rodan

On another note, my dealer was out at the range with me last week, so I got a conjugal visit with my Rugged Obsidian 9, which is still in NFA jail... No pics, but it was impressively quiet on my M&P with 147gr ammo. On my AR9 it was quite a bit louder, which I wasn't expecting. I think is due to the straight blowback action. I'll do some experimenting with springs and buffers once the ATF gets off their duffs and approves my Form 4.

Please do yourself a favor and at least shoot a Glock 17 and S&W M&P before you make your decision.

My recommendation in a semi-auto would be for something that doesn't drastically change it's trigger pull from the 1st to 2nd shot...

You act like there's something wrong with that...

The MkIV has been out for a while... It mostly solves the chinese puzzle reassembly issues of the earlier guns. Lots of interesting variants available.... I usually recommend a modern, striker fired 9mm these days, since few people are interested in hearing about revolvers. I tend towards recommending S&W M&P and Glock, because those are the two I have the most contact with. I'm sure there are lots of others that are just fine but I don't have the personal experience with them to make a recommendation. I personally like the M&P becuase it can accomodate a wider range of hand sizes than the service size Glocks. Quality wise, they're pretty interchangeable. All that said, a revolver is still a very smart choice for a first gun. 1911 requires more maintenance, and can be a little more finicky on reliability than striker guns. There's also more awareness required with manual safeties on a single action auto. I've seen issues with improper thumb placement, failures to properly engage the grip safety, and failures to engage the thumb safety on re-holstering. In at least one instance I'm personally familiar with, that particular issue caused an accidental discharge and injury. 1911 is a fantastic platform, it just demands a little more from the shooter. I've found over the years that most shooters just won't train that much. Also, switching back and forth between striker guns and 1911s is a recipie for problems for most shooters.

As both a long time 1911 shooter (since ~1980), and a long time instructor (1993) I would not recommend a 1911 as a first gun for a casual shooter, especially if there's any thoughts of using it as a defensive piece. Compared to a quality striker fired gun (Glock, M&P), mastering the 1911 requires a higher level of dedication and training. Most folks don't have the time/money to invest unless they're a serious shooter. I have even seen issues with pretty competent shooters when switching back and forth between striker guns and 1911s. It's pretty difficult to beat a double action revolver as a first gun. As noted above, if you can learn trigger control on a DA revolver, everything else is pretty easy. Not that DA revolvers are bad... you can get an exceptionally nice DA pull on an S&W. Something to consider is a .357 mag over a .22 rimfire. A .357 allows you to use a very wide variety of commercially available .38 special and .357 magnum ammo. You can start with light .38 special target loads, which have minimal recoil, and have the ability to fire extremely powerful .357 rounds without having to change anything on the gun. And there's an entire spectrum of ammo choices in between. A 4" .357 revolver is probably the most versatile gun on the planet. The only issue is expense... My choice would be an S&W K frame, but the new ones aren't cheap, and the older ones are even more expensive due to the collector market. You can pretty much count on spending $600-800 for a nice one. Ruger Security Six or GP100 would be my second recommendation. Excellent guns, but the trigger will never be as good as an S&W. Colts tend to be more finicky and fragile. Don't buy a Taurus or Rossi. Before plastic framed, striker guns were a thing, a 4" mid frame .357 was always my recommendation to a new shooter as a first gun. Nobody wants to hear it anymore, but it's still solid advice.

Everyone should own a .22. It's a good way to learn the fundamentals, and ammo is cheap. It will also give you a better perspective on what you might actually want in a service caliber gun down the road as opposed to buying blind with no experience. Nothing wrong with a 9mm as a first gun, but nothing wrong with a .22 either.

I would love to see the NFA go away, but that's pretty unlikely. So is this, but it's something. I think the idea is to make the approval automatic at 90 days so the ATF can't pull any BS... I haven't had time to look up the actual text yet, I'd like to read it and see specifically what it says.

Ran across this today: https://americansuppressorassociation.com/hr-6126-legislation-introduced-to-ensure-90-day-suppressor-transfers/ Bill proposing a 90 day limit for the ATF to process NFA apps for suppressors. I'd rather see it apply to all NFA applications, but it's a start... If you like it, contact your reps.

Not enough pics in this thread lately...

I've got a gunbroker acquisition inbound... sucks waiting for shipping.

No such thing.

Yeah, I knew about the balsa wood thing from when we had a C6. Best of luck with that project!

Our first track day of the year was a wet one... Fortunately, it dried out enough in the afternoon to do a sound check on exhaust 2.0... And it passed, so we can now run this car at this particular track.

