Summer Time In A Shooter's World

So, it's about to be summer time and in the world of a teacher/coach that means time to get things done! Now, what that means in the world of a teacher in Texas is; there's time to do things in the morning before 11, when it gets too hot! After that, it's an inside proposition. For me, nothing much has changed. I absolutely have to do some work on my ARs. Although, I've finally had some time this spring after swim season finished, it's been the rainiest spring around here in many years making outdoor ranges all but unusable. 

I've had my Aero Precision M4 built for some time, but haven't even gotten the scope sighted in! Actually, I've had the carbine and the pistol both finished for some time and the only thing I've gotten done is to shoot them with the CMMG 22LR conversion bolt due to being relegated to an indoor range. 

I actually did make it to a range with my friend Sean, but they prohibit the use of full metal jacketed rounds, so...... yeah. The first order of business this summer is to get out to the range on a dry day and sight in my ARs. Then I can start on a my next build. 

Start another build!?! Yup.... I'd really like to have a .30 caliber gun. And for me, the 300 AAC "Blackout" is the one. In the image above, you can see (left to right), the typical 223/5.56 which the majority of ARs are chambered for, then the 300 Blackout and the .308 Winchester, which is also known as the 7.62 x 51 "NATO". The Blackout is essentially a 30 caliber (.308) bullet in a cut down 223 cartridge case. If you're wondering about the purpose of this little cartridge with the big bullet; here's the concept.

Originally, there was the 30-06 cartridge which was the standard of the U.S. military back when engagements were fought at 600-1000 yards. By the 1950's the army decided that it didn't need to be quite so big, and was able to accomplish essentially the same thing with a shorter casing which gave us the 308 or 7.62 NATO. 

Within the next 10-20 years, it was found that wars were fought differently and the 223 or 5.56 NATO was created to fit in the new M16/AR15. OK, history lesson over. Here's the deal. The 5.56 was designed to kill or mame a human and the 55 to 62 grain bullets it typically fires is simply too light to consistently bring down larger game. In fact, in many states, the 223 isn't a legal hunting caliber for deer-sized or large game. What does that mean? Am I going to start hunting? Well.... maybe......

Here in Texas (and also in most other states), the feral hog is an increasing problem. I have a number of friends with or have access to property, so chances are pretty good that I could be invited out to do a little "hog shootin'". These things are not really "big", but they are built heavy and are difficult to bring down. So, the order of the day is a heavier bullet. Something along the lines of a 150 or 180 grain 30 cal would be much more suitable than the 223. Then, why not the 308? Well; one vitually never get a shot of longer than 150 yards at most. Also, there are two other factors. One is that my eyes aren't much good beyond 100 yards anymore anyway and two, The 300 Blackout is designed to run in the M4/AR15 chassis and therefore, I don't have to get involved in learning and acquiring parts for another, bigger, more expensive platform. Therefore, the use of the much smaller converted 223/5.56 case is not relevant. The limited, sub-300 yard range of the Blackout works out just fine.

In fact, the 300 BLK shares (or can share) everything with it's AR15 5.56 brother except for the barrel. In fact, all I really need to do is to build another upper that has a 300 Blackout barrell attached. No need to even change magazines! However, it's my intention to build mine as a pistol like the one pictured above, but with a 10" barrel vs. the 7.5". Based on what I've been able to find on ballistics of this round says that you don't lose much velocity until the barrel gets into the sub-8" range. Why build a 3rd gun? 

That's rather more complicated. One, I caught a sale on a lower for $30. Two, I have some random parts for it laying around. Three, it'll keep me from having to take guns apart to shoot different calibers, and potentially the most important reason is, four, who knows what's going to happen politically with the "scary black guns"! Since I can do this pretty cheap and quick, it sure doesn't hurt anything to have another AR in the closet. 

I'm not trying to get here, but I like to have choices.
 

Casting New Light On My Reloading

This is about where I am these days with my reloading. A separate bench with 2 presses (more on this), and just about all the tools that I need. So, I'm pretty much a serious reloader/handloader with the ability to create any ammunition that I need, and make it in bulk if necessary. So, this is where the math begins to take over.

With my 9mm mainstay caliber, I can put together rounds at around .10 per, which is roughly half the "all-in" cost of off-the-shelf bulk or "white-box" ammunition. I can also save around the same .10 each on .223/5.56 too as long as I'm good at picking components. 

