Category Archives: Modern Service Pistols

Firearms Safety – Why do we take it for granted?

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This installment there are no pictures.  No high speed/low drag, Crossfit fueled, SWAT laden cool guy pictures.  My apologies to Tim and Hilton for not having pictures as required. (Editor: We don’t require pictures for every post!)

Instead, I hope this article will serve as a moment of pause.

It is 2013.  Why are gun owners still negligently shooting people in their homes?  Notice I said negligently.  I am talking about the unintentional shooting of a family member or guest that usually winds up with the shooter telling the first responding officer “I thought it was unloaded”.

The liberal left tries to get everyone to equate gun control with gun safety.  They seek an emotional response by invoking, “It’s for the children”.  Fact of the matter is that their versions of gun control have nothing to do with safety, nothing to do with guns, and everything to do with control.  What I am referring to is firearms safety becoming a way of life.  It becoming organic to who you are, a thread in your DNA.

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Graygun’s HK artistry

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Bruce Gray’s Artistry in HK’s
By Darryl Bolke

Most of “my circle” of friends in the firearms world knows that I am an unrepentant fan of HK firearms. I have been a dedicated user of Heckler & Koch service pistols for over 25 years. While I love 1911 pistols and big bore revolvers with all my heart, I am most often found carrying an HK pistol of one variety or another. In the world of HK the names of the premier HK gunsmith’s is a short list………with one name-Bruce Gray. Others can work on them, but only one that I know of has been synonymous with high-end gunsmithing on them (especially with the P7 series) is Bruce Gray. I remember coveting a long slide P7M13 back in the late 80’s when they graced the HK catalogs. It has taken a lot of years, but finally in December I secured not one, but two Gray Guns, Inc. HK pistols.

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Mid Sized Timberwolf Frames for Glock

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Deeper thumb grooves, larger mag releases, a flatter front strap and wider finger grooves are just a few of the improvements you will see on the Lone Wolf Distributors Timberwolf frames.

I carried a Glock pistol in one form or another for more than 21 years and have to say they always worked for me.  Coming from the PSD world, all I cared about was if it worked when I pressed the trigger and would the shots go where I pointed them.  After that I never gave a lot of thought to things like grip angle or texture unless they became a problem.  It wasn’t until I started using Gen 3 Glock pistols that I discovered how slippery my older guns had become.  The polymer had deteriorated with age to the point that guns simply were no longer useful.  This left me with an abundance of perfectly serviceable Glock upper assemblies and no hope lowers.  Luckily Lone Wolf Distributors  (LWD) solved this issue for us. Continue reading →

CARACAL F 9mm Pistol Range Days, 2501-5500 rounds

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Over the course of several days I have been able to add another 3000 rounds to the total count for the Caracal F.  I started this process by giving the gun a thorough cleaning and another dousing with Frog Lube.   I was making no attempts to monitor accuracy as this was strictly a function test.

Overall, the gun has been running incredibly well.  Some have even said that they are quite surprised at how well the gun works.  I chalk that up to a certain amount of brand snobbery and pre-judgement based on where the gun is manufactured.  Once we got through all that nonsense things began to settle down with most shooters looking at this with an open mind.  All five of the shooters I had helping me with this cycle of the testing said they will be buying one in the near future. Continue reading →

CARACAL F 9mm Pistol – Range Day 1001-2500 Rounds

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Today the Caracal ran a large variety or ammunition and added another 1500 rounds to the total round count.  It is now up to 2500 rounds and has had one failure to extract issue. This was with the 147gr Federal FMJ and was the first round I fired with that ammunition.  After that, the remainder of the 200 rounds ran flawlessly.

The day also included a mixed bag of defensive ammunition with at least 100 rounds of the following loads:

115gr Honrady Critical Defense

115gr +P Corbon DPX

124gr +P+ Hydra Shock Federal Premium

124gr +P T-Series Winchester LE

124gr +P Speer GDHP

147gr Speer GDHP

The start of the day and a sampling of the rounds to be fired.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY: APEX FAILURE RESISTANT EXTRACTOR FOR GLOCK

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As mentioned in previous posts, many current production Glocks suffer from extraction/ejection issues. Some of my recent production Glocks have been great right out of the box (such as my FDE Gen 4 Glock 19). Unfortunately, my brand new Gen 4 Glock 34 had an ejection pattern that looked like a lawn sprinkler. Thanks to Apex Tactical Specialties, this is no longer the case. If you have an extraction/ejection issue with your Glock, check out Apex Tactical’s Failure Resistant Extractor.

