It needed to be said

This isn't the sort of thing that you really want to hear, or even say right before Christmas. I just think it needed to be said, because the people who should be making such statements are not willing to do so.

Last Friday I watched the news as reports poured in about the tragedy at Sandy Hook. The initial reports were muddled, confused, and would mostly be rewritten in the following days. There were two things, however, that became very clear; Something truly horrid had occurred at an elementary school in CT and it was going to be a political football used to create a new assault weapons ban.

The families of the victims deserve better than that. In fact all of the people who's lives have been impacted by media and politically exploited crimes deserve better.

Look at these faces.

These are men who killed innocent people. Not one of these men was forced to pick up a gun and shoot people. They CHOSE to commit atrocities. Regardless of how they came to be this way, they are evil. They are not the only ones.

You can try to make people feel safer by outlawing black rifles. Evil people will still exist. They will use any means available to bring harm to others. The modern world is full of tools that can be used for constructive or destructive purposes. Cars can become weapons, gas can become Molotov cocktails, fertilizer can become explosives, and planes can become guided missiles. You can't get rid of technology, and all the laws in the world won't stop determined people from using it.

What you can do is accept that there are bad people in the world, prepare yourself as best you can to deal with whatever evil confronts you, and because you can never be prepared for every possibility, learn to cherish each day you have and the good people that you share it with.

It's a Trapdoor!

As members of blogosphere go I'm not exactly your model citizen. I'm probably the real world equivalent of the guy who lives in the old house down the block with the 'no soliciting' and 'no trespassing' and 'beware of owner' signs. People who've met him might say he's nice, but aside from the mysterious black truck parked there once in a while, there's no evidence he even exists. I suppose that's what I get for trying to do so many things in the other parts of my life, I just don't get around to posting very often.

 Case in point. I've have a bunch of pictures from the Gun Blogger Rendezvous that I haven't even begun to post yet. I should have posted them some time ago, but I've only recently started going through them again to figure out what to say.

 Today I was flipping through them and stopped on this shot of Daily Pundit showing off his California compatible SU16-CA and it occurred to me how much firearms have changed over the past 150 years.

 The last one hundred years have mostly been about development of semi-automatic rifles which, for most situations, have brought us to the practical limit of rate of fire for an weapon carried and handled by an individual. That race for more firepower really kicked off around 1918 when the Pedersen device made it possible to give soldier's a rapid firing magazine fed rifle at a time when many leaders had yet to figure out the futility of using bayonets for large scale assaults. It was a makeshift weapon and never proved itself in battle, but it pointed the way for weapons development.

 Looking further back there are a plethora of different designs which, if viewed all together might make you wonder about the sanity of the inventors, but there is a fascinating if not all together logical progression to the development between the 1860s and 1910. Take for instance this display I saw on one of my visits to the UK. It was in the "King's Own Border Regiment" museum which is on the grounds of Carlisle Castle.

 
This Lee Metford rifle contains most of the components of a modern bolt action rifle and it made a significant advance for a battle rifle by using a detachable box magazine, something which would set the stage for semi-auto and full auto battle rifles. It was first adopted for service in 1888.

Going back a bit further you saw the the Martini Henry rifle which began its service with the Brits in the 1870s. It's a single shot, falling block action which, despite some early design problems, was both sturdy and reliable. What's interesting about this rifle is that it was actually a big technological leap from many of it's predecessors because the lock mechanism and breech were integrated into a receiver. That may not seem like much, but virtually all of the military arms up until this time were designed in the traditional "lock, stock, and barrel" style where the three major components of a rifle were mostly independent of one another. Making a military rifle without a separate lock was a pretty radical change and was not likely to be easy on the armorers.

If you went back just a few years further, you would find this Peabody conversion rifle (I might be confusing this with a Roberts, but I think I have it right) which also had a falling block style action, but was based upon (and in fact made from) older muskets with a separate lock mechanism. The lock mechanism (mounted on a plate and fastened by two screws) was virtually identical to the locks dating back to flintlocks. The rifle itself was put together much the same as previous models with the exception that the barrel had a breech locking mechanism on it. There's a good reason for this type of similarity. Many of the early breech loaders were converted from muzzle loaders. Typically the rear of the barrel would be milled open at the rear and then fitted with a breech block of some sort and a firing pin or percussion nipple that was struck by the hammer. The lock and trigger didn't actually require modification to make this change.

