Category Archives: Shooting in General

Pistols, Shooting in General

Rock Island 52000 10mm 6″ High Cap Pro Match Pistol – First Impressions of the Big Rock

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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.

While some folks were reading the blog post, they pointed out a common misconception that the 10mm and .41 magnum are similar when, in fact, they are not.  I went over to gunnersden.com and grabbed some data from their ballistics table for pistol cartridges to show the 10mm compared to the .40, .41 magnum and .45 ACP.

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.

April 2018 Update:  I did resolve this reliability problem with Underwood Ammo in the Big Rock.  Click here to learn how and it is super easy.

7/9/2021 Update: We make and sell magazines for the double stack 10mm and .40 S&W RIA pistols Click here for the listing in our store.

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.

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.

Miscellaneous, Shooting in General

Remembering My Dad – Carroll Spafford & The M1 Garand Story

Well folks, yesterday was my dad’s birthday and he would have been 91 years old.  I owe him a lot and often think of him.   The pain of losing him is less but I miss him.  He started me shooting when I was so little that he had to hold the .22 rifles and BB Guns and help me aim.  He taught me the basics of shooting rifles and shotguns along with a very heavy dose of how to keep them clean and oiled plus firearms safety.

At any rate, I want to share a special story with you – how a great bunch of guys on AKFiles cared in amazing way and helped me get a Garand for my dad.  It’s a very, very special memory for me so I am combining two posts I did back in 2011 telling the guys there how things went with the purchase and the first trip to the range.  I’ve wanted to do this for a long time just in case something ever happened to the original posts.  So, here they are in memory of my dad.

This first part of the story is from a post I did on AKfiles on February 15, 2011, telling guys how things went — I can’t believe it’s been over six years:

Well gentlemen,

The Garand arrived today via FedEx from CMP and was in fantastic shape. The finish is great, fittment seems solid, action is smooth and the wood is in pretty good shape. I’d say the CMP outdid themselves. You know what, they shipped it FedEx Priority Overnight because they knew why I had ordered this rifle from the very start. I am so very impressed by the staff I talked to there.

So, after looking the rifle over around 9:30am this morning, I called my parents to come over for lunch. My dad had no idea what was going on. I had them sit down on the couch and gave my dad a 1960s Garand tech manual I told I had found and let him read it while my wife and I finished getting things ready.

So he’s looking at the manual and my mom and wife are in the room and I ask him – “Isn’t that the rifle you had in the Army but could never afford?” My dad said “Yes” and was thumbing the pages of the manual while I went downstairs. He really had no idea.

So I went downstairs, got the rifle in its CMP case and came up to them without my dad seeing what was in the case and he really didn’t pay it any mind. So I told him “I think its about time you have one” and at first it didn’t really hit him what I said. He even took the rifle from me without really saying anything.

I told him “Dad, this is your rifle and we are going to enjoy it together this summer.” At that point, I think it registered and he asked “It’s mine?” and I told him it was and that it was a real Springfield Armory M1 and not a reproduction. The government Springfield Armory has always been special to him because he grew up in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and I guess because it was close to home.

He was looking it over and while he did that I told him about all of you and what you did to help. The prayers, the well wishes, guys wanting to send money, the stories of their fathers, what the CMP did to help and at that point, the only time in my life I have ever seen it, my father started to cry. He told me he never thought he would hold one again.

After a few minutes, we got ourselves together and he started really looking the rifle over. He pushed down the follower assembly, or whatever you call it, in the magazine well and carefully pushed the bolt closed saying he didn’t want to get “Garand thumb” and he explained what that meant to us and then the stories began.

Towards the end, he looked at the rifle again and tears started one last time.

Guys, thank you so much for all you have done. He was so excited – so happy. It was amazing and I am not a good enough writer to tell you how he looked other than to say he was profoundly touched by all that you guys did to help, what the CMP did and so on.

I have a lot to learn about M1 Garands, that’s for sure and I look forward to learning about this one with my dad.

Tomorrow we go to find the results of his bone marrow tests and I told him that no matter what he and I have the Spring and Summer to look forward to so we can take his new Garand out and test it.

