Something Of Interest For The Beretta 92FS Owner

 

That is quite the informative chart regarding the Beretta 92 series of pistols. Credit for that evidently goes to Lucky Gunner. As for copyright, if there is one, and being I am a certified firearms instructor, this is being freely used solely for educational purposes to educate my readers, some of who are interested in learning about firearms in general and others who specifically may desire to learn about the Beretta 92 series pistols.

 All the best,

 Glenn

I Don't Know About You...

 ...but I do know that I need to make a trip to the range. I have both a shotgun & revolver I bought at auction back in late April, probably received them in early May and  have not shot them yet. The shotgun is a Savage Stevens Model 94C Hammered 12 gauge; it is a single shot. The revolver is a Ruger New Model Single Six Convertible, 22 LR & 22 WMR, in stainless steel. Both are in very nice condition and I am very happy about that because I bid on them without being able to check on their condition before bidding. I usually check at least a couple to a few days before the auction but my timing was off so I tried the day before the auction. That was no good and no go because they were too busy to do it at the auction house. That's okay by me because it was my bad as they say. 

Regardless of not being able to check, I wound up with two very nice firearms. As for the shotgun, I certainly did not buy it for anything like needing another shotgun, I think I have four of them right now, two Remington 870s, a Remington Model 10 and a Remington model 31. Those are more than enough for me, in fact I recently sold my Remington model 29. I bought this one thinking it would be a nice project gun on which I'd maybe touch up the bluing and refinish the wood stock. Right now, that is still the plan but I have no clue when I, THE Great Procrastinator will get around to it. Anyway here it is in pics:

 

 

As you can see it is in pretty good shape. I have almost half a mind to leave it as is but I also have just a bit more than half a mind to strip that ghastly dark finish off of the wood and replace it with one using tung oil and lots of rubbing it in; I am a fan of more natural looking wood and there is oft times beautiful wood grain under those old time dark finishes. I know many folks prefer the original finish and a good number of them think it almost sacrilegious to refinish an older gun like this but I have no qualms about doing so. After all, this is not some rare super expensive gun, I got it for a whopping total of about $130.00 or so and that includes shipping and an FFL fee.

 

As for the revolver, it is staying as is except maybe for me touching up the finish on the grips or replacing them with a better looking pair. Now, they do not look bad but there appears to be finish wear when seen up close & personal. That may only need a bit of polishing though. Here are some pics of it:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I posted pics of these already but am just too lazy at 0545 hours of the morning to check. I got out of bed at 0350 or so and have not felt like jumping back under the covers, wide awake am I for some reason.

I bought these at auction, the same auction my son told me to bid on this for him, the this being a Glock 41 in 9mm. Here are some pics of it:

 

The Glock needs some repair, minor at that but repair nonetheless. Someone, an idiot I suppose, put an improperly sized pin into it as far as I can tell. It's the one above the trigger pin (its name eludes my little gray cells right now). It falls out when shot. No big deal if it is only the pin and not something internal. It will or should be an easy fix no matter what. I just hope Glock is again selling parts to the public. Apparently they had their own crisis during COVID and would not sell parts to the public for a while back then! If they are not selling parts, the pin may cost me about 10 times what it usually sells for from Glock.

 

As I said, I need a trip to the range. I was thinking only with the Savage Stevens & the Ruger but I guess with the Glock as well since my son gave it to me to fix being I used to be a Glock Armorer & Advanced Glock Armorer. I said used to be because I never recertified once my certification expired the last time which was the fourth certification or so for me over the years. I figured why waste the money to recertify with Glock @ of a few hundred dollars when they were not selling parts to the public. I guess when I get it fixed thought I should shoot it to make sure I got it right.

 

Anyway, as I said, I need a range trip. Maybe Friday, sounds good anyway.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

 

I Don't Usually Go Christmas Shopping On Black Friday...

 ...but when I do I buy myself something nice. Really, I was not intent on making any purchases yesterday and definitely was not about to go out to stores to do any Christmas shopping nor any other shopping. Black Friday is just too crazy for me; the lines I have seen outside of some stores over the years have been long and sometimes there for days with people camped out in tents while waiting before the sale event. The last time I waited on really long lines for many long hours was for tickets to see Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden and for one of their shows at the Nassau Coliseum in Nassau County NY (I was on the line for well over 24 hours in freezing cold for the one at the Coliseum). That was back in the 1970s. I got great tickets for both shows but had to settle for listening to one of those shows broadcast live on the radio because I wound up in the hospital after an emergency appendectomy; I did not eat Quarter Pounders with cheese for years after that because it was after eating one that I had the appendicitis attack but I digress so...

