Webster

The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions." --American Statesman Daniel Webster (1782-1852)


Saturday, November 24, 2018

Returned home and the Tam Challenge

I went to Tennessee to visit my folks and they have a nice range about 5 minutes from their house so getting started on the "Tam Challenge". Which basically is firing 2000 rounds through older pistols usually from the 1980 or the 1990's and see how they stack up performance wise against the new shooting iron and new manufacturing processes.  Well I decided to use my Sigma, I have had this pistol since the late 1990's.  It is my "Truck Gun".  Basically it stays in the truck unless I have to take it out for some reason like it going into the shop for an oil change or something then I take it out.    I know it is one of the earlier Sigma's

Well anyway I decided to go to the range and start the "Tam Test".  She told me that it was someone named Todd G that actually came up with the idea, but I had told her that I heard it associated with her.
     Well anyway we got to the range and I walked to my station and noticed this off the bat...
Apparently someone violated one of the "Always" rules....or to use a Tamism"They had their meathook on the bangswitch" when they were not supposed to.  It reinforces that accidents do happen.
    Well I laid out the ammo I had to plink with...
I than pulled out the pistol and the clips to load them...
Notice the 2 "AWB" magazines and the one regular magazine that I bought last year at NRAAM in Dallas.
I flipped over the magazines and noticed something....
"Opsie..left the "Go to the Mattresses" ammo in it...so I had to unload them...."
I have plink ammo to burn...not the "more expensive" stuff.

Unloaded the 'expensive" ammo, then loaded the PMC ammo first and set up the target and started shooting..
That is my target at the 10 yard line. the one in the center.   The Pistol ran the first 34 rounds flawlessly...
Not bad, but I had some impressions after shooting....The Pistol fired, but the trigger was a long squeeze and I caught myself anticipating the shot and jerking the pistol.  Not a good habit so I forced myself to slow down and do it right per the fundamentals.   And speaking of trigger, I noticed the trigger/safety pinching the crap out of my finger while the pistol fired and the resulting action of the slide going back and ejecting the round and scooping up another round from the magazine and going back into battery.
    I burned through my PMC ammo then went to the blazer ammo...and my finger was killing me so I passed the pistol to my son and let him shoot a couple of magazines...I figured it didn't matter who shot the pistol as long as the pistol was run...

 We did have one no bang...it showed a hit on the primer but no "boom"
Not sure if it was the pistol or the ammo on that one....
The pistol ran all the other rounds flawlessly so I am impressed so far...but time will tell.
   The next day we drove home after getting detoured  trying to drive over the Smokey Mountains due to high winds
Why they call it The "Smokey Mountains"  My son took the pic

I had my son drive in GA on the way up because he has a learner permit and Tennessee doesn't offer reciprocity for his GA permit.  But he got in a lot of driving in Georgia on the way up and on the way back but it seems that I spend a lot of time in the Truck today...
I did see at the range over there a brand new Springfield Range Officer .45 ACP for less than $500, I almost plonked down the plastic because the price was really good.  That is the pistol that Old NFO would call a "BBQ gun" or a Sunday go to meeting gun...I texted Mack about the deal and commented that "If I got that pistol, I might find myself divorced" because I already have a Henry Golden boy on layaway.    He being the stellar person that he is offered me the guest bedroom....Mack UNDERSTANDS, LOL


9 comments:

  1. A couple things. You Showed the primer. I don't recall seeing much about Tams review of resulting spent cartridges. Maybe more investigation is needed there. Another thing, What is the result to the barrel, of firing mega rounds through a barrel without cleaning? Or am I daft, and don't know if cleaning the barrel is part of the no clean MO...? I would suspect that excessive rounds through the barrel, with different types of bullets would degrade the barrel and subsequent accuracy down the road. But like I said, maybe I'm not paying enough attention here. Just sayin'

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    1. Hey Steve;

      You asked some really good questions...and I will look at the primer question and I did clean the barrel, I can't just leave a dirty barrel, call it the Army thing. I left the rest of the pistol as it was but I did clean the barrel. I will work a firearm, but I can't abuse one..They are fun to shoot, they also are an investment and an heirloom item...eventually. I don't get rid of my firearms because they tell a story of a part of my life and my belief in the 2nd amendment.

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  2. Apex Tactical makes a replacement trigger with a Glock-like center section that eliminates the pinchy feeling of the stock S&W trigger.

    It improves the trigger feel in other ways as well.

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    1. Hey Angus

      I will look into it. The pistol is rarely fired until now. I never had a problem with the trigger until I started shooting it a lot. When I shoot again i will use a pair of thin gloves until I get the trigger replaced.

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    2. https://mcthag.blogspot.com/2018/10/my-thats-nice.html

      That has links to the two kits I applied to FuzzyGeff's Sigma.

      Delete
  3. Mr.G., I think that it is your ballgame, and you can make the rules. So running a patch down the barrel when you choose, is just fine. In Tam's case, I think that I can understand how she might not want to, in order to keep everything as exactly the same from one gun to another as possible.
    As to the Sigma, I remember at one time, when I was first getting into handguns, that this gun got some people saying it was not a good gun. But the longer that I stay involved, the more I see that people that actually own this gun, would never get rid of it. In some ways, I can see it compared to my carry gun, the Taurus Millenium G2. I see many people knock the gun, but those who own one, tend to like it. I know that I love mine, but you can't take that for much, since I am only a rank amatuer.
    I don't think it is nearly as nice as my son's CZ 2075 Rami, which I have shot, and fell in love with, but my Taurus cost 200$, and his CZ Rami was about 500$. They both serve their purpose, the Taurus gives people like myself, a fairly decent, quality firearm to carry concealed, even if we don't choose to move up in quality at a later date. But the Rami is a gun that, if taken care of, should hold up much better than the Taurus. And it is certainly a higher quality of build compared to the Taurus.
    Even the double action trigger on the CZ is good.
    Back to your Tam challenge, I wish you nothing but good results with your pistol, and I know that you will always get someone willing to help you, if you provide the ammo! Seriously, you probably will learn much about not only your Sigma, but also about yourself and how you feel about the gun, after purposefully putting that much lead downrange. And please keep posting about how you are doing. I know that I enjoyed following Tam during her various trials. And while you do document the FTF with the one round, I think that you can blame it on the primer, and not the gun.
    Anyway, happy shooting, and have a Merry Christmas.

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    Replies
    1. Hey Pigpen;

      It ain't my rules, I just wanted to see how the pistol behaves when fired a lot. I haven't fired it a lot until this weekend and in the past I would infrequently run a magazine through the pistol every couple of years...it just ain't shot much. It is my "truck gun". I remember back when i got it, S&W was not popular with the gun community because of its going along with the Clinton Administration and it trying to get into "smart gun" technology. S&W almost went into bankruptcy and the CEO was forced out. I remembered all of that. I am glad that you carry, I owned a Taurus Millennium and it was a good pistol for what I used it for. I just got a smaller pistol for easier CCW. I owned a couple of CZ(Back when they were on the other side of the Iron Curtain. CZ has a reputation for building good guns for the past 100 years. I will do it a bit different, I will shoot the pistol a lot but I will occasionally clean it and log any misfires and other drama. It will take a while for me to to this, I have to buy the ammo here and there :) I am impressed with the pistol however but I will check into doing a trigger job like Angus recommended.

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  4. Be interested to see where this ends up. :-)

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  5. Soooo.... Did you buy the gun after all?

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I had to change the comment format on this blog due to spammers, I will open it back up again in a bit.