That's all the stuff, in this picture; powders, primers, and bullets. As it turns out, I can almost always find decent primers between $20 and $25 per 1000, which makes them about .02 ea. Pistol powder starts at about .01 per charge and tops out somewhere around .02 per, obviously not a real issue. Commercially purchased bullets range anywhere from .07 to .10 cents each. This basically adds up to anywhere from 10 cents to 14/15 cents per round for my 9mm loads. For .223/5.56, the powder charge is generally between 7 and 10 cents a round with the bullets starting at 11 up to around 15 cents ea. 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell that the bulk of the cost of reloading is in the bullets themselves. Sure, you'll cut off around 10 cents per round off of any reloaded ammunition, but in order to change the supplies figure much at all, you'll have to do something about the cost of bullets! How does one do that? There are actually more than one way:

• Buy them is big bulk lots of 5000 or more. This isn't much of an option for me since the is a hobby oriented toward to low end.
• Buy "pulls". These are literally what the name implies; where actual bullets are pulled from completed cartridges that either failed inspection or are contract over-runs etc. I might go this route as I learn more about them.
• Casting my own from lead. And this is obviously where this post is going....

 

I've always been interested in this off-shoot of an off-shoot part of the hobby. There is something about taking scrap and turning it into something useful that appeals to me. And that it's another kind of a "throw-back" skill interest me as well. Unfortunately, the downside is that at this point, it's a little late in the game to get into the process..... however, let me apply some history and analytics to the issue and show what I've learned.

 

Let me start here. At one time, aspiring bullet casters started by going to the friendly local tire shop and asking them for their buckets of scrap lead wheel weights. Then, they go home and get out an old cast iron pot, melt them down, skim off the dross (crud) and pour them out into ingots, which eventually ended up in a casting pot to be molded into bullets. Simple enough and all for about $0! Then this happened.

By executive order, then President Obama pretty much did away with the use of lead in virtually all aspects of the U.S., ......including the rather prosaic wheel weight. 

These days, chasing down lead is something akin to some sort of post-apocalyptic scavenging. Anyway; enough on that rant. How does an aspiring bullet caster set about gathering some precious grey booty?

.....Uhhhh, eBay of course!!! Or even Etsy, but yeah. There are folks out there who have the time to go chase down the many tons of lead that's still out there and are happy to sell it to those of us who don't.

Let's look at the economics of it then. I did some calculations yesterday and here's what I found using a price of $1.50 per pound which I can find pretty easily (both locally and through the Internet)...

• Typical 115gr bullets used for 9mm Lugers like I shoot cost about .02 each to make.
• Typical 55gr bullets used for .223/5.56 "NATO" like my AR shoots are about .01 each.
• That's a savings of anywhere from 5 to 10 cents per round, which is like taking the savings from reloading (which is roughly half of commercial) and halving it again!

Wow! Why wouldn't ya! OK, there's equipment involved such as a pot, molds and a few other incidentals, but still..... My pot was bought second hand for about $40, my one 9mm mold was about $15. I'm going to get a 6-cavity mold for 9mm as well as one for 223 which will run about $50 apiece. I'll need to pick up some powder coating materials and a toaster oven from Goodwill ($10), but that won't cast much at all. I'll get into the casting and powder coating in a future post.

Is all this going to turn me into a crazed shooter, out every weekend doing mag-dumps in the woods? No, not really my style. However, when I do go shooting, the cost will be about as far down as I can make them. Sure, the current cost of ammunition is at an all-time low (inflation adjusted), but how long do you figure that's going to last? Till the next election maybe? For me, I'm going to be ready.

  

The two images above show the current state of my reloading bench. With the Lee Classic Turret press up and running and the Inline Fabrication's Case Ejector system installed, I can now easily crank out around 100 rounds in an hour. That's not anywhere close to the speed of "progressive" presses, but it's "cranking it out" in my world. What it really does though is shift the bottle-neck from speed of production to cost of components. Hopefully, that's something that bullet casting will resolve for me. I'll keep you posted.

The "Cheap" Pistols

When you read the title, in all probability, an image like the one above pops into your head. If that's the case, you'd be partially correct if you think that's the topic of this post. That's because, in the last couple of weeks, I've been operating on this side of the "tracks" of the gun world.... kinda of.....  We'll start here.

