The Gun Blogs

Working at a gun shop gives me some wonderful oppertunitys to try stuff I otherwish would not have. At time I am very impressed, other times not so much. This time was both, and a learning experince to boot. I took home a brandnew Taurus 650 CIA (carry it anywhere) mine is a .357 magnum, 2' barrel, Double action only. Now I am ussaly a fan of having the option of the single action; however where I to be involved in a gunfight with this gun, I would not be using single action! So I am training myself to shoot double action, as most of the handguns I carry daily are either double action only, or double action first shot. There are rumors that DAO shooting is inaccurate, and diffcult. While it may take more concentration to fire in DA mode this is not a bad thing as it helps us to concentrate more on a consistant trigger squeze.
I like the little 2" revolvers because they tend to be there by my side when not other firearm will quite do the trick. Add to that the performance of the .357 Magnum caliber, and you have yourself a great little combo. I drive a pickup that the desighn of the seats allows me to afix a holster inbetween the drivers seat and the center consul. This is where I prefer to have a revolver. I cannot readily reach my holstered weapon the gun-in-the-seat meathod is wonderful. With the small CIA all I have to do is put the gun in my pocket when I leave the truck, which not only secures the firearm, but also provides me with a great back up gun.
Anyone reading this must note that although these meathods work for me they may not be ideal where you are. I live in Alaska, and it is simply a differant kind of enviroment. We have cold weather, animals, remote wilderness areas, and the usual assortment of drunk, vandals, and criminals. No, the truck never leaves the driveway with out at least one rifle, and one handgun. Here it is dark half of the year so it is impertive that one should learn to shoot a firearm in darkness. I think that this is a must have skill for anyone who takes their personal saftey seriously. If you think about it most crimnals will not attack you in daylight downtown, but add darkness to the picture, and suddenly the other person has concelment.
Constant darkness is one reason why I do not carry full power .357 loads in the Taurus. When testing the gun in darkness the muzzle flash from this little gun was enough to blind me to the loaction of the target for almost 3 seconds. To any of you who have been in a gun fight you will know that three seconds can very well spell life or death. I also know that it is unlikely that an assailant will stop their attack INSTANTLY after my first hit. With that in mind I choose firearms that are able to fire without essesive muzzle blast. So I carry the .38 special +P loads, and a speed loader.
Bullets do not do the shooter any good unless they impact their target. We must test our carry guns first for reliably and second for accuracy. It works. I am not going to tell you that you can hit a gopher at sixhundred meters. I was able to relably hit the head at 25 yrds on a standard size siluette target. long range is not where the real shine is though, its the personla distance shooting that will make or break the gun. I was able with very little practice shoot fist sized groups at 10 yards. These groups where all point of aim.
So on the stevedcross scale of gun testing I would give this little bugger a 6. I would have scored it higher, but there was a problem. This gun willnot work with Cor-bon ammo. I have no ideal why, it just does not work. It works with other ammo of the EXACT same power leval, but not the corbon. Now this is important to remember because had I not tested my ammo I would have been in for a rude supprise had it come time to use it. I will work on this though and let everyone know when I fighure it out. Meanwhile I would advise you not to shoot Corbon in Taurus revolver as I am not the first one to have this problem.
Good luck and stay safe
stevedcross

New Sig 556 rifle review
AHH.
I brought home a new baby. A brand new Sig 556 rifle. Forward grip, stream light tactical light, HALO sight. What a wonderful piece of engineering! I have as of yet not done any formal accuracy testing, but during the basic sight in session, the rifle was easy to shoot, minimal recoil, very steady, and shot well. At 25yds it was easy to shoot overlapping groups from offhanded. With its thin barrel the rifle does heat up, however unlike an AR-15 none of the heat is felt by the user because of the well vented large handguard‘s. This first sight-in session was at night and I was very impressed about the lack of an overwhelming muzzle flash. the basic M-16 flash suppresser works very well indeed.
I suppose the last time I fired an M-16 style flash hider at night, I was in a small house in Mosul, with other things on my mind! Overall the I am very impressed by the weapon, if I was to compare the Sig 556 to anything I would have to say that it handles like an M249 SAW. The pistol grip even feels close! The piston system does an excellent job of reducing recoil, and to me it is more comfortable to shoot than my AR-15.
As for reliability testing I was again impressed. Normally when I had acquired semi-automatic rifles they might hick-up in the first few rounds. Not the Sig; Insert Magazine, rack bolt, pull trigger, repeat as needed. Of the 7 mags I used in the first shoot (30 rounders) not a single problem. Simply pull trigger, and repeat as necessary. That is what a tactical rifle is suppose to do.
Since that first play time I have exercised the rifle at 200 yards and I was having little difficulty hitting paper plates at that distance. Another 500 rounds and still not one malfunction. Playing with the rifle more I believe that it is slightly heavier than I would normally choose, but not to the point of being unmanageable. I am also calculating the weight based on end-user, IE what shooters actually put on these types of weapons.
I don’t think that I will stop using my AR-15, but I do think that this is a better rifle. I also don’t think that it will become as popular as the ar, if only because of the price. There is always room in the gun cabinet for new types of weapons, and cool new gadgets. The Sig will not supplant the AR in the regular sense of the word but I do believe that the gas-piston system will become a prominent feature in future combat rifles.

