A Little Cleaning Required For...

...the two new Zastava M70 pistols, in 32 ACP, that I received today from RGuns via my local dealer/FFL. I just sold off some of my other guns, a shotgun & a couple of rifles and while i certainly did not have a glut of cash to spend on more guns, like these, there was enough to convince me I had to take advantage of the deal RGuns has on them. They were $225 ea. plus $15.00 shipping (for both). Add on my FFL fee of $25.00 ea. and I spent a total of $515.00 for both of them. Considering that they each came with two magazines, a holster and a cleaning brush - it was a good deal. It will have been an excellent deal if they are actually in new condition. As far as I can see, through the downright sticky gloominess of the Cosomolne that envelopes them, they are as RGuns claimed - new old stock or as they I think describes them better - New Old MilSurp. Whatever, they do look new and that was a darned good deal on pistols for which so far I have seen only good reviews. Now, of course, that sticky mess that is covering them could be hiding blemishes, only time and a good cleaning will tell.  As to how well they operate - only time, a cleaning and a trip to the range will tell.

That may take me several days at least or maybe until the weekend after this coming one since I am already in the process of stripping the paint off of a Mosin Nagant 91/30 that I painted as a goof for a Zombie bayonet charge at a blogger shoot several years ago. Started that this evening in earnest and must say so far the paint is coming off of the metal nicely (some metal parts were painted a deep pink. It was supposed to be red but paint container was mislabeled or the guy who mixed the paints was colorblind (or both). Anyway, I figure I'll hold off on the M70s until I at least get the metal done on the 91/30.

More on these once I get them cleaned up and to the range.

February 9, 2020, Edited to Add:

By the way, when I purchased these they were advertised as being:

"UN ISSUED NEW OLD STOCK"

These pistols are not new as far as I can tell. The fact is, to me, they appear to have been lightly used. I am in no way saying the dealer used false advertising when selling these, they were probably told they were new and maybe some in their stock were new but evidently at least not the two I received. Here is why I think so: On each of the two I bought, there is evidence of wear on the slide rails of the frame and on the inside of the slide. There also was fouling in the bore and chamber and fouling in each magazine (even though each pistol and both mags with each gun had Cosmoline (or the equivalent, on them). While the fouling could have been solely from an initial test fire, the fact of the finish wear on the slide rails and such probably indicates otherwise. Though, I suppose that could have also come from test firing but, while it is not bad, it seems a bit much to be from test firing. Each also has small scratches and or dings in the exterior finish of the slide and frame finish. 

If I was gong to associate the word 'new' with them, it would be to say 'almost as good as new'; that of course being in my estimation. All things considered though, both were in what I am guessing is 95-98% cosmetic condition and nonetheless they were an excellent deal for the price.

All the best,
Glenn B

Range Day Today With It's Ups & Downs

By Tuesday or Wednesday of this week it was turning out to be just another week pretty much full of drudgery & boredom for me here in the Texarkana area. Had it not been for me going to Sam's Club (once my membership expires they probably can kiss my arse goodbye), running a few other errands and going in to see a doc, I would have been pretty much apartment bound all week watching Star Trek Enterprise on Netflix.

Then, when Brendan got in touch with me to tell me he was going to buy a Remington Model 700, in 308 WIN, for hunting this year, I told him if he wanted it he cold have my still new in the box Savage 111 Long Range Hunter. He hemmed and hawed only a little and said that might not be too shabby.

So, I started to get things in order for a trip to see him over in Benton, AR and to bring along the Savage 111 LRH. I also started a thread on Texas Gun Talk, a local to TX gun forum, to see what others thought about the Savage 111 LRH in 300 Winchester Magnum. Some thought it a good idea, others thought it too much gun. With the thought of it maybe being too much gun, I decided to bring along a few others in 3 additional calibers: 30-30 WIN, 308 WIN, and 35 REM. I spent a good deal of Thursday night and Friday morning into the afternoon cleaning guns, mounting a scope, getting ammo ready and so on and that was much better than being bored to tears in Texarkana (not that it is necessarily a boring town, just I have not gotten to really know anyone or the town itself yet).

On Friday afternoon I headed over to his place in Benton, got there late around 645PM or so. I had planned to leave earlier to make it to him by 4 or 5 at the latest but had to make a run to the post office before it closed. On my way there I remembered that I had some Jarlsberg and Cheddar cheeses in my fridge for him and of course, in my frenzied rush to get to the post office before closing, and then to finally shove off to his place, with getting all my guns and ammo together (well almost all of my ammo as you will see), I had left them behind. Back to my apartment to get the cheeses and out the door by 445 or a bit later. Once I got to Benton, we went out to get some burgers at red Robin. They have surprisingly greasy and very tasty burgers - both things to my liking. They also have some very strong mixed drinks of which I only had one. They also have a very cute and oerky waitress that Brendan seems to like - who knows. After the eats, back to his place and more drinking was to be done of Laird's Applejack, Some Knappogue Castle 16 year old single malt Irish whiskey, some 12 year old  Redbreast Irish whiskey, a shot of some liquor that was somewhat like Yeagermeister, and a few Bitburger Pilsners. We woke up late on Saturday morning, had some strong coffee, ate a bit of breakfast, I went to Home Depot to get some packing boxes out of which to make targets and we finally got off to a pretty late start. What the heck though - we went to the range to have some shooty goodness kind of fun.

We drove about 63 miles of so from his place to Pigeon Roost Range i he in his car and me in mine. I sat in his parking lot for 10 minutes waiting for him to come down to his car only to find out he had been right behind me as I went to my car and he had already left. Damn. I wound up turning off the highway, onto the dirt road to the range, maybe a couple of hundred feet behind him. Either he drove pretty slowly or I drove too fast but I am not telling. 

It was nice and sunny ad not too hot when we got there. not humid either. The best thing was that we had the range to ourselves. We got to business setting up targets, sorting ammo and getting otherwise ready to shoot.  I handed him the Savage 111 LRH and he liked the heft of it. Then I showed him the ammo next to a 308 WIN round and a 30-06 round. Both he and I were impressed - the 300 WIN MAG is huge compared even to a 30-06 round. I think maybe he was a little hesitant to take the first shot but he did and he then loaded up another and fired again, he liked it. In fact, he liked the Savage LRH in 300 WIN MAG very much. He only took a few shots with it, because there are no sights and no glass on it, just to check out the recoil. I did not bother mounting a scope to it because Savage said they are sending a replacement stock due to a problem of the bolt hitting the cheek-piece when trying to remove the bolt and necessitating removal of the adjustable cheek piece to get the bolt out. When I get that, I will probably pick up a Vortex crossfire scope for it or maybe something a little better from the same company.