 

As I said, I usually do not shop on Black Friday but I unintentionally wound up doing just that yesterday and I got myself a nice Christmas present. For a good many years of my adult life,  I have figured if I am going to essentially be Santa Claus for others then I may as well be Santa for myself too. Now mind you, I did not get off the couch to shop at any stores; instead I was scouring the Internet at first looking at some things on the Beretta site (not guns) and then merely looking at Black Friday deals related to firearms. I was not seeking to get myself something but was just killing time and wondering if I should get my son anything else firearms related for his birthday when I came across an advertisement for this at $359.99: 

 

 

 

 

That is a Beretta APX A1 Carry (click on the link for specs and such) 9mm pistol. I was not looking to buy it but it did seem like a great deal. After seeing ad, I checked out the pistol on Gun-Tests Magazine's website. The APX Carry got a best buy review from them and an A rating so I figured its A1 version would be just as good. I was beginning to get intrigued and then went to check on prices for it at AmmoSeek.com. That is where I saw that the Sportsmans Outdoor Superstore was offering it for $60 less. That hooked me.

 

Since the price of this one was only $299.99 and that there is a currently running $100 rebate offer from Beretta on them, I ordered one almost without hesitation. Yeah, I admit, I hesitated a bit because finances are not all that great right now but what pushed me over the edge was that I'd be getting a Beretta at a Hi-Point price. Imagine that a Beretta for $199.99 plus tax after the rebate and I got free shipping too. How could anyone who is a Beretta fan turn down that Black Friday deal! I can only hope (and I guess expect) that the quality of this little gun will be as good as what went into the making of all of my other Berettas. It will be my first striker fired, polymer frame, Beretta pistol but definitely not my first Beretta. I kind of, sort of almost definitely a fan of Beretta pistols - being I already own ten of them, I suppose that probably qualifies me at least as a bit of of a fan.

Merry Christmas, ahead of time, to me from me. My thanks to  Bartolomeo who started it all in 1526, to Pietro who modernized the company and to all the others in the Beretta family who have made & continue to make some of the highest quality firearms the world has ever seen. Thanks also need be given to the big guy upstairs who gave us his only begotten son as the gift that started it all. 

 

For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son: that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. (John 3:16 )

 

Christmas, as I see it, has always been about giving; albeit, maybe not to ones-self but can you blame me? After all it was 'such a deal' (Murry the vendor, personal communication); so, how could I resist. I hope your Christmas shopping works out as well as mine has so far.

All the best,

Glenn B

This Video Makes Me Want To Pick Up A Browning

 If you are interested in firearms history, you likely know that there probably is not a more eminent figure when it comes to firearms patents and models than John Moses Browning. If you'd like to know some of his history, watch this video. It is just under an hour long but I think definitely well worth your time: 

 

 

All the best,

Glenn B

About To Have Me Another Beretta...

 ...as in another Beretta 92FS Compact L, Type M. Type M indicates the frame with a mag well for single stack 8 round magazine. Some may ask: Why have two of these? I would answer: Why not as long as you like em and I do like em! My other has OEM wood grips. In fact, I like all of my soon to be 10 Beretta pistols including what will be the five 92 series pistols among them. Those 92 series pistols make me look like a good shot ;>).

 

I am guessing it will be shipped to a local dealer sometime this week. So, I may have it by week's end or early next week.

 

All the best,

Glenn B

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

See Yourself As A 1911 Expert?

Do you fancy yourself as an aficionado of the Colt 1911 pistol and its history? Maybe you are and maybe you are not. One thing for sure is that if you do not answer all ten of these questions correctly then you are not because these questions ought to be easy for a real 1911 type. 

I certainly am not a 1911 expert in any regard. I took the quiz and answered 9 out of 10 correctly but that was only do to a few lucky guesses. I pretty much knew the answers to only 5 questions with any amount of certainty.  See the quiz here:

http://www.fflunleashed.com/how-well-do-you-really-know-the-1911/

All the best,
Glenn B

This Could Have Been The TV Where I Watched The Super Bowl Last Week...

...at least if I had watched that racist half time show. The only likely difference would have been the amount of shots fired at the television.

All the best,
GB

Anybody Know What Kind Of Pistols She Is Holding?

Yes, I am admitting that somehow I actually noticed there are a couple of pistols in this photo.

All the best,
GB

A Gun Guru Handgun Video That's More Amusing Than Informative...

... because of the mistakes he makes about these pistols such as calling a magazine a cartridge, what he says about firing one handed and how he tells/shows you to unload a revolver. His comment about why women should like the Ruger LCP is destined to become a classic.



By the way, my calling this a gun guru video has nothing to do with his accent. Gun guru is long used term to denote a master firearms know it all instructor (at least he thinks he knows it all) who in essence has virtually no to only little real clue as to the subject matter. Folks, make sure if you seek firearms training, you are getting it from someone who really has the knowledge and experience to train you. That term, in my opinion, fits this guy perfectly. I prefer someone who has been certified as an instructor by a major firearms organization like the NRA but sometimes even that is no guarantee. Do yourselves a favor, read a good book or two - an actual published work on the subject of shooting before you even think of picking up a gun. Then, check with a group like the NRA, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, National 4-H Shooting Sports; they can all point you in the right direction to find an instructor who is right on target.