I finally got my first C&R purchase.

I bought a Mosin-Nagant M44 carbine from J&G sales. They had them on sale right after Christmas for $60 (normally $80).

It wasn't cosmolined up too badly (at least I could get the bolt open). I cleaned her up this evening and took her for her first outing to the range. I think I'm going to call her Marina. That name evokes visions of Russian sturdiness but with just a hint of elegance. I think it fits.

Anyway A couple of things stood out right away. First, the trigger pull is EXTREMELY light for a military weapon. Anyone out there know if this is normal for Mosins? I checked out the bolt stop, trigger and cocking piece, nothing seems overly worn. It just seems that the bolt stop and cocking piece barely make contact so that just a hint of pressure on the trigger makes her go bang. Before going to the range, I cocked her a couple of times and tapped the butt on the ground, I could get the cocking piece to release and dry fire just by tapping firmly on the ground. That can't be right. Do I need to replace the cocking piece or bolt stop? Any thoughts?

I decided that it was safe to fire, even with the light trigger, as long as I was careful.

I took her to the 25 yard indoor range just to get the sights on paper and test her out. The light trigger does make for a nice feel, but I still think it's a bit too light. She almost goes off just from me thinking about pulling the trigger.

The second thing that stood out upon the first shot: she kicks like a mule! My shoulder is sore after 20 rounds.

I'm definitely going to have to get a recoil pad for her.

Anyway, I had heard that stock Mosin sights tend to shoot way high so I was pleasantly surprised when she printed right on in elevation and about 3 inches left. A couple of taps to the front sight and she was right on the money at 25 yards. With no rest, just resting my elbow on the tray at the range, I painted about a 2" group. Not great but I think I was flinching a little bit. Did I mention that the recoil is...um...stout?

I actually like the straight bolt handle because I'm left handed. With the straight handle, I could reach across the top of the rifle and work the bolt with my left hand with no problem. When I tried to use my right hand, I had to bring her down from my shoulder which made it awkward.

Anyway, I'm very happy with my purchase, she is clean and seems to shoot well at least at short range. I'm going to plan a range trip to Creeds this weekend so I can test her out more thoroughly and zero the new scope on the SKS to 200 yards.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Cross posted on Captain of a Crew of One

Knob Creek that is, shootin' irons, machine guns.

We left home last Friday (the 13th) morning for the semiannual Machine Gun Shoot. Leaving Gallatin at 5:30 AM early we were parked in the lot by 9:00.

Exiting the truck in the parking lot I felt a sudden urge to laugh. The roar of all those guns going off at the same time filled the air with a sound like freedom. We trudged on up the road, payed our fees and walked into a cloud of smoke from powder and burning cars.

The firing line was completely full and overflowing on the both sides. Near the entry some guys had flamethrowers set up for rent. Next in line was some kind of medium sized muzzle loading coastal cannon that boomed and spewed a huge cloud of white smoke. Next in line was a minigun in 5.56 I think. We heard it buzz a few times and finally had a chance to watch it run. One of the guys watching emailed me a video and I put it up on YouTube. 30 feet of ammo in 10 seconds

The rest of the line was populated with all sorts of pintle mounted weapons. Ma Dueces were common. I'd really need to have someone with Tam's knowledge with me to identify most of the weapons.

Near the far end of the line was a small breech loading cannon on a wheeled carriage. It occasionally launched a solid tracer round making for a good show. I'm guessing that it started around 800 fps or so, comparing the apparent velocity to .45 ACP tracer rounds from a Thompson.

More with pictures and the video imbedded at Ninth Stage.

