New pistol problem?

zburkett · June-01-18 11:06

I had something happen yesterday I found interesting as it pointed out a gap in my diligence with my pistols. A friend was down using my range so I want back to shoot with him. A shoulder injury has kept me from doing much shooting for the last year and is still limiting, but it was a pretty day and anyone can shot a .22. My everyday carry is a 1 5/8" mini with a folding holster grip but my favorite holster pistol is an Earl with an oversized rubber grip. For plinking fun I took Earl. It was awful. The trigger was stiff, I couldn't get a good sight picture, I was dumb founded. What happened? Once I got my head out I remembered, it was a brand new gun. I had given my old, often shot, much loved Earl to a friend who needed it more than I did. This was the Earl I replaced my old Earl with. In fact it was brand new out of the box. I may have been born in Texas but it wasn't yesterday. So for those of with new pistols (mini or any other kind) here is what I got around to remembering. No pistol is ready to go until you have put 100 or so rounds through it and given it a thorough cleaning. Then do the little things that configure it to your taste. In my case it was two boxes of shells, clean, paint the front sight orange, put a little silicone lube into the action and cycle the action another 100 times. Don't dry fire, just cock the hammer an ease it down. Any machine needs a break in. For a mini it is couple of hundred cycles and a good cleaning.

Ruger · June-01-18 11:06

Quote from: zburkett on June-01-18 11:06. . . . . . . I had given my old, often shot, much loved Earl to a friend who needed it more than I did. . . . . . .

We all have friends that are in need but can't always afford something. The need to be able to defend oneself is no less of a need as any other. Cool Move, Z, Cool Move!

linux_author · June-01-18 14:06

100 rounds? my break-in is at the 350- 400-round mark!

:-)

but i agree wholeheartedly... as an example, i recently purchased a Taurus PT-22 on a lark - thought it would be fun to have a tip-up .22LR auto... problem was, it would only eat high-velocity rounds (1250fps or better)... lo and behold, at the 350-round mark, it would reliably eat CCI Standard Velocity LRN (1070fps) - and was quite accurate to boot!

what a pleasant surprise!

my NAA Sidewinder is a constant companion - i sure would hate to have to replace it - even with a new Sidewinder...

willie
on the Gulf of Mexico

Warthog · June-01-18 14:06

I might shoot 100 rounds the first time I shoot a Mini, more typical to shoot a few more than 50. Maybe I need one of those drugs that allow you to do things longer than a couple of hours before you change things, maybe a different gun?, before going home.

Anyway, once you manage to use it as much as the old one you will be back to normal.

Just messing around there, I understand when you get a new version of something you had for a while due to the need for a gift to a friend.

It will work back to a good feel with a little work or more shooting.

zburkett · June-01-18 16:06

Don't misunderstand, the new Earl is quickly coming around. It was just a shock the first time I felt the stiff trigger. I had forgotten it was a new pistol. BTW the friend was my minister who, after the Texas Church Shooting realized that if a shooter came into our church he was the only one with a clean shot. He was also concerned that some might get upset if he carried his full sized 9mm. We set up a target at 83 feet, the distance from the pulpit to the door. Of all my pistols he was most accurate with the Earl and a 4" Colt's Cobra. The Earl had the advantage that it fit nicely into his back pocket where it was naturally canceled (not many people pat the Minister on the butt in church.)

RICKS PLACE · June-02-18 08:06

One would think at my age, I would not make the same mistake. Have a well shot B/W I have used for several years. I bought an new B/W due to the newer sights. Hated it. Then I realized it was new, I was used to my old one. It was coming around, then my Grandson got his carry license and up come his 25th birthday. He now has my newer B/W and it will break in with him. Guns have to learn their owners, or is it the other way around?

zburkett · June-02-18 12:06

The goal is to become one grasshopper.

Canoeal · June-23-18 20:06

Quote from: Ruger on June-01-18 11:06
Quote from: zburkett on June-01-18 11:06. . . . . . . I had given my old, often shot, much loved Earl to a friend who needed it more than I did. . . . . . .