SOURCE: Apex Tactical Specialties

 

 

CARACAL F 9mm Pistol – Range Day 1-1000 Rounds

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I ran the first 1000 rounds through the Caracal F 9mm pistol today.  The good news is that it ran all 1000 rounds without a single issue.  Using Aguila 124gr FMJ, I was concentrating on running the gun, and how it extracted and ejected.  Extraction was perfect and there were only a few erratic ejections.  Most of those landed either on the top of my head or in the hood of my sweatshirt.  Thankfully this was in less than 2% of the rounds fired.  I did note that the ejection pattern settled down and became consistent between 3 and 5 o’clock somewhere between 200-300 rounds. Continue reading →

Grip Force Adapter: Making “perfection” a little more perfect

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For years I suffered from slide bite when shooting Glock pistols, especially the mid size guns like my issued 23.  Between fairly large hands and an aggressive grip I was almost assured to have the web of my shooting hand ripped open by the slide serrations by the end of the day.  The Grip Force Adapter has changed all that.

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CARACAL F 9mm Pistol – The Magazines

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The Caracal came with two, 18 round metal tube magazines.  The follower and base pad are plastic and seem reasonably durable.  The spring is a nesting style with the final three coils reduced to nest inside the lower coils while under compression.  What’s different from most other magazines is the lack of an internal base plate.  The absence of this part means that the spring rests directly against the plastic base pad and that the final coil of the spring locks the base pad into place.  It was easily disassembled using a thin blade of a flat tip screwdriver tip.  I’m not sure if it really matters if there is a metal base plate inside the mag or not.  We will see as things progress.

The mag bodies are smooth and well finished with no sharp or jagged edges to hang up on things. The ambi mag catch holds the mag in via a centered notch on the mag body.

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CARACAL F 9mm Pistol – The Insides

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Takedown is exactly like that of a Glock, so yes, you do have to press the trigger to de-cock the gun before disassembly.

This group of pictures are of the Caracal F as I received it.  It arrived very dry and I suspect if it had been shot that way, it would have lasted about 200 rounds or so before it began to have problems.  I have since cleaned it all up and Frog Lubed the gun so it is ready to go for the range tomorrow. Continue reading →

CARACAL F 9mm Pistol – First Look

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A work requirement has caused me to take a long and hard look at the Caracal F 9mm.  A full size, 18+1 9mm, the Caracal is designed and built in the UAE and marked specifically from Abu Dhabi, UAE.  It is the standard service sidearm for most of their military, including the Special Guard of the United Arab Emirates.    I will be working this pistol through a series of tests to see how well it can hold up.  This is the first of several pieces I will write on the gun, with updates following as I reach milestones in the testing and evaluation process.  My ultimate goal is to get at least 10,000 rounds through it and as many hands on it as possible.

The Caracal comes with two, 18 round mags, manual, lock and plastic case for about $449 retail. MSRP is slightly higher.

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Service Pistol Action Jobs- Smooth is better than light

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At just about every class we teach, we have a certain percentage of folks that show up with carry pistols with extremely light triggers.  Earlier this year, we taught a class out on the west coast for a large Sheriff’s Office.  This office has a VERY liberal firearms policy that accepted various types of aftermarket parts, and exceptionally light trigger work.  There were some M&Ps, Glocks, and M1911s with triggers that weighed in ounces.  On duty pistols. Continue reading →

Another View on the Mini Red Dot Sight from Trijicon (RMR02)

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I have been running a Trijicon RMR-02 Mini Red Dot Sight on my duty pistol for some time now. Earlier this year in March, after intentionally dropping the pistol while training with my back-up gun I noticed a significant zero shift. I re-zeroed the sight and did not have any more issues. Unfortunately, in early October, I experienced a repeated problem with the sight losing zero. So the sight went back to Trijicon for warranty repair.

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Big Performance in Small Packages

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Under normal circumstances, I still carry a firearm like a plainclothes assignment rather than a washed up retired guy. I usually carry a compact duty gun (currently HK P30), a Surefire E2DL, and a Strider SMF folder and DB fixed blade, along with a hideout Ti HAK. I use a HK P2000SK as a second gun at times in a small fanny pack. Old habits die hard, and this is probably overkill for most. On occasion or as required by dress I will carry items more in line with a size that most folks would consider for daily concealed carry. Because I have to sacrifice in size, does not mean I have to sacrifice in performance. I have obtained some outstanding items recently that offer huge performance in a smaller package.

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