Docwagon

The first one is meh. I mean, it's a good story and all but it's just not what I expected on terms of scale. I suspect this was now by design, as the main character's scope of duty goes from the pedestrian lawman vs criminal to...a whole lot more...and the character's reaction to that growing scope. Sort of a different take on the reluctant hero. "I don't mind being a hero, it's pretty cool, but I want to be a big fish in a little pond" sort of thing. They pick up, though. The most recent one is just as good as the first trilogy.

I just finished "The Bands of Mourning" by Brandon Sanderson. It was the best in the Mistborn Era II series so far, and the epilogue says the next book is the conclusion. If you haven't read the original Mistborn trilogy, go do it. Now. Era II started out slow and not so "epic" as the first set, but that was a ruse. It ramps up quickly and in ways I would not have expected. Sanderson is one hell of an author.

I got the Trijicon HDs on the P229 to rectify the point of impact being too high vs point of aim. The shop got the ones that their distributor said was for the P229, but they were actually for the .40/.45. The result is...not terrible. The POI is right on top of the front sight blade. The top target was with the orange dot covering the target. Then #1 on the bottom was the same. Then I moved to cutting the dot in half with the front sight post. All shots at 7 yards. I then moved to 12y and worked transitions clockwise. The writing is "up", so tilt your head left to see the target like I saw it... I'm going to our out door range next Friday and shoot at longer distances before making up my mind if I'm going to keep this set up or go to the 8 front 8 rear which should put the point of impact under the dot. The shop owner was very apologetic, but it wasn't his fault. He'd have taken them back, but I told him I'd just have him swap these on to my P229 .40 with dead night sights if I ended up not keeping them on this gun. Speaking of which, 12y 5 shot rapid fire groups with the .40. I got a little wild there at the end and started pushing low/left. First 30 were all in the circle.

Sig vs Glock, for me: I ran the same drill, the FAST, multiple times back to back with my duty Glock 22 and the P226. The Sig is more comfortable to shoot. Both are in .40. I suppose weight and grip angle make the difference, but I don't feel anything in my wrists when I shoot the Sig. The Glock isn't painful, but would fatigue me quicker. The Glock is easier to push low/left for me. The Glock front sight is actually easier to track in the lack of direct sunlight that makes the Sig's shrouded fiber optic glow. Most of my misses with the Sig were the first shot after the reload, getting back on the trigger to quick and pushing the shot a bit left (as facing the target). Most of my misses with the Glock were shoving it low/left. The Sig is much easier to reload. The mag well is easier to hit consistently and the slide release is placed so that I don't have to move my grip at all. The Glock's slide release is further forward and smaller, making it harder to consistently activate at speed. The shape of the mag well makes it harder to glide the magazine in. Time to first shot was remarkably similar. I felt faster with the Sig, but the timer showed only .05 seconds difference. Split times (times between each individual shot) were also quite similar. The Glock was in the .40 second range, the Sig in the mid .30s. Comparing clean run to clean run and -1 to -1 run, I was consistently over a second faster with the Sig, with nearly all the difference being in the reload time. I believe a higher visibility front sight on the Sig would increase that advantage. The Glock's mag well is the biggest limiter for this particular drill for me.

I've not been updating due to a lot of assorted day trips and OT shifts at work. I have been doing a bit of dry fire and draw practice, but not nearly as organized as usual. Today was my first live fire in 3 weeks. I took my P229 9mm to an indoor range. I've tried various bullet weights and it's consistently shot high, a 6 o'clock hold still results in about 1" high at 7 yards with 147 gr ammo. The left target is 147 gr HST ammo, point of aim is the center of the circle. The right target is 147 gr Lawman ammo, point of aim is the bottom edge of the circle. This has been very consistent with various weights of bullets and various manufacturers, so I'm satisfied it's the sights. I left the gun at the range with an order for Trijicon HD night sights to be installed. I moved on to my Model 19 and my wadcutter reloads. 7 yards was my max range today and I didn't spend a lot of ammo, but it was nice to knock the dust off a bit.

If my son wants it for Christmas, but not enough to buy it for myself.

Oh, and the "children shot" statistic is EXTREMELY misleading. The gun control groups tend to include things like teenager gang shootouts as "children shot". They count teenager suicides as children shot, etc. Unless the device locks out after so many attempts, it's foolish to think a teenager couldn't try combinations until they get it right. It appears to have a 3 digit code, so not a lot of possibilities compared to a real safe.