A few months ago, I read an article about what would happen in the case of a perfectly legal shooting. One of the points that was made, is that in all likelihood, the gun used would be confiscated for evidence and that there would be a strong possibility that you'd never see it again. And therefore, you should look at carrying and/or using an inexpensive firearm that you'd be OK to give up. After giving it some though, I decided to look into what is available out there in the sub (or around) $200 category. I started with the Taurus, because, I had previously owned one when I first looked into conceal carry. At that time, I ended up with the PT-111 G2 because it fit virtually all the criteria (on paper) of a candidate for something to carry around regularly, and it was inexpensive. Actually, it came about as a result of a trade for a Smith & Wesson SD9 VE that I had picked up for about $150. I played with it and really didn't like the trigger much and ended up flipping it as part of getting a Kel-tec Sub2000 because I really wanted a pistol caliber carbine. The whole situation turned out well and I still have and fully intend on keeping that carbine for a very long time. Anyway, back to my story. In the end, I didn't hate it, but just wanted something else more at that time. Subsequently, my every (not school) day carry ended up being a Walther PPS/M1 which I love!

So, what happened? Well..... due to the article, I decided to look into having another 9mm that would fulfill the role of the sacrificial gun, and whether there was anything cheap out there that was worth having. And once again, the trail led me back to Taurus. But by now, they had revamped the old PT111 G2 into the new G2C. Pretty much it's exactly the same as the old gun but they removed the slide-mounted gun lock. Fine by me! Supposedly, the trigger's been improved, but not that I can tell! The capper was that I was able to snag one for about $150. I figured; at that price, I couldn't pass it up. Case closed!

.....and then this happened......

....but that's an AR.... isn't it? Well yes, yes it is.... an AR pistol upper that is. 

You might remember that I had built an AR, but then I bought another Aero Precision lower which got built as a "pistol" lower, meaning that it has never been registered as a rifle, so it can be legally built into anything. I found a KAK buffer tube, and Shockwave Blade for a good price and started building my pistol out. Along the way, I caught one of the many Palmetto State Armory (PSA) sales on a Nickel Boron coating trigger group, and threw that in there as well. I feels great. I'm hard-pressed to tell the difference between it and the pricier ALG one in my carbine. 

I found a Bushnell TRS-25 locally for $50 and it even co-witnesses with some fold-down backup irons which were another $20 or so. The other random lower parts are just leftovers from my parts drawer. When combined with the special on the pistol upper kit for $110, this whole thing got done for a total closer to $300 than $400! It's amazingly handy to carry around and has really helped me to understand what all the hub-bub on the AR pistols is all about. My CMMG 22LR conversion bolt lives in this thing most of the time, and this short little pistol is just flat-out fun to shoot!

They "AR" The Problem

Not in this sense of course.....

Absolutely, in this sense of it,..... that of an infinitely flexible system where the parts are different, yet interchangeable as well as just complex enough so that it's sort of challenging. A couple of months ago, I finished my AR as an "M4" or "carbine" (16" barrel) version. What that means is that, as long as it has an upper receiver with a barrel of 16" or longer attached, we're in good shape, legally speaking. 

....but let that barrel drop under 16", just one hair......, that completely changes the definition of what it is and you may have some issues. So, lets back up to where we started: I built a carbine. What makes it a "carbine" is that the barrel is less than 18" and that the gas port is either carbine length or "mid-length" as mine is known as. 

In the image above, you have the actual definitions. The original AR15/M16 as designed by Gene Stoner while at Armalite/Fairchild, had a "rifle" length gas port, meaning 12" forward of the chamber. And the .223/5.56 cartridge was designed to function within those parameters to have the gun's action work properly. Recoil-wise, this was a very mild feeling gun. Then the shorter versions came along which were designed with shorter gas port system and they weren't nearly as smooth in function or feel. For simplicity sake, we'll make the generalization that the shorter systems tend to be more difficult to get running properly. In the current generation of almost across-the-board carbine/16" length barrels, that's become the norm, so the mid-length (what I have) are generally perceived as being smoother and more reliable guns. 