All the best,
GB

Biweekly Guns Shots 13 - A Lucky Gun Beretta 92SB

Well the pistol model it self may not be lucky, but the particular pistol that is pictured in this blog sure was lucky for me. This is the one that got me the moniker of Ballseye. I won't go into that story much except to say that the name describes where a shot I fired went in a self defense shooting in which I came out the winner many years ago. The long version of that story can be found here.

As for the pistol, the Beretta Model 92SB was the predecessor to the Beretta 92F (or the military version called the M1). This was the pistol tested back in the 1980s by the US military that blew away the competition. Out of many guns tested only two passed the test, the first place Beretta 92SB having more than twice the points of the 2nd place finisher. I read about the testing in Soldier of Fortune magazine. Man they had great articles on guns, and great articles about conflict going on in the world about which the media told you virtually to absolutely nothing. (One conflict in a northern African nation had been ongoing for about 20 years with nary a peep from the media. SOF has a couple of articles about it, then suddenly a couple of months later the media was all over it. There were lots of other instances like that too.)

Well I read that article about the 92SB and I was convinced I had to have one. A local store in El Centro (I lived in California then) had one in stock and I paid the asking price that was probably overpriced. I never regretted that purchase. Right from the beginning I knew I had a winner. The pistol is described as a double/single action 9mm pistol. It has a double stack magazine that holds 15 rounds of 9mm parabellum ammunition. One can also safely be carried in the chamber for a total of 16. The slide mounted safety lever is really a hammer drop lever and is ambidextrous there being one on either side of the slide. The hammer is exposed. The grips were either plastic or wood, mine came with plastic grips. The sights were a two dot system. The rear sight driftable for windage, the front sight fixed. There is an external takedown lever on the left side of the frame. It came in a blued finish that looked black. I got mine with two extra magazines.

Firing this thing was different. I had only owned a few other pistols before, and I had most of my handgun shooting experience with revolvers such as the Colt Border patrol and the S&W Models 19 and Model 66. The grips on the 92SB seemed huge, and I suppose they were very wide. That was to fit the double stack mags I suppose and because this was a full sized service pistol. Regardless of not having shot semi-auto pistols all that much before I got this one, I shot it just fine right out of the box. It hit where I aimed with a reliability I had not expected. There was little kick being that the 9mm is barley a satisfactorily powered round at best, but that was okay by me with 16 rounds to fire before reloading.

Over the years my Beretta 92SB took lots of abuse. Sure I cleaned and oiled it right after shooting it each time it got shot; but there were still a lot of knocks and hard times in store for this firearm. Despite taking a beating, and being used in all types of conditions, this pistol never let me down. In all the years I have had it - I imagine there have been less than a dozen malfunctions with it, those usually stovepipes (a failure to eject properly that was easily cleared and probably due to operator error or the ammo). It certainly did not let me down when I relied on it to thwart a robbery in progress - I was the one being robbed.

Because of its stellar performance over the years, I decided to buy a couple of Beretta 92Fs some years later. I am also quite satisfied with them. The only drawback I can see with them is there finish. Once it starts coming off, it seems to flake off in small patches, sort of like chrome coming off. Mine is not missing much of the finish, but is missing some. This has happened to one of mine and that one has fired several thousand rounds through it and also taken quite a beating otherwise over the years. The other one is still in great condition because I have used it much less. I have also owned about 5 Beretta Jetfires (I sold one only to miss it and buy another, did it again, then again, had another rust badly because it got dunked in and out of sea water over several hours in my pocket, and so on...), 2 Beretta 70S pistols (one was stolen) and I plan to someday buy a Beretta shotgun. The one thing that seems to be standard for the Berettas I have owned has been high quality. The 92SB was, and is, a stellar example of that.

All the best,

Glenn B

Ballseye's Firearms Training & Tactics - Some Observations of Bad Habits At The Range

While over the course of a few trips to a local range recently, I got to watching other people shoot. Nope, that is not why I went, I went to shoot but I also got to watch some others shoot. Of those of note, one of them was shooting a revolver, another a semi-auto pistol, and a couple of others were shooting 22 rifles. All of them (well one of the two shooting the 22 rifles anyhow, and the 22 pistol shooters) did things you should not do when shooting or examining guns.

