When Bill Alexander decided to make the .50 Beowulf round, he really got me excited 🙂 The idea of a heavy thumper round in an AR platform really appealed to me so I bought one and one issue that popped up was where to find magazines that were not really expensive.
D&H 5.56 30 RD Aluminum Magazines are perfect for this.
Once in a while the answer is really straight forward and this is one of those times. You do not need to change the feed lips or the follower on a standard 5.56/.223 magazine, you just need to bevel the front lip at about 45 degrees (the exact angle doesn’t seem to be a big deal) so the giant .50 Beowulf bullet goes up and, this is the key part, the leading lip of the brass case hits the little ramp and goes up it vs. hanging. In this next photo – see how the lip of the case will catch? It may catch sometimes or all the time – for me it was practically all the time.
The magazines I convert are D&H 5.56/.223 magazines that Palmetto State Armory sells. They are reliable and well made plus they are very affordable with sales prices starting around $8.99 and normal price around $12.99 for buyers in a rush. They also have regular combo deals such as a case and seven mags for $89.99. You have to love PSA’s deals. Click here to see what they have.
All I did was use a medium grit little sanding drum in my Dremel to bevel the magazine’s front lip – you are basically making an ad hoc feed ramp so the case doesn’t catch. The round you see has the big 350 grain XTP bullet – they hit like a freight train.
Note this is just to show the drum. The magazine is empty when I do the sanding.
This is a really quick operation and you don’t need to take a ton off. I do it with the magazine empty of course, insert a round into the magazine and test then do a bit more. I’d repeat the removal and testing until the round went right up into the chamber. After the first few magazines, I had it down pat.
In this next photo, see the shiny little ramp?
That’s all there is to it. I just used quality aluminum magazines and did the tweaking. Polymer mags, such as MagPul take more work and I simply didn’t feel like bothering with them. I did use quality magazines and avoided cheap stuff and I also used the anti-tilt followers – just regular 5.56 followers – nothing special.
In a standard 20 round aluminum 5.56/.223 magazine, you can fit up to seven Beowulf rounds. In a 30 round magazines, you can fit up to 10. I never tried any of the higher capacity magazines so I can’t speak to them at all.
This approach worked great for me and I hope it helps you as well.
I came up with an even faster way to convert the magazines that I wrote about in December of 2019 – click here to read it.
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It’s funny how a person’s views can change over time. When my dad I first started going to gun shows back in the early 1980s, my idea of a gun case was a naugahyde bag that was long enough with straps that I could close on the rifle. Then again, my budget was about $10-20 for the case and usually about $100-150 for the firearm. Times change.
I’ve heard it said that the difference between men and boys is the price of their toys and that just may be true. Now when I buy and tune a rifle and put a big optic on it, I want it protected – well protected. When I first started buying hard cases I would get the kind with the egg crate style foam that could generically hold anything with no modification. The downside with the egg crate cases is that they don’t hold things very securely – if you drop the case hard enough, the contents will move including the weapon and any accessories or ammo you have stored in the main compartment As a result, I shifted away from these cases some years ago for my bigger and heavier rifles.
To make a hard case that is tailored to what you want to store in it, you have two routes. The best in my opinion are cases with hard foam that you cut to exactly fit what you want. These cases hold your contents very securely. The con is taking the time to cut out the foam. It’s not a huge overhead but they also tend to cost a bit more for a good case such as a Pelican.
Option two is to still use a hardcase but one with pluckable foam. This means the the foam has been pre-cut into little vertical rectangular columns that are partially connected to one another but can be pulled apart or “plucked” out.
Now the pros are that these cases can be affordable and are easy to work with. The con is that the foam is very flimsy an I stay away from really fine details a single piece tends to break way from the other pieces very easily. In short, I can’t fit the foam more closely to the contents *but* it still works and protects the contents better than an all eggshell hard case.
So, let me tell you about a Plano case I bought recently from Amazon. I have used a lot of these tough Plano hard cases with pluckable foam over the last few years but now they have a model out that I really like due to the construction. It’s the Plano “All Weather Series” and I bought the 52″ model to hold a Savage Stealth Evolution in .338 Lapua that is 48″ overall.Â
To get this case, make sure your item description contains “AW2” – I assume this means it is the second generation of the All Weather case and I like the handles way better than the previous version.
When you open the lid, you see the usual placard and keys but if you zoom in you can faintly see the border of non-scored foam that runs around the perimeter.