A similar example would be the Snider conversion, which was a standard rifle in England for many years. It too used an older style lock mechanism and a barrel modified with a breech block that pivoted out to one side. The pivoting breech block would not have been as strong as a falling block action (meaning chamber pressures were low by today's standards) but it required very little modification to the stock and so it was a cost effective way to use the crates full of muzzle loaders found in most military arsenals.

Of course, if you start digging into transition rifles of this type you'll probably find a dizzying array of designs. So far I haven't even been able to identify this one, but from the looks of it, it's a 'trap door' style percussion design with a large locking lever over the top.

(Apparently rifles of this vintage are naturally blurry; no blame can be laid upon the cameraman)

The US went through it's own transitional phase, though at a slightly different pace. At the end of the Civil War it was obvious to many military minds that muzzle loading rifles were a thing of the past, but there were large stockpiles of them left over from the war. In 1865 the first model Allin converted rifle (named for it's creator) was established. It was quickly followed by an 1866 model when the original design was found to be somewhat lacking. The conversion essentially consisted of milling open the back of the barrel and pinning in a breech block. But unlike the Snider conversion used by England, the hinge pin was at the front of the breech block so the block flipped forward rather than to the side. These conversions were used for a few years and the design was well enough accepted that in 1873 a new model trap-door rifle was released.

 This is the model 1873 Springfield trapdoor. It was designed in the same style as the earlier Allin conversions but chambered in .45-70 rather than slightly larger .50-70. A few variants of this model exist, the most valuable of which would be the cavalry trapdoor, due largely to it's association with Custer's final adventure.

This basic design and the .45-70 cartridge were used by the US army right up until the 30-40 Krag became standard in the 1890s. That means the trapdoor design lies astraddle the transition from black powder to smokeless powder. That creates some problems!

 The 45-70, being developed for black powder, could pretty much be loaded by scooping the cartridge full of black powder and stuffing a bullet on top. There was simply not enough room to get more black powder into the cartridge, so the design was self limiting as far as pressure was concerned. The trapdoor style design was built to handle these pressures and no further thought was given to the matter. That is, until smokeless powders became commonly available. Most of these powders can pack more energy into a smaller space and consequently it was possible to generate much higher pressures and velocities from 45-70 ammunition. The capacity of the trap-door design was never built with this in mind.

I've heard people say that the 1873 design is capable of handling about 28,000 PSI or 25,000 CUP. A look at the Lee manual shows most of their "never exceed" loads are 15,000 or 16,000 PSI, which sounds safer to me considering these firearms are now antiques. However with most smokeless powders you can create much higher pressures in the roomy 45-70 envelope. In fact load tables for the Ruger single shot designs list loads up to 50,000 PSI. Naturally people with more modern firearm designs created hot loads to get more power and distance and the unintended consequence was that plenty of ammunition is available which the old fashioned Springfields are not able to handle.

Anyone that owns one of these should be very discriminating about the ammunition they use. Most commercial ammunition will be clearly marked if it is too hot for a trap-door design, but you should still investigate find out the chamber pressures you're dealing with.

Even when loading to proper levels, these firearms should be handled with significant care and attention. This one has a cartouch mark that says 1882, which makes it 130 years old, and even though the bore is good, that's no guarantee that it's still safe. It's best to have a gunsmith check your rifle over, looking for wear and cracks around the hinge pin, latch pin, and hinge lugs to make sure nothing is about to fly apart. It's also a good idea to check the headspace (an easy matter since the cartridge headspaces on the rim) just to make sure you don't give the cartridge too much room to bounce around.

Now that I've scared you enough you can relax a little. These rifles are still readily available at most gun shows and often at reasonable prices. Huge numbers of these rifles were surplussed out in the early 1900s and they were a favorite for hunters. Sadly many of them were 'sporterized' by cutting down the stock, changing sights and re-blueing, but they are still lovely relics from a time when firearms technology was making it's first steps towards the modern rifle.

And I approved this message.

There will be no pictures in this post, only words.  We'll begin with a few well chosen ones from Thomas Paine.

"Some writers have so confounded society with government as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins.
Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices . . . The first is a patron, the last is a punisher." 

The truth of these words has been recognized and echoed by many others since.  Even 180 years later, the fictitious, Dr Ferris encapsulated this idea in the simple statement,

"There is no way to rule innocent men.  The only real power government has is to crack down on criminals." 

