- Light weight
- Easy to break down and clean
- 5.5lb trigger pull is close to the pull on my 1911
- It seems to feed and fire just about everything I have thrown at it
- Recoil is very easy on this gun

Dislikes:

- Trigger safety does take some getting used to
- Standard Glock sights; I prefer the three dot sites…
- Width of the gun; almost 20% wider than my single stack 1911 (1” on the 1911 versus 1.2” on the Glock)

Went to Walmart over the span of 4 days and bought 20 boxes of Blazer Brass .40 S&W for about $12/box. That is now running around $14/box, but still VERY affordable. Cheaper ammo = more shooting and more fun! Took her out to the range and started blasted away at first 15ft and then moved it out to 25ft. (most pistol fights occur at distances of around 10-15ft, but testing at 25ft is a challenge for me, and I love challenges). Groups were all within the center circle. They were not my best group, but I need to take her out to range a bit more in order to practice on it.

For a holster, I have a generic IWB Mike’s holster, but I knew I needed something better. So I picked up the Blackhawk Serpa CQC holster on lapolicegear.com. Not a huge fan of polymer based holsters, but this one has me VERY impressed. The locking mechanism and extremely smooth draw is superb.

All together I have to say I am impressed. Can I say I’m a Glock nut/fan? No. Is it growing on me a bit? Yes. Would I buy another should the need entail? Perhaps. Right now, if anyone is looking at a .40 S&W I would definitely point them at this gun. I mean there are other options, but at around $500 for this, you can’t beat the price for sure.

Right now my head is stuffed and I feel like poop, so this review will actually have my thoughts and feelings toward another Mosin Nagant rifle that I fired this past week or so. Mine is still packed with Cosmoline and I am no shape to clean it. My friend Dave bought one a few weeks back and we finally got his to the range. I absolutely loved that rifle.

Originally designed and produced in 1891 (yes, that is not a typo) as a general purpose rifle in Russia. It saw service in WWI and WWII up until the SKS and AK-47 (another VERY big favorite of mine) came out. At one point in 1916, they were even produced here in the US and exported to Russia up until the Soviet revolution! 17 million of these rifles were produced during WWII alone and that is a major reason why they are so cheap to own today. After WWII the Soviet Union stopped producing them in lue of the SKS and AK-47s, but every Soviet Bloc nation used and issues Mosin Nagants at some point. The rifle Dave bought was made in 1926, I think. Mine was made in 1943. Both have the Soviet seal stamped on them. The action is smooth and due to their long barrel length, they are extremely accurate. Yes, I did get the full kit and Bayonet with mine.

I found a website that sells all sorts of accessories for the Mosin that I plan on trying out. I want to get a bi-pod and scope mount for the rifle at some point. That should enable me to do some really nice long distance shooting.

Anyhow, we warmed up at the 25 yrd range and it was awesome. The rifle kicks pretty hard, mostly because of it’s all wood stock. I plan on picking up a rubber end for mind first. Next we took it free standing at 100 yrds with no problems landing hits on target; all iron sights. It is very accurate, easy to maintain and clean, and the ammo is cheap. All good things in my book.

A note on ammo, the primers used in the 7.62×54R are usually corrosive, so you should bring Windex or a plain Ammonia out with you to the range in order spray it down after use. You can clean it later on at home, but this is recommended from several reliable sources. As soon as I find a good cheap supplier I trust, I’ll post a link here.

Anyhow, the rifle, cleaning kit, and bayonet ran me $110 at the gun show. Yes, just $110 to own this piece of history. I will also update once I’ve taken mine to the range, but I doubt I’ll be sorry. I must now go drink vooodka (fake thick Russian accent) and crash for a bit. Take care!

Update: 4/8/2008: Just a note, while the Mosin was fun that day at the range, my friend Chris’ Remington 30-06 with scope was king of the day. I was able to lay my first shot with it a few cm above the bulls eye at 100yrds.

For conceal carry, size and weight do matter. In those instances where my 1911 or 92 are too big, I fall back to my Kel Tec PF-9 9mm.

