Range Trip - SIGs, Bullpups, And More

Went to the range this morning with Tosh.

We started off doing some handgun practice.  

Tosh wanted to work on splits so we setup a silhouette target at the center of the Bay and another on the far right side and worked on transitions between them. Good practice and we hadn't done much on transitions before and it showed.  Need more practice with that,. My heavy sweatshirt got in the way a few times as well to slow me down, so it was good to practice with different clothing on.

Then we moved on to Bill Drills, and my lack of range attendance the past couple months showed there.  While I fired three sets all clean, none were below 3 seconds. Shooting is a perishable skill and ,my Bill Drill progress sure perished.  Need to get to the range more.

After handguns, I broke out the PS90 and we each shot a full magazine of 50 rounds through it. Quite simply shooting the PS90 is a ton of fun.  No recoil to speak of, multiple shots right on target as fast as you can squeeze the trigger as the firearm simply doesn't move, and its' a nice compact package.  It's a fun gun that never ceases to put a smile on the face of whoever shoots it.

We then moved on to rifles, and I shot my Tavor  X95 and Tosh his shorty AR. he was getting a ton of gas blow-back from his Griffin Armaments suppressor. So much so that the charging handle occasionally flew back all by itself while shooting.  It's a great suppressor that works amazing, and a great value for the price, but you do pay for that sound reduction in gas right to the face.

We then decided to work on rifle reloads because that's not a thing we typically do, as in just about ever. Reloads were out of our back jeans pockets as we hadn't brought rifle magazine holders out.

Basic setup was a full magazine in the back pocket, a round in the chamber and an empty magazine in the gun. On the beep, safety off, come up and shoot the silhouette and then immediately drop the mag and reload and fire a second shot at the target. Then safety on, pickup the empty mag from the ground and reload it into position and full mag back into the back pocket and repeat. Both shots had to hit to count.

We did this on the timer and the lack of practice showed. Managed after a bit of initial fumbling to get the time from first shot to second shot hitting after the reload down to 4ish seconds but with practice I think I can get it faster.  Great practice and the Tavor does handle differently from an AR for reloading. But, once you have the process down, you can do it at a decent clip.

Then, we moved on to shotguns and did transition shooting with them.  I brought out my third bullpup of the shoot, the Tavor TS-12. Tosh brought his Mossberg 590A1.  With 16 rounds loaded on the Tavor it was fun to just keep right on shooting and hitting the targets long after he ran out of his 9 shot and was having to reload.  Much fun was had and I tried out his 590A1, as he got to use the TS-12, and it was a lot of fun and rather smooth - he's upgraded the safety and the magazine follower and it works quite well, and the pump action is rather smooth after all the rounds he's run through it. He's considering SBS'ing it and if he does I'll help him with his doing a Form 1 for the first time.

It was a heckuva good time at the range on a beautiful clear if cool morning.

256 Days Until Approval

256 Days.  That's how long it took for the Form 4 to be approved by BATFE.

It finally arrived in my friendly FFL's hands this Friday, and transfer was then completed as I zipped over there to pick it up.

While the wait is mighty excessive, the end result, as one might say, is worth it.

Yes, its The Tavor X95 SBR.  I've been wanting this thing since the last NRA Annual Meeting, which feels like a lifetime ago.

After I bought it and while counting the days, I figured it would need accessories worthy of it, so I went out and found an excellent optic for it.

It's an Israeli Defense Forces surplus TA31I ACOG. Mounted on an ARMS 19 mount as the Israelis use them, together with the Tenebrex flash hider and adjustment caps.

Only downside with it, is that as it is surplus is its missing a couple of the screws in the back. So, if anyone knows those screw dimensions and where to get some repalcements, let me know so I can buy some to replace them.

The Tavor SBR shoots great and with a 13 inch barrel is a very handy firearm indeed.

We all shot it at both the 25 yard and 100 yard range and rang the 100 yard range steel nicely.   The X95 can shoot.

200 rounds through it and zero failures or issues of any kind.  Ran great, and it handled great, so I guess the wait was worth it.

A very nice handy firearm, I think I'll get it setup for a can sometime in the future and put a forward grip on it as well.