Never take your loved ones for granted and do whatever it takes to be able to spend some time with them. Life is precious and time is short.

Thank you my dear, dear friends. You are all amazing.

The second part of the story is from July 27, 2011 when my dad I finally were able to take the Garand to the range:

It’s funny how fast time flies by. As you know, I bought an M1 Garand for my dad and gave it to him. Getting to the range with him was always on the “to do” list but never quite made it to the top due to job conflicts, health, kid stuff, and so on. Before I knew it, time flew by. You don’t realize how fast time slips by until you look back.

On June 27th, my father in law fell over a small 18″ tall dog fence, cracked a neck vertabra hitting a couch and compressed his spinal cord. He will not recover from the injury and subsequent complications caused by kidney and heart disease. It was such a freak accident because he was only 75 and full of energy. Now, he is sedated and kept alive by machines in ICU but still able to think and move his eyes. Calls and well wishes from you guys really, really helped. Bubbazan, Elkaholic, Ding … you guys are great. I can not thank you enough.

I told my wife that it really showed me that we can’t take loved ones for granted or leave loose ends undone. I told her I absolutely had to take my dad to the range with the new Garand. We are home this week catching up on bills and work while my wife’s family takes turns watching my father in law. Thus, I got an opportunity and seized it. Sometimes, and this was one of them, you need to make things happen and that’s what I did.

It’s been real dry and hot here which, for my dad, is perfect because there are fewer mosquitos – when they bite him he swells up huge because his compromised immune system goes nuts. Monday night I had a crash course in M1 Garand disassembly, cleaning and lubrication. Youtube videos and some web pages people had sent me helped tremendously. The CMP armorer knew about the situation with my dad and other than cosmoline in the stock, the rifle was immaculate. The trigger group was gun metal grey and lightly oiled inside. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn I was looking at a new rifle based on the quality of the parts, lack of wear and cleanliness.

I used Mobile synthetic grease to lubricate the rifle. It really made the rifle nice and slick. I was very concerned about recoil hurting my dad so I installed a medium Limbsaver Slip-On Pad just to be safe. It fit great and really cushioned the butt. So, I packed it up and made sure I had the ammo, targets, hearing protection, and so on for the range.

On Tuesday, my dad arrived and we loaded his van up and headed to the sportsman’s club for an afternoon of shooting. When we got there we had the range to ourselves as it was 3pm. It was sunny, hot and no mosquito in sight – things were looking great.

We set up on the range. My dad was definitely excited – he’s always been a big one to understate things but I could tell. Bear in mind an 85 year old man doesn’t move too fast and he was clipping right along. We set up on the 50 yard line to do our testing.


Now I had cleaned and inspected the rifle as best I could. Even so, we installed it in a stand and fired a test round with 25′ of string. Of course, my dad had the honor of pulling the cord and doing the first test firing.

The rifle functioned flawlessly on Greek M2 ball ammo. No bulges, primer looked great – the cartridge looked just fine. We inspected the rifle and everything looked great. My dad had this huge grin on his face.

Of course, the next thing to do was to fire for effect! The old man got down on the bench and lined up. He did it so smoothly that you just knew he and Garands knew each other. I was running around taking photos.

He squeezed off his first shot from an M1 Garand since the last time he fired one in Korea in 1945 – literally 65 years ago. Now bear in mind this was round #2 from the rifle – no changes to the sights plus my dad hasn’t been shooting for almost a year.

That definitely excited both of us so he got down to business


He fired 7 rounds – each time we’d unload the rifle and walk down to look at the target (I forgot my spotting scope). He was happy and talking about the rifle, how to adjust the sights, it was great. My dad got tired and asked that I shoot the rifle. I went on to fire 9 rounds realtively quickly from 50 and 100 yards before we had to leave. Not one single failure or problem of any kind – not one. The rifle functioned perfectly. I got a real nice note from the lead armorer at CMP wishing my dad well and I think they are an awesome group – all of them.

