TGO David

How has it evolved and been improved upon?

It's pretty clear that the person who wrote the article was not very well versed in the weapons platform about which they were writing.

Do you think John Moses Browning wouldn't have been a little proud of his creation back in 1915 as well? I don't think there is any room to question LAV's integrity on this matter regardless of the role he played in the creation of the HK45. Clearly you can see from that article that he still feels that HK dropped the ball on several aspects of the HK45 and was not shy on pointing it out. As for competition... unless you're shooting at targets that return fire, I'm not sure I can see that much of a correlation to how a 1911 runs in a game versus how it runs in the hostile environments of modern battlefields where there is no such thing as a time-out because your gun stopped running.

Here's some good reading on the HK45 and how Larry Vickers and Ken Hackathorn evolved it from the [at the time] ongoing effort to field a new 1911 for various .mil bodies. pistol-training.com » HK45 Interview with Ken Hackathorn and Larry Vickers It's kind of insightful.

I'm actually enjoying the snow. What I'm not enjoying is the amount of brine that TDOT and the various local governments feel they need to spray all over the damn place every time it might snow an inch or two, or the people who can't drive on it because they don't understand the concept of reduced traction due to adverse weather conditions. If you fix those two problems, it can snow all it wants and I'll be as happy as a clam.

Honestly I guess where I'm coming from here is that the USMC seems to be stuck in some sort of institutional timewarp where they can't divorce themselves from emotional attachment to an inanimate object. I have read first-hand reports from Marines who have personally seen piles of inoperable MEUSOC 1911's stacked in the Force Recon armory, keeping full-time Marine armorers busy and backlogged. Why not just use this as the impetus to switch to a modern platform with improved reliability, higher magazine capacity, better ergonomics, lighter construction, improved resistance to corrosion, identical accuracy between handguns (recognizing that almost no two 1911's with the slop required to be reliable are going to be similarly accurate) and the benefit of drop-in parts that modern handguns enjoy. 1911's require a lot of hand-fitting, after all. As 323ssplt pointed out, troops are hard on their weapons. As Larry Vickers has pointed out, running a combat 1911 means you either need to be a ruthless bastard about maintenance to keep it reliable, or have someone on staff who is. This seems to make choosing a 1911 counter-intuitive to the end-