We all have friends that are in need but can't always afford something. The need to be able to defend oneself is no less of a need as any other. Cool Move, Z, Cool Move!

I second that thought. good work.

Canoeal · June-23-18 20:06

I was surprised just how much better my BW was, after it came back from replacing the hand spring. Way nicer trigger now...Thanks to NAA service dept.

RICKS PLACE · July-02-18 01:07

I had bought a new B/W several months ago with the idea of giving it to my grandson on his receiving his Texas handgun permit. He got it in time of his 25th birthday. I had shot the gun already to make sure of function. Talk about stiff. Even my grandson noted the stiffness compared with my and his dad's B/Ws. I had forgot just how stiff these guns were when new.

Canoeal · July-02-18 06:07

Mine used to be stiff. I had to send it in for a hand spring, and when it came back, whatever they did besides the springs, it came back shooting really well...

Gog · July-02-18 10:07

Quote from: zburkett on June-01-18 16:06
The Earl had the advantage that it fit nicely into his back pocket where it was naturally canceled (not many people pat the Minister on the butt in church.)

Thanks for that!! I about spit my drink all over my monitor and keyboard!
I would think front pocket would be okay too as pastors do the side hug and not full frontal to stay out of trouble!! lol

I've given this some thought as well. We formed a safety group so there is someone assigned to cruising around the church keeping an eye out for trouble. They aren't armed but they can sound a warning (hopefully). I don't advertise that I am armed of course but I am.

Canoeal · July-02-18 10:07

Wow! Church is one of the few places I don't carry, not even my work knife. We do have more than a few LEOs that go to our services, but I do not know, and don't need to know whether they carry.

LHB · July-02-18 22:07

I find it ironic that many people seem to think that a church should be a gun free zone, when it has to be almost as good of a soft target as a school. Lots of helpless sheep waiting for the slaughter.

Of course, I may be prejudiced, but almost every church I know of in Illinois has up the no gun signs, though many of them have pre-schools or daycare centers, that puts them on the Illinois list.

What I find ironic is that it is because of what happened in a church that Illinois now has CC, due to the federal lawsuit filed after a thug tied to beat two elderly volunteer church office workers to death so he could loot the office. People I have talked to say that there is no need for a weapon in a church, because nothing violent happens in a church. It must be nice to live in that dream world.

Bigbird48 · July-03-18 07:07

Like I said before my BW is my American Express I don't leave home without it and it goes every where.The world is a dangerous place now days and you never know when you'll have to protect yourself or your family. I've seen a couple stories in the news where a possible disaster was stopped by an armed citizen taking out the BG.

Canoeal · July-03-18 13:07

Quote from: LHB on July-02-18 22:07
I find it ironic that many people seem to think that a church should be a gun free zone, when it has to be almost as good of a soft target as a school. Lots of helpless sheep waiting for the slaughter.

Of course, I may be prejudiced, but almost every church I know of in Illinois has up the no gun signs, though many of them have pre-schools or daycare centers, that puts them on the Illinois list.

What I find ironic is that it is because of what happened in a church that Illinois now has CC, due to the federal lawsuit filed after a thug tied to beat two elderly volunteer church office workers to death so he could loot the office. People I have talked to say that there is no need for a weapon in a church, because nothing violent happens in a church. It must be nice to live in that dream world.

Our is definitely not a 'gun free zone', as some LEO come in uniform. It is just a personal choice as a teacher, and to respect my wife who asked not, that I don't...

zburkett · July-04-18 05:07

The advantage of concealed carry is "concealed". If you advertise you have a gun you have lost that advantage. A story you don't hear is the week after the Colorado theater shooting some idiot tried it in Texas. Someone in the audience drew their pistol and shot him. The "media" didn't report that story just as they didn't report the Virginia school shooting where the shooter threw down his gun and surrendered as soon as one of the planned victims pulled a gun of their own.