He also tried out the Savage Axis XP. We fired several rounds through it and planned to fire a lot more since I had an abundance of 308 BUT then the glass went kerflooey. One of the internal pieces of glass near the eyepiece turned around sideways. So much for cheap scopes that come packaged on a rifle. Of course, bouncing around in a van moving from NY to AR and then in another moving it from AR to TX could have had something to do with it. A new scope needed, probably also Vortex something or other this next time around. Anyway, he liked the recoil of the 308 as well as that of the 300 WIN MAG. I think he was impressed that the much larger round had about the same kick as did the 308.

On Thursday evening, while getting ready for the trip, I had mounted a cheap BSA scope on my Remington 141, slide action rifle in 35 REM. It was set to be parallax free at 100 yards - not something I usually go for in a scope, I prefer one parralax free at 25 yards or less with an adjustable adjustable objective lens. I picked up that scope somewhere I cannot recall - maybe in a combined lot of items at one of the Hessney auctions I attended and had it on hand so made use of it. Luckily, I had the 141 sighted in at the range, at 25 yards, after only 6 shots after merely having slapped on the scope and having tightened the screws. He liked that rifle too; although, the scope was pure junk. I told him if he wanted it, he could get a better piece of glass for it and he could have the 141 since he needs a hunting rifle for this season. He was undecided. We wound up only firing only 12 rounds total through the Remington 141 and I had wanted both him and me to shoot more rounds out of it but we only had one box of 35 REM being I had mistakenly grabbed an extra box of 308 in my hurry to get going to head his way Friday afternoon and I left the second box of 35 REM on a table in my living room (remember I said I had taken almost all of my ammo). We used the other eight rounds in my Marlin 336.

When we shot the remaining 8 rounds of 35 REM ammo through my Marlin 336 we found it was off maybe 4 inches to the left; both for him and for me. I need to sight that one in again when I bring the right ammo. Seems it must have lost lost zero sometime during my move from NY to AR to TX. Oh well - next time I hit the range with it, I will make sure to have enough ammo to sight it in. Things were getting a bit frustrating what with a scope going bust and without enough 35 REM so I decided to steer things elsewhere because it was getting obvious Brendan wanted to head home.

It was a lot nicer of a day than the last time we got together there maybe a few weeks ago. Back then the temp was in the high 90s to maybe over 100 and it was humid as all hell and had us soaked from sweat - one of those days where if you are not wearing a cap, the sweat just keeps running into your eyes while firing. No we did not have caps. Today though, I am guessing it was around 87 at most and nowhere nearly as humid as the day of our last range trip. So, since we were not sweating buckets, he readily took me up on my offer of a box of 100 rounds of 9mm FMJ and got in some practice with his Glock 43. I too the time to shoot several rounds through my Beretta 950BS in 22 short. Disappointingly, I discovered that the Triple-K magazine I bought for it, at a gun show last week, was assembled incorrectly and that prevented it from being loaded with more than one round. There is an obvious manufacture flaw on one side that I had not noticed when taking it out of the package. I am hopeful Triple-K or the dealer will make good on it despite me having thrown out the clam-shell packaging and not getting a receipt. Time and an email or phone call will tell. Anyway, we also both fired several mags worth of ammo out of my Glock 30.

After we were done shooting the pistols, out of ammo for either of the rifles in 35 REM and unable to aim the Savage Axis in 308 because the scope went belly up, I brightened up Brendan when I told him I had the pièce de résistance yet to come - my Marlin 36 in 30-30 Winchester (and that I had three boxes of ammo for it). No glass on this old timer - just the original iron sights. We both shot it at 25 yards first. Each of us shot a bit to the left of center with group sizes I am conservatively estimating to have been at about 1.5 to 2 inches. Then I moved the target to 50 yards and we tried again. I am guesstimating the group sizes to have been about 3.5 to 4.5 inches across at most, which I am thinking equals minute of pie plate at 100 yards. It also shot a bit more to the left. I think drifting the front sight a bit to the left will help there, that is if it can be drifted. He was very impressed with that Marlin 36 not only because it was a nice shooter but because it still has a good deal of its original case color. I should mention that two rounds did not go bang, I was firing 150 grain Winchester Power Point ammo out of the second box of it and both rounds that did not fire came from that box. It looked like light hits or hard primers. None of the rounds in the other box of 150 grain ammo failed to fire nor did any from a box of 170 grain Winchester power point fail to fire. My guess is the primers but again, time (and other brands of ammo) will tell.

I would have tried the Marlin 36 at 100 yards but as we were firing it at 50 yards, two other guys showed up to shoot. There had been no one else there while we were shooting and the new arrivals helped us make the decision it was time to leave. We have been to that range before and all I can say is each time we shot there - me by myself once and me with him at least two other times - while others were using that range at the same time - we wound up seeing people loading standing well behind the firing line and wound up with guns pointing at us and on at least two of those occasions they were loaded. Going to a public range where there are no range officers can be a scary experience. Sometimes I point out safety violations to others, at other times we just pack our gear and leave the range because sometimes you can just feel that whatever you say will be taken with an attitude of who the heck are you to be telling me anything by the offending party. Today, even though the two guys who showed up looked nice and competent enough, we just did not want to take a chance and we called it a day. For all we knew, they (my guess is a father and son) could have been the safest shooters around besides us but we had shot enough and decided to head to Bubba Brews on route 70 near Bonnerdale for some eats.

We had a couple of appetizers and  a a couple of drinks and called it a day. I truly sucks eggs having to go our separate ways and to have to wait as Roy Rogers used to say "Until we meet again" but that's the way it is, at least for now. I am hoping we can get together in a couple oif weeks either for shooting or maybe for some fishing. Next weekend is out, Brendan already has something planned with his buddies - so maybe I'll get a TX hunting & fishing license and head out to wet a line by myself.

By the way, after a nice day shooting, when I asked him if he wanted one of the rifles for hunting season this year, he told me he might use his shotgun but really liked the Savage 111 LRH. If he wants it, he can have it but he will have to buy the glass for it. Same as for any of them that need a scope, I figure giving him a rifle is generous enough. If he does not want any of them, all the better for me.  
All the best,
Glenn B

PS: I will proof read this later. Sorry no pics today.

