Firearms

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7 December, 2025

Review: Kimber CDS9 Classic

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I’m late to the game on this pistol. Stumbling onto a video about it, I hit the interwebz to see what all the fuss was about. The initial CDS9 is a beautiful thing — rich red G10 grips, dual-tone frame and slide, and in a size that was enticing. There wasn’t quite the hate online as you see for a lot of Kimber’s products — some on it earned, but a lot of it not. It’s also $1100ish dollars for a lot of features I really don’t value. A pistol like this, for me, is deep carry. No red dots. No threaded barrel. No rail. But it did have something my Alpha Foxtrot S15 didn’t have: ambi controls. (There’s really zero reason not to have full ambi controls on a pistol in 2025…)

For guys like me, there’s the “Classic” version of the CDS9. No frills, just the necessary bells and whistles to make this a top-notch pocket gun. (Yes, there’s an optics ready version.) I decided to go for it.

The CDS9 with the 15-round magazine. Great for practice, less so for concealment.

You get a cardboard box with a nice, handbag-sized, two pistol range bag; a 13- and 15-round magazine; a CDS9 pistol, the usual lock and sticker, and an utterly useless “safety” booklet that doesn’t even include the disassembly and reassembly instructions. You have to use the QR code on the booklet to download the booklet. Stupid.

The gun has an aluminum frame and a stainless slide in the Kim-Pro II finish, and a stainless steel barrel. The finish is gorgeous and silky smooth in a neutral gray color. The grips (which can be changed out for the sexier G10s from the normal CDS9) are black polymer with a grip texture that doesn’t seem too bitey…until you start banging away. The texturing is also across the back of the pistol and really holds the pistol firmly in the hand. There’s a great undercut on the trigger guard and there was no impacting on the middle finger while shooting. The guard is also large and easily accommodated gloves. It has an external extractor that really chucks the spent shells and most importantly (for me) has an ambi safety and slide stop. The magazine release is swappable left to right.

I owned a Micro-9 from Kimber a few years back and wound up selling it because the trigger finger was caching the magazine release while shooting, dropping the magazine. Not ideal. The magazine release is much lower in profile, as is the safety and slide stop, and in 300 rounds on the first trip to the range, I did not experience an accidental release. The low-profile of the safety has been an issue for some online. I had no issues thumbing it on and off, even while drawing from the pocket of my jeans to shoot. Honestly, if that was a concern, the tail on the CDS9 is short enough you could carry hammer down and draw with your thumb on the hammer, cock it at presentation, and fire. I tried both with zero issues.

This is at the end of 300 rounds — a bit dirty, but not bad, at all.

Recoil with 124 grain Patriot Sports ammunition — not the top end STV offers, but still factory quality ammo — was reasonable for a lightweight pistol. I suspect with the shorter 10-round magazine, it would be “stout”. The pistol ran all 300 rounds without an issue save for two failures where the 15-round magazine locked open with a single round in the box. That’s not a pistol issue; that’s a magazine issue.

Not taking my time, accuracy was decent out to 15 yards with hits in the X or 9 ring. I fired a single mag at 25 yards and saw a two inch drop but solid groups inside three inches. It will run fast once you get used to the trigger, which has a nice 4 lb. consistent break. The trigger is flat faced but does have an upper pivot that isn’t noticeable while shooting, but I do think slowed me down when it needed a bit more let-out for the reset. It feels like an straight-back 1911 trigger; it’s not. While it shoots fast, it also seems like the recoil catches up to you a out six to seven rounds in — something a few commenters had pointed out in their reviews.

Take down and cleaning is pretty 1911-style, straightforward. The dual recoil spring assembly has one loose outer spring, the other is captured. It hooks onto the lug of the barrel cleanly and easily. The lug is CZ-style, not linked like a 1911, and I suspect that really helps with the reliability. The back of the slide was filthy inside, as was the area around the breech, but otherwise, the pistol was pretty clean.

Since I was considering this as a possible replacement or companion carry piece for my Walther PPK, I thought I’d weigh them, empty and with a full magazine: Empty, the CDS comes in a hair over an ounce heavier than my Fort Smith-made .380 PPK; loaded they are 1.73 lbs (27.6 oz) for the Kimber, and 1.5 lbs (23.7 oz) for the PPK. Barely noticeable considering the payload difference. I suspect with the 10-round magazine, the loaded weights will be at close to parity.

