virgin glock 17
well wife could prove we have been in CA long enough, so while i was in denmark she went and bought us a glock 17 which is full size 9mm for those not into the glock models i know i wasnt 3 months ago
we chose 9mm for several reasons
1 ammo is pretty cheap, compared to the larger calibers
2 grip is smaller than larger calibers, wife has very small hands and therefor has trouble holding pistols with fat grips
3 we are both inexperienced with handguns, and the 9mm is not as intimidating as the larger more powerfull.
glock was the choise when we asked around…we (I) wanted something reliabel, easy….glock certainly fits the bill
went to the range to rent one….and we liked it….also tried an XD40(i forget the makers namer ), what a pice of crap compared to the glock, might have been just that one, old and worn out rental….but it kept jamming up constantly….and we saw no accuracy with it.
any back to the glock….yesterday was the first time we had it out…i went to wallmart and grabbed a box of all the different ammo they had (blaser, remington, winchester)
and off to the range after she dropped her mom off at the airport….very excited, i loaded the mags with the plastic loader that came with the gun…ohh man when we rented that was not given to us and the 9th and 10th round was a thumb buster to get into the magazine, with the speed loader it was a breese, laid the 2 mags and pistol on the range table and told wife to give it a go
blam 1 shot at 12 feet right in the black….then she was shooting low for the next 3-4 shots and then it failed to eject…cleared the chamber, and sent her on the way….then it jammed, cleared it…2 more shots and it did it again…i wrote it off to that the gun is brand new and needed to settle in, or maybe the cheap ammo. more on that later….
next mag and it was my turn, 10 shots later which was over pretty fast, about 20 seconds keeping in line with the 2 seconds the range requires between shots for the most….2 hit outside in the 8 ring….rest was 9 and 10 ringers….no misfeeds no malfucktions
wifes turn, and it started to fuck up again (or rather she did) one shell failed to eject and turned around and the next cartridge actually got pushed into it….then it would only feed the round half, lige the casing edge got caught on something…..she gave up….i then took the mags she had been using, and filled it and fired 10 rounds….working perfectly, and then the next mag to eliminate that its not the mags fault.
gun is working just fine, its human error at fault here
when i was shooting it it was doing fine, when she was shooting it…not so….i told her to change grip, try to stiffen her arms a little more or a little less trying to see what was causing it….turns out sloppy wrists/arms as soon as she locked her elbows it was fine…not good for accuracy and the carteledge in her arms….but hey she now knew what was going wrong…and got shooting just fine….well except that after i told her not to let go of the trigger all the way she twice double rapid fired, resulting in range master complaining, but it was a fair mistake and he understood…funny enough too booths over theres was some serious rapid firing going on…like 10 shots in 3 secs…which the range master never said anything about….however when i was shooting with 2 second intervals he told me slow it down just a bit….must have been cops or something that was rapid firing…those bastards get away with everything
my self found that when i did what the instructor had told me i would shoot way low….as soon as i loosened up and got comfortable i was shooting right where i was aiming, but our range hour(about 90 minutes) was up. i had bought 300 rounds…there was 75 left when we went home hehe
shooting handguns surely is something totally different, very challinging i think, im used to be very accurate with my airgun rifles….and the find that i have trouble with a simple 9mm at 12-15 feet lol shooting groups of several inches, but man it is fun
vid is heavily edited !
ohh man i love shooting ! gonna be a busy fall.
this little fella is moving in on saturday, yay !!!!
can someone recomend a pair of good shooting glasses for a guy with glasses ? range master was not entirely ok with my regular narrow glasses but said it was for my own safety so he wouldnt keep me from shooting…but then agian a more anal range master might say no alltogether.
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Cyg check your pms.
when your just picking up how do you know if the casing is all right ?
would i need to buy a case cleaner/tumbler or what their name is ?
9mm brass is free, it’s all over the ground everywhere I shoot, just bend over and pick it up. Yours, mine, his….whomever picks it up owns it, unless the casehead is marked and the original owner is right there.
I can grab 25# in half an hour after an IPSC match without really trying.
The only people that buy 9mm are recent converts from 38 super to 9-major, I think they still are in shock over how much cheaper once fired 9mm is compared to any 38super brass.
Dillon 650 with casefeeder. I can do 800rds/hr on mine. It doesn’t come with dies, but LEE dies work fine and are under $20 a set.
If you decide to go the reloading route for the 9mm, let me know, I’ll send you 1000 or better empty casings just for the shipping. I’m ex mil and have probably 4-5k around in boxes.
For really cheap centerfire shooting, if you have a source of lead, (wheel weights from a local tire store, etc) you can cast your own bullets over a simple coleman stove. I’ve done many thousands myself.
Here’s a simple cost breakdown:
primers: 35.00/1000 (20 boxes) 1.75/box
powder: 20.00/lb
7000grains/lb
5.0 gr/cartridge
1400 rounds/lb (28 boxes) .72/box
bullets: home cast = cost of propane
500 bulk lead = 30.00/500 (10 boxes) 3.00/box
so based on box of 50 rnds, $2.47 w/ home cast bullets
$5.47 w/ bulk lead bullets
My casting setup consists of a coleman stove, small cast iron pot, ladle, and Lee brand bullet moulds, got a bunch of stuff but can set up for one type of bullet for less than 50 bucks if you already have the coleman or suitable heat source to melt lead.
Your cost savings could be more if you price shop components. Just an example.
Holy Crap!! I just did some searches for brass and even reloaded ammo. WTH happend in the last 10 years? Prices have gone through the roof. Over a buck a shot for new 9mm? Back when I was reloading you could load a 50 BMG for a buck a shot.
