Monday Range Trip Report And A Return Towards The M&P

On Monday morning I met up with Scott of the Providentia blog at the range to get some shooting time in.

Having been focused on karate the last few months, and otherwise being really busy, I hadn't been to the range in a while.

The range was also an opportunity to try out my newest firearm:

Yes, it's an M&P40c. After semi-giving up on the M&P after problems with my M&P9, I decided to try the M&P line again. It's all Kead's and Tam's fault.

The M&P came having been clearly test-fired at the factory, as the copper was still visible in the bore:

Aside from field stripping it to make sure there was no obstructions, I decided to take it right to the range and wring it out.

The M&P 40c came nicely packaged in a blue plastic carry case with two ten round mags, one with the pinky finger rest and one flat.

The first rapid 10 rounds of Winchester White Box 180gr 40 from unsupported standing at 25 yards looked like this:

The gun then boringly and most satisfyingly continued to function without a hiccup throughout the range session.

When shooting rapidly, as in a FAST drill, I find the small grip of the 40c makes the gun torque a bit in your hand, so a firm grip is a must in rapid strings.

The first FAST drill with the M&P40c wasn't very impressive, I blame both a lack of practice and unfamiliarity with the small grip and magazines - I completely boggled the reload and ended up with a 9.26 time, with 4 seconds of that being the reload. Must practice more. A later FAST drill, with a different holster than will be the subject of my next post, was better with a time of 8.36 seconds.

I ran 150 rounds of WWB through the 40c, including using some used 15 round magazines I had picked up, with no malfunctions whatsoever. I then pulled out a box of fifty 135 grain Federal hollow points for testing.

Even with the large cavity of the hollow point, all 50 fed fine.

The 135 grainers were appreciably snappier than the 180 grain, but that didn't affect recoil management, control-ability, nor good, solid hits. I'm liking this M&P.

The gun handled great right out of the box with no malfunctions. The stock trigger was smooth, sights were excellent and it's a real winner for 40 cal concealed carry.

After the 40c, I then pulled out my M&P9. I've been leery of the gun since the malfunctions it gave me during a match, even though it has functioned fine since its return from Smith and Wesson for warranty repair. I think I'm finally over that leeriness. The gun fit my hand like an old friend and devoured 50 rounds of Tul ammo steel-cased 9mm rapidly with accuracy and without a hiccup. If it can handle TUL Ammo, it's ready to return to regular service.

FAST drills with the M&P9 were appreciably better than the 40c, with an 8 second exact time, due to both the range time and because its a larger pistol with more grip area. Still, that's not the best I can do if I practice, and its sure sign I need to get out and practice more.

In short, I'm back to appreciating the fine design of the M&P series of pistols.

After the M&Ps, it was time to turn to the East Bloc Makarov classics.

The CZ-82 came out. Perhaps the finest of the pistols in 9x18mm, the Czech designed CZ-82 wins out for a smooth trigger, great sights and a perfect fit to the hand. A FAST drill with the C-82 netted me a 7.60 second time. The 9x18 in a CZ is a no-recoil, smooth shooting pistol. Still unbeatable for a defensive pistol on a budget, in my opinion, with a 12 round magazine and a cartridge with a tad more power than a .380. On top of that, it's a great relic of Cold War days.

Joining the CZ on this trip was the esteemed P-83 Wanad.

The Polish designed and manufactured P83, thinner than the CZ82, with an eight round magazine, tends to smack your hand a bit harder in recoil in comparison to the CZ-82. The trigger is quite smooth and the sights, while small, are very functional and the pistol is rock-solid reliable. Again, you won't give up anything having this as a carry piece on a budget and it's easy to carry and conceal and shoot well.

Having a plentiful supply of 9x18 on hand, it was quite fun to shoot these pistols. As usual for these pistols, neither pistol had the slightest malfunction and kept on delivering 9x18 Makarov rounds onto the targets.

Here's Scott at the moment of firing the P83:

For giggles, I had the CZ-82 in the M&P OWB holster (yes, it fits but loosely) and the P83 in a pocket and then did a very spiffy Eastern New York reload - 22 rounds of 9x18 all hitting the target in quick succession. Fun pistols, inexpensive ammo, and Cold War history in your hand, what could be better on a fine July day?

After we finished our pistol-craft, we headed to the rifle range where Scott showed me his new Sig 556R in 7.62x39, which he will hopefully blog about for your enjoyment. In short, it's an AK rifle designed by the Swiss - wow. I shot my 300 AAC Blackout AR15, and the installed anti-walk pins kept it functioning and no further rifle-caused issues occurred. I did have a few ammo feeding problems with some ammo I had bought that didn't want to chamber, which was annoying. I then shot my M&P15-22 and had a nice enjoyable time plinking away at 100 yards.

