What Did You Prep This Month?

The pace of our prepping has accelerated this month and we were able to accomplish quite a bit. There are two reasons for this, Wonderful Wife’s income has been mostly replaced (at least temporarily) and we feel that the likelihood of needing our preps is going up. A quick look at the news should confirm why we are thinking that.

In addition to the items listed below we have started making repairs and replacing items around the house. Better to do it now while we have the income rather than later after the economy tanks or inflation begins to skyrocket.

Walk With God

I continued praying daily for my 50 closest neighbors, five each day.

I continued my study of the Gospel of Mark.

I also continued teaching Sunday School and attending church.

Self Defense/Hunting

We are continuing to stock up on magazines that the New Regime might want to ban in the coming months. We added four Glock 17 magazines, including one 21 rounder, three standard capacity AR magazines and one more AK magazine.

Since 7.62×39 is (currently) easier to find and cheaper than 5.56 we added five 30 round mags to feed my AR chambered in this caliber.

Yes, I always mark the 7.62×39 mags with a marker but also with the yellow tape in order to avoid potentially costly or even dangerous mistakes on the range.

Supplies/Gear

Rotated the emergency pantry.

We planted peas, peppers and basil in the garden and they are (so far) coming in nicely. The Cilantro generally reseeds itself but this year came up and went to seed almost immediately. I guess due to the crazy cold we had this year but none of it was worth harvesting.

We added more water purification tablets to our stock. The snowpocalypse forced a citywide alert that the water could be contaminated. It didn’t apply to us but I am not taking any chances for future incidents. The tablets don’t take up much room, are fairly inexpensive and last a long time. We also added a Sawyer Mini to the goody bag in place of the life straws I previously kept around. I plan on testing it out as soon as I can get into the woods.

I have been adding some Molle gear to my inventory including a holster for a sidearm in preparation for some training I hope to be taking soon.

I like to keep cheap emergency ponchos in my EDC, bag and get home bags. These are basically single use items and since I used a few in recent months I replaced the ones used.

I am hoping to do a little more camping this year and decided to add a good fixed blade knife for such adventures. I chose the Gerber Strongarm and hope to do a write up on it as soon as I get out there to give it a try.

Gerber Strongarm

We are also building up our inventory of household supplies as well; toilet paper, paper towels, sugar, seasonings, dry staples, etc.

We went into a large sporting goods store looking for hiking shoes and instead stumbled on a load of ammunition. We stocked up on 300 rounds of 9mm, 200 rounds of .223 and 100 of my preferred 7.62×39.

Score!

We put together two more blowout kits and purchased another tourniquet, this one a SWAT-T. This is supposed to be a better TQ for kids and with eight grand kids I want to be ready should the need arise. Stocking up on medical supplies is going to be a key goal while we have some extra money coming in.

Security

No activity this month.

Finances

Cashed out some dividends and used it to purchase precious metals and Bitcoin as hedges against economic collapse or inflation.

Fitness/Health

I had a bad week for exercise last week but I am still working to make myself tougher to kill by getting in better shape.

With the strong probability of financial and social disasters looming on the horizon I had decided to go ahead and take care of some outstanding medical concerns so they would be out of the way if things fall apart. Originally, I had planned on spacing all this out through the year but things at work are a little slow right now so I am taking care of all of them now. Just this month I have had an appointment with the Gastroenterologist for a check on my liver and a colonoscopy, a cardiologist to check my heart and lungs for any issues, and a urologist to check for kidney stones or cancer. The results on the kidney stones are back and, yup, like I told him (he didn’t believe me) I have three. I’ll have more information next week after another appointment with him.

***

That’s it for me. That’s what I prepped this month. How about you? What did you Prep this month?

Take care and God Bless

Training Program: Update 7/15/20

Early last month I posted (link) that two of my sons in law, my son and I were all about to kickoff a training program to improve our self-defense and operational skills and I wanted to provide an update.

First off, we lost two of our number. For various reasons my son and one of my sons in law changed their minds and have decided they are not able to participate. One was not a surprise (actually, expected) but I was very disappointed my son backed out. The remaining member of our little band is the one I would count on the most in a dangerous situation so that is a good thing.

Before my son dropped out we met and agreed on the training plan and approach. We also discussed the gear selection and basic load outs we want to work towards:

Gear Selection/Load Out:

• • Glock 17 or 19 with three magazines. We will use Glock 17 magazines for interoperability. and we will both carry them outside the waistband on the strong side.
  • AR-15 in 5.56/.223 with three magazines.
  • Slings, optics, mag carriers and other basics will be up to the individual.

