Two Idaho youths shoot a grizzly bear off each other

S&W makes a lot more than revolvers.

Their pistols are among the very best, the M&P 2.0 has a great trigger, is very reliable and shoots very well. I know a couple of guys who compete with an M&P.

The 1989-1999 "3rd Generation" automatics from S&W have a well-deserved reputation as very well built, reliable guns. The criticism of the 1076 was never a matter of reliability or quality, but it was a big gun, and heavy, and FBI agents of smaller stature struggle to manage the big gun with its full power 10mm loads.

But in the hands of a shooter with bigger hands, and some experience, there is no finer big bore auto than those S&Ws.

Here is a 1026. DA/SA with decocker. A 5” version of the FBI 1076, which had a 4.25" barrel. A fairly rare gun.

33 years old. Runs flawlessly. Very accurate. Shown here with four different types of ammo. Not picky. Feeds them all.

In fact, instructors at the FBI would load empty 10mm cases into the magazines of trainees, between live rounds, to drain emergency action drills. The pistol didn’t jam on those empty cases, as other pistols would, the big S&Ws simply chambered the empty cases. Naturally, the gun went click, but a quick tap and rack, and it was back in business.

If a gun will feed an empty case, instead of jamming, you know that’s a reliable, well built, gun

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I saw a YouTube video where like a 9 year old girl shoots the 1076 with some hotter 180gr factory ammo. Says the recoil isn't that bad. Though it was funny.
Wasn't the model 59 a jam omatic?
I know someone who has one that's a safe queen, it was a police gun and "it usually won't finish a mag without jamming". I don't know if he ever tried to have it repaired professionally.
The thing that sealed their fate for me was a new gun owner bought some s&w pistols, a 9mm and a 22 pistol. The 22 wouldn't fire at all it would go click and there was no mark on the 22 rim. The 9mm broke in such a way that there was a live round stuck in the chamber. There was a chance it was the ammo but it was factory range ammo that worked fine for everyone else. I'll just stick with S&w revolvers. The s&w revolver design is so good not even Taurus can screw it up when they clone them.
 
I should weigh mine. It really is a nice shooter with a decent trigger. And good for flinchless training while having smooth finger glide yet good grip. The kind of thing the spoils a person plinking.22 or 38 Special. Without a healthy grip there can be tendency to bump the slide lock!
 
I saw a YouTube video where like a 9 year old girl shoots the 1076 with some hotter 180gr factory ammo. Says the recoil isn't that bad. Though it was funny.
Wasn't the model 59 a jam omatic?
I know someone who has one that's a safe queen, it was a police gun and "it usually won't finish a mag without jamming". I don't know if he ever tried to have it repaired professionally.
The thing that sealed their fate for me was a new gun owner bought some s&w pistols, a 9mm and a 22 pistol. The 22 wouldn't fire at all it would go click and there was no mark on the 22 rim. The 9mm broke in such a way that there was a live round stuck in the chamber. There was a chance it was the ammo but it was factory range ammo that worked fine for everyone else. I'll just stick with S&w revolvers. The s&w revolver design is so good not even Taurus can screw it up when they clone them.
Model 59 magazines are nasty
 
I saw a YouTube video where like a 9 year old girl shoots the 1076 with some hotter 180gr factory ammo. Says the recoil isn't that bad. Though it was funny.
Wasn't the model 59 a jam omatic?
I know someone who has one that's a safe queen, it was a police gun and "it usually won't finish a mag without jamming". I don't know if he ever tried to have it repaired professionally.
The thing that sealed their fate for me was a new gun owner bought some s&w pistols, a 9mm and a 22 pistol. The 22 wouldn't fire at all it would go click and there was no mark on the 22 rim. The 9mm broke in such a way that there was a live round stuck in the chamber. There was a chance it was the ammo but it was factory range ammo that worked fine for everyone else. I'll just stick with S&w revolvers. The s&w revolver design is so good not even Taurus can screw it up when they clone them.
The S&W model 59 was made in the 1970s. It was replaced by the second generation 459 in about 1981.

