In this episode the boys are definitely not government agents. For real. They’re just three guys doing a podcast. Nothing more.
Walther PDP Match SF: 1500 Round Check-In
Cover Photo: Another great shot from Jaq from my last training class with Green Ops.
This is a quick “journal-esque” piece about the Walther PDP Match Steel Frame pistol I’ve been shooting since mid-December. It was originally reviewed for Shooting Illustrated. As the title suggests, I have approximately 1,500 rounds through the Walther PDP SF at the time of this writing. It is roughly 1000 rounds over the original review’s 500-round count estimate. Obviously, with more trigger time behind the pistol now, my initial thoughts have evolved.
PDP MATCH SF ROUND COUNT & AMMO
For some 1,500 rounds of 9mm isn’t much. But considering the number of pistols I’m working with on a regular basis for review, it’s a fair amount. Especially since more than 90% of 9mm ammo has been out of my personal stash). To date, 115-grain Blazer Aluminum is the what I’ve shot the most through this Walther. I’ve also started reloading again to replenish my depleted stock of hand-loaded 9mm, and the pistol cycles these like champ. Everything has been a mixture of factory rounds from Federal, Fiocchi, Nosler, Winchester, and CCI. Other than some self-induced malfunctions by my floating left-handed thumb blocking ejection, I’ve had no legitimate malfunctions.
There is an observation I’ve noticed after shooting a lot of the CCI Blazer Aluminum. The ammo is great and works nicely without giving up accuracy or anything, but after higher round counts or shooting the gun aggressively, small flecks of aluminum off the cartridge casings do tend to accumulate to a higher degree than brass flecks. It’s easily wiped down, but it’s something to keep in mind. And one more thing about this alternative-cased ammo… Like the HK VP9, Walther PDP barrels have stepped chambers and conventional wisdom says to avoid steel-cased cartridges. After shooting scores of Blazer aluminum across three separate PDPs, Blazer Aluminum hasn’t caused issues.
OPTICS MOUNTED ON THE PDP SF
As soon as I took the gun home from the FFL in early December, I immediately mounted my first-wave T&E Gideon Optics Omega Green Reflex sight using the included Walther OEM optics mounting plate. My experience with the Gideon Omega is something else that will eventually be released in another write-up. But for now it has seen over 800 rounds while mounted on the PDP Match SF.
After SHOT Show, I swapped out the Omega for Trijicon’s new enclosed-emitter RCR reflex sight. The RCR uses the novel capstan screw mounting system. In addition to dry-fire with the RCR, I’ve taken it to Green Ops AAPM One-Day class and my most recent local weekend club USPSA match. So, I estimate round count to be around 600ish to date. Interestingly enough, I’ve never used the iron sights on this pistol. All rounds have been aimed with a mounted pistol dot-sight. I’m not to worried about the lack of BUIS on this piece, since I do not carry it for self-defense. For the foreseeable future, I plan on keeping the RCR mounted on this pistol. As the RCR will eventually also get its own write-up like the Gideon Omega.
EVENTS ATTENDED WITH THE PDP SF
Besides my original “review” session and shooting it once or twice with family around Christmas-time 2023 and New Year’s 2024, I’ve only taken the Walther PDP Match SF to four other events. Three weekend club USPSA matches and the already-mentioned Green Ops pistol class.
Both my latest match and that Green Ops class were my inspiration for this “follow-up” post. Not only did I cross the 1,000 round count milestone during the Green Ops course, but I also pushed performance as best as I could with the PDP SF that day. And I followed this up at that recent match from four days ago. Although my competition prowess is modest at best, I shot a fairly good match. At one point, I hit a personal record — the first time ever shooting .13 and .11 splits with any gun. But now I know it’s physically possible for me with the PDP Match SF. What a gun!
CURRENT THOUGHTS
The more I shoot the gun, the more I like it. What I’ll describe next is completely subjective and emotional: the Walther PDP Match SF is well-made and shoots amazingly. In one’s hands, it feels like a rheostat–it spits out as much or as little performance as one inputs into it. Even though the Dynamic Performance Trigger has a breaking weight closer to five pounds than it does to three pounds, I’ve come to really appreciate its flat face, especially after the trigger control lessons during the Green Ops class. Along with the short take up, the flat face allows a higher and more precise degree of manipulation, and it shows.
Sure, this pistol’s weight is probably its biggest downside, but it’s also its biggest asset too. The gun hardly recoils, after all. At the same time, drawing and shooting from concealment all day at the Green Ops class, made my forearm tired as if I had been doing front kettle-bell swings all day! Fully loaded with a 20-round magazine, dot and light the PDP Match SF weighs 57 ounces.
PRACTICAL & TACTICAL
Going forward, I’m interested in experimenting with aftermarket stocks to see how they change the contour and feel of the grip. Because this pistol is made from metal, it doesn’t have the same characteristics as the original PDP’s grip. As far as evolving thoughts, when I first got my hands on it in December, I viewed this more as a match gun than anything else. Not only is it in the name, but since it comes with its magwell installed from the factory which mentally primed to think “competition.” Sure, it’s 100% “race-ready” for most USPSA divisions, but more and more, the pistol doesn’t strike me as merely a competition piece. It’s proving itself to be such a well-rounded 9mm handgun that it can make for a great full-size general-purpose piece, especially if you don’t mind a little extra weight. Walther’s marketing campaign paints the gun both as “practical” and “tactical” and so far it might actually be looking that way.
