Sunday, December 8, 2013

Went shooting with a friend...and finally fired my S&W 1911 Pro 9mm!

I have a couple of updates that are about a month old.

A longtime friend of mine invited me out for a few drinks and something to eat.  During the course of the night he told me the craziest story that had happened to him just a few nights prior.

The short version is that he was in front of his house talking to his wife on the phone when a bum walked up to him and without any provocation punched him in the face and then walked away.

He called the police and waited for them to show up while keeping his distance.  They showed up and he started talking to them.  During this time, a construction worked walked up to the police and said that there was some homeless guy breaking into a van up the road.

The police went to check it out, but by the time they got there, the guy was already out of the van. The police proceeded to talk to the homeless guy and he explained to them that my friend "grabbed his ass, told him he had a small penis, and called him a faggot."

The police at this point explained that since they neither saw him get punched in the face nor saw the guy break into a van that they were going to do nothing.

My friend returned to his home and asked his neighbor if he saw him get punched in the face.  He did not, but suggested that he ask the security desk if they had seen it on the cameras.  Sure enough, they did catch this SuperBad-esque moment.

Again, he called the police.  They watched the security footage and then posed the question, "What would you like us to do?"  My friend said, "Arrest him?" 

The police then explained to him that they had no intention of doing that because it was just going to be a waste of time.  My friend asked, "Well what should I do?  This guy could know where I live.  I could have shooed him away years ago and he could be upset about that."

He asked if he should get a stun gun or a taser to which the police officer said, that won't do much good since the crazy ones always seem to get up.  The officer then went on to suggest a gun and why it could be ruled that it was self defense. 

I was in shock by this entire story.  My friend suggested I take him shooting. 

That seems like as good a reason as any to go shooting.  I loaded up a bunch of different guns so that he could get a feel for some different calibers.  I brought my Walther PPK/S Aristocrat in .380, Ruger Mark III Hunter, Beretta 92FS, CZ 75B, 4" Smith and Wesson 686, and my new Smith and Wesson 1911 Pro in 9mm. 

I also brought around 300 rounds of 9mm, a brick of .22, a box of .357 magnum rounds, and just a handful of .38+P and .380.

I expected he'd enjoy the various 9mm pistols the most as I think they are a bit easier on the hand than the .380 or the .357 magnum with magnum cartridges. 

And while he did like the CZ75B for its ergonomic grip, he ultimately like the Walther PPK/S the best as it was small and he shot it well. 

He didn't care for the .357 magnum at all.  I can understand as it has a lot of kick.  But it doesn't kick like a semi automatic pistol to me.  It just kind of pushes back where as a semi automatic pushes back and up from the cycling action of the slide. 

During the course of our shooting, I loaded up 5 magazines for my S&W 1911 Pro 9mm.  4 of which were Wilson combat magazines and the other was a cheaper magazine.  I don't recall the manufacturer at the moment.  All magazines fired with no issue.

I was blown away by how nicely the gun shot!  Very little recoil and what little it has wasn't unpleasant in any way.  In fact it felt very controlled and much like driving a big car on a nice flat road.  The trigger pull was short and the break was really crisp.  I shot the gun exceptionally well.  Especially when compared to my Colt 1991A1 in .45 which I do not shoot well at all. 

The sights were easy to line up and the magwell was just a pleasure to experience. 

I admit that the price tag on these guns is pretty hefty, but I have to say that it is clearly the nicest gun I own and the attention to detail that went into these guns can justify a lot of the costs.  However, unlike modifying a gun later or piece by piece, the cost is all up front. 

I certainly never would have purchased something this expensive for myself had I not got it on a trade, but I am glad that I own it and plan to shoot it more and never let it out of the collection.

I still have issues shooting the CZ75B as well as I shoot the Beretta 92FS.  It feels better in my hand than the Beretta, but I just don't shoot it as well.  Maybe I just need to spend a lot more time with it.  I remember it took a long time (and ammo) for the Beretta to feel good.

The morale is that shoot what you are comfortable with and practice practice practice.

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