I own a 459. It’s perfectly reliable. It’s also 40 years old. That’s a testament to good design, and quality of manufacture.

The one model 59 I’ve shot was great.

If you’re basing your assessment of a particular brand reliability on a 50 year old example of their gun, the model 59, with an unknown maintenance history, I don’t believe that’s a fair assessment.

Recoil Springs wear out. Magazine Springs wear out. The model 5906 magazines are excellent, and backwards compatible with the model 459 and 59.

Not every gun they’ve built has been great. It’s almost like cars, isn’t it? You can have a good manufacturer that makes something that doesn’t work right. The thing is, is that maintenance on them was even more variable and spotty than the maintenance on a car.

I shot a friend’s model 39 the other day. A 1972 production S&W. It was his father’s, and certainly in the last 20 years, since his father passed away, the gun has never been cleaned or lubricated. Given the condition, I don’t think it was ever cleaned or lubricated in the 30 years prior to that.

But with a drop of oil on the rails, and a swipe of oil on the barrel, that gun ran great. I did an extensive disassembly, and detailed cleaning on the gun, and it’s back in my friends, safe, as a Memento of his father. I’d buy one of those in a heartbeat. Blued steel and wood, with a great feel and look.

So, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the design from that era. A lot of cops didn’t maintain their guns back then, they didn’t need to do anything to the revolvers which these replaced, and if there’s one thing that’s true about an all steel, hand built, tightly made gun, it’s that you got to take care of it. The reputation of the model 59 may have been colored by those who didn’t maintain their carry gun correctly.

I don’t know to which recent models you’re referring, and without more details, it’s impossible to even talk about it. But I’ve seen guns that are perfect malfunction in the hands of new gun owners.

I know I’ve told the story before, but my neighbor’s Glock, 42, a .380, simply jammed all the time on her. Of course, she was holding it wrong, and the gun had never been cleaned.

But even without cleaning it, it ran flawlessly for me. Strange, eh? One of the most reliable gun makers in the world, but her gun didn’t run right when she was shooting it and it ran perfectly for me. When I say perfectly, I mean we put 150 rounds through that gun that day on the range, and I didn’t have one single problem.

So, the “new shooter” part of your story, makes me wonder how much was actually the fault of the firearm in question.
 
When I said firing pin block I was responding to 'cannot fire if dropped'. Block gets lifted with trigger pull.
I'm familiar with 70 series and 80 series and other variants of 1911 and 2011 guns.
Taking a few shooting classes isn't training, just classes. Handgun shooting is a perishable skill and to be decent with it I'd say one needs to go thru at least 100rds a week. To be good one needs to go thru minimum 300rds a week and to learn proper techniques in stance, movement, cover, grip, trigger control, mag changes, dealing with multifunctions, one hand manipulations and shooting, at minimum.
We all saw and know that one SS agent Fupa who was neither fit nor trained to even holster her gun.
 
Black bears are all over around here. Harmless really,

I have come up on them on trails but they just want to be away from human, One time my buddy left his plastic water bottle on a log, Bear crunched it. Also yes string your food up when backpacking but even then they reach for the rope and bag.

I was also under the false idea of mama black bears,

Bear canisters. I've talked to NPS park rangers and Forest Service rangers who said that bears will look at them now and not even bother after trying and failing. I was told to just put it out a good distance from my tent and not to leave it in my pack. I was instructed to leave my pack out and open so that bears could investigate and not just drag it away. But if it's a closed pack and they can smell food, they might just grab the whole thing. I don't think food hangs are allowed any more in places like Yosemite. I have heard of some advocating for counterbalanced food hangs where it's not a rope tied to a tree but two roughly equal bags hanging from a rope on a branch. A lot of bears have figured out to go after a traditional rope at the base of a tree.