The Kill Card Challenge By RE Factor Tactical
Last month, I discussed the Essentials Target from RE Factor Tactical. I purchased these as a multi-purpose target I could use for various training drills, zeroing, and more. Along the way, I discovered a drill attached to the Essentials Target known as the Kill Card Challenge. This particular drill is designed around three of the targets on the Essentials Target. It is a fairly simple drill but also a fairly hard drill with some strict accuracy and time standards.
This year, I’m setting a shooting goal for myself every month. This month’s goal is to clear this drill. If I accomplish this before the month ends, I’ll add concealment, or switch to a smaller pistol, or something else to make it difficult. Let’s dig into the Kill Card Challenge, and hopefully, by the time you read this, I will have conquered it.
RE Factor Tactical Kill Card Challenge
The Essentials Target is required, and you’ll be shooting the Number 1 circle, the Number 7 Rectangle, and the Number 12 rectangle. As you can see, the three targets within the target vary in size and location, which presents us with our first challenge.
This drill is only fired from five yards, but don’t let that fool you. It’s still fairly difficult. You have to fire eight rounds and conduct two reloads in seven seconds to accomplish the drill. You need three magazines. Two magazines are loaded with two rounds, and one magazine is loaded with four rounds. Your course of fire looks like this.
Shooter starts with hands down or up, but off of the gun. At the beep, the shooter draws and fires two rounds into the number 1 target and conducts a reload. You need to reload with the magazine holding four rounds and shoot those rounds in target number 7. Now reload one more time and fire two rounds into target number 12.
Do all that in seven seconds, and you pass the Kill Card Challenge.
My Thoughts
The Kill Card Challenge does stress some core skills. You have to be fast with your reloads with your draw and make sure you’re placing your shots on target. Obviously, remembering the order of operations helps, but if this jar head can do it, so can you. Once you run through the drill a few times, moving quickly between targets isn’t tough, and some dry fire runs probably help a bit.
Going from small to big to small forces you to change gears. Personally, I found it easier to shoot the smaller targets and feel I can cut a lot of the split times down from the four shots fired if I hit the gas a little more when I get to the big target.
I did see my times quickly drop from around ten seconds to the mid-eights very quickly. That’s where things begin to slow down a bit, and scraping fractions of a second off becomes a little more difficult. On my first day, I got to 7.9 and have been working to scrape that 0.9 off. I really want to be able to do this in about five seconds with my current setup.
To do so, I’ve been practicing the individual movements in a dry fire environment. I’ve been stressing faster draws and reloads to drive the time down.
Killing the Card
If you can accomplish the Kill Card challenge with video proof and follow the rules stated on the RE Factor website, they’ll send you an exclusive patch and add your name to the list of those who got it done. I plan to do just that because I can’t resist a free patch! Plus, it falls in line well with my yearly goal.
Kommando Store’s Heat Chest Rig
The film Heat is a favorite of gun guys and gals across the county. Michael Mann is legendary for the degree of realism he brings to his films, especially when it comes to guns. In 1995, when the movie came out, chest rigs existed, but they weren’t exactly well-known or common. The film had a set of custom-made chest rigs for the characters to wear under their suits. The Heat chest rig isn’t your normal chest rig by any means.
It’s a vest that wears like a vest and is made from a softer nylon material. The Heat chest rig held eight AR-15 magazines, and in the film, the magazines were sewn in. Over the years, Airsoft variants have existed, and Forgotten Weapons released a god-awful version, which they never fixed or refunded, by the way (Ask me how I know). Inspired by the failures of others, the Kommando Store released its own Heat rig.
They happily sent me one, and I’ve been larping as Neil McCauley ever since. A carry-handle Bushmaster AR completes the look since a Colt 733 seems tough to find.
The Heat Chest Rig – LARP Central
True to the movie, the Heat chest rig holds eight 30-round magazines. The Heat chest rig comes in both medium and large, and the large fits my six-foot-five-inch frame well. The rig itself is adjustable at the shoulders and at the back or both length and width. It’s easy to adjust, and you can make it fit quite well. The rear of the vest is a mesh-like material to keep ya cool.
The Heat Chest rig comes with hook and loop tabs as well as an elastic bit. AR magazines are all roughly the same size, but not really. Polymer and metal magazines are slightly different in size and even length depending on the base plate.
The elastic pad and slightly adjustable hook and loop enclosure allow you to use Magpul mags, Lancers, and standard aluminum pretty easily. The magazines are topped out at 30 rounds, and even the DD-32 magazines are a bit too long to fit correctly. The entire setup feels super high quality. It’s clearly well made, and attention was paid to detail.
To The Range
The Heat chest rig isn’t something I’d use for serious shooting. I’m not going to storm bin Laden’s house wearing the Heat chest rig, but I want it to work well. It might sound silly, but I want to be able to hit the range and provide suppressing fire while my buddy carries our heist score to the car. With previous incarnations, you couldn’t walk at a brisk pace and expect them to retain the magazines. With the Kommando Store variant, the magazines stay locked in place.
You can sprint at full speed, and the magazines remain where you put them. The elastic band and hook and loop enclosure are super easy to defeat, and you can snatch and grab magazines and load your rifle. The Heat chest rig makes it super easy to keep your rifle tapped off in case you need to lay down suppression fire during a brazen daylight bank robbery.
