First, my mom has been home now for about a month. True, she currently has 24-hour assisted living care, but she's much happier and more mobile. We still have to visit all her doctors, but she's already looking forward to care for 12 hours, and then finally back to 100% on her own. I've gotten to like the four people who rotate through here, and so has she. Thanks for all the prayers. We now need a new set to help her get her back to her more active life.
As far as guns go, a quick announcement. I have just spent the best $10 in my life for a near-perfect solution to my Kimber Solo problems. It's nice to have the answer before anyone has even asked the questions. I have not yet seen a real-life review of the weapon, and I think I've got things pretty well squared away.
I put the tiniest Hogue wrap-around rubber sleeve on the grip, and all my problems have just about vanished.
The rubber sleeve gives my right hand about 800% more control, and I can now rack the slide normally, and hold on to the gun when firing without a problem. I had no idea before I tried this on a hunch that the solution was all in my right hand.
I "solved" the ammo problem by switching to exotic (and expensive) Fiocchi 92gr high-performance ammo. Recoil is still slightly stiff firing it in the Kimber, but no worse than firing 71gr ball in my Beretta .32. In fact, until I get holster and trigger-time issues sorted out, my Beretta is my constant pocket-protector. Now that I jumped through all the hoops for a license, I've come to the conclusion that it's my moral duty to be armed at times, even if it's with this little popgun.
And in a long-overdue followup, I finally got some trigger time in on my AR57 "suburban carbine" now that I have that Demon Tactical adjustable takedown pin in it. Prior to using the pin, I was getting rather poor groups, even with the Timney target trigger. That's because I could cause the upper to shake, rattle, and roll against the lower just by wiggling it with my hands. Various kinds of rubber washers didn't really help, except to cut down the noise of metal-against-metal.
So after verifying my 25 yard sight-in (to approximate a 100 yard zero) with the Eotech, I tried about 25 rounds with moderate effort on my part to shoot a good group. At 25 yards, the read dot was slightly smaller than the bullseye, so I was able to do a fair job of keeping the red dot centered.
I had the AR57 sighted in for the 40gr "sporting" round, so the little 19gr pills shot a little high. But I was really stuned at how well both rounds grouped. I have no doubt I could even do better with a good 4x scope, but this is my first attempt at accuracy, and I don't think I'll mess any further trying to improve things. Of course, the FN ammo itself is accurate and vey clean-burning (just a little gray dust on the bolt face and chamber mouth after 100 rounds), and the free-float bull barrel helps, too.
Despite my fondness for the exotic FN PS90, I have to admit that this rifle I slapped together out of parts from the Brownells catalog is a better, cheaper, and more accurate weapon. For where I live, this is definitely my go-to weapon to get the job done at 100 yards and under. I'll save my M-faux and M1A for bigger tasks.
It's also a good way to get into the 5.7mm game for probably $400 less than the FN PS90. The adjustable takedown pin and target trigger bring out the inherent accuracy of the bullet/upper receiver combination. Add to that recoil a bit more stiff than .22LR, and what's not to like?
All of this leads up to the news of the week: in a moment of weakness (I have them all the time), I decided to add a 1986-vintage German cop HK P7 a home for the gee-whiz weapons I like to collect (and sometimes shoot).
Apparently due to some sort of sales agreement, West German police departments that sold their H&K items to regular importers had to deface the H&K police proofmarks. This one was sold back to Heckler & Koch, so all their markings remained intact when it was imported by H&K USA. This one must have spent all 25 years in a holster while the owner chowed down on donuts ("Ich bin ein Berliner"), because it has about 80% original finish left, but is literally unfired internally.
It was intended to be a flat, compact handgun, and compares favorably in size with the current Walther PPS. Being all steel, it's a bit heavy, but it should handle the heavier 9mm military ammo better. I had no problems firing 115gr rounds through it.
The design is quite radical, and after taking the grips off, I could see why. First, the weapon has a gas delayed blowback action. A cylinder and piston below the barrel is filling up with combustion gases, and acting like a shock absorber, while the recoil is trying to slam the whole slide back on the frame. The spring around the fixed barrel is strong enough to move the slide forward again, but would not be strong enough to keep things together if this was a straight blowback design.
If that wasn't enough, the safety/firing mechanism is what we call a "squeeze cocker", although it probably has a more impressive name in German. It takes a good amount of pressure to squeeze the front of the grip into the frame. That cocks the striker, and connects the trigger. As long as you keep a firm grip on it, the weapon is ready to fire. Release the grip, and it goes back to an uncocked striker and disconnected trigger.
Removing the grips convinced me the weapon was basically unfired, and was the work of a mad German scientist/gun designer. First was the incredible complexity of what was happening behind the scenes. I can usually look "under the hood", and get a good idea of how things work, but not this time. Strictly Rube Goldberg, but it works fine.
Second, there was absolutely no wear or bright spots where the parts touched. I just put a tiny dot of Nanolube on each pivot and contact point, and buttoned everything up. It's already working smoother. More on this magnificent anachronism in the future.
Editorial note: my photo hosting site started acting wonky, so I couldn't include the last few pictures. I'll post them when/if things start working better.
