New Knife Sheaths in the Works.

I have a lot of cool knives that I don't carry because the factory sheaths were/are crap. Everyone raved about a particular brand of after market Kydex sheaths, I tried them and wasn't very impressed.

If you frequent a couple of the firearm related forums, you may see a gent going by the name "Unloved"

A while back he started posting pictures of some of his home grown Kydex gear and my interest got peaked. I finally sent him some of my favorite knives as well as some of the wife's items and am eagerly awaiting the new sheaths.

I've got sheaths coming for my SOG mini tsunamis, my wife's KABAR TDI (Small), and my CRKT ABC Operator. I was going to send in my large TDI, but the basement monster ate it.

Enough about what I'm getting, if you want to check out the gear, you can do so @ Invictus Kydex.

I should have my gear back some time next week and will be sure to review this topic sometime after getting acquainted with the products.

Sig 238 Troubles

A while back I posted about wanting a Sig 238 HD. I picked one up last month and sadly I have to say that I should have waited a little longer. Initial testing was 50/50. While the gun fed Speer Gold Dots, Hornady Critical Defense, Remington Golden Saber and both Winchester and Remington UMC FMJ loads; I did have several failures to extract the spent casing and a couple failures for the slide to lock open on empty. I also found several casings that were mangled.

I took the gun home and cleaned it, went back out to the range about a week later and shot another 50rds of the UMC through the gun and experienced another failure to extract as well as several more failures to lock open on empty.

Also of note is that the recess in the slide where the slide stop engages was starting to peen itself on the slide stop.

 A quick call to Sig and I had the UPS label in my inbox and the Sig is arrived back in NH today for repairs which have a 4 - 6 week estimate.

Don't be a _______ Fanboy!

Be a fan of GUNS in general, don't get sucked into "X" is better than "Y", understand that each make and model may have attributes that suit others while not suiting you. Be able to look past your own nose and see things from the perspective of others. Every now and then try something new, if you're a Glock fanatic, go rent a Sig for a couple of hours. If all you've ever carried is a steel "X" try something from the polymer side of the house.

Understand that every make and model is capable of failure, no design is perfect, and sometimes it IS the gun that's messed up and not the shooter.

Variety IS the spice of life and you never know what you might like till you try it.

A Quick Bit on 1911 Mags.

OK, seeing as how I can't copy the post from on forum to the other, lets try this....

I'm going to make this more complicated than it has to be, but it's helpful info.

OK so regarding 1911s and magazines we have to point out that originally the full size 1911 held 7 rounds of .45ACP and the Compact or Officers 1911 held 6 rounds of .45ACP. A while back, some genius figured that the skirt of the follower didn't really need to be as long as it was and that you could chop it down to add one more round to the magazine and have 8rds in a full size and 7 rounds in a compact.

For those that don't know what a follower or a skirt is, here's a photo.


Left: Wilson 47D 8round, Center: Tripp Cobra Mag, Right: Older Springfield Armory 7rd magazine.

The follower is that thingumabob that you have to push down in a magazine to put the cartridge in it. The skirt is the part of the follower that goes around the magazine spring and will make contact with the bottom of the mag to prevent over compressing the spring and prevents the follower from tilting.

One issue of cramming 8 rounds in a tube that was designed to hold 7 rounds is that when a fully loaded mag is inserted in a gun while the slide is forward, that mag is fully compressed and the 8th round doesn't have much wiggle room and that results in the mag being harder to seat in the gun. This is the reason I'm switching from the Wilson 47Ds to the ETMs, longer tube allows for easier seating.