Thanks Shadow. I was half way through an explaination when it just disappeared. Whay does it do that? Oh well. I’ll explain it on the phonn if you like Cyg.
Bah, I just looked at the Dillon site and they no longer include a set of dies.
Hah, I had already started but Im sure there was tons of stuff I missed. Im only going by memory as my entire setup was stolen about 10 years ago by my sleazeball in laws.
Heres the cool thing Cyg, it comes with one set of dies, your choice.
If you go with the 650 by itself you will need to manually fill a tube with brass. You will need to fill a primer tube with primers (very fast if you get a primer flip tray). You will need to keep the powder hopper full (it has a large reservoir).
When you pull the handle the first brass casing will move under the sizing die, it also pops out the old primer at this stage. On the upstroke it moves everything to the next stage. Next stage it pushes in a primer. Next stage is optional and usually not added but it can trim the brass to length. Next stage dumps in the powder. Final stage you have to manually set a bullet on top of the brass and when you pull the handle it sets the bullet to depth and compresses the brass around it. After that it will drop into a bin and technically is ready to shoot. Oh, I should point out that each pull cycles every stage so once your going allot is happening every time you pull that handle.
I always ran my finished bullets through the tumbler to clean them up and make them look brand new (some folks say that this is not a good practice as there is a chance the tip of one bullet could hit the primer and set off a round. I loaded thousands of rounds this way and never happened. I also never could find an instance on the net where this has happened.
Once its set up all you really have to do is pull the handle and set a bullet on the brass, pull the handle and set a bullet on the brass, etc, etc.
There are tons of “optional” toys you can get for it. The low primer alarm is a must have. The case feeder is super nice but a bit pricey. You can even get an auto bullet feeder for it but its made by another company and costs more than the reloader.
Used casings can be found through tons of sources on the net. Ive even bought them through The Sportmans Guide. Savings over factory ammo will depend on how much you paid for your consumables. If you buy the high dollar bullets and the really expensive powder you arent gonna save any money but you can build rounds that far exceed factory rounds. If you find a low cost powder that works well for you and a bulk packed bullet you like you can save allot. How much you shoot will determine how fast you pay for the machine. There used to be scares of the Government locking down on ammunition by controlling things like primers. There were times when you would go to the store and find some ass had bought every primer they had in the store. I dont think you see that anymore.
For a caliber change you just need to buy a caliber change kit. It comes with a little stand and the alignment pins and I think it came with dies but I dont remember. Once everything is set up changing calibers is as simple as sliding out one die plate and sliding in the other. Ideally you would have bought a second powder dropper so you dont have to change that as well as your settings. You may need to change the primer plate as the 44 will use large pistol primers and the 9 uses small. You can be loading a completely different caliber in just a couple of minutes.
If you have your machine mounted on a bench and left set up it takes longer to walk to the shed and make sure the powder and primers are full than it does to crank out 50 rounds of ammo.
OK, this is going to yae a little while. But I’m working on it.
hmm that press is not that as expensive as i thought….i read a litle on their site….i need dies…do i just need a set of 3 even though its a 5 stage reloader…
what exactly do i have to do when operating the machine…
where do i buy used casings ?
how much is there to save….how many rounds before the press had payed for it self….
if i get it in 9mm, what needed to take it to say 44mag ?
Cyg call these guys at 800-223-4570, request a copy of the “Blue Press”. Also buy a copy of theSpeer reloading manual, the Hornaday is good too. Read about relaoding, and cartridges. Lots of good info here. I like the XL 650 😉
Not really, once you set up the machine you dont need to touch it again as far as adjustments. Even caliber changes are fast as you change out the whole tool head in about 30 seconds without the need to reset any dies. You cant go wrong with Dillon equipment and they have a lifetime “no BS” warranty. You break it, they give you another one. You would spend about as much as you spent on that new Glock for a modest Dillon setup. My personal favorite is the 650XL with case feeder.
If your going to stick with the 9mm you can reload for cheap. You can buy spent military brass by the 1000s. Your only real costs are primers, powder and bullets. Just like anything the larger the quantity you buy the cheaper it gets. If your going to shoot allot the equipment will pay for itself in no time. I used to reload for friends and would make a couple bucks. You dont make much but it adds up over time.
Guns are like shoes, they fit us differently. Recoil and muzzle blast need to be minimized with the new and, or scared shooter. The Ruger MK II, or the current production variant, the MK III are great pistols to teach anyone how to shoot a semi-auto pistol. Again, the S&W model 66 .357 mag using .38 spl ammo, models 19, 10 (.38 spl), 586 (blued), 686 (stainless)…there are many new and used S&W revolvers including the Lady Smith line that you guys should be looking at. The “J” frame with the 3″ bbl, (sorry Y for the abbreviation-that’s how it is on all of the boxes that firearms are shipped in) with target sights…I forget the model number, are worth a look. See what fits her. The Beretta 84 F in .380 ACP is a nice little pistol. Stay away from the Walther PPK, PP; they are difficult to shoot well. They also bite.
Don’t worry about the slide on the Glock biting you with your thumbs up against it. That technique helps to counter the counterclockwise rotation of the pistol during firing. You should be holding the trigger all the way back after each shot. The reset point is much shorter and alows a much better trigger pull for sucessive shots.
Did you know that the Glock is the only pistol that works when it is broken. There is just one little spring for the trigger reset. If that spring breaks, the pistol will still function. By holding the trigger all the way to the rear during/after each shot, the mechanism will reset whether or not the spring is intact. Neat feature.
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I would get a vibrating style cleaner. You can get them fairly cheap at places like Midway.