Ballseye's Gun Shots 22 - Steyr Hahn Model 1911

If you ever wanted to see an ugly pistol this could be the one. Of course, me saying this could be the one as in ugly depends on my outlook at the moment. I certainly know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and oft times in the eye of the holder - as in the guy holding the gun when one is needed. If I had it in hand when needed, it would sure look beautiful to me! It is the Steyr-Hahn Model 1911. There is at least one up for sale at GunBroker.com at this link. From what I can tell, if the info about that particular one is stated correctly, it being offered at a starting bid of $599 with no reserve means it has a darned good price. I have seen others offered at quite a bit more such as the one here or the one here (actually this one did not have a bad price either but more than the first).

One look at this pistol and you realize immediately, that is if you know anything about pistols, that it looks unusual - to say the least. (To take more than one look visit the links above, some have several photos.) You may be wondering about some features of this pistols such as why is there a lanyard loop on the bottom of the magazine. Well, if you go to the above link, or to this one: http://www.sunblest.net/gun/Stey12.htm, or even to this one: http://randyrick.us/AustrianFirearms/pm1912.htm you will learn something about this pistol and will realize that is not the magazine to which the lanyard loop is attached. The loop is actually attached to the bottom outside area of the magazine well, the magazine being internal. In fact the pistol is loaded using something that amounts to a stripper clip. While I suppose that saved lots of money because stripper clips are much less expensive than magazines to produce or purchase, I imagine that it could make this pistol a nightmare to clear in the case of a jam due to the internal magazine malfunctioning.

This pistol was reportedly chambered in 9x23mm Steyr with some chambered in 9x19mm. It was a recoil operated semi-automatic pistol, 8 1/2 inches long, with about a 5 inch barrel, had an external hammer, was fed from internal 8 round magazine (though some had an extended magazine), and it was produced from around 1912 through 1920.

I knew nothing about this pistol until this morning when I searched the net for a pistol to write up on my blog. When I saw it I immediately thought (as mentioned above) that it was pretty ugly looking, that it was pretty large looking, that it was blued steel and wood (I was starting to like it regardless of its ugly appearance) and that it must have been a strong pistol. According to this site: http://www.sunblest.net/gun/Stey12.htm, it was indeed a strong pistol. In fact the author of that site says this about it: "The Steyr pistol was extremely reliable and robust, deserving greater recognition than it received. As a pistol design, it must have been one of the strongest ever made. " One of the reasons it was built to be strong was because of the ammunition it was designed to fire. Even though it was only a 9MM round it was a hot one for the day. The round it shot, the 9x23 Steyr developed 1,115 fps at the muzzle. Yeah I know not earth shattering by today's standards but right up there with today's 9mm Luger ammo velocities and using steel made back then as opposed to more modern steel.

These pistols saw action during the big one - the war to end all wars - WWI. In all about 300,000 of them were produced. I would love to have one of them that was manufactured in 9mm Luger. That way I could easily find ammo for it. It seems there is 9x23 Steyr available for it, but my bet is that ammo would be cost prohibitive. A quick check of the net proves me correct, that is if I actually found the right ammo. I see that Midway USA offers Fiocchi brand 9mm Steyr ammunition. There are 50 rounds per box and a box retails for $40.99 (probably plus shipping). That is expensive 9mm ammo compared to 9mm Parabellum (9mm Luger). Reloading data is available but I will not go into that nor give links. You can find them yourselves and thus be solely responsible for blowing yourself up should you screw up handloading for this pistol. Of course if I found one in 9mm Parabellum I would have to make certain it was original manufacture and not one later refitted to that caliber for use by the Germans during the other big one - WWII.

There seem to be many variants of this pistol based upon for whom they were manufactured. First of all this was essentially manufactured for military use but there were some made for commercial distribution though not many. Secondly they were manufactured for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but many were also manufactured under contract for places like Romania, Bavaria, and Chile and of course there were those few also manufactured with the extended magazine (16 rounds). There were a number of accessories manufactured for this pistol to include its stripper clips (unknown if they are require din order to load the pistol or if they simply facilitate loading), the leather gear, and a wooden rifle type stock.

Perhaps you will someday find yourself in possession of one of these - if so, do yourself a favor and have it checked out by a competent gunsmith who is at least familiar with older military pistols - safety comes first at all times when shooting. It may not look all that pretty but it surely is a fascinating pistol with an interesting history, and it can be had at what seems a fairly reasonable price at that.

All the best,
Glenn B

Photo credit: http://www.sunblest.net/gun/Stey12.htm (no copyright apparent)

Biweekly Gun Shots 3 - The Ruger New Model Blackhawk Convertible

I cannot recall myself ever owning a single action only revolver, so that would be something new for me. Going with the concept of 'new' I figure that a gun with new in the name would fit right in. The one I have chosen for this edition of Biweekly Gun Shots is the Ruger New Model Blackhawk Convertible in .45 Long Colt/.45 Auto. Yep it can fire both and comes with interchangeable cylinders one for each caliber. Being that I have never owned a firearm in .45 caliber of any sort, this would be another new addition for me. Now if I opted to be on the frugal side then I'd go for this fine revolver in .357/9mm. It would be a tough choice, but if I had enough money to buy what I wanted, I think I would opt for the .45 first just for a plinker. Of course it would be a pretty good gun to have in hand if some evil doer broke into my home and tried to harm my family or myself although I must admit, in that case I would much prefer a double action handgun, or my Remington 870 to be in hand.

The .45 version of this revolver is available with either 4 5/8" or 5 1/2" barrels. They both come with a blued finish, ramp front sight, adjustable rear sight, have a western style grip. The shorter barreled version weighs in at 42 ounces, and its length is 10 1/2". Its barrel has 6 grooves with 1:16" RH twist. The longer barreled version weighs in at 44 ounces. It has an overall length of 11 1/4". The grooves and twist specs are the same as for the shorter barreled version. The cylinders of each hold 6 rounds. The MSRP is just under $600. (All this info can be found on the Ruger site at http://www.ruger.com/Firearms/FAProdResults?function=famid&famid=19&variation=.45%20Colt%20/%20.45%20Auto%20Convertible&bct=Yes&type=Revolver.) By the way, the one shown in the pic is the BN-455XL (the 5 1/2" version) as opposed to the shorter BN-44XL not shown

I could just imagine myself having to get western cut jeans and a pair of decent boots before going out to shoot this one. Nah, not really but the attire would fit right in with the gun, that is for sure.