In the next photo, note that the middle pluckable portion pulls right out.
In the next photo, note that the latches are now four in the front and none on the ends. Some models have a latch inside the end handle and I find myself fumbling with it to get it to open. I’m happy to see them just on the front.
My preferred way of mounting a scoped rifle is to have the scope “up” towards the carry handle on the side and the muzzle towards the carry handle on the end which means the butt stock is down by the wheels. The reason for this is to protect the muzzle and the scope as much as possible. A jarring force when someone drops the case – especially when carrying it with the side handle and dropping it – will be absorbed by a non-critical end … in theory. You can never plan for everything and these cases are strong but not impenetrable. For example, I received a case once where a fork truck tine had skewered it. Amazon, as always, gave great customer service and shipped a replacement immediately.
Take the firearm and any accessories and lay them out on the back / the mirror side of the case. You are going to mark with permanent marker where stuff goes and you don’t want that showing up later. Now some folks will use chalk and blow it off. Others will pin paper outlines – whatever works for you. I use a Sharpie and try to remember that I need to flip the foam while keeping in mind the orientation of the weapon so you will note I have the rifle in the case scope down because I will just flip the foam afterwards.
Out comes the old Sharpie marker and I trace everything. I traced the magazine in the rifle as well as a slot for the spare. Not I have the ammo boxes sitting on their side edge. I may trim the bottom foam out as it is a tight fit but I decided to run with that layout for now as the cartridges are very long and use a lot of real estate. I wound up turning the Atlas bipod on its side also after the above photo was taken so the profile changed.
In the next photo, note how the big recoil pad is coming right down to the wheel housing. The .338 Lapua Stealth Evolution is 48″ long so it is a tight fit in this case. I figured the rubber recoil pad would protect the rifle and literally have it right by the housing. The top of the scope and the bottom of the grip are right to the border of the pluckable area.
Now it is time to pluck! I stay within the lines and figure I can always remove more later. I do try to balance too close and will come apart later vs. too far away to protect the rifle. I pluck and test, pluck and test until I get it the way I want. Note how I have now reversed the foam – you don’t see any marker lines and the rifle is now oriented the way I want.
The next step is to take the insert outside and spray and adhesive on it to glue it in place. You need to do this and apply it relatively heavily or it will pull out of position and flop around. I use the 3M Super 77 spray adhesive and only spray the pluckable insert.
The end result is stronger if you apply the adhesive to both surfaces but it is very messy to deal with. If you really want to do this, one trick is to save the foam you plucked out, cut it in half lengthwise and glue it in to the bottom. Some guys like this as the firearm and accessories aren’t as deep in the foam. In this case, I am just doing the one side so I applied it thick. Make sure you do the right side … yeah, I’ve made that mistake too.
Let it sit for about 5 minutes so it gets tacky and then put it back on the lower piece. Move quickly before it sets up and make sure everything is straight. If you get the adhesive on stuff you don’t mean to, it can be readily cleaned up with turpentine while still wet. I always have stuff I have to clean up.
Once you have the insert glued in place, be sure to let it dry for 6-8 hours. I’ve had problems in the past if stuff sticking to firearms so I let it sit a good long time just to play it safe. The warmer it is, the faster it will dry and cure.
Here’s the finished case. You can see how the rifle completely fills it. I wish I had a bit more buffer for protection but it is pretty good. I will definitely do some more tuning on the ammo section.
I really like the case and think it’s going to do a good enough job for me. I don’t plan on using it for anything incredibly rough – mainly range trips and it’ll handle those just fine. I’d definitely recommend this case to someone who wants a very good mix of affordability and quality.
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Plain and simple, it ran like a top. We did not have one single problem of any kind. We were running surplus aluminum mags from Robert RTG. The ammo was Prvi Partizan (PPU) .308 M80 145gr FMJ. I’ve had great luck with PPU ammo over the years and have run a variety of their calibers and loads. This .308 ammo comes in a heavy plastic sealed “battle pack” that SGAmmo sells. If you don’t know SG Ammo, they are a great ammo supplier that is a family run business. I buy most of my ammo from them and have nothing but good things to say about them.
We sighted the Vortex 1-6×24 Strike Eagle scope in at at about 25 yards and then just had fun. We weren’t shooting for accuracy but were having fun shooting “zombies” as we called them with the big Splatterburst 18×24 silhouette targets that I really like.