We decided on all this when we were still a band of three.

Training Session 1:

Our first training session went slightly differently than expected.

The batteries were dead in the rangefinder and I did not bring a tape measure as a backup so we were estimating on distances. I planned on using the shot time app on my phone but found that it did not work very well (hardware issue with the microphone on the device). I verified that the holster I was planning to use with the Glock 19 would work with the red dot. I did not verify that it would work with the suppressor height sights I installed to co-witness with the red dot so I worked the drills with the SIG P365 instead of the Glock 19. I also forgot to pack targets for sighting in our rifles. That didn’t turn out to be that big a deal as we spent a lot more time working with pistols instead of the rifles.

I worked with my son in law (Moose) on his grip. He has never taken any pistol training so this was all new to him. Once we had the grip down and ran through some drills to reinforce this skill we move on to the draw stroke. Again this was all new to him and we spent a lot of time practicing this as well. In fact this is what we spent most of our time on.

We did go over reloads and failure drills, but only briefly as it was getting late in the day and the heat was starting to get the better of us.

We did not have any time for any serious work with the rifles. We did review the manual of arms (basic operation) of both the AR and the AK. We will be training with and using the AR platform but I thought it would be useful to review both. You never know when you might need to use something that is not your primary platform. We also spent enough time working with the rifles that Moose realized some of the choices he mad with his rifle may have been sub-optimal. For example, a long, heavy barrel sounds good until you are lugging it around all day. He may well either reconfigure his existing upper or buy/build a shorter, lighter upper for this role. He purchased some ammo from a “friend” and discovered that his rifle did not run it well. There was some sort of corrosion on the (nickel-plated steel) cases that could have been the issue. It seemed to run fine with both the brass and steel cased ammo I brought along.

This is a perfect example of not betting your life on untested equipment and ammo. This would have been a very bad thing to find out in a life or death situation.

Overview:

All in all I am pleased with the progress we have made so far. We both learned a few things, sharpened our skill sets and had a lot of fun. Now that he knows some of the proper techniques Moose will, hopefully, continue to practice at home (with an empty firearm) and his times and accuracy will improve.

I am a little disappointed that my son did not make this a priority because I think he would have learned a lot and improved on some critical skills.

Next time out we will practice these skills some more and measure ourselves against the standards we decided on. Hopefully, we will be able to add in some additional skills such as shooting while moving and start working seriously with the rifles.

Take care and God bless

Range Report: Glock 44, Glock 19 MOS and Charter Arms Professional – Update

I wanted to provide a few quick updates based on a range trip I was able to sneak in…

The Glock 19 topped with a Vortex Venom Red Dot optic and TRUGLO Tritium Pro Night Sights has bene very reliable so far. Based on this range trip the sights and the optic are dead on.

Five rounds, 10 yards with iron sights

The groupings with both the irons (as seen above) and the red dot were very good (for me). With the reliability question out of the way (really? it’s a Glock, was that ever really a question?) and the backup irons in place and dead on the new G19 will now go into my bedside safe and pick up primary home defense duties.

The Glock 44 was every bit as accurate as I expected it to be based on my trip out to the country with it. You can see the evidence below in that all ten shots are in a two inch circle at 10 yards (ignore the one 9mm flyer from a previous string and the gaping hole from putting the target sticker over the previous one that was pretty shot out).

Ignore the 9mm flyer, that’s 10 .22 LR holes in a two inch circle

In my review earlier in the week (Range Report: Glock 44) I noted that this was pretty snappy for a hand gun chambered in .22 Long Rifle. For whatever reason, maybe because I shot the G19 first, it did not seem nearly as snappy as it did previously. Nevertheless, I am still impressed with this little blaster. On a diet of cheap Federal ammo it had no issues.

Another odd thing is that I was unable to replicate the “load 11 in the magazine and have a failure to feed” that I experienced out in the woods. I am wondering if the heat and direct sun (this is Texas, after all) cause some sort of expansion or loosening in the magazines that allowed this. The magazines were in the direct sun all day and it was a warm one with temperatures in the mid-90’s later in the day.

I finally got a chance to do some accuracy testing on the Charter Arms Professional (Range Report: Charter Arms Professional)…

Meh.

