G-MAN

Nope.

Sorry to hear this. I hope it heals up okay. As bad as it was, it could have been worse. Hang in there.

I just bought this pistol on gunbroker.com. Kudos to the first person to correctly identify it.

I was in the concealed weapon permit course all day today. Made a perfect score 50 out of 50 on the shooting test. I decided to use the FireStorm 1911. This gun really shoots like a dream. I missed two questions on the written test, so my total score was a 98. Here is a pic of the class with our targets. That's me in the middle. Notice the rather large hole dead center which is where I was grouping most of my hits. The young lady to my right was shooting a Glock in 40 S&W. I think she scored a 50 too and her groups were almost as tight as mine.

Yeah, I guess if we're going strictly by caliber, the "biggest" handgun I've ever shot is my .45 auto. The most "powerful" handgun I've ever shot was my .44 Magnum.

I had a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Mag. That's the biggest handgun I've ever shot. Thing kicked like a mule. Only way I could shoot it with relative comfort was to put oversize Pachmayr grips on it.

Agreed. A "drop in" barrel means (if everything is in spec) that minimal fitting will be needed--but it still has to be fitted. I was comfortable putting in a "drop in" bushing--that was no big deal. But if I do decide to get an Ed Brown barrel I'll have a gunsmith that knows what he's doing fit it.

Bluing. The barrel on this gun had a lousy mat finish and blue job. I used Navel Jelly to remove the bluing from the outside of the barrel and then polished it. If you look closely you can see the line of demarcation inside the muzzle where the Navel Jelly removed the bluing inside.

I installed the Ed Brown bushing and spring plug today. The EB bushing is a much tighter fit so it will be interesting to see how accuracy is affected.

Yup. Looks like std. 1911 field strip procedure.

Click here. I also ordered their hex head screws to mount them.

The stock grips on the FireStorm 1911 are checkered wood, but they are thin, painted, and feel terrible. I prefer smooth grips on a 1911. So I ordered a set of cocobolo wood grips. These are designed to fit a standard 1911 and since mine has the custom extended slide stop and extended safety, the left side grip would not fit. Took my Dremel and milled off the top part of the grip and it fit perfectly. Looks much better now. Stock: Cocobolo:

Two reasons: First, I just like the way the blue Ed Brown 1911s look with the stainless bushing. Second, the OEM bushing on the Firestorm has very sharp edges--razor sharp. I cut myself on it doing the first field strip. Ed Brown bushings have beveled edges. I'm considering putting an Ed Brown stainless barrel in, too. The barrel on the FireStorm is the one area where they clearly skimped as far as finish. Obviously based on its performance today at the range, this barrel shoots good. But as for finish, it had a very poor mat bluing. I removed that yesterday with Navel Jelly and then polished the barrel to a nice bright shine. Looks 100% better now, but I would like to have the corrosion resistance of stainless.

No problems in the 50 rounds that I shot. I think from a bench rest this pistol could easily do sub 2" groups at 25 yards. I've got an Ed Brown stainless bushing and recoil spring plug coming tomorrow for it. The really nice rosewood grips I ordered came today, but I've got to modify them a little. They won't fit with the extended safety slide release that are on this pistol.

The rain quit this morning so I went to our local firing range run by the parks department this afternoon. Wednesdays are pistol days and they had the range set up for a "self defense" distance of 15 yards. (Keep in mind that this was the first time I've fired a pistol in 25 years.) Started off with my new Ruger P95. What a pleasure to shoot. Hardly any recoil. In fact, in 50 rounds I had 2 stovepipes from limp-wristing because the gun is just so easy to shoot I let my grip on the gun get a little too weak a couple of times. The DA pull sucks and I really need to practice with this for double action. Single action pull isn't bad at all. Here is the target of my first 15 rounds from the P95: Here is the next 30 rounds (2 clips). Really started tightening up as I got into the third clip. Next came my new FireStorm 1911 .45 ACP. This gun is amazing. Not a single malfunction in 50 rounds. And I can shoot this better than the P95. Here is my first 7 rounds: I only had one target left, so here are the remaining 43 rounds from the FireStorm. The last three clips were all pretty much dead center.

Yeah, I'm going back tomorrow. hehe The FireStorm 1911 and American Classic 1911 (which is the exact same gun) are made by the same factory in the Philippines that makes the Rock Island Armory 1911 and the Charles Daly 1911. BTW, frame and slide on the FireStorm are forged, not cast. Gun is as tight and slick as $1500 Colt 1911. Can't wait to shoot it.

Well, I went into the gun store today to get a Fobus holster for my P95 and wound up getting another new pistol. I've always been a sucker for the 1911. I've still got a Llama IX-A that I bought 30 years ago. Boy have 1911 clones come a long way since then. When the guy showed me this FireStorm 1911 I was hooked. The fit and finish is really something for a gun in the price range. And it's got quite a few "extras" that you would typically find on much more expensive 1911s. Price? $420.00 out the door. Here's a good review I found using Google.

My s/n is in the 5000 range. Fit and finish on this gun is superb, and the bluing is some of the best I've ever seen on any gun at any price. It looks like a deep pool of blue-black ink that you could just dive into.

I think I'm going to take the P95. I remember what a hand-biter this PPK is. After a couple of clips of plinking my hand was usually bleeding. (Mine is an early Interarms model that doesn't have the extended tang and other improvements found on the the newer PPKs made by S&W.)

I don't have to qualify with the gun I'm going to carry, that's true. But just from a practical standpoint, would it not be better to qualify with the gun I intend to use as my primary carry?

I bought this gun 25 years ago. It was one of the first PPKs made in the U.S. under license from Walther in Germany. I've already posted about my new Ruger P95 and my plans to get a concealed carry permit. I spent the weekend wearing my P95 around the house in a clip holster and I can see now that I won't be carrying this thing much if any. It may look like a relatively compact handgun when compared to a big .357 revolver, but when you put it on your hip, it's a big chunk. So, realistically, I think when I carry it will be the PPK. So here is where I need some advice: Should I take the PPK to the concealed carry course and use it during the shooting test instead of the P95? I've e-mailed the course instructor and asked him the same question but haven't heard back.

Yep. The M1C was the first sniper version of the M1 that was actually adopted and put into use. It's got a G&H scope mount (which you can't see in my photo because it's on the other side of the receiver.) The M1C was not simply a standard grade M1 with a scope stuck on it. The barrel was match grade and when used with match amo was capable of outstanding accuracy. The M1C was the primary sniper weapon for US forces during the Korean war.

I know the answer. I was just seeing if anyone else knew.

Answers to what?