This time out, I was using my new Howard Leight electronic ear muffs. These are cool because they have directional sound amplification for normal sounds – like talking with your friends. When you shoot, they immediately cut the sound off and protect your ears. This is a real nice feature for me as I can’t hear a thing when I wear ear muffs due to my hearing loss and have to take them off to talk to someone. At any rate, these Howard Leights have a great reputation and I must say that I am very happy with them.
One of my brother-in-laws was wearing my new MPOW headphones and thought they did a really good job on cutting down the sound. These are a bargain price at Amazon and work way better than my old cheap Silencios in terms of hearing protection.
Now we did have a funny lesson learned – see how short the barrel is relative to the Caldwell front bag? Yeah, if you get the muzzle brake over that bag and fire, it will rain some kind of brown pebbles (corncob media maybe?) down on you as the muzzle blast shreds the top of the bag 🙂 I have to confess, I am the one who did it and had to use duct tape to seal the top up so we could use it the rest of the day.
The whole point of the range visit was for me any my two brother-in-laws to have fun and function test the PDWR. It performed admirably – neither of them are shooters and, for Jamie, this was his first time shooting anything – I think he did great.
Not one single problem – no feed issues, no ejection issues – it just performed great through about 200 rounds.
At any rate, I did learn a few things:
It upheld the good opinion I have of PTR firearms.
The SOB brace can handle .308 recoil just fine and lines the eye up for the scope great.
As expected, the Vortex scope was great.
The weight of the PDWR absorbs quite a bit of recoil making it a pleasant shooter but there is still recoil that moves you off target with any kind of rapid fire.
The muzzle brake does an okay job but I am going to check into alternatives to cut the recoil down further. The bird cage design is okay but there are definitely better designs out there. The PDWR has a 5/8″-24 TPI threading so there are definitely options.
The PDWR handguard moves forward and backward more than I care for. I am going to experiment on tightening it up or either moving to a DTAC handguard or back to the original PTR handguard. Note – the PDWR uses a MP5-style handguard.
Bottom line, I am very happy with the PDWR and plan to work with it some more on the above plus see how it does as I work my way back to 100 yards. Everything in this sessions was at 25 yards or less and I am curious how it performs as the distance grows. I would recommend the PDWR to anyone looking for a short HK91/G3-type roller lock for short distance use.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
The last step in preparation for my first trip to the range was to clean and lubricate the PTR PDWR. One thing I learned with my for PTR was that proper lubrication makes a world of difference and I could tell in working the PDWR that it definitely need lubricating so here’s what I did.
Also, if you need any parts diagrams or more detailed questions, be sure to read the HK G3 Armorer’s Manual.
In general, you know you need to lubricate all moving parts of the firearm such as the trigger and bolt. So let’s start with the trigger.
Lubricating the Trigger Pack:
I employ a very old rule of thumb – If it slides, grease it. If it rotates, oil it. That simple rule has helped me take care of a ton of rifles and pistols over the years and can help you too. [Click here for more on lubricating a firearm in general]
I used a small squeeze bottle filled with Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 5W-30 to reach in and lubricate all places where a part rotated on a pin. I then worked the various parts of the trigger pack to make sure the oil go to where it needed to go.I used Tetra Gun Grease to liberally coat the top of the hammer.
Lubricating the Bolt Assembly:
Now the HK bolt assembly is involved and the following is a diagram from the HK G3 Armorer’s Manual:
In short, I oiled all of the internals but did not fully disassemble the bolt. I put the assembly into a non-marring vise, twisted the bolt head off and then reached in with the squeeze bottle to lubricate the rollers, locking piece, firing pin, etc.
After that I applied a thin coat of Tetra Grease to the bolt carrier body and put more on the bottom and sides of the bolt where it would be making contact with the receiver and riding over the hammer.
Cleaned the Barrel:
One thing I always do before heading to the range is to clean the barrel. If you look down in most, you will see varying levels of crud ranging from oil to dust to stuff left over from machining. In the case of the PDWR, the barrel looked pretty good but I still wanted to clean it.
Over the years I have tried all kinds of different approaches to cleaning barrels. The fast and easy one I use now on non-precision firearms that just need a touch up is a bore snake. These things are caliber specific and give you everything you need in an “all in one approach”. I spray CLP on the snake and down the barrel then I drop the weighted cord down the barrel and pull the snake on through. I repeat this until the bore is shiny bright.