IWI Masada Rounds 501-750

I met up with a client in Davison, about 45 minutes to the north, to talk some business and go over some things he needed, and then do some shooting yesterday. It's good to have clients that are shooting enthusiasts.

We went to Williams Gun Sight Company Range up in Davison.

Yes, Williams, the makers of some exceptional firearms sights, also has one heckuva nice store and range. Great people, amazing selection of shooting stuff, and a first class indoor and outdoor range.

Outdoors, I shot my IWI Tavor SAR, which hadn't been out for awhile. I now have a nice 100 yard zero on it. 60 rounds of 5.56 went through it without a hiccup and the trigger really is darn nice. I've been neglecting to shoot this rifle and need to remedy that, as its very enjoyable to shoot. I also got to shoot my client's SIG .308 AR with a Nightforce optic on it that was a joy to shoot - he's got some nice toys.

At the pistol range I got to try out his Beretta 92X Performance - it's quite a bit heavier than a standard 92FS, noticeably so. But it has quite the nice double action pull and in single action it is downright amazing which makes up for the weight. Its a competition rather than a carry gun so the weight is less of an issue and really sucks up just about all the recoil. He also had an STI 9mm that had perhaps the best 1911 trigger I've ever tried.

He tried the IWI Masada and remarked that it fit his hand well and did have a nice trigger. He shot quite nicely with it and rather liked it.

We proceeded to shoot a variety of ammo through the Masada - 50 rounds of Blazer 147 Grain fmj, 100 Federal 9mm NATO, and 100 of the Remington 115 grain that was indeed comparably quite hot and flashy compared to the other ammo.

The sight adjustment worked, and while it still shoots low, it is centered now.

No failures of any kind in the 250 rounds today.

NRAAM - IWI

I met up with Daddybear and met Drang for the first time (now added to my blogroll accordingly), and we headed out on the floor.

First stop: IWI.

I had to handle the Tavor X95 SBR.

To say it fits me like a glove is an understatement. It balances very well, comes up very instinctively for me and has a 13 inch barrel in a very compact package smaller than AR pistols with much smaller barrels. The trigger is very nice for a bullpup, not a match trigger by any means, but very off-the-shelf good AR like, and definitely serviceable and smooth.

I will be ordering one forthwith. Unfortunately, I expect the Form 4 processing will be long and tedious but such is the current state of affairs.

Daddybear was also successfully marketed to, and his awesome Irish Woman has granted her conditional approval for him to buy one as well. There was much rejoicing.

Meanwhile, Drang decided that 5.56 was potentially insufficient and handled the Tavor 7 in 7.62 with aplomb.

It's heavier than the standard 5.56 Tavor by a noticeable amount but again it handles very well and is well-balanced.

He also admired the IWI Galil Ace pistol with shoulder brace.

Lots of great products at IWI.

NRAAM: IWI

A trip to NRAAM requires a visit to the IWI booth.

There were Tavor SARs aplenty (the one in the foreground is setup in 9mm):

And Tavor X95s:

The X95 has conversion kits available to easily convert the rifle to 9mm and 300 Blackout, and an SBR kit should be out soon, making a very compact rifle even more compact.

Rebecca, one of IWI's representatives, gave Murph, Mr. Garabaldi, and I an excellent run down on the X95's features and capabilities. The rifle is even handier than the SAR with a magazine release by the firing hand rather than at the butt of the rifle as with the SAR. There are built in rails covered with quick-detach covers, the pistol grip can be reconfigured, and it's a darn nice compact rifle even with a 16.5", 17" (9mm) or 18" barrel options. The stock trigger on the X095 is improved over the SAR and drop in aftermarket trigger packs are avaialble to improve it even more.

Murph definitely needs one, and I'm leaning to pickup an X95 at some point in the future.

Range Trip And The P30 Hits 1,750

So whenever Matt visits, a trip to the range is in order.

The weather gave us a break and it was reasonably warm but muddy at the range.

We ran a total of 250 rounds through the P30, 200 WWB, and 50 Federal FMJs, and 50 rounds of Speer Gold Dot 124+p rounds. I figured it was time to have some hollow points through it.

The Speer Gold Dots had noticeably more oomph than the FMJ rounds.