Yet somehow, a new beast has emerged, or rather, wedged itself into the role of government.  I'll call it the caretaker.  It is different from the soldier, the judge, the policeman, and the lawmaker.  They are actually needed to govern a country, or in more precise terms, to regulate it.

The caretaker serves a different purpose.  He does not concern himself with what is just, but what is needed.  This may seem innocuous enough, but then comes the question of who's need is to be served.  Whats more, one must then decide what actually comprises a valid need.  When elected officials are allowed to make these decisions, people who wish to be elected to an office are natually inclined to define need in a way that will secure the most votes.

I suspect many people understood this first half of the caretaker system, from the onset of our current form of government.  What seems to be less understood is that the elected caretaker does not provide for the needs of any citizen without first taking from another.  If something is actually free, there is no need for government intervention in the first place.  If something has value, it is not created by a conglomerate entity like a government.  Value is created by the minds and the efforts of individual people, sometimes working alone, sometimes working in concert with one another.  Sure governments can print money, but that only has value if people place value upon it.  If anyone, including a government department, starts indiscriminately printing and giving away money, sooner or later people figure out that its worth no more than paper.

When we accept the idea of a government caretaker as a legitimate provider of services, goods, and even money, then the question that arises every election day is, "who is the best caretaker."  The answer, except in rare cases, is "The one who 'provides' the most for his voters."  In order to provide more, he must find more sources from which to take, and so each election beomes a sort of race to see who can promise voters a bigger piece of what others have earned.

H. L Meneken* reognized this at the dawn of the roaring twenties.

"Government, is a broker in pillage, and every election is a sort of an advanced auction sale of stolen goods." 

I particularly appreciate the use of the word 'pillage' because it strips away all of the re-branding that has turned 'seizing' into 'taxing' and 'loot' into 'financial support'

The only things that keep such systems running year to year are the desire for the unearned, and the incomprehensible complexity of their operation. If we could all see where every penny of our tax money went, I guarantee that each of us would identify some recipients we believe to be undeserving of our money, and some administrative practices that are wasteful.  But when you have tax codes so complex that even accountants need specialists to interpret it, and politicians who talk about the good they have done for 'the country,' 'the community,' 'the unfortunate,' or some other loosely defined entity,  it becomes nearly impossible to see where your money goes to or comes from.

How does all of this pertain to the elections in 2012?  Frankly, I don't know how much long term impact this election will have on us all.  As with most elections, it will determine who gets pillaged and who gets the loot for the next few years, and it will have some impact on how much deeper we go into debt.  Sadly though, both parties are focused heavily on 'winning votes' and seemingly less concerned with ideologies. If I were a cynic I might compare it to a choice between riding in one handbasket or another, but at least there is still a choice to be made and we should consider the consequences as carefully as possible.

Each election gives us an opportunity to reflect upon the reasons for selecting one candidate verses another.

Ask yourself, "Is this person promising to be my caretaker?"

If so, he probably has no place in government.  As I said in the beginning, there are roles in government for soldiers, policemen, judges, and lawmakers.  There are plenty of derivatives and supporting roles that come with these, but caretakers, false providers, and other such 'charitable' individuals are not among them.

Please vote accordingly!

*Meneken was often an opponent of both democracy and religion, though I believe he would agree, their biggest flaws are typically their practitioners.

Bang up time

Wow, what a weekend!

I'll explain more when I have a chance to write it up properly, but here's a quick run down of what we had a the Rendezvous.

Range time

Steel shooting

Guns...lots of guns!

Fun with lasers

(I wonder why the wait staff always knocks before they come in?)

Bad puns

Distinguished Guests

Distinguished guests with pink gear

Lots of swag

Fabulous prizes

Made possible by contributions from Hi-Point, Ruger, Leupold, Sig Sauer, CrimsonTrace, CompTac, Brownells and more!

Happy winners

Really happy winners

Gunsmoke

Lots of cowboys

And of course...

Let's not forget the real reason we all met in Reno this weekend. 

We were here to raise money and support for Soldiers' Angels and Project Valour-IT.  Even if you couldn't make it, you can still support SA.  Just pay their website a visit and see what you can do.

It's Here!

Get your side-arm and let's go!

Big news...small caliber

I mentioned in my last post that Lori from Ruger wanted to donate a firearm in Bea's honor to the fund raiser raffle at this year's Gun Blogge Rendezvous. Well we owe Lori a big thank-you because right now I'm holding in my hand a certificate for a new Ruger Single Ten!