Note, there are a ton of brands including cheap generic imports. I’ve used Hoppes and Sage & Braker brands with no problems at all.
At this point the PDWR was ready for the range. The action felt and sounded good.
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As you know, I really like AK firearms but I also like firearms based on the HK roller lock design. Maybe 3-4 years ago I owned a PTR-KMF4R and it was very accurate and I also learned a lot in terms of maintenance, tuning, etc. Of course, I had to mess with it and add a PRS stock, new trigger, and scope but it really was very accurate. As my interests changed, that rifle was sold to fund other projects but I was impressed.
With the reversal of the ATF position on arm braces, I again found myself looking at heavy big pistols that needed braces. I really like the maneuverability of these weapons. While looking at options for my next project, I ran across the PTR-105, also known as the “PDWR“. This thing’s specs rock and I figured out quickly this was my next project.
8.5″ heavy bull barrel with a 5/8×24 thread and 1/10 twist
23.5″ overall length
8.1 pounds empty
Milled aluminum handguard that uses proprietary removable rails. Note, the PDWR actually uses MP5 handguards so you have a ton of options if you want to try different models.
It has both button and paddle mag releases
The trigger is a lawyer friendly 9-10 pounds
7.5″ welded top rail for optics, which means no additional optic rail is needed as you typically do with non-PTR firearms.
It has a swivel cap on the end that is actually a short tube that is the same diameter and pitch as an M4 buffer tube – which means putting on a buffer tube for a brace would be easy plus not come loose.
To this, I should add that you are basically looking at a cut down semi-automatic HK G3/91. This means you have tons and tons of options for magazines and parts not to mention know how. I buy my HK-related parts from either HKParts.net or RobertRTG.
Also, for those of you unfamiliar with PTR – they have been around for a while now. They are currently made in Aynor, South Carolina with their original tooling and designs coming from an HK G3 licensed factory in Portugal that they bought in 2003. This helped them really get started and they have been refining their products ever since.
So, I did some shopping around and ran into Kelley Enterprises via Gunbroker. They had great reviews there so I also visited their website and met Chuck, the owner.
Chuck is one of those guys who really knows guns, likes his job and likes to talk with folks. I called him once to talk about MP5 clones and had a great experience with that (which is a blog series for another time) and then when I wanted to find out about this PDWR, he gave me a great price.
Folks, how often do you run into somebody who does exactly what he says, follows up and even sends texts with all the tracking info? I have nothing but good things to say about Chuck and have now ordered two roller locks from him (this PDWR and a POF-5). You can either visit his website, email or call him at (305) 923-6560.
Chuck shipped the rifle to my FFL – Scott Igert of Michigan Gun Exchange. Another man of integrity and deep knowledge that I profoundly respect and recommend to anyone who is looking for an FFL in the Southwest Michigan or Northwest Indiana area or is considering buying one of the many unique firearms that passes through his shop in Benton Harbor, MI.
So, I ordered early in the week, Scott had it by Friday and I was there on Sunday to pick it up. The two first things I noticed were the weight and the big magazine for holding the .308 (7.62×51) rounds.
I’ll tell you what I did to the pistol in the next post but I will say this – it ran like a top. Not one single problem after almost 200 rounds but that is a story for another day.
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I’ve been experimenting with different lubricants for a year now because a lot of the firearm “oils” are 99% marketing and 1% oil at a premium price. You’ll notice that how to lube a firearm is a religious argument for many and I’m not going to get into that.
After doing a lot of digging, I bought two different types of automatic transmission fluid (ATF) (Dexron III and ATF+4) and Mobile 1 Full Synthetic 5W-30 engine oil. I then loaded up a bunch of squeeze bottles that have needle dispensers on them, labeled each and proceeded to try them out.
Here’s the big secret – they all work. Of the three, I like the Mobil 1 mainly because it doesn’t have a red color or the smell of transmission fluid.
I’ve now used it to lubricate my AKs, RPK, Uzi, POF-5/MP5 and PTR PDW and am very happy with the results. It works just fine and a quart will last you forever.
I still prefer Tetra Grease where sliding parts are involved. As the old saying goes, “if it rotates then oil it. If it slides, then grease it” has always worked for me though I do admit to reading armorer manuals to see their recommended lube points.
The Right Dispensers Make a Huge Difference!