I shoot Highpower Rifle Competiton. In my opinion everyone would find their firearm experience enhanced by shooting SOME kind of organized match. There are lots out there to pick from and they are shot everywhere. I've heard rumors that there is still an indoor smallbore range on Manhattan.
Highpower rifle matches are usually 50 or 80 rounds. You shoot 10 shots standing at 200 yards, 10 shots sitting rapid fire at 200, 10 rapid prone at 300, and 20 slow fire prone at 600. I shoot service rifle so its all with an AR15 and open sights. Every shot is worth ten points max, so a perfect score would be 500. (An 80-round 800 point match shoots 20 at every position.)
At our range, you have to shoot in the 480s or above to win.
That's right. 600 yards with a peep sight and front post. You gotta know your elevations and your no-wind zero.
It's fun. Once you learn to shoot standing and then 600 yards you'ld be surprised at the expansion of your shooting conciousness. I think it exceeds 500 years of gunshop BS or 20 years in the military or LEO ranks.
I'm a Distinguished Rifle and High Master Highpower classified shooter. Lately a bunch of us decided to try to get double distinguished- that is, earn a distinguished badge in pistol to go with our rifle. We'll see how that shakes out.
I'm attaching a photo of folks shooting standing at the Panola 200 yard line last month.

Well, I finally took the next step in the transmogrification of my Yugo SKS. I purchased the Tech-Sight TS200.

Installation was a breeze. The only difficult part was removing the takedown latch from the rear of the receiver. It has a retaining pin that is pressed into the shaft. I couldn't get it out so I used my dremel tool to grind it off. I still have the latch and could probably drill out the old pin and press in a replacement if I ever decide to go back to the original configuration.

The other alternative if the latch turns out not to be re-usable is just to use a small bolt and nut versus a latch. After trying it out this afternoon though, I doubt that I'll be wanting to take the Tech Sight off any time soon.

I also had to relieve a little wood from the port side. At the very top of the stock where the receiver extends out, the angle of the wood was different between the left and right sides. The right side was a little lower to allow for the takedown lever. I simply filed the left side down to match the right and the Tech-Sight fit perfectly.

It looks a little odd but not horribly so. I think that, after I get done applying all the mods that I have in mind the unusual rear sight will be one of the less glaringly incorrect features.

I left the Williams Firesight front sight on to see if it would work with the Tech Sight. The firesight still seems to be a bit too tall but it seems more borderline with the Tech Sight than with the Williams Rear peep site.

I think it will work but I won't really find out until I get her to an actual rifle range. The Atlantic Fleet Rifle and Pistol Match is coming up next week so I'll be pretty busy. I doubt that I'll get to Pungo for at least two weeks.

Anyway, I took it to the 25 yard indoor range at Camp Allen Marine Corps Base nearby. The sight installed per the instructions, I bottomed out the range adjustment and centered the windage according to my calibrated eyeball.

Here is a picture of the first four shots.

Note the nice clean target with no pasties on it.

I've really got to patent this calibrated eyeball thing...who needs a boresight laser?

Seriously though. Any bets on whether I'll ever be able to do that again in my LIFE?

I started out with the Tech Sight bottomed all the way out and the point of impact at 25 yards was still about two inches above point of aim.

If my guesstimates are correct, that should put me about 4 inches high at 100 yards and 1 inch high at 200. That's workable for a battle zero but I'll have to actually shoot it at those ranges to see if I'm anywhere near correct. If it doesn't work out, I can always put the original front sight back on. I REALLY like the firesight front though. I hope I can make it work.

This is an overall shot of the lane. As you can see, I really don't have a good bench rest here. The backstop can handle rifles here (up to and including .50 BMG) but the lanes are obviously designed for handguns.

I included this just to make a point: the groups were pretty tight considering. I have no doubt I can keep them within 1 to 2 MOA from a bench rest at 100 yards considering how I did with this sight setup overall.

This is my last four shots. I called the flier. It wasn't really a flinch so much as a simple wobble. As soon as it went BANG! I knew the shot was off. I know, I know...a miss isn't any less of a miss because you called it...I was just trying to make the point that the flier wasn't the fault of the rifle, it was strictly operator error.

Assuming that performance at 100 and 200 yards doesn't bring any surprises, I'd say I'm pretty darned happy with the iron sights in this configuration.

The only thing I didn't think to try was take the sight off (required for stripping and cleaning) and put it back on to make sure the zero stays true. I'll try that at the rifle range as well.

The only real complaint I have is that, with the limited eye relief due to the sight being on the rear of the receiver, the aperture could stand to be a little smaller. I obviously didn't have any real problem with it and perhaps I'll just get used to it, but it seems that the aperture is a bit too big for true accuracy (of course, the SKS is not designed for accuracy anyway so this may be a stupid gripe...it was just something that I noticed).

In any case, I'd say that the Tech Sights rear sight, whether paired with the Williams firesight front or the stock front post sight, is well worth the $60 investment at this point. I'll be able to make a more firm recommendation in a couple of weeks when I get a chance to try it out at longer ranges.

Related Posts:

SKS resources
Williams Firesight: Range Report
Williams Firesight: Installation
Troubleshooting and Repairs
First Range Report
The Purchase

Cross Posted on Captain of a Crew of One