Gun Stuff on John's Random Review

Pretty, Pretty Quiet!

Sat, 27 Sep 2014 20:39:29 +0000

Almost a decade ago, I posted my original review of my springfield 1911. Over the years, little mods have taken place, like different grips, a different magwell, etc. The newest piece is a modification to the gun to enable an addition. I replaced the standard barrel with a threaded storm lake barrel, so that I could attach a suppressor! And yes, silencers are legal!

Ben Avery Review #3: Lotsa-shotguns edition

Sun, 06 May 2012 06:02:53 +0000

They say, “Variety is the spice of life.” That’s almost the perfect description for my 3rd trip to the Ben Avery shooting facility during our annual spring break trip to Arizona.

This year, Jimbo, Art, and I shot trap again, but rotated through a set of shotguns to see which one we liked (or which ones liked us) better.

The trip to Ben Avery is always one of my favorite parts of the trip, even if it is only a couple hours of our week. This year, I even remembered to bring my earplugs and shooting glasses. One of these years, I’ll have a trap gun of my own, and maybe I’ll bring that along as well. And maybe by then, Easton will be joining us. But that’s a long way off :).

Happy 1911 Day!

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 06:05:56 +0000

On March 29, 1911 the army adopted the John Moses Browning designed M1911 pistol. And today, 100 years later, the 1911 is still used by some of the special forces groups of the military and is still one of the most popular handguns in the world.

The first gun I bought was a 1911 pistol. It is still my favorite handgun to shoot, although shooting a lot of .45 gets expensive! So I bought a Marvel Precision .22 LR conversion that allows me to shoot .22 LR, and then I bought another (used) 1911 so that I didn’t have to keep swapping the conversion on and off. The collection has grown, but I still shoot both of those pretty often. I’ve even used the 45 in pistol league a few weeks, and it’s a lot of fun!

Ben Avery Review #2: The Shotgunning Edition

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 05:37:18 +0000

Last year, Art took us to Ben Avery Shooting Facility to shoot some of his guns, and we had a grand old time.

In what has become an annual tradition, we went again this year during spring training. But this year, instead of rifles and revolvers, this year was all about: Shotguns!

Jim and Art used over/under Browning shotguns, and I used a browning single shot. We then each shot ~60 birds of trap shooting. Ben Avery is a huge place, with something like 18 trap fields, so the 3 of us had a trap field to ourselves. This was good since neither Jim or I had shot trap before, and we didn’t want to slow anyone else down.

Random Review: Pistol League @ SSNW

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:49:29 +0000

I’ve been going to a pistol league at Shooting Sports Northwest for a few weeks now. I’ve never competed in any gun related things before, so this is a first for me.

There are 3 events every week, and you shoot each event twice.

The first part is called “zombies”, and is worth the most points. 10 rounds, 9 targets. the back row of 3 poppers pops up, and is up for a few seconds. Then the middle row of 3, then the front row of 3. The zombies are scored on distance; the back row is worth 20, 18, 15, middle 12, 10, 10, putting the front row at only 7, 7, 7. Most people will use as many rounds as they can to get the back row.

Random Review: Ben Avery Shooting Facility

Mon, 03 May 2010 05:51:56 +0000

While in Arizona for spring training, my step-dad Art took my brother and me to the Ben Avery Shooting Facility outside of Phoenix.

Here's the panorama view from where we were sitting. I should have gotten a couple more shots to the left, though!

Here's the view from space:

The main 200 yard range is just eastnortheast a bit of where the orange dot is on the map. If you zoom in you can see what 200 yards looks like from space. Then zoom back out and see HOW HUGE that place is! It was awesome! Weather was nice, not too warm, not too cold. A little windy, but not so much that it really affected us at the distance we were shooting.

Spike's Tactical AR-22: one year later.

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 05:05:05 +0000

I’ve now had my Spike’s Tactical AR-22 for more than a year. Its now on a different lower than it originally was, has some different accessories, and has lots of ammo through it!

Go to the original review.

In 2009, i put more than 2300 rounds through it, with only 27 failures. And of those 28, 15 were on one day early in February, where i tried to use CCI Mini-mags. Lets just say that it doesn’t like those! I also think i went through a bad batch of ammo in January, where i had ~100 light strikes or duds. It happened with 2 separate lowers, so I don’t think it was hammer or spring related.

