How I liked other peoples hand guns...

[mellow_c]

I went shooting yesterday at a Free outdoor national forest range. I met some guy's there who let me shoot some of their hand guns.

These are the guns I shot

*Taurus 24/7 .45acp

*Some sort of Glock .40S&W

*S&W Sigma SW40VE .40S&W

*Glock 19 9mm

*S&W Airweight 642 .38 Special

All guns were shot from a standing position.

At first, I really liked the Taurus .45. It has a long easy take up on the trigger, and then a light break, which I didnt mind at all. The grip was the best of all the guns I shot that day, comfortable, natural, and sure. And I could do alright accuracy wise, but I was missing the 11x8 paper sometimes at 15 yards, but that may have been more my fault than the guns. However, it had a failure to feed out of the two mags that I shot from it. The owner says everyone else who has fired it, has had it "jam" on them, but he's never had a problem with it. He likes it, and got it for about $340.

I liked the Glock .40 alot, I had never shot a glock before yesterday. The grip makes it easy to keep your strong hand very high up on the grip and inline with the slide for better recoil control, and it was pretty comfortable. The trigger was fine, some take up with a decent break, but the safety on the trigger seamed to bite the pad of my finger during recoil. (Something that I've never noticed with my XD .45acp) I was plenty accurate with it, almost always on the paper at 15 yards. And of course, it had no malfunctions, and I'd imagine it never really would. It was a police trade in, and I think it cost about $375? I don't remember.

The S&W Sigma .40 Was great, and was actually my favorite hand gun of the day. I liked the grip, (the Taurus still had the best grip, and the glock was easier to control during recoil) it felt comfortable, and allowed for a variety of comfortable ways to grip the gun. Although I shot all the guns with the slide inline with my strong hand forearm and thumbs up and forward. The trigger is stiff with a medium pull, but then breaks just fine. And if your used to it (I am, I have a Sigma 9mm) then you'll find they shoot well. I was more accurate with the Sigma than any other handgun for the day, I'm not sure if it's because I was used to it already, or if it was the ammo, or if the gun is really just that great. (I think it's a little of everything) Shooting clays in the dirt at 10-15 yards was no problem, and keeping on the paper was easy. The Pistol was totally reliable out of the 4 mags I shot from it, never had a problem, just like my Sigma 9. They go for about $300-320 if you get the rebate.

The Glock 19 9mm was great. Although it was a brand new gun. The guy was just breaking it in, and only let me shoot 5 rounds from it, then he would swab the barrel. (He was definitely a little new to handguns, and probably shooting in general) I found it to be just like the Glock in .40, But obviously with a little less recoil. And it was a little shinier because of being brand new. Also I experienced no discomfort from the trigger, but I only shot 5 rounds... But also with it being a 9mm, I think everything would have been fine had I shot it more. They go for around $500+ brand new.

The S&W Airweight 642 was a little sweet heart! I hear people complain about the recoil from them, I didnt find it to be a problem. The grip on it was a thin little wood grip (not even close to a good supportive 2 or 3 finger rubber grip) But the little wood grip would make it easy to carry as a pocket gun. The trigger was fine, nothing spectacular, but no complaints. Obviously it was a little hard to aim being a double action only snub nose. But you can hit a man sized target at 15 yards, and if you take your time, and get in some practice, I'm sure you could do much better. It went bang every time. Even with the little wood grip, the recoil was very comfortable. Unless your the type of person who finds carrying a gallon of milk to be annoying and difficult, you'll have a great time shooting the 642. Although I did not have the chance to shoot any +P's out of it, I'd imagine them to be a bit much for a new shooter with the little wood grip, but probably perfectly manageable with the stock grips in place. My only real complaint is that it has a fixed front sight, which cant be replaced with a highly visible night sight, or any other sight. They go for about $430+ brand new.

Shooting all these handguns made me very happy with all the guns I own already, and helped me to know where I stand with my collection. I love my S&W Sigma 9mm, and I think it was one of the best $300 purchases I've ever made. I love my Tactical XD .45, and although it was about $200 more than the Taurus, I have the peace of mind that it should never have a problem, and I can shoot it much better, keeping all shots on the paper at 15 yards. I also have a Browning Buckmark which you cant beat in my opinion for a .22 semi-auto. A Ruger Mark II that was passed down to me from my grandpa, and it works great. I've got a Ruger GP100, which is the best revolver I have ever shot. And My little Snub Nose .38 Rossi, was a great deal when I bought it, and it's still a nice gun, although the cylinder can be hard to turn on occasion. But it's a good deal for a practice snuby ($250 brand new, with life time warranty) Although I'd trade it for a S&W 642 or 442 anyday;)

P.S. I'm convinced I would love to own a Glock, not sure what type though. On the other hand, I still dont own a 1911.

[Silvanus]

It's always an interesting experience if you are able to shoot other peoples pistols. Especially if there are no ranges that rent firearms in you vicinity. I usually let everyone who shows interest shoot my guns.


I'm convinced I would love to own a Glock, not sure what type though. On the other hand, I still dont own a 1911.

Get both :D I switch between my Glock and Browning HP all the time without problems.

