In Passing...

Stephen Camp, author of the blog(s) Hi Powers and Handguns passed over the weekend. I have often referred people to his site to review information on both the 1911 and the Hi Power as well as many other firearms.

Stephen was a fantastic writer, very knowledgeable and conducted himself in a manner we should all aspire to emulate.

He will be missed my many and his passing truly saddens me.

"Gunkid" Returns?

For those active of firearms forums, you've probably heard of the infamous GunKid,  he resurfaced on a forum all ready as he was recently released from prison.

His current screen name is/was "Buckler" and his IP addresses were:

166.128.11.235
166.128.182.173
166.128.214.131
166.183.112.13
166.183.161.156
32.176.220.218
32.176.7.130
99.73.39.7

The .99 address traces back to OK where "gunkid" resided prior to his incarceration, the other IP addresses were through Cingular/AT&T

Edited to add: In true from, he rejoined after being banned and admitted to being "Gunkid"
User name "pugilist" ip address 166.183.54.80

The HK45 Does It Again...

At the end of the range session of Day 1 of the NRA Basics of Personal Protection  Outside of the Home....geez that's a long title...we'll just call it PPOH from here on out. Anyway, at the end of the range session the instructors placed some "reactive" targets on two backers, they were about 2" x 2" squares that combusted when struck. it took a couple of tries but when we were all (class of 10) on our third time up my wife got the first square on her second attempt with the HK45 having never shot it before and I got the other one soon after. We probably would have gotten them sooner but for some reason we were having a disconnect on why we were shooting high, switching to a 6 o'clock hold did the trick and we wiped out the squares.


As for the PPOH course itself, I'll comment on that later, like after I have my credentials in my hand later.

TDI Review....

Is still in the works, off to the NRA Basics of Personal Protection Instructors Course tomorrow and have been trying to study up on that and have been busy doing other things.

I'm slowly but surely getting the background info on TDI and the instructors and will hopefully have some time on Sunday to get this all put together.

Wolf Creek IDPA: May IDPA Match w/ Shotgun Side Match -Moved to June 4th

Wolf Creek IDPA: May IDPA Match w/ Shotgun Side Match - May 22nd: "Here is the official match notice: We shall be shooting our regular monthly match this Sunday, May 22. Jesse is our Match Director."

Click on the link above for more details.

Match has been moved to June 4th

Back From TDI...

Returned home from TDI later than I planned last night, will be reviewing notes and doing a little follow up work with a couple of the instructors prior to writing up the AAR for the class.

For now all I can say is that if you've ever thought about having to clear a room and what it entails, you need to go to TDI's Pistols II & III. The price(s) are exceptionally reasonable for the quality of training obtained, the instructor to student ratio is outstanding and the facility is superb.


Look for the full review in the next couple of days.

Oh, the HK45 and I performed very well, just shy of 1200rds down range, zero failures and great performance.

Going to Gun School....

Heading to the Tactical Defense Institute in Ohio for level II and III Handgun this weekend. I'll be taking the HK45 along for this class to increase my familiarity with it even more.

The weather forecast for West Union Ohio is not fare and sunny, but calls for thunder storms and showers on both Saturday and Sunday. Most top end classes don't have rain outs so having proper rain gear is a must. I still have some left over Gortex wear from my time in the service as well as some Sealskinz waterproof socks, I'm out of luck in the footwear department but that will be taken care of tomorrow evening, but this will be a good time to talk about other gear that probably needs to be taken to classes.