Regardless of the oil you use, having the right dispenser really helps. Growing up, we used engine oil out of the tried and true cans with the finger squeeze pumps. I really don’t use that type of dispenser on firearms but do when I work on cars and what not where a large volume is needed.
With firearms, you’ll notice that you often need to get the right lube to the right place. In the shop, I use the squeeze bottles. The dispenser pens are something I take in the field as they don’t leak and will not make a huge mess if crushed — let me assure you the bottles will do just that so that is why they stay in the shop.
You can get both of these dispensers very easily off Amazon. Be sure to read reviews as some brands leak and others don’t. The ones I am listing next are what I currently use. I use the 25 gauge needle especially for reaching down into fire control groups and lubricating pins and their attached parts such as triggers, hammers, selectors, etc.
The refillable precision oiler pens are Titan 15200 units – click here for them.
There are a number of brands of oiler pens – some come filled with oil already and are not refillable but also ones that are – on Amazon if you are interested click here.
I hope this helps you out.
Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.
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Folks, I have shot firearms almost my whole life. My dad would hold the .22 rifle up and let me pull the trigger when I was too little. Over the years I progressed to bigger and bigger firearms of course. My buddies and I would give each other a hard time about ringing ears after shooting. I didn’t even know about hearing protection until I got a Desert Eagle .44 Magnum and the dealer said I better get some good ear muffs. After going shooting, I was sold. Fast forward about 30 years and I always wear hearing protection and make anyone shooting with me do the same. Now you may wonder why I feel so strongly about this plus my support of making suppressors as easy to purchase as any firearm.
Plain and simple, let me tell you that my hearing is shot. I can’t hear my wife half the time – all joking aside. I can watch people talk in a noisy room and not hear a thing they say. I need to ask folks to repeat stuff – it’s very, very frustrating.
I have seen several hearing doctors over the years and they all point the finger to my years and years of shooting as the culprit. It’s known as noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). The sudden pressure of a firearm round going off can do a world of hurt to your ears. I’m not going to go into details in this post but if you want to read more about the damage shooting can do to unprotected ears, click here, here, or here.
So now we are at the heart of this blog post -the current doctor identified my hearing loss in both ears, the right more than the left and in the upper frequencies. I needed hearing aids — he told me that surgery would not help me. Now please note I did have a professional exam by an ear-nose-throat specialist. Hearing loss can happen for many reasons including impacted wax in the ear canal, viruses, etc. It pays to know what you are dealing with and what your options are.
After the exam, I had a follow up appointment and talked to a lady in the doctor’s office about the hearing aid models they carried and they started around $1,500. She was recommending a pair to me for $5,000. Holy crap!!! The good news, she said, was that if I lost one, they would charge me $100 to replace the unit. Wow…
All the models she showed me had pros and cons but what struck me was that the technology was totally unimpressive for the price. Why can I get a quality Plantronics Voyager ear bud for my phone that supports Bluetooth for $59 from Amazon??? Their hearing aids required a giant clunky box to be worn around your neck just to do Bluetooth. Seriously, my stinkometer started going off the more I thought about the pricing. Needless to say, we didn’t buy anything and returned home after scheduling a follow up visit to decide on whether to buy the $3,300 or $5,000 models. By the way, I needed a pair so I’d assume single units would be half what they quoted me. It was a fortune regardless.
I was at home thinking about this problem and it dawned on me that a doctor’s office was likely to be higher than a kite and that the power of market demand must mean there are others offering lower cost solutions so I did a quick search on Amazon and jackpot. There are tons and tons of hearing aid / hearing amplification products on Amazon and the prices start under $100.
I did my research and opted for the Britzgo BHA-1222 because it used rechargeable batteries and got good reviews plus the cost was very low. It seemed like there wasn’t an exact match for what I wanted – more frequency modes to try which sounds best, digital noise cancelling, adjustable tube for behind the ear and rechargeable. The last part – rechargeable – matters to me because I have a hard time with small parts due to my tremor.
The BHA-1222 is not perfect but it fit my criteria for good enough — Interestingly it is listed on Amazon.com in multiple places and the reviewer scores vary a great deal. In the end, I had a very simple theory – my hearing was shot and just about anything would be an improvement so pick something good enough and learn.
Each hearing aid arrived in its own case with its own charger, ear pieces, etc. The below only shows one white package but I really got two sets of everything.