I am not reporting on what they did in order to chastise them, I am dong it to save you some grief by pointing out what they did in the hope that you will avoid mimicking them. Let me start with the two guys shooting the 22 rifles. They were shooting safely, minding there own business, and doing nicely until they got curious. Now it was not the curiosity thing that got them doing anything wrong, it was probably a lack of manners or just lack of common sense where they fouled up. You see they came over to my shooting point and started to ask me about the Remington 870 shotgun my son and I were shooting. No problem since they waited for a break in the shooting, and were polite about it. Well almost no problem. As they were talking to me, one of them reaches out and picks up my shotgun. I remained calm and polite as I immediately explained that he should not be doing that without asking me for my permission to handle my firearms first. He put it down right away and all was well. The thing is, it is absolutely not alright to pick up someone else’s guns at a range or anywhere else without first obtaining there permission. Just don’t do it – it could get you yelled at, or could even result in something as extreme as you being shot.

The other things I saw happening were problems of a tactical/training nature, and are definitely things to avoid if you want to be the winner in a gunfight. One of them was, at least to me, so comical I almost burst out laughing. I mean it almost looked slapstick ala Charlie Chaplain and the Keystone Cops. I remained stoic though because I did not want to embarrass anyone. What was happening was that a pistol shooter was firing on a silhouette target and blasting away slow fire. No it was not the slow fire that was funny, but how the shooter was drawing his weapon. He appeared to get a decent grip on the holstered gun, then drew it, and as he drew the pointed it upward at about a 45 degree angle, pushed his arms out both forward and up at that angle to maximum extension, locked his elbows, then tilted his arms at the shoulder to raise the pistol even higher, then brought the pistol down to eye level to sight it (well actually dropped it a bit below eye level as do most shooters using this well outdated method of drawing and sighting in and then raised it back up a bit to eye level, then fired. All this drawing his pistol from a strong side hip holster. He then reholstered and started over again and repeated this over and over. I have not seen someone draw and aim in like that in years. I used to see it done often by old time shooters who shot revolvers, and who were trained in how to draw and shoot sometime, oh about in the stone age or at least 25 years ago or so. It seems to have been a method taught by police departments, federal agencies and the military, and was usually taught for one handed shooting though it carried over to two handed shooting. It was and is most obvious if the shooter was firing one handed.

So what is it about this method of drawing that I don’t like besides it looking funny to me. Well – it can get you killed. Anyone who draws and then sights-in in the manner I just described is using up valuable time that may mean winning or losing a gunfight. You see, when you draw from a strong side hip holster (the only type I recommend wearing) the best way to get your weapon on a target that is further than about 3 yards away is to punch it out at the target. I mean that almost literally too. By this method, as you begin to draw, already having acquired you grip, you pull the pistol up and out of the holster. This causes your arm and wrist to be bent at an awkward position but one necessary to effect the draw. As soon as the gun clears the holster though, you no longer need to maintain that awkward bends in wrist and arm, and you can point the muzzle toward your intended target. As you point the muzzle at the target, you immediately will notice that your arm and wrist are more relaxed and in more of a position to control the gun. So why ruin that better ability to control the gun by then contorting yourself into another position in which you have less control of the pistol? Instead of doing what the shooter above did, once the gun is clear of the holster, you should point the muzzle at the target, and then punch or push your arm out and up to eye level with one controlled continuous and smooth movement so long as the target/adversary is not close enough to attempt a takeaway.

Why not try it now and see how it feels. NO DO NOT USE A GUN. Place your hand at your side, with index finger extended like a gun barrel. Then pull up as if drawing from a strong side hip holster, when at the point where you think you have cleared your imaginary holster, point your index finger out at your imaginary target as if it were the gun barrel and push or punch your hand forward toward the target while smoothly raising the hand to eye level along with the movement of the punch. Have the left hand move to meet the right hand as doing so to acquire a two handed grip. Both hands are basically punching out and raising up in one fluid movement. Do not make it two separate moves - do not punch out your hands then raise up your hands. Do it all in one smooth motion so that as your hands are traveling toward the target they are also moving up at an angle to reach eyelevel or just under it when your hands are extended to shooting distance. You can also do this with just the shooting hand to practice one handed drawing and shooting. Once you get it, try it at the range with an unloaded weapon. When ready, try it with a loaded weapon with which you will actually shoot right after you draw and achieve you aiming hold using this method. Remember the trigger finger stays off of the trigger unless you intend to shoot and are actually ready to shoot. Do not draw from the holster with the finger on the trigger, only place the finger on the trigger when ready to fire.

If you have been doing it the wrong way as was the shooter whom I described above, well you will probably notice a few things right away. The movement is more natural the way I described, it gets you right on target faster and more accurately, it is easier to repeat over and over again with the same result and that is you being right on target, your shooting will probably improve.

Okay enough on that, now for the other bad habit I observed. I watched a revolver shooter who was shooting much the same as was the guy who was drawing incorrectly but who was also doing something else very wrong. It also happened to be another old school technique that was taught by many police departments and federal agencies, and probably in some branches of the military. Before I tell you what was being done wrong, allow me to say it was probably taught with neatness in mind. Now mind you, neatness is a good thing, but is not called for when you are shooting in a combat situation except maybe as to where you neatly put your bullets, and by that I mean on target.