Size-wise is where the Kimber easily overtakes the PPK: 

So, is it worth it? At $750 as a street price, absolutely. The CDS9 is competing in an interesting niche of the firearm world and is up against the likes of the SIG-Sauer P238, or more accurately, the P365; or the Hellcat Pro and Micro. They’re all about the same size, but outside of the P238, these are all polymer frame weapons. The CDS9 feels more solid and the recoil is much less snappy than I’ve felt on the Hellcat.

If you prefer a hammer over striker-fired, if you prefer a metal-framed pistol, the CDS is definitely worth considering over the others above. Holster availability is a bit limited, although if you are going to be carrying in the pocket, the CDS fits the Galco Pocket Protector holster for the P365.

 

22 September, 2025

Review: Grand Power P1 K100 (or P1 Mk12)

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I’m late to the game on this one, admittedly. I’d hear of these years back, btu had never seen one until a few days ago in my local gun store. The owner had picked one up at an estate sale and for $350 out the door, I had a new pistol with almost no wear.

The chintzy black plastic case had the instruction manual, the three extra backstraps (which have to be prised loose with a flat-head screwdriver), and an extra mag. There was, in my case, also a 10-round California and other crappy state-compliant magazine.

The Grand Power P1 Mk12 or K100 is a 15-shot 9x19mm double/single action pistol with a 4.3” barrel version of the Grand Power, giving it just shy of a 8” overall length, a 5.25” height from grip to top of frame, and it’s 1.4” wide. This puts it in the same general size as a commander length 2011, Glock 19, Walther PPQ, etc. It uses the rotating barrel lockup that allegedly reduces recoil and increases accuracy. Like the 2011 — it has a steel chassis inside the plastic frame and eliminated the frame flex you get on most polymer guns. (And which most people will likely not notice…) All the controls are ambidextrous — mag release, slide stop, and safety/decocking lever.

The trigger is plastic, has a bit of squish in single-action, but it breaks very neatly at eight pounds double-action, five on the single. The reset is short, fast, and audible. The pistol likes to shoot fast, but the grip texture is a bit mellow, so I found that faster strings saw the pistol shift a bit in my grip — throwing my later shots a bit left and low.

The accuracy is very good, and when taking my time it was drilling groups at 10 yards that created a single ragged hole. It looks to be sighted in for 15 yards with 124 grain ammo. I ran a couple of strings after I got used to it, swapping mag-for-mag with my Alpha Foxtrot S15 (one of the more accurate pistols I have, even with the 3.5” barrel), and the Grand Power shot nearly as well. Taking my time at 20 yards, unsupported, most of the 15 went in the 10 ring, with a few flyers in the 8 ring.

The ambi controls are, for a leftie, very welcome. I’m used to using my trigger finger to hit the mag release and hit the slide stop, and it took a few mags to train myself to use the right-side controls. The safety is interesting. When flicked up, the pistol is placed on safe; when pushed down, it will decock and can be left in the lower position — turning the pistol double-action only. My assumption is this feature was created for use by police units with DA requirement on their sidearms…otherwise, it’s stupid.

The rotating barrel is supposed to mitigate recoil. I noticed none of that, however, it is very consistent in point of aim. The barrel rotates on a large scalloped cam on the underside of the barrel that rides on a bearing underneath. The pistol functioned flawlessly through 500 rounds of Winchester, Scorpio, and cheap Federal ammo.

The system does make takedown a bit tricky. You pull the slide to the back and pull the disassembly tabs down (like a Glock), then lift the back of the slide to run forward. The barrel will fall clear easily. The guide rod for the recoil spring is fixed to the frame — an interesting choice. Cleaning is pretty straightforward, oil the contact surfaces, then reverse the order. This can be a big tricky — you have to keep the barrel in the forward position to seat properly and set the slide on the frameabout halfway back. You then need to lift the back of the slide a bit to clear the rails, pull it all the way back and pull down on the disassembly pins, then reseat it. It’s a bit tricky the first time or two, but once you’ve got it, it’s easy enough.

So is it worth it? At $350, this was a steal. At the original $500 pricing, it would have been, as well. If you’ve been thinking of the PX-4 Storm by Beretta, I’d suggest you hunt about online and find one of these: it looks better, it functions just as well, and you’ll probably get it for a good price. Grand Power and Stribog are both made by the same group in Slovakia, and the quality is there. Allegedly, one of the P1s had over 100,000 rounds through it without incident, but I’d take that with a bucket of salt. Magazines can be a bit tricky to find online, but I located a few with a half hour search, and their importer Global Ordinance also had some available.

