Hand guns

[OCD Solutions]

Good to hear, now I'm looking forward to shooting it even more.

They had an older Ruger 9mm that was in the same class as the Sig. Steel frame, solid and heavy. I can't find it on their website so it must be an older version.

EDIT: Found it! Looks like a Ruger P89 in 9mm and is available with 2 mags for around $450.

 

[Matt_E]

Probably the older Ruger P-Series, maybe a P89. I've shot one but didn't spend enough time with it.

My all-time favorite hand gun I've ever owned was the Walther P99. I got one of the first year models when they still could be had for about $500.

This is the one I had:

Unfortunately I had to sell it a while back along with the rest of my guns due to circumstances beyond my control (not money).

 

[OCD Solutions]

You are correct, it's the P89. I'll take a couple hundred extra rounds next time and shoot the ruger P89 and Sig 226 back to back.

I like the looks and feel of the Walther P series but I steered away after shooting the P22. My wife tried one on her first trip to the range and it was a bastard to get to fire. We dropped and refed the mag several times, tried the safety in both positions multiple times and every combination under the sun before it would finally fire. Most likely something we were doing wrong but when I placed 6 guns in front of her to buy, she shunned the P22 and settled on the Ruger SR22.

 

[Matt_E]

I've never shot the P22 but I've checked it out in great detail. I liked the P99 so much that I considered buying the P22 for a long time. After much research I decided not to do it. It only looks like a P99. It's blow-back operated, not very reliable, and kind of cheap feeling. The P99 feels worlds different. I never had any feeding issues, or any reliability issues at all with it.

 

[OCD Solutions]

I think the issue we were having with it was that the slide will come back far enough to feed a round into the chamber without cocking the hammer. Ironically enough, we experience it on the SR22 as well so maybe it's a .22lr thing. :dunno:

I was just reading up on the P89 and found several comments about how solid of a gun they were. Only real complaint seems to be the accuracy and the trigger. There were multiple responses saying that they much preffered the new SR9 over the older steel framed P89 and even the newer polymer version P95.

The heavier guns just shoot so much smoother though.

 

[Matt_E]

The heavier guns just shoot so much smoother though.

That's been my experience.

 

[OCD Solutions]

So many choices...I just mentioned buying one of each and my wife just rolled her eyes. That's not a "No" in my book so I'm good to go right? :naughty:

 

[Matt_E]

My dearest was always happy as long as I bought her one, too.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Mines not shooting as much as I had hoped but agrees with me that range shooting is actually pretty boring. I mentioned trying an outdoor range instead and she perked right up so there's hope yet. I also mentioned gearing up to try 3 gun Larue but I don't think she realizes just how much "gearing up" will cost, lol. The Mossberg 500 isn't that expensive but the AR will likely not get the green light. :biggrin:

P.S. I just passed another hurtle in my quest to become an American citizen so it's my duty to arm us to to the teeth isn't it? :usa:

 

[Matt_E]

How many hurdles are there these days? For me - over twelve years ago - it was just a matter of being married to a US citizen, paying document fees, and being patient.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Patience and documentation are the two big ones. Just got the conditions of marriage removed and now just have to wait till July 18th before I can submit for full citizen.

This last hurtle had me nervous mostly because my green card expired back on Aug 19th and even though I applied 2 months before the expiration date, I just now received a letter of approval and still have to wait up to 60 days to receive my updated card. Up until last night, I had not recieved a single update on my case and I really felt uncomfortable walking around with an expired card for the last 9 months not knowing what was going on. I made numerous calls and all I could ever get was that my case was pending and that they would contact me if they required any more information.

I have put off more than a few trips back to Canada and elsewhere out of country waiting for the upodated documentation. I have a letter stating my application was accepted and green card extended for one year but if you travel with that letter and lose it...you are up the famous creek. Same goes for the actual green card I guess but it's so much easier to carry and protect than an 8.5"x11" piece of paper.

 

[Matt_E]

Smart man. I have had that happen to me when I did not know any better. We were just married for three months and went to visit my parents. My application was still pending and I did not know that I had to have an advance permit to travel outside the country. When I tried to board the plane back home with my wife, the airline would not let me on board. My wife went home and I had to stay with my parents (while in college in the US!)
I had to resubmit all my paper work to the the main US embassy in Germany and wait. It was 'only' 4 months before I got to go back home, which I later found out is a very short time for this kind of thing. Probably helped tremendously that I was white.

And to this day, my mother-in-law swears that I did it on purpose.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Wow! And stories like that are exactly why I never took the risk. Our biggest fear is being seperated by a border. It took us 36 years to find one another and will not take any risks of being seperated now.

Back on topic, the Sig Sauer 226 is a $999 gun so it better shoot well. The Ruger P89 and it's replacement, the P95, are in the $399 range. The SR9 I already own is in the $499 range so it's likely that I already have a better shooting gun than the P89 and P95 and that if I want to get into a better shooting gun, I am going to have to lay out at least a grand.

You guy's weren't kidding about the Kimber's either. Even the compact 1911 styles are in the $1200 range where you can find similar versions made by the likes of Browning for under $500.

 

[Matt_E]

The issue with 1911's is basically this: it was designed to be a battlefield gun that would function no matter what load you fed through it, no matter the weather conditions, no matter how muddy or wet it got. Your standard Colt, Springfield, or RRA 1911 for $500 will do all that very well. But you notice the parts fit very loosely. They have to, to achieve the stated goals. Unfortunately, those lose tolerances are counter-productive for accuracy. (Same with AK's)
So what Wilson, Kimber, Les Baer, Ed Brown high dollar 1911's get you is a 1911 design with very close tolerances and well matched parts. You probably lose some reliability under all conditions, but you get accuracy. And that's where the money goes.
When I owned 1911's, I had them for concealed carry and did not much care for a high dollar accuracy gun. I just wanted something that would work no matter what.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Good to know. I still want one. :biggrin:

I finally got around to fixing my brain fart and modded my case yet again so it will actually fit all my magazines. 17 rounds in the gun plus 51 more to back it up.

68 rounds ready to go.

 

[Matt_E]

Very nice.

 

[Big Kahuna]

The issue with 1911's is basically this: it was designed to be a battlefield gun that would function no matter what load you fed through it, no matter the weather conditions, no matter how muddy or wet it got. Your standard Colt, Springfield, or RRA 1911 for $500 will do all that very well. But you notice the parts fit very loosely. They have to, to achieve the stated goals. Unfortunately, those lose tolerances are counter-productive for accuracy. (Same with AK's)
So what Wilson, Kimber, Les Baer, Ed Brown high dollar 1911's get you is a 1911 design with very close tolerances and well matched parts. You probably lose some reliability under all conditions, but you get accuracy. And that's where the money goes.
When I owned 1911's, I had them for concealed carry and did not much care for a high dollar accuracy gun. I just wanted something that would work no matter what.

That is why I like my Glock 19. Don't have to worry about it working.

 

[Matt_E]

Don't have to worry about it with a plain jane or high dollar 1911, either.

 

[Idok]

p22's are junk

 

[RivMan]

I own a P89, love this gun. It's built like a tank, it'll shoot any ammo, and I've never had any type of malfunction with it in thousands of rounds. Highly recommended for an accurate gun that always goes bang.

-Rob