What I saw though was neatness of another type and it had nothing to do with hitting your target, and could in fact prevent you from hitting it. You see, as the guy unloaded his revolver, he dropped the empty shell casings into his right hand. How did he do that. Well he activated the cylinder release with his right thumb while still maintaining a grip with his right hand. Then he pushed open the cylinder with the fingers on his left hand as he should have done. The he canted the muzzle upwards somewhat and took his left thumb and pressed on the ejector rod ejecting the spent shell casings. Instead of letting them fall to the ground as he was getting more ammo with his right hand (as he should have been doing to combat reload) he held his right hand cupped under the cylinder and allowed the spent casing to fall into his hand, then placed them into his pocket, then grabbed more rounds with his right hand and reloaded. How much faster would his reload have been had he allowed those shell casing to fall to the floor as he grabbed a speed loader, or even loose rounds, with his right hand. He wasted an awful lot of time - an awful lot of time in a gunfight could be a split second, and he wasted several of them – catching and placing those rounds in his pocket all for neatness.

Even if you only shoot competitively, you should unload and reload a revolver in the combat style in the event you are ever called upon to defend yourself with the revolver. It is a good habit to have, and you can always bend over and pick up the spent shell casings after you are done at the range, or after you win the gunfight – although it would be better to leave them there for the police in the aftermath of a gunfight. By the way, the same holds true for a semi-auto. Unless you are doing a tactical reload during a break in the action, you do not catch and retain a magazine that you are dropping from the magazine well. Instead you allow it to free fall to the ground, and as you are doing so your weak side or non-trigger finger hand should be reaching for, grabbing, then inserting a loaded magazine.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Frirearms Training & Tactics - The Rule of 45 (with video)

DISCLAIMER: Remember, the following is my opinion. I show you these things for legitimate firearms training purposes only such as self defense, and not for use in criminal or irresponsible activity. As usual, the earth has no gravity - it just sucks - mostly because of irresponsible and criminal assholes, and shark like lawyers, so here comes my disclaimer: If you read this blog or copy thereof, view the video or copy thereof, listen to the audio or copy thereof, you do so at your own risk and you must agree to the following before doing so. If you do not agree now, then stop reading and do not view the attached video or listen to the audio. Your viewing the video, and or listening to the audio, and or reading my written content herein (or copy(ies) thereof) constitute your agreement with all of my terms; including holding me harmless, and indemnifying me against any claim by you or a third party for any use of this information. You agree to be held liable for your use, in any manner, of this information, and for the use of this information by others to whom you pass on this information either directly or indirectly, in part or in whole, in any manner. If you use, copy, demonstrate, teach, discuss, direct anyone to, anything I have described, written about, shown video of, or presented audio of, you do so at your own risk and you assume all risk to you and to others in any way connected to you having done so whether or not caused directly or indirectly on your part, or caused in part or in whole by you. If you are under 18, please get the permission of a parent or legal guardian before viewing the following. If you have a problem with any of the above, cease from going any further in this blog, and do not view the attached video or listen to the audio.

Over at THR recently, someone who said she had small hands and therefore could not reach the controls on a pistol to operate it one handed asked a question about which type of pistol would be a good size for her. I red the other replies from other knowledgeable shooters. Many of them recommended fall frame pistols, those with single stack magazines, and I think some even recommended a revolver instead of a semi auto. I thought about it for a while before answering, and as I expected I would, I in essence told her almost all pistols are the right size for her.

I said that because I know there is a way around the problem of a small hand shooting a larger gripped semi-automatic pistol. This is of course within limits; and if your hand is so small as to make it either extremely impractical or virtually impossible then don't try this method with a large frame pistol. On the other hand, if you can properly grip grips of a medium to larger pistol, hold it properly, then fire it, the chances are that you can probably use what was taught to me as the rule of 45 to help make it easier to operate the magazine release, and the slide release of the pistol one handed.

Before you look at the video, let me tell you some of the things you may hear from others about why you should never operate a pistol's slide release single handed if you other hand is fully functional. They say hold the pistol in the ready to fire grip, and operate the slide release with the off hand. Fine if you can do it, not so fine if you cannot do it for a number of reasons. Many others will say, you should always slingshot the slide closed to reload, again usually requiring 2 hands, but I will answer it is not always possible. For instance your other hand is holding back a close in attacker; or you may be hanging onto to something to prevent your falling, or you may be pulling an innocent out of the line of fire, or whatever else could and does happen in the real world no matter how likely or unlikely it would be, but at the same time it is happening and you need to operate your pistol with one hand. Many also tell you to always operate the magazine release with the thumb of the off shooting hand, but again sometimes that hand could be occupied - for example it could already be coming up to the pistol with a fresh magazine for a reload, making for a faster reload than by first having it hit the mag release, then grab for the mag, then insert the mag. Even if it comes up mag in hand, and the other mag did not drop, you can use that hand or the mag in it to free the stuck magazine.