 

25 April, 2025

Review: Military Armament Corp. M1014 Shotgun

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After the experience with the MAC2, I thought it would be interesting to see how the Military Armament Corporation’s knock-off of the Benelli M4 (known to the Marines as the M1014) compares. There happened to be a pair of these at the excellent Workhorse Armory here in Albuquerque — one with the walnut furniture, and a more traditional tacticool one. I went with the second.

Unlike the MAC2, which uses the inertia system of the M1/M2 series, the M4 utilizes the “auto-regulating gas-operated” (ARGO) system — it’s a short stroke piston system that supposedly self-cleans (bullshit!), and is supposed to be self-regulating to handle both light and heavy loads. More on that in a moment…

The MAC1014 (in this configuration) came with plastic stock and foregrips, and unlike the MAC2, there was actually a rear sling mount. The shotgun came with a MAC-branded sling, three choke tubes, tools to change said tubes. It uses the “ghost ring” sights — with a nice bright white dot on the front post, and the usual two white dots on the ring for very quick acquisition of the target. It also has a Picatinny rail on the receiver ahead of the read sight for optics. It comes with a 5 round tube — so six shots, total, but like the Benelli, can be modified with aftermarket parts for seven, either from MAC themselves or Benelli-compatible parts. Allegedly, the gun is 99% parts interchangeable.

I did a thorough cleaning, as I had with the other two MAC shotguns and saw none of the finish issues I had with the first MAC2 we tested. The weapon broke down easily and once cleaned and oiled, I took it out to the range the next morning.

This first trip was not the fifty shell shoulder torture of the MAC2; I only shot 30 shells, but could have easily done twice that. One of the supposed benefits of the ARGO system is lighter recoil, and that’s true. Even with older Super-X slugs, the recoil wasn’t worse than my little KS7 firing birdshot.

I kept it simple: all targets were at 20 yards. The ammo used was all Federal Premium and some older Winchester Super-X slugs. About that self-regulating thing with the gas system…nope. Maybe this is a break-in thing, but it really didn’t like the “Personal Defense” loads — 1145fps 00 buckshot. They shot phenomenally well: on point of aim, with a very tight group that had minimal spread (maybe four inches). So, just a good word in for the FliteControl packing for the Federal 00 buckshot; it’s fantastic! But in the MAC 1014, I had a failure to eject with every shell, and I purposefully spread these out with the slugs and heavier buckshot to see if the gun would loosen up a bit as I went on. Nope.

This was not an issue with the Federal Power-Shok buckshot, rated for 1350fps. Recoil was still quite light and I was able to annoy the guy next to me on the range but popping off six in rapid succession. The Power-Shok were nowhere as tight as the FliteControl ammunition, and the spread was about double at 20 yards, including a few over the shoulder of the silhouette. Next was the Federal Trueball slugs rated for 1300fps. These are stout, but I found them surprisingly pleasant to shoot from the 1014, and like the FliteControl — true to point of aim and light enough on the recoil I could drop the whole tube and stay in the nine ring. The older Super-X rifled slugs moving at 1600fps saw me drift a few inches to the right and up, but still in the eight and seven ring, due to recoil, which was noticeable — as was the report; much louder — but not unpleasant.

After the range trip, I broke the shotgun down and cleaned and inspected it. The gas pistons were dirty, but not outrageously so. The barrel was a bit dirty, but one pass had it clean. There was no damage to the finish, as with the original MAC2, and the shotgun went back together without issue. Probably the most annoying parts of the disassembly/reassembly are the bolt handle, which has to be rotated as you pull it out, or it’s not coming; and the two piece forearm, which requires a bit of finesse to get it back in. Nothing serious.

So is it worth it? At $370 before tax, this is an absolutely buy. It’s built like a tank; better than the MAC2, in my opinion, and the ARGO system makes shooting it fun without the shoulder pain. I’ll try some faster birdshot and see if it runs it, but my suggestion for self-defense ammo would be keep it over the 1200fps mark. Federal’s got a FliteControl wad in 00 buck running 1325fps…my suspicion is this would be spot on for home defense by minimizing stray pellets. (Yes, I really impressed with this stuff.)

The walnut stock and forearm version has a nice classic look to it that I really like, as well.