• Sunscreen: Even if the weather calls for clouds and rain, we all know that the weather can change quickly.
• "Chapstick": While I'm not chapstick junky, I'm not a fan of cracked, burning, burnt mummy looking lips either, while it pains me to do so I do use chapstick on the range....and no, it's not cherry flavored.
• Bug spray: There I said bug spray and not "bug juice" thank you Marine Corps for damaging my vocabulary to the point where I say stupid things like "bug juice" and "bulkhead"... I think this one is self explanatory.
• Water, start drinking lots of water starting at least one or two days before hand, your body will thank you. I neglected hydration prior to last falls Langdon class and paid for it that night after dinner. 
• Note taking materials: Even your hard-corps shooting classes will contain little tid-bits of knowledge that you will forget if you don't jot it down. I saw one fellow student with two not taking books, a larger one for actual lecture, and a small pocket sized book for taking quick notes on during reloading breaks. Want to jot down some notes on that cool drill you just did? Good luck remembering it later. Have a pocket book for notes.
• Eye and ear protection: This is standard, but I will also advise to bring spare eyes and ears, especially if this is a multi-day class. 
• Range friendly snacks: Beef jerky, pretzels etc. Nothing with too many crumbs or that will leave hands sticky. If you are a candy bar guy I like Paydays as there's no chocolate to melt, if your into the power/energy bar thing, those are good too.
• Water: Yes, this is getting listed again, as Camelbak says, "Hydrate or die" 
• Hat: I generally bring a ball cap and "boonie" hat, have I ever used the boonie? I don't think so but it's there if I need it.
• Rain gear: Be ready to shoot rain or shine, if you've never thought about how your gear will work under rain gear, you might want to take the time to think about it.
• Cleaning gear: You'll want at minimum your basic cleaning kit and tools/parts pending on your make/model of gun
• Spare gun: If you don't want to mess with fixing a downed gun, bring a backup.
• Holsters & magazine carriers: Bring your holsters and mag carriers for you main and backup gun, make sure you are certain that your holster is allowed to be used at the class, most places have a holster policy stating a strong-side, rigid holster. If you only have cross-draw and shoulder holsters you may be out of luck if that's what you show up with.
• Extra magazines: Magazines are probably the number one cause of failures in pistols and even if your mags are good now, they may not be half way into the class. Where there's multiple students doing mag changes and movement, there are mags getting stepped on. If your back up gun takes different mags, make sure you have both sets.
• Ammunition: I know, you'd think this is a no-brainer but I've almost left the house to go shoot without my ammunition.
• Any keys etc. If you are using a locked case make sure you bring your keys, I was lucky in that I was able to get a gun case open as I had two different locks and forgot one of the keys. 
• Method of payment: Did you remember your checkbook, card etc?
• Photo ID and Carry Permit etc.: Some schools require a photo ID AND carry permit or letter of good standing from a law enforcement entity.
• Any prescription medications: If you need your pills, take them with you.

 If you want to be over organized, make up a check list and have it laminated and attach it to your range bag etc. My range bag is labeled for items but not for all the stuff I have listed.

Will post class update(s) later next week.

Central Iowa Defensive Training: CIDT Iowa Defensive Pistol Class - June 11th - Tra...

Central Iowa Defensive Training: CIDT Iowa Defensive Pistol Class - June 11th - Tra...: "This course is cousin to the Wolf Creek Carry Class offered last fall, it is an Iowa specific carry class detailing Iowa code and the fundamentals of carrying and using a pistol for self defense. An excellent course for those looking to further their knowledge base having taken other less informative classes or for those looking for information regarding the recent changes in Iowa law or those looking to renew their permit."

HK45 Update

Ran the HK45 a little more this weekend including my 1st USPSA match. Overall I really like the gun, it carries better than most every other full size pistol I've owned and I run it a whole lot better than the Glock 21SF. I'm slowly but surely getting the hang of the gun. I need to work more on tracking the sights during rapid fire. As for the USPSA match, shooting the HK45 for the third time from an IWB holster I managed to place 14th out of 30 and beat out the other guy shooting limited 10 to take 1st in division, beat all but one guy shooting production... Seems like I can run the gun OK. Most everyone else was running open and limited guns in speed holsters.

Initially I had some issues with reloads it was a bit chilly out for the first two stages and my fingers/thumbs seemed to not want to work too well. Seems like my initial shots were usually A's but I was dropping my follow up shots. I don't think I was taking the time to get proper sight picture.

I'm loving the Milt Sparks as usual. For a mag carrier I picked up a Galco Double Mag Carrier (DMC) and it's working out well, for a third mag I was using a single mag carrier from UBG that was made for something else but fits the HK45 mag rather well.

"Kimber quality has come to micro-compact pistols."

The above is the slogan associated with Kimber's new Solo, and apparently it's true. This was posted at Handgunforum.net

 Solo range report (posted 3-26-11)

It ain't good. Couldn't get it to shoot more than two rounds before it ejected the mag. Kept thumbs far away from the mag release to be sure I wasn't causing the problems. Nope. Tried 5 times to get it to finish a mag, no luck. I say "finish a mag" which isn't really accurate, as after forcing the 5th cartridge in, couldn't get the 6th to begin to go in all the way. Opened the mag, checked floorplates, (there's two, one bottom plate, and one above it with a protuberance to hold the bottom plate in place), spring, follower, etc, no luck. Tried banging the 5 loaded rounds on the counter to seat them, no luck.

I was using 147gr ammo, as suggested for break-in, (124 to 147). Shot fine, when it shot, but two rounds then no mag is not acceptable. I'll call Kimber next week to wee what their answer is, I'll keep ya'll posted. I was so hoping what I'd heard about Kimbers was an anomaly, as this is my first Kimber.

Updated with...

Well, just called Kimber about the Solo. They've had it for a month now. It puked the mag out after one or two rounds. Every time.
They said they're waiting for a redesigned mag catch. That's frustrating, but I don't wan't it back until it's right. So much for finally buying a Kimber. The Customer service guy said "well, it's a completely new design, you know." So...I'm the test department? Don't they usually do that at the factory, before the new model ships? Silly question, I know. Obviously we're the beta testers for their pistols. So why then am I paying for this pistol, instead of them hiring me to do new design testing for them?

Other issues have been reported elsewhere