WhippingBoy
Member
I blame nearly every single one of you. You are responsible and we'll just have to see if there's forgiveness somewhere down the road.
Don't give me those doe-eyes, or 'who me?' looks. There's no backing yourself out of it!
There's a story to tell, I suppose, and you deserve to know your crime.
It was a dark and stormy night. All the good ones start this way, so quit your whining and read on. It was a dark and stormy night, but the next day was just fine, so I went to the range for my CCW class. I had the weapon that I 'thought' was right. It was small and cute and seemingly right: a featherweight S&W .38 special. I bought it because I figured my wife would be willing to learn it and it was easier to use than a semi-auto pistol. It started as the home defense gun (that any discerning woman would be capable of using), now it was to be a pocket gun. We just owned the one gun and I decided to seek the CCW permit due to . . . well, you know what 'due to' I'm talking about. Right, the sky falling, stock market collapse, rise in gold prices, and the Cubs getting to the Super Bowl. I know, that last one seemed a tad impossible, but the shock of it forced me into action.
Standing at the pistol range I looked down the line of students. There were the grisly logging men that probably ate bullets for breakfast. I expected them to be there; this was a gun range after all. But the rest of the 10 students were either business types, or small waif-like women like the one standing next to me. Blah, blah, blah, the instructors talking away about safety, or some such, and then we're told to point our weapons at the cardboard bad guy. He's an authentic looking bad guy too, what with crooked teeth and a big gun. He's got that evil look in his eyes too. Clearly he intends to harm me. Out come the guns from our holsters. My cute 5-round wheel gun points at the bad guy. Down the line EVERYONE ELSE PRODUCES GIGANTIC SEMI-AUTO HAND CANNONS. Even the waif next to me has pulled out what seems for a moment to be a third leg. No, it's a cannon like everyone elses. BLAM! Her first round goes through the cardboard bad guys testicles. Well, he's cardboard, but the big ragged whole is where they would be. I look at my bad guy and pull the trigger. Featherweight is as good a name as any for this gun. It's so light I feel like I'm holding the cartridge in my bare hands when it goes off. Maybe they should name them 'Fire Cracker Hands', or 'Burning Fingers', something like that. Fine, I'm not in marketing anyway. OK, here's the short version of this story: After 150 rounds over the remaining 3 hours in the class my hands are literally covered in blood. Well, that's a bit strongly worded. It wasn't THAT bad, but I did go through several band-aids. Here's the thing. That flipping little gun with its rubber grips recoiled so hard against the web of my hand that my skin tore open. It took a while, but that's what happened. No way was my wife going to shoot this gun. Well, she would . . . but only once. I decided then to get a gun that I would like for concealed use and just hope she could use it.
So, I knew I wanted a semi-auto. Not a cannon, but something I could carry and reload quickly when the 2 hour firefight finally came to call. I know it's coming, it's just a question of when. Hello Internet! Oh, look, there seems to be some disagreement on caliber. I wonder which is better, 9MM, 40, or 45?! Holy Cow! I hope these people don't meet in real life.
Ok, I'll jump on ahead. I ask my instructor, who's a police guy and teaches at one of the Academies down here. 9mm is just fine, he says. The wife gives the go-ahead to trade up the revolver. I've assured her how much she hates the gun and being totally devoid of any interest in firearms she gives the expected 'green light.' Since I've been assured that 9mm is 'fine' I scour the internet for something I'd be proud to jam into my pants and walk through Wal-Mart. I've read that I MUST walk through that particular type of store armed before I can claim to be a real CCW participant. I continue to scour the internet and somehow stumble upon the Springfield XD 9mm Sub-Compact. It's all my wildest fantasies had told me to look for . . . before I knew what to look for. It certainly wasn't a THOUSAND DOLLAR GUN. I had read about 1911 type guns and Kimber and blah, blah, blah. There was no way a gun could be worth that much to ANYBODY. No, I found this adequate 9mm (that my instructor had said was 'fine'), so that's what I chose.