 

31 March, 2025

Second Time’s the Charm? MAC 2, Take 2

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My experience with my first “Turkenelli” — the Military Armament Corporation’s MAC 2 shotgun was…lackluster. You can read about it here. A knockoff of the Benelli M2 12 gauge semiautomatic shotgun, it is an exacting enough clone that they are supposedly 90%+ parts compatible. When I took the thing down the first time, I didn’t need the instructions; it was nearly identical to my old M1 Super 90 from the ‘90s. The question was, at $400 after tax, was I getting anywhere near the quality and usability of a gun five times the cost?

Having had a plethora of issues with the weapon, SDS Imports out of Chattanooga had me send it back. The experience with their customer service department was very good. The lady on the phone had responded to my initial email within 24 hours, the tech team had looked at the pictures and concluded “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” and had me send it back. 48 hours later (plus Sunday), I had a new MAC 2. I decided to do the same 50 round run at the local range to see if my experience would be replicated.

I got the same marine-finish MAC 2 with black plastic furniture and a standard shotgun grip. (I like these more than the “tactical” grips.) The MAC 2 comes with the standard Benelli ghost ring sights, but also an Picatinny optics rail. It has a front slug mount…but not a rear. (Really, guys?) A rotating and heavily knurled cocking lever, standard button to release the bolt, and cross-bolt safety. Exactly like the Italian M1/M2s. It also comes with cylinder, modified, and full chokes. The finish is nice — and appears to have been badly applied in my original unit, judging from the level of wear seen. More in a moment.

For the test, a ran 5 rounds of Winchester #4 buck, 30 rounds of 00 buck — all with a 1150fps velocity according to the boxes; 5 more 00 buck with a 1350fps speed, and lastly 5 shells of older Super-X rifled slug with an 1150fps speed. I figured, like the Benelli, the lower velocity might give me malfunctions to eject or feed like some of the Benellis have in the past. All 50 shells ran without an issue.

The original MAC 2 I had purchased patterned very well an shot true to point of aim with the pre-installed cylinder choke. The #4 buck shot a wide pattern at 15 yards — about 30 inches on the widest axis. The pellets on the 00 were generally within a foot or so and stayed on the silhouette target, aiming center mass at 20 yards and not really taking my time. Interestingly, the shot cups veered pretty wildly — up to two feet from the shot pattern. Slugs shot to point of aim between 5 and 20 yards.

The MAC 2 can pop them out pretty quickly, too. The inertia system of the older Benellis isn’t as quick at the ARGO in the M4, but the gun never lagged behind my ability to get back on target and hit the trigger again. Extraction was enthusiastic, as well; the shells were throwing about three yards and slightly forward. Recoil is not as soft as the ARGO delivers, but it’s not as brutal as a pump action.

With a successful range trip concluded and only the barrel/tube support having worked its way forward during shooting, I took it home to clear the thing. This is were things went wrong with the first MAC 2, and I’m pleased to report that this shotgun did not show the signs of wear on the finish anywhere I looked. Not did it have the damage to the bolt head or receiver that the initial gun did. While a sample of two is hard to make sweeping generalizations — I suspect I got a Monday morning gun the first time. It disassembled and reassembled without issue and the internals were not overly dirty, as you would expect from an inertial semi-auto.

The MAC 2 has the following specs:

  • Chamber: 12-gauge, 3-in.
  • Action: semi-auto, inertia
  • Barrel Length: 18.5 in.
  • Stock/Forearm: Black plastic (although they do a really nice walnut.)
  • Capacity: 5+1 (MAC’s website does have +2 tubes.)
  • Sights: adjustable ghost ring rear/blade front
  • Optic Compatible: yes (Picatinny rail)
  • Finish: bead-blast aluminum
  • Overall Length: 47.8 in.
  • Weight: 6 lb., 8 oz.
  • Chokes: Benelli/Mobil® 1/3/5
  • MSRP: $549.99 (I got mine for $350+tax.)

So…is it worth it? In the original review, hell no. Now? If this shotgun is indicative of the quality of most of the MAC shotguns, then yes. You get a parts-compatible Benelli clone for a third the price that runs well (even the original shotgun I tested ran with only two failures to eject)) and looks the part. I might even pop for their M4 clone.