First track day of the year was a wet one... My wife's first time driving in the wet, and she did fine, and more importantly still had fun. The Conti ECS tires worked very well in the rain, color me impressed.

I'm 5' 10" I originally went with the fixed seat to get under the roll bar, and we used a 3" foam pad for my wife, but it was a compromise for both of us... too close for me, and too far for her. We had our first outing with the new setup last weekend and it worked perfectly. I don't know if a floor drop is available for 'Vettes, and if it is, I'm assuming the fabrication would be a lot more involved...

Floor drop finished, and seat re-installed with new harness. Both of us can now get a comfortable driving position, and even with the sliders it's about 1" lower than the previous setup. Also installed a Miata Roadster shifter on the 6 speed to get rid of the sloppy stock shifter. I think we're ready for the first event of the year in two weeks.

More work getting ready for the season... I was tired of the fixed seat not being comfortable for either of us, so I'm installing a drop floor to fit sliders under the seat. The first step is a doozie... Fitted and ready for welding: I test fit the seat last night after tacking everything in, and hope to finish the welding today.

I picked up something frivolous, but fun yesterday... Cimarron (Pietta) SAA in .45LC I've been wanting to pick up an SAA, something fun in a "Texas BBQ" sort of way. Rugers are great shooters, but just don't feel right in the hand. I didn't want to spend the money on a Colt, since I do want to shoot it, but I didn't want a transfer bar, or other new gimmicks. SAAs should click four times on cocking, and this particular Pietta/Cimarron does. This one is the "Gen. Patton" variant, but the only nod to old Blood and Guts is the lanyard ring and the grips. Otherwise it's just a 4 3/4 nickel SAA with 'engraving'. And the laser engraving actually looks pretty good, though it's clearly not traditional engraving. The lanyard ring is coming off, and the grips will get changed out eventually. Now I need to dig out my .45LC loading gear, which hasn't been used in almost 25 years!

After the last, failed attempt at a modifying the ZL1 exhaust for 95dB track days, I started from scratch and fabbed up a new 'noise abatement' strategy today. I cut off the stock tip, and welded on V-band flanges to re-mount it, then made a second 3" extended tip with a 90* turn for each side to re-direct the sound. Easy to swap, and they can be rotated to change direction for different tracks. I only bothered with the outboard tips, because that's where the exhaust goes (bypassing the muffler) in 'track mode', when the valve is opened up. Any gasses going through the muffler will be quiet enough that I'm not worried about the inboard tips. Interestingly, the size of the actual stock exhaust at that point is 2 1/4"... my turnouts are 3". I may shoot them with a coat of high-temp black paint, but I'll wait to see if they pass sound first.

It does, indeed...

Another S&W joined the stable today after a long search. Model 27, 3 1/2"bbl, minted in ~1971. The early 27s are starting to bring solid Python money, so it took quite a while to find one at a decent price that was in great condition, but still a shooter.

Took the NA for an extended test drive today with the 6 speed. Warning... ***wonky track math in this post*** The speedo now reads about 10% high. Definitely pulls harder gear for gear than the 5 speed... that was expected. What that translates to in real world acceleration, who knows? What it should do is get me out of the slower corners on track a lot harder. Looking back at my data, there are several corners on our local tracks where the NA maintains 40-45mph. At those speeds, it's pulling from as low as 3400 rpm with the stock 5 speed and 4.30s, but a downshift to 2nd puts it at 5000 rpm and adds two shifts in quick succession. The 6 speed in third with the 4.30 at that speed is pulling from 4100 rpm. Looking back at my dyno sheet shows that with the 6 speed, the engine will be applying an additional ~30 hp coming out of those slow corners. That is a significant improvement. Of course, I'll end up paying for that with an additional up shift on straights that exceed ~90mph, but 5th is now the same ratio as 4th previously (1.000), so I'm hoping for a break even with the increased acceleration in (new) 4th. We'll see how this all sorts out in February, hopefully. Unless I muddy the waters by doing some aero work on the car...

I was looking pretty hard at a similar Rhino safe. I loved the antique look of it, but it would have cost me ~$700 more than the Liberty, which I got a screaming deal on because it was a factory 2nd. It has a tiny scuff low on the front, which I couldn't even see until it was pointed out. Mine is 42x72... it's obnoxiously big, but I love it. Fits everything I need to, with room to grow.

Finally bought a proper safe to replace my old, and overflowing, 'security cabinet'...