The best way to make sure the rig works is to ensure it’s not too baggy. You need a little resistance to help draw the magazines quickly. If it’s too loose, the whole vest moves when you pull the magazine. Get it nice and tight, and the vest works best. You’ll need to experiment with orientation to make the reloads work. This is the only chest rig I know of that works this way, so it’s not going to work set up like a standard chest rig.
Drop of a Hat These Guys Will Rock and Roll
The Kommando Store Heat chest rig is a rock-solid, well-made piece of gear. It’s a novelty in many ways but a high-quality option. If it were 1995 and I needed to rob a bank or armored car, then the Heat Chest rig would be perfect. It offers a full sustainment load of eight magazines, has excellent retention, and is even comfy to weird with 240 rounds of 5.56 loaded. Check it out at the Kommadno Store, along with all their other awesome stuff.
FN Guardian 15 AR Carbine
The FN 15 Guardian is a fully featured 5.56mm AR pattern carbine with a mid-length 16-inch barrel. It’s outfitted with a full-size 15-inch free floating M-LOK compatible handguard. The handguard has 24 M-LOK slots across three different sides. The top pf the handguard has a full-length section of Picatinny rail to mount accessories easily.
Every major component in the new FN 15 Guardian is made to meet the standard military specifications or better. Let’s take Guardian’s bolt, which is made from 9310 steel, for example. The original specification calls for this part to be machined from Carpenter 158 alloy steel. The Guardian uses 9310 steel, which is approximately 7% stronger than Carpenter 158. Furthermore, many other firearms designs, semi-auto or full-auto alike, already incorporate 9310 steel into their schematics. And unlike Carpenter 158, which is a single source and proprietary alloy, 9310 is a standardized tool grade steel. Meaning it is more available and less expensive in the open market, which means that savings are passed down to the consumer.
FN 15 Guardian’s Receivers
The FN 15 Guardian’s receivers are made from the customary 7075-T6 aircraft grade aluminum alloy. The receivers are finished with the standard Type III hardcoat anodizing. The 16-inch barrel is made from 4150 chrome moly vanadium ordnance steel, which is the tried and true choice for ARs. Unlike true “mil-spec” carbines, the FN outfits their Guardian rifles with a mid-length gas tube. It benefits the entire system as whole with the reduction of operating pressures by virtue of its slightly longer length. This means that the shooter gets a rifle with a smoother recoil impulse that’s also less harsh on the action while still maintaining reliability. FN’s carbine has a retail price of $999.
To learn more, please visit https://fnamerica.com/
California Gun Control Leads The Nation… in Mass Shootings
As we enter the third month of 2024 one state is pulling dramatically ahead of the other 49 to take the lead in mass shooting events. So as I write this, California leads the nation in mass shootings.
Gavin “Every state should model their gun policies after us.” Newsom’s progressive policy’d paradise just recorded their fourth with a casualty count of eleven. Four dead, three men at the scene and a woman who died at the hospital. Three masked gunman attacked a birthday party from the reports, gang violence that will soon be forgotten…
California Leading The Nation In Mass Shooting
I hate that political animals like Newsom are likely sweating bullets, hoping for a crazier more conventional violent event to shift scrutiny away from their socio-economic disaster zones. Whenever there is relative peace they can credit their policies, but there tired tactic of blaming other states’ policy and legal definitions is continuing to ring more and more hollow.
Pretending that things like partial licensing or partial prohibitions or waiting periods will change the current norms of violence in the nation is laughable, tragically laughable but laughable nonetheless. Every well vetted study on this issue concludes that most of the popular gun control policies have no, and in some cases negative consequences on the situation overall when it comes to violence involving firearms.
My personal opinion on the subject isn’t that gun control produces more crime, I just think it has nearly no influence on a crime trend and tends to be passed when things are getting worse. Then, when trends turn due to enough of a change in the factors, parties, and socio-economic outlook, the policy setters can claim victory for policies that didn’t do anything beyond give seats to bureaucratic job seekers who need something to do. Tax money spends like the rest.
Congrats Gavin
So as we drive on towards the election, let us not be fooled by folks claiming credit for gains they had nothing to do with. Gun control is not shaping up to be a pinnacle issue this cycle, but both leading candidates have records on firearms that should be held in great suspicion. Trump banned bumpstocks arbitrarily through an ATF rule, not Congress. That issue is one we are currently in the process of resolving a whole presidential cycle later than when it was thrust into the public policy chaos. As niche as that rule change and that product was, what good did it do? So a bumpstock hasn’t been used in a heinous crime since, well it never had before Vegas either.
There was no minor stream of bumpstock involved crimes, but we have a minor epidemic of Glock switches thanks to Wish and Temu and other sites who sell the “airsoft” accessories. The ATF can’t stop them, they can only prosecute the caught. Those caught are often guilty of plenty of other crimes, making the gun charges superfluous. We often have DA’s who won’t push gun crimes to conclusion for their own political agendas, we can’t be seen to punish too many people of a vague demographic after all.
Anyway, congratulations Gavin. Really leading the way on ‘gun control works’ for 2024.
The Wizard Drill – A Pocket Pistol Test
I’ve taken to carrying something I thought I never would…a pocket pistol. I’ve been a fan of full-sized handguns for years. However, over time, I must have mellowed with age. It started with the Sig Sauer P365 and has continued to the point where a little KelTec Gen 2 P32 rides in my pocket most of the time. Obviously, it may change depending on the environment, but most of the time, I’m working in a pretty secure area without much chance of a threat, so I took a load off. Carrying a small gun means training with a small gun, and that had me visit the Wizard Drill by Ken Hackathorn.