It seem like an expensive way to accomplish what can be done easier (and generally cheaper) with existing options. Now, It's probably effective for what they say, keeping unauthorized access from someone who's not interested in stealing it. There's a ton of existing safes that would hold any handgun, including a revolver, that I'd recommend over something like that. The problem is it assumes you are just leaving your loaded gun out. That's stupid. Don't just leave your loaded gun out. Either properly secure it in a safe or security cabinet or have it on your body. Depending on how secure your home is (can your door be kicked in quickly or do you have a security door? Do you have a window AC unit that can be pushed in quietly? etc.) and your threat level the best course of action is to wear your gun if you believe speed of access could be critical. I keep a small revolver in my pocket if I'm not going out, carry like I normally do when I am going out. Example of small safe: https://www.amazon.com/SentrySafe-X041E-Cubic-Security-Black/dp/B0052U3TQK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1467602496&sr=8-3&keywords=sentry+handgun+safe I understand not everyone will carry around the home. The next best thing is a small safe, preferably bolted to a heavy piece of furniture. This will keep children away from the gun, plus protect it from theft and fire. If speed of access is a requirement, go back to what I said about on body carry. For night time, simply unlock the safe, or put the key in the lock. Lock your bedroom door. Re-secure it in the morning. So, what works for me is: Gun safe holds most everything. It's got a digital lock, weighs about 600 lbs empty, and is fire rated. In wall safe holds my home defense gun and my carry pistol if I'm not wearing it. Shoulder holster on the headboard of the bed holds my carry pistol at night. If you choose to use something like this for whatever reason, I'd practice working the code blindfolded until I literally could not get it wrong. Where I could see this being useful is hotel room or the like where you're not going to have a safe. I own a small clam shell safe with a security cable for that. It will hold my P229 and my LCR (so medium sized carry gun and backup gun) or one of the guns plus my badge and wallet. If I go to the pool or something where I leave my firearm behind the cable is secured to a desk or something and I know housekeeping can't get into it or just walk off with it. It also works in cars by securing it to the seat frame. Mine is cheaper/smaller, but this is the concept: https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Pistol-Safe-lock-teether/dp/B00N167IMI/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1467602496&sr=8-8&keywords=sentry+handgun+safe So, in summary, I think a combination of on body carry and a small safe is superior, cheaper, and more effective than this gizmo...but the gizmo will probably work as advertised.

If I stick with survival mode, I'm going with Brotherhood of Steel for the vertibird ability to move around the map. I'm also thinking the minuteman's artillery barrage is going to be used way more often. See that guy? Fuck him...and everyone around him. Roger that, general.

I'm pretty sure you mean "beautiful in his own special way Albert".

I guess the meeting went something like "if we make the lead character female, we won't have to worry about making it good!" Dumpy women telling lame jokes doing bad slapstick is the best they could come up with?

I tried a bit more survival mode tonight. Holy shit it's annoying to have to find a bed to save. I get why they did it, so you can't just save before you drink water and if you get contaminated reload, so you can't save before every encounter, etc....but come on. Give us a sleeping bag and tent or some shit that you can set up when there's no enemies around and only works outside so we can save without humping back to a settlement or sniffing around for a dirty mattress. I can repair nuclear powered armor but can't figure out how to make a camp fire to cook in the field?

Finding Dory. It's pretty good. "Piper", the animated short in front of it is really cute.

Really? Unless the recent patch did it it still worked for me. Try dropping expensive weapons and then storing them from the ground directly to the workbench. Don't pick them up, just auto store them. I built a couple. If you do the Minuteman quest, the castle is pretty sweet and it's easy to defend. It's also got a lot of water generation ready to go and power lines already set up.

I tried survival mode, and I'm over it. No fast travel makes so many of the elements of the game I like either impossible or at least a giant PITA. I'm also not a fan of how freaking easy you die. After dying to one swipe from a feral ghoul as a level 6 character with pretty high endurance, I'll pass.

It's soooo much fun. I'm tempted to get back into it now that there's a survival mode. The biggest tips I can think of have to do with crafting. When you get into your settlement, drop all of your junk. Then scrap it. This has two advantages. One, it gives you more resources. Two, it let's you build a bigger settlement. One explained: If you are building something like a gun mod and you need to break down an alarm clock for radioactive material, the game "eats" all of the copper, plastic, etc. It just disappears. If you manually break stuff down, you get all the parts, then build stuff. Two explained: Each settlement has a maximum number of items you can build. When you scrap stuff, the count goes down for items you've built even though you're not actually destroying things you built. Basically, you can have a settlement at 100% build, then drop stuff and scrap it to get it down to 90% and build more stuff. You can also do this by dropping things and storing them. Drop your guns, auto store them in the workbench, go get them back out, repeat.