 

25 March, 2025

Update to the Review of the MAC 2 Shotgun

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So, I bought a MAC 2 shotgun about a month back and had a… not great experience with it. After sending in the pictures taken upon cleaning it after the first use, I was contacted by Reyes for SDS customer service in Knoxville within a day of sending the email with the complaint. When I called her, I forgot about time zones and such and got in touch with them only 15 minutes before close for the weekend. She informed me that the tech guys had looked over the pics and yes — that was not normal and send the gun back. Before clocking out for the day, she had my waybill emailed to me with the instructions on returning it.

FedEx took a week to get it back to SDS, during which time I was on a roadtrip that would have allowed me to just drop the damned thing off about the same time. But the turnaround was 72 hours. I had a replacement MAC2 by Monday. Same model and finish. Noted remarked that the damage was mostly the bead-blast style coating flaking from wear. Not good, but not actual structural damage, save that seen on the bolt face. Still — good response from SDS: their customer service is solid, the tech guys didn’t cheap me out like I was expecting, and once I get this out to shoot, hopefully, I’ll have a better experience.

 

24 February, 2025

So, I bought a Turkenelli… Review of the Military Armament Corp. MAC 2

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I’m not really a shotgun guy. I don’t find twelve gauge all that much fun to shoot, but I always had one. I’ve owned a few semiautomatic shotguns, including the original Benelli M1 Super 90. I noticed a knock-off of the Benelli M2 by Military Armament Corporation at the gun store the other day. The price was hard to resist (sub $400), so I didn’t.

Now, I’ve heard a lot about the quality of Turkish shotguns being as bad as some of their handguns (Tisas) are good. But at $400, I figure if it’s even halfway to the Benelli, it would be worth it.

So how good is it? Wrong question. How bad is it?

First, the good stuff: It actually comes with chokes, something Benellis I’ve bought don’t, plus the tools to adjust the chokes, the sights, the angle and distance of the stock. It’s got adjustable ghost ring sights, a rail for optics, and is very pointable and light. It looks good, and at first pass, the action runs well and smoothly.

I got the M2 home last week, and broke it down, cleaned and lubed it. I noted a few aluminum shavings here and there — probably missed in the cleaning phase of the production. I took it out for a run today (Monday). I put a total of only 50 shells through it (plus another 30 in a Kel Tec KS7). It’s pretty light at six and a half pounds, and you feel the stouter stuff after a few boxes.

The M2 uses the time-tested Benelli inertial recoil system, so it should run some of the lighter stuff that the ARGO system wouldn’t. In this case, I started with some Norma reduced recoil buckshot. Out of 20 rounds, I had a single failure to eject. Not a bas start. I tried a couple of shorty Aguilas, anticipating they wouldn’t cycle. I was correct. Back to Norma Performance buckshot for 20 rounds. The Turkenelli ran them without issue, save for one failure to eject. Again, for the first time out, now awful. Hornady Black buckshot ran like a top save for one failure to fire that looked to be the round. (It was three years old.) Ten rounds of slug with no malfunctions. All 2 3/4rds, no magnums.

Accuracy was decent, though the reduced recoil shot about two inches high at 15 yards. It was spot on with the Black and slug. While the shorties didn’t cycle, they did pattern spot on at point of aim.

So far, so good. As usual, when I got home, I started cleaning the weapons, starting with the MAC 2. First thing I noted was that the magazine tube really didn’t want to unscrew. I also noticed a bunch of aluminum shavings from the threads and there was some damage from the brace that holds the mag tube and barrel. It had worked it’s way forward a bit during firing.

I don’t mean a few shavings like you’d find from having not cleaned the area…

This is just from the magazine tube being unscrewed. But wait, there’s more. I pulled the tube and dismounted the barrel. Here’s the front of the receiver:

Note not just the impact damage where it meets the barrel; look inside the receiver there. But we’re just getting started, Dear Reader. I pulled the bolt and took it down. Here’s the bolt:

Aluminum shavings. I popped the trigger assembly, using the firing pin retaining pin, as they instructed. That was a mistake:

Nice. And before you say anything, yes — you could do this with the Benelli and not break stuff. With the trigger guard off, the real fun started. There were aluminum shavings and damage everywhere. Remember, this is only 50 shells, nothing hot; in fact, half of it was reduced recoil.

No — that’s not dirt. How’d the bolt look? It was scuffed at the front of the face.

After half an hour of cleaning I had a nice collection of metal filings and had to go over the cleaning mat twice just to get rid of the bits. I even vacuumed the floor under my seat. And once I was done and oiled the weapon…? More shavings.

That’s after I cleaned the hell out of the gun. There was still more.

