I spent all day Friday working on revolver trigger jobs. I mentioned the S&W J-Frame last week. On Friday the day was spent working on a Taurus Hammerless and a Charter Arms UC Lite. While I have been familiar with Taurus for a long time, I have never owned a Charter, and this was my first time to do a trigger job for one.
While they are comparable in price (cheaper than a S&W), the similarities end there. The Charter came to me with very rough factory pull. It needed a lot of work on the inside, and parts are not readily available for modifications. One weakness with the charter system is that it uses pins and screws in the frame instead of a traditional 3 screw configuration to hold the side plate on the revolver. In fact one of these pins had started working out of the revolver when it arrived at the shop.
The Taurus is similar in design to the S&W J-Frame. It has some slight differences, but overall they could be considered cousins. The parts on the inside were in terrible shape, but you can definitely tell a difference in the manufacturing from a Smith. It’s close, but not quite on par.
Either of these guns will prove acceptable. The Taurus is most like a Smith and has that feel if you are looking for a cheaper version of the Smith. It also comes with that notable lifetime warranty. The Charter comes in several colors and is very lightweight.
If I had to rank my preference for a small revolver it would go like this; S&W, Taurus, and Charter.
What is the best Glock? To answer that question requires a followup question; how are you going to use your Glock? I will answer this question in several applications, and then I will give the overall answer.
Law Enforcement
The most widely used Glock in Law Enforcement communities is the Glock 22. This full sized 40 S&W is a great gun that bridges the gap between the high capacity 9mm’s and the old single stack 45′s. The 22 allows you to have a high capacity gun that still puts out some serious energy. The only downside is the increased recoil.
Competition
For competition shooters in IDPA many of the best shooters are using the Glock 34 9mm. It comes with adjustable sights and a lighter trigger pull than standard Glocks. The longer sight radius makes shooting easier, and felt recoil is almost none.
CCW
The person looking for the perfect Glock for CCW or for all around use should look no farther than the 19 9mm. This gun gives you a high capacity gun that will still easily conceal. That makes it perfect. Unlike the subcompacts you can get a full grip on the gun and the sight radius is just long enough to make all the shots that you need.
Obviously there are a lot of models that weren’t mentioned, and that is the nice thing because there is truly a Glock available to suit your specific needs. Having shot or owned almost all Glock models available, I can truly recommend them. Remember, only buy a gun you can shoot fast and accurately. That will determine the caliber, length etc.
The 1911 disconnector serves a very important role in the firing cycle of your 1911 trigger system, namely not allowing the gun to go full auto. You will often see posts that will recommend modifying the disconnector in a trigger job. While there are certain things that an experienced gunsmith may do the disconnector, if you are home-hobby guy stay away. Let me give you an example.
Several years ago I took in a 1911 from a bullseye shooter who wanted to slim down his collection. This Colt 1911 NM was unbelievable. What he didn’t tell me was that he was also responsible for the “trigger job” that was done to the gun. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the gun because I was running short on time. I put it in the safe and left it there not really thinking about it again. One day a customer came by to pick up a gun and saw the NM. He immediately had to have it. Once again, I didn’t think anymore about it until he called to say he had a full auto pistol.
What happened? First, I should have test fired the weapon before selling it. Bad mistake, won’t ever happen again. Second, I replaced the disconnector and the problem immediately went away. Upon further investigation it was clear the first owner had altered the disconnector beyond serviceable tolerances.
Luckily this story had a happy ending because the customer was a good friend. The disconnector was less than $20, and the problem was solved. However, it could have been a lawsuit or worse. Make sure you leave this link in the system alone unless you have been specifically trained about its form and function. It simply isn’t worth it.
I have the opportunity to serve this week in the judicial system as a juror. It is a fascinating experience! I will be out of pocket for the rest of the week, but I will answer email as I have opportunity. Have a great week.
I guess there is a first time for everything. Last week, I was performing one of our SM-1 conversions when I accidentally used the wrong drill bit to open up a gas port making the gun not only kick like a mule, but unsafe to use. You can imagine my despair. Not only had I wrecked a barrel, but I had to call a very nice customer and explain the error of my ways. Luckily, he was completely understanding, and I offered to replace his barrel with a factory new barrel from Remington.
This barrel was a surprise and a pretty cool upgrade so I think it is going to work out for both of us in the long run. The barrel comes with many features that are not available on a standard SM-1.
The first are the rifle sights. They are mounted to the barrel and give an unbelievable sight picture. The second is that it is threaded for choke tubes. The third feature is that it comes with Improved Cylinder and Rifled choke tubes and a choke tube wrench. The barrel itself is 21 inches which makes it a very manageable self-defense or woods gun.
The barrel sells for almost $200, but I’m thinking I might could work this into an SM-1 package that will sell for $100 more. The advantage to you is that you can keep your standard barrel for hunting or shooting clays, and the advantage for me is that it takes away any possibility that I will grab the wrong drill bit.
I’m going to the range tomorrow so I’ll give a report on how it performs.