The hearing aids are not ear specific out of the box. In other words, there is only one model you order regardless of ear. You can twist the flexible tubes around to fit your ear.
The top silver button switches from high-frequency boost to low-frequency boost. The middle rocker is for volume and I have mine as low as it will go. The bottom is a stiff on-off switch.
I paid $129.50 for a pair and it shipped direct from Britzgo. It arrived maybe 2-3 days later – I was pleased with that. The instructions say to charge them for 7 hours so I did that.
I then selected the ear cone that fit my ear best and had to fiddle with getting the thing on right. I’m getting better at sliding the unit behind my ear and the little probe into my ear.
After a month of using them, I have some observations:
Pros:
Cost effective – I’ve learned quite a bit so far and feel like I’m getting pretty good value.
They do have good battery life – I haven’t run out yet and charge them each night. What is cool is that the charging cable has a USB cable on one end so that gives you a lot of flexibility for charging in the field, on trips, etc.
Boosts the volume all I need – I am at the minimum setting right now. I’d say my hearing loss is right on the border hence some sounds seeming loud to me.
I can hear sounds I haven’t heard in a long time at low and even normal volumes. It’s pretty cool actually and hard to describe.
Cons:
Despite noise cancellation claims – it still boosts either some or all of the other sounds besides what you want. It can be distracting but I can deal with it.
I wish I could lower the volume further. Even at its lowest setting, some sounds are too loud.
I am using the smallest ear cone and it fits but the right hearing aid has a tendency to fall off. I’m still working on the fit.
If someone drags a chair across tile or concrete the sound will make me jump! My wife gets quite a kick out of that.
We went and saw the new Star Wars movie and while it did a remarkable job at some points early on, I had to take them out as the high-volume sounds like explosions were clipped and I am betting that was intentional to protect the wearer (me) from further hearing damage. This is actually a pro come to think of it 🙂
I wish the tubes from the amplifier units to the ear cones were adjustable – I think that might be one reason why the right hearing aid falls out but I can mange for now.
So, it’s a bit mixed and not perfect by any means but at this price, I can afford to start and learn. If I find something better, I can change. If I lose something or ruin one, I am not going to panic!
For example, I may consider something from Otofonix or the Banglijian BLJ-109 at some point in the future.
I wanted to write this up and share about shopping for hearing aids on Amazon as I have had many people tell me that they can’t afford hearing aids even though they want them – well, at least you have options now. I’d still recommend starting with a doctor first to make sure you know if you are a candidate for hearing aids and how much loss you need to compensate for.
In terms of the listings on Amazon – read the features and the reviews. I always pay careful attention to what people write and not just the score. There are a ton of vendors with a ton of models so be careful – I see some get lousy scores and I would flat out avoid anything less than four stars but it does depend on the price and how much you want to gamble. My preference is to see at least 30 reviews but you will notice many of the hearing aids have fewer reviews so the more reviews the better in general. No reviews at all would be too risky for me.
By the way, I did buy a small semi-rigid case to go in my pocket and hold both hearing aids. I am very happy with it.
Please note that I will link to more hearing amplifiers at the bottom of the page and you will need to scroll down to see them. There are a ton of options out there. Be sure to read the reviews and there ought to be at least 30 to be credible.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
I must admit I have a fascination with the 10mm auto cartridge. First, it has cool ballistics. Second, it can be found in a number of semiauto pistol platforms including my favorite 1911/2011 platform. Third, I’ve wanted one since Miami Vice in the 1980s 🙂 Honestly, it is the first two reasons – the ballistics of the 10mm are pretty amazing and I wanted something in a 1911/2011 style pistol.
Over the past year, Scott Igert, of Modern Antique Firearms, has helped me track down two 10mm pistols that I want to share with you including the Rock Island 52000 6″ Pro Match Ultra (some call it the “Big Rock”) and the Dan Wesson 6″ Bruin. In this post, I’ll focus on the Big Rock.
My first choice was a STI Perfect 10 but they had stopped the 10mm model I wanted in 2016. I wasn’t too keen in buying an out of production model so I continued digging around and wound up reading about the Big Rock. Now I realize you can’t compare STI and RIA pistols so let’s just shelf that right up front. What did intrigue me about the Big Rock were very good reviews and a very affordable price point for a true double stack 16+1 10mm pistol with a 6″ match barrel.