Then there are the times when a hand, for this example we will use the weak or off side shooting shooting hand (if you grip the pistol right handed and therefore fire with the trigger finger on that hand, then it is the strong hand, or on side shooting hand) is out of play. It does not function. Why - well heck you are in an armed confrontation. Three people have just attacked you, one fired shots and the bullets ripped through your left arm. You fired back several shots, you have made it to cover, you cannot feel your left arm or hand, it is not functional at all. Behind cover you take a couple more shots at your assailants taking out one of them. There are two more. You need to reload. What do you do? You operate the magazine release one handed to unload the spent magazine (or in the case of a 'break-in-the-combat' reload you may drop a partially full mag and exchange it with a full one). In any case like this, you need to get the magazine out with your strong side hand only. Let's say you are a female state trooper. You are on the petite side. Your hands are not all that big. Yet your issue sidearm is a Beretta 92FS. You have small hands, a pistol with a big grip, and a wide grip because of a double stack magazine. Your thumb barely reaches the magazine release button. What do you do?

Well if you want to do it fast, you tilt the pistol back toward you at a 45 degree angle. No the muzzle does not point at you. Instead of pointing straight out in front of you though, it is now pointing at about 45 degrees to your left. You accomplish this by holding the trigger finger along the right side of the frame, and curling it back a bit then pushing with it to start to angle the pistol, all the while as you other fingers grip with a somewhat relaxed grip on the pistol grips. In fact the other fingers can help shift the grips too, as will be seen in the attached video. Bear in mind I forgot to mention using the trigger finger to help angle the pistol in the audio portion of the show, so I mentioned here, though in one shot you will see that is what I have done. Once in the 45 degree position, your trigger finger can go right back along the side of the slide (always keeping it out of the trigger area), your strong side thumb - be you a small handed shoot, or a medium or even a large handed shooter - will now have better access to the magazine release, and come at it on a more powerful angle to release its grip on the mag. The same will be true of operating the slide release, all working virtually the same, and your thumb winding up on the release in a position better able to activate the release if you use the rule of 45. Of course there are a number of other methods to close the slide in a one handed reload, other than using your thumb on the slide release; however if you choose to release the slide with your thumb, then I suggest to remember to again use the rule of 45.

It is simple, straight forward (or should I say canted to 45) and quite effective. While a one handed thumb release of the slidelock is not necessarily the preferred manner of releasing the slide when you have only one functional hand, using the thumb of that same 'only' functional hand is the preferred way to operate the mag release. Using the rule of 45 makes it easier, from what I have seen, for the majority of those who have learned the technique to operate those functions regardless of small hands, medium hands or even large hands.



This technique requires practice - with an unloaded gun and an unloaded magazine. If you read this, then watched the video, then tried and could not get it right, you need to see a firearms instructor, who is familiar with this method, and who can show you how to get it right before you ever try this with live ammo in the pistol and or magazine. Always practice this in a safe environment and follow the rules of gun safety. Note that this only works when the mag release is midway up the side of the grip, preferable near the front strap. Don't try this with old fashioned European magazine releases at the bottom of the grip frame, or basically in the middle of the grips.

Bear in mind that this blog was in essence only about how to operate the magazine release and slide release using the rule of 45. There are many other ways to operate these two controls in emergency situations when you only have one hand available to you. I am not saying this is the best method or not the best method; but I do believe the rule of 45 to be a technique that will allow someone with smaller hands, to more easily reach both the magazine release and slide release on most modern day self defense pistols; and I believe it makes it easier for even those with medium to large sized hands.

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

Ballseye's Firearms Tactics and Training - Selection of a Holster

When you carry a handgun, for defense purposes, you want need it to be readily accessible to you at virtually all times. Not only do you need it to be accessible to you, but you need it to be defensible by you, or in other words - it need be difficult for the bad guy to take it away from you by taking it out of your holster - it need be secure. It also has to be inherently safe to use. I find only one general type of holster fits the bill, and while I may be putting myself out in front of the firing line as far as the great gun gurus go, I will stand fast on that point once the shooting starts.

The type of holster about which I am speaking is a strong side hip holster with at least one retention device. Inside or outside the belt does not matter, that is so long as you can easily draw the weapon with one hand (either one regardless of on which side you keep the holster) for firing, and you can easily re-holster the sidearm with one hand (either one regardless of on which side you keep the holster), and then engage the retention device (if not automatic) with that same hand. So what does that mean in holster selection. Well first of all it means quality. Don't by a cheap nylon or leather holster and expect it to remain good as new after using it for awhile. Do buy a quality leather, nylon, or plastic holster made by a reliable manufacturer. The specific traits you want to look for in a holster are as follow:

1) Quality - stick with a good name brand of holster, one that is fair to higher priced. Don't go bargain basement shopping when your life may depend upon the quality of your holster.