From their website:

The PF-9 is a semi-automatic, locked breech pistol, chambered for the 9 mm Luger cartridge. It has been developed from our highly successful P-11 and P-3AT pistols with maximum concealability in mind. The PF-9 has a single stack magazine holding 7 rounds. It is the lightest and flattest 9 mm ever made. Firing mechanism is Double-Action Only with an automatic hammer block safety. The PF-9 will be available in blued, parkerized, and hard chrome finishes. Grips will be in black, grey, and olive drab.

I have the blued version and a simple Uncle Mike’s Sidekick IWB (Inside the Waist Band) holster. I found that in the summer and when I’m wearing light clothing, the gun doesn’t print (show through my clothing). By default when you buy it, the magazine doesn’t have that little lip on it, but they include it in your case. I would suggest you put that on as my pinky dangled uncomfortable the first time I held it. The hammer doesn’t protrude from the rear of the weapon, so you don’t have to worry about it catching on anything.

It’s also relatively easy to put on and take off, something that I really like. I really don’t like having to take my belt off or fumble with a cumbersome holster if I’m on the run.

While the pistol is rated for the +P ammo, I have not used any of it yet. I honestly don’t feel the need or desire to. The gun is light weight, so the recoil will be felt more than a full sized pistol, but it’s definitely not uncontrollable. The barrel on this is only 3.2in in size. There are actually two springs on the full length guide rod to help with recoil. The frame is a light weight polymer, but the slide is blued steel. The magazine holds 7 rounds of 9mm. I know that isn’t a lot, but if I have to fire more than one round, I’m having a very bad day to begin with. Normally, I do prefer to carry an extra magazine.

Understand this isn’t a gun you would go to the range to plink with. I try and throw 2-3 mags through it when I go to the range just to keep a feel for it. It’s not something that people find comfortable to shoot for long periods of time. I had no problems with groupings. I usually practice about 15-20 ft from my target, as in a real encounter that is probably the distance I would be looking at. The sights are very good three dot sites. They are big and easy to see. The rear sight is adjustable, though right out of the box I found this pistol to be very accurate.

Because this pistol is a DAO (double action only), It has about a 5lb trigger pull that is long. There is no additional safety on this pistol, but it does have an internal safety that’ll prevent it from firing unless the trigger is pulled.

For target practice, I use the Winchester 9mm and have had excellent luck with it. For self defense, I carry the Federal 9mm Hydra-Shok JHP. I have had no problems with miss feeds or jams except when I tried a box of Wolf 9mm, so as always I would suggest you stay away from that.

All in all IMHO (in my humble opinion), you need a pocket auto to balance your full sized autos if you conceal carry. There are smaller of course, and I have fired the Ruger LCP, which is smaller than the Kel Tec, but I found it too small to be effective. It barely fit in my hand. Plus, this fires the same 9mm as my 92 so ammo costs can be controlled to a degree.

MSRP for this is $333, but I got it for $275 from Riley’s Guns in Hooksett, NH.

This is definitely a pistol I would recommend, and one I have absolutely no regrets in buying.

Well, standing there at Riley’s looking at the variety of 1911s before me, I was torn. Kimber has some nice stuff ($800-$1000), but all of the Kimber’s they had didn’t appeal to me, either due to finish or hand grips. The Colts were nice (around $775), but they were mil-spec’d 1911A1 with all of the standard features, and no upgrades. Smith and Wesson had some nice pistols, but Riley’s only had a 4.5in Commander model ($800), and I was in the mood for a Gov’t model. The Smith was tempting since it came with the Novak sites with Tritium inserts, but honestly, I can always add those myself. I finally settled on the Taurus PT1911 DUOTONE finish ($650). That is a handy link right to Taurus’ website on this pistol. Here is a pic of one.