We get asked about Class III weapons a lot. It seems everyone wants to have one at least once in their life. We are not a Class III dealer because we simply don’t see the point of the whole thing. A Class III weapon might include a suppressor, a short barreled rifle or shotgun or an automatic weapon.
You can legally purchase these by going through a Class III dealer and filing your paperwork with the government. However, the restrictions are high and so is the cost. You will end up paying $200 to the government for each weapon. Not a big deal on suppressors or short barreled weapons, but automatic weapons haven’t been imported in this country since the late 1980′s. This means that the prices are outrageous for most of them. Expect to pay in the thousands of dollars.
Then remember that you have a federally regulated weapon. You must inform ATF whenever you plan to travel with the weapon across state lines. You must always have your paperwork with the weapon.
Don’t get me wrong, they are fun to shoot, but you can have as much fun going to Knob Creek every year for a lot less money and headache.
It is interesting that we are seeing some trends continue even in the post balloon era that took place from November until about May. I recently received Brownell’s catalog for the up coming year. If Brownell’s isn’t a familiar company, I encourage you to check them out. They are the largest parts and accessories for shooters in the world.
At the beginning of the catalog the owner mentioned how they have added over 1,000 new items. The interesting part was that the majority of those are for the AR platform.
The AR platform has become the most popular rifle platform over the last few years. This can be attributed to several things:
- Versatility. You can play with it, hunt with it and compete with the same rifle.
- Ease of use. It is simple to maintain and clean.
- Manageable recoil. With compensators the felt recoil can be tuned to almost nothing.
- Accuracy. The 5.56 is a great round for competition.
- Accessories. If you can dream of it, it is probably available for the AR.
We have been servicing AR’s since we first opened our doors. As a matter of fact, I looked back at our records, and an AR-15 was the first gun that we ever serviced. From that gun until now, we have set up all kinds of AR’s from Law Enforcement contracts to varmint rifles to competition rifles.
These experiences have led us to some new things at MCC. Stay tuned. There’s more to come.
I recently made contact with George Phillips who has written an e-book for beginning reloaders. For those not familiar with an e-book, they are downloaded for your enjoyment at considerable savings. George’s book is $.99, so it is a great value, and will offer you some insights into starting the process of reloading.
It is by no means exhaustive, and the preview copy that we read did not have any pictures, so you should understand that is by no means an complete book for the beginner, but at less than a buck it is hard to beat. You can get it from Amazon or from his sight www.thephillipsgeneralstore.com
Reloading 101 will help you get started towards a lot of fun working up your own loads and saving money in the process. As I have said before, reloading is a great way to enjoy your hobby at home when you can’t get to the range.
We recently had the opportunity to test the Woolrich Elite Lighweight Pants. These pants have all the features that you need in tactical pant, but they are made from a lighter material to make them comfortable for those in hotter climates.
No doubt Woolrich had operators in mind who have to play in the sand box on a regular basis, and these pants fit this mission well. They are made from 1.5 ounces less thick material than the regular version, but other than that they are identical.
We tested these pants for several weeks including shooting several IDPA matches in them when temperatures rose above 90 degrees. We found them to be very comfortable and free moving when performing any task associated with action shooting.
One feature we particularly like is the back pocket which has a smaller pocket inside it for a wallet. Many pants in this category have a back pocket that feels as big as a rucksack. Having a smaller pocket was nice for wallets and other items that you don’t want floating around.
Even those these pants are considerably lighter, they appear to be durable and hold up well for their intended purpose. If you are going to shoot outside this summer, but don’t want to wear shorts, these pants should be considered.
When Glock introduced small guns, they thought the Glock 36 would be a great addition, and for certain segments, it really is the right answer. We have already profiled the Glock 30 SF in Part 1, but it will be helpful to understand all of the differences in these guns, because this is the only caliber where Glock offers two different versions of a compact frame.
The Glock 36 has slim profile which makes for easy CCW. It holds 6 rounds plus one. It is still a stretch to get to the trigger correctly if you have small hands, and the slim profile feels like you dont’ have that much to hold onto when you are getting familiar with the gun.
The one caveat to remember with this gun, is that almost everything on it is different. Extended mag releases are hard to find without modifying the frame, and it in general accessories are easy to come by because it seems like this gun doesn’t enjoy the popularity of its larger cousin the 30 and 30 SF.
The only down side I experienced when I shot this gun is that it felt like my pinky finger on my shooting hand was getting pinched between the magazine and the frame during recoil. Please remember that I have small hands, and this might not affect those of you with average to larger sized hands. The pain wasn’t enough to make me stop shooting, but it might prevent me from taking the gun out for a 200 round session at the range.
The obvious plus side to this gun is that it is easy to conceal, a pleasure to shoot in terms of recoil management, and it is lighter than a Colt Commander or defender.
If I had my preference, it would be for the 30 SF. I like the full feeling grip that has been shortened, and 4 extra rounds is an added bonus since it really doesn’t change how the gun will be carried. The only time it would nice to have the 36 over the 30 SF would be if you like IWB (Inside the Waist Band) carry.