Call me Ahab

posted by Caleb on Jul 10

As I mentioned in the post immediately below this, I just acquired a used-but-not-abused Glock 24, which was Glock’s .40 S&W competition model that was made right up until the currently offered Glock 35 was introduced.

I had been looking for a Glock to shoot USPSA, GSSF, Pins, and other action sports with, and had initially planned on getting the Glock 35 so I could shoot it in IDPA as well. Then yesterday in Gander Mountain, I happened across this used Glock 24 for sale. It had almost zero wear on it, the trigger was great, and this gun is LOADED out. Nevermind the cheap holster it came with, whoever had this gun before me had the frame modified for a laser sight - seeing as this is the pre-rail Glock model, the laser sight is now built into the trigger guard. Plus, the sights are fully adjustable Trijicon night sights, so uh, awesome. What’s that you said? Pics or it didn’t happen?

I also managed to get a really good shot of the porting on the front of the barrel. Unlike the other “C” model Glocks, the Glock 24 uses a series of elliptical ports which increase in size the closer they get to the muzzle; the standard “C” models use two parallel ports.

I am really, really excited about taking this gun to the range - the previous owner had obviously had a serious interest in this gun, going so far as to have the frame forward of the trigger guard cut to accommodate a laser sight. You can see exactly what I mean in this last picture.

I’m actually kind of surprised that this gun went for how low a price I got it for, especially when you consider the Trijicon sights, the laser, and the (admittedly cheap) holster and mag pouch it came with. Add to that the fact that there is very little wear on the gun, just some minor cosmetic scuffs on the slide; and you get what amounts to an almost brand new competition gun, ready to go shoot the Bianchi Cup or a USPSA Match right out of the box (with the laser disabled, of course).

My best guess is that the previous owner of the pistol bought it, had the work done, shot it a few times and then put it in his safe, and then later sold it when he couldn’t compete any longer - now their loss is my great gain.  This sort of stuff does happen a lot, you buy a gun to compete and then never shoot it, and years later you end up needing some dough, so off the gun goes. Now because of that sale, I am pumped up to shoot this gun; I can’t recall the last time I was this excited about taking a gun to the range to go a-blastin’. You have my word that you’ll get a full range report once I do shoot my new-to-me Glock 24.

posted by Caleb on Jul 10

My birthday is the 12th, and in honor of such a joyous occasion, Mrs. Ahab has gifted me with a truly wonderous gift - I get to overspend the gun budget.

Now, that may seem frivolous to you, but I understand the importance of a budget (or more accurately, I fear my wife’s wrath), especially where my hobby is concerned, as I have been known in the past to go a little crazy with gun stuff.

I had mentioned that I was looking at either a Glock 34/35 or a Taurus Judge, and oddly enough I ended up with neither. See the below picture for the grand total of my birthday swag.

What you see there is a Glock 24 (the discontinued competition model), a spare magazine for the Glock, 150 rounds of .40 S&W for the Glock, and a cheap holster and magazine case for the Glock. That’s my birthday present. What also fortuitously came today were the fruits of me selling a gun, namely my 2nd Beretta Jetfire, with a spare magazine, two holsters, and a pistol rug; not only that my shipment of 147gr 9mm HPs for my Beretta 92D came yesterday as well.

Yesterday was an awesome day for gun stuff.  I’m obviously excited about the Glock, as it gives me a single platform to shoot for USPSA, Bowling Pins, and GSSF - the only sport I can’t really shoot it in is IDPA, since the Glock is ported and wouldn’t fit in their “box” anyway.

The Beretta is allegedly going to be my wife’s carry gun when she gets around to filling out her permit paperwork and all of that jazz, she liked mine and thought it was “cute”.  Even if she doesn’t carry it, I have no problem having a second version of the gun I carry the most often - it never hurts to have a spare.

So if you add up all the cool stuff I received, you could probably say that this was a very good birthday, and it hasn’t even officially happened yet.

posted by Caleb on Jul 9

I will be swinging by my local retailer of firearms today to pick up my birthday present, which will most likely be a Glock 34 in 9mm, although there is some personal “wiggle room” on that issue.  Also, I should be getting my 2nd Beretta Jetfire via FedEx today, which is “officially” the wife’s new carry gun if she ever gets around to actually filling out the paperwork for her carry license.

And don’t worry, I wouldn’t dream of getting two new guns in one day and not posting any pictures, it’s an absolutely leadpipe lock that I’ll post pictures.

posted by Caleb on Jul 1

Stolen from Bane:

 I wanted to mention something about guns that wasn’t about gun control. The cherubs and seraphim tell me that a major American ammunition manufacturer is getting ready to pop, so to speak, a high performance .380 round tailored specifically for the little Ruger LCP. Well why not? With sales still grinding through the stratosphere, the little LCP has redefined “pocket pistol” and given the long dis’sed .380 a quick poke in the butt. Mine is the very definiiton of “reliable” and it’s now generally stoked with Cor-Bon DPXs.

As a very big fan of the .380 ACP, I can only say that this is awesome.  A .380 round optimized for short barrels like those on the Kel-Tyke and the Ruger LCP would probably sell like freakin’ hotcakes, and I would probably buy a .380 just so I could have an excuse to run the round.

posted by Caleb on Jun 30

Unlike some guys, I have exactly zero problems with pretty/cute guns, because honestly it’s just a tool, and if someone decides they want their tool to be more aesthetically pleasing, more power to you.

This time, The Breda has put some dead sexy custom made grips on her Bersa Thunder, taking it from average looking to a hot little number.