2) Material - leather, or ballistic nylon, or plastic (possibly polymer). I prefer a leather holster. From what I have seen in based on holster I and others have used, a quality leather holster is king. Nylon is okay, but ones I have had always wear out before a good leather holster. Plastic holsters are the latest thing I guess, but I do not like em at all. They are noisy and can click on things when you are trying to move with stealth. They are also noisy on the draw, and you may just want to be quiet sometimes when you draw a gun. Some of them, even ones believed to be of the highest quality, have been shown to be easily torn from a belt. A leather holster, with proper construction, is something that will last many years. With proper belt loops it is almost impossible to take a gun away from a shooter by ripping off the holster. It needs some care as in cleaning, and conditioning over the years, but leather is well worth the small task of doing such. They are also repairable.

3) Design -

a) As I said, I prefer a strong side (right side if right handed, left side if left handed) hip holster. When you draw from a strong sided holster, with your regular shooting, or strong side hand, you do not cross your body in any manner, you do not cross a field of fire that need not be crossed with the muzzle of the gun; you pull it out, and if facing your adversary, you have it on target almost as soon as it clears the holster.

b) I also prefer it to have at least one retention device. The retention device that I prefer is a thumb break/snap (not Velcro), although I will readily admit there are other holsters that have more secure retention devices. My reasoning is this: I want the gun to remain in the holster is I run, jump, climb, fall, grapple and so on. I want something to prevent immediate removal by a bad guy who tries to take my gun from my holster, something that gives me enough time to make a defensive retention move, but not something that slows down my draw. This is a thumb break holster.

c) I want a holster that remains in an open position after I have drawn the firearm from it. In other words, I do not want a worn out old holster in which the slides sort of close, or collapse inward, once the gun is out of the holster; nor do I want a new holster that does the same thing. Cheap nylon holsters are notorious for this. My reasoning here is that I want to be able to re-holster my sidearm with one hand, and then secure it with the same hand. Why - well because it keeps the other hand free for close in defensive moves if needed; and another thing is that is one hand is disabled, you can still secure your weapon with the other hand. Now mind you, I do not want a loose fitting holster, I want one with a snug fit, that is form fitted to the model of gun I am carrying, but it must be one in which it is easy to re-holster one handed.

d) Angle of the holster - I want a holster that rides high on my hip/belt, and wherein the firearm sits in an almost perpendicular position to the ground when I am standing up erect on level ground. I do not want a holster that tilts to the front, or to the back. Such holsters are not as defensible during gun retention moves. I can also draw from just about any position in which I find myself with such a holster. This includes prone on my belly or back, lying on either side, standing, sitting (even while seat belted into a car), or standing on my head if need be.

e) Belt Loops - these should be large enough to accommodate the type of belt you will be wearing. In addition they must be strong enough to withstand the gun take away efforts of a really big guy who grabs the whole holster, with pistol in it, and then tries to tear it off of you. Don't think it can happen, well then think again. I have witnessed this more than once. While on this subject, think too of the belt on which you secure your holster. Use a good quality belt, nothing fancy, but one that is made well and strong, with a secure buckle.

f) Lined or Unlined - this is a question that arises only in regard to leather holsters as far as I am aware. I prefer lined holsters as they are easier on the finish of the gun, and they are a bit thicker than unlined holsters that would otherwise be the same. This extra thickness seemingly adds to the durability of the holster over the years, and helps keep the holster open when the gun is removed.

g) Trigger covering - any holster should cover the trigger and trigger guard when the gun in in the holster.

h) Open or Closed Bottom - I prefer an open bottom holster. This is mainly because I do not want foreign material building up inside a closed bottom holster which could eventually plug the muzzle. Things like dust and lint (lint is a bad little booger in winter months when you wear sweaters). I am the forgetful type at times, and while I usualy check my equipment, one thing I would likely be to forget is to see if a closed bottom holster had debris init each time I put it on. With my open bottom holtser, I see if it is clear each time I pick it up because light comes right on through. Just simpler, closer to foolproof.

