Monday, November 17, 2008
Classic Handguns & Obsolete Ammo
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Dear Wiley: I noted that your handgun competition career in many ways paralleled mine. Over the years we've both seen many handguns come and go. Some of these are worth remembering and some best forgotten. Anyway, how about a look at the Webley revolvers? Either in their original chambering or rechambered to .45 ACP, these were a force to be reckoned with -- and might make a good household defense gun now. Some of the 20th century's curios that still offer reader interest include the Savage automatic pistol; Remington's automatic (even Gen. Patton carried one); Mauser's M-1914 and their HSC; the Sauer 38-H, the predecessor to all the modern Sauer double action pistols. Many of these are in a peanut .32 ACP (7.65mm Browning), but as my dad always said, if you shoot the guy often enough, they add up. There are some suggestions. Good luck writing. I'm a retired newspaper copy editor, writer and photographer who now manufactures ammo for obsolete firearms, so I know all the effort that goes into something like this. Happy trails! Byron Myers Ammo Specialties 803 S. Kimball St. Grand Island, NE 68801 (308) 382-5758 myers45_acp@hotmail.com
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Monday, November 17, 2008
PPKS First-Round Chambering Issue
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About three years ago, I decided to buy an automatic in .380 caliber that my wife could handle and that, according to what I had read, would have the minimum respectable stopping power. I had admired the Walther PPK (OK, I was under the James Bond spell a bit). I also had shot one at my gun club in an NRA Introduction to Pistols course and liked it - except for the short grip handle. When I read your favorable 2006 American Rifleman review article of the S&W PPK/S with its one additional cartridge capacity and longer grip, I scurried off to my local shop/range, shot a demo clip and bought one in August 2006. The bottom line problem is that with the clip full (seven cartridges), it is very prone to jam on working the slide to load. I was told at my NRA course to always do this "with authority") Not so much at six. Have you seen any of this? An additional problem is that my wife has never been able to work the slide. It literally chews up the skin on her hand to try. I recently fired a Sig .380 WWII souvenir automatic with a much easier slide. Any thoughts?--Jim Brazel
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Thursday, October 30, 2008
Pointability And Grip Angles
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Is your semi-automatic pistol pointable or aimable? Modern marksmanship shooting techniques almost exclusively involve raising the pistol to eye level and aligning the sights. Sometimes, it's shooting over the sights. This was not always the case. In the early years of automatic pistol use, there was a great deal of punching the gun forward in front of the belt buckle and going to work. With practice, a shooter can do some remarkably good work this way. The shape of the gun has a lot to do with how successful you are with the pointing technique. Guns with steeply raked grip angles—like the Luger—tend to point well. They are not so handy when the gun is up at eye level and the wrist has to be deeply bent in order that the sights be aligned. For deliberate shooting in the classic Bullseye or Modern Technique, the venerable Colt .45 Auto is just about perfect, particularly when equipped with a flat, rather than arched mainspring housing.
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Line 'Em Up
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Sight alignment is everything. Everything, that is, if you are talking about hitting what you are shooting at with an iron-sighted handgun. A beginner has a lot to worry about when he is trying to master the belt gun—grip, stance, breathing, trigger control, follow through, but most of all he needs to ensure that the front sight is in a proper relationship with the rear sight. The top of both should appear even and there should be an equal amount of light on each side of the front sight when it appears in the rear notch. When you fail to line ’em up is when your shots wander off. Alignment is more important to shooting tight groups than sight picture (sight alignment plus the target). If you don't believe me, try this the next time you go to the range. Try shooting a group at a plain piece of paper, like your regular target mounted backwards. Don't move your feet, change your grip or breathing. Just point the gun somewhere in the middle, concentrate on the front sight and squeeze. You'll be astounded at the results—a surprisingly small group.
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The .25 ACP: A Fightstopper?
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In my book, the little .25 automatic is a useless firearm that somehow remains curiously effective. There was never any role for these sometimes beautifully made little guns except personal defense. In the immediate post-turn-of-the-century era, dozens of makers cranked out vest pocket autos by the tens of thousands. People used to slip them into pockets in the belief that they would dispatch an attacker and even in modern times, cops used to carry them as a No. 2 (sometimes No. 3) gun. By any measurable standard, a 50-gr. bullet at 800 f.p.s. is not enough to reliably stop a serious attack and applying everything in the way of bullet technology to make a .25 ACP JHP expand will never work. It just ain't enough gun. But they are still carried and they still stop attacks. I suspect that it's because people sometimes apparently believe that if they are shot, they have to stop. Urban legend or something.
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Thursday, October 23, 2008
Revolver To Auto Transition
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Wiley, I am an ex-police officer (1975 to 1983)and only had hand gun experience with revolvers (SW Mod 66 and Mod 60). I have not shot regulary since the mid-80s and have my revolvers locked up as collectors items. I am looking at purchasing a SW MP40. What should I expect transitioning from revolver to semi-auto? I am also new to the "trigger saftey" concept. Could you explain this or direct me to proper sources. Thanks...and PS, I just joined NRA as Obama's gun thoughts bother me.
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Big Bore 5-Shot?
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Ive thought in the past about the .45ACP or .45AR put into a small 5-shot revolver like the one that Charter Arms makes in .44SP. that would be one fine hide-away gun that would be pretty easy to conceal and also be a bonafide defense handgun. FYI, i've got a Charter Arms Southpaw .38SP revolver that i carry as my "leetle fren'". works great.
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Super Kickin' .44 Mag.
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Wiley or anybody else can you explain why my Contender Super 14 in .44 Mag. seems to recoil so hard? I am using my own reloads with 13 grs. of H-110, 240-gr. Speer flat soft points. It seems much harder than my Ruger Super Blackhawk with the same load. I have often thought of getting a different caliber like 30-30 but is the recoil bad in that caliber? I don't want to seem like a wuss but you really havbe to hang or it will get you. Thanks.
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Keith On Single Action Loading
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Elmer used to discourse at length about all things revolver, and Mr. Keith was particularly adamant about the way a man was supposed to carry the immortal Peacemaker. In the western tradition, it was “five beans in the wheel.” This refers to the practice of carrying a Single Action Army with five chambers loaded and the hammer down on the empty one. For a new single-action shooter with a gun designed in the old style, getting the gun into this configuration might be a little puzzling. It is remarkably easy to do once you have the formula. With a verified empty gun in hand, open the loading gate and pull the hammer back to the half-cock position (two clicks). At about the 2:30 position in the cylinder, you will see an empty charge hole. Insert a cartridge and turn the cylinder 60 degrees clockwise, which brings another charge hole into view. Skip this one and turn to the next, which you load. Then load the next three in the same way. The mantra is “load one, skip one, load four.” When you load the last one, ease the hammer all the way back and then lower it all the way down. It will be down on the empty chamber you skipped and the gun may now be carried safely.
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008
S&W Frame Size Designations
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Would you please post something to help me make sense out of the S & W frame size letter designations, and relate them to model numbers? Is there some dimension that I can measure on a revolver frame that will tell me what the letter size is? As it is now, when I want to find a holster for a model 66, for example, I find that the holster makers catalog their offerings by frams letter, which leaves me hanging. Clatification would be greatly appreciated.
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