After shooting the rifle I was amazed at how little recoil there was. More of a push than a slam plus the recoil pad made it a joy. My dad said it didn’t hurt at all. We were able to spend about two and a half hours at the range and just had a great time. I’m definitely going to take him more this summer. We have a checkup on his cancer at the end of August and we’ll need to decide whether to keep watching, or just what. When we were packing up, I told him that I couldn’t afford the fishing boat but at least I could get him a Garand and that brought out a big smile. It was a great day – I was so happy and he was too.

Again, I want to thank all of you for your awesome support. We all have our own personal trials but having people go out of their way to help is an amazing thing. I feel very lucky to have a wonderful family and to count so many of you as friends.

God bless all of you and your families.

Sincerely,

George

In closing

Never miss a chance to spend time with your families.  Just before my dad passed away on September 20, 2014, we were planning on taking the Garand out to the range.  The day we were to go he decided against it as he didn’t feel up to it.  A day or two later he passed away in his sleep.  I really wish we had that one last shooting session but I do have some great memories and they outweigh the regrets.

We miss you dad.

 

In case you are wondering, here’s a bit about my dad:

Carroll Spafford, 88, of Stevensville, formerly of Battle Creek, MI, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 20, 2014, at the Hanson Hospice Center.

Born in Boston, MA on June 26, 1926, to George RH Spafford and Hazel Holmes (Mr. & Mrs. Spafford) of Everett, MA.  His parents, older brother (George Kendall) and younger sister (Phyllis) moved to a farm his parents bought in Derry, NH, when he was a young teenager.  While there, he attended Pinkerton Academy in Derry and graduated in 1945.

On March 30, 1945, Carroll enlisted in the US Army and was sent to Korea to join the 6th infantry division guarding against any attempts by the Japanese to retake Korea.  While there he rose to Corporal overseeing a seven man heavy machinegun squad.  He was honorably discharged on December 30, 1946, and returned home.

As part of the GI Bill, he attended the Wentworth Institute of Technology and obtained his MC&TD degree in 1949.  After several years working, he then attended Ohio State University and received his MBA in 1955.

Carroll’s career took him to Detroit and Ford Motor.  While in Detroit he met and married Alpha Lee Turman on November 26, 1964.  Following a brief stint working in research at the University of Michigan he then accepted a rewarding position at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, MI, where he taught business management and economics/

In 1967 he and Alpha had a baby boy, George, who was joined by his sister, Rebecca, in 1971.  They had a small farm North of Battle Creek with a collection of dogs, cats, horses and gardens plus summer car trips all over the US that occupied their time.

In 1986, he retired from KCC and he and Alpha volunteered at Junior Achievement in Battle Creek.  In 2002, he and Alpha moved to Stevensville, MI, in order to be closer to their grandchildren.

In 2012, Alpha passed on and Carroll continued on with the help of many talented and much appreciated care givers.  He is survived by his son, daughter, three grandchildren (Paolo, Alyssa, and Erika), his sister (Phyllis) and a very large extended family who all love and miss him greatly.

AR & Related Rifles and Pistols, ARBuilds, Gunsmithing, Shooting in General

ATF letter stating you can build an AR pistol from a receiver transferred as such and never assembled as a rifle

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Okay, I posted a couple of ATF letters and a guy sent me a message asking if I had the letter specifying that an AR pistol can be built from an AR receiver that was transferred as a receiver and never assembled as a rifle.  It just so happens I did save that one back when I built a couple of AR pistols a few years back.  I like to have the letters of anything someone may ask about and keep them in my case with the weapon when I take it shooting.  At any rate, here is the ATF letter in case anyone else needs it:

Please note that I am not a lawyer and this should not be construed as legal advice.

 

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Gunsmithing, Shooting in General

The actual March 2017 ATF letter approving stabilizing braces has a section about customization you need to know about

Yes, I am late to the game on actually reading the March 2017 ATF letter clarifying the use of stabilizing braces.   It’s been on my to-do list for some time and I finally did.   I do think this is very helpful – notably:

With respect to stabilizing braces, ATF has concluded that attaching the brace to a handgun as a forearm brace does not “make” a short-barreled rifle because in the configuration as submitted to and approved by FATD, it is not intended to be and cannot comfortably be fired from the shoulder.

