Range Report: Bye Bye, Glock 21

We planned to meet at 5PM, but I was so exhausted after riding/soccer/riding this weekend that I over-napped and was 20 minutes late. Steph's first time in about a month (and my first in 24 hours). We also met Bret, who was already there, and who was interested in buying the Glock 21.

We took the lane next to him, and I saw Bruce Furr there, so I spent most of my time hopping between lanes...shooting Mr. Furr's Sig P226 in .357Sig (interesting--recoil like a 9mm, sounds like a .40S&W), his 1911 w/ .22 conversion (that ammo sucks!), Bret's Walther PPK/S (yuck!), Bret's Browning Buckmark (nice), my Glock 21 (meh), my P7M10 (cream my pants), and my Beretta 92FS.

Seriously, the Walther PPK/S (James Bond's old gun) is uncomfortable to shoot. Not because of the relatively large felt-recoil of the .380Auto (my first time shooting the stuff) in such a small gun, but because the webbing-pocket has such sharp edges that it digs into the shooter's webbing on every shot. It isn't hard enough to draw blood, but it is uncomfortable to shoot more than a few magazines' worth. The PPK isn't really meant for range work, however--it works much better as a concealed-carry-weapon. That, and it's initial double=action trigger pull is VERY heavy--heavier than any gun I've ever shot before, including all of the double-action revolvers and all of the double-action/striker-fired autos I've ever owned. Definitely has not piqued my interest in the slightest. It's funny that Bret bought it because it was "the Bond gun"--I wonder if he'll get a Walther P99 next. But then I want a CZ75 because it's Rally Vincent's gun.

The first time (and only time, until now) I shot a Sig was way back in 2006 when the drop-safety on the P7 broke, and we rented the Sig to finish shooting the .40 ammo we bought. Back then I had the impression that it was blocky and ugly compared to the sleek and sexy P7, with too many controls (a decocker? safety? slide-stop? WTF! The P7 tastefully hides all of that). I wasn't enthused. But then I learned that there was a reason to it all, and that our Navy SEALs were using the P228/M11...I became interested in a 9mm version, but the high price ($800 for a handgun? no thanks) and elitist vibe put me off.

Bruce's Sig P226 was chambered in .357SIG--basically, a 9mm-bullet in front of a .40S&W powder charge, which produces a lot of velocity and a very flat trajectory. Supposedly, .357Magnum performance in a mild-recoiling semi-auto. Whatever, I shot it and it felt like shooting 9mm, and sounded like .40S&W. Very interesting, but not really my cup of tea, since all I shoot (and all I want to shoot) is paper, and a .22LR slug going at 1200FPS will put a hole in paper just as well as a .35SIG-slug going at 1500FPS. Plus, it'll do it at about 1/20th the cost.

Then Bruce's other gun, a 1911-type with a .22LR conversion, was interesting. I wasn't all that accurate with it, but that could've been the ammo, since he said he couldn't hit worth a damn with it either. Interesting, but I'm not sure I'd go for one of those, either--a service-sized pistol, designed for a service-caliber...shooting little .22s. Sorta why I'm hesitant to get a .22 conversion kit for my Beretta. Plus, conversion kits are almost as expensive as buying a whole 'nother gun (although you can get the kits shipped right to your door, and firearms must go through an FFL).

The Buckmark was nice, but I still don't care for the fiber-optic in the front sight...

The Glock was...well, it's a Glock--it pretty much just works. But it's a plastic pistol--not my cup of tea: I'm a wood-and-steel guy.

And of course, my P7M10 was beautiful, getting the attention of Mr. Furr, who commented that the M10s are rare (and yes, they are--I'd bet he'd be astounded if he learned how little I paid for mine, too).

Finally...today was Steph's first time on the range in about a month, since her schedule is usually so busy she can't afford more than an hour or two every month to get some trigger-time in...something definitely not helpful to her aspirations of getting qualified. But she dutifully loaded up the 92 and attempted to keep the shots on-paper...something she wasn't doing well at until I suggested that she just dryfire to get used to the trigger. In between the last few magazines, we would go through a handful of dryfires. Starting out, she'd be exerting so much force on the trigger (in single-action, no less) that when the trigger would break, she'd jerk the muzzle off-paper. But 10 dry-fires later, her muscles had relearned how to keep the gun steady while the trigger over-traveled and the hammer fell. Then we'd put the magazine in, chamber a round, and she'd put the rounds into a hand-sized group at 10 feet, just below the center of the bullseye. Excellent work. Really, all she needs is trigger time. Doesn't have to be live-fire. In fact, most of her trigger time should be dry-fire (most of mine is, and I go to the range almost every day)--she should even borrow the Beretta and dry-fire it as much as possible. But that'll wait, I suppose--for now, she's doing pretty good for going as infrequently as she is.

---

In emails, Bret was interested in the Glock 21, and, after shooting it, said he liked it enough to buy it. I already had some transfer-of-ownership/CYA papers drafted up, so all we had to do was fill in the blanks, sign them, and exchange the pistol for a check, and that was that. I wash my hands of plastic pistols. Foo 'em. Maybe in the future I'll look into a Glock 19 or an XD9 Service or even a S&W SW9VE or M&P9 or something similar for "social" work, but I like my range pistols, and I like 'em metal-framed with wood grips.

Done.