Zero malfunctions so far with the P30, though the feed ramp is getting all sorts of dirty.

The shiny metal part is what the entire feed ramp should look like, instead most is covered in carbon, but it still fed every round without complaint.

The Glock 17, M&P 40 Pro, and then the M&P 22 also came out for some suppressed fun, and yes silencers do in fact help protect your ears.

Then we shot some rifles.

Matt highly enjoyed shooting the Tavor, AR15, M1 Garand, and SAR-1. The Tavor was his favorite and he ran it very well with the AR15 a close second.

We also shot a couple more handguns that deserve their own posts, which will come later.

Afterwards we headed of to Alchilies. No it's not a Mexican offshoot of Al Qaeda, its a rather delicious hole-in-the wall Mexican place with real Mexican style Mexican food. We're talking Beef Cheek tacos and other delicacies. Simply awesome.

It's always a great time when Matt comes to town.

A Weekend In The Trees and On The Range

The weekend got better starting Saturday night.

We had Havdalah in the Trees with members of our synagogue at the Adventure Park.
We started out with a group of 35 parents and kids gearing up after dark to tackle the courses. It was cold out but we rapidly warmed up making our way through, over and under the obstacles.

Making your way as a family through an obstacle course that is dimly lit and when you can't even see the ground most of the time is a very different feeling than tackling the same course by day. Zip-lining across nothingness in the dark is very cool indeed.

We ended with a small service to celebrate the end of Shabbat and went home exhausted from the courses that we did.

Then today I took the kids with Manuel and his kids to the range this evening and we had a blast even in the cool weather.

I had the P30 out and 100 rounds later there are no malfunctions of any kind to report. Manuel liked shooting it as well, and it knocked down steal plates with aplomb. That's 550 rounds with no issues.

The kids shot the M&P 15-22 and knocked down plates with it quite nicely. Leah also shot the Ruger MKII and Abby tried out Manuels GSG .22LR Uzi, which is very heavy for a .22 - no recoil but it was not comfortable for her due to its weight.   She stuck with the M&P 15-22.

Manuel had also brought along a pretty cool new toy.

Yes, that's his Tavor, but it's now sporting a silencer and a 9mm conversion kit. It uses UZI mags and functions flawlessly.  The silencer makes it very pleasant to shoot and it's much, much quieter than the H&K P30 with the same ammo and with no flash.  While not silent, You could easily shoot it without ear protection without any discomfort.

The 9mm conversion kit is a very slick bit of kit, and shooting it with the silencer is simply awesome. It was problem-free for a good 300 rounds this evening. Shooting down racks of plates was effortless, even when they kept reappearing with the child-operated semi-automatic plate reloading system then in use.

I needs to get me one of these.

Since dusk was fast approaching, we shut down, cleaned up and headed off. We headed off to dine on some pizza and that was the end of a great day and a pretty darn good weekend.

A Very Good Range Day

In the late morning, I met up with my friend Jason at the range.

Jason is a newer shooter and a heckuva nice guy. After a safety briefing and my demonstrating how to load and shoot the guns as they came out in order we were ready to hit some paper and some poppers.

The H&K P30 continued to run perfectly, eating another 250 rounds without complaint, making it to 450 rounds with no issues and no cleaning.

Jason shot the P30 quite well and knocked down the poppers in quick succession as well as hitting the paper targets.

I did both Dot Torture and FAST drills with the P30 while Jason knocked down steel poppers and did a Dot Torture sans holster work as he's never drawn from a holster beforevso we're elaving that until he gets a lot more practice and comfort with shooting. I need more work on Dot Torture with the P30 as I did drop a few shots out of the circles.

Happily, with some dry-fire practice since last time, I've at least redeemed my FAST times - my second and third FAST runs today were 7.15 seconds and 7.10 seconds, respectively. The first run's time is lost to history. Jason was running a timer for his first time ever and he hit the start button for a second time as if it was a stop button when I was done. He said I had looked pretty fast doing it that time. Ah well. In any case, it's nice to see some focused dry-fire practice can really shave seconds off your time on a FAST.