I should also note that I approve of the pretty flower/handgun photo.

posted by Caleb on Jun 30

The monthly pin shoot at Marion County Fish and Game was a blast, as usual.  I brought my Taurus Tracker in .357, which I shot like crap with, and my Walther P22.  It turned out that I only shot one real bracket with the .357, as for the second bracket one of the regulars asked me if I’d like to try his Smith & Wesson 945, which is the Performance Center 1911.  I have to tell you, shooting a $2k pistol was painful experience, but I did for you, my dear readers.

Here’s a pretty awesome picture from the shoot - the gun has opened up and you can see the empty casing in the air, and the bullet has just hit the left most pin.  Click to embiggenate.

Even though this video is titled “Part 2″ it’s actually the first video with me shooting the 945; had a pretty good time shooting it.

The second video is a lot of fun - as you can see, I had fallen behind on the actual pins because I dropped a couple of shots.  I made up the time on the reload, which lead to us having quite the photo finish.  I give a little Tiger Woods-style fist pump right there at the end; and if you slow the playback down you can see how closely together our pins hit the the ground.

However, I saved the best video for last.  Here’s my buddy Greg, who normally shoots a Beretta 92 in 9mm, trying out a guy’s S&W double action .45 Colt.  He has a little bit of trouble with it, but the video is so great I had to post it.  Everyone is yelling and hollering, which made what was already a fun round even more interesting.

I didn’t get any video of the .22 round this week, and even more sadly I didn’t get video of what we did after the pinheads match.  We had some time to kill, so the ROs let people just kind of “have at it” at the little pinheads with whatever caliber they wanted.  Let me tell you, a pinhead flies when you hit it with a .357 magnum round.

The next pins match is July 26, and there is a Friday night steel match on July 11.  If I have my new Glock 35 by the 11th, I’ll make a solid effort to be there for the match.

As usual, the pin shoot was a great time - it really is one of the most fun things you can do with a pistol.

posted by Caleb on Jun 10

Today’s vidcast is on my 1935 Beretta; one of many sub-caliber pistols to see service during World War II.

On a side note, I apologize for the feet - my usual vidcasting table was hijacked for nefarious purposes (read: cat on my table).

You can view all of my vidcasts at the Call me Ahab Youtube channel, which seems to have fixed the crazy audio problems I used to have! Next week I’ll be in California, so a vidcast might be a little difficult, but I’ll see what I can do.

posted by Caleb on Jun 2

I went to the Indy 1500 this weekend in the hopes of scoring a ‘34 Beretta in .380 ACP, and had an outside hope of grabbing a 1951 Beretta, mostly because I’m love with the idea of a single-stack, single action 9mm Beretta.

I had thought the show was going to be a bust until right before I left, when I spotted a ‘51 in a guy’s case, which I snatched up right away.  At the time, I figured it was “just another M951″, and went home quite happy.  It wasn’t until I got home and was looking at it side-by-side with my Jetfire that I realized this wasn’t just any old ‘51 Beretta.

When looking at it next to the Jetfire, all of a sudden my brain clicked into gear; I realized that my new 1951 had a heel-type magazine release, instead of the push-button type that was standard on most ‘51 Berettas.  I then noticed that the barrel seemed a little longer than it should have been, which was mental trigger number 2.

The only members of the 1951 family that had a heel type mag release were the 1951E-series, the “E” indicating that they were issued to the Egyptian army.  My pistol’s serial number is correct for it to be part of the E-series as well, and it even has the slightly shorter frame which makes the barrel appear to be longer than on the standard ‘51 models.

I am a little sad though - the 1951E models also had a lanyard ring where the mag release would have been on the rest of the 51’s, as you can see in the pictures, the grip panels cover up where the lanyard ring should be on this model of Beretta.  I popped the grips off, and sure enough could see two little faint marks of where the lanyard ring had been cut off the gun at some point in its life.

My specimen was made in 1955, and from what I can tell has not been fired very much.  The magazine is aftermarket, and the grips are not original to the gun, however the mechanicals are in magnificent condition.  I have to wonder what kind of journey it took to get into the United States, especially considering that it’s not wearing any import stamps.  I also wonder about the history of the gun - who cut the lanyard ring off?  Did some Egyptian officer decide he wanted different grips on the gun?  Did the original grips get damaged, and the lanyard ring have to be cut off to install replacement grips from a non-E model ‘51?  Questions like this are why I love C&R collecting.

As a collector’s piece, it doesn’t have the kind of value that it would have if it still had the original grips, magazine, and lanyard ring, but it makes an interesting addition to my collection.  It should also make a pretty decent shooter as well; like most single action Berettas, the trigger is wonderful with a crisp letoff and very little creep.  Hopefully I’ll get a chance to take it out blasting this weekend.

posted by Caleb on May 23

From John Snow at The GunShots:

Beretta says its sub-compact versions of the PX4 Storm pistols are going to start shipping on June 1. The pistols come in either 9mm (13+1) or 40 S&W (10+1) and list for $600 and $575 respectively.

Did someone say “sub-compact 9mm Beretta”? Maybe I can get John to send me their test pistol for uh…further testing and carrying.

Sidebar note: I’ve added a new category for posts, labeled “Beretta”, since I plan on doing some Beretta specific content here in the future.

posted by Caleb on May 21

My last gun porn post from the NRA Annual Meetings centers around my wife’s search for a carry gun.  She’s starting the process of getting her Indiana carry permit, and wants a gun that is not only effective, but “cute”.  I fully support her in this endeavor, because honestly I don’t care what a gun looks like as long as it does the job of going bang when the trigger is pulled.

The gun below is one I’m trying to get my hands on so I can really wring it out - it’s the Charter Arms .327 Federal Magnum with a 3 inch barrel.  I’m intrigued by this cartridge - in theory it could be the coolest thing to happen to concealed carry wheelguns in a long time.

The rest of the pictures are contained beneath the cut, again I don’t want to jam up the entire front page with a giant gun porn post.

Read the rest of this entry »