In case you aren’t that familiar with RIA pistols, they are made by Armscor of the Philippines. Armscor is the biggest producer of 1911 style pistols in the world including making pistols for Auto-Ordnance, High Standard and even the STI Spartan. These folks know their way around a 1911 and the Philippines has a big time gun culture either equal to the US or only second to the US.
While their manufacturing has traditionally been in the Philippines, my understanding is that some production may be moving to the US, but the Big Rock I bought was made in the Philippines by gunsmiths in their Medallion custom shop. The Medallion gunsmiths hand select and assemble each pistol resulting in a pretty solid pistol with an excellent prive:value combination.
Now, value really depends on the customer – either me or you. So let me tell you key features that mattered to me:
4140 Ordnance Steel that is CNC machined – folks, read up on the first batches of 10mm pistols including the Deltas. They would shoot themselves loose. Metallurgy has come a long way. I read good reports of the fitment and functioning before I bought the pistol and mine arrived snugly assembled. I loathe loose slides and barrels – the Big Rock is solid.
2.5 pounds unloaded and 2.9 pounds loaded – I wanted it to soak up the recoil of the pistol plus heavier pistols always work in my favor when it comes to dampening my tremor.
16+1 rounds – because you don’t buy toilet paper a square at a time 🙂 Seriously, I prefer more ammo and I like thicker grips. Years ago I had a Desert Eagle .44 Mk.V and loved the feel. This is the same way. I wear XL-sized gloves due to big palms and relatively short fingers. I really like the feel of the 2011 family. In the event I were to ever use this pistol in a self-defense situation, I would prefer the extra rounds.
On a related note, the pistol has G11 grip panels that aren’t overly aggressive cut. G11 is basically a family of epoxy refinforced fiberglass laminates. They are strong, durable and aren’t going to split, warp, or wear like wood. Havin worked with it on knives, I knew this would be a solid route to go. My first preference in a 1911 single stack are the rubber Hogue grips but he Big Rock’s grip would be too big for me. I didn’t even try changing the G11 panels out once I received it. The big frame and these G11 panels work well together,
6″ bull barrel with 6 grooves, a 1:16 twist and integral feed ramp – this barrel will be more accurate than I ever will be. I liked the fact it did not use a bushing, that the feed ramp was there and it had the right twist rate for 10mm. As an aside, I went with the 6″ barrel because this will be a range or hunting pistol. If I wanted something for carry or duty, I would have gone with the RIA Tac Ultra FS (Full Size). RIA also makes a Tac Ultra MS (Mid-Size) with a 4.25″ barrel. You’ll notice I didn’t mention Glock or SIG and that’s just because I wanted a 1911/2011.
Adjustable trigger pull from 4-6 pounds and adjustable over travel – I am a trigger snob. The Big Rock’s trigger is pretty decent but the trigger on my Dan Wesson Bruin is fantastic. When I have time, I want to dial the pull down some. The over travel is set right I just wish it broke a bit lighter, It’s a tad gritty but I expect that to wear in and smooth out as the parts get to know each other.
Fiber optic front sight and adjustable LPA-TRT rear sight – as I get older, I find simplicity more and more appealing. The problem with optics is that they break, the point of impact shifts, batteries die, you have to fumble to turn them on in a high-stress situation, etc. I wanted good reliable sights. Now I will tell you the front fiber optic sight was too dark for me out of the box and I had Scott work his magic on upgrading the sights but that’s a story for another time.
Picatinny Rail – on pistols that I may use for self defense, I like to mount a true weapon light and laser. The Big Rock has a nice long steel rail to do whatever you want. I mounted a Streamlight TLR-2 HL G, which is a reliable 800 lumen light with an integral green laser. I’ll tell you more about that in a future post.
Magazine funnel – when I am in a rush, I want a nice big magazine well to shove the next mag into. I find them more forgiving and faster than having to slam a magazine into a tiny opening.The Big Rock comes with a nice big funnel already installed
Parkerized finish – I do manganese parkerizing and like the dull black look. Keep it oiled and you are good to go. Note, Parkerizing isn’t a rust proofing – it modifies the surface layer of steel allowing for other things to get a good hold. For example, parkerizing and grease, parkerizing and cosmoline or parkerizing and then a weapons finish such as Molyresin.
Now you notice I didn’t list the dimensions as important considerations and that was because I didn’t really care how long (9.75″), wide (1.41″) or tall (5.5″) the pistol was. If these are important to you, great – they just weren’t important to me when I bought this pistol.