I still need to work more to get out of intermediate to reach an advanced time, not to mention improve my shooting overall, but it's a fun work in progress and at least its going the right way now that I finally convinced my brain that the slide release on the P30 is not the magazine release button. I'm also starting to like the P30 more and more as it seems to fit my hand like it was made for it.

We also shot 50 rounds through my M&P 9 - the sight is still slightly to the right even after an adjustment since the last range outing and needs a slight nudge to the left.

We then both shot my M&P40 compact and 50 rounds went through it without the slightest issue. Jason could definitely feel the difference in recoil between the compact 40 and the full size 9mm pistols.

Then it was rifle time:

I had brought out both the Tavor and one of my AR-15s with a Trijicon ACOG mounted on it.

We fired 200 rounds through the Tavor, bringing it to a total of 940 rounds fired through it without a single malfunction.

We also put 100 rounds through the AR15, again with no issues.

Jason liked the Tavor more than the AR-15 and found its manual of arms easier than the AR15 and he shot it better. This was an interesting result considering he had no experience with either rifle before today. He now wants to buy a Tavor as his first rifle.

That was a darn good range trip.

IWI At NRAAM

Finding the IWI display at the NRA Annual Meeting proved a bit of a challenge. For some unfathomable reason, most likely an oversight, the IWI display was not listed in either the printed maps nor the NRAAM mobile app.

With perseverance and asking multiple others at the show we finally found it.

First there was a nice assortment of the new Galil Ace rifle and pistols, including a pistol ACE with an arm-brace attached.

The Galil Aces all felt solid and the fit and finish seemed excellent. Much nicer than any other AK variant that I saw on the floor. If you're looking for what will most assuredly be a rock-solid reliable AK-type action rifle, the Galil Ace is for you.

Of course there were Tavors on display.

Most impressive were the Tavors and Micro Tavors that had the happy-fun switch. Sadly I couldn't take any home with me as they're Law-enforcement only sales. There were also full auto Uzis on the same table.

Just holding one of the micro Tavors was happy-making.

Sadly we can't buy them, nor did the lights at the show go out permitting a clean getaway.

But, one of the reps told me a civilian-legal SBR Tavor design is in the works, albeit without the happy-fun switch. Yes, I can see a tax stamp transaction for an SBR-Tavor in my future. These small Tavors simply rocked.

Superior Tavor Upgrade

The main complaint people have about the Tavor is its trigger.

Ranging from around 8-12 pounds out of the box, which can be reduced if you disconnect one of the springs, but it is simply not a light AR-type trigger that most shooters are now used to having. Instead, out of the box it feels more FAL-like, with a long hard trigger pull, though it is better than a typical FAL and still perfectly usable.

That complaint is no longer applicable.

Enter the Geissele Super Sabra Trigger.

Made of metal compared to the plastic housing of the standard Tavor trigger pack, the difference is noticeable, with all the surfaces of the Giessele being highly polished.

Shiny Super Sabra

Factory Tavor Trigger Pack

A direct replacement for the IWI Tavor trigger pack, the Super Sabra is a drop-in, no-fuss, instant upgrade of awesome that couldn't be easier to install:


Step 1. make sure the rifle is unloaded.

Step 2. Pull the cocking lever back to cock the hammer spring.

Step 3. Pull out the two locking pins holding the trigger pack in place.

Step 4. Remove factory trigger pack, install Super Sabra in its place and push the pins back in.

And you're done.

Once installed, the trigger felt simply awesome, better than my ARs, and having a nice clean break. It felt like a 4.5 pound match trigger that was simply fantastic to shoot.

No longer does the rifle dance around at all while the trigger is being pulled. Simply put, the Super Sabra has to be tried to fully appreciate how good it is and how it makes the Tavor an even better and more accurate rifle.

I ran 120 Rounds of Lake City 55 grain through it with the new Super Sabra trigger pack in at the Blogshoot and there were no failures or hiccups of any kind. Others there who tried it really liked it and were impressed with the trigger.

Yes, the Tavor is now my favorite modern-day rifle.

If you've got a Tavor, the Geissele Super Sabra Trigger Pack is the upgrade to get before doing anything else to the rifle should you desire a nice, sweet, and perfect trigger.

A Good Morning On The Range

Instead of our regular Friday morning meeting, I took five members of a business networking group I'm a part of to the range this morning as a get out of the office event.

