I have fallen to the Dark Side.........

[Andy Moynihan]

What I figured.

 

[Grenadier]

Congrats on the purchase. Smith and Wesson had been trying for a long time, to make a decent Glock clone, and they finally did it with the M&P series. These are far superior to the miserable Sigma series...

*If you DO decide to go with a .357 snubbie, I STRONGLY recommend an all-steel gun, no alloy. Trust me on this one. No, really.

There are some medium velocity .357 magnum loads that duplicate the effects of a +P 9mm load, such as Remington's Medium Velocity (Yes, they really do call it that) 125 grain JHP. I know that Proload, back when they made their own brand of excellent ammo, also had a similar type of load.

Those loads are still unpleasant to shoot from a 15 oz alloy frame, but at least you can shoot off a couple of cylinders' worth, and not have your hand horribly aching.

But yeah, you're darn right, that those who try to regularly fire full house .357 magnum loads from an Airweight frame are going to regret it!

 

[zDom]

Thanks for all the great advice!

I am already practicing strong hand/weak hand with my SIG, and will do the same with a snubbie, if I end up getting one.

I've also been eyeing AK-47s and/or AR-15s.

Damn. There's no denying it: I've caught the firearms bug. Isn't there some sort of vaccine??

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Damn. There's no denying it: I've caught the firearms bug. Isn't there some sort of vaccine??

Yes, but it is a ritual you don't want to go through. Involves laying in a box where they cry about you and then throw dirt on your face.

 

[Andy Moynihan]

Thanks for all the great advice!

I am already practicing strong hand/weak hand with my SIG, and will do the same with a snubbie, if I end up getting one.

I've also been eyeing AK-47s and/or AR-15s.

Damn. There's no denying it: I've caught the firearms bug. Isn't there some sort of vaccine??

AK. AR's aren't worth the damn money.

You got the money to blow on a ****in' AR, you can afford a decent M1A.

If you *MUST* have an AR-type rifle go with a SIG 556, they at least have the gas piston action and not the direct-impingement system that blows crap right back into the action.

Having fired, been issued, had to field strip and clean several AR/M16/M4 rifles I would ditch the damn thing the first chance I got.

As of right now I own no semiauto rifle. I'm happy with my Mossberg 590A1.

Come time for me to need something like an infantry rifle there'll be plenty lying around without my paying out the nose for a crippled( civilian) version.

 

[Cryozombie]

...and been seduced by the power of the relatively inexpensive( even for here) price, the unexpected quality, the perfect, glovelike ergonomics and 10+1 on-tap capacity of the Smith and Wesson M&P .45 fullsize. Traded in my aging and ever-increasingly-difficult-to-replace-in-this-communist-state Glock for it. I do not regret this for I shall scream forth the blasphemy that the M&P feels better in my hand than any Glock I have EVER held and is more accurate to boot.

Dude, you need to go to Glockaholkics Anonymous.

 

[Sukerkin]

I'l bet that it's way off the 'cool list' these days but my favourite semi-auto handgun has always been the CZ75 (and maybe the Browning Hi-Power too).

Perhaps it's because I got to shoot one once but mainly I think because, back in the days when it was okay to be a 'gun buff' here in Britain, it was the irony that a Czech made pistol could be so good.

 

[LawDog]

For approx. twenty years I owned a modified 1911. Dumb thing I did, during a weak moment I sold it. Soon I will buy another one and have it customized like my last one.
Even though I love and carried various semi auto's for over thirty years I am still a wheel gunner at heart. The S&W L framed 357 mag. is the one hand gun that still fits me like a glove. Shooting various combat courses I usuall run the 100% grade.

 

[searcher]

I will at least say this much, at least it is a "plastic" gun. I took a class with a guy that went through 3 Kimber 1911's and everyone else was still running their little toy guns.

 

[Andy Moynihan]

I'l bet that it's way off the 'cool list' these days but my favourite semi-auto handgun has always been the CZ75 (and maybe the Browning Hi-Power too).

Perhaps it's because I got to shoot one once but mainly I think because, back in the days when it was okay to be a 'gun buff' here in Britain, it was the irony that a Czech made pistol could be so good.

CZs aren't bad, and I loved the one Hi-Power I shot.

Hell, even the 1911 guru himself, St. Cooper, remarked that the Browning Hi Power fit more naturally in his hand than any other gun he'd tried. "What a shame" , he added, "that it was not offered in a caliber of consequence".

 

[KenpoTex]

Hi-Powers are sweet...I've actually been looking at a few lately (particularly the "Detective" models). While I probably won't mess with getting one right now since I don't want to invest in all the support gear (mags, holster, etc.), I do want one someday.

I carried a 1911 until I switched to a Glock about 5 years ago...they are neat but I don't think they're worth what it costs to get one that's as reliable as my $480 hunk of plastic.

 

[Deaf Smith]

For many years in IPSC I used the P-35 High Power (and mine was made in Belgium, and assembled there to!

I had tried 1911 .45s (Colt series 70) but just about everyone I tried jammed some. In fact at my IPSC club, there never was a match where a 1911 didn't jam! I had read from Skeeter Skelton how the P-35 worked everytime right out of the box, so I had to try that.

And that is really how I won several local tropies. My P-35 didn't jam, but the other guys 1911s did. One was so po'ed that he threw his mag that jammed over the backstop. And my main ammo was CCI Blazer aluminum case ammo (back then it was CHEEP to buy.) Worked every time (as Tommy Lee Jones would say.)

Well later I got into IDPA. By that time I had sold my P-35. But being savvy, I knew one of the KEY requirements was the gun had to work all the time. And if it needed a super gunsmith to get it right, then it was the wrong piece.

My search ended with Glock. I read about the reliability, I read about the toughness, I read about the low maintenance, I read about the long term durability. I read.... well you get the idea.

So I bought a Glock 17. It never failed. 100,000 + rounds later, and it still hasn't failed... well actually once the slide retaining spring broke and I had to replace it (2 bucks). And a few of the mags, after long hard use, and the slide hold open tab break off.

But unlike the 1911s, no fancy expensive gunsmithing. No finding mags that worked. No cleaning the gun after each practice session (yep, I get real lazy with that 17!)

Now about the P-35. It was the Glock of it's day. It's still a good gun that will do you great service. I'd love to pick up an Argintine FM and get the 'detective' slide like KenpoTex is talking about. Last month I let a FN made Browning HP slip through my fingers. They wanted $750 (it was made in Belgium) and that kind of made it hard for me to justify.

Next time I'll be ready for it!

Deaf