After that we cleaned up our targets and headed off for lunch after having had a great range day indeed. Not a bad way to spend a Monday morning.

Sunday Evening Shoot

After taking the kids sledding and doing some stuff around the house, I went to the range this evening for the first time in a while to get a little practice in.

In honor of District of Columbia v Heller, I brought out my District of Columbia Police Glock 17:

It shot quite well, except for the KCI magazine it came with that caused a stovepipe with a piece of brass consistently on shot 8 or so. The KCI was obviously not issued with it originally and replacing it with another mag made the brass stovepipe issue disappear. My first Glock 17, it functioned just like any other Glock I owned and was accurate and excellent as usual, once the magazine issue was remedied. The rest of the 100 rounds fired just fine.

I also shot my S&W M&P 9mm for the first time, breaking it in with its first 100 rounds. This is one of the pistol-training.com custom guns and I'm rather impressed with it.

I'm planning on taking ToddG's class when he offers it in Ohio next year as soon as he opens it up I'm going to sign up for it, especially after Tam's review. No, I didn't buy it for the class, I've wanted an M&P for awhile and this one came setup exactly how I wanted one to be - no mag safety, no internal lock, night sights and a nice trigger, besides, any excuse for a new pistol right?

The M&P shot right to point of aim and fit my hand like a glove. It feels a bit heavier than the Glock, and the trigger is smooth and feels better than the Glock's trigger to me. The trigger reset will take a little getting used, to especially its reset compared to the Glock trigger that I'm more used to feeling. I didn't hear/feel the Glock 'click' as the trigger reset on the M&P and it was throwing me off a bit and I missed the reset a few times.

I did some mag change drills and some half-fast drills with the M&P and they were quite smooth. Sadly, the range I went to does not allow drawing from a holster so I could not try the real FAST drill and I was stuck doing a half-fast job of it starting the pistol at the bench level and raising it to position rather than drawing from a holster. It will have to wait for another day and another range to practice the full FAST drill live. In any case, the conclusion from this range session was that I do need more practice if I want to get on to the next level of shooting.

To end the range session I ran 50 rounds of the Silver Bear 9x18 hollow points through my CZ-82, which, to no surprise, functioned well, but with great fireballs as usual with this ammo. Flamethrower-effect aside, all shots were nice and on target, with every shot hitting the Caldwell 5 1/2 circle bullseye I had put up to cover the holes from the Glock and S&W sessions.

Considering the flash of the Silver Bears, I'd recommend the Hornady 9x18 hollow points if you plan to carry it concealed. The CZ had less felt recoil than either the Glock or the M&P, and even as a smaller pistol its all-steel construction made recoil management a snap and very rapid, accurate shots were easy to make. It is an amazing pistol for the price and I'm sure Scott is going to love his, and he'll blog about it in due time.

So a good evening at the range and leaving with plenty to work on. On the upside, even after not shooting for awhile my skills haven't declined markedly, but they do need some reinforcement and more practice. Now that the lakes are iced over I can pay more attention to the art of the pistol.

Range Trip Report

Yesterday, I was assigned to be the Range Safety Officer for my local club. Heading out I overheard my 6 year old daughter ask my wife why I was heading out the door -

"Where is Daddy going"
"To the range to make sure everyone behaves safely"
"Why, are all the people there goofballs?"

Yes Abby, there are some goofballs, but luckily not too many showed up last night.

The range on Sunday nights is open to the public and you occasionally get some types for whom firearm safety is not just on their priority list, its often a completely foreign concept.

Of course, the second RSO scheduled to be there didn't show up so I had to run things on my own, and of course, clean up and shut down the range on my own as well.

So I get there early to setup and of course the keys are missing from the clubhouse. They don't trust the range officers with keys, we have to go sign them out from the staff at the clubhouse. Grand. Luckily the Chief RO is hanging out at the bar and gives me his keys - note the status differential - Chief RO keys, everyone else, no keys.

So I open up, get the lights on and the blower going and get the range ready to go. A few group of three people show up just to look around as I'm setting up and when I tell them its open to the public and they can shoot they're quite happy. They turn out to be IDPA shooters so I'm happy - excellent understanding of safety and good gun handling skills equal no holes in the walls, roof, floor or most importantly any person.

A few members show up and shoot, a few more non-members show up and the night goes on, a few tips on safety are distributed by yours truly as the hours go by. An RO not on duty comes in to shoot and he spells me and lets me shoot a bit.

