typically shoot my 9 (2 shots per second).

Hi all. Recently started becoming interested in the reflex red dots and bought the Walther Q5 Match and mounted a Vortex Venom on it. I took it out to the range on two occasions now along with a few other 9mm of mine. First, about the pistol: - Great striker fired pistol. I own dozens of guns and only two are polymer, this and my Springfield XDS 3.3. I have shot many, however. Best striker trigger out of the box that I have fired. Granted it’s not my Kimber Aegis Elite but that’s not expected. - Nice balance in my hand. Comfortable grip. - Holy muzzle flip. Not an issue for slow shooting but follow up shots take some work. - Flawless operation out of the box. Can’t say that about a lot of new guns I’ve purchased in the last year sadly. (Looking at you Ruger and S&W) The sight mounted easily with the number one plate included with the Walther. It came with three different mounting plates. I had been practicing dry fire and presentation with the sight and find the dot very easy to find. No issues with “searching”. While this is my first sight of this nature, I do have a rail mounted Browning Red Dot on two Buckmarks. I used the sight in “auto” mode and found the brightness very good for the range I visit. It was easy to zero in. Shooting with the dot: I shot this gun today along with my Beretta M9A3. At close range I found my Beretta much easier to group nicely and tighter. Close range is 5-7 yards. Beyond that, out to 25 yards, is where I saw the huge benefits on the dot. It improved my accuracy tremendously compared to the open sights of the Beretta (a gun I have tens of thousands of rounds experience with). My goal is to continue practicing speed and accuracy with the optic mounted pistol at the closer ranges. My confidence at longer ranges has gone through the roof with it!

Is there any dealers in the tri-cities area that stock Glock 48 night sights?

I found a really good deal on a DW Guardian in .38 super locally. I have been searching for a Guardian in 9mm for awhile and haven’t been able to find one. I Have never shot .38 super. Would it be a good carry round? I’m assuming it’s way more expensive than 9mm. Wonder if you could swap barrels and bushing to 9mm if you wanted

I am at the point where I want to start carrying a 1911. I have owned a couple lower end models over the years and just prefer them to anything else I’ve owned. I’ve decided on a 9mm, probably one of the Dan Wesson’s like the Guardian. My question is, do you own them to shoot at the range or do you actually carry one every day? I’m not really asking about how they carry, I am good with that, more about if your fine paying the price for a gun that will see a lot of wear.