A few of them had never shot before, and a couple had either as hunters and one as a more Gen2 type shooter.

In short it was a great time.

We hit the rifle range first. I let them shoot one of my ARs, the AK and the Tavor on the rifle range. That's another 100 flawless rounds through the Tavor.

Everyone thought the Tavor was very cool and one of the guys that owned an AR was very impressed with it.

One of the guys brought along a GSG MP-5 in .22. It was a blast to shoot - lots of fun, ridiculously easy to control and just a fun gun. I could ring the steel plates at 100 yards no problem. It had quite a few failures to feed, most likely due to the ersatz lead round nose budget 22s that was all he could find to shoot through it, so can't blame the gun for that.

One not so funny event happened. One of the guys had brought his deer rifles out to sight in (He's a deer season only shooter). His first rifle had some serious functioning problems due to a complete lack of lubrication. It was so dry the bolt would not close on a round. I put on some Slip2000 EWL and it functioned like a champ.

The second rifle was a different story.

He fired a round and it worked ok, but the second round he tried to fire jammed completely and could neither be fired nor extracted, so he had a live round stuck in the chamber.

The round would not come out of the chamber no matter what - prying with knives and multi-tools did nothing, nor did a rod down the barrel. It was jammed in tight. I couldn't figure out how it could be so jammed into the chamber like that.

It was a 308 Winchester round, which he swore was the caliber of the rifle.

I took a look at the markings on the barrel and guess what? It wasn't chambered in 308. The rifle was chambered in 30-06.

Be sure you check you've put the right ammo in the gun folks.

Then we headed to the pistol range and had a blast. I set up a couple plate racks, then added some poppers and supervised them shooting at them in a friendly competition as to who could knock 'em all down with 10 shots on 8 targets. They had a great time shooting.

One of the guys brought a few interesting pistols - A Walther PPX, a S&W Shield and a SiG 239.

I got to try out the Walther PPX. If you're following Tam (and if you're not, you should) you know about the Walther PPX and can see how she's putting one through its paces. Handling the PPX was interesting. While it looks blocky as heck, the grip fit my hand like a glove and the trigger was truly and impressively excellent, I'd say certainly better than a stock Glock trigger. Knocking down plates quickly with accuracy was no problem.

The Shield was also easy to shoot as was his Sig 938.

I brought along my 9mm S&W M&P, my Glock 19 and two 1911s.

The 1911s were a big hit. But they had problems clearing all 8 targets with just the 8 shots in its magazine.

After putting hundreds of rounds through the guns it was time to head back to work. Now I've got quite a few guns to clean.

Everyone had a great time at the range and agreed that it kicked the Group's golf outing's butt and that we should do it again.

NRA Convention - The IWI Tavor Booth

Yes, IWI was in the house!

Considering it won the NRA's rifle of the year award, it certainly deserved to be here.

That's Mike Kassanar, VP of Sales & Marketing IWI US, and one of the driving forces to getting the Tavor in production and for sale in the USA. If you've got a Tavor, thank Mike.

I had a great chat with him and with Shlomi Sabag, President of IWI Ltd about the Tavor.

Apparently the biggest hold-up to getting a 300 Blackout conversion into production is getting enough 300 Blackout ammo available for testing and development. They need 50,000 rounds to thoroughly test it in Israel before they will roll it out, and there's nothing like that amount of 300 BLK ammo available right now.

They're now holding off on making the 5.45x39 conversion kit available, now that the ATF has just slammed the door on cheap Russian 5.4.5x39 imports.

They do have 9mm conversion kits out, they use the AR15 9mm conversion magazine or you can easily convert UZI magazines to work and still work in your UZI.

They also demonstrated the stance and hold that provides an excellent supporting position using the Tavor, making for a rock-solid position for rapid accurate fire.

Murphy's Law tried out the Tavor in a left-hand setup and declared it good.

Good folks and a great rifle.

Close to IWI was the Geissele booth and yes, they had a demo of their drop in trigger enhancement for the Tavor.

The trigger upgrade seriously rocks and eliminates the only complaint most people have about the Tavor. Getting a chance to try it out certainly moved it onto my must-buy list. Unfortunately, they didn't have any here, otherwise a purchase would have been made.

