[risabee]

...with my son, the 24 yr old one > (don't ask how old the other 2 are!) and we ran .22s, .22 mags and .380s until we we were shot dry. Everybody else was using .44 mags and .45 ACP, it sounded like the Civil War in there.

The P3AT seems much improved with the surgical tubing on the trigger and three layers of bicycle tube on the grip. I am getting confident of reasonably small groups at 25 feet and head shots at 10 feet, which is good enough for causing lead poisoning in self defense.

2 things:

1 my son is still getting the occasional dropped mag -- he is a southpaw, and seems to get onto the mag button somehow. I am watching his hands but have not spotted the issue yet.

2 I'm not as able to rapid-fire as he is. Am I definitely limp-wristing or just not allowing enough trigger travel? The symptom is an unfinished feed, almost but not all the way seated, and the hammer not cocked. If I wait two or three seconds between shots, this never happens -- whereas the young man sounds like a submachine gun when he's emptying his mag.

Oh, third thing: he had a light strike or bad primer -- our first. We set it aside for a minute and then I racked it in and disposed of it through the target. This was Remington FMJ; the first one I remember. How common are these dimple "shots" for KT shooters?

Thanks!

risabee

 

[torrent]

Sounds like a good day at the range! When you want to rapid fire that little gun you'll need a good grip to maintain control as the recoil is a bit snappy for something so small. Adding those slip on grips probably helped out a bunch. Different people may do this different ways but as soon as the shot fires I let the trigger reset so it's ready to go again as soon as I am on target. After that it's really all up to you how fast or slow you want to shoot.

 

[guru2sum]

You get a light strike when you rapid fire and don't allow the trigger to travel all the way forward. Try firing once and slowly release until you feel a single "click" and then without releasing further, pull the trigger. It will put a light indent in the primer but probably won't fire. You then have to rack the slide. This is why Gun Tests gave the PF9 a failing rating.

Release the trigger fully between shots and the light strike disappears. The trigger travel between the first click and second is really short, so most people never stop between the clicks. Try slowly releasing after a shot and see where the two clicks happen. Most, or all, of us don't see this as an issue; just release the trigger.

Your inability to rapid fire sounds like limp-wristing. 2PP has recommendations to lock the wrists somewhere on this forum.

G2S

 

[Packer]

Hi youngster. Sounds like you had FUN!

Keep a close eye on that surgical tubing. If it shifts, (And eventually it will swell and loosen) the trigger will jam and make your SD gun useless when you need it most. You might want to only use this at the range.

The only way a Southpaw can hit the mag release is by putting way too much finger into the trigger. More likely, your mag catch is starting to wear. This is the classic first sign of wear when you have a finger extension. The longer Sherer type allows more leverage. Your son may be just putting a little more pressure on the extension than you normally do. Call KT Service at 1-800-515-9983 and order a new catch and spring.

Tips for locking your wrist:

TWO HANDED:

1. Place strong hand on grip with finger alongside trigger guard.
2. Cup weak hand as if you were going to drink water from it.
3. Rotate weak hand 45 degrees toward your body.
4. Place palm against front of strong hand fingers, with thumbs nearly parallel.
5. Line up on target and push forward with strong hand while pulling back with weak hand.
This will lock your wrist and prevent limp wristing.

If you have malfunctions while firmly using this grip--Then it's the gun.

SINGLE HAND GRIP:

1. Line up on target.
2. strain hand forward as if you were trying to get the gun closer to the target.

SHOOTING FROM THE HIP

To shoot from close in with one hand, do the same straining forward, but lock your elbow so the hand can't actually GET forward. This works from 90 degrees or even from the hip--By tensing your arm muscles. You should practice both.

Packer.

 

[risabee]

Thanks, all. I do keep reading 2pp's advice on locking and attempting to follow it but in rapid fire my weaknesses definitely come out!

We dumped the extension a couple of months ago, as there is already wear on the magazine catch. It turns out the swelling of the bike-tire wrap (1 half inch layer, inch layer, inch-and-a-half layer) gives us more than enough to hold onto without it.

I was pleased with our increased accuracy. I'm quite sure in my case I was flinching earlier on; now it seems to stay on point.

All of the men that have shot with Gertie have done better at follow-up shots and grouping than I, even though I can outshoot them on my revolver; and I am beginning to think that there is some truth in the opinion of some other women shooters -- P32, two thumbs up; P3AT, one up, one down -- because of the recoil. But I like the authoritative bark Gertie has, so I persist. As you all say here, 'clean, lube, shoot."

 

[Packer]

Change the mag catch (It WILL fail at the worst possible time.) and put the extension back on. You can't have too many fingers on the grip.

Instructions for changing mag catch on P3AT/P32:

http://www.geocities.com/pocketguns/P32grip.html

Removing the frame video by Beach
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn0iM06KhHw[/ame]

Replacing mag catch by Beach
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoA4tb32UIs[/ame]

Packer.

 

[risabee]

Thank you, sir...