It is OK for a defensive handgun. It does seem to shoot a little low but once I was able to get a feel for the correct sight alignment I was able to do OK. For whatever reason, and I find this to be true on my .327 Magnum Ruger LCR as well, it seems to be a good bit more accurate shooting .32 S&W Long than full bore magnum loads. I might blame it on the flinch factor but there is really very little recoil with this gun. Not that the groups with the .32 H&R magnums were all that big but the .32 Long’s were all just about touching. Sorry, no pictures.

I did try and shoot .32 ACP out of the Professional. In my LCR these become stuck and have to be popped out with a pencil or rod. The start doesn’t seem to get enough grip to eject them properly. This is not the case with the Charter Arms Professional. They all ejected just fine. Unfortunately, about half of them didn’t go bang when pulling the trigger. They did ignite on the second trip around the cylinder (a nice advantage of wheel guns) with one exception. When I get around to cleaning it I will take a look at the firing pin and see if there is anything obviously off there. This little guy won’t become a regular carry gun anytime soon so I am not too worried about it.

That’s all for this update.

Take care and God bless.

Range Report: Glock 44

Way back before the pandemic arrived (in the US) or some cities descending into chaos I was able to go to the range. A real range where I could run targets out to different distances and all sorts of cool stuff. On my last trip to one of those (now) mythical places I spent most of the time practicing with rimfire ammunition; specifically .22 Long Rifle (read the write up here). I thought it was such useful way to train and had enough benefits that I purchased a Glock 44 on my way out the door. We went into quarantine shortly after that and so the G44 sat on the desk in my office unfired…mocking me.

In case you have not seen them the Glock 44 is a .22 LR version of the Gen 5 Glock 19. It is the same size and uses similarly sized magazines. Disappointingly, the magazines only hold 10 rounds rather than the 15 of the G19 (more on that in a bit). It is also a lot lighter than the G19 (more on that too in a bit).

Gen 5 twins, the G44 and G19

A few weeks back we were able to head out to some property in the country and do some shooting. This was the same trip that I was able to put some rounds through the Charter Arms Professional (link). Unfortunately, I was not able to get a good feel for the accuracy of the Charter Arms on that trip. I had a good bit of gear packed and ready to go that was rated to handle .22 LR which means I was able to get a good feel for the accuracy of the G44 so this should be a little better and more comprehensive review.

Woohoo!

Initially, I had several feeding several issues with the G44. It was always chambering the first round. I am always a little nervous clearing jams with rimfire ammunition and these were pretty severe. the rounds were literally being bent as they entered the chamber with another round trying to feed in right behind it. This happened with several different shooters and with both magazines. I was pretty disturbed by this until I determined the cause. Although these are ten round magazines, eleven rounds would fit. They wouldn’t feed properly but they would fit in the magazine. Once I started counting rounds and making sure to only load ten rounds we encountered no more issues and it was 100% reliable. Semi-auto .22s can be a bit finicky when it comes to ammunition. I had a box of Federal bulk ammo, a mixed box of odds and ends from at least two and possibly three different manufacturers. All fed fine in my pistol. As with most .22s your mileage may likely vary. All in all we sent somewhere between 200 and 250 rounds downrange through the G44.

The slide of the G44 is mostly plastic. Some early purchasers of the G44 have reported issues with the slides cracking. At this point I have seen no indication of any cracks or issues with the slide or frame.

Being mostly plastic, the G44 is very light. Glock’s website says the G44 weighs in at 16.4 ounces when fully loaded. It seems lighter than that. Not flimsy, just really light. I think part of it is because of how much it resembles the standard compact Glocks like the G19. It seems lighter because you are expecting the extra weight of the more traditional Glocks, if that makes sense.

Now, one of the unexpected side effects of this lack of heft is the amount of felt recoil. It is surprisingly snappy for a .22 or this size. It is not overly so (it’s a .22) and there is still not as much recoil as with its 9mm sibling but it does have a surprising amount of snap. Personally, I think this is a good thing. As discussed in my previous post there are some serious advantages to training with .22 LR versions of your carry weapons but one drawback (to me) is the lighter recoil. Less recoil means that problems with your grip can creep in without being noticed, forming some bad habits for when you switch back more potent calibers. That is far less likely with the G44 than some other rimfire versions of carry guns.