However, the rage these days, is the pistol. This is mostly due to people skirting a federal mandate that arbitrarilly uses that 16" length as a "continental divide" of guns. So, if you want a gun to have less than a 16" barrel, you have to file papers to have a "Short Barrel Rifle", pay a $200 tax to get a stamp, and wait..... somewhere between 6 months to a year to legally possess such a thing (or even the parts to build such a thing)! That is unless you buy/build a "pistol", which is essentially the same thing, but without a "stock"! You can have a pistol brace, and even ocassionally shoulder said brace, but it can't be a stock! So, now, these are the hottest thing in the world of ARs! All the convenience of the SBR without the complexity and/or costs.

My intention is to take a 10" barrel and make a pistol upper for myself. These tend to be not nearly as difficult to get running properly as the shorter pistols, as they often have the 7" "carbine" gas port. Then last night, I was seduced by a Christmas sale!

A sales notice arrived in an email advertising that Combat Armory had a fully assembled 7.5" pistol upper for $110! It was too much to resist. Now, one of these is on it's way to my house. Granted, it'll spend the vast majority of it's life as a 22LR surrogate where my CMMG conversion bolt will live, but, it still is a fully functioning .223/5.56. When it arrives, it'll go right on top of my already finished Aero Precision pistol lower and will be ready to spread some holiday cheer.

So yeah, the whole thing is rapidly headed in this direction.... and there-in lies the problem!
 

Real World Conceal Carry Experiences

So, about a month ago, I finally received my Texas "CHL" in the mail. These things are called all kinds of things ranging from Concealed Handgun License to License to Carry and just about anything in between. The reality is that here in Texas, it allows the holder to carry a handgun (aka pistol) either "concealed" or "open carry". Given the kind person that I am, it's unlikely that I'd ever carry a firearm in the open..... maybe in the woods or something like that, but certainly not walking around town!

I've carried my gun every day since receiving the license that I wasn't working (which means, being at school). And since being on break, I've literally carried it every single day. This is what I've learned.

Some months ago, in preparation for conceal carry, I bought a smaller pistol; a Walther PPS. Compared to my PPQ or MR9, it's thinner, lighter, shorter in length and not as tall in height either. It was the right call. I carry this gun inside the waistband at what's commonly called the 4 O'Clock position, behind the right hip as is seen above. That dude is carring a 1911 type pistol, and I certainly can't imagine myself doing that with my double-staked duty pistols! I don't take it out when I get in the car. I've carried it under a jacket, sweatshirt, and untucked collared shirt. So far, so good. The other thing I was right about? My PPS is the one on the right, or the "M1" version. The other one is the "M2". I'd rather have the M2: see how it's design is pretty much that of the PPQ? However, the M1 has one critical advantage. It's mag release is the paddle style, same as my other two pistols. I haven't had automatics (pistols) for long, but I sure don't want to have to learn different magazine releases for different gun that I use on a regular basis! There are some sacrifices though. See how flat the grip is and how few contours there are?

The PPS moves around in my hand more than I like when I shoot it. So I tried the Talon grips.... basically skateboard tape die-cut for the pistol it's made for..... feels like sandpaper. I carried the gun like that for a couple of weeks, but I found that my shirts would get hung on it and I kept having to pull it down.

My solution ended up being the Hogue Handall Jr. grip sleeve. Gives me the feel of the M2 with the all important paddle-style mag release of the M1.

One of my most concerning issues was how the gun was going to feel in my back while driving a car. After carrying for a few days, I noticed that I didn't have a problem while driving. Then I realized that it was because we have these cheap mesh back supports in our cars. We normally keep them to allow a little airflow back there during our 9 months of summer here in Texas. It turns out that these $5 devices give me enough flex to keep the gun from digging into my back! There's nothing better than effective and cheap. 

We'll see how well these things work when dealing with the full-sized PPQ carried in an "Outside-the-waistband" holster!

My Favorite Pistol: Walther P99 and Evolution

Christmas came early! Let's just hope that I continue to practice good firearms safety and don't "shoot my eye out". In the last week, I've bought or arranged to buy 2 pistols. Neither really fit into a plan as such (maybe 1 of them...... a little bit). They're mostly because I like them, and they both have to do with my favorite gun: the Walther P99 and it's evolutionary progeny, the PPQ. 