Running the Wizard Drill
Mr. Hackathorn invented the drill, but I first heard about it from Claude Werner, aka the Tactical Professor. I pocket carry, and it’s one of the few drills that focuses on small guns and pocket carry. Of course, you can shoot this with your Glock 19 in an appendix rig, but you won’t find yourself challenged by it. I grabbed my KelTec P32, my Desantis Superfly, and some .32 ACP and headed to the range.
You’ll need five rounds of the Wizard Drill per run. My ammo for this article was provided by AmmoToGo, for which I’m quite grateful. While they sponsor some articles for me, I do often turn to them with my own cash, especially when I need tough-to-find ammo like .32 ACP and .410 Buckshot. You’ll also need an IDPA target. I used an FBI Q target because I couldn’t find an IDPA-style target anywhere, and I was too excited to wait for a delivery.
You’ll need a shot timer and your eyes and ears. That’s about it, so let’s hit it.
To The Range With the Wiard Drill
The course of fire is four stages fired at 3, 5, 7, and 10 yards. You get 2.5 seconds for each stage. The Wizard Drill can be fired in a few different ways. For pocket carry, you can start with your hand in your pocket and your gun, according to Claude Werner. If you are carrying in a normal way then you start with your hands to your side.
I ran the drill with my hands in my pocket and with my hands by my side. Predictably, I did much better with my hand in my pocket and on my gun, but I think it’s important to be skilled in both aspects. You’ll need to place all of your headshots into the headshot box and all of the body shots into the circle of the body.
Let’s look at the course of fire.
Stage 1 – Start at three yards, and on the beep, draw and fire one round to the head of your target using only your dominant hand.
Stage 2 – Back it on up to five yards. On the beep, draw and fire a headshot with both hands.
Stage 3 – We are back to seven yards now. You’ll draw and fire a headshot with both hands.
Stage 5 – The last portion of the drill positions you at ten yards. At the beep, you draw and fire two rounds to the body of the target with two hands.
According to Clauder Werner, to pass the Wizard Drill, you need to make it inside the 2.5-second timeline for each stage. Any complete miss is considered a fail. Any shot in the target but outside the head or body circle/square is considered one dropped point. If you drop more than two points, it’s a failure.
Last Thoughts On The Wizard Drill
The Wizard Drill proved to be quite challenging with a small handgun drawn from the pocket. Little guns are tough to shoot, and my first run was a failure. After that, I took a bit more time but remained within the accepted time limits. That got me a pass. I worked with my hand outside the pocket but slipped outside the time limit at the seven-yard line more than once.
It’s a skill I plan to practice dry and speed up a good bit with my out-of-pocket draw. The Wizard Drill would be perfect for small pocket pistols, J-frames, and the like. Give it a try and see how your skills stack up.
The S&W Response – The Multi Mag PCC
When Smith & Wesson introduced the Response PCC, I was sort of ambivalent about it. Neat, another blowback-operated AR-15 in 9mm. I didn’t give it a long look, but when S&W offered to send it, I didn’t say no. I enjoy pistol-caliber carbines, so why not? After picking up the Response from my local FFL, I learned I judged the Response a little too early. The S&W Response isn’t your typical AR-9. It’s surprisingly different than most AR-9s and clever in a variety of ways.
The S&W Response PCC
First, the upper and lower are made entirely from polymer. Uppers and lowers made from polymer aren’t new, but they are new for Smith & Wesson. A lot of polymer lowers kind of suck, and after a few 80 lowers I’ve milled I can say that some are okay. I’ve had more than one negative interaction with polymer lowers. S&W is a name I trust for good firearms, so I’ll give it a fair shake.
One of the big benefits of the Response’s all-polymer design is weight. The gun weighs only 5.9 pounds in total. The upper and lower are not standardized and are not compatible with other uppers and lowers. The polymer goes into the rail, stock, charging handle, and more.
The next rather interesting feature is the ability to swap mag wells. The mag well detaches from the lower and allows you to use different magazines. The Response comes with the M&P mag well installed and a spare Glock magwell. That’s smart because, as Ruger learned, people really want Glock magazines. There is a reason the ‘Does it take Glock mags’ meme exists.
Also, like Ruger, this modular mag well can potentially introduce the mag platforms. The mag well seems large, so we might see the potential for other calibers like 10mm and .45 ACP as well. Who knows? With the aftermarket, we might get more options than we ever considered.
Swapping More Than Mags
The mag well is easy to replace. All you need to do is remove a single hex head bolt and slide the mag well to the side. Slide the new one in, and bam, you’re done. It’s an impressively simple system. It takes just a few minutes to swap the mag wells over. Not a bad system at all.
The other thing we can swap around with the Response is the pistol grip. It’s a lot like the M&P Pistol grip. It comes with a number of inserts that allow you to customize the size of the grip. The Response grip is quite grippy, more than any other AR pistol grip.
Most AR aftermarket parts and pieces work with the Response. You can swap charging handles, safeties, and the like. Stuff like the magazine release is proprietary, so it can accommodate both the M&P and Glock mags.