I remember being around once when someone's backpack was taken by a bear. I didn't see the bear myself as I was in my tent. It was in the Yosemite Valley Backpackers Campground (where I stayed before and after my backpacking trip) and I just stuffed my entire backpack in a bear box. But then there was a commotion and I came out. I saw a dejected boy scout there and asked him what happened. He said he just put his pack down on a picnic table and then a bear just came out and took off with it. Really lousy way to start a trip. However, people are allowed to have unsecured food in a pack as long as the food is secured (bear canister, bear box) when the owner isn't there.
 
The S&W model 59 was made in the 1970s. It was replaced by the second generation 459 in about 1981.

I own a 459. It’s perfectly reliable. It’s also 40 years old. That’s a testament to good design, and quality of manufacture.

The one model 59 I’ve shot was great.

If you’re basing your assessment of a particular brand reliability on a 50 year old example of their gun, the model 59, with an unknown maintenance history, I don’t believe that’s a fair assessment.

Recoil Springs wear out. Magazine Springs wear out. The model 5906 magazines are excellent, and backwards compatible with the model 459 and 59.

Not every gun they’ve built has been great. It’s almost like cars, isn’t it? You can have a good manufacturer that makes something that doesn’t work right. The thing is, is that maintenance on them was even more variable and spotty than the maintenance on a car.

I shot a friend’s model 39 the other day. A 1972 production S&W. It was his father’s, and certainly in the last 20 years, since his father passed away, the gun has never been cleaned or lubricated. Given the condition, I don’t think it was ever cleaned or lubricated in the 30 years prior to that.

But with a drop of oil on the rails, and a swipe of oil on the barrel, that gun ran great. I did an extensive disassembly, and detailed cleaning on the gun, and it’s back in my friends, safe, as a Memento of his father. I’d buy one of those in a heartbeat. Blued steel and wood, with a great feel and look.

So, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the design from that era. A lot of cops didn’t maintain their guns back then, they didn’t need to do anything to the revolvers which these replaced, and if there’s one thing that’s true about an all steel, hand built, tightly made gun, it’s that you got to take care of it. The reputation of the model 59 may have been colored by those who didn’t maintain their carry gun correctly.

I don’t know to which recent models you’re referring, and without more details, it’s impossible to even talk about it. But I’ve seen guns that are perfect malfunction in the hands of new gun owners.

I know I’ve told the story before, but my neighbor’s Glock, 42, a .380, simply jammed all the time on her. Of course, she was holding it wrong, and the gun had never been cleaned.

But even without cleaning it, it ran flawlessly for me. Strange, eh? One of the most reliable gun makers in the world, but her gun didn’t run right when she was shooting it and it ran perfectly for me. When I say perfectly, I mean we put 150 rounds through that gun that day on the range, and I didn’t have one single problem.

So, the “new shooter” part of your story, makes me wonder how much was actually the fault of the firearm in question.
I remember the 59 being the cop gun in the 1980s so if they were made in the 70s and had cases of ammo dumped through them and we're maintained by people who had always worked on revolvers or maybe 1911s then it makes sense they got no love. His 59 was coronated safe queen prior to the mid 1990s.
I've only bought one retired police gun and it's problems were obvious and easily repaired by me for around a $100, I guess if you're a police department admin you'd rather spend that money on a new gun rather than have a gun smith repair your old one for say $200.
Not sure which models they were either. I don't follow smith pistols much. It was new back around 2014. So whatever they offered 10 years ago. The 9 could have just been the ammo, but everyone else who bought the same ammo didn't have any trouble with it. On the 22 the firing pin was there, the gun would go click but was not making contact with the rim or barely leaving a shadow of a mark.
How did your neighbor get a Glock 42?
I think Glock 18 are easier to find.
I have seen the same number of Glock 7 as I have 42.
 