Now I've not used a single ten before, but I have used the single six before and it's a loads of fun, so having 66% more ammo per cylinder has to be pretty darn cool. But don't take my word for it, check with somebody who's actually used one.

The single ten is the new addition to the single action line, coming out a little over a year ago and I'm very excited to have one in our raffle this year.

 For those of you who haven't used a single ten or single six I know you might be saying "what's the big deal, it's a .22LR in a revolver."  I'll forgive your skepticism for a moment if you just stick with me.

 Rimfire revolvers are actually pretty versatile. No, you don't want to rely on them for bear protection, but they're actually really good firearms for those who love the great outdoors because of the inherent reliability and ruggedness of the revolver design. They're also nice to pack around because you don't have to worry about fiddling with safeties, magazine releases and such; you just load it, holster it, and it's there whenever you need it. (And with Ruger's transfer bar system you don't have to leave a chamber empty like you did on old style single actions)

Or if you just want a plinker, with this you can spend all day shooting paper, tin cans, and those annoying plastic political signs that grow in the yard this time of year. But what's this...You get four more shots between stopping to reload! I wouldn't swear to it, but I bet that with a little practice, you could reload one of these almost as fast as you could stuff some of the more annoying 22LR magazines out there.

And lest I forget the really fun part, with those four extra rounds, you also get a single action revolver that can shoot steel! Sure you won't beat the automatics in a drag race, but with a little practice you could turn in some respectable times in Steel Challenge style contests, oh and you can also tease your buddies about how their their self-cocking, auto-feeding pistols are doing all the hard work for them!

 So if you haven't sent in your registration yet, go over to Gunbloggers and send it in now. If you participate in the raffle you'll be helping Project Valour-IT and you might just get a Single Ten as your reward!!

And don't be afraid to show a little appreciation to the folks over at Ruger for making this possible!

Load and Make Ready!

I have exciting news to post when I get home tonight.  Stay tuned!

Just 7 Weeks!

Seven weeks and counting folks!

If you don’t know what I’m referring to then you had best check out this post and learn all about the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. For the last several years, Mr. Completely and Keewee have been putting on the rendezvous and It’s gotten progressively better each time I’ve attended.

Now I know that the name implies that it’s for gun bloggers, but it’s actually a good time for anyone who enjoys shooting, hunting, competitive shooting, or even just talking about guns. We have some attendees who don’t even have a blog (and people like myself who have one but never post) and they join in the fun just like anyone else.

Typically Mr. C puts together a few different activities and all end up being fun. There is usually a show and tell session where everyone gets to bring out their toys for others to admire. We’ve been lucky to have various guest speakers from the firearms industry, various firearms and sporting groups, as well as some distinguished advocates for gun owners’ rights. (see here and here)

Then there are the range events. We typically have an open range day where everyone sets up their gear, does some shooting, then goes down the line to admire (and try out) everyone else’s guns. The miniature Steel Challenge event gives everyone a chance to try their hand at steel plates. (We do log times, but there’s really no pressure. We’ve even had people shoot stages with single action wheel guns.) As if that wasn’t enough we’ve also had cowboy fast draw competitions which are fun pretty much no matter what

And last but not least we have a raffle.

“A raffle, you say? What’s the big deal?”

It’s actually a very big deal. First off it’s for a very worthy cause. All of the money raised at the GBR goes to Project Valour-IT, a very Soldiers’ Angels program which provides voice controlled laptops and other technology aids to wounded soldiers so that they can maintain communications with friends and loved ones.

If that isn’t enough of a reason, then remember, you can win cool stuff! Last year I won a pistol and several other people won firearms as well. There were pocket knives, gun gear, clothes and all manners of goodies to enjoy.

That brings me to my main point for today. I’ve been in communication with Lori Petoske from Ruger and I’m making arrangements for a Ruger Vaqueros to be in this year’s raffle. What’s more, Lori came back with a very generous offer.

If you’ve followed the GBR, you probably know that Lori and Bea met a couple years ago during the 2010 rendezvous. From what I hear, they had a blast! The following year Bea donated a Ruger Blackhawk like the one she enjoys shooting. Well this year Lori says she and the fine folks at Ruger are interested in donating a firearm in Bea’s Honor!