Aluminum, admittedly, seems a bit of a bad choice for a 12 gauge, but I’ve seen it from other manufacturers. None of their stuff spontaneously shed aluminum, like Arianna Grande losing weight. And again — 50 rounds of normal factory ammunition.

So is it worth it? NO. Not just no, hell no. Steer away from this. I can only imagine how they’ve messed up the ARGO system in their 1014s. Yes, it’s sub-$400, but you can get a Maverick, which won’t shred itself with normal operation. Hell, my cheap Kel Tec has hundreds of rounds through it and even eats shorty shells: no failures.

I have a warranty claim into MAC for the firing pin retaining pin and a request to replace the weapon. Will I fire this thing again? Unlikely. If it’s shedding metal, it’s going to fail somewhere.

Update: I reached out to SDS in Tennessee the same day as this occurred, and I will give them this — their customer service folks are on it. They confirmed that this is not a normal event and that the weapon needs to be replaced. The lady on the CS line was very helpful, especially as I got in touch with them right at the end of their work day.

More as events unfold…

 

5 October, 2024

RIP Paul Harrell

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Paul Harrell was a YouTuber who did excellent videos on guns, ammunition, and other subjects connected to the shooting community. A former Marine and soldier, he brought a no-nonsense approach to the sport that advocated safety, provided reviews of products, compared different types of ammunition for their efficacy, while always bringing a wry humor to his presentation. So it was completely in character to pre-film a video entitled “I’m Dead”, in which he apologizes to all his 1.2 million viewers that he had passed. Harrell was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that was much more aggressive than originally thought.

“My sincere apologies…I had hoped that I would continue in this format for the next 10 or even 15 years. And even once I was diagnosed I had hoped we would be here two or three more years, and it’s turned out to only be a few more months. And my apologies for that. It really makes me feel like I’ve let everybody down.”

The video channel Harrell created will continue to be available on YouTube and his brother will supposedly be creating new content.

 

11 September, 2024

Ejection Issues with the New Walther PPK .32

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Here I go into the issues with the new Walther PPK .32 and some of the possible reasons this may be happening.

 

11 July, 2024

Review: The “New” Walther PPK

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I’ve had several PPK and PP knockoffs across the decades, but I didn’t buy my first actual Walther PPK/S until about five years ago, when an Interarms period Walther showed up for a very reasonable price. It’s a great pistol, but I replaced it with one of the new Fort Smith-made PPKs in .380 a year later. With the release of the new Walther in 7.65mm (.32 acp), I jumped on the first one I saw when the guy that had been thinking about it didn’t just buy it. He walked away to look at something else; I bought it.

First off, Walther definitely took a hint from some of the latest packaging trends. The pistol comes in a very Apple-like simple white box with a gray Walther logo on it. Inside, there is a blue presentation case that is quite nice, with the pistol and extra magazine inside. Documentation, etc. is under the flap in the white box. Noticeably missing in the box is what you used to find — a spent cartridge and a target showing it had been test fired. I haven’t seen this in most manufacturers of late and I suspect a lot of them are kicking their products out the door without an actual test firing. That said — an A for presentation.

Both the .32 and .380 PPK are the same size, weight, and have the new extended tang/tail on the back of the frame. A lot of folks, especially those with bigger hands, love this. I do not. The pistol is beautifully formed, but the tail carried a sharp angle from side to the underside. I find a too high grip on the .380 and I come away with a triangular bruise in the webbing of my hand. Your mileage may vary. One complaint I’ve heard about the new tail is it presents a spur that could catch if you pocket carry. I haven’t experienced this issue in the years I’ve been carrying the PPK in my pocket. If you put your thumb on the hammer of the pistol while drawing, it clears a pocket with little issue.

The very low profile sights are minimal, to be kind, and this aids in concealment and in drawing from teh same. This is not a long-distance weapon. This is made for self-defense distances — under 15 yards. At contact to 5 yards, I can keep a two in the chest drawing and firing fast from low port, with a quick aim and follow up for a head shot. Rapid acquisition of the sights is doable and sub-2″ groups up to 10 yards are easy with little practice. For me, this has been the case with every version (including knock offs ) of the PP and PPK platform.

Back to build quality: The engraving in the “little” PPK is excellent — much deeper that you see on the .380 — to the point I can tell them apart just from that. (The .32 in the bottom pistol in the following images.) If fact, the only real way I could tell the difference otherwise is the slide is sprung much lighter on the .32, and is very easy to manipulate, whereas the .380 requires a bit of pull to cycle.