I have a Taurus PT92, as you might know from my previous review. It’s a great pistol. I won’t go any deeper except to say I wasn’t opposed to another Taurus pistol. All of the other reviews on the PT1911 that I have read have all been good. Some of it’s features that I like:

– Large ambidextrous safety
– Lightened trigger
– Extended recoil spring guide rod
– Flared ejection port
– Novak (yes, real Novak) three dot sights

In the past, these plus numerous other features would have to be added later by a pistol smith, but here they’re all included. In the past, it wouldn’t surprise me if someone dropped $2k on a good 1911 after upgrades. Just look at the Nighthawk custom pistols. Great pistol, worth every penny, but many will still have sticker shock. Now, with the times as they are, I wasn’t prepared to drop that much money on a pistol, so I was happy to see the price tag on the Taurus pistol.

I borrowed a coworker’s Para Ordinance P-14 1911. It has a 14 round double stack magazine and as such is almost as wide as the PT92. Being a traditionalist, I prefer the thinner 8 round standard magazine design. This will become my primary carry pistol, so having something that is easier to conceal is important to me.

Well you can’t have a new pistol without a new holster can you? I normally prefer leather holsters, but a good leather holster will run you around $100-$120. While at a gun show with a friend I was tempted by this gentleman selling polymer holsters. Some Blackhawk Serpas, etc… Well, I was looking at some Galco leather holters when I came across their M7X polymer holster. Supposed to look like leather and from the reviews feel like leather. I did some research and found a good price here. It snaps on the belt, which believe me I like a lot, and it balances the pistol nicely. Well 7 days later, the holster finally arrives.

I also picked up a belt mag holster for this. The Galco M15X single mag snap on holder.

I usually throw a nice dress shirt over it and nobody can tell the 1911 is there. I have a nice black jacket that also conceals it nicely when outside, and it is completely hidden in my suit.

Due to work and the weather, I am sad to say I haven’t taken it out yet. I hope to go this Sun and try her out.

For target shooting, I’ve had VERY good luck with the Wincester .45 ACP ammo. Honestly, the cheapest I have found this is at Walmart, which is $29 for 100 rounds.

I have been looking for the Federal Hydra Shock JHP .45 ACP, but everyone is sold out. I am keeping my eyes open though.

Anyhow, I’ll update this once I take her onto the range and we’ll see how she holds up! Remember shoot safe and shoot often!

Update – 02/01/09: Just got back from the range after putting about 100 rnds through it. Shoots like a dream at the 75ft mark of our indoor range.

Some notable changes from the Beretta 92:

• The safety has been moved down below the slide, is ambidextrous, and also allows you to decock the weapon.
• This one has a double stack 17 rnd magazine and came with an extra one.
• Feed ramp was widened to allow better feeding of hollow points and other ammo.
• Firing pin lock was added to prevent firing the gun unless the trigger was accidentally pulled.

At the time of writing this, I’ve put almost 800 rnds through it. I currently carry Federal 9mm Hydra Shock Hollow Points during the day and use Winchester 9mm range ammo. All feed very well. I don’t believe she’s jammed once. The gun carries very well in my 3-slot Leather Pancake Holster.

Leather 3-slot Leather Pancake Holster

Overall, I prefer the feel of this to the Beretta 92 for a couple of reasons. I like the slide safety placement here, it just feels more natural. With their manufacturing processes optimized, this gun can be had for as little as $400. While 9mm is not nearly as cheap as .22 LR, it still won’t break your wallet if you want to take this one out the range and plink.

I highly recommend this gun and its variant the PT99. The PT99 has adjustable sites, but I must say, the accuracy on this pistol has been superb.

Photos:

Links:

Taurus PT92
Taurus PT99
Leather 3-slot Leather Pancake Holster
Federal 9mm Hydra-Shock JHP
Winchester 9mm FMJ 100 rnd

Update 3/20/09: I just picked up some new holster for it. After buying a Galco M7X for my 1911, I got the same version for the 92 and have been VERY happy with it. Holds it very securely on my belt and it snaps onto the belt, which I like a lot.

I also picked up a belt mag holster for this. The Galco M15X single mag snap on holder. I got the double stack 9mm holder. I picked up one for single stack .45 as well.

All in all, very good buys and I’m very happy with it!