All the best,

Glenn B

Ballseye's Firearms Training and Tactics - Breaking In A Pistol (and Glock 26 Range Report)

Old timers probably remember, in years gone by, that when you bought a new car it came with a break in period. During that period you were supposed to drive the car moderately with regard to speed, distance, and braking. It was new and it needed to get settled or broken in. Cars today are not the same. You drive em out of the showroom ready to go. Still though, I think there is a break in period for new cars, and that would be the first several hundred miles (driving here in the NYC area) or maybe the first one thousand miles elsewhere with less traffic, less stop and go, less potholes, and so on. Its not a time when I baby the car either, but rather one wherein I give it a good long once over test drive to see if it is truly road worthy for say a vacation trip, daily commuting and so forth with my family in it. What I am driving at is that if it does not show itself as having problems in that time, well then nothing catastrophic - like a wheel falling off, the brakes failing, the steering failing - is likely to happen afterwards when I am driving it with my wife and kids in there with me. My testing it like this is a prudent thing to do with a new car instead of just blindly depending on it as being truly road worthy for all road conditions.

I do likewise with guns, especially with firearms that are meant for self defense purposes. If I am going to trust my life to a pistol, or revolver, or shotgun, or rifle, well you can be darned certain that I have tested it before betting my life on it working when I need it to go bang. Of course that goes out the window in an emergency when I might just grab any gun at hand, but my regular carry pistol or revolver, or my regular home defense shotgun or rifle, has had a good deal of ammunition run through it before I will use it to defend my life or that of another.

Now many a shooter buys a new gun, and buys a box or three of ammo, then takes the gun to the range to shoot it. They shoot up a box or two and save the other box to have enough ammo to load up the gun for self defense purposes with some left over. So it turns out that maybe they fired 50 to 100 rounds through a new pistol or revolver, and probably less through a new rifle or shotgun. If they encounter repeated failures to feed, to fire, to extract or to eject - they usually guess that there is something wrong with the gun. That is a good guess, but not always right. On the other hand, if they had just a jam or three they usually attribute them to the firearm being new, and to it needing the kinks worked out of it. They, like on the other guess with more jams, may or may not be right on that one too. Some of them may even guess it is the ammo that is at fault, and they too could be right. On the other side of the coin, they may have no malfunctions at all, and therefore arrive at the conclusion that the firearm is in perfect (relatively speaking) working order. Again they may be right, but again they may be wrong.

As far as pistols go, the thing is though that running just 50 rounds, or even a hundred, through a pistol to run it through a break in period, is just not enough ammunition to test its reliability. Sure it may seem like a good amount of ammunition to shoot, but it is often not enough to make something go kerplunk when instead it should have gone click, bang, rack, click, bang, and so on. What I am driving at here is that I have, in my almost 35 years of pistol shooting, seen many a pistol fail, and most of them that I have seen fail have either failed after having many thousands of rounds of ammunition fired through them, or have failed after only having a few hundred rounds shot through them at most. What that translates to is this:

A pistol, that has been fired again and again with proper maintenance will usually fire many many thousands of rounds before it fails. When it fails, it usually fails due to things like a broken part, metal fatigue, a worn piece, a weakened spring and so on. This is actually to be expected as a pistol gets older and older and is fired more and more. Parts need to be checked and replaced as needed. Of course all of this relates to a pistol that has been broken in and that has proven itself reliable from the start.

There are problems that arise with pistols, like all of those I mentioned above, that can start happening anywhere from the first round fired through the first hundred rounds fired, or in fact anywhere after that. While I just mentioned they can happen at anytime, they are less likely to happen, to a pistol that has proven itself reliable during a break in period, before you have reached the point where several thousand rounds have been put through it. What I am saying is that the break in period is the time during which many a problem due to faulty manufacture of the pistol's parts, or due to improper assembly, will become evident.

So what does one do to properly break in and test fire a pistol to check its reliability. Well first of all, and I am talking a newly acquired pistol that is either new in the box or used, you get the manual for it and read it. After doing that you ascertain that the pistol is safe, then disassemble it as recommended by the manufacturer for a good cleaning. After cleaning it, lubricate any parts that the manufacturer recommends lubricating, then reassemble it. Now the fun begins because now you take it to the local range with at least 400 to 500 rounds of ammunition to test fire it; and that ammunition should be the same ammunition you plan on carrying in it when you use it for self defense purposes.

Why so much ammo? Well because firing that many rounds through a pistol usually makes something go pppffffzzzt or kerplunk, or splat when it should being doing otherwise. If there is a weak part, something that is likely to break, well then that many rounds through the pistol will likely bring that problem to your attention whereas 50 rounds may not be enough. In other words, from my experience in over 35 years of shooting pistol and 14 years as a firearms instructor, and from what I have been told by other instructors, putting 400 to 500 rounds though a new pistol is a fairly reliable way to make it break if it was manufactured in a faulty manner. Another thing about using that much ammo is that the gun gets kind of dirty with that many rounds through it. So if it was put together to specs that were to tight and the guns starts to action slowly after say 300-400 rounds, it may also be a good indicator that the gun will not tolerate dirt and fouling as well as one would hope. Now while you are shooting 400-500 rounds at a single range session to break in a pistol, you can bet that if you were firing at a good steady pace, the gun is prone to get hot. This will also provide another indication of if it will function properly when needed in a tight spot. Some pistols begin to seize up when they get hot. If you fire this many rounds through it and yours does not, well bravo. One other reason to fire this many rounds, doing so will smooth out the operation of almost any pistol that was properly manufactured. What I means is that when a standard commercial pistol is manufactured there are bound to be tool marks and burrs on the metal. maybe not ones visible at first glance without magnification but they are likely there. Firing a pistol several hundred times, after having cleaned and lubricated it properly will smooth off many of these imperfections. This will allow the pistol to operate more smoothly. In addition if the pistol was finished to very tight specs, firing 400-500 rounds through it should also help to loosen things up just enough to help assure smoother and easier functioning.

Besides using that many rounds, you maybe wondering why I said to use only the ammunition you plan to use in the gun when you actually use it for self defense purposes. If you were wondering, well good for you, it is a good question. The reason I recommend not mixing ammunition, or simply using a cheaper ammo for practice and a better one for self defense, is this: You want to be absolutely sure that not only does your new pistol shoot, and that it shoots reliable, but YOU WANT TO MAKE DARNED SURE IT SHOOTS RELIABLY AND ACCURATELY WITH WHATEVER YOU PLAN TO USE TO DEFEND YOUR LIFE AND THE LIVES OF YOUR LOVED ONES. You can take a pistol to the range, and then shoot Winchester White Box ball ammo (an inexpensive type of ammo sold for plinking and informal target shooting) though it for the 400 to 500 recommended rounds. The pistol may handle it flawlessly. They you leave the range, clean the pistol, and then load it with 115 grain Speer Gold Dot Plus P ammunition. You put the gun up on the closet shelf in the bedroom and that is that.

