bountyhunter

And now for something completely different... using muffs alone only gives you around 25 dB of basic hearing protection (not enough). I use both 30 dB muffs and internal rubber plugs as well. Learn to read lips and save your hearing..... or else you will end up with tinnitus like I have (no joke)

In the black: most people prefer narrower front blades so they get a better light window. If you relax eye focus out to the target, a wide front blade will snub out the light bars so you can't see them well. I like narrower blades with at least 1/2 blade width on either side, a little more gap is better for me.

I agree with what was said (past 200 is probably too much). I shoot for 1 hour at practice with 3 different guns (not always the same three) and shoot about 220 rounds total. The point is to focus on some fundamentals and execute them correctly to build muscle memory (solid grip, steady pull, don't flinch). When your arms are tired and you're just ripping off shots, your actually re-inforcing incorrect technique.

I notice my wrist and elbow pain gets worse when my wife is out of town for a week. Seriously, CELEBREX is a new anti-inflammatory that doesn't have the prolonged bleeding/ulcer side effects of all the other similar drugs. Works pretty good. BTW: studies have shown excercise is the best treatment for all types of arthritis including rheumatoid. Even if it hurts to move, it's "move it or lose it". Joint problems are accelerated when the muscles around the joint get weaker. Best excercise is keep moving and use light weights if you can. Walking and moving in a swimming pool is excellent as it lets you take the weight load off the joints and still move all the muscles.

GUNRUNNER: are you an Electrical Engineer too or just a former TV repairman? I used to play with shortwaves when I was younger, so I know all that stuff about tubes. I was afraid talking about tubes would give away my age and make all the kids go "Huh.... what's a tube?" "EE.... you can't spell GEEK without it!"

Singlestack- Sorry, I didn't reply promptly. The solution for "blacking" aluminum is available at gun shops and is made by the same company who makes the stuff for steel. It comes in a blue bottle. You just clean the area and touch it on with a Q-tip then rinse off and saturate with oil (I think it has to cure over night). I'm trying to remember the brand name and I think it's that Birchwood-Casey stuff. I am pretty sure it's not as durable as actual anodizing, but it does work.

Personally, I always refer to my state as "KKKalifornia". The first three letters say it all.... the object of their paranoia is different, but the mental process is the same. I can spot a RED neck even when it's covered by a wool suit.

There's a lot of things I like about Glocks, but the trigger bugs me. All the ones I've pulled have a long, ambiguous load-up that makes it hard for me to define the break point. Is there an after market trigger mod that would make the Glock trigger feel more like a typical SA trigger?

What color is the frame? Aluminum anodizing can be done in gold, silver, or black. If it is black, you can buy aluminum "bluing" liquid for touch-up. If it is silver, I have not seen anything available. FYI- anodizing is a plating process using electricity (the term "anode" is the electrical terminal of a diode). I believe you have to hook the piece to be anodozed to the wire and dip it into the tank solution and the material plates out onto the alumnium. If you are getting the whole thing re-anodized: I have seen yellow (gold) colored anodizing if you want a unique looking gun.

I know for sure lemon juice will do it. Mix it with water until you get a solution you like. I used to make BBQ sauce in a big pan and used brown sugar and lemon juice for tartness. The bottom of the pan was copper. Whenever the sauce touched the copper it would completely clean the tarnish off and leave fresh copper exposed. I'm dead sure it was the lemon juice. I'll bet it would work for brass as well.

My dad (who was a cop) said the only universal truth is that wife-beaters and child molesters ALWAYS resist arrest..........

The recoil graphs were published in an old gun magazine, I'm not sure which one. As far as muzzle lift goes and optimizing springs, I would think lightening the slide would make the lift worse(?) The recoil energy is actually constant (determined by bullet weight and powder charge). How the energy is delivered back to the hand is somewhat dependent on the recoil spring.

Good questions. >>>>>>1. If a compensator sent the necessary force upward as the slide recoiled, could it eliminate muzzle flip during recoil? Watching that famous slow motion video it appears that this works for the initial moment of firing. Compensators certainly do reduce muzzle lift by balancing an UP force against a DOWN force. Usually, there is still some lift but a lot less. But, they are noisy and spray crap back at you. I had a barrel ported and then junked it. >>>>>2. The recoil energy is partially absorbed (stored) by the action of moving the slide weight against the spring. Obviously this works by your comparison to the muzzel flip of a revolver. So what slide weight and spring combination would work best to reduce the muzzle flip aspect of recoil? Is it light slide or heavy slide (sprung correctly) that works best? I haver seen published graphs of recoil impulse energy versus time after the instant of firing on autos. There is a medium sized bump (at discharge) then a flat level of recoil energy about 1/3 as tall as the first bump (as the slide moves backward into the spring) and another medium sized bump when the slide hits the frame. A lighter recoil spring makes the initial bump less, and the final frame impact bump more. The best spring would balance these two. I think the manufacturer's recommended springs come pretty close to a balance. >>>>>3. Once deciding on light slide or heavy slide for initial reduction of muzzle flip, does it make your condition better or worse when the stored energy in the moving slide is suddenly (and violently) released when the slide hits the slide stop? Answered above. >>>>>>4. BONUS QUESTION - What creates the larger component of muzzle flip... the initial recoil of launching the bullet, of the impact of the slide hitting the end of its travel? Whichever factor is the greatest cause of muzzle flip would be the one that would give the best results when tamed. With a proper recoil spring, they are similar in magnitude but the initial bump (discharge) is usually a bit higher. The reason is you want to minimze frame battering so a stiffer spring is better for that. >>>>>>Watching the slow motion video it apears to me that we experience more muzzle flip as a result of the slide hitting the stop than the initial launch of the bullet. Maybe so. I've never seen a good slo-mo of that. Of course, the lift at the frame bump doesn't affect shot accuracy because the bullet is LOOOONG gone by then. It just makes the next shot take longer to sight in. >>>>>Basically since we all know WHAT is happening, the big question becomes "What we can do to best reduce the magnitude of muzzle flip". A good compensator is probably the best thing (if you can stand the noise). I'm not sure muzzle flip is all that horrible in a typical gun. If you have adjustable sights you can "dial out" whatever lift effect you have for your personal grip strength and type of ammo. When I change from .38special to +p in my revolver I have to crank the sights to zero in. Autos don't have such a big change because the recoil energy is spread out more. Just crank the sights until you are hitting the black and you're done. It doesn't really matter where the bore is pointed.