[Sevens]

So the question is... have you ever shot a 1911? Because I don't know if you want one now, but you certainly may want one if you try one.

Of the guns you've listed, I've never shot the Airweight or the Taurus 24/7. I've shot an Airweight that was a snubbie 8-shot .22 cal, but not a .38 Spl. Decent little revolver, but I wasn't convinced that it would shoot to point of aim and using Kentucky windage got old.

I wasn't nearly as impressed with the Sigma as you are. Like many, I find the trigger to be just offensive, really. I've read on here that you can alter them easily enough, but that might be the worst current-production trigger out there right now.

[mellow_c]

Nope, I've never shot a 1911... (Someday:o)

Whats Kentucky windage:confused::D

I actually like the trigger on the Sigma, because as soon as you start the pull it builds in tension, until finally it breaks, and it's the SAME every time. a very consistent trigger. I actually like it better than the Double Action on my Ruger GP100. On the GP100 it's a little strange because even though it's smooth and slippery, you can feel the different stages of the trigger pull. And it's not consistent through out the pull. What can I do to fix that? Is that why you get a trigger job? What ever that is:).

The Sigma reminds me of Squeezing a grape until it pops.

I like my Buck Marks trigger the best of all my guns though... even if I include my rifles.

[Sevens]

Kentucky windage-- rather than making a sight adjustment when your firearm is shooting left or right of center, you simply adjust your point of aim until the rounds are falling where you want them to. The S&W I was shooting was about 4 inches left at about 15 yards and wore fixed sights. Arrrrgh, I didn't like that.

Sometimes a fixed sight is drift "adjustable" by tapping in either direction. Sometimes an ammo change will give better results. But the quickest way to put rounds in to the X is to use a little Kentucky Windage and walk them across the target.

It's horribly imprecise!

[mellow_c]

Ah,,,, good old Kentucky windage. I've used that alot of times! I've actually found it to work quite well in most cases, but it takes some getting used to:cool:

[jad0110]

Interesting post, thank you for sharing. I always enjoy letting people shoot my guns, and I likewise I rarely turn down the opportunity to try some myself.

the safety on the trigger seamed to bite the pad of my finger during recoil. (Something that I've never noticed with my XD .45acp)

Just goes to show that we all have different takes on things, and what works for one person won't work for another. The trigger safety on the Glock was a bit annoying to me, but not nearly as bad as my old XD9. Mine was sharp enough that it would nearly draw blood after 100 rounds. Others who shot it made the same comments, so maybe that particular one was a little rough.

And I could never find a good way to grip Glocks; fine guns, just not for me. I never did like the trigger feel on Glocks or XDs.

I am with you on the 642, I absolutely love mine. As you said, decent trigger, though like any handgun it could certainly benefit from tuning by a good gunsmith. Mine is smooth with only a little creep, but it doesn't break very cleanly, and it has a lot of over travel. A dab of paint or nail polish on the top of the front blade works wonders for the sight picture, BTW.

Do try a 1911 sometime. They aren't for everyone, but most seem to find them to fit in the hand very naturally. Incedentally, my Springer had a pretty awful trigger on it when I got it (NIB). Very rough, lots of creep and a sloppy break. It is much better now after taking it to a gunsmith.

[Wuchak]

The Sigma grip angle is the same as a 1911 so if you like the Sigma you'll love the 1911 with that nice SA trigger.

I'm in agreement on the Sigma. I love my 9mm one and the trigger on it is fine. It feels like a DA revolver. If anyone thinks the Sigma trigger is heavy I have a High Standard Sentinel for you to try. It takes 2 men and a boy to pull in DA. Although even that is not as bad as the AMT .45 backup I tried at Cabela's. I thought it was broken at first. It must have been a 20+lb pull on the thing. I like the Sigma trigger a lot better than the one on the CZ Rami poly I bought and quickly sold off. In DA it was ok but the SA pull was just as long as DA only the first 3/4 of the pull had no resistance. It felt really weird and I didn't like it at all. It also gave me a nasty blood blister on my trigger finger.

Tuning up a Ruger DA is easy. Some 4000 grit sandpaper will do the trick to polish things up. A dremel with the some jewler's rouge is even better. If you register over at www.rugerforum.net once you hit a certain post count, I think it's now 5 instead of 100, you get access to the library and Iowegan's IBOK on GP100. If the book was in stores for $20 it would be a bargain. He also has them for the Security/Speed/Service Six line, SA, and MK series guns. I'm not too experienced with gunsmithing but his IBOK made it very easy as he identifies all of the critical areas that need to be polished. Using a find sandpaper or jewler's rouge makes it darn near impossible to remove enough metal to mess up any angles. Once you polish it up if you get the shooter's pack of springs from Wolff you can drop down to a lighter return and hammer spring and still get reliable ignition since you'll no longer need that heavy factory spring to overcome all the friction in the works. You will simply be amazed at what a couple of hours and some sandpaper can do.

[mellow_c]

I'll have to look into that trigger work for my GP100... I think it would be about the perfect gun if I could smooth out and lighten the trigger a little.

[Elvishead]

g19