The sights are the same plastic dot in a box sights as on all other Glocks. The rear is windage adjustable with set screws. I don’t know if that is standard on other G5s or just the G44. I do know the sights on my Gen 5 G19 MOS were not adjustable. The seemed dead on with no adjustment necessary. I was able to ring a three inch gong at 15-20 feet (depending on where I was standing at the time) pretty consistently. Any misses were the fault of the shooter and not the gun.

Glock 44

Overall, I am pretty enamored with the G44 and I feel it was money well spent. I will get a lot of trigger time (once we are out of quarantine) with it. Since it is, essentially, a duplicate of the G19 (although lighter) it will be a very good training tool. The rest of the family enjoyed shooting it and Wonderful Wife really liked it (bonus!).

Whether the cost/benefit of training with .22 rimfire ammunition makes sense for you is something you will have to work out since these are not super cheap. They have an MSRP of about $400 and a street price around $360. As for me, it is worth the money.

Take care and God bless.

Training With .22 Long Rifle

Back before the “Great Ammo Shortage” I toyed with the idea of using .22 Long Rifle versions of my primary firearms for training purposes. Once .22 LR disappeared from the shelves this idea fell by the wayside. Well, the venerable .22 Long Rifle is back on store shelves and while it is not as cheap as it once was it is pretty reasonably priced once again.

So, why train with .22 LR?

The primary reason for training with .22 LR is cost. With lower priced ammunition the cost of training goes down which means more training for the same money. Bulk .22 LR costs about 2.8 cents per round and even premium rounds like the CCI MiniMags come in around 5.9 cents/round. Even premium rounds cost less than bulk 9mm (11.7 cents per round). For rifle cartridges the difference is even greater. Super cheap 7.62×39 comes in at 16.2 cents per round and 5.56 tops that at 26.7 cents per round.

Until recently, I carried a revolver for my every day carry (EDC). Specifically, I carried a Ruger LCR in .38 Special. Back before the Great Ammo Shortage I also purchased a version chambered in .22 LR. It is identical in almost every way to the .38 Special except the caliber, 8 vs. 5 shots and the trigger pull. Like most rimfire revolvers the trigger pull is significantly heavier than the centerfire counterpart. I am OK with that. Even though I now carry a semi-auto I still train much of the

Ruger LCR in .22 LR

time with small, lightweight revolvers. Why? For the same reason that batters take a few practice swings with a weight on their bat. Swinging the heavier bat makes it easier to swing the lighter. Maintaining a proper sight picture (especially with simple gutter sights) while managing a 6-8 pound trigger pull on an ultralight snubby is darned tough. It is even tougher with the heavier trigger pull on the rimfire version. A couple dozen rounds with a snubby and my speed an accuracy with the semi-auto are both noticeably improved.

The bottom line if that the key components of gun handling trigger control, sight alignment and sight picture can all be practiced as effectively with a rimfire as with centerfire…more cost effectively.

This doesn’t mean you should never train with centerfire rounds. No since.22 LR will give you any practice with recoil management.

Glock G44

One more caveat, it is important to train with rimfire weapons that are as similar as practical to the centerfire firearms you use for defense or hunting. As I mentioned I have a .22 LR version of the LCR I used to carry as my EDC. I also have a .22 LR version of my primary hunting rifle (Ruger American Predator). I just picked up a Glock 44 which is the .22 LR version of my bedside gun, the Glock 19 (range review to come). I may even pick up the new .22 LR version of the LCP II that I occasionally carry.

That’s where the analysis of your own budget needs to come into play. Do you shoot/train often enough for the ammo cost savings to make up for the purchase of the .22 LR version? If you invested in the rimfire version would you be able to train more. As a gun guy, I like guns and shooting so the cost/benefit works out. You need to do your own math.

Hope this gives some food for thought.

Take care and God bless.

Red Dot On A Handgun: Range Report

I had a chance to test out a buddy’s Masada with a red dot optic mounted on it back in September (Link). The red dot was not properly set up and we were out in a field shooting a steel gong. That was fine to collect some initial observations and determine that I wanted to look further into this type of configuration and test it out a bit more thoroughly.

Instead of the Masada I used my standard bedside gun, the Glock 19. Instead of spending a couple hundred dollars on a slide machined to mount a red dot or $500-600 on a G19 MOS that comes with a slide machined for a red dot from the factory I used some Christmas money and found a slightly cheaper option.

