Hey I thought YouTube banned these videos. Stupid ostrich move, leaves amateur owners like me to find their info on fringe message boards. No offense.
Beautiful gun. Love the look of fixed stock with the triangle handguard. Just from a comfort standpoint though, maybe it's just because my hands are a bit bigger, but I absolutely cannot stand the stock pistol grips. One of the best -- very small -- investments you will make is an aftermarket pistol grip, of which there are virtually unlimited choices. I'm one of those guys where, if I don't find a gun comfortable to shoot, I'm not shooting it, no matter how much fun it might be to make it go boom.
The A1 pistol grip is slightly thicker and less-angled than the A2 grip, plus it doesn't have that annoying finger rest. I find the ergonomics overall quite comfortable; the A1 buttstock's length-of-pull is also coincidentally the same as I have my other AR's adjustable stock set to. This one is just a range toy for fulfilling my childhood action movie fantasies.
SP1 clone? I do love the classic look too. My brothers are endlessly envious that my dad passed me his SP1 bought in the 70s.
More of an M16A1 clone: it has a lower receiver with the full fence around the magazine release button and captured pivot pin and an upper receiver with the forward assist.
Question for those who conceal carry: I'm in the market for a 9mm, and I'd like to hear some opinions and preferences. I'm looking for a compact, rather not go sub-compact as I don't want to reduce magazine capacity. My main priorities are capacity, reliability, and trigger. I'm looking at glocks, sigs and berettas mainly, but I'm open to anything. For some background if it helps, my primary carry is a Bersa Thunder in 380 ACP. Didn't originally intend to use it as my CC, but the thing just shoots so damn consistent and feeds reliably, that I haven't been able to shake it. Put a piece of bike tire around the grip and it feels perfect now. However, it's still very small for my hands, and the .380 ballistics aren't ideal. When I hunt I run a full size Taurus .40 with a 15 round mag, and it feels like an extension of my arm. I'd go with a .40 to carry (or even a .45 ACP), but I'd rather have more rounds of 9mm in the magazine, given that their ballistics are so similar at this point anyway.
I carry a glock 30 but my wife carries an SW M&P 9C. I use it on the range from time to time, it's a nice shooting gun. If I weren't hip-deep in glocks, I would definitely make the switch.
What holster do you run it with? Since you're in Houston you're familiar with the weather here in South Texas. My kydex for my Bersa is so-so comfortable, but I definitely sacrificed some comfort for the sake of function. With glocks I can't stand their field goal sights, so that would be replaced immediately if I got one. Do you have any recommendations? Love the triggers and lack of an external safety on glocks.
I keep it in an uncle mikes because I store it in my work bag when I go to sketchy areas. I don’t carry all the time. I use the factory sights but the night sights are good. I’ve heard good things about aftermarket tritium sights. I’m no marksman.
My sketchy area setup is my bersa thunder in an uncle mikes carried appendix. Easy to pull out. I'm gonna upgrade to something with a higher capacity, but I'm still gonna keep that bersa in my truck just because it's so damn reliable and it carries good in the swamp TX summers. For about $200 used (or $250 new) you can't go wrong. I'm no marksman either, but that Bersa is unequivocally the most consistent shooting pistol I've ever run. Accuracy is between the ears, consistency is in the firearm.
What is y'alls take on steel case ammo? I bought some for the range yesterday, box of 150 for a decent price so I figured what a bargain. No misfires, but around 11 bad ejections, or lacks thereof. Don't think I'll be doing that again.
Not a fan of it. I've had my Ruger 9mm for almost 20 years and it's the only ammo I've had issues with. I don't go to the range enough to warrant buying it for the cost savings
My personal opinion is that if you're shooting an absolute TON, it might be worth it for the cost savings. But steel is really dirty so you gotta clean out your barrel after you shoot it (in theory, we all should clean our guns every time we get back from the range, but in practice, if everyone was honest, we don't). So if the cost savings of shooting steel casings is greater than the time expense of cleaning your gun every time, then go for it. But if it isn't worth it to you, then just stick with brass. Here's a really good break down on it.
In theory, you could also take up reloading as well if you are looking to save cost (long term) and want a new hobby.
Only way to do it if you are pistol target shooting. bit of cost upfront bit tons of long term savings.