A Final Rant

“How much SH-T…do you NEED?” - Lewis Black. I’ve posted this to summarize the rants I’ve made against the “improvements” in pistol designs that have managed to creep in and suck us into - or FORCED us into buying them. I firmly remain convinced that grip-safeties, de-cockers, loaded-chamber indicators, and magazine-disconnects are unnecessary features - dependence and reliance on them can lead to a FALSE sense of safety and security. The solution is simple, and can be answered with one word - Y-O-U! YOU are the FINAL responsibility for these functions that gunmakers now insist as “must-have” add-ons, and I strongly suspect sleazy, geedee politicians have had more than a small influence here - when I shopped S & W 2.0 pistols, one model was described as, “No Thumb Safety Compliant”. When I looked into this, I discovered that without a thumb-safety, it had to have a 10-pound trigger to be legal for sale in MA! Did someone even TRY to explain how a striker-fired pistol WORKED when this subject came up? These are even creeping into iconic pistol designs. The new Walther PPK and PPK/S have a converted thumb-safety into a de-cocker/safety! The ONE feature I can appreciate is the extended beavertail, which solves the decades-old hammer-bite problem for this small gun. If gunmakers really give a damn about the shooting public, the ONE option they should offer is more barrel-length choices - the Beretta P X 4 “Storm” would be better-served with a 4.5" barrel for the .40, and 4.5 - 5" for the .45 models, for instance - in addition to the 4.0" that you’re FORCED to buy now, if you want one. Springfield Armory’s “XD” represents a 20-year silent feud - now a grudge - against them. Notice that their newer pistols don’t have the “XD” ubiquitous grip-safety? Hmmm - maybe they had so many people willing to “pitch a bitch” about this that they left it off. When I’ve shopped pistols in the past, SA guns are one of the first one or two makes I’ve looked at and easily bypassed - they’ve lost K’s of business I would’ve given them over many years as a result. Maybe that’s the answer or solution - a “Bud Light”-style boycott until purist demands are heard. AMEN & FAREWELL

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P.S. - The pistol I’VE envisioned might be regarded as a “novelty” - hammerheaded Samuel Colt considered Rolin White’s bored-out revolver cylinder - to receive rimmed cartridges - as such, and kept on making cap-and-ball guns. Too bad White didn’t take it to Remington or Starr…

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Have you ever looked in to heckler and Koch LEM triggers. Sounds like Something right up your alley. Very long very light trigger pull up to the break then very short reset. Trying to explain it doesn’t do it justice.

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Look at my “deal-killer” post on H & K - I don’t care if they invent the “wonder-gun”. With the amount of crap that can be added to a pistol, it makes me almost want to go back to wheelguns.

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I don’t want THIS ugly lump, either - it needs streamlining, and hurts my old eyes.

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Are we after looks for a concealed firearm, or function?

How about:

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You cannot go wrong with the VP9

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I started out with Glock and went through SEVERAL, 34 different makes/models of pistols before settling on a G5 G19 and G3 G30(both with hump removal) because at the end of the day it has nothing to do with looks and absolutely everything about what is going to do the job when I need it to.

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STOP with the photos, already - one gun I’d like to have is a Springfield XD - WITHOUT the slide-blocking grip-safety, and the ugly indicator, cut into the top of its slide. I’ve been in shooting sports for over 40 years - when compound bows showed up in archery, I dismissed these mechanical monstrosities as such, and stuck with stable, well-made, tried-and-true longbows - even Howard Hill dismissed them as “throwing machines”. With all the advertising and hype regarding compounds over the years, you’d think they’d split the sound barrier by now. The same goes for guns…oooh,wait…Glock’s new gun has a pop-up nose-picker - to relieve a sudden itch you might get at the range.

One more thing I hate seeing on guns are the legal disclaimers: will fire with magazine removed, read manual before use, etc. Keep it clean: name, rank, serial number. The more sanitary the looks the better. Just my opinion.

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I call them “nervous Nellies” - WHY is it necessary to treat a DA/SA pistol any differently than a DA/SA revolver? Striker-fired pistols are only half-cocked after you rack the slide, and only fire when the trigger is pulled. You can bet sleazoid, hammerheaded politicians have had some hand in this, alongside acquiescent - maybe even WOKE - bigshots in the gunmaking business. As I’ve said, until they go back to sensible, basic designs, I’m going to be a walking, talking middle finger for the shooting public.

Because DA/SA pistols put themselves into SA when you fire them in DA.

Revolvers don’t put themselves into SA.

You also don’t need to decock a revolver from SA into DA just because you loaded it. Swinging the cylinder out doesn’t cock it the way racking the slide on a semi auto to load it does

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