45ACP 185Gr Berry’s Hollow Base Reloads
Posted by Mr. RevolverGuy in Ammunition on August 29, 2010
There are many reasons for reloading also known as hand loading your own ammunition, cost savings, better reliability, and increased accuracy along with a host of other reasons. There are also many resources that describe in detail, what it takes to become a reloader known as reloading manuals. Reloading should never be done without a reputable reloading manual on your reloading bench. I have collected a number of reloading manuals in my 17 years of reloading. The stable of manuals I have come to rely on over the years are from Lyman, Speer and Hornady. There are also a number of online internet sites but one of the biggest safety rules to reloading is to never use someone else’s data without first verifying with a manual it is safe. You should then use the manual data start out at the minimal load and work your way up to see what your firearm prefers. A load that works in your buddies 1911 may not shoot so well in yours. This is the reason I started reloading 17 years ago. The constant hunt of finding the perfect load that performs best in your specific firearm for a specific application is an excitement, which is hard to describe to an inexperienced reloader. The excitement of finding the right load is unexplainable and at times can be a long winding frustrating road to get there.
Being a fanatic of the 45ACP and curious about the cult like following of the CZ platform I purchased a 99% CZ97 B at a price I just could not refuse. Original box, papers, both original magazines for under $400 dollars including tax a few years back.
I always test newly acquired firearms with factory ammo before developing my own specialized handload. I tried a number of factory loads Winchester White Box, Federal and much to my surprise I was very disappointed and started to feel; my CZ purchase was a bad purchase. A friend of mine then recommended Fiocchi and says it shoots great in his CZ75. At this point, I really did not want to spend any more money on factory ammo. Having found a good price on a box of Fiocchi 230gr hardball, I decided I would give the CZ97 one last try. The Fiocchi brand printed nice for defensive style shooting and started to resurrect my confidence in this platform. Having read many forums and articles about the accuracy and reliability of the CZ line of pistols, I decided I would hit the reloading bench and work up a load to try and achieve the best accuracy possible. The ammunition reseller at the gun show I purchased the Fiocchi ammo from recommended I try 185gr Hollow Base round nose. He stated with the hollow base some say upon ignition would cause the base of the projectile to expand and engage the rifling better. Having 100% reliability thus far with 230gr Hard ball as well as Jacketed Hollow Point I figured I would give this Berry’s brand a try.
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S&W Model 625 45 Colt Performance Center Range Review
Posted by Mr. RevolverGuy in Revolver Reviews on August 28, 2010
The 45 Colt cartridge began as a black powder cartridge in 1872. It was developed by UMC and Remington for the Single Action Army Revolver. The .45 Colt remains popular with renewed interest in Cowboy Action Shooting. However, the round also saw resurgence as a cartridge in handgun hunting and Metallic Silhouette Shooting competitions in the 1960s with the introduction of stronger heavier framed handguns. It also became the basis for rounds such as the .454 Casull developed and designed by Dick Casull.
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Glock 30 Range Review
Posted by Mr. RevolverGuy in Semi Auto Reviews on August 24, 2010
Most of the readers of my post know that Revolvers are a thing of beauty to me and my preference. Those new readers probably guessed this fact by my blogging handle Mr. Revolverguy. I believe both platforms have its place of deployment and Glock sure has proved that. The Glock has been deployed in many military and police departments around the world. The Glock actually received its beginning with the purpose of filling this exact nitch. Around about 1980, the Austrian military announced they were looking to replace its WWII era Walther P38 pistols. Gaston Glock went to work trying to fulfill this need for the Austrian military but there were many doubts. It said in the Gun World Gaston had no previous knowledge or experience in firearms design but was very knowledgably in advanced synthetics and polymers. Initially Glock was seen as a plastic pistol and there was heavy resistance. Having been present, I still remember the first day my brother-in-law presented his Glock 17 to his father a WWII & Korean War veteran. The look on his face was a priceless moment as well as his words; he informed his son wasn’t it time for him to stop playing with toy guns. Despite the resistance, Glock has commanded respect and has earned 70% of the market share for handguns amongst US Law enforcement agencies. With this review, I will attempt to understand and show why a majority of Law Enforcement Agencies are Glock Fans. Though there are many enthusiasts as with Law Enforcement, there are many adversaries within the civilian community who to this date struggle with the polymer frame, Glocks blocky looks and the grip angle. Which leads us to the Fit&Finish part of the review.