To the Range
I mostly used the M&P magazines for testing. I barely swapped to Glock to confirm the reliability, but in honor of the M&P being S&W mags, I figured it was the better way to go. Also, with the M&P magazines, you get a last-round bolt hold open design. That feature doesn’t work with the Glock mags, from what I can tell. S&W sends you two 23-round magazines for the gun. The M&P magazines are robust and work well for a PCC.
Any kind of straight blowback PCC tends to have some nasty recoil. Well, nasty might be an exaggeration. Typically, a 9mm blowback AR recoils as much as a 5.56 AR. It’s a bit much for a 9mm, but not out of this world or stiff. The Response isn’t completely free from that blowback recoil, but it is very well-balanced, so the effect is minimized and becomes very well-balanced. The bolt weight, buffer, and spring are well-tuned properly, and it shows.
The Response offers some very impressive ergonomics. The pistol grip is heavily textured and customizable, as we covered. The rail is thin and easy to grip, and there is a set of textured inserts on the rail for a nice grip. The stock is a Magpul MOE SL stock that is a fantastic touch to the rifle overall. It’s supportive and adjustable and locks on solid to the gun.
The controls are all your standard AR-type outside of the magazine release. To accommodate the handgun magazines, it’s pushed rearward a fair bit but very easy to reach. Up top, we have a polymer ambidextrous charging handle that’s quite generous.
Blasting Away With the Response
The S&W Response has a very nice trigger. It is impressively nice, to be perfectly honest. The Response’s trigger is less than three pounds and perfectly flat. PCC triggers can be finicky because of the varying quality of 9mm ammo. Steelcase Eastern Euro stuff tends to have hard primers, so strong springs are needed. That’s not an issue here. It’s a solid and light trigger with a short pull. To quote Ricky Bobby, “I want to go fast.”
Fast it goes, and it’s a real racehorse when it comes time to shoot fast. I blasted through several different drills and courses of fire. I set up my own mini Action Steel course for time with reloads, multi-positional shooting, and sprints. I also did the more traditional Bill Drill and scored a cold 1.99 seconds on it. The gun performs and works reliably. It’s easy to shoot fast and well-suited if you want to dive into the competitive world of PCC without breaking the bank.
Finally, does it shoot straight and can hit anything you need within 50 to 100 yards? At 100 yards, you have to start factoring in bullet drop, but if I aimed at the head of an IPSC target, I could hit it somewhere at 100 yards. At 25 yards, we could produce a good tight group that was nearly one big hole.
The PCC Life
The Response retails for around $699.99, according to the internet machine, so it falls outside of the budget range but is still affordable. It’s a great way to enter the competition world and be a competitor. Pistol Caliber Carbines are a good bit of fun, and they’re a great option if you’re already part of the M&P 9mm fan club.
IT WORKS FOR ME…UNTIL IT DOESN’T
We’ve all seen that discussion, usually on social media, and rolled our eyes when someone flippantly dismisses criticism by saying “It works for me!”. Most of the time what they’re really saying is “I haven’t found the failure point yet”. And THAT is the the critical element! They aren’t using the proper criteria for gear selection.
In order to truly claim something works for you it means you understand its limitations, and have done an honest evaluation of your needs and skills. Which is why at best “It works for me” is an incomplete sentence, the second half of which is “because of these measurable criteria.”
In the same vein, if you’re interacting with someone who’s invoking “It works for me”, there’s the potential to use it as a teachable moment. Sometimes it’s worth asking how they came to that conclusion. Yes most of the time Dunning-Kruger will rear its ugly head, but there will be those instances where those questions will walk them down the path of discovery.
Not saying that it’s worth engaging with everybody, but if you’re going to create the opportunity to learn and improve.
The Pineshot By King Competition
SHOT Show 2024 introduced me to King Competition and the Pineshot. King Competition is a Finnish company run by world-class shotgun shooters. They are well known for producing shotgun shell caddies used by 3-Gunners as well as offering online classes on how to load your shotgun. These are my people, and they were super generous with their time at SHOT 2024. Their latest device is the Pineshot, which, after talking shotguns for half an hour or so, they just gave me one.
The Pineshot is currently marketed for shotguns, but at SHOT, they had a few of the devices holding rifle rounds, 40mm grenade mockups, and even mini bottles of Jager. They seemingly plan to take the Pineshot everywhere, from the hunting fields to the military world and the nightclub scene! At its heart is the Pineshot, a two-shot shotshell holder that’s designed for hunting, law enforcement, and the tactical world.
The Pineshot – Hold Onto Them
There have been numerous dual shotshell holders, but what makes the Pineshot different is the active retention it offers. I’m not talking about a flap either, but a modern active retention system that makes drawing quick but ensures your shells are secure. To draw, the user simply needs to pull downward on the shells and then pull outward. It’s easy to pull one at a time or both at a time. You can also press down from the top to free the cartridges.
The spring-loaded design means it pops right back up when released, locking the remaining shell in place. This active retention device is an interesting take on the spare shotgun ammo holder. It’s super handy, easy to use, and designed to be very easy to reach and access. Shotguns aren’t high-volume weapons, and you won’t be laying down suppressive fire with one. In fact, I doubt most shotgun uses get to the point where the gun runs dry.
Still, we plan for the worst, and having a spare two to four rounds of shotgun ammo can be quite handy. Additionally, you can load buckshot and keep two spare slugs loaded into your Pineshot for easy access for those longer-range shots. It’s designed not just for tactical use, but the guys at King Competition were pushing it for hunters.
