Yesterday I took them to the indoor range near me and lit both of them up. It was too hot, (111F) to shoot outside. I first field stripped both pistols, and liberally greased the frame and slides, and gave them a good general lube job. I took plenty of both 115 and 124 Gr. FMJ, as well as some open nose self defense ammo, just to make sure they would both feed it. I had some +P Gold Dot, and some older Remington Sabers. The FMJ was Magtech, Sellier & Bellot, Winchester NATO, along with a bunch of PPU Serbian stuff. I also took all 6 magazines that were supplied with both weapons, to be sure they all ran correctly.
To make a long story short, both guns ran flawlessly. Not a single hiccup. All magazines, all ammo, in both guns. Never skipped a beat. I tried to be sure I ran every mag in both guns, with as much different ammunition as I could. I'm pretty sure I did, but with 2 guns and 6 magazines, along with so much different brand and weight ammo, I might have missed one or two. It really doesn't matter because I'm totally convinced both of these weapons are as reliable as they could possibly be. Both guns fed, shot, and ejected everything I put in them with 100% reliability. I will say the last round was tough to get in the mags. If I didn't have my Uplula with me, I would have been in trouble getting the last round in. The mags did loosen up somewhat near the end of the session. I'm sure like most magazines, this will get better with time and use.
What pleasantly surprised me were the triggers. These are the first 2 double action only semi auto pistols I've ever owned. Both triggers were very easy for me to get used to. Both were very predictable as to let off. I'm not very, "trigger sensitive", but these service pistols were quite good overall in the trigger department. I did not find the DAO to be any kind of disadvantage what so ever on these service pistols. Both guns printed dead on with a shallow 6 O'clock hold. I could pick up either one, and it would print identical to the other. Not much difference in point of impact between ammo either. And neither gun damaged the brass at all. Most of the shooting was at 15 to 20 yards. With some all the way back at 25 yards.
I expected good performance from both of these guns, and they didn't disappoint. All total I ran through a little over 420 rounds through both guns. The ammo was shot equally between both weapons. Overall I left the range very satisfied with both purchases. The worst part was the cleanup afterward. As you can imagine, cheap FMJ ammo shoots pretty filthy, and both guns were extremely dirty. And cleaning them outside in triple digit temperature was no picnic either. But you have to pay to play. Both guns field stripped easily, and cleaned up nice with a good clean Kerosene wash, and a blow dry with compressed air. A light oiling, and they are now cleaner than when I took them from the box.
In conclusion, I would say for anyone looking for a really nice, all Stainless Steel service pistol, Don't hesitate to pull the trigger on one of these Cabela's S&W's. You won't be disappointed if you do. These weapons shoot, and are every bit as accurate and dependable as they look.