With that said, folks need to bear in mind  the very next paragraph:

If, however, the shooter/possessor takes affirmative steps to configure the device for use as a shoulder-stock – for example, configuring the brace so as to permanently affix it to the end of a buffer tube (thereby creating a length that has no other purpose that to facilitate its use as a stock), removing the arm-strap, or otherwise undermining its ability to be used as a brace – and then in fact shoots the firearm from the shoulder using the accessory as a stock, that person has objectively “redesigned” the firearm for purposes of the NFA.

So what this means is if you put a brace on a pistol, use it as-is.  Do not remove the Velcro straps, stick foam in the brace to make it solid, and/or attach the brace in such a way that it is permanent so long that it could not connect to the forearm.

I always recommend that people read guidance directly for themselves.  Here is a link to a PDF copy of the letter so you can do so: Reversal of Stabilizing Braces – ATF-letter – March 2017 — please note I changed the file name when I saved it but the content is all original.

All in all, I think this is a much needed clarification overall.  Just bear the customization clause in mind when you are building, or modifying, your weapons.

Yes, for the record, I do not like the fact that short-barreled rifles or shotguns need special regulation per the NFA but the braces do provide an option for folks. Also, please note that I am not a lawyer and this should not be construed as legal advice.

 

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.

Shooting in General

The MTM K-Zone Shooting Rest is Pretty Good – Add Weight To It!

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Okay folks, I needed an inexpensive portable shooting rest that supported the front of a back and a rifle to keep in my shop.  I dug around a bit and found the MTM K-Zone Shooting Rest on Amazon.  It had 4.5 stars with 480 reviews.  I knew it would be plastic so some of the reviews that called it light duty didn’t bother me.  At any rate, for $39.99 and Prime shipping, I went ahead and ordered it.  

It arrived a week ago and I took it out of the box immediately noticing that some assembly was required and then the included pieces caught my eye.  I noticed that a lot of the major parts were in halves and unscrewed.

 

At first I thought they were saving money and were pushing some of the labor onto they buyer.  I actually opened the instructions and immediately saw that they had left it this way for people to fill the voids with bird shot to make it heavier – YES!!!!!!!  I was all over it like hens on bugs.  I had a bunch of 7 shot in containers that I then 3/4 filled the various voids leaving room for plastic on the top.

 

 

A perk of having a gun parts business that makes plastic furniture via compression casting is that you have gallons of liquid plastic!!  I mixed some up, added just a touch of black dye for giggles and poured it in on top of the shot thus sealing everything up nice and sound – no irritating rattling.  Now, if you don’t have plastic laying around, you could mix up epoxy or Bondo and have very similar results.

Once the plastic cured, I then used the included screws to put everything together.  It’s pretty straight  forward with easy instructions to assemble it.  I used the rest this morning and it was nice and solid.  Sure, it’s made from plastic but it ought to work just fine for what I need.  If you are looking for a nice basic rest, check this out.  By the way, one nice feature is that you can pull the buttstock extension out and just use the front portion as a handgun rest.  Pretty cool.

 

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.

Flashlights and Lasers, Gunsmithing, Shooting in General, Shotguns

Remington 870 and Winchester 1200 Riot Shotguns

Ran across these photos of two riot shotguns I built – a Winchester 1200 I bought new in the early 1980s and a Remington 870 Express I got a good deal on from Gander Mountain in the early 2000s.  One thing I learned is that the Blackhawk recoil reducing stocks really make a difference.

 

To be honest, I think Remington makes a lot cheaper guns than they used to and their quality has suffered.  Some years back I picked up a Remington 870 express in great shape but one thing that drove me nuts was that the little orange plastic follower would spring out and jam the action.  I did some quick digging and found a machined aluminum replacement that I installed and never had a problem since.

Also, from a pure “keep it simple” angle, I have since stopped installing anything on a tactical shotgun other than a light.  It took to long to turn on the red dot plus worries around battery life, was it still zeroed, etc.

For lights and lasers, I really like the Streamlights.  I use a TLR-1 300 lumen LED light on my home defense 870 to this day.  They are rugged, simple, easy to operate and durable.  Having had a ton of cheap Chinese imports fail over the years, I only use proven lights and lasers on critical firearms.  To save on the CR-123 batteries, read my post on that topic.