Now, I had the gun. I WAITED THREE FLIPPIN' MONTHS FOR THE CCW TO SHOW UP. In the meantime I made a solid copy of a SuperTuck holster from real Kydex I bought online. That's an amazing plastic, by the way. It's properties are amazing and can be molded repeatedly. I digress. Yes, off to Wal-Mart. That done, I'm finally a man. I'm finally just like Han Solo. I wear a gun in public.
One day I'm at the range for another tactical shooting class. We're picking up the brass and I collect a couple 9mm casings and some .45. Hey, what do you know, the 9mm case fits into the .45 case. In fact, it can sort of roll around in there. Boy, that .45 round sure is big and my 9mm is kind of scrawny. I'm feeling sort of insecure, a bit nauseous actually. I wonder if I made a, gasp!, mistake? Suddenly, I became obsessed. Obsessed is too overused these days. Too many things cause 'obsession' and weaken the word. Read that word with feeling: OBSESSED! I kept those two cases on my desk at work. 45, 9mm, 45, 9mm, 45. . . .just look at how the 9 fits into the 45. There's so much room left over.
I scour the internet again to reassure myself. That's right, shot placement. Shot placement is king, after all when I hit the right spot with my 9mm it would do way more than when I miss with the .45. Wait, what would happen if I hit the right spot with the .45 too? And, why do the .45 shooters always miss on the internet?
OK! I want a .45! Oh, so badly do I want that monster round. But wait, there are reasons for the 9mm. It's cheaper. Yes it's cheaper. It has less recoil. It does? How do I know that? Just look at the experts on the Internet. They ALL say they get 5 shots for the 2 shots the .45 guys get. I had better rent a gun and find out. Fast forward another month ahead because .45 caliber ammo is freaking hard to come by. Finally, I find some and call the indoor range that rents guns. "I'm sorry sir, our insurance forbids us from letting you use your own ammo in our rental guns."
"WHAT?! Well, do you have any 45 ammo?"
"No. .. . .we don't."
Gad, this is difficult. Thankfully, they get some ammo in a week later.
There's something I've left out. Since the first CCW class about 6 months has ticked by. Somewhere in there I came to the epiphany that the XD was really fat. People joke about carrying bricks, but really, that gun is fat. I was carrying it in my IWB holster and apart from installing a colostomy bag I don't think I could have looked more asymmetrical. The second thing that I discovered along the way came in the tactical hand-gun class: good triggers are a good thing. I know! In the class I had a good 'flipper, pinball' finger action going and was consistently low and left on all my rapid shooting. People commented on my 'consistent' bad shot placement. Placement. . .where have I heard that before? I upgraded the trigger on the XD and the overtravel. It was a sweet gun now. Then night sites.
Then I started thinking about this fat gun. Man, this is a fat gun. That's what I would say to myself. I wonder if there are single stack guns as good as my XD? I need a nice thin gun with a good trigger out of the box. I'll save you the trouble of running out in front of me and me the trouble of typing too many words. I wanted a 1911. I wanted a nice gun that shot big bullets and would fit in my pants. Not a 3" gun, that's too small. Not a 5" gun, that's way too big. But, Goldilocks says "this ones just right." I wanted a 4" 1911 quality USA made firearm that's not too heavy and not too light.
This really is a long story now and way more happened than this. I didn't even talk about the dreams! Let me shorten things. I went back to that indoor range and shot my XD and then a SW1911PD (Smith and Wesson). Guess what. . the recoil was nearly identical. Right, 9mm and 45 were nearly indistinguishable. The grip was bigger than I wanted, but I'll have to compromise something right? They had a 1911PD with laser grips for flippin' 1500 bucks. Sorry, but that won't happen. A couple days later I went to Ace Hardware on a lark and there in the case was something I'd never seen before (even after lusting for Kimbers and such): a SW1911ES. There was the shorter grip I wanted. A light scandium frame. 4.25" barrel. And, exactly like the 1911PD (apart from the grip), so I knew what the recoil was like. $999. There was the one I had been looking for, and with no compromising. Wrap that one up Mr. gun sales guy.
Now, I'm not feeling insecure any longer. (or nauseous!)
Oh yes, back to the forgiveness part. You people and your 1911 chatter set me on this road. . . . and yes, I forgive you now.