Trigger pull seems to be about the same between the two pistols, though I haven’t measured it — it should be about 10ish pounds on a long double action with a fast, crisp break; or a 4-5ish lbs. single-action. There’s a bit of takeup on the single action, but once you hit resistance, it’s going to break clean. The extractor spring seems a bit weak on the .32 — more on that later. Even the magazines will swap from one to the other, and yes — the .380 fit in the .32 mag. The only visible difference is an extra witness hole with a 7 to show the .32. The .32 mag in the .380 will lock in but will not lock the slide back. If still fed a round into the chamber when cycled. I’m not recommending you do this, but I was curious…

Take down and cleaning are the same, although my recoil spring on the .32 did not want to come off like the .380 does, and I didn’t want to use too much force. I just lubricated the barrel around it. Then it was off to the range to shoot both and torture test the little one.

For the .380 I used Freedom Ammunition’s 100 gr. remanufactured FMJs and Sellier & Bellot 90gr. FMJ. The .32 was fed only FMJs — 150 rounds of Magtech, 100 rnds. of PMC — both 71 gr. FMJ; Fort Scott 71 TUI., Aguila 71 gr. and Fiocchi 73 gr., then finished with 40 rounds of Underwood .32+P 55 gr. Xtreme Defender with the fluted copper bullets.

The .380 Walther has eaten everything I’ve thrown at it from 68gr. Lehigh and Underwood, to 100 gr. remanufactured stuff, and the only issue I’ve had is with S&B. There’s a real snap to the recoil impulse that is sharp enough that very occasionally, it will half drop or fully engage the decocker! It happened once with the Freedom 100 gr. on this trip but hasn’t happened before. Fortunately, everything else runs fine and the 90 and 68 gr. Underwood perform flawlessly, with hits into a coke can from 20 yards — no issues. I stay away from the S&B for my .380 PPK, although I’ve never had an issue with anything else.

The .32 — oh, the .32. The first box of Magtech was causing issues — solid primer strikes that dented the hell out of the primer, but requiring two or three trigger pulls to get them to ignite. I put this down to the ammunition. I was also having failures to eject. The empty would extract, but get caught above the incoming round about half the time. Then I figured it out: On the .380, the recoil with the new tang makes me teacup the pistol, with my thumb folded down. On the .32, I was riding with my offhand thumb forward…and pressing to the slide. I was slowing the action and causing the failure.

On the PMC, I started having stovepipes. I was 170 rounds in, so I stopped and cleaned the gun a bit. Problem solved for about 50 rounds, then recurred. However, when I switched to the Aguila and Fiocchi I had no such issues. They’re both slightly faster cartridges than the Magtech (which fired dirty!) and the PMC. The little PPK likes the hotter stuff. The Underwood +P 55 gr. Xtreme Defenders ran without an issue and printed solid 2″ groups at 10 yards free-standing. The Magtechs had the worst groupings, but partly that was my stop-and-start shooting while clearing jams. The stovepipes were super easy to clear: hook the casing with my finger and pull. The gun would go into battery and fire, no problem.

Now…I’ve used Fort Scott ammo before and it’s good stuff. Just not in the PPK. Every. .single. round… failed to feed, jamming up going into the barrel and requiring me to take the slide off to pry them out. The bullets are just too long for the breech. Avoid them for the .32 pistol! It does seem that the .32 is more finicky on ammo. It likes the hotter stuff and when it gets dirty, the chance of jamming — mostly stovepipes that can be quickly cleared — goes up. This is much the same for the .22 PPK/S my daughter has as a plinker; 40gr. only and the hotter the better, or you’ll get failures.

Would I carry this as a defense pistol? No, I’d stick with the .380 PPK or if I’ve got the opportunity to carry on my belt, my Alpha Foxtrot S15. If I want a deep concealment .32, the super-light and small Kel-Tec P32 is still king, for me. Would the PPK .32 be fine for a defense carry for someone who was recoil averse or had arthritis or some other condition bad enough that something heavier sprung might be hard to manipulate? Absolutely. When clean and well-fed, the gun is very reliable. Dirty and lighter range stuff is more prone to failure, although after I sorted my grip on the pistol, the incidence of failures to eject dropped from about 40% to about 2%, and that was usually after 50+ rounds of fouling from the cheaper stuff. It didn’t happen at all with Fiocchi, and only twice out of 100 rounds with Aguila (and that was with the gun filthy!)