Well that was that at least until a few days later when you are awakened in the middle of the night by strange noises downstairs. Your wife is awake too and she is scared, she says she heard glass breaking and footsteps crunching the broken glass. You are sure it is a burglar. You have the wife call the cops and you get the pistol loaded with the hollow points (yes the ammo I described is HP ammo). Suddenly the bedroom door is hit and an armed intruder bursts into the room in a rage. You see him pointing a shotgun at your wife and you fire, the first shot going god knows where, and you try to squeeze off another shot, but for some reason the pistol has gone kerplunk instead of bang/rack/bang. When the police arrive they find you dead in a pool of your own blood. You wife has also been shot but she has survived. The bad guy has fled. When police examine your pistol they discover that the hollow points you were using would not reliable feed into the pistol and the somewhat rather rough feed ramp caused the jam. Too bad for you. that you tested your gun with ammunition that you did not depend upon to save your life; and too bad you assumed that if cheaper ammo fed in your pistol then more expensive ammo would feed too. Think that was too dramatic? Don't believe it could happen to you? I have seen it happen, that is the jamming thing, with many people's guns at the range. I'd rather not see the results, firsthand when it happens in a bad situation - though I have read accounts and seen photos of guns that have jammed for various reason, all when they were needed most. That is why I highly recommend using only the ammo with which you will defend yourself as your break in ammo for a new pistol, and why I recommend a break in test in the first place. Of course you can fire other types of ammo through your gun, but be darned sure you can fire the ammo with which you plan to defend yourself, that your gun operates reliably using that ammo, and that you can shoot accurately with that ammo.

There is another reason to go to the range and fire off about 400-500 rounds of ammo with any new pistol. It helps to assure that you are familiar with the pistol, and it should let you know whether or not you need to correct any bad shooting habits or if you need to adjust the sights to achieve accuracy with the new gun. Yes new guns are sort of like new cars, they are both machines, each make and model of both a car and a gun have a distinctive feel about them that you need to get used to, and they can offer quite the fun experience to use - as in drive or shoot while at the same time can also offer pure utility to the user.

Did I just mention fun, why yes I did. Shooting is good old American style past time that is lots of fun. The more you shoot, the more fun you have, well up to a point and dependent upon caliber anyhow. If you go out and shoot a .454 Casull 400 to 500 times in a day - well either you are a man of steel or are out and out nuts. Why? Well because you are bound to be hurtin bad if you are a mere mortal like me and fire that many of those big rounds in one day. Some pistol and revolvers require a few days break in period to shoot that many rounds, and those days may be spread out over weeks. With the lowly 9MM round however, it is a different story. You can probably easily shoot 400-500 rounds in a single trip to the range if you are a shooter of average build and strength.

Heck I did it today even though I have not been feeling my best lately. The truth is I had fun, and I was quite satisfied with my new Glock 26's operation at the range. I fired at least 400 rounds, and think it was actually 430 rounds I put through her today. I had a blast both figuratively and literally. I found out the new Glock 26:

1) Is an accurate shooter, probably more accurate than I can be with it.

2) Was probably made well, and will probably go a long time before breaking, since it fired every round with which it was loaded without a failure to feed, to fire, to extract, or to eject. (I had once failure to feed but only because I had not fully inserted a mag - shooter error - no fault of the Glock. I did have about 4 or 5 ejections where the shell casing came back at my face, and one or two that actually went to the left of the gun, I need to check on the ejector and make sure it is not bent at all; though most shell casings ejected properly.)

3) Can cause a blister on my trigger finger after firing 430 rounds within an hour.

4) Gets my fingers really dirty. I have to check into that, I don't remember that happening with other Glocks I have fired.

Here are the pics of some targets I shot. The one at 7 yards is the second magazine ful of round I fired from my new Baby Glock. The first 7 were shot into an already used target, I had been shooting my Ortgies Pocket Pistol in .32 ACP also. That first group looked to me to be a slightly better group, but a pic of that would have made a poor pic with .32 caliber holes and 9mm holes mixed together. All the targets are annotated to show at what distance they were set, and all have a U.S. quarter to sow scale for group size.








































As you can see, there was probably some shooter error. I don't mean as to group size, that was more than good enough for me; but you can see I am shooting a tad to the left of center of paper (where I aimed) when shooting at anything further out than 7 yards. I'll have to work on that.

All the best,
Glenn B

Out Of The Box, Examined, A Few Pics Taken...

...examined some more, cleaned, reassembled and put back into the box ready for the range. My brand spanking new Glock 26 is ready to be test fired and then broken in. I have it and 500 rounds of Speer 115 gr. Gold Dot ammunition ready for a quick trip to the range tomorrow. I had been thinking of going to the outdoor range, but since tomorrow promises to be one of those sultry summer days near 90 with lots of oppressive hum-a-didity, I figure a trip to the indoor range will be in order. I seem to remember they have A/C, but that could be my muddled middle aged memory and wishful thinking playing tricks on me. Anyhow, the indoor range is better for test firing a pistol, I can shoot when I please not needing to wait for a firing session and not needing to stop for intermittent ceasefires as at the outdoor range.

I figure 400-500 rounds through it tomorrow should pretty much let me know if there are going to be any problems. I don't anticipate any, but I think it pays for me to be on the safe side with something I may later use to protect my life. I would rather find out it is going to fail at the range, than when I need it in the clutch. Of course, putting a few hundred rounds through it at the range is no absolute guarantee that the pistol will not fail when I need it, but if those 400 rounds go through it without a problem, then chances are the pistol was made right and will be dependable. That many rounds through a new pistol is usually enough to cause any potential bugs to crawl out of the woodwork and show themselves. It is a prudent expenditure of ammunition when you consider the alternative of bringing into the field not sufficiently broken in and then having it fail when you need it. Since I get the ammo for free it is not much of an expenditure for me at all - some free ammo - but little cash - just the local range fee.

Now I just need to make sure I make the time for me to get to the range. That should be on the easier side on a Sunday, but heavens know sometimes things don't turn out as we hope. I am hoping though that all will go well, and that I'll be able to come back here to post a great range report with a smile on my face.

All the best,
Glenn B

My Glock 26...

