I gotta be a little bit of an ass and link this post. A chatroom buddy of mine, Suds, just got himself a new pistol. And I’ll first up say he did the right thing, he narrowed down his selection (.45 ACP duty-sized pistols) he then went to a shop that rents guns and fondled all the guns that appealed to him. Guns with adjustable backstraps were shot with all backstraps in place. Of course you know my choice but choosing something different, I’m a huge fan of the S&W M&P45 which also has the advantage of having a standard magazine capacity of 10, making it Mass friendly. Tho I must say I really like the idea of the XDm 45 a whole lot for a nice shooting gun that holds a LOT of bullets but doesn’t feel like you’re holding a 2×4.
He chose the HK45 because of all the guns he shot it felt the best in his hands. I can’t argue that, also his piece came with 4 magazines, and knowing what H&K charges for a mag he got a decent deal on the gun he bought. Still he went and tinkered with it and sent me the link to this video:
Jeepers creepers! That’s that German Engineering the gunnies are always talking about. Lemme link you a video with equally shitty light that shows how to tear down (completely) a pistol designed by a Mormon in Utah, and then copied by the Chinese. Embed disabled
And the 1911 is really quite a complicated pistol when you get down to it. It has an excuse it was designed over 100 years ago! Wanna see a SIMPLE gun?
Personally just can’t fall in love with those crazy Austrian pistols, and the M&P has stolen any interest I had in them, but DAMN they are mechanically VERY simple.
Enjoy your new gun, Suds! I just had to poke some fun!
I have an HK USPc and have had it for years. He doesnt need to do that complete strip down really. I can vouch from personal expereince that you scrub the hell out of it with a really wet toothbrush of SHooters Choice then blow it all out with Gun Scrubber. A couple of drops of oil on the spring and working parts and its clean.
Also, if he is interested in som 10 round mags have him check out http://www.hkparts.net. The guy has a direct line to Germany and is chock full of hard to get HK parts. There is a premium on this stuff though (i.e. the 10 round mags are around $60) but the above site carries parts that HK is normally unwilling to sell to mere civilians.
SPeaking of which- though I love my USPc and my UMP- your buddy should pray that he never has to send his pistol back to the factory. If you are not LE or mil there customer service is the absolute worse. My USPc had to go back for a broken part and 5 months later I got it back. At the 3 month mark I called to enquire the status of the gun ans was basically told that since I was “just a civilian” that any repair orders were considered low priority and that HK would get to fixing my gun “eventually”.
I am also intrigued by the new SA XDm 45. I currently carry the XDm 9mm but may pick one of these up also.
As a side note I chuckled at my CAPTCHA code today- it was AWB0 (AWB zero) which I found humorous at a pro-gun blog.
Yeah I find it hard to really knock his choice. As I said he did some exhaustive research and found the HK45 was the gun for him. How can you argue with that? I just find it hard to part with mid-range 1911 money for a mass-produced polymer pistol. I mean with the M&P45 running at about $450 NIB, and the XDm45 running about $600, and the H Und K running about twice that I get really skeptical if they’re worth it.
If H&Ks guns were the same price as the XD, or even with most of the Sigs…or if they had the BEST triggers and THE BEST customer service, and magazines didn’t cost $50+ I’d recommend them to anybody who wants them.
Well a real shocker for me was a taught a former anti-gun liberal how to shoot about 2 years ago- now she not only CCWs but has taken at least 3 tactical shooting classes that I know of. ANyway, when I taught her to shoot what gun did she just shred with? The USPc (and I had a High Power, ParaOrdnance, Glock, P-22, XDm, 1911 and a few others on the table for her to try).
WHen she went to go purchase a gun she went right for the USPc. The new price made her hesitate but my local store had a used USPc with 3 extra mags for $600. When I told them she was a new shooter and new CCWer looking for her first pistol they offered to sell it to her for $550 out the door which she jumped on. WHich was very generous of them!
Now she is looking for a small 9mm (probably a SIG) or 380 (I’m trying to steer her away from that caliber) to go with some of her more tight fitting clothes that dont hide the USPc all that well.
But like you I agree that a carry piece if very personal- you have to feel comfy with it in all dimensions or else you end up not carrying.
I did the full tear-down to install the ambidextrous control lever. 🙂
While I did not HAVE to do it, I think it’s good to know your weapon of choice inside and out, in the event that something unfortunate does happen to it.
Thank you for the site suggestion (hkparts). I have gone there, and have been suitably impressed by their part selection. (Although, I must say that I got the ambi control lever from a different site, when hkparts was out of stock.)
I am not LE, and I agree that their customer service is not up to par (Another reason for my complete tear down.).