So, I'll start here. This is the original (Gen1), Walther P99. Some may recognize it as the Pierce Brosnan Bond Walther, when they decided to move the Bond character to a more plausible primary weapon, vs the much loved, but rather illogical 7.65mm Walther PPK...... if you didn't already know, yes indeed, it was a .32acp version of that gun he supposedly carried. Might as well have been a .22LR! Anyway, that's not the reason I like that pistol anyway. Well..... look at it! More importantly, hold it. I know, it's a very personal thing, but that grip fits me like no other. In fact, I traded my HK VP9 for one of these a while back, but then I traded that for a PPQ.....

This is it. My favorite pistol! That which the P99 became after evolutionary improvements. I like it so much that, I'm about to have 3 versions of it. 

The Umarex (part of Walther Gmb), PPQ CO2 powered, .177 BB/Pellet gun.  

The Walther PPQ/22LR, which of course shoots a .22 long rifle. It's direct blowback, as you can see by the fixed barrel and the magazine. It's unfortunately, not paddle released, but hey..... I'm going to pick this one up next weekend and is part of my early Christmas, but is there more?

 

Is there more!?! Does Santa wear red? I came across this and bought it. It looks vaguely familiar doesn't it? What is it? Why, is a Magnum Research (of Desert Eagle fame), MR9, sometimes labeled the "Baby" Desert Eagle. OK, what is it really? It's a Walther P99, licensed to Magnum Research with a slightly altered frame made by Walther, upper parts made and assembled by MR in Pillager, MN (one of my favorite town names). 

Here's a little bit of history and commentary for you. Don't worry, I'll let you know which is history and which is my commentary. Back in the late 80's and into the 90's, Walther wasn't in as good of a business situation as it is now and needed some help selling in the large American market, so they hooked up with Smith and Wesson. At the time, Walther needed a company with a big footprint here in North America and Smith was trying to get involved in the polymer gun market, so it looked like a marriage made in gun heaven. So, Smith took over the importation and distribution of Walthers and as such, you see the P99s of that time with the S&W rollmarks. That part is the history. This next part is my commentary. Don't get me wrong; I don't like S&W as a company, but I respect their guns. This whole thing turned into a conflict of interest for them and Smith for their part pretty much ripped off Walther's technology which you see today in the Smith & Wesson M&P line lifted from the Walther P99 and the S&W Shield derived from the Walther PPS. In the meantime, Smith did a piss-poor job of marketing Walther's products, so much so that Walther ended up breaking away and forming their own distribution based in Ft. Smith, AR. All that is fine, because in the gun-world, everybody copies everybody else. In fact, Walther hired away one of Glock's top engineers when it started the P99 project to compete against the Glock 17. The part I take exception to? Look at that top image..... that's the S&W SW99. It's a Walther manufactured lower mated to a Smith upper. It's awkward, ugly and an affront to it's Germanic roots! Walther agree to some rather interesting partnerships to push more units at that time. The Magnum Research MR9 was a part of that, although, clearly a much more aesthetically pleasing one than the SW99! So yeah; I've gotten myself into the collecting and enthusiast aspects of gun ownership. 

That part of me would rather have had picked up the later 4.5" version of the MR9 with the Desert Eagle-esque slide than the 4", but I'll take it. Of course there are other members of this family tree that I'd like to get as well.

The next most likely would be this; the Q4 Tactical. It's unfortunate that it only comes in the M2 or "button release" version, but I'd really like to have the longer threaded barrel and the slide already cut for RMR attachment plates. 

A more far-fetch addition would be the target/race-gun versions. The Walther Q5 Match, and the Canik TP9SFX. Not because I don't want one of these sci-fi looking variants, but mostly due to their $600-700 selling price!

Speaking of....... Canik....... If you didn't already know, the Walther P99 has been copied,..... a lot. One of the main culprits has been the Turks. There's been a number of firms, such as Sarzimaz, but by far the most successful has been Canik. A brand brought into the U.S. by Century Arms of Delray Beach Florida. The Canik TP9 is basically a clone of the Walther P99, down to the decocker on top of the slide. They are so close to the various Walthers, that there are videos showing people interchanging slides and barrels between the TP9 and the Walther PPQ. The reviews for them have been very good, particularly when you calculate in the big difference the selling price difference between the brands! Canik has done so well that they've released a number of different models. If I were a betting man, I'd put money on me picking one of these $300-350 9mm models at some point and adding to my growing collection!