In buying this pistol, it was not easy to find and required some serious online hunting at Able, Buds, etc. Honestly, the biggest problem with the Big Rock is finding a dealer that has it in stock. Scott was looking for me and I also had a number of automated searches set up on GunBroker and finally one showed up for sale by Elk County Arms & Ammo of St. Mary’s,PA, for $1,2339.49 out the door. These folks were professional and a delight to deal with. They promptly processed Scott’s FFL information and shipped the pistol just a few days later. If you see something listed by them on Gunbroker you’ll notice a ton of positive reviews and one of them is mine!
To break the pistol in, I bought 500 rounds of S&B 180 grain FMJ and then Underwood 155gr XTP and 180gr bonded jacketed HP ammo. I also bought three more magazines direct from Armscor’s website. I had to call them and confirm the magazine so here’s the link if you want to do the same.
So, the pistol comes seriously covered in oil. When I was taking it out of the bag,I couldn’t help but think “Wow – this is awesome!” Getting ready to go to the range, I field stripped it, cleaned the barrel and lubed everything just like I would any other 1911 with the exception that you have to unscrew the guide rod and there is no bushing to deal with.
March 2024: I bought a second 52000 Big Rock and carefully documented why cleaning, lubrication and getting a jump start on breaking the pistol in are so critical for a stress-free first range trip. The pistols are not ready to go right out of the box. Click here.
We set up the target and the pistol functioned great with the S&B 180gr FMJ rounds. With the Underwood, things got ugly fast. Literally every 3rd to 5th round the pistol would fail to feed (ejection was fine but not feeding). This happened regardless of magazine or Underwood load.
So, I took it home and contacted Underwood and they questioned the recoil spring. I bought Wolff 22# spring and started monkeying around with stripping the frame further and got the mainspring and trigger jammed – this was totally my fault and I decided to have Scott send it back to RIA to fix both my mistake and to check about feeding HP ammo. I was fully prepared to pay them for my mistake but they took care of everything in about 2-3 weeks and sent the pistol back to Scott noting that they could find nothing wrong with the pistol that would affect its ability to handle JHP ammo.
Now Scott is a good friend of mine and has been around guns and reloading his whole life plus is a career police officer so he is very pargmatic about everything. Scott was also intrigued about what was going on with the Big Rock and took a closer look at the Underwood Ammo. He noticed there was quite a lip at the top of the case and that almost all the Underwood ejected cases had a scrape/gouge created during feeding, He then speculated that the match chamber of the Big Rock probably needed a more of a taper whereas the Underwood ammo was all straight. The next photo shows the scrape and gouge in one example Underwood round:
Scott took home a box of the Underwood ammo and put a slight taper on all and I met him the next day with my pistol – they all fed. We also took a box of SIG V-Crown 180gr JHPs which came from SIG with a visible taper and they fed just fine as well. In the next photo, the Underwood round is on the left and the SIG is on the right – you can see the difference!
I contacted Underwood and told them about my findings and was a bit disappointed that they blamed the pistol and did nothing to compensate me for all the hassle – heck, I would have been happy to get a couple of more boxes of ammo from them. By the way, my 10mm Bruin feeds the Underwood ammo no problem so the issue is with that particular pistol and ammo combination. Underwood did say they would take my findings into consideration and potentially change their production method but it did not sound certain at all. Bottom line, I will not be ordering more Underwood ammo for this pistol.
So, a very valuable lesson was reinforced again — it pays to test ammo and find what is reliable in your pistol. As the saying goes, practice, practice, practice. Scott is going to take the balance of my 500 rounds of Underwood ammo and put a taper on them so I am not out my investment plus make me some ammo. I’m also going to finally get into reloading myself based on his recommendations plus will contact some of the other ammo companies to find out who else tapers their ammo just in case.
The Big Rock is a very cool pistol and I am impressed. Their customer service also was a very pleasant surprise — I would have been more impressed if they had resolved the problem. My problems were just with the Underwood ammo but others do not report this problem so it was a case where the pistol and ammo didn’t work together and this does happen. A ton of people read this post so I want to be candid with you so you can learn from what I experienced. I’ve sold the pistol as it was interesting for a time but decided to move on to other projects. With that said, I’d recommend it if you want a big double stack 2011-style 10mm.
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