Fit&Finish Grade Excellent
As seen by the picture above this is a Glock 30 Generation 3. There are currently as of 2010 4 generations of the Glock. Third Generation Glocks were introduced with thumb rest on both sides of the frame along with finger grooves on the front side of the rail. Functionally for the 3rd Generation Glock family the locking block was enlarged a load chamber indicator was added as well as a extra cross pin to aid the distribution of forces exerted by the locking block during recoil and return to battery. The tenifer finish Glock uses on its slides has to be one of the hardest most enduring finishes other than those of the stainless revolver I have seen. Witnessing many Glock law enforcement trade ins, which has been, holstered hundreds if not thousands of times with very little wear.
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S&W Model 29 Performance Center Range Review
Posted by Mr. RevolverGuy in Revolver Reviews on August 7, 2010
Description: SMITH & WESSON MODEL 29 PERFORMANCE CENTER REVOLVER 44 MAG HIGHBRITE BLUE FINISH 6-1/2″ BBL INTERCHANGEABLE FRONT SIGHT AMERICAN PRIDE LASER ETCHING ON GRIPS
The 44magnum Smith and Wesson Model 29 was first introduced in 1955. This weapon became very popular in 1971 perpetuated by Clint Eastwood in the movie Dirty Harry where he played a San Francisco Inspector going by the name of Dirty Harry Callahan. Though most movie buffs say, Clint was carrying a Smith and Wesson Model 57, which is a 41 magnum, though it is difficult to tell the difference on screen. This particular Model 29 is sourced from the Smith and Wesson custom shop known as the Performance Center. On introduction, the Model 29 was once the most powerful handgun in the world. With the advent of the X-Frame S&W 500 and 460 Magnum this is no longer the case. Even before these monstrous framed revolvers, Dick Casull introduced us to the 454 Casull. Though it has been a very long time since the 44 magnum has reined king, it is still very capable of taking and has taken every animal on the Northern Continent.
Those of us familiar with the Performance Center you would expect the older style aluminum case. This revolver came with a Performance Center gun sleeve as seen below.
Inside this case, there is a pocket securing the normal documentation but I also found in this pouch a gold bead front site. As seen below the front site installed by the factory is a clear orange site.
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SVI Infinity – Initial impressions and first 1000 rounds
Posted by TheWiryIrishman in Semi Auto Reviews on July 24, 2010
So before I get into all the boring text of my review, here’s a pic to keep you interested:
Basically its a 6″, all-steel, full dustcover 2011 with a mag well and a bull barrel chambered in .45 ACP. For you uber gun nerds out there, here’s the full gunbuilder printout:
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Les Baer TRS Range Review
Posted by Mr. RevolverGuy in Semi Auto Reviews on May 1, 2010
It has been a while since my last review. A very busy schedule as been keeping me from the range as of late. I finally got a chance to visit the range two weeks ago and just couldn’t wait, as it would prove to be a special trip. I had not 1 but 2 Les Baer’s for review. I could not believe I was at the range with such legendary weapons, which had been loaned to me by a dear friend. This is not something I normally do, if one scratch would have ended up on such beauties I would not have been able to live with myself. Though my good friend was comfortable I was not, he had not shot them much and wanted to see what I thought of them. By the picture below you can probably understand why I was so hesitant to take him up on his offer of writing a review on them, beauties they are.
As you can see one of the 1911′s and the first for review is the Les Baer Thunder Range Special 1911 by Les Baer.
Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special 1911
“We needed the best custom 1911 on the market — 100% reliable and reasonably priced. We settled on Les Baer Custom to supply us with that gun because nobody makes a better custom 1911.”
- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
With this review I will be changing my format a little based on some user feedback I have received from the readers and users of this site. Hopefully this will deliver more of a real world unbias review as well as deliver consistency across all reviews. Myself along with the other authors have agreed on this new format to follow. Each review will consist of a grading for each of the following characteristics.
Ammo Used
Fit & Finish
Handling/Feel In The Shooters Hand
Trigger
Sights
Reliability&Accuracy
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Revolver Checkout by Jim March
Posted by Mr. RevolverGuy in Industry News on April 28, 2010
The text from Handloads.com
Revolver checkout: how to tell if a particular specimen is any good
By Jim March
So you’re buying a revolver. New, used, doesn’t matter, you want a good one, right? How do check one over without firing it, right at the dealer’s counter or gun show table? This is how. All of this works with DA or SA wheelguns…”close the action” on most DAs means swing the cylinder in, on SA types, close the loading gate, on break opens, close ‘em. UNLOADED.