I imagine bird hunters who are shooting high volume would find it very useful to have a few spare Pineshots on their belts, especially if they are using double guns.
In Action With the Pineshot
The Pineshot comes with a clip that allows it to mount to nearly anything. The clip or universal mount, as King Competition calls it, can be mounted anywhere and to anything. It can work on a belt, on MOLLE, on a pocket, or even tied to a lanyard around the neck. You can put it nearly anywhere and draw the ammo with ease. It’s honestly pretty genius and easy to remove and replace as necessary. I’m envisioning a MOLLE belt complete with Pineshot as the bandolier of the future.
I used the Pineshot with some semi-auto shotguns and worked a variety of reloads. Port and tube reloads were the call of the day. I used the Pineshot to do two port reloads. My training conducted firing a shot, reloading, firing, and reloading once more in seven seconds. I know I can drive that time down, but that was the first time I’d used the Pineshot.
I practiced over and over and found the Pineshot to be very impressive. It’s a unique, easy-to-use device that keeps the shells stable and locked in place. Other systems rely on passive retention, but the Pineshot holds those suckers steady. It’s perfect for those more dynamic environments and in conditions where losing a shell is very possible.
Small companies with cool products aren’t a tough sell to me. It helps when the owners turn out to be super nice guys who are super knowledgeable. The Pineshot clearly shows some forethought and unique thinking. You can check out the Pineshot here for an American source of the handy little device.
AN EFFECTIVE TUCKABLE HOLSTER: What to Look For
There are some great holster companies that are making an effective tuckable holster options out there today.
Unfortunately there are a lot more holster makers that have some lackluster offerings. Many of these are just a regular IWB holster that has some tuckable element bolted on to it, without any consideration for the needs of the wearer.
I mean let’s be honest, most of them probably only have to wear a tucked in shirt for maybe 5-10 days out of the year MAX. That leads to an incomplete understanding of the needs of the end-user.
For years I was on a hunt for a truly discreet tuckable option, only to be met with visible belt loops and a chorus of “nobody notices anyways!”
TOP 5 ELEMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE TUCKABLE HOLSTER
Once I discovered Discreet Carry Concepts clips, my search was over! Since then I’ve found the perfect balance of attributes that when combined create a solution that’s greater than the sum of its parts. So here’s what you want to look for:
1) A QUALITY HOLSTER BODY
There’s plenty of folks out there making great holster shells. Some offer more turn-key solutions than others, but I’ve personally had great luck with the following:
Keepers Concealment
Dark Star Gear
KSG Armory
Tenicor
PHLster
These also come very highly recommended from friends in the industry I trust and respect:
JM Custom Kydex
Henry Holsters
Holster Company
Bawidamann
(This is not necessarily a comprehensive list, so apologies for anyone unintentionally omitted)
2) A CLAW
Most manufacturers choose a bolt-on solution that allows the user to customize it. Some like Keepers and Tenicor mold the claw into the holster body to maximize the balance between the various attachments. There’s no single best solution, since everyone’s built differently. The amount of grip rotation you’ll require to maximize concealment will very much be individualized.
3) A HOLSTER THAT’S LONG ENOUGH
Jon Hauptman does a great video on The Keel Principle, explaining why a longer muzzle improves concealment. The grip is the heaviest part of the pistol, and it’s also the part that’s the least contained. More real estate BELOW the belt line helps leverage the grip into the body and keep it from tipping out.
4) A WEDGE/MUZZLE PAD
As with the claw, some makers give the end-user the option to add, remove, and customize. Some mold the muzzle pad into the holster body, to create not only leverage but more grip rotation. You’ll have to see which one works best for you.
5) DISCREET CARRY CONCEPTS CLIPS
These are really the secret ingredient This is where the magic happens. Everything else listed above is a great IWB holster, but without a suitably low profile attachment method, The 2.1 and 4.1 clips specifically are designed to attach to the waistband of the pants, and be hidden by the belt. Adding these to an existing holster will likely solve whatever concealment problem you’re having.
The CZ Hammer Classic – Dropping Hammers
As a shotgun nut, I have an appreciation for basically all types of shotguns. Do I think Winchester made a mistake in making a lever action shotgun instead of listening to Browning and making a slide action? Yep, but I still like the 1887 lever action shotgun. I have a particular fondness for side-by-side double-barrel shotguns. I’m not sure where the appeal comes from, but the style, design, and the throwback to the American West. CZ is known for great rifles, awesome handguns, and now the CZ Hammer Classic.
Although, to be fair, these double-barrel shotguns are built in Turkey. I’m typically cautious with Turkish shotguns, but if a major, reputable company imports them, I’m willing to give them a try. The CZ Hammer classic fills this particular niche of shotguns that’s largely underserved. There are quite a few side-by-side coach guns out there, but long-barreled, side-by-side double-barrel shotguns with rabbit ear hammers aren’t quite common.
When these guns are produced, they tend to be extremely expensive, but with CZ having these guns made in Turkey, the price drops significantly. For less than a grand, you can have a true classic in your hands.
The CZ Hammer Classic – The Niche Shotgun
The Hammer Classic mixes 30-inch barrels and a dual hammer design with 12 gauge power. This was the type of gun that largely dominated the cartridge shotgun era from the mid-1800s. These hammer-fired side-by-side shotguns remained popular enough to stay in service well into the era of boxlocks and even pump action shotguns.