I already had a spare Glock 19 in the safe and to mount the sight I bought the TRUGLO Red-Dot Sight Mount. This mount presses into the rear sight dovetail and replaces the rear sight. Since this will be for testing purposes only I am OK running without a backup iron sight option. If needs change I still have the rear sight and can replace the optic mount in a matter of minutes. I topped it with the same Vortex Venom that was mounted on the IWI Masada I played with. This is probably not the optic I would run with if this was to be my self-defense weapon but for testing it is fine.

Glock 19 with TRUGLO Sight Mount and Vortex Venom

Finding the dot…

I don’t recall having any issue “finding the dot” on the Masada. It could be that I did and don’t recall. It could be that I was unused to the platform and so didn’t have any habits to unlearn. It could be that the sights helped me locate the dot more quickly on the Masada. It could also be that the optic sits much higher due to the different mounting system. Or, it could be a combination of all the above. The bottom line is that it can be pretty tough to locate that pesky little dot. This is something that can be trained for though.

Range Time

I spent a few rounds getting the optic zeroed but it was actually pretty quick and easy. Once it was zeroed I shot another couple of dozen rounds getting used to it and trying it at different distances. Then came the two real tests I wanted to perform:

1. Shooting a dot drill at fairly close range (7-10 yards).

I didn’t have my timer with me but based on gut feel (we know how accurate that is) I didn’t notice any significant difference in either speed or accuracy. With that said, although I am no speed demon I am faster than most folks on this type of drill. So, being on par out of the box (so to speak) is definitely not a negative thing. I think for a new shooter they would reach my level of competence much more quickly using a red dot optic.

Next time out I would like to try the same drill at a longer distance.

2. Shooting a six inch target at 35 yards.

Now this was where the red dot came into its own.

Six Inch Target At 35 Yards

With iron sights I can hit torso of a B-27 target pretty reliably at this distance with iron sights. I call my performance at this distance minute of bad guy. That’s better than most people but no Jack Wilson.

Now switch to the the optic and the game changes. I was able to put all five shots within the six inch target (mostly) on my first try. Not only was I able to dramatically improve my accuracy at this distance but was able to do so in significantly less time than it would have taken with iron sights. I will be very curious to stretch this out a bit and see how far I can make shots like this. Could I hit a man sized target at 100 yards? Maybe.

This was just a quick range session to test out the equipment. I can’t wait to get a little more trigger time with this setup and put a timer on things.

Take care and God bless.

What Did You Prep This Month?

Walk With God

Completed another round of praying for my 100 closest neighbors. Began a study of the book of Zechariah. Continued teaching Sunday School and attending church.

Self Defense/Hunting

Verified the zero on my hunting rifle since we head out on a hog hunting trip next weekend.

Bought some ammo; .308 hunting rounds for the trip and 5.56 just because things are a little crazy and who knows when it will become hard to find.

With some Christmas money I bought a mount that fits in the dovetail rear sight mount that allows me to mount a red dot on one of my Glock 19s. Oh, I also bought a Vortex Venom red dot to use. This is far from an optimal configuration. It sits a bit high and it is not as secure as a mount milled into the slide but this allowed me to start testing red dot equipped pistol for very little (no) cash outlay on my part.

Glock 19 with TRUGLO Sight Mount and Vortex Venom

Bought two Outside the Waistband (OWB) holsters for my Glock 43. With all that is going on in the world these days I feel less comfortable with a five shot snubbie in my pocket than I used to. The G43 provides a bit more capacity, 6+1 vs. 5, but more importantly I am a good bit faster and more accurate than I am with the snubbie. I can’t carry Inside the waistband until I either lose a good bit more weight or buy a new wardrobe. This works in the meantime and with an untucked shirt or jacket it is very well concealed.

Urban Carry Lock Leather Hybrid OWB Holster

Versacarry – 2018 Commander Holster

I deprimed and prepped some .308 and .38 Special brass.

Supplies/Gear

Not much here. I need to do some restocking of the emergency pantry as we rotated food into our regular pantry but won’t happen until February.

I did stock the freezer a bit. A buddy was cleaning out some venison to make room for the deer he killed this year and I was a lucky recipient of quite a bit of it at no cost.

Security

Nothing here.

Finances

Oh, this one is bad. Between the new vehicles, Christmas and supporting my daughter’s family we have drained the old savings down pretty low. We will start to rebuild that come February.

Fitness/Health

Gave up sodas for January but fell off the wagon and had a few recently. I will start that again after the hunting trip. I have been a little better with exercise and drinking water but have some real improvement to make in this area.

