Amusing cartoons about a serious subject.

Stolen from Dan Mitchell's very excellent blog.  Though I suspect that he too stole them.

More on the Contender

OK, enough about Politics for a while.   Recently, I wrote a bit on my fascination with the Contender and it seems that my observations struck a cord.  I've gotten a number of nice messages on the subject and I thought that I'd amplify a bit on my experiences.  


First off, I got my first frame (Easy Open) a few years ago in .44 mag.  I wasn't sure what I was getting into but I loved it.  Today I have five frames (old original Contender.  Some easy open, some converted, some not so easy open) and a bunch of barrels.  "What barrels"  you say?  Well, take a look:

10"	.30 Carbine
14"	.17 HMR
14"	.22 LR
14"	.204 Ruger
10"	32/20 Winchester
10"	7-30 Waters
10"	.445 Super Mag
10"	.45 Long Colt/ .410
10"	.30-30
12"	.17 Ackley Bee
10"	.222 Remington
10"	.22 LR
10"	.223
12"	.22 WMR
10"	.22 WMR
12"	.357 Magnum
10"	5 mm Remington
14"	.17 HM2
10"	.44 Remington
10"	.357 Max/magnum

Nice little collection.  Honest to God, I'd love to say that I bang away with all of them but, truth be told, I bought a few "just because".   Come on now, a .17 Ackley Bee?  Before you .17 Ackley Bee guys kick ass, let me say that I intend to shoot it, it just isn't at the highest point of my list and there are only so many hours in the day.  

At the moment, I am riveted by two calibers: the .17HM2 and the .204 Ruger.

This is the steel frame in .204.  Neat.  Only problem is that the grip is a bit too small for my hand.  Not a big issue since I use it from a rest or bipod.  


A note on optic:  I have an NCStar rice rocket on this piece.  I gotta say that for ~$40 from Amazon I have to wonder about the sanity of someone who would go out and spend half a grand for a sight picture that is indistinguishable from this one.  Hell, if you're worried about the damn thing breaking, buy four of them.  Buy ten for Chrissakes.  It's still cheaper.  Slam it on your Contender and use the cost difference to buy another frame or a couple of barrels.  If you're worried about fashion go watch Project Runway and leave firearms to guys who look for functionality at reasonable cost first and whether the name is "right" second.  

So ... the Ruger .204.  I've shot it a couple of times now, nice muzzle blast.  Not quite as "interesting" as a .223 but it certainly gets the attention of anyone to your side.  The target shows 10 shots at 100 yards.  Rest, naturally.  


I stand by my notion of shooting being "Loud Zen".  There is only one problem:  when you pay a buck for every flyer, it is tough to be real mellow.  There is a solution, though.  Next time I'll discourse on why rim fires are the preferred calibers of the Zen masters.


Share your Contender thoughts Amigos, I am waiting.


Till next time ...


MJ

ATI 1911 in.45 ACP - A Commentary

There are a few rules about Guy Stuff that I will impart as we go along.  The first one is that a Guy cannot own too many firearms.  A subset of this rule, a clarification so to speak, is that a Guy cannot own too many of one type of firearm.  What do I mean by this?  Simple. When it comes to guns get 'em and keep 'em and if you come across one that is like one you own, get it anyway.  Case in point (and a clever segue to the matter of this entry) the venerable Model 1911.  Now, if you wonder what that is and are hoping that you will find an explanation a few lines down just get the hell outta here.  Leave.  Now.  Jesus.  Who the hell would be coming to a site about Guy Stuff (says it right on the top for Chrissakes) and not know what a Model 1911 is?

Anyway, I own a total of four 1911 type firearms.  A Series 80 Gold Cup, a Colt Defender, an German .22 and, the subject of this little write up, an ATI 1911 replication.

Now, any Guy can tell you, particularly if you have visited SHOT this century, that the number of manufacturers making 1911's might, and I say "might", only be exceeded by the number fabricating AR style platforms.  10,000?  35,000?  Just funnin' ya.  There are a lot though and the quality is reasonably good.  Recently I came across an interesting version.  It is imported by American Tactical Importers (ATI) from the Philippines  .  "Hey, where the hell are you going with this, Cobb?  The bloody Philippines?  Don't they make everything out of Teak there?  Who the hell wants a Teak 1911?  What are you playing at?  You trying to kill me?"

Ease up there, private.  I thought the same damn thing.  Philippines, Teak, Shoes, graft, Monsoons.   This one is made by an outfit with the silly sounding name "Shooters Arms Manufacturing".  Ever notice how names in the far east always sound like what they are?  Anyway, this outfit makes weapons for the military and they seem to have the bases covered.  The copy I got felt like the original and sounded like it too when I cycled the slide.  At the range I put about 500 hardball rounds through it for an informal workout.  I had a couple of jams early on but as the parts went through the final fitting that every auto goes through when you first use it, the jams stopped.  Damn "clunk clunka chunk" noise didn't though.  That's a good thing since if it didn't sound like a washing machine rolling down a hill it wouldn't be a 1911, right?

Here's a picture from the ATI site:

It's a 1911.  Hell, what is the point of even having a picture?  Finish is a powder coating that seems durable.  The trigger seemed a bit tinny to me and the mag is all you would expect from a far eastern manufacturer in the 1950's, ie. flimsy crap.  The grips are some sort of weird, red far eastern wood that, frankly, gave me the creeps.  That said, the damn thing patterned better than my Gold Cup with the same ammo at the same distance.  

WTF?  

Seems like what they did, smartly IMHO, is to cut a few corners on things that the average shooter is going to monkey around with anyway.  You keep wood grips on your 1911 if you are into pain, most of us have a favorite mag manufacturer that we keep in business and a trigger job is cheap and almost always called for.  With this 1911 you might want to save some money short term and see how the trigger out of the box is.  Mine was crisp and, frankly, for the money I am not sure that I would do anything to this weapon.   The fit and finish is generally excellent.  A word on costs.  As of today I see it hovering around $400-$415.  Jesus Christ surfing on John Browning's corpse!! This is a must buy.  Get out there and get one.  Thank me later.

Now, all that said, no one here is dumb enough to think that for $400 you are going to walk away with a Colt quality firearm, right Amigos?  This thing is a serviceable, seemingly reliable weapon that you can throw in your Go-Bag with out feeling like you just took $500 off the value because it got scratched.  In many ways it is an authentic .45 since, like it's service issue forebears, it is not only made (and priced) to take a beating, it actually expects it.  Mine is a Government replication but it comes with a shorter barrel, carved hammer and the usual useless alterations.  Pay yer money, take yer choice.

I'll be checking in on this weapon as time goes on.  You guys share your thoughts too.

Adios.

MJ

References

http://www.americantactical.us/939/detail.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911_pistol

http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/colt-1911-history/