Category Archives: Handguns

Glock 40: First Look at a G40 10mm Long Slide

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To the annoyance of every gun counter guy between Northern Ohio and Southern Florida I’ve asked “do you have that new 10mm long slide” at every gun shop I’ve stopped in since the G40 was announced.

Well, I finally found one at a nice little shop in coastal North Carolina,the Gun Shack OBX  In a few days I’ll take her to the range for a full report. In the meantime, here are some pictures I grabbed before it was packed up and shipped to my FFL.

It’s a little larger than I had anticipated (that’s what she said) I was expecting something closer to a G34. I have a surefire X300 ultra waiting for a host gun this one should do just fine. I’ve ordered a Cuda from Simply Rugged, I have one of their holsters for my S&W 29 which I like very much. I’m hoping Raven concealment will make a light compatible holster for the G40 in the not too distant future.

Some gun shop pictures before it was shipped off:


  

Will this take the place of my 4″ S&W 29 as my favorite “woods gun?” I suppose time will tell how lucky I feel.

Update: The NDAA 2016 CMP 1911 Amendment is….. Not done yet.

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11/11/15 update:

The Senate has reached a deal on the NDAA. It still contains the language changing the CMP charter to remove the restriction on 30 and 22 rifles only. 

10/22/15 update: The NDAA was vetoed. This did not pass, if it survives the deal being hashed out in congress is yet to be known.

From CMP:

CMPveto

https://thecmp.org/cmp_sales/

 

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Original post:

The same blog that incorrectly reported an impending flood of $220 Garands from Korea is now reporting that CMP is about to receive a pile of surplus 1911s.

Back in May, an amendment was added to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which would have changed CMP charter to allow them to sell surplus 1911s. There was much handwringing from the ignorant gun control pushers, Obama issued a statement opposing the change and that amendment sadly disappeared from the senate version of the bill.

The only thing 1911 related CMP has for sale currently is a great deal on NOS GI magazines.


The current version of the NDAA can be found by clicking here. There is a game of chicken going on with the NDAA in Washington right now, outside the scope of my blog. However, 1911s or no 1911s there is a veto threat so it’s anyone’s guess what happens next. At this point the bill goes to the house to reconcile the differences so, anything could happen but at least for this round, the chances seem slim.

If there is a ray of hope, it’s that the sponsor of the House Amendement, Mike Rogers, I’m told will be involved in the final bill.  But regardless the 1911s are not going to be imminently “sold off to the public.”


Don’t get me wrong, I want this to happen, it just isn’t going to happen the way it’s being reported by warhistoryonline.com. Surplus 1911s would be great for CMP’s endowment and, therefore good for the promotion of marksmanship and firearm safety, despite the fairy tales Huffington post makes up. (Click at your own risk)

Additionally a good supply of GI 1911s along with some CMP games matches for these pistols, could be just the boost traditional bullseye pistol shooting needs.

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UPDATE 10/8/15

The amendment did make the senate version:

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Surefire x300 Ultra and MR07 1911 Rail

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Amazon recently had a sale on Surefire x300 Ultras (aka U-boats) that I couldn’t pass up. It’s a duel CR123 500 lumen weapon light. I’ve been carrying a 500 lumen Fury for a few months now so I was excited to try the U-boat. However, the only railed handgun I have is a Glock 19 that I carry daily and I don’t want to give up my crossbreed supertuck which is not light compatible. I have a Springfield 1911 that doesn’t get carried too often so I decided to try out sure fires MR07 rail adaptor.

MR07
The MR07 comes as simple kit, a rail, a new slide stop and a shim in case you need to tighten it up.

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Install is easy.

– Remove the slide stop.
– Put the rail in place.
– Insert the new slide stop, be careful not to scratch anything, it was a little tighter than my factory slide stop.
– Tighten the set screw. It’s important to do this before putting your light on the rail so you have access to the screw.

That’s it.

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I had a little trouble getting the u-boat to slide on to the MR07 the first few times however it became easier with use, I would not recommend adding or removing the light from any rail while the weapon is loaded. The MR07 is truly a drop in part which is a rarity for 1911 parts. The mount is solid and does not negatively affect functionality of the weapon.