So is it worth it? Depends, do you want a PPK in the original chambering like I did, and like fans have been railing on Walther for the last six decades to produce? Then, yes. Is it a good self-defense pistol? Provisionally — with good ammo and for people who are recoil averse. Is it a good range toy? With crappy ammo, and a lot of the .32 is meh quality, it’s a pain in the ass; with the hotter stuff, it’s good. Is it worth the near $1000? Meh… it’s easily the best-looking pistol ever designed. There’s something about it — the James Bond connection aside — that is just classy as hell, especially in the stainless steel. However, I keep feeling this pistol should be coming in about $700-ish max, but inflation has skewed pricing so badly the last four years I just can’t mentality keep up.

But was it worth it? I was not as impressed as I thought I would be after seeing it, and it’s a beauty. But I think the .380 runs better.

 

24 February, 2024

Review: Tisas Yukon C10 10mm

Posted by blackcampbell under Firearms | Tags: |
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I bought one of the Tisas Service 1911s a few months back so I had a .45 I could use for our idiotic CCW setup here in New Mexico. Here, you qualify with the “largest caliber” you might carry in revolver and auto. I use my old 1917 issue Webley Mk VII for the revolver, but had to borrow a .45 auto to qualify every two years. The Tisas was ludicrously cheap, I had the cash, so boom — bought one. Other than feed issues that turned out to be a bad magazine, it ran flawlessly.

So imagine my delight when I found out Tisas was doing a commander-sized, bobtail 1911 in 10mm — God’s own caliber. I’ve been a 10mm fan through the drought of 10mm love in the ’90s after the FBI agents couldn’t shoot it, so they moved to .40S&W. I had an original Glock 20, but the grip angle on Glocks is (for me) awful. I’ve had the Tanfoglio — a pistol that was much maligned until people actually shot it, and now you can’t touch them for a reasonable price. I have a Kimber Camp Guard (which I carry on trips into the woods, etc.) and a Chiappa Rhino DS40 that went to Aria Ballistics to bore the cylinder out to 10mm. So a carry-sized 10mm? Yes, please.

I’d seen the 9mm version of the Yukon in the local gun store, and it was superb. The 10mm is also top-notch quality. It’s a Series 70, and the fit and finish are on par with early Kimber — when they were excellent. Solid lockup on the barrel, fully supported barrel. No MIM parts, save the safety levers. Oh, yes — ambi safety standard. Thank you, Tisas; you’ve outdone most 1911 manufacturers, already. It’s got a gray Cerakote forgerd carbon steel frame and black forged carbon steel slide. The grips are G10 “sunburst” texture in gray. The slide stop and safety levers are black and complement the gray frame. The trigger and hammer are skeletonized and there’s a good beavertail. 25lpi texturing front and back on the grip, and an Ed Brown style bobtail.

It comes with an excellent hard case, cleaning rod and brush, bushing wrench (that you don’t need — it’s a standard spring cap set up), and two magazines — again, beating most of the other manufacturers there.

So how’s it shoot? Wonderfully. It’s accurate and presents as a 1911 should: very well. The U-notch rear and fiber optic front sight work well and allow fast acquisition. The recoil…is stout. Compared side by side with my Camp Guard — a standard Government model size — the Camp Guard soaked up the hottest rounds (155 grain, 1650fps) and was mostly comfortable to shoot and quick to do follow up shots. The Yukon has more muzzle flip than most 10s do, and the recoil is not uncontrollable, but it does take some wrestling to keep it on target for follow up shots and was slower to do so. Still, Mozambique drills allowed two in the 9 ring and a center head out to 10 yards with reliability. I did note, however, the safety on the right side of the frame was cutting up my thumb prettily after 50 rounds.

We ran 250 rounds of various loads — 135 grain frangibles that were more the short & weak style, 180 grain Blazer, the 155 grain Texas feral pig killer ammo. No malfunctions other than a few failures to go fully into battery that were definitely the operator getting tired (and bleeding all over the size of the pistol from his thumb). Weak on the locking rings and the slide rails was about what you would expect for a trip out like this. There was some.

Accuracy was top-notch, function was nearly flawless — and the flaws I suspect were me — and the fit, finish, and quality of manufacturer are as good as anything Colt, Springfield, or Kimber are putting out. At $720 before tax and shipping, is it worth it? Unequivocally, yes.

 

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