foo.c tag:mitch.net,2009-07-06:/blog//1 2012-01-08T15:49:57Z int main(void){ printf("\nHello World\n"); } Movable Type 4.3-en Glock Bulge tag:mitch.net,2012:/blog//1.288 2012-01-08T15:34:23Z 2012-01-08T15:49:57Z BeforeAfterThe first pic kind of sucks. You can actually see the bulge more clearly on the nickel plated case in the background.You can see in the first after pic that the bulge is gone but it left a little crease.... foo.c
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After

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The first pic kind of sucks. You can actually see the bulge more clearly on the nickel plated case in the background.

You can see in the first after pic that the bulge is gone but it left a little crease. In the second after pic of the nickel plated case you can see the bulge is not totally gone.

I ended up tossing both of these cases. They fit in the chamber fine, and the chamber on my M&P would support that area, but I decided to err on the side caution. Not worth a blowout to save those cases.

]]> My Lock N Load broke tag:mitch.net,2012:/blog//1.287 2012-01-07T18:52:03Z 2012-01-09T15:12:21Z I don't reload much in the Summer if I can help it because my bench is in the garage and humans will expire after 5 seconds in my garage in the Summer. Ok, not really, but it's damned hot. I... foo.c
Today is a beautiful day, sunny and mild. Thought I would start loading up some of my 40S&W gaming load since I ran out last month.

Spent last night and the early part of this morning cleaning it up, and adjusting all my dies and what not.

I went to seat the first primer, and nothing. Ok, try it again. No primer. What the heck?

The plastic piece that holds the rod that the primer "slider" uses to move back and forth is broken, so the rod is just flopping around and not letting the slider make it's full length of travel.

Damnit.

I'll be calling Hornady on Monday.

I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to pick up a hand primer. I could have gotten a couple hundred rounds done today, and that would get me through the next match. I'm going to pick one up.

UPDATE:

Hornady came through. Part is in the mail with no charge to me.
]]> Match 12/31/11 tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.286 2011-12-31T19:05:38Z 2011-12-31T19:17:44Z foo.c
Slowing down was actually fairly easy, but I had a hard time calling shots. Some of the difficulty calling shots is due to the fact that my gun is shooting this particular ammo low and some is due to not seeing the sights lift every time.

Anyway without a lot of boring filler, I got a little better each stage and shot the last stage down 0, which is IDPA speak for putting all rounds in the proper place.  It wasnt fast, but I can work on that later. 

I really need to spend some time with this gun figuring out what ammo will shoot point of aim, and then I really need to commit to at least a couple of hours per month practicing properly.
]]> Range Day tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.285 2011-12-29T19:00:20Z 2011-12-29T19:30:20Z foo.c
Hsoi has a new M&P to try out, and I just needed some trigger time in general.

I started out shooting my M&P Pro, and switched to my M&P after a while. I got to shoot the M&P at 25 yards off a rest, and it turned out to be not as accurate as I thought, roughly 6" group at 25 yards. They said I was going too fast to gauge accuracy, but the sight picture was good, and that's how I always shoot from a rest, so I think that's a pretty good representation.

Hsoi's new gun was also grouping on the order of 6", until he tried 124 grain bullets (his is a 9mm) and then it tightened up a lot. I was shooting 165 grain bullets (mine is a 40 S&W), and I'm wondering if 185 grain wouldn't do better in mine.

I got to try the FAST drill. I sucked. It didn't help any that my gun is shooting low, but I can't blame it all on that. Lot of trigger slapping, lots of rushing things. Also had a problem getting a good grip on the gun, it was wobbly at first.

I probably won't do the drill much, but it did point out that I need to be better at coming from the holster and making a precise shot. That's not something I am used to doing. At a match, I just want to come out fast. If I get a C on that shot, it's probably not a big deal and in many cases the difference between a fast C and a slow A is not that much.

There's always something to work on I guess.
]]> 'Splain it to me tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.284 2011-12-12T05:18:43Z 2011-12-12T05:28:25Z I was flicking through the channels today and our President was discussing "sacrifice" on 60 Minutes. To be honest, I didn't really listen very long because I have almost no interest in what the man has to say, but the... foo.c
Ok ...