Cheers,
Suds
I tore down my first 1911 with no better reason than to see if I could do it, and if there was anything to do once I was in there
I have to say I never cared much for the H&K myth and legend. Recently had the opportunity to try a friends HK USP in .45 and I was really delighted with it on the range. Great grouping, and a DA trigger that didn’t affect my shot placement (I usually stink with DA). I’d give it a thumbs up – not considering carry-ability or price or value.
But my heart goes to glock for carry pistols. Simple & interchangeable. And the guy in the G27 takedown vid has a wikked pissa accent.
Truth be told, I am lusting after a HK91/G3-type for no good reason – which is very different than saying they are the best and everyone needs one…
I personally don’t like Glocks (mostly the grip angle and the fact that I’m in LOVE with my 1911 for how slim and elegant it is, and how functional that slender profile is for carry and shooting…and I find Glocks to overall feel brutishly huge for the gun inside) but I also will never knock them or argue with somebody who picked one, given that they tired a few other guns and know that Glock works for them. They’re simple, affordable, strong, reliable, and ridiculously functional…tho if you hand load you’ll need to buy a replacement barrel…
I’ll also agree with you, the HKs I’ve shot have been delightful guns. They also appear reliable and strong guns. I don’t like how they constantly insist on putting thumb safeties on all their guns, tho this is of little relevance to range guns, and they make a DAO variant to most of their stable.
But GOD when you look at the price tag on the guns, its hard not to lose almost all of the love…and then pricing out spare mags (and looking for full-capacity mags for guns that eat more than 10) if that doesn’t crush your heart you REALLY love your H und K.
GwarGwar is a Masshole and maybe someday I can do some shooting with him, or bump into him at the shops we both frequent.
As for the G3, I certainly looked at them in my desire for a 7.62x51mm battle rifle. If you can borrow one just do this simple task.
Load the gun with 5 shots, chamber the round and put it on safe. Then at the buzzer raise the rifle to a firing position, set the gun to “Fire”, and put 5 shots on target, then reload and put an additional 5 shots on target.
Drills like that killed any love I have for the CETME platform.
Oh and for additional hatred, hand load up your 10 shots of 150gr 7.62x51mm….then go find your brass and try to load them up again.
I REALLY like the H&K battle sights, I LOVE how cheap CETME magazines are. I like that its a light and handy 7.62x51mm battle rifle. But running the gun through normal SHTF rifle paces, and attempting to handload to save $$$ on spendy 7.62x51mm ammo….well that gets ugly.
But that being said, Tula is having a sale on steel-cased 7.62x51mm
http://www.bulkammo.com/bulk-308-win-ammo-308150fmjtula-500
What was your issue with the 5+5 drill ? I’ve put a few rounds through a Cetme (like 5) and about as much through a 91 so I’m not super familiar. I’m still confused as hell over the paddle mag release and how in some cases it can cause the receiver to be classified under NFA. Sounds like an AR would be great for 5+5, and an AK sucky with the slower mag changes.
Ammo is actually one of the things drawing me to the G3/91 platform. While I do have a metric arseload of 308 brass and no working 308 rifles, there is a lot of very cheap (~14c/rd?) plastic cased .308 ammo out there. Swap in the training bolt carrier for $200 and the plastic ammo is reported to run well. I’ve run some of it through an Enfield with delightful accuract results out to 100y. Something like a 40 grain bullet at 4500 FPS.
Heh, it demonstrates why I don’t like the CETME. The Safety is a MILE away from your thumb so you’ll be straining to reach it to start the drill, and likely will have to adjust your grip. Then you’ll get those 5 shots off fast and accurately, as they do shoot VERY well, but then you’ll have to flick out the empty mag, seat the fresh one (not too bad on either steps, very similar to an FAL) but then you’ll have to REEEAAACH across creation to get that stupid folding bolt handle and crank it back to charge the next round as CETME platform guns don’t have bolt-hold-opens.
If you just want a cheap .308 auto-chucker to fuck with, I don’t see too much wrong with dumping $600 for a Century CETME (I hear they aren’t as nice as the PTRs, but for half the price?) and being able to get a serious start on mags for $20 (I’ve seen them at Cheaper than dirt and other places for $5 or less!) it could be fun. Heck Commander Zero got a deer with his PTR-91 last year.
I just wouldn’t like it as a SHTF or any sort of “working rifle” because of the HORRIBLE ergonomics.
My complaints on the AK are similar, Mag Changes are a MONSTER (and frankly take 90% of the fun out of shooting the gun), the safety is a boat-anchor. With the AK, no bolt-hold-open isn’t much of a deal-breaker tho, because its just a short action stroke.
I’m currently saving my lunch money for an FAL of some sort.
Those XDMs are surprisingly neat guns. If they came with color options other than black on black or silver on black, I think I might have picked one up all ready. I keep meaning to write to Springfield and tell them they need to offer it with red polymer parts. Then I’d get the red with the silver slide. That would be really neat.