The red fiber optic sight really worked out better than I thought.  It made target acquisition fast.  I eventually ditched the red dot optic, installed a side saddle shell holder and used just that sight.

The flashlight on the Winchester was a Hellfighter with a xenon bulb.  It was ok but I would only buy LEDs going forward and my preferences are Streamlight or Surefire.

The Blackhawk recoil reducing stocks do a very good job but make sure you buy the right model.  They sell stocks both with and without the recoil reduction system.  Also make sure you get the right model – they make them for Winchester and Mossberg.  The following is an automated search from eBay so you need to double check the product and that the buyer has plenty of trades and good feedback.

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Gunsmithing, Shooting in General

Great deal on dummy / action proving rounds – KP Tactical 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP

  

I tend to use a lot of dummy rounds due to working with Kydex or whatever and normally you pay quite a bit for them.  Recently I stumbled across a very good deal on Amazon.  There is a company called KP Tactical making very decent dummy rounds by machining them out of aluminum and inserting silicone rubber in place for the primer and they are only about $1/round in bags of 10.  So, I ordered 9mm, .40 and .45 and they arrived the other day.  I’m quite happy – the machining is well done and it’s a very fair price.

 

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Flashlights and Lasers, Shooting in General

How to Safely Save on CR123A Batteries for Your Tactical Lights and Lasers

The CR123A battery is very common in tactical lights and lasers these days.  I have a ton of lights that use them and think they are a great battery type and do not have to cost fortune to operate.  There are two tips I want to pass along so you can safely save money.  Now you might be wondering why I put it that way and it’s simple – CR123A batteries are lithium and when they are discharged deeply and rapidly, heat is generated and unless the batteries are properly made, they can literally catch on fire or even explode.  Now this tends to happen with dirt cheap batteries / no-name knock-offs and when they are used improperly such as mixing new and used batteries, types of batteries or trying to recharge batteries that were not designed to be.

Useless trivia for you:  CR123A is a code.  CR = cylindrical.  The 123 means it’s size is a ratio 1×2/3rds its length of “A” cell.  Put it together and you get CR123A.

So, to be safe, only use name brand batteries and change them all at a time.  For example, if a light or laser is going dim them change all the batteries at once with new cells of the proper type and I would even recommend from the same manufacturer.  I would also recommend only sticking with name brands from reputable sources.  Yes, cheap knock-offs show up on eBay and Amazon so be very suspicious of deals that seem to good to be true.

In terms of purchasing the batteries, do not go into a retail store and buy a retail package of one or two batteries in the camera department.  You will pay through the nose.  Instead, go to Amazon and buy Panasonic, Surefire, Streamlight or Energizer batteries in bulk packs – usually they are at least 12 batteries.  You are looking for new fresh batteries that aren’t being sold cheap because they are near end-of-life.  Lithiums last, or have a “shelf life” of, about 10 years from when they are made.  That also means that you can afford to buy a bunch at once as they are going to last quite a while provided they are relatively new when you buy them.

Why am I not recommending no-name batteries?  Simple – there is a reason why some of the tactical product companies say they will only warrant their products if you use certain brands – problems do happen.  At a minimum, you may not get as long of life from a cheap battery built compared to something from a reputable firm.  There are good niche batteries out there, but I am going to stick with the big brands.

I am careful to read the description and reviews before I buy on Amazon as there are unethical sellers out there.  Look for listings with lots of 4 and 5 star reviews – the more the better.  Beware of listings with few reviews of any type – no telling how long they will last.  Read the reviews – are they fresh batteries, counterfeits, or good to go?

Here are some examples to help you get started and I listed them in the order of what I would select – meaning my first choice would be the Surefire batteries [click here] and the second are the Streamlights [click here].

If you just search for CR123A batteries on Amazon, you will see a ton of products for sale with different brands, quantities and so forth.  Shop smart and you’ll save big time.  I hope this helps you out some.  I’ll list more from Amazon at the bottom of the post if you want to scroll down.

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