Explain to me how getting paid for not working is a sacrifice.

How is getting free food, free healthcare, and free lodging a sacrifice?

To quote the great Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." ]]> Death Defying Day tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.283 2011-12-10T21:19:07Z 2011-12-10T21:37:19Z Be careful folks, there are some first class idiots out there.We took the kids out to get pictures with Santa. I haven't even made it out of the neighborhood before the first incident happens. A Hummer H3 pulls out in... foo.c
We took the kids out to get pictures with Santa. I haven't even made it out of the neighborhood before the first incident happens. A Hummer H3 pulls out in front of me without even looking. Anti-Lock brakes worked well, thankfully. At least this person wasn't intentionally trying kill me ...

The next incident happened as we left the mall. We were about to cross the street when my son pulled on my arm to prevent us from going into the street. There was plenty of distance between us and the oncoming truck, but this probably saved our lives. The person driving the truck, being polite, stopped and waved us across the road. We just get past the truck when the idiot gangbanger in a silver and purple POS Buick behind the truck, floors it go around. He nearly hit us. I can't help but think that if we had crossed in front of the truck like I had planned, this idiot would have done the same thing except we would have been directly in his path then. This guy is apparently unable to stand any minor inconvenience without acting like a complete asshole. His antics continued and he floors it again after we are just barely clear of him. I was seething mad, but I had to let it go. There were some things I wanted to yell, that I couldn't. Hopefully, he only ends up killing himself, and not someone else. I was too distracted to get his plate number, I wish I had.

So, a simple trip to the mall to get pictures with Santa and we end up in two near serious accidents.
]]> KR Training's Glock vs XD vs XDm vs M&P comparison tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.282 2011-12-03T18:40:29Z 2011-12-03T19:11:32Z foo.c You can see Karl's comparison here

I've owned all of them except the XDm, so it's interesting to me.

Personally, I think the M&P wins, but it doesn't win "out of the box" as they say. To me it definitely needs some love from Apex Tactical to cure the trigger reset.

Sure, you can get trigger jobs on all of them, and if we're just talking about which gun has the best aftermarket trigger it would probably be the Glock, but as a whole I like the M&P better.

These are all my opinions, of course, but the XD feels very blocky and the Glock is not exactly slim either. The XDm appears to add more blockiness and things to snag your shirt on. I imagine that if you got your calipers out there wouldn't be a whole of difference between all four of them, but the M&P is better where it counts

Having said all that, the gun I would recommend to someone wanting their first handgun would be a Glock 17. You can't really go wrong with any of them, but the Glock 17 is the standard by which all these pistols are judged. It's simple to operate and has a great reputation for reliability. Most people will just need to practice and clean it occasionally to have a good carry gun.

If someone is really unnerved by carrying a loaded gun with just a trigger safety, I would recommend the XD, as it adds the grip safety which is mostly unobtrusive. (Though Karl does point out some disadvantages to having one.) I did find that in 1 out of 1000 times (+/-) of practice drawing from concealment and dry firing that I would manage to not engage the grip safety properly. In all those times the fault could be remedied by squeezing harder.

So, I may have drank the M&P coolaid, but I still can see advantages to the other models. (I also want to say that both of my M&P's are well under 6" at 25 yards, but I do know that it's not uncommon to get one that suffers from inconsistent lockup and will show vertical stringing in shot groups. I imagine that Smith and Wesson would fix these for free, but that's just a guess based on how their customer service has treated me when they warrantied my Pro's barrel.)




]]> M&P Fixed tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.281 2011-12-03T18:33:01Z 2011-12-03T18:37:13Z The new striker did the trick. 200 rounds and no light primer strikes.I swapped the shell on my MTAC holster and my new carry setup is complete.... foo.c
I swapped the shell on my MTAC holster and my new carry setup is complete.
]]> M&P 40 Update tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.280 2011-11-26T05:06:26Z 2011-11-26T05:38:20Z foo.c Apex Tactical's DCAEK and RAM on my new M&P 40. Since I've done this once before on my 40 Pro the install was quick and easy, and I'm happy to report that the sear spring plunger did not exit the universe this time.

