ken_mays

USPSA Limited division 2011, 20+1 rds of .40. It was about $3800 in 2014, payable up front and an 18 month wait. I’m a big Infinity fan but my other ones were all purchased used except this one. Not sure I’d do it today, as much as prices have risen in the past few years. Every gun they build is a “custom”, spec’d by the customer through their Gunbuilder online tool. You can design one, pick all your options and submit it for a quote. Goes without saying anyone here is more than welcome to shoot it, should we ever have the opportunity

Tough call, but it would probably be the Infinity .40 I designed and ordered a few years back.

I have always had good luck with the Nikon P series scopes and they can usually be found well under $200. Philippine made IIRC.

I would say the G30 with G21 mags and a weapon mounted light is the least bad choice here. The problem with the Hi Point is A) capacity and B) chambering. Carbines in general do have advantages like being able to use a cartridge that might be too powerful for slightly built shooters to handle in a handgun, ease of manipulation of controls, and sight radius. Most folks are going to have an easier time operating and getting hits with something like an M1 Carbine than a handgun, especially on home with any kind of acreage where shots over 25 yards might be needed. Adding a decent red dot makes it even simpler to use. Disadvantages are maneuvering inside tight areas like hallways, and the need to use two hands. A pistol is easier to deal with when going through a house, opening doors, etc., especially if you're using a WML.

IMO, it's a good idea for everyone who carries a RDS equipped CCW to practice occluded eye shooting so that you will be able to go right to that mode if you ever find it necessary. Blue painter's masking tape on the lens lets you see the dot without seeing the target.

I’ve had one for a few years. Two things I don’t like about it: it’s oversprung IMO, and the shape of the trigger means my finger drags the bottom of the trigger guard. With a lighter recoil spring and a different trigger, it would probably work perfectly. However, for competition, I shoot reloads at minor power factor, and got more stovepipes and 3 point malfunctions than I’m comfortable with.

It's my favorite 9mm Glock ever. They simultaneously got rid of the finger grooves AND frontstrap mag scallop, both of which resulted in a less-than-optimal grip on previous frame designs. The front slide serrations are very welcome too.

I put them on carry guns and I like to buy factory models with optic cuts whenever possible. I would also like have one or two set up for competition as well, but honestly, the USPSA carry optics division is meant for just these kinds of guns anyway. I don't have much appetite for getting one mounted on a .40 or 9mm 2011.

Saw one yesterday for over $1000 and had a good laugh. The slide looks like gloss black Krylon wearing off. I like my 365 but this one’s ridiculous IMO.

If you can’t bring yourself to pay USGI prices, and just want something to shoot, you might consider the new Kahr / Auto Ordnance or a used Plainfield. Universal carbines run the gamut from OK to junk. The earlier models are better when they were still using lots of surplus parts. I’d avoid the later ones, mostly identifiable by the cutout on the operating rod. I personally avoid all of the Universal guns on principle but times being what they are, I might reconsider if I came across one cheap enough.

Already been tried and largely abandoned. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9×25mm_Dillon

Trying to go the budget route on a slide mounted dot isn’t wise. Anything that cheap is going to have problems sooner or later. Something like a Vortex Venom is about as low as I’d go, and if you don’t like it, you will still be able to get your money back out of it.

Staccato and Nighthawk are two 2011 builders, at present, that come with optic cuts from the factory. The slide can also be milled, but due to the narrow profile, an adapter plate is needed.

You could also look at a 2011 or Para clone in 10mm. Rock Island makes the only Para clone that I would take a chance on, at this time. The benefit with these is that there is an infinite variety of springs weights that you can swap to tune your gun to your favorite load.

Keep in mind that one useful role for the iron sights is to help orient the slide so that you can help find the dot. You hear a lot of people saying that a proper presentation will fix all problems with finding the dot, but that's not taking into account off hand or nonstandard positions. In other words, a repeatable, consistent presentation isn't something that can always be relied upon.

They ship USPS Priority Mail, so with the current logjam in the post office, it spent as much time getting back to me as it did getting there and cut.

JaegerWerks. Sent this off last December and got it back after a 2-week turnaround. $125

That's good; I wonder how it looks with a HS507 since those rise a little higher than RMRs. @NickinTN Can I ask what LGS you saw the PDPs in?

That's a pretty good price, I handled one with a $700 tag on it. I'm a fan of the PPQ and I'll definitely pick a PDP up. I've followed their other optic ready models but felt they were too expensive and not quite what I wanted. The PDP fixes that. The trigger was, if anything, lighter than the PPQ. The grip texture was better than the PPQ without being obnoxiously rough for a CCW. It would have been nice for them to include RDS-ready high sights in the box, if not necessarily installed.

What I've done in the past is taken a belt sander or bench grinder to a 1/16" punch. Keep it spinning against the wheel or belt as you take material off. Often you don't need to take off very much at all, and it doesn't have to be perfect. It also helps to shorten most 1/16" punches to the minimum length you need, in order to help avoid bending or breaking.

I agree... not only is the area itself thin, but the sharp square cuts where it joins the slide invite stress risers and cracks. In actual use I'm not sure how much of a problem it really is, unless you happen to drop the slide just right onto concrete. The Glock slides I've seen crack have always been at the left rear corner of the ejection port, which is another sharp corner. I notice on the Gen 5s they've put a bit of a bevel or radius there.

I've owned the P365 for a couple of years. I was impressed with the way it fit my hand, and how it shot like a much larger gun without the snap traditionally associated with subcompact 9mms. I recently picked up a Hellcat as well. However, it was not nearly as good IMO. While the trigger was a bit shorter in travel, the gun grip itself was just that much fatter and the shape of the trigger made it noticeably more unpleasant to shoot than the P365. In particular, it was not always easy to get the perfect position of the trigger finger on the trigger to depress the safety finger all the way. The recoil was also sharper, which didn't make much sense given the more massive slide. I did seem to note that the recoil spring assembly was lighter on the Hellcat than on the P365. I can say the accuracy and sights were good, and I experienced no reliability with the 7 or 8 mags that I shot through it before my trigger finger was too numb to continue. However, I couldn't wait to get rid of it and I soon did.

That’s not American Loan on Poplar you’re talking about, is it? I’ve used them for transfers from time to time.

I bought one of these a few years ago and though it's large, that isn't a problem for me. No problem at all seeing .22 hits at 100 yards, haven't tested it much further except to look at Jupiter and Saturn. It's about as long as my forearm, from elbow to fingertip. https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-52250-Ultima-Spotting-Scope/dp/B0002CTZ70/

You can see in the photo below that a corner of metal has broken off above the extractor.