...arrived today. There I was sitting at the duty desk in my office when in walked the FedEx lady. I had to sign for two packages for folks in my office. Once I signed, she asked me how to spell my last name for input on her keypad. As I was telling her, I looked at the packages and surprise, one was for me. What a coincidence! I showed her how to spell it; then I checked out the return address. It was - Smyrna, GA, home of Glock USA.

Well yippee, the Glock 26 had arrived, only about a month and a half, at most, after I had sent in the order, though it seems like less time. Not bad at all considering it has taken months for others in my office to receive their pistols ordered likewise.

Now the one n the picture, is not the exact same one I received, but it will have to do for now. Virtually the same pistol, so not much else to show by me posting a pic of the actual one I just got, but I'll take a pic tonight when I get home and post it anyhow just because that way I will have shown you my actual Glock 26. For now though it remains in the box, unopened. Well I opened the shipping box, but not the actual plastic gun case that Glocks markets with these pistols. I'll wait til tonight to do that, when I am home and relaxed. if I get the chance, I'll take it out over the weekend and shoot it at a range, you know just to make sure there are no glitches, bugs or kinks that need to be worked out of it. I imagine that about 400-500 rounds of 9MM should do the trick, you know- to break it in - so to speak.

All the best,

Glenn B

I Surely Cannot Afford One...

...but I sure as heck want one. Its an H&K P2000SK. See: http://www.hk-usa.com/le_p2000sk_general.html for more eye candy. There has got to be some way that I can wrangle myself into picking up one of these, especially since I can purchase one direct from H&K through my employer at an incredible price (that for some reason eludes me right now, but I was told it is a great price.

It would be a great pistol, especially one in .40 S&W caliber, to carry after I retire; and I will probably retire at the end of this year. I may just have to get a second job snow shoveling (oh let it snow tonight baby), or start collecting bottles and cans for rebates, or begging (no not by way of this site, but maybe panhandling in the Bowery), or saving my lunch money, or hitting up the super seKrit stash I have in the credit union in California (which of course is already earmarked for the tax man, and what I have stashed out there is just less than half of what I owe in taxes). Woe is me right now, but you can bet I am going to try to think of something. I do have a reptile show coming up on March 2nd, and I have a few lizards and snakes to sell. I could potentially make a few hundred to five hundred bucks or so, and then invest that into one of these beauties. Then I still need to worry about the tax man and what I owe him. Who knows - maybe I can pay off my taxes on a timed interest free plan.

I want one, I want one, I want one, I want one, I want one. Where in Hades is Donald Trump when I am throwing a fit and could use a handout (or even a few days work)! Oh well, I just had to get that out of me. Nope, you guessed right, it is not out of me quite yet. So I will be scheming because there has got to be some way for me to be able to afford one of these in the direct sales H&K offers to me because of my job. Anybody wanna buy a bridge (yep in Brooklyn no less).

All the best,

Glenn B

Quarterly Qualifications

It was a warm day for one in the beginning of February today, at least by New York City standards, warm and damp, and even sometime wet. The steel gray clouds held low and promised rain, and every now and again they obliged that promise today, and the rains fell. Mostly gentle drizzle, sometimes a bit harder, up to a steady rain, but nothing to severe. Then back to being just damp again. That was okay by me, it had my spirits pretty high because I had to go to the range today for quarterly qualifications and the range is an outdoor one. With great timing, great for us shooters, the skies held back their tears as we left our training in the classroom and headed outside to shoot. So it turned out to be damp and warm, at least for a February qual. Warm meaning about in the low to mid 50s; and you can bet, that was good.

What wasn't so good though was my first score on the pistol course of fire. I have not shot as poorly as that in at least 24 years , and I mean that literally. When my range officer got done scoring it, he looked at it again, and asked me: "Where were you?" Where was I indeed to have scored a 220 out of a possible 250. I don't know, though I can think of some excuses, but excuses don't make one shoot better, or do they. I figured on what to do to improve by examining those excuses and a couple of other possible variables, and I then shot a 241 out of 250 on the second go round. Now that is none to great either. I have been known to shoot my fair share of perfect scores, but not that much in the last couple of years. That drop in score from the mid to high 240s, from scores in the mid to low 240s, which is what I usually shoot lately, is probably due to the eyesight not being what it once was. Oh well, that I can live with. A 220 score though, that is a tough one to live down for me, but I guess we can all have our off moments - better those off moments come at the range than in a gunfight.

As for shotgun, a perfect score. As to the MP-5 Submachine gun, I shot a 243 out of 250, which was good enough to satisfy me. Had I not turned around my pistol score though on that second go round, I would have been heartily disappointed for the rest of the day, maybe the rest of the week. I still cannot believe I shot a low score like a 220, very disappointing indeed. Still though it was uplifting to have brought up my score the second time around; so I guess I left the range a happy camper, qualified for another quarter, and with some extra ammo for practice. I'll be pretty sure to be shooting the practice ammo in the near future, I don’t want another 220 next time. As for the clouds, they remained friendly, the air remained crisp (or warm depending on how you look at it for February), and all in all it made for a great day at the range. Yes you can even shoot poorly and still have a great day at the range. Like fishing, a bad day shooting is better than a great day in the office; and this while not my best of days at the range, was far from a bad one.

All the best,
Glenn B

Balleye's Firearms Training & Tactics - Spare Handgun Ammunition

Okay, you have decided to arm yourself with a handgun for self defense, and have obtained a permit if needed. You have purchased and possess one legally - good for you. You have decided on how you will carry it. It is loaded at the ready, on your person, in a holster. You know how to shoot; and are even pretty good at it. So you think you are ready for just about anything. Well if you are not carrying spare ammunition with you, you are quite possibly dead wrong.

There are plenty of gun folks out there who say you don't need extra ammunition. They are usually the macho, all knowing types, the gun gurus. They believe that if you cannot hit that at which are shooting with whatever ammo you have in your gun at any given moment, you may as well forget about having a gun in the first place. That is pretty much abject nonsense. The truth of the matter is that you should always carry spare ammunition if you are carrying a handgun for self defense. There are many reasons for this, some of them being: the probability of multiple attackers in any threatening situation, the possibility of of the bad guy taking multiple hits (even many hits) and the threat not stopping, the chances of having a weapon malfunction that requires you to tap, rack and reload (with a semi-auto), the possibility of you dropping the ammo in your weapon by mistake, and the good old pucker factor making it probable that you will miss more times than you hit your target. Yes folks that good old sphincter muscle tightening itself up, when you are literally just about scared shitless, in order to prevent dirty draws can make you miss. So yes you should carry extra or spare ammunition with you whenever you carry your handgun.

