Black Angus McPherson

Now you've got me wondering where I first heard that the Glock slide stop was not a slide release. I honestly don't recall ever reading the Glock owner's manual. Shame on me, I guess. I DID once go thru a Glock Armorer's course for Police Dept.'s and I seem to recall hearing the "not a slide release" in the class. I'm not sure if I even still have the handouts from the class to check them. I'm pretty sure that any Glock based training I've had mentioned the slide stop was not a slide release. Maybe it was one of those "Everybody knows that" facts that is wrong. Usually the training to use the slingshot on Glocks was accompanied by a "look how flimsy the slide stop is made" comment. Angus

I think the "pull and release" or "slingshot" started with the Glock pistols. I'd never heard of it before the Glocks came out and they said the slide stop was NOT to be used as a slide release. Nor had I ever noticed anyone using the "slingshot" method on a pistol before the Glock. I've never known anyone, before, that had any problem with wear by using the slide stop as a slide release. I was actually taught to use the slide lock as a slide release before the Glocks arrived on the scene. FWIW I use the lever as a slide release on all my pistols that have one, except for the Glock. On a tangent, I was watching footage of the Bianchi Cup last night and I noticed that none of the shooters I saw ever had their pistol go into slide lock. They'd shoot their six (or whatever) rounds, drop the empty mag into the bag at their feet, load another mag and holster the pistol. I assume they must overload the first mag by one round so there is always a round in the chamber. Is that correct, or am I missing something? It seems odd doing that in a competition. Especially since their muzzle control did not seem to be the best while conducting those reloads with a loaded gun. It's possible that those space guns have the slide lock removed or disabled for some reason and I just didn't notice them rack the slide before holstering. Angus

Interesting how many of those I used to watch from the '50's thru the '80's and how few I give a darn about after ~2000. I only noticed three after 2000 that I ever thought were worth my time. Angus

I don't drink, but I've perused the topics on Whiskey vs. Bourbon and I've been wondering: Many people put ice in their glass when they drink Whiskey and/or Bourbon, but why haven't I ever heard of anyone keeping their Whiskey or Bourbon in a refrigerator? I also understand some wines are to be chilled and some are not. I don't understand that either. Angus

If it was designed by Jerry Miculek it's probably designed with 3-gun in mind. I don't think JM shoots either Trap or Skeet.

Interesting. That must be a California thing. Lots of PD's around here seem to prefer unmarked cars for traffic enforcement. Easier to hide. Me? I never hid. If I had to run radar I'd sit right out in the open where everyone could see me. I figured if they weren't paying enough attention to see me and slow down they deserved a ticket. I always thought my job was to slow people down and not to see how many tickets I could write. Angus

They could share if they are shooting skeet on the same squad. There's no way to share a gun when shooting trap, except during practice with a very patient squad. FWIW, I started shooting with a Remington 1100 and I loved it. There is some merit in the fact semi-auto's suck up some recoil. I tried a Benelli and a Beretta semi-auto during a "Manufacturer's day" at a local range several years back and I couldn't shoot either for beans. So, if possible, let your kids try some different guns to see which they shoot well and which they do not. Kinda like a new CAS shooter. Angus

I'm a big fan of Beretta O/U guns. A couple things to keep in mind. Skeet requires you to shoot doubles (two targets in the air at the same time) and Trap generally has three events, 16 yard, Handicap (the better you shoot, the farther back from the trap house you have to stand) and doubles. Because of the doubles you will very rarely see a skeet shooter using a pump action shotgun, nor will you see a trap shooter using a pump for the doubles event. Also, if you think you, or they, will want to reload, a semi-auto will throw the empties all over the field and most skeet/trap fields have a policy of "if it hits the ground, it's ours". Especially during a match. As already mentioned, "skeet" and "trap" guns tend to be set up differently and most shooters will have a different gun for each. Skeet generally requires an open choke ("Skeet" or "Cylinder") as distances are roughly 18 to 20 yards. Trap usually requires tighter chokes (Modified or Full) for targets that will be shot at roughly 30+ yards. Sporting Clays is best shot with a changeable choke so you can shoot an open choke on some stages and full choke on other stages. I like the Beretta O/U's for trap because I can set it up to shoot Modified in one barrel and Full in the other for doubles. Mod. on the first shot and Full on the second because the bird will be further out. Plus, I can shoot Mod. in the 16 yard event and Full for Handicap. I shoot a Beretta 686 O/U for skeet because I really like Beretta O/U's and I have it set up with tubes so I can shoot all four events (12 ga., 20 ga., 28 ga. and .410) with the same gun and same sight picture. That's something else you might think about if they get serious about skeet. I don't shoot Sporting Clays, but the guys I know that do all use an O/U so they can pick the choke they need for a given stage. One shot might be close and the second much further out. A big factor in my choice of a college was that they had a Skeet and Trap club. I'd never shot on a regular skeet/trap field before and I loved it. I hope your kids do, too. Angus

With just a little more effort you could make that completely unreadable. Angus

Geez! Some of you guys must have screens the size of a firehouse door to pick out that stuff. Angus

Alpo, how can you possibly know all this and still have so many questions about everything else? Angus

Depending on exactly where in MI I'll take it. I've got a buddy up there I think will pick it up for me. Sending you a PM

Or they'll ram into your tail end. That'll slow 'em down.

I sometimes wonder where people ended up that asked me for directions while I was directing traffic around an accident. Angus

+2 I'll only have it long enough to write a check and send it back. Theoretically, we'll be getting $2400 for the two of us. I think we'll have enough left over to buy breakfast at IHOP. If IHOP were open. Actually, I'm thankful that I earned enough to owe that much.