The Hammer Classic has two fully functional hammers, with each hammer paired with a trigger. It’s possible to cock both and fire both if you have the gall or a light enough loaded cartridge. A tang safety provides you with a manual option for ensuring the hammer’s lock to the rear. A tang-mounted barrel latch is also present.
The wood furniture on the gun is quite nice. Nicer than it has any real right to be. It’s medium dark and finely textured. Overall, it’s impressive, especially for a fairly budget-minded shotgun. The finish is a classic hardened look, and it extends to the receiver, the barrels, and even the butt pad. Oh, and there is no rubber, just a metal butt pad, as if the gun was made when Cleveland was still president.
Overall, the gun looks amazing. It’s a fairly niche gun. What’s the purpose of a hammer-fired shotgun these days? It’s a bit slow for skeet unless you run both hammers to the rear as you shoot. It could be used for hunting, but there are admittedly better options. What’s the purpose? For me, it’s to fill that niche of because I want it. I want it, and I want a rabbit-eared shotgun with long barrels and a fine finish. I might not be the king of England with a Parker, but I can feel like one.
Give ‘Em Both Barrels
The CZ Hammer Classic needs a break-in. Not in terms of reliability but in terms of the action opening, the safety sliding, and the general movements. The gun must have some healthy tolerances. The barrel release is stiff and needs a good press, the barrel opening is stiff and needs to be pulled, and the safety takes a dedicated press. It’s all stiff at first.
After a few uses, it loosens up rather well. You can just walk the gun through the dry fire practice, and it will loosen up pretty quickly. A little range time loosens it up nicely. At the range, the CZ Hammer Classic performs like an old car. It’s not as efficient or as fancy, but there is a charm and quality to it.
Pulling back the hammers feels amazing, and they have an overly satisfying click when pulled to the rear. The triggers are ultra-light and respond to a slight bit of pressure, and the hammers drop, the weapon fires, and you’re ready to do it again. The controls are all easy to reach with one thumb, and it’s super easy to reach and access.
The Punch
The gun recoils with a stiff push to the shoulder, and it has no give. The lack of a recoil pad is felt as the steel gives you that punch. Reduced recoil rounds or a slip-on recoil pad make it comfier if you plan to be a high-volume shooter. The CZ Hammer Classic isn’t necessarily a soft shooter, and for the first dozen rounds, it’s not bad, but you’ll feel it, and fatigue will set in quicker than with more modern guns.
The patterns proved to be adequate and fairly tight. A basic load of Winchester buckshot was patterned at about 8 inches at 15 yards. Slugs were surprisingly accurate, and at 25 yards, I was keeping them in a tight touching group. The only sight is a big white bead that sits at the end of the barrels. The long 30-inch barrels certainly give you a long enough sight radius.
The gun always went bang. Every round fired and ejected without an issue. Some of the testing involved mini shells, which resulted in a very nice recoil experience. The mini slugs, in particular, were adorably fun to shoot.
The Hammer Fired
The CZ Hammer Classic was a ton of fun to shoot and, honestly, a beautiful gun. It’s a pure-range gun for me, but it’s one of my favorites. It’s a throwback to an older era of shotguns that may have aged out of usefulness but haven’t aged out of coolness.
Gunday Brunch 139: Fudd Lore Busting
Today the boys are back and they’re busting some more gun myths, or as Keith calls them, “Fudd Tzu memes”
Production Is Back!
Cover Image: A Beretta 92X Performance and a chrome Canik Rival-S SFx next to 15 rounds of Federal Syntech 9mm. Both of these guns are ideal for USPSA Production division as they come from the factory.
At the tail end of 2023, board members of the USPSA voted to allow participants in its Production division to carry 15 rounds in their magazines starting February 1, 2024. This is a welcome change that not only will breathe new life into this waning competitive class, but also bring this United States based division more in-line with the rules of the international level IPSC Production division, where the magazine capacity has always been set at 15 rounds.
PRODUCTION IS BACK
For the longest time, magazine capacity in the Production division has been limited to ten rounds. The ten round limit stems from this class’ inception during the US Assault Weapons Ban, where all new guns sold were arbitrarily capped with a 10 round magazine limit. Funny enough, it wasn’t that long ago that this division was still a smoking-hot category with a lot of skilled shooters competing at the highest levels. It was one of the the most popular categories for weekend match shooters, as nearly all modern pistols will qualify. There’s several competition oriented handguns that were borne out of this division like the Tanfoglio Stock II, the CZ Shadow 2, the Glock 34, etc. that still remain cult classics today. And some of these still live on in the USPSA Carry Optics division.
CARRY OPTICS DIVISION
The USPSA Production division’s issue isn’t even necessarily that it was limited to ten rounds. It stems from the surge in dotted handguns’ popularity that also caused a paradigm shift in stage designs.The rise in popularity of the pistol mounted reflex sight along with the rise of the Carry Optics division cast the original USPSA Production division aside. Not only did all the high level competitors flock to the dots, so did the weekend warriors and many regular gun owners too.
The Carry Optics division itself doesn’t have a hard magazine capacity limit. Instead, like the Limited division, it specifies that a pistol’s magazine may not be longer than 141.25mm. The end result is that competitive guns’ magazines hold over 20 rounds of 9mm, with most being able to fit 22-24 rounds. The same also applies to both Limited and Limited Optics divisions, and since these divisions currently represent the most popular categories at matches in general, it’s easy to see why stages are set up in their favor. Divisions like PCC (pistol caliber carbine) or Open both allow for even higher magazine capacities is only more the reason for stages to be biased in favor of high round counts.