Random Review: A piece of history

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:02:42 +0000

I recently received this amazing piece of WWII era history through the Civilian Marksmanship Program:

A Springfield Armory M1 .30 Caliber Rifle, commonly called an M1 Garand.

The serial number is in the 278xxxx range, which, according to Fulton Armory (via Scott Duff), makes its manufacture date in March of 1944. By the proof marks on the stock (pics to follow!) it looks like the stock is much newer, either HRA or IH from the mid to late 50’s. Either way, i think it is the oldest thing i own!

Now I want an ACOG even more!

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:23:22 +0000

Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.

-- From ABCNews.com

I love how all of a sudden a marking like JN8:12 is a “Secret Jesus Code”, instead of a passage in the bible.

This whole article is fully of quotes so hilarious, it should really have been published by the Onion:

A small wood finishing project.

Sat, 30 May 2009 08:28:49 +0000

Before i get to the wood part of the project, can you identify the object the wood goes with?

If you’ve never seen one stripped down, you might not recognize it. Here’s a better “pre” picture that will make everything clear.

OMG SO SCARY AK47 MACHINEGUN!!11!! No, its an AK variant, a Yugoslavian M70AB2 underfolder. Its semi-automatic, not a “machine-gun”, so don’t get your panties in a bunch. It’s less powerful than most hunting rifles. Yes, it accepts 30+ round magazines, but so does almost any semi-auto gun these days. Why do i have one? Because (1) i like guns, and (2) the bill of rights says i can, so there! And this way when zombies attack or red dawn goes down, i’ll be ready…Everyone should have at least one AK!

Truth, lies, and gun statistics

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:16:17 +0000

I posted most of this as a comment on the blog of Michael Yon, a former special forces operator turned war journalist, in a response to his post: http://www.michaelyon-online.com/tons-of-arms-flowing-to-mexico.htm. I really respect Michael, and read all of his disptaches and own all of his books, including a signed copy of Moment of Truth in Iraq.

Michael’s post is really just a link to a government document full of statistics about “tons” of guns going to Mexico. All of the block quotes here are quotes from the government document.

Random Review: Spike's Tactical AR .22LR rifle

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 08:29:34 +0000

With my stimulus check, i built a rifle! And since my xbox has RRoD’d again, i have some free time to write about it!

Assembly

It all starts as what they call a “stripped lower receiver”. This is the part that the government classifies as a “firearm”. Even though it barely resembles a gun (its just a milled piece of aluminum with some holes cut in it), it has a serial number, you have to buy it at a gun shop and fill out paperwork and everything.

2 Years Later: Marvel Precision .22LR 1911 Conversion Review

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 05:04:29 +0000

My mini-2 year review of my Marvel Precision .22LR 1911 conversion. This is a continuation of my adventures with it, continued from the original post, and my 1 year followup!

I’ve been keeping religious track of range time in a Numbers spreadsheet for about 9 months now, so I can give exact numbers and ammo used and everything. in the last 9 months i’ve fired:

Ammunition	Rounds
CCI Mini-mags	300
CCI Stingers	133
Total	433

Follow the jump for the rest of the details and some pics.

1 Year Later: Marvel Precision .22LR 1911 Conversion Review

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 08:03:36 +0000

I’ve had my Marvel Precision conversion kit for more than a year, and my first review of it here was just over a year ago. So In a year, and probably close to 4,000 rounds through it, how has it held up?

10 rounds at 30 feet →

Marvel Precision .22LR 1911 Conversion Review

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 07:30:17 +0000

I previously posted a review of my Springfield 1911, and after using my Marvel Precision Unit 1 1911 .22 LR conversion kit for a while, here are my notes on that. This is a continuation of a previous article, about my Springfield Armory black stainless 1911.

This is one of the most popular pages on the whole site! For more information, you can also see the update to this review, one year later, and another update, the two year review!

Pretty, Pretty Bad ASS

Sun, 02 Oct 2005 18:28:26 +0000

before

after

Review of my new 1911, a Springfield Armory PX9154L, or if you like long names, “Tactical Combat Black Stainless Steel Custom Loaded 1911-A1”.