Bear canisters. I've talked to NPS park rangers and Forest Service rangers who said that bears will look at them now and not even bother after trying and failing. I was told to just put it out a good distance from my tent and not to leave it in my pack. I was instructed to leave my pack out and open so that bears could investigate and not just drag it away. But if it's a closed pack and they can smell food, they might just grab the whole thing. I don't think food hangs are allowed any more in places like Yosemite. I have heard of some advocating for counterbalanced food hangs where it's not a rope tied to a tree but two roughly equal bags hanging from a rope on a branch. A lot of bears have figured out to go after a traditional rope at the base of a tree.

I remember being around once when someone's backpack was taken by a bear. I didn't see the bear myself as I was in my tent. It was in the Yosemite Valley Backpackers Campground (where I stayed before and after my backpacking trip) and I just stuffed my entire backpack in a bear box. But then there was a commotion and I came out. I saw a dejected boy scout there and asked him what happened. He said he just put his pack down on a picnic table and then a bear just came out and took off with it. Really lousy way to start a trip. However, people are allowed to have unsecured food in a pack as long as the food is secured (bear canister, bear box) when the owner isn't there.
In new Mexico we stone them.
 
In new Mexico we stone them.

Thought of throwing stuff at them. Still - I remember a story about how some boy scouts actually killed a bear with rocks. Wildlife management are usually allowed to have weapons like paintballs and beanbag rounds. At least in US national parks, the only weapons people are allowed to have are firearms. Even if I had one, I'm not going to discharge one in a crowded campground. That would just be stupid.
 
I remember the 59 being the cop gun in the 1980s so if they were made in the 70s and had cases of ammo dumped through them and we're maintained by people who had always worked on revolvers or maybe 1911s then it makes sense they got no love. His 59 was coronated safe queen prior to the mid 1990s.
I've only bought one retired police gun and it's problems were obvious and easily repaired by me for around a $100, I guess if you're a police department admin you'd rather spend that money on a new gun rather than have a gun smith repair your old one for say $200.
Not sure which models they were either. I don't follow smith pistols much. It was new back around 2014. So whatever they offered 10 years ago. The 9 could have just been the ammo, but everyone else who bought the same ammo didn't have any trouble with it. On the 22 the firing pin was there, the gun would go click but was not making contact with the rim or barely leaving a shadow of a mark.
How did your neighbor get a Glock 42?
I think Glock 18 are easier to find.
I have seen the same number of Glock 7 as I have 42.
S&W made a run of pistols a while back, the Sigma, I think, that was not a well-received gun. It was their venture into polymer frames, and Glock wasn't happy about the blatant copying, either.

The G42 isn't that rare, though .380ACP isn't my favorite SD cartridge, in that little pistol, it's fairly snappy.

https://us.glock.com/en/pistols/g42

Departments change out gear periodically - better to have all new guns than start rebuilding the old ones - I suppose. The Federal Air Marshalls got rid of their SiGs for Glock 19s. Not the choice I would have made, but they save millions on ammo alone every year by going from .357 Sig to 9mm, which likely paid for the Glocks outright.
 
S&W made a run of pistols a while back, the Sigma, I think, that was not a well-received gun. It was their venture into polymer frames, and Glock wasn't happy about the blatant copying, either.

The G42 isn't that rare, though .380ACP isn't my favorite SD cartridge, in that little pistol, it's fairly snappy.

https://us.glock.com/en/pistols/g42

Departments change out gear periodically - better to have all new guns than start rebuilding the old ones - I suppose. The Federal Air Marshalls got rid of their SiGs for Glock 19s. Not the choice I would have made, but they save millions on ammo alone every year by going from .357 Sig to 9mm, which likely paid for the Glocks outright.
Yeah I load my own and figured out some loads that only give up a small bit of velocity, a few dozen feet per second in short barrel guns and tame the snap.
My lightest 9mm is 10.5oz and factory ammo in that gun sux!
The 100gr load I made is bearable with my own non standard 1:16 twist 9mm rifling and ultra fast burning powder.
I figure 970fps out of a 2.3 inch barrel is pretty good.
Can do the same thing with 380, probably keep using the same 100gr bullet.
 
Those kids made the local TV news.



Edit: just realized this was the same video that was linked in the article.
 
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