The trigger pull is sweet now. Smith and Wesson should buy or license these parts from Apex and make them the OEM parts. I wouldn't say the stock parts are bad, but the Apex setup is just a shitload better.

At the same time I did that I also installed the old striker spring from my M&P pro hoping that would fix my light primer strikes (it only has a couple hundred rounds on it). It did make an improvement, I went from 4 light primer strikes in a session to 1, but it's still not fixed.

So I came home from the range and ordered a new striker and extra power spring from Speed Shooter Specialties. (A brief side note: SSS doesn't know me from Adam, and I get no benefit from them for touting them here, but they have the quickest shipping hands down of any gun place I have ordered from.)

I was able to compare the two strikers and the original striker was a hair shorter than the new one I received from SSS. It looked like someone had rounded off the nub on the original striker. Given the low round count, I don't know how that happens. I'm hoping it was just an out of spec striker from the factory. (I opted not to install the extra power spring, after comparing the two strikers.)

I'm going to try and get up to the range this weekend to give it what I hope to be the final test before making it my carry gun, but I feel confident it's fixed now.
]]> New M&P 40 tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.279 2011-11-12T19:19:17Z 2011-11-12T19:34:20Z foo.c
I've been carrying my M&P 40 Pro for a while now, but I thought it would probably be better not to carry my competition gun, so I decided to get a plain ol' M&P 40.

Went up to the range this morning and shot about 150 rounds to break it in. I had 4 light primer strikes, not what I expected at all. It's a little snappier than the Pro, the pull is not as smooth (the Pro has an APEX competition kit installed) and the trigger reset is different, but other than that it shoots about the same. I know, it sounds vastly different, but it's really not.

I was hoping I could just leave it alone, but 4 light primer strikes out of 150 rounds is not going to cut it for a carry gun. Hell, it doesn't cut it for any kind of gun, but especially not for self defense purposes. In addition I short stroked the trigger rest a couple of times, so because of that APEX's duty kit will be installed.

I've probably done a 360 here, but I really liked the 3-dot sights. After a large number of IPSC matches, and a fair amount of night matches, I've found I really don't care for fiber optic sights, night sights, Big Dot sights, etc. anymore. Sometimes simple is best.

I'm about to order some parts, and will report back after they are installed.


]]> You're too old for Halloween tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.278 2011-11-01T12:54:05Z 2011-12-03T18:39:06Z If you are the size of a grown man, uttering words like "f", "mf", and "n", then you are too old to be out trick-or-treating.It only takes a few people like that to ruin Halloween for those with small kids.... foo.c
It only takes a few people like that to ruin Halloween for those with small kids. We left after encountering that group.
]]> iPhone 4s tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.277 2011-10-26T00:36:32Z 2011-12-03T18:38:39Z Got my new phone today. This entry was created on it. I really need to find a moveable type app for it. This kind of sucks.... foo.c Got my new phone today. This entry was created on it. I really need to find a moveable type app for it. This kind of sucks. C in Production tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.276 2011-10-24T03:53:31Z 2011-12-03T18:38:18Z USPSA mailed me my new classification. I'm not sure how, but I moved up to C.... foo.c USPSA mailed me my new classification. I'm not sure how, but I moved up to C. Car Dealers tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.275 2011-10-18T02:16:25Z 2011-10-18T02:32:24Z You know, it takes a special kind of person to sit there and try to sneak every kind of charge they can on to your bill, and then have the gall to tell you how to answer the factory's service... foo.c
The whole thing is just a nickle and dime you to death process, and if you don't ask what every little charge is I guarantee you will end up with a gold plated extended warranty, gap insurance, credit life insurance, lifetime oil changes, etc., etc. on your bill financed for however long your term is all without even asking for it.

The business model just needs to die. You should be able to walk in, see what the actual total out the door price is right on the car. (And I say this as someone who loves to haggle for the best deal.)

It would also be nice to skip having to go through a dealer at all. It's the 21st century, I should be able to order a car right from the factory and have it delivered to my door.
]]> Ordering stuff sucks tag:mitch.net,2011:/blog//1.274 2011-10-12T04:08:36Z 2011-10-12T04:10:52Z I have a gun, a phone, and a Jeep on order at the moment. No idea when I'll get any of them.... foo.c

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