Don't feel too picked on..... Last month I took my Browning HI-Power to the range (I've only shot maybe 2000 rounds through it in three years). I was feeling guilty for not taking out as much as my 1911, so I loaded six magazines up and off to the range... the first round went bang and the front sight flew down range. It didn't come loose, it just sheared off. I figured I'd just empty the magazine by using "point-and-shoot" aiming. I was pretty accurate but a little high. The metal carrier for the target took a couple of hits and then fell to the ground (cable was shot through?) I don't feel too guilty... anything downrange at a gun range should be able to take a couple of 9mm hits.

If you have a .45, is it 1911 style? If so, the trigger pull should be decent at about 5-6 pounds. The best practice I get at dry firing is using a revolver with a very heavy pull (about 16 pounds). When you can drag that back without the gun moving, you know the trigger finger muscle is isolated. The right hand goes onto the grip with the backstrap in the middle of the web betwen the thumb and first finger with moderate clamping pressure on the front and rear grip strap. The left hand goes directly in front of the right hand (NOT UNDER) and wraps tightly actually clamping tighter than the right. The bottom of the gun should not be covered. The trigger finger should be inserted so that the trigger is at the joint between the tip and middle of the finger, or on the center of the tip... it depends on how light the trigger is. The trigger finger should be out away from the gun grip (not riding it). Good shooters "stage" the trigger by pressing lightly to get to the edge of the break point. Then they line up the sights and break the trigger. When learning, pull the trigger smoothly back and keep it back after it fires. Do not anticipate the firing or try to stop the gun's rise. A good shot will see the gun lift gently straight up from recoil. If the gun moves at all when you squeeve the trigger, you will not hit the target. It usually means you are clamping the grip with your hand when you squeeze. In time, you will be able to stage and break the trigger with the gun dead still.

Mr Singlestack: snappy recoil from 115-grain 9mm? I shoot them through my 1911 and they feel like 22's. The "snap" you feel is caused by gun imbalance. With a Polymer gun all the weight's on top and very little below to act as a counter-balance. This magnifies the felt recoil snap.

Mr. BamBam: my answer was correct. Muzzle lift begins exactly when there is any forward energy. Even though the slide moves rearward absorbing some (or most) of the recoil energy, there is still a recoil impulse at time of ignition directed rearward (it is smaller than a revolver of course). The recoil impulse is directed back along the barrel about 2" above the center of the wrist resulting in a rotational force around that point.... ergo, the gun moves backward rotating on that point and the muzzle must rise.

Muzzle flip begins at the exact instant there is any force moving forward down the barrel toward the muzzle, be it escaping gas, bullet acceleration, or both (I suspect both at the same time). Newton's law of motion requires an equal force be directed backward to balance the force of the gas and accelerating slug. In an auto, a significant portion of recoil energy is used up moving the slide backward loading into the slide spring. The recoil signature of an auto shows a peak at time of discharge with a lower recoil as the slide goes back then another small bump when the slide hits the frame. In a revolver, all the kick is delivered to the hand at the instant of firing.

I would maintain it depends how accurate the shot has to be: If you need to get a hit inside an 6" square at 7 yards, then I would recommend both eyes open sighted on target. Put illuminator dots (orange front/yellow back) on the sights and just watch for the front dot to come back up between the back dots (blurred sights). The advantage of both eyes open (target sighted) is you actually see two pictures and the left eye image will tell you where the gun is during recoil with respect to the target. as it comes back down, concentrate on the right eye image and sight and fire. After a while you can see both images and not get confused.

You did not specifically say it is only for 1911: if you carry a Beretta 92 or 96, you can keep a round chambered (hammer down) with safety on and the trigger is dead until you flip safety off, then it is just a trigger pull to fire. This is one of the best safeties around for carry.

You missed my favorite: the bitch (Diane Feinstein) behind all the gun control push has a CCW permit. It seems, our royalty value their lives (just not ours). You also missed the other favorite: SW may have gotten hurt by the gun testing, but the really good gun makers (STI, for one) can't even ante up. They want STI to send three each of all their guns (average price about $1800 because they are hand made) along with fees and the guns are never returned? That would also cost them > $300k, but for a company with only a fraction of SW's sales. The premium gun makers are simply giving California the finger (as well they should). But, we're the ones who suffer for it.

On the subject of springs, I have never heard that a spring gets stronger if you snip some coils off: the remaing spring is unaffected. The spring "weight" in pounds is actually a measure of how much weight it takes to expand or compress the spring a certain distance. In phsics, its assumed linear over a certain range such that: F = k X where F is force, x is distance stretched or compressed and k is the spring constant. As a spring gets compressed to the point the coils are touching, it starts to get non-linear and look "stiffer" to the compressing agent than it did in it's linear region. Because of that, I think all gun's springs operate a bit "variable rate". Anyway, I have trouble believein a spring will get stiffer if you cut it. I would like to know how this could be possible?

If you have a full-length guide rod, I don't think any of this would matter?