WARNING: most of these tests require violation of the “finger off trigger” rule. Therefore, be extremely careful about safe muzzle direction and making sure the gun is unloaded ahead of time, PERSONALLY, as you begin handling it.
Note: bring a small flashlight, something small and concentrated. A Photon or similar high-powered LED light is perfect. You also want feeler gauges if you’re not used to eyeballing cylinder gaps; at a minimum, bring a .002″, .004″ and .006″.
Note 2: no dry firing is required or desired at any point. It just pisses off the gun’s current owner.
Cylinder play
1) With the gun UNLOADED (check for yourself!), close the action.
2) Thumb the hammer back, and while pulling the trigger, gently lower the hammer all the way down while keeping the trigger back – and KEEP holding the trigger once the hammer is down. (You’ve now put the gun in “full lockup” – keep it there for this and most other tests.)
3) With the trigger still back all the way, check for cylinder wiggle. Front/back is particularly undesirable; a bit of side to side is OK but it’s a bad thing if you can wiggle it one way, let go, and then spin it the other way a fraction of an inch and it stays there too. At the very least, it should “want” to stop in just one place (later, we’ll see if that place is any good). The ultimate is a “welded to the frame” feeling.
Cylinder gap
4) Still holding the trigger at full lockup, look sideways through the barrel/cylinder gap. If you can get a credit card in there, that ain’t good…velocity drops rapidly as the gap increases. Too tight isn’t good either, because burnt powder crud will “fill the gap” and start making the cylinder spin funky. My personal .38 snubbie is set at .002, usually considered the minimum…after about 40 shots at the range, I have to give the front of the cylinder a quick wipe so it spins free again. I consider that a reasonable tradeoff for the increased velocity because in a real fight, I ain’t gonna crank 40 rounds out of a 5-shot snub.
If you’re eyeballing it, you’ll have to hold it up sideways against an overhead light source.
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Followup Range Report on the Springfield EMP
Posted by Mr. RevolverGuy in Semi Auto Reviews on March 6, 2010
Some of you may remember an article a few days ago about my new Springfield Armory EMP in 9mm
EMP First Impressions Detailed
Well I finally got a chance to take it out and it was very smooth. Unfortunately it has been rainy and I had to shoot at an indoor range with terrible lighting.
I really couldn’t get a clear sight picture (more on that later) and had a hard time focusing much past 7 yards.
After warming up with some PMP 115gr FMJ, I thought I’d shoot it for a group with my intended carry load, the Ranger 127gr +P+ load.
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First Impression of the Springfield Armory EMP
Posted by Mr. RevolverGuy in Semi Auto Reviews on March 6, 2010
I’ve been looking very hard at the Springfield Armory EMP since its introduction and I just couldn’t resist anymore when i found a new one at a great price from a reputatble dealer in FL. I had to make sure it was on the CA approved roster.
There has been some interest in it lately and i thought I’d post a report and pictures when I finally got it. These are my impressions of the EMP rather than measurements (which you can find elsewhere on the net) or even a range report. I wanted to get some pictures before I took it out to the range and it got dirty. if there is an interest, that will be the subject of another thread.
The EMP has great proportions and the satin black of the frame, sights and hammer, contrasting with the polished slide stop, thumb safety, mag release and Main Spring Housing (MSH) are set off nicely with the bead blasted white trigger, barrel and slide
The EMP is not as small as I imagined. It’s about the same size as my Kahr CW9.
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My first revolver, and the start of a beautiful friendship
Posted by TheWiryIrishman in Revolver Reviews on March 6, 2010
I have been looking for a handgun for what I would consider long range shooting. With a handgun long range shooting varies for every shooter, for some it is 25 yards some it is 50 yards others it’s 100 yards. Of course unless your skill level is like those of Jerry Miculek or Bob Munden. I myself decided to try my hand at it and acquired a S&W 629 with the 8 3/8″ barrel:
I handled several different 629s before making the purchase, but I was still amazed at the quality of the trigger. Double action was relatively light and very very smooth. It was also consistent for the full length of the pull, with no stack-up toward the end. It paled in comparison to the single action, however. I haven’t measure the weight, but I’d estimate that it breaks around a pound and half, and what’s more amazing, it does not move. When you build up to the right amount of pressure, the hammer just comes down, and for the life of me, I can’t feel anything happen with the trigger. The $1800 dollar Pardini SP I shoot bullseye with does not even come close to having this good a trigger.
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