We also tried out some of their other triggers and DMR trigger upgrade for the AR makes for a very nice precise rifle trigger.

It was a great opportunity meeting the people responsible for bringing the Tavor to market and seeing so many Tavors in one place. Judging form the interest around the booth, the future looks bright for the Tavor among NRA members.

Tavor Sales Going Well In The USA

Over at Guns Save Lives, they've got a report that IWI Wanted to Sell 6,000 Tavors in US in 1 Year – They Sold 15,000 in 9 Months

That's some excellent sales numbers for a new middle/higher-end firearm product to the US firearms market.

Combine a great product; pent up demand waiting for a licensing/manufacturing deal to be setup here for it to comply with US Assault Weapons ban regulations; and add on fears that Obama and the Democrats pushed for a new assault weapons ban and it's easy to see why they've sold as well as they did.

Once you have one, you realize it's smaller and handier than non-NFA length AR-15s and has a natural point of aim and heft, ergonomic controls, and is a reliable fun to shoot firearm. There's plenty to like about the Tavor.

I certainly hope that IWI's success with the Tavor in the USA continues, and based on the quality of the Tavor, I have no doubt it will.

The Guns Of February

Sunny and 20 degrees, about as good a February weather forecast for outdoor shooting that you can get in Michigan.

And so, to the range I did go.

I went with my friend Manuel to the outdoor range where I'm a member.

Manuel had just purchased a Tavor with an 18" barrel with a Trijicon ACOG mounted on it, and he needed to take it out and try it alongside mine, and get it zeroed in.

We shot the Tavors side by side at 25 yards and hit our targets nicely.

I think that makes us Tavorishes.

Both Tavors, as expected, functioned perfectly.

At close range, the Aimpoint Pro gave a faster sight picture, especially when we practiced snap shots, but the ACOG shines at longer range with its magnification. We each appreciated each other's Tavor and the different optics on them.

After shooting the Tavors, we pulled out our carry pistols. My S&W M&P 40c and his Glock 27.

I also pulled out my new-to-me but clearly used 40 M&P full size.

This was a police trade in with night sights, and the pistol arrived with a lot of slide wear and it was pretty gunked up. It was so gunked up that the magazine release would not drop the magazine when pressed but it only moved down a bit. The gunk seemed to have been coffee and doughnuts stuck in the internals. Some judicious cleaning and oiling and it is as good as new and the mag drops freely, the grip is no longer sticky and the suspiciously-looking-like-coffee stain on the metal part of the takedown tool is now gone.

After shooting the compact, the full size was much easier to handle, even though the full size is not that much bigger than the compact, it fits the hand just a tad better and is more controllable.

A little bit more grip goes a long way, and I could clear the plate rack a lot faster, not to mention make consistent head-shots out to 25 yards on USPSA targets. I may just follow Tam's lead and just start carrying a full size M&P. We'll have to try it out and see how it fits, or I may end up rotating it with the compact depending on wardrobe requirements.

Manuel's Glock 27 had a Crimson Trace laser grip on it, which unfortunately in all the bright sunlight and snow was not useful as the dot was completely washed out. The laser still is a valuable tool for use at night and in dark areas, but don't expect it to perform in bright light with reflective snow for a fore- and backdrop.

His Glock also had an interesting custom safety installed:

The safety was a bit problematic - if you weren't careful while firing you could unintentionally activate it, so you had to take care with your grip.

The Glock 27 was decent, especially how he has it setup with the 13 round magazines from the Glock 23 with magazine sleeves on them, but I'm finding I'm shooting better with the M&P.

We also did some weak-hand only shooting, which showed that yes, I need to do more weak hand shooting.

Then we headed out to the 100 yard range, breaking a path though thigh-deep snow to get there.

We shot the Tavors again and shot my 300 Blackout AR15.

The Tavors had no problem ringing the steel plates at 100 yards, as did the 300 Blackout AR15.

That's another 120 rounds through my Tavor with no stoppages or issues to date.

The hours passed and our hands were starting to get pretty cold by the time we were done shooting. So we cleaned up, packed up, and headed home.

A darn good range trip.