If you agree to that last line above, then it begs the questions: how much spare ammunition should I carry, and how should I carry it. The bare minimum amount of spare ammunition to carry is a practical full reload for each handgun you are carrying. That is a pretty simple formula, but I go beyond that. For example, I usually carry my issued Glock model 19. Fully loaded (as is the way I am required by my job to carry it) it holds 16 rounds of ammunition. By the bare minimum rule of spare ammo, I would then carry a single spare magazine. That is what most of my colleagues at work will do during a normal day. When they go out on a high risk operation such as execution of an arrest warrant they usually carry more spares. I, on the other hand, always carry at least two spare magazines. Why? Well for the reasons I mentioned above, and because if I ever have to reload in a defense situation, I may drop a mag as I try to reload and not be able to retrieve it. Remember that such a situation is one fraught with intensely high stress. If you are using your pistol or revolver to legally defend yourself, your are being threatened with serious bodily injury or death. That is some scary stuff, and when you are scared you maybe shaking or trembling, may start blubbering or crying, may wet your pants, may dirty your draws, and low and behold may even drop your spare ammo while trying to reload. All this stuff not only can happen, it has happened to people in life threatening situations before, and will happen again. That is why I carry at least one beyond a single spare magazine. Sometimes, on certain assignments, I have carried up to 5 or 6 spare magazines, although I think that might be a bit much, let's say overkill, for day to day carry for CCW. I do think though that carrying two spare reloads for your handgun is prudent in everyday carry situations.

That said, you should now be wondering how to carry your spare ammunition. I can tell you one way not to carry it. Do not carry it loose in a pocket. You might think this sounds like ridiculous advice, and you may wonder who on earth would carry like that, but the fact is that too many people do it. It is common among folks who carry revolvers, yet it is a killer, usually of you if you need to reload quickly. If you carry a revolver, I think you should carry spare ammunition in speed loaders, and that the speed loaders should be carried in a speed loader pouch on your belt, and that the puch should have a flap with snap closure over each speedloader. Some people carry in a purse, or in a pocket so as to better conceal a firearm. Then they tend to carry their ammo in the same manner. If you read my earlier piece about holsters, you know I shun such carry methods for handguns; now I am telling you I shun such carry methods for spare ammunition too. If you choose to carry spare revolver ammunition in other than a speed loader, I would suggest at least carry it in speed strips kept in a pouch, in a 2x2x2 speed pouch (not a drop pouch), or in ammo loops - all attached to your belt and easily accessible by either hand keeping in mind that combat reloading is usually done with the strong hand. Don't wear a belt when carrying - your problem - not mine. I suggest you change how you carry for reasons I explained in my post on holsters. Remember though, speed loaders would my my preferred method to reload a revolver.

As for semi-autos, I carry at least 2 spare magazines, each full to capacity. I suggest you do the same, and I highly recommend you carry the spare magazines in a double magazine pouch on your belt. Wherever you carry the mag pouch on your belt (or for that matter wherever you carry the magazines even if off of your belt), the magazines should be accessible with either hand in the even a one handed reload becomes necessary. I used to carry on my weak side, opposite the side where I kept my pistol. I now carry the magazine pouch on the same side, but have since seen the light of others more experienced than I; and I now carry it on that side but on the front of my belt so I can easily reach it with either hand. Sure this means wearing a very loose fitting shirt, a jacket, or a vest to cover it all up, and that is exactly what I do. Remember the gun in a holster on your strong side makes it easy to draw your firearm, and keeps it fairly secure. Same for the magazine if kept as I have described, easier from which to draw a magazine, and somewhat easy to secure.

The type of magazine pouch one carries is another issue. As I said I prefer a double mag pouch. Of course you can use two singles, but I just prefer the double. I want mine to have a positive locking/retention device to maintain my mags inside the pouch with less chance of them falling out. I do not want the to be held in by friction only, so I do not want to use an open topped pouch. What I want is the opening to be at the top (I never wear my mag pouches so that the opening is to the front as you see some do), this way gravity helps keep them in the pouch. I want the mag pouch itself to have individual flap coverings to cover each mag while in the pouch; and I want to to have snap closures - not Velcro. As far as I am concerned, Velcro makes much too much noise, and also gathers much to much lint. In addition I require that any mag pouch I will carry will allow for both mags to be inserted into it in the same direction. What I mean here is that I want to have each magazine available to my reloading hand in the same manner, so that I reload in the same manner each time I reload. In other words, I keep both magazines bottoms up, and so that their fronts are facing the forward part of my body as they ride in the pouch (bullets in the mag pointing forward more or less). You could also keep their back facing the forward part of your body, or could align them left or right, it does not matter all that much in which direction they are, so long as each of them is aligned in the same direction. This way you never need to figure out whether or not you have to turn your mag around before you go to place it into the magazine well on the pistol; or if you have to move your hand in another manner to take hold of this mag or that mag. You wind up reloading consistently each time you reload, and that adds to your speed. When I grab my forward facing magazine, I make sure my index finger rides the front of the mag as I bring it up to place it into the mag well. This makes for not having to look at the pistol and mag to make sure they marry up correctly, therefore you can keep your eyes on the bad guy. It requires some practice, but that pointing finger, pointing the way to the mag well, makes it quicker and easier to accomplish a reload.

Basically that is about it. You have a decision to make about whether or not you carry spare ammo, and how to carry it. My recommendations are above, and the recommendations of others can be found on various blogs and gun forums on the Internet, in gun books and magazines, and at training courses. Whichever way you decide to carry both your firearm and your spare ammo, I suggest you try to be as consistent as possible from day to day. This way you never go to draw your pistol or mag from a place on your belt, and then have to remember oh darn, it is in my pocket, or it is in my bag, or it is in a shoulder holster.

All the best,
Glenn B

Carrying Firearms...

...in a holster is the way I prefer to carry pistols and revolvers. I wrote about just that and my criterion to select a holster here. I wrote about those topics because the way you carry your pistol or revolver is important, it could mean the difference between whether or not you are the winner in a life threatening situation, whether or not you are able to retain your sidearm, whether or not you shoot yourself with your own gun. If anyone doubted me when i said that I thought a bag of just about any sort was a poor choice in which to carry a handgun, maybe when you read this: S.C. Student Shot by Own Gun in Book Bag Pleads Guilty my point of view will seem to be a little stronger. Sure the bag this pistol was carried in probably was not made for carry. Sure some handbags are made with internal holsters or carry pouches. I still contend that any bag which you pick up and put down is a bad choice for carry. I also contend that there is much more of a chance of a foreign object getting into the trigger guard and against the trigger when carried in a bag - whether or not that bag has an internal carry pouch or holster - than when you carry in a quality made hip holster. Your choice, just like it was this kid's choice. On this topic, learn from his mistakes and not from your own. That way you will, in my opinion, stay healthier.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Firearms Training & Tactics - Getting A Grip...