I put 100 rounds through my CZ-82. It was just as reliable and accurate as before. I had gone in on a purchase with two friends of 1000 rounds of the Silver Bear 9x18mm Makarov hollow points and wanted to see how they did. With a Muzzle velocity of 1,000 F.P.S. and Muzzle energy of 255 ft.-lbs I expected them to be pretty zippy (a technical shooting term), considering a .38 special+P has a 945 velocity and 248ft.-lbs.

They were a bit sharper than the Wolf 9x18 Makarov FMJ I had brought along for comparison, but no hurdle to shooting accurately and quickly. However, they had another interesting feature.

The Silver Bears had a huge muzzle flash. From the sight picture it looked like massive sparks erupting from the gun with every shot. The other RO certainly noticed the huge flash from them.

Part of Russian secret defense technique - if hollow point doesn't stop them, set them on fire comrades!

The Wolf FMJ by comparison had very little if any flash, at least from the shooter's point of view.

However the 100 rounds (50 Silver Bear and 50 Wolf) all hit the target nice and accurately and with the almost imperceptible recoil of the CZ-82, very fast strings of accurate shots are possible:



Basically, while the 9x18 may not be the end-all be-all defensive cartridge, considering you can accurately empty 13 rounds from a CZ-82 very accurately and rapidly, I'd think it would be quite adequate to stop an attacker, but I'd recommend sticking to the Hornady 9x18 hollow points for self defense, unless you like flame throwers as a carry item.

My new CZ 82

The CZ vz 82 Pistol:





I just received this from SOG Inc as a Curio and Relic. In my humble opinion, its the best value in curio and relic firearms at this time.

Designed in Czechoslovakia by the famous Ceska Zbrojovka (CZ) company to be the military sidearm in 9mm Makarov caliber for the Czech army to replace the CZ52, its a very impressive firearm.

It has a 12 round double-stack magazine, double action / single action operation with ambidextrous safety and magazine release and truly excellent three-dot fixed sights for a military firearm. The trigger pull is nice and smooth in both double and single action. It is one of the first pistols fielded with a polygonal rifling barrel - making it seem to almost be smoothbore at first glance as there are no traditional lands and grooves visible. It is a blowback firearm, with a fixed barrel that gives impressive accuracy.

It is easy to field strip and clean, following the Walther PP and Makarov take down procedure - make sure its empty, pull down on the trigger guard, pull the slide all the way back, lift the rear and gently slide the slide off the frame. Remove the spring from the barrel and there you have it. Easy to clean and reassembly takes place in reverse order.

Here's a video of Czech troops demonstrating field stripping the CZ vz 82:


Size wise, it has a 3.8" barrel, is all metal, weighing 28 ounces. It is small enough to disappear in a front jeans pocket, even with the double stack grip. It is very ergonomic and comfortable.

Accuracy was very good indeed hitting coffee cans with aplomb out to 50 yards in low light while holding a surefire light. No failures to function, just a nice smooth trigger and it went bang every time.

With it being in 9x18 Makarov, with a decent hollowpoint like Hornady's XTP, I'd have no problem carrying it as a nice compact Concealed Carry firearm.

Mine has the standard Czech military black paint baked on finish. It has some definite character wear - some scratches, some wear points on the grip but mechanically is perfect making it a very nice addition to my collection. Mine has a stamp indicating it was made in 1985 and has a Czech military acceptance stamp - a nice piece of Cold War Eastern European history.

The pistol came with 2 12 round magazines, a lanyard loop, cleaning rod and a huge ambidextrous holster that holds the pistol, spare magazine, cleaning rod and lanyard in a very clever design - great for military use, useless for CCW as its real big.

In short this is a can't miss purchase for the Curio and Relic FFL holder.

It is also a decent affordable choice for a self defense CCW pistol for those on a budget who can shoot well. 9mm makarov ammo is readily available, relatively inexpensive and effective in capable hands, and the CZ 82, with its negligible recoil, excellent ergonomics, capacity and accuracy make it a perfect platform for the cartridge.

I'd highly recommend the CZ vz. 82.

Update 1/24/09 I had an opportunity to take the vz.82 pistol out to an indoor pistol range and shoot it at some targets in decent lighting conditions.

Feeding was flawless, including firing 25 rounds of the Hornady XTP hollowpoints. Accuracy was ridiculously good, tearing the X out of a target at 7 yards in a very tight group. No real recoil allowed for very quick shot-to-shot times. Over 225 rounds through it and not a single problem. To say that I'm pleased and impressed with this purchase would be an understatement.