We have to work out the details but it looks like there will be TWO Ruger firearms in the raffle at GBR this year.

Now what are you waiting for? Go register for the rendezvous, help raise some money for Valour-IT and maybe even win a Ruger!!

Sometimes I don't know...

...if I'm coming or going!
 Just a quick post to say that I'm still alive. I'll post again soon, but in the meanwhile, here's a picture of a rare beast; a Garratt steam locomotive!

Glock, Paper, Scissors

I think I know which one wins.

Last fall I attended the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, an annual fundraiser for Project Valour IT, a worthy cause if ever there was. The big money maker here is the raffle which features products from various firearm and shooting sport manufacturers. They all deserve considerable applause for their contributions, but today’s post is dedicated to the fine folks at GLOCK who donated the pistol that I won in the raffle.

First things first, I received a certificate for a free pistol from Glock. I paid a very reasonable charge to upgrade to a Glock 21 (45ACP) with night sights, but the overall cost was dramatically lower than buying the firearm. This certificate came through the raffle at the GBR, so Glock did not choose me to receive this; they did not ask me to write about it; they did not require that I advertise, glamorize, publicize, or otherwise promote their products. I’ll leave it to you to judge how biased or unbiased my review is.

I’ve had very little prior experience with Glocks. The first time I handled one was when a friend of mine showed me a used 9mm he bought. I recall thinking that the sights were difficult to pick up quickly, making accurate shooting difficult. The trigger pull did not impress me too much either but then again it was used, probably not in the best condition. Since then I’ve mostly stuck to single action automatics rather than striker fire. So it shouldn’t be surprising that I had mixed emotions about getting this new ‘plastic’ gun.

The folks at Glock were courteous and very efficient. They shipped the pistol quickly, so quickly in fact that it was on the way before I could give my FFL dealer proper warning. It arrived though, in nice pristine condition with a cleverly designed plastic case, three mags, a loader, a bore brush, and a cable lock to add to my collection of legislatively mandated safety accessories.

The exterior appearance is all business with a matte black finish on the metal parts and texture molded into grips. The upgraded sights show up well against the dark slide. The inserts glow brightly in low light, so much so that I can spot it on the nightstand easily when the lights are out. Size wise the grip is slightly wider (front to back)  than your typical M1911 and the thickness is a little less than the usual M1911. The real difference comes in when you look at the profile.

The double stack magazine requires quite a bit of space so the grip cross section is more square than that of a firearm designed for single stack mags. This results in a perimeter that’s roughly .87” larger than the M1911 (that’s if you ignore the ergonomic ridges. Personally I was quite pleased with the fit in my hand. I’ve always found the M1911 grip to be not quite ‘meaty’ enough to make my hand fall in the right position. The extra perimeter of the Glock grip put my trigger finger in the right position without any special fiddling on my part.

The size of the Glock 21 limits its usefulness as a concealed carry piece. If you have a large frame you’re probably able to conceal it reasonably well, but my 5’8”/150 (ok 155) frame doesn’t offer quite enough real-estate for me to wear it discreetly unless I can cover it with a loose fitting jacket. That said, being chambered in .45 ACP with a magazine capacity of 13 rounds makes it an excellent sidearm for self-defense in the home or wherever you take it.

Out of the box it functioned perfectly. I’m not surprised; after all, Glock has developed a reputation for very reliable firearms. I’ve fed several kinds of ammo through it with no discernible difference in feeding or operation. I did get bopped in the head a few times by flying brass, but who hasn’t had that happen before?


A search of YouTube will probably turn up a torture test or two showing how many rounds a Glock can fire without cleaning, what kinds of mud and sand it will eat without jamming, and similar such forms of abuse which far exceed any realistic demand on a sidearm. I would add however, that if you’re spending plenty of time outdoors where your sidearm might get extra exposure to the elements and go extended periods without cleaning you could be pretty confident in the continued reliability of this pistol. In other words, if you intend to be hiking, boating, or 4-wheeling in remote areas for an extended period, this wouldn’t be a bad item to have in your kit.

Functionally, there isn’t much in the way of exterior controls. You have a slide release and a mag release in the normal positions plus the take-down catches just in front of the trigger. The slide release is slightly smaller than on the M1911 but large enough for me to use easily after getting acclimated. The mag release button is sizable and easy to find without looking. Both are rounded enough to keep them from snagging on anything while being drawn.