... on yourself helps to keep you in control of yourself. Getting the proper grip on your pistol or revolver of choice, helps you control not just where the gun is pointed, but also will help you improve your accuracy as well as improve the reliable function of the firearm. A good and secure grip is one of the basics of learning to shoot, and maintaining shooting proficiency. So just what constitutes a good grip, and how does one learn to develop one. A good grip is essentially one in which your grasp the firearm's grip area with your hand to the full extent intended within the design parameters of the grip itself. In other words you grab hold of it with as much hand as you can within practicality, and you do so so that your grip fits your hand and your hand conforms to your grip. While your hand may not have been made for your pistol or revolver grip, you can rest assured there is a grip that probably has been made for your hand.

In most instances of a pistol or revolver, the grip with the primary shooting hand (usually right hand for righties and left hand for lefties, also known as the strong hand) is the grip that makes most of the difference as to how you will shoot; and gripping a pistol or revolver one handed is the first thing you should learn about proper grip. The reason for this is simple: Unless you own some far fetched super macho two hand grip pistol or revolver, you virtually always draw the pistol, and begin to bring it into action, with one hand. Yes this one hand is often met by your other hand to maintain a proper two handed grip, but the truth is your for all practical purposes draw and first bring the weapon to play with one hand. Therefore I believe, it is extremely important to learn how to grip the firearms properly with that hand, before you even think of using a two hand hold. So how do you fill your hand properly? Well I guess I can best explain it by showing it to you. I'll show you how to make a one hand grip of a semi-automatic pistol.

Note that I am showing and explaining how to grip a pistol. I am not explaining how to actually draw from any given holster. Before you can draw from a holster you must first undo any retention device that keeps the pistol in the holster, and that is usually done just before you start step one or as you actually start to bring the pistol from the holster - all dependent upon holster design. Again this is just showing how to get a good grip.

1) When you get a grip for shooting the web of your drawing hand should meet the pistol on the backstrap directly underneath the tang. Your hand is going at the pistol grip almost like it is going to shake someone else's hand in that regard. Note the position of the thumb, and of the three fingers (middle, ring and pinkie) of the drawing hand. They are all poised and about to wrap around the grip of the pistol with a firm hold. Of course, you cannot see almost any of the index or trigger finger - but it is in contact with the pistol. You will be able to better see it in the next picture.

1-B) The view of the other side of the pistol shows the position of the trigger finger when drawing or first applying a grip to the pistol.

Note that when you pick up, draw, or otherwise handle a pistol (or any firearm) you leave your finger off of the trigger until you are actually ready to fire. If you draw with your finger already engaging the trigger, there is an increased probability that you will fire the weapon while drawing, and quite possibly shoot yourself. I learned this lesson when a coworker of mine did just that, he shot himself in his leg.

2) The next step is to assume a good grip on the pistol grip. Wrap your thumb and fingers, excluding the trigger finger, around the grip pretty much as shown. Note this the third picture, but it is marked as step 2 because it is the second action you take in gripping the pistol. The trigger finger remains where it was in pic 1-B, until ready to actually fire the weapon.

Have you paid attention to the position of the wrist? It is important to have the wrist in a firm straight position, basically in parallel line with the slide and barrel.

3) Once ready to fire the weapon, the trigger finger comes into position on the trigger, all the while as the other fingers keep firm position on the pistol grip. The trigger finger comes into contact with the trigger only as far as the finger tip pad. This allows for proper trigger control when you fire.

Note that the rest of the grip has, in essence, not changed from picture 2 above. The wrist is also still in the same position. You are now ready to fire and the pistol should already be pointing if not precisely aimed in at your intended target.

All it would take to fire the pictured pistol (a Beretta 92FS, 9mm, semi-automatic pistol) would be to squeeze (or pull) the trigger with your trigger finger in that position if it was loaded (and remember to treat each pistol you pick up or handle as if it were loaded, too many accidents happen because people thought the gun was not loaded, and firearms accidents are fatal all to often). If you have learned how to point shoot or aim in, you would likely hit your target. If you maintain that grip after each shot is fired, you would then be ready to fire again, and again, and again as needed. Once you have decided to stop shooting (at the range, in a self defense situation, in the field, wherever) you immediately remove your finger from the trigger. If you are holstering or putting the weapon down or away, you basically reverse the grip steps above. Of course, depending on the situation you want to make sure the weapon is safe. On this one you would be required to at least operate the 'hammer drop' aka: safety; or if you want to make sure it is empty, you would want to remove all possible remaining ammunition by removing the magazine, then unloading any ammunition remaining in the chamber, then visually and physically checking to make sure it is empty - all the while with finger off of the trigger and the pistol pointed in a safe direction.

Two quick pics of what you do not want to do when gripping a pistol follow:

You do not want to grip the pistol like this. Note the web of the hand is not properly positioned directly under the tang. This makes for piss poor shooting on the part of most shooters, especially new shooters, and or those not so good at it even after years of practice. This allows for the pistol to move around in your grip too much with the recoil from each shot. Because your hand is not in proper position, it also allows for the proper wrist position to be broken, resulting in the much feared 'limp wristing' and this can result not only in poor accuracy, but in pistol malfunctions, or so said all of my instructors over all the years I have been shooting.

The other no-no that I want to show you is in the last grip picture. It shows the trigger finger extended too far over the trigger, so that the first joint (or last joint depending on how you look at it) is actually completely over the trigger. This is not good as it can cause accuracy problems.

Of course, you probably will at times see someone holding a pistol improperly and still hitting the target. Yet I would wonder how much better they might do it they held it correctly. So, why pick up bad habits right from the get go? Start off with good habits, learn how to get it right from the beginning, and you will see that learning to shoot is probably much easier that you thought it would be. If you already exhibit some bad habits, why not get rid of them, use proper technique, and see if your shooting skills improve.

Don't depend just on this to teach you how to do it. Get instruction from a certified firearms instructor if possible, or at least from someone proficient in pistol shooting before you try it yourself.

All the best,

Glenn B