MORE PLEASE
Until the recent decision to increase the Production magazine capacity limit to 15 rounds, for many of us who wanted to keep shooting stock handguns without being inconvenienced too much, the obvious solution was to simply sign up and participate under the Limited [minor] division and just load those factory magazines to their standard 17-18 round capacity. I can speak only for myself in that I only shoot matches for fun and enjoyment. I knew that regardless of equipment, I wasn’t going to be winning any matches at my club any time soon. So I didn’t care as I was just looking to shoot with the least amount of hassle.
From a different perspective, it does seem absurd for those wishing to compete with stock equipment to have to do so in the same division as honest-to-God raceguns. A stock factory Glock 19 vs. a tuned Staccato XL? It was either that, or just sucking it up and reloading a lot. But it gets old and starts to become a chore. For new competitors, there’s more important skills to focus on that merely reloading left and right.
By increasing the capacity by an additional five rounds, the Production division will shift back to its original spirit of focusing around stock equipment. Besides getting in touch with its roots, those extra five rounds mean navigating stages set up for Carry Optics and Limited guns with less hassle, for experienced and new shooters alike. It’s a reasonable decision in the right direction.
The Fiocchi Forbidden Load – Accidentally Awesome
I’ve had pretty good luck with Fiocchi Defense Dynamics buckshot. It’s been a solid defensive buckshot load that’s pretty dang cheap. Recently, I watched a video by Demonstrated Concepts LLC regarding a Fiocchi load of buckshot that Fiocchi might have made an oopsie with. They have a pretty standard nine-pellet 00 buckshot load. The problem there is that they loaded the shells with nine pellets of No.1 buckshot.
This could be a mistaken run. I have had a lot of experience with Defense Dynamics, and I have half a case of the standard 00 buckshot. It works great and is just a standard 00 buckshot. Rhett of Demonstrated Concepts dissected the No. 1 load and weighed and measured the pellets.
They were somewhere between .30 and .29 caliber. Fiocchi is now openly admitting that this is a Number 1 load, even though the box clearly states it’s a 00 load. This has sent retailers like Midway in a bit of a spin, and they’ve clearanced the load, so I pick up 500 rounds just because.
The Fiocchi Forbidden Load – Why
Why buy someone else’s mistake? Mostly because this load will result in very low recoil. A nine-pellet No. 1 load at 1,250 feet per second promises to be a pretty awesome low-recoiling load. This load is the equivalent of a 20 gauge No. 1 load, so 20 gauge recoil in a 12 gauge platform will prove promising.
I like shooting PGO 12 gauges like the Remington TAC-14 and the Mossberg Shockwave, but obviously, the recoil is a bit intense. This load seemed to be the perfect food for the Shockwave and TAC-14, as well as a general low-recoiling, high-performing round. This Fiocchi load seems to be defined by the blue semi-transparent hull. My true 00 Defense Dynamics load is a clear, transparent design.
You can tell there is some extra room in the hull by how deep the crimp goes downward. It’s a bit of a waste of space. They could have trimmed the shell a bit and taken up less tube space, and maybe we could have squeezed one more in. My five-round tube holds exactly five, and with the tube loaded, it was time to shoot.
Patterning the Load
I used a TAC-14 with a cylinder bore choke to pattern the load at 10 yards. That was a fair range for the old pirate gun. I used an IPSC A-Zone and fired three rounds at three different targets. At 10 yards, the pattern was contained neatly to the A-Zone. The pattern was roughly the size of my palm. It’s not micro sized like a Flitecontrol round, but it also doesn’t cost 1.50 a round.
I went back to 15 yards, and the load opened up a bit more. Some pellets leave the A-zone but are a long way from leaving the target entirely. They get into the C-Zone and stay there. While it doesn’t compete with loads like Federal Fltiecontrol, it competes well with premium loads from Remington, Winchester, and other major companies.
Recoil & Reliability
The recoil makes shooting the TAC-14 an absolute dream. It’s light and far from brutal. My hand is preserved and saved from the ferocity of the PGO 12 gauge design. That’s being dramatic, as the Raptor grips are fairly soft as far as stockless shotgun options go. The TAC-14 can still feel fierce with the right load, so finding a softer load is always nice.
The Fiocchi load proved to be quite nice. It’s easy to handle and easy to fire. Hitting two targets with two shots quickly was easy. You can run the gun very quickly, and it’s quite satisfying. The No. 1 load might be smaller than the 00 pellets, but they will penetrate deep enough to stop the threat. No.1 pellets are the smallest pellets capable of consistent and adequate penetration.
In terms of reliability in a pump gun, there were no problems. It worked fine in the Mossberg 940 and Benelli M4 as well. I don’t have recoil-operated or inertia guns, so I can’t say if they would work well with these shotguns. In the semi-auto designs, it was crazy soft and quite a bit of fun to shoot.
Get It While The Getting Is Good
If you’re a shotgun nut or fan of the PGO 12 gauge, then grab a case or two. It’s a great load, and it might not be around for long. I say that Fiocchi should make it a standard part of their lineup and even trim it down to 2.5 inches. In my experience, 2.5-inch shells work perfectly in shotguns without the need for adapters and allow for one extra round of ammo. I’m glad I picked up two cases of it.