Recent content by bsmithwins

I would feel sorry for your unit armorer. I worked with a guy that believed that oil attracted dirt and that you could clean a Glock in the dishwasher. Turns out that after a while of removing all the lube and not adding any new the slide will seize on the frame. The slide and barrel didn't...

I would suspect (and hope) some of the time allocated for reload training and other revolver specific manual of arms tasks would be re-allocated to other aspects. BSW

I only have personal anecdotes to share. I'm not pretending it's a comprehensive data set. I suspect that easier/shorter training, better qualification scores, and the lower cost of semi-auto pistols also played a role in their adoption in addition to higher capacity. BSW

There are much better options than the PPK. It's a classic piece but there are objectively better pistols available now. If you want one because you want one, that's fine too, but just by weight and size and ergonomics there are better choices. As far as revolvers go, they are less reliable...

The Lubriplate or generic vacuum pump oil will work just fine. Depending on the model of vacuum, pump you may have a 'gas ballast' valve. That will allow a little bit of air to leak in and reduce the ultimate pressure you can reach (not that important for food bagging) bt the gas ballast will...

Revolvers are anything but simple. The clockwork mechanism must work perfectly to keep the revolver timed, a grain of debris or loose screw can lock up the cylinder to the point where it won't rotate*, and the crane is delicate and prone to bending if abused. I've seen more revolvers quit...

BoeShield is designed to protect metals from corrosion. It’s a very thin fluid that’s creepy and flows well in between joined metal parts. It dries to a waxy film and has anti corrosive additives. You can get it online or at bicycle shops where it gets used on chains. BSW

With modern JHP ammunition is an important provision there. All handgun cartridges suck. They are all weak when compared to a 12 gauge shotgun or a centerfire rifle (yes, including .223 Rem). Between modern ammo in 9mmP, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP I’ve yet to be convinced that there is any...

At a minimum I try to get the bore and any gas fouling wet with lube* before I leave the range. I’m perfectly fine with letting that sit for a few weeks before I get around to actually cleaning. Stripping and cleaning is also a opportunity to find any broken parts or abnormal wear and fix...

What is the gun? If the part is available it’s probably going to be a lot cheaper than making one once you pay for machine tool time. If the part isn’t available I’d use McMaster Carr for a source for stock. They aren’t the cheapest but they will sell you one part with no minimum order...

If your red dot has a limited FOV you’re using a cheap red dot. Aimpoints and the like have essentially a unlimited FOV only limited by the diameter of the tube. With some practice using one my brain ignores the shadowing caused by the out of focus tube and merges the inside and outside views in...

You can sometimes find used Aimpoints on gunbroker.com for under $400, new Aimpoint Pros retail for about $450 with a mount, when there isn’t a plague going on

The good red dot sights (Aimpoint & Trijicon) don’t have any significant parallax. Even if your eye is off axis and you can only just see the dot at the edge of the tube if the dot‘s on the target, press the trigger and get a hit. The problems with red dots are: If you have any astigmatism a...

Trijicon HD sights have a large (glow in the dark) paint dot that’s protected by a clear overlay. It’s very bright in day light, glows for a while when it’s dark, and has a tritium tube in the middle when there is absolutely no light and you can’t charge the paint with a flashlight. BSW

That’s likely to touch a few nerves. Not mine since I agree with you but they don’t call it the ‘Cult of the 1911’ for nothing. BSW