That’s it for me. That’s what I prepped this month. How about you? What did you Prep this month?

Take care and God Bless

What Did You Prep This Month?

Walk With God

Completed another round of praying for my 100 closest neighbors. Completed studies of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Continued teaching Sunday School and attending church.

Self Defense/Hunting

I replaced the triggers in two of my ARs. The trigger on one I was trying to sight in was pretty atrocious so I bought an ALG Combat Trigger that I noticed as being on sale for a good price. When I went to install it I found I had already purchased one for this rifle and had forgotten about it. So, I installed one on my AR pistol as well. The ACT keeps the trigger milspec in perms of pull (around 5.5 lbs) but smooths it out a good bit and the parts are coated and hardened. They also include a lighter spring but I don’t install those as they can be a problem with milspec (especially former combloc manufacture) ammunition.

I picked up two different Outside The Waistband  holsters that I saw on sale over Christmas. I liked the design and the price was pretty attractive so I grabbed them. I can wear them with a jacket or un-tucked shirt and still conceal pretty nicely.

Supplies/Gear

We restocked the Emergency Pantry earlier in the month. A week ago we rotated food into the primary pantry and made a shopping list to restock what we have used. It will probably be next month before I get a chance to do that.

Security

I bought a 5.56 upper receiver for my son (Christmas present). His AR is in 300 BLK. Should “something really bad” happen we will have ammunition and magazine compatibility for our rifles. My most favored son in law, Moose, already has a 5.56 AR so we are all good to go there. Two of the three of us also have 9mm Glocks to the same type of interoperability for our pistols as well. My son has a 9mm handgun but it is a different brand. Should “something really bad” happen I do have a spare Glock that he could use.

Finances

Christmas…not much added to savings but the kids and grand kids were pretty excited and happy. Each one of my kids and grand kids received a one ounce silver coin in addition to toys, gadgets and gizmos.

Fitness/Health

Totally fallen off the wagon and gaining weight again…

I have cut back on sodas with the idea of limiting them to one a day and drinking a lot more water. I had started walking again but a combination of being sick and buried with holiday stuff (and work) cut that short.

That’s it for me. That’s what I prepped this month. How about you? What did you Prep this month?

Take care and God Bless

IWI Masada And Red Dots On Handguns

IWI, the Israeli company behind the Tavor and Galil rifles, has released a new 9mm striker fired pistol in the US market; the Masada.

IWI Masada

It has received some very good reviews online but, for the most part, it is another “me too” entry in the 9mm pistol market; polymer frame, striker fired, interchangeable backstraps, and standard three dot sights. Nothing particularly special except that it comes optics ready straight from the factory and has an MSRP of $480.

At least one online gun seller is bundling them with a Vortex red dot sight and selling them for $568.99 (link) which is about what a Glock 19 MOS is running without the optic.

Masada + Vortex Venom

A buddy (who is a bit of an Israeli-phile) noticed the price an immediately ordered one. He was kind enough to let me run a few magazines through it and I thought I would share a few of my thoughts and observations.

The Masada

This is a nice little pistol.

What do you mean little pistol? Isn’t it a duty sized pistol with a 17 round magazine capacity?

Yup. But it doesn’t feel that way.

The shape and contour of the grip makes this feel smaller in the hand. Unlike the similarly sized Glock 17 it does not feel like you are holding a 2×4 in your hand. It compares favorably to Wonderful Wife’s M&P 9c and feels better (and smaller) than my own Glock 19s. My stubby little thumb can reach the magazine release without completely shifting my grip. I don’t know which backstrap was installed but it was extremely comfortable for myself with my stubby little finger and for my buddy and his ape hands. It is an amazing feat of ergonomic engineering.

The trigger is unremarkable. It is there. It works and it doesn’t stand out in either a good or bad way. It is not a crisp as the P320 but seems a bit better than the Glock triggers. So, standard middle of the road striker fired pistol trigger.

The three dot sights are basic and cheap. Better than standard Glock sights but not as good as the X-ray sights on the SIG.

For the price this little pistol is an excellent value. I recommend it highly and if I were not already invested in other platforms it would be high on my “I want” list.

So how about the red dot on a pistol?

Glad you asked.