Since Glocks are pretty common, I figured I'd give a quick list of pro's and con's. Pro: Relatively inexpensive. Simple to operate A ton of aftermarket support in terms of holsters, sights, etc. Adjustable back straps on Gen 4 allows for different hand sizes Gun comes out of the box ready to shoot (once loaded) and doesn't require a break in period to run right...with the exception of the new single stack. Some folks have reported issues in the first 200 rounds or so. Very long service life with minimal maintenance. Change recoil spring assembly on schedule and you're very unlikely to ever wear it out. Cons: Blocky and can be tough to conceal for some folks. Trigger must be pulled in order to take the slide off for maintenance, which can lead to accidental discharge. You need to make sure, and then double check, that the gun is empty. Finger groove models don't line up with everyone's fingers "Glock knuckle" = the blister some people get when shooting a Glock a lot due to the trigger guard rubbing their finger. "Glock leg" = shooting yourself in the leg when holstering. This is very preventable by making sure your holster isn't obstructed and your finger is outside the trigger guard, along with using a quality holster but if you're using cheap shit for gear or are inattentive (or under a lot of stress) the Glock isn't very resistant to obstructions. Not as inherently accurate as some other offerings. Few shooters are good enough to notice the difference, but it's there. If you aren't shooting a 5" group or smaller at 25y, it doesn't matter to you. What's marketing: That they are more reliable than other common offerings. All the big boys run right for the most part, and all (including Glock) have an occasional poo gun. Popularity is based largely on aggressive marketing to LE and trickle down from that. What not to do if you plan to use it for a carry gun: Fuck with the trigger. It's light enough, it's smooth enough, fucking with it in terms of aftermarket connectors, polishing, etc. is a good way to fuck up a reliable gun and to make a trigger too light for defensive use (too much chance of accidental shooting) What to do if you plan to use it for a carry gun: Stippling is ok if you have trouble holding the gun, realize this dicks resale value. Get sights you like. Stock sight are ok, but there are better out there. Trijicon HD is a good example of sights that are both more durable and easier to use. Get a GOOD holster. Kydex or leather with a reinforced mouth, nothing that collapses. Nylon sacks from Uncle Mikes are not good holsters. Get a SIRT gun. http://www.nextleveltraining.com/products/sirt-training-pistol This allows dry fire practice to be done safely and easily, without wear on your carry gun, and without the training scar of racking the slide after each trigger press.

You didn't say what you want to do with it, but the answer is "yes". The Glock 19 is a jack of all trades gun. It will do about anything you want it to, and while it's unlikely to be the absolute best in any one category it's going to be perfectly capable in any of them. Look for a Gen 4.

LEO pricing is $309. I've been real tempted to get one in 9mm for an ankle gun.

Oh, and the XD(s) in 9mm is another good one to look at. Good sights out of the box, decent trigger, pretty flat, has a grip safety which locks the trigger if you aren't holding it, and reasonably priced.

Yeah, the P938 is an attempt to make a mini-1911. IMO, unless you want to pocket carry it as a backup to a 1911, I don't see it's place. It's flat and small, so easy for pocket carry, but lots of downsides.

How much is she realistically going to train? How much time is she going to spend dry firing? Is she going to attend any sort of decision based training with shoot/no-shoot scenarios? If the answers aren't "a lot, a lot, and yes" then I would shy away from anything with a thumb safety. The Sig P938 has a small and relatively stiff safety, and for that reason I would recommend against it for a new shooter, for someone who isn't going to be very dedicated to training and practice, and the cocked and locked carry can be intimidating to new users. You need to be able to work the safety under stress, perhaps while being grappled, and you also need to leave the safety on right up until you decide you have to shoot or you've got a gun that has zero room for error with trigger discipline before an AD occurs. All of these are bad for the newbie or for the person who's only dabbling in firearms. Guns I would look strongly at: LCR revolver (Smallest, light, not much recoil, easy administrative handling to load, unload, clean, etc.) M&P Shield (See previous post) Sig P239 (A more expensive but "better" alternative to the Shield. Heavier, though, and slightly more complicated to work. I like the DA first trigger pull as a means of reducing the odds of an ND, but it is a bit harder to learn to shoot and you must religiously decock after firing but before holstering) Glock 26 (a few more rounds than the Shield, easy gun to operate, but blockier and a bit tougher to conceal in most lady's clothing. Changing grips doesn't effect the hand size to grip fit as much as you think. It' not the width that matters as much as the front to back length, sometimes called length of pull. Grip width effects concealment, but only marginally effects handling.

Excellent gun for the money. Small enough to conceal pretty easily, ton of support in terms of holsters, sights, etc. Large enough to shoot pretty easily, as in recoil management and factory sights are good. The trigger is decent out of the box, but if you don't like it Apex makes a kit that smooths it up. Spare magazines aren't very expensive. All in all I think it's a great choice for someone who doesn't want to carry a duty size pistol. It is a *touch* big for pocket carry in most pants, though, and I'd recommend a nice IWB holster. Look up Clinger Holsters if you buy one, they make a good quality kydex holster that's priced quite well. You can find them online for $330-ish, so figure in shipping and FFL transfer but $400 isn't a terrible price. Check Palmetto State Armory, they are in your state and usually have good prices. I would get the 9mm no thumb safety version. The .40 is going to be more recoil for no real gain in terminal ballistics and the thumb safety is horrible in terms of ergonomics.