With that said, they are very popular up here. After one great salesman giving me a demo of how stupid-easy it is to tear one down and talking about some of its other points, I did all most buy it.
If I lived in a free state (or when I do, seeing the changing tide out there) I think an XDm45 would make a GREAT nightstand gun. I certainly think non-black colors are coming, as well as stainless-slide versions, given that I was handling a prototype at the NRA convention early this year.
I dunno about Red tho. Certainly Springfield is making those Coyote Tan, and “OD Green” (tho the green is a little brighter than OD to my eyes) XDs in older platforms. Dunno about red. It certainly would look REALLY slick, but I wonder if the industry might be hesitant as Blue and Red are often used in Training guns.
Remember for a big company like Springer they’ll need the Lawyers to OK it first. There might be a way to color it yourself tho…
Ohhhhh… SS slide on those babies?! That would be disgustingly awesome. Too bad the planned colors don’t do much for me. Unless it’s wood or leather, brown’s out. Green, well… I don’t know. I’d be more inclined to buy a neon or bright green than the usual “OD Green” since it just doesn’t do it for me. Perhaps the paintball mentality of cool looking guns doesn’t help my choices. I’m too girlie regarding guns… If it feels good and is eye catching, I’m all too sucked in. Like that Browning Buck Mark Lite I fondled tonight. Man… Those have a NICE feel and the fluted barrel is pretty sexy.
Personally, I think if they can make gawds awful purple and pink polymer for guns (like Charter Arms and some other companies) they damn well can make red or other better colors too. I do see the point about training stuff. That kind of sucks though, since my second choice in color would be a bright orange…
As far as DIY recoloring, the polymer stuff doesn’t really hold coatings or paint all that well. Even paint designed to work on plastics comes off far too easily for my tastes, particularly in conditions involving large temperature variances and the type of percussive force involved in firearms. I’m not super fond of powdercoating, I mean I could do it or have it done, but I’m pretty dubious about how well it would last without starting to chip or wear off and look pitiful.
Powder coating holds up fairly well. Heck my CRKT Gekkota still looks great dispite riding in my pocket with my keys for almost 6 months now. That’s a high-impact high-abrasion environment, and the powder coat finish still looks nice. A lot of those coats are TOUGH!
But powder coat only works on metal, so the plastic frame still needs a different treatment. The downside of that is companies would need to have a million different colors to make everybody happy, so instead they just work to keep 80% happy by making Black, Green, Tan, and Pink as the main-stays.
I’ve heard good things about buckmarks (tho I’ve heard some say the modern ones aren’t as nice as the older ones) never shot one, as they aren’t allowed here. Have you seen the new Whitney Wolverine?
http://www.olyarms.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=135&category_id=10&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=37&vmcchk=1&Itemid=37
Neat looking sci-fi .22 plinker.
A number of companies will duracaot just about any color on a weapon…
Will that work on polymer frames as well? I know its easy to make the metal slide on an XD whatever color or combination of colors you want….but what about the receiver?
I will check but I am pretty sure the answer is yes- I have a friend with a fully duracoated AR that includes the handgrip and stock which are polymer. I have some experience with duracoat and once that stuff dries its not going anywhere.
Duracoat is good to go on polymer and a whole lot of other substances. For areas where critical tolerances are located make sure you mask off or seal the area so that the paint does not get in there.
To put duracoat on you either need an airbrush or you can purchase Preval disposable spray unit direct from the site,
I am all over the map on rifles I’d like, with reasons just as varied. I guess that is what happens when you like queer guns and dont have any particular purpose in mind.
We’ll see how much damage I do at the auction… If I get shut out, perhaps one of those cheap PSLs and start a .357 AR build ?
**Shakes head** That boy just ain’t right! 😉
heh, I gotta kid ya!
Heh, it’s all good. I should just finish the belty anyway.
And I have had a couple of guys asking me to build ARs in .45ACP, so that should appeal to your senses a bit more 🙂
You know, I don’t really have strong feelings about .45 ACP out of a long barrel. I will say that 10mm Auto is a cartridge DESTINED for carbine use! Its like a beefy .30 Carbine!
You know a 10mm AR is doable, not much diff from the 357sigAR other than bore diam – same bolt face even. 40cal barrels are out there, no biggie to rechamber to 10mm. Would be smooth to run from a G20 mag, 15rds elsewhere, 10 in PRM.
The 357sig is for a buddy. 16″ build for starters but if his papers fail (PRM) it will live with me with a shorter barrel. Trying to convince him to go 357AMP on an AR10 but not having much luck. I figure the 357sig from a 16″ barrel will be ~1850FPS/125gr. Pretty comparable to the 2000FPS/110gr of the 30 carbine.