X300 Ultra

As far as the Surefire X300 Ultra its a great light. It’s 500 lumens, pushing the switch forward works as a pressure swich, up or down switches it on in the middle it’s off. I really like the 500 lumens the extra brightness is nice.

It’s a big boy, 1.477 inches wide, compared to a Glock 19 which is 1.001 or a 1911 or .905 at the slide. On the Glock 19 the lamp protrudes about an inch and a half from the front of the slide. It’s more or less even with the barrel on the 1911.

The U-boat swich rides a little lower on the MR07 from the slide 1.352″ compared to 1.130″ on a Glock 19. However I don’t find that to be an issue.

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Here is the light at night, the fence is at about 50 yards the tree 30 and the wall 3.

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While I have found a custom holster option, and there are some universal duty style holster that will work, may of the big names holster makers do not make holsters that accommodate the MR07. I wish they would. For now this 1911 will go on bedside duty once I get a proper holster.

Bottom line the X300 Ultra is a great light and the MR07 is a good solution for adding a rail to a 1911. The only drawback is the lack of holster support for the MR07.

In action.

 

Update: I was never able to find a suitable holster for this set up. Raven no longer makes a Combatable holster and both of the small shops i reached out to did not fulfill my order. Which is a shame because it is a nice set up.

So the MR07 has gone into the parts bin and the U-Boat rides on my G19 in a Raven Concealment Phantom when I can OWB carry.

 

 

Smith and Wesson M&P Model 15 conversion from DAO to DA/SA

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I picked up an old police trade in S&W a couple years ago at had been converted to double action only (DAO) for police use. This was a “lawyer” modification police departments did to prevent accidental shootings. The Model 15 is a medium sized K frame and was a common police revolver up until he polymer guns took over, some still remain in service. This particular revolver was made in 1968 and was a police trade in. Meaning that a police department was offered to trade their wheel guns in to upgrade to a more modern pistol, probably M&P 40 cal or 9 mms.

I wanted to convert this “back” to DA/SA for something to do. Some argue that other than target shooting you’ll rarely use single action, which may be true but I wanted to have the option.

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I ordered a hammer from Numrich who warned me it may require a gunsmith to fit this, in my case it did not but you might not get as lucky.

Here are the hammers the one on the left is the “old” DAO hammer the one on the right is the SA/DA. The hammers are new old stock.

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First, of course, open the side plate. I put a little masking tape on my screw driver to protect the screw head. Do not pry the plate off, I was able to just turn the revolver sideways and tap it with my hand and the plate fell free.

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At this point I stopped and drew a little picture of what I saw inside and took the opportunity to clean the 40 years worth of gunk built up inside.

I only removed the minimum amount of parts I could to get the hammer free which were the mainspring and the hammer block. Then he hammer just lifted out.

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Then I dropped in the new hammer with the SA notch. The easiest way to do this was to pull the trigger all the way back then it slides right in. I pulled the trigger a time or two until it lined up right. I had to push the hammer forward after pulling the trigger since there are no springs .

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To put the spring in I unscrewed the screw on the front of the grip. It seemed to work best to put the bottom on the spring in the bottom of the grip attach it to the hammer then tighten the screw.

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Putting the plate back on is a bit of a challenge. I struggled to line up the “hammer block” after first managing to put the plate on without the hammer block I finally got it done by holding the plate flat with the hammer block sitting in its grove. then I manipulated the frame until it snapped in.

Then it was simply a matter of putting the screws back in and function testing it.

I’ve had this revolver for about three years now since I converted it to DA/SA. Years later I’m glad I did. In PA we can’t hunt with semiautomatics, while I don’t hunt with the K Frame, I have taken it with me for the past few rifle seasons. It’s a great shooter, the trigger is very smooth and the heavy steel frame combined with 38 special makes recoil almost unnoticeable. I will sometimes carry it in a Raven Concealment Phantom.

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If you get a chance to pick one of these old wheel guns up at a decent price you won’t be disappointed.