The point of impact is aligned with the top of the sight at about 15 yards, slightly lower at shorter ranges, but not enough to bother compensating. I’m quite certain it is more accurate than I am because when I take my time I can hit a 2 or 3 inch circle at 15 yards. Naturally the groups open up considerably when stringing shots, but it’s easily accurate enough to shoot steel or use for personal protection.

The muzzle flip is not anything unusual, though it does vary a bit over the course of a magazine because of the difference in weight when empty as opposed to being loaded with 13 rounds. Even at its most severe it’s more controllable than your typical compact 45.

The trigger is much better than I had expected. As I said at the beginning, my experience with Glocks was very limited and had left me a little sour on striker fired designs. The quality of the trigger pull actually shocked me when I first tried it. The stroke was smooth and quite light, the break was very clean and the difference in resistance between the two was enough to allow two very distinct motions. By the time I was through with the first magazine, the act of drawing the trigger back and holding it just before the break became so natural that it required no thought at all and I was able to switch back and forth between this and a single action trigger without hesitation.

If my early experience with a Glock had been like this, there’s a good chance I would have been shopping for one some time ago.

Now for the drawbacks.

First a very minor issue, the magazine loader has a small lip in the front that keeps cartridges from engaging the lip of the magazine adequately. One minute with a pocket knife and you can put a notch into this which will make it much easier fill your magazines.

Also, I have a personal preference for serrations in the front of the slide. I don’t believe this is a factory option on any Glocks and I think that’s a bit of a shame, but there’s nothing particularly wrong with that. I’m just being picky.

This is the only really negative thing that I am going to say: a pistol like this needs additional external safety features. Does that mean it’s unsafe? NO. It means that if you want to carry a Glock safely you must rely upon a holster to be your external safety device. In other words, you’re counting on the holster to keep the trigger from being pressed.

I’m not picking on Glock specifically here because if I had my preference, I would want some kind of external safety on any autoloading pistol. I know about the Glock “Safe Action” and I think it’s a nifty design but the fact remains that anything which pushes the trigger can discharge the firearm. Consequently, whenever you are putting a Glock into the holster the gun is still ‘hot’ and that requires some additional precautions.

No matter how skilled and how well trained you are, there’s a good chance that someday when you holster your sidearm the trigger will catch on your clothing, your holster, or the trigger finger that you inadvertently left inside the guard. If you’re lucky you just scare yourself, if you’re unlucky you hit an artery or end up starring in a YouTube video where you’re yelling about the manner in which you just shot yourself. So when selecting a holster for a firearm like this make sure it’s easy to take on and off because if you’ve drawn your firearm, you’ll want to be able to remove your holster, holster your weapon in a safe direction, and replace the holstered firearm without disturbing it. In fact this is a good rule for any firearm you may need to re-holster after you’ve dressed for the day.

Now that I’ve scared you sufficiently let me say again that I have no qualms about owning, using, and carrying this firearm. You just have to make sure you’re doing it properly so that you can stay safe.

Back to the fun stuff!

Field stripping and cleaning is very straightforward. Drop the magazine, check that the chamber is empty, check that the chamber is empty again, point in a safe direction and pull the trigger. Then pull the slide back slightly to take the pressure off the stop. Pull down on both of the takedown catches located forward of the trigger and move the slide forward until it comes off. The spring, guide rod and barrel come right out of the slide and you have access to almost everything for cleaning. If you want to detail strip, you can, but considering the abuse most Glocks are put through, I would just stick with field stripping, swabbing the barrel and hosing the rest out with a little CLP.

Reassembly is even easier. Once you get the barrel, guide rod, and recoil spring back into the slide, just put the slide on the front of the frame and pull it all the way back. You’re done! It’s so simple it makes me wonder why some people brag about how many rounds their Glock can go without cleaning.

All-in-all I must say, I’ve been really impressed by my new Glock 21. My concerns about ergonomics and trigger pull vanished as soon as I tried it. If you’re thinking about getting one of these for yourself, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to compare your grip on the standard Glock 21 with the ‘SF’ model. These models have a slightly smaller grip made for people who don’t feel as comfortable with the full sized design. I tried it and I think the difference is small, but discernible. (The SF feels a bit like a 1911 to me, just without the swell in the middle of the grip.) Either one is quite comfortable, and if mine is any indicator, very fun to shoot!

Thanks again to the folks at Glock for donating this pistol to the raffle at the GBR!