I'll attach a comparison between the new gun and the XD later.
Don't give me those doe-eyes, or 'who me?' looks. There's no backing yourself out of it!
There's a story to tell, I suppose, and you deserve to know your crime.
It was a dark and stormy night. All the good ones start this way, so quit your whining and read on. It was a dark and stormy night, but the next day was just fine, so I went to the range for my CCW class. I had the weapon that I 'thought' was right. It was small and cute and seemingly right: a featherweight S&W .38 special. I bought it because I figured my wife would be willing to learn it and it was easier to use than a semi-auto pistol. It started as the home defense gun (that any discerning woman would be capable of using), now it was to be a pocket gun. We just owned the one gun and I decided to seek the CCW permit due to . . . well, you know what 'due to' I'm talking about. Right, the sky falling, stock market collapse, rise in gold prices, and the Cubs getting to the Super Bowl. I know, that last one seemed a tad impossible, but the shock of it forced me into action.
Standing at the pistol range I looked down the line of students. There were the grisly logging men that probably ate bullets for breakfast. I expected them to be there; this was a gun range after all. But the rest of the 10 students were either business types, or small waif-like women like the one standing next to me. Blah, blah, blah, the instructors talking away about safety, or some such, and then we're told to point our weapons at the cardboard bad guy. He's an authentic looking bad guy too, what with crooked teeth and a big gun. He's got that evil look in his eyes too. Clearly he intends to harm me. Out come the guns from our holsters. My cute 5-round wheel gun points at the bad guy. Down the line EVERYONE ELSE PRODUCES GIGANTIC SEMI-AUTO HAND CANNONS. Even the waif next to me has pulled out what seems for a moment to be a third leg. No, it's a cannon like everyone elses. BLAM! Her first round goes through the cardboard bad guys testicles. Well, he's cardboard, but the big ragged whole is where they would be. I look at my bad guy and pull the trigger. Featherweight is as good a name as any for this gun. It's so light I feel like I'm holding the cartridge in my bare hands when it goes off. Maybe they should name them 'Fire Cracker Hands', or 'Burning Fingers', something like that. Fine, I'm not in marketing anyway. OK, here's the short version of this story: After 150 rounds over the remaining 3 hours in the class my hands are literally covered in blood. Well, that's a bit strongly worded. It wasn't THAT bad, but I did go through several band-aids. Here's the thing. That flipping little gun with its rubber grips recoiled so hard against the web of my hand that my skin tore open. It took a while, but that's what happened. No way was my wife going to shoot this gun. Well, she would . . . but only once. I decided then to get a gun that I would like for concealed use and just hope she could use it.
So, I knew I wanted a semi-auto. Not a cannon, but something I could carry and reload quickly when the 2 hour firefight finally came to call. I know it's coming, it's just a question of when. Hello Internet! Oh, look, there seems to be some disagreement on caliber. I wonder which is better, 9MM, 40, or 45?! Holy Cow! I hope these people don't meet in real life.
Ok, I'll jump on ahead. I ask my instructor, who's a police guy and teaches at one of the Academies down here. 9mm is just fine, he says. The wife gives the go-ahead to trade up the revolver. I've assured her how much she hates the gun and being totally devoid of any interest in firearms she gives the expected 'green light.' Since I've been assured that 9mm is 'fine' I scour the internet for something I'd be proud to jam into my pants and walk through Wal-Mart. I've read that I MUST walk through that particular type of store armed before I can claim to be a real CCW participant. I continue to scour the internet and somehow stumble upon the Springfield XD 9mm Sub-Compact. It's all my wildest fantasies had told me to look for . . . before I knew what to look for. It certainly wasn't a THOUSAND DOLLAR GUN. I had read about 1911 type guns and Kimber and blah, blah, blah. There was no way a gun could be worth that much to ANYBODY. No, I found this adequate 9mm (that my instructor had said was 'fine'), so that's what I chose.
Now, I had the gun. I WAITED THREE FLIPPIN' MONTHS FOR THE CCW TO SHOW UP. In the meantime I made a solid copy of a SuperTuck holster from real Kydex I bought online. That's an amazing plastic, by the way. It's properties are amazing and can be molded repeatedly. I digress. Yes, off to Wal-Mart. That done, I'm finally a man. I'm finally just like Han Solo. I wear a gun in public.