Red Dot Sight

Like the Masada the Vortex Venom is not a top of the line red dot, but it is an excellent sight for the money. If you will be carrying into battle an Aimpoint will probably be tougher and more durable. For a night stand gun this is a great little optic for the money. I had one previously and loved it until my grandson wanted it and now I don’t have one anymore. I will be getting another (or several).

I have heard good and bad about this type of configuration but this was my first time shooting a pistol with a red dot and I was anxious to see how well they would work for me. First magazine I was able to ring the steel target from around 7-10 yards most of the time. I had no problem picking up the dot when I brought the gun on target (this is a complaint many people have).

Oddly, I was more accurate with the SIG 320 with its excellent sights and I was shooting about the same level of accuracy as I did with my Ruger LCR.

Wait. What?

No, I didn’t see a dramatic increase in accuracy using a red dot in this case which is a common justification for pistols in this configuration.

Why not?

A few reasons:

1. The red dot was not perfectly sighted in. It was shooting several inches low at that distance. I didn’t realize that at first and my accuracy improved as I figured out the “hold under.”

2. I ran a grand total of (maybe) 50 rounds through the Masada with the Venom while I a lot more rounds on the P320 and even more rounds with the same sight setup (they are the same sights as on my P365 and P250. In fact everything about the P320 (except the trigger) is identical to the P250 and I have several thousand rounds through that pistol including dozens of IDPA competitions. The Ruger LCR is another platform that I put thousands of rounds through.

3. We were shooting at a pretty short range and I think that a red dot would start to make a real difference at longer distances.

So are iron sights better at these closer distances?

Not really.

There were two key differences in shooting with the red dot versus the iron sights:

1. I was able to achieve comparable accuracy with the red dot while shooting faster. Even while compensating for the improper zero on the dot I could “ring the gong” with comparable accuracy but about 30% more quickly. This would translate into more hits on target in less time. I think that is a definite plus in a self-defense situation.

2. With my eye issues I have to close my left eye when shooting iron sights. On the other hand, with the red dot, I could hit the target reliably with both eyes open. In fact with the red dot it was easy to focus on the target and what was around it. I didn’t have to concentrate on the dot like I do with standard sights. Not only does this increase my field of view but it dramatically helps in being aware of what it going on around you. I think improved situational awareness would also be a big plus in a self defense situation.

While I was initially interesting in red dots on pistols for myself I think the person who would benefit the most from this set up is Wonderful Wife. I do not practice and train as much as I should but I do practice and train a lot. Wonderful Wife is a little better about practicing and training than the average bear but she doesn’t practice nearly as much as I do. I believe her consistency, accuracy and speed would improve dramatically with this configuration. This still needs to be tested out but it is consistent with what I am hearing from other sources. I also think that if I put in anywhere near the same amount of time with this set up as I do my iron sights my shooting would improve as well.

So, there you have it. My initial experiences with the Masada and a red dot optic on a pistol. I hope to get more time on the Masada soon to further test out the concept. I may even break down and buy something for myself and not mooch off friends.

Take care and God Bless.

Red Dots On Pistols

I have been thinking a lot about red dot sights on pistols a lot lately. As I get older it is increasingly difficult to see the sights and the target at the same time. In fact, as I discovered the hard way trying to kill a snake out at the deer lease the other day it is almost impossible on a rifle at this point.

The SIG 320 RX that comes with a red dot already installed is pretty appealing. I like the 320s I have shot so far but at $750 it’s a bit more than I want to spend right now, especially since I don’t even know if I would like the SIG red dot that comes with it.

I can buy a Glock slide milled for a red dot but even cheap ones are around $200 and that’s still quite a bit to test out the idea and concept of a red dot. Especially since many of them are cut for specific red dots.

Another option I found is a company called Outer Impact. They sell an adapter to mount the red dot using the rear sight dovetail for $55. It is only a single point of contact but a lot of people swear they are stable, if properly installed. The downside is no iron sights in case the red dot fails. For testing and range time I don’t see this as a significant risk.

Another company, Suarez International also sells a similar device for $83. It replaces the rear slide cover and gives two points of contact. It also has the built in capability for iron sights, although with an exceptionally tiny sight radius.

I think I may order the Outer Impact adapter to start playing with red dots on pistols before too long and see how well it works. I’ll combine that with a Vortex Viper. I have used a number of Vortex optics and have been impressed with them for the most part. If I don’t decide to stay with red dots on a pistol I can always repurposed it for one of my rifles.

What are your thoughts and experiences with red dot optics on pistols?

Take care and God bless.