Holsters such as shoulder rigs, ankle holsters, thigh holsters, all may have one or two advantages over a strong side hip holster. For example an ankle holster may be more easily concealed. A shoulder holster rig also may be more easily concealed, and a thigh holster may give you a speedier draw. The thing is, that each of them falls short in more than one way or another. Ankle holsters are very difficult from which to draw while running or even walking fast towards something like cover, they are also the lest defensible when it comes to weapons retention. How do you hold onto a gun in an ankle holster if someone grabs your leg and tries to take it away. Sure you may do it, but you are much less likely to retain it than would you be had the firearm been in a strong side hip holster. A shoulder holster rig can be a blessing, especially if traveling in a plane in those tight seats for an LEO. The thing is though, when you draw from a should holster, you telegraph that you are reaching for a weapon. You also are performing a cross draw, drawing from weak side, and bringing the gun across to the strong side. It is a slower draw than from strong side, and such a draw causes the muzzle to cover things it quite possibly should not be covering. As for a thigh holster, you know the ones I mean, the ones SWAT guys wear. They are just about useless from what I can tell except they add speed to the draw in most cases. The thing is though, they are not as defensible as is a strong side hip holster, and they apparently often cause guns to go flying. I have seen guns routinely come out of these (several brands) while LEOs were training in tactical shooting that required running. If you feel it start to go, and this often happens, chances are you likely will not reach it in time to retain it on your thigh. if you feel a hip holster open, the body often keeps the gun retained, and just putting your arm against your body can do the rest.

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The following paragraph was added on October 9, 2007: I did not mention carry in a pocket holster, but I will say here I do not like the form of carry because of how long it takes to draw, and how inaccesible is the firearm if you are in certain positions such as seated. Pocket carry without a holster is even less preferable than with one because of the potential for forgotten foreign objects in the pocket to interfere, jam or plug up the firearm, or to possibly even cause it to fire.

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There may be more that I will add later on, but for now that it is. Whether you carry openly or concealed, this is the type of holster I recommend. About the only consideration that I would go beyond on suggestion I made above is if you might want a holster with additional retention devices, or with a different retention method. Of course, whatever you get is up to you, take my opinion or leave it, it does not matter to me. Just do yourself a favor, carry safely and practically.

All the best,
Glenn B

Ballseye's Boomers: Ruger MKII...

...pistols amount to a lot of fun to shoot, but one heck of a pain in the butt to disassemble and reassemble for cleaning. Still though, this is one of the most fun pistols I have ever owned. Mine is a MKII Target model with 5 1/2" heavy target barrel, adjustable rear sights, and fixed front sight. The magazine holds 10 rounds. I probably have had this one since about the mid 1980's, and if it could talk, it could tell you it has eaten and spit out an awful lot of .22LR ammunition, and killed lots of cans at that.


One of the better things about this pistol is that it likes to eat just about any type of ammo I feed to it. That is always a plus with any pistol that shoots .22LR ammo. Of course being chambered in .22LR it is not expensive to shoot. Another good thing is that it is, or at least was, a relatively inexpensive pistol to purchase. Although I have not looked recently, my guess is that you could get a new one like mine with the 5 1/2" heavy barrel, for about $250 or less, but that is a guess. Used ones are readily available and should much less expensive than a new one. I would not be surprised to find a decent used one for $150.

Curiosity has already gotten the better of me, and I left the blog for a moment or two to do some checking on prices. My guesstimate, at least on the new ones in my area where guns are more expensive than in many other parts of the country, was very close to on the money. A new one, just like the one pictured, goes for $260 cash at The Long Island Shooting Center; and that price is supposedly current as of today. As for the asking price of used ones, I went to GunBroker.com where I was shocked to see the starting price/bid for one at $295.00, and while that was with a slightly longer barrel at 6 7/8", it was not shown with the heavy target barrel. I wonder, who is kidding whom here? The same pistol new, is listed at Long Island Shooting Center for $260, same as the 5 1/2" model. If you can get it new for $260, why in the world would you buy it used through the Internet for at least $295.00, and then have to add on an FFL transfer fee! Oh well, someone will probably buy it; but not me.

Back to the pistol itself. I already pointed out the good things about it above, now let me harp on the bad. This pistol has got to be one of the most difficult pistols to reassemble correctly after having disassembled it for cleaning. It is just a royal pain in the butt with the lever in the backstrap that has to engage just so before it will fold back into place. I have assembled mine a few times where it did not work properly, and then had to be taken apart and reassembled again, and sometimes again before i got it right. As a matter of fact, pulling the disassembly lever out of the backstrap can also be kind of a pain in the posterior too, but this bit is not as bad as when putting it back together.

Despite the disassembly/reassembly thing, I find the Ruger MKII to be a really good to excellent pistol for amateurish target shooting, for plinking, and for small game hunting. If it was the only pistol I had, I would also use it for home defense, but then again, there are much better choices out there than a pistol shooting .22LR rounds. In short, it is well worth the cost, and one heck of a fun gun to shoot. It will last a long time without problems if cared for properly, and if you buy one and care for it, chances are you will pass it on to your children or grandchildren in years to come.

All the best,
Glenn B

Here Is A Gun Trivia Question...

...to which I seek an answer because I do not know the answer.

In the 1941 film version of the Maltese Falcon, what make and model of pistol did Joel Cairo hold on Sam Spade? I am hoping to get the correct answer backed by some sort of factual reference other than just getting guesses, or answers like: 'Hey it looks like a Colt' or whatever.

Thanks,
Glenn B