One day I'm at the range for another tactical shooting class. We're picking up the brass and I collect a couple 9mm casings and some .45. Hey, what do you know, the 9mm case fits into the .45 case. In fact, it can sort of roll around in there. Boy, that .45 round sure is big and my 9mm is kind of scrawny. I'm feeling sort of insecure, a bit nauseous actually. I wonder if I made a, gasp!, mistake? Suddenly, I became obsessed. Obsessed is too overused these days. Too many things cause 'obsession' and weaken the word. Read that word with feeling: OBSESSED! I kept those two cases on my desk at work. 45, 9mm, 45, 9mm, 45. . . .just look at how the 9 fits into the 45. There's so much room left over.
I scour the internet again to reassure myself. That's right, shot placement. Shot placement is king, after all when I hit the right spot with my 9mm it would do way more than when I miss with the .45. Wait, what would happen if I hit the right spot with the .45 too? And, why do the .45 shooters always miss on the internet?
OK! I want a .45! Oh, so badly do I want that monster round. But wait, there are reasons for the 9mm. It's cheaper. Yes it's cheaper. It has less recoil. It does? How do I know that? Just look at the experts on the Internet. They ALL say they get 5 shots for the 2 shots the .45 guys get. I had better rent a gun and find out. Fast forward another month ahead because .45 caliber ammo is freaking hard to come by. Finally, I find some and call the indoor range that rents guns. "I'm sorry sir, our insurance forbids us from letting you use your own ammo in our rental guns."
"WHAT?! Well, do you have any 45 ammo?"
"No. .. . .we don't."
Gad, this is difficult. Thankfully, they get some ammo in a week later.
There's something I've left out. Since the first CCW class about 6 months has ticked by. Somewhere in there I came to the epiphany that the XD was really fat. People joke about carrying bricks, but really, that gun is fat. I was carrying it in my IWB holster and apart from installing a colostomy bag I don't think I could have looked more asymmetrical. The second thing that I discovered along the way came in the tactical hand-gun class: good triggers are a good thing. I know! In the class I had a good 'flipper, pinball' finger action going and was consistently low and left on all my rapid shooting. People commented on my 'consistent' bad shot placement. Placement. . .where have I heard that before? I upgraded the trigger on the XD and the overtravel. It was a sweet gun now. Then night sites.
Then I started thinking about this fat gun. Man, this is a fat gun. That's what I would say to myself. I wonder if there are single stack guns as good as my XD? I need a nice thin gun with a good trigger out of the box. I'll save you the trouble of running out in front of me and me the trouble of typing too many words. I wanted a 1911. I wanted a nice gun that shot big bullets and would fit in my pants. Not a 3" gun, that's too small. Not a 5" gun, that's way too big. But, Goldilocks says "this ones just right." I wanted a 4" 1911 quality USA made firearm that's not too heavy and not too light.
This really is a long story now and way more happened than this. I didn't even talk about the dreams! Let me shorten things. I went back to that indoor range and shot my XD and then a SW1911PD (Smith and Wesson). Guess what. . the recoil was nearly identical. Right, 9mm and 45 were nearly indistinguishable. The grip was bigger than I wanted, but I'll have to compromise something right? They had a 1911PD with laser grips for flippin' 1500 bucks. Sorry, but that won't happen. A couple days later I went to Ace Hardware on a lark and there in the case was something I'd never seen before (even after lusting for Kimbers and such): a SW1911ES. There was the shorter grip I wanted. A light scandium frame. 4.25" barrel. And, exactly like the 1911PD (apart from the grip), so I knew what the recoil was like. $999. There was the one I had been looking for, and with no compromising. Wrap that one up Mr. gun sales guy.
Now, I'm not feeling insecure any longer. (or nauseous!)
Oh yes, back to the forgiveness part. You people and your 1911 chatter set me on this road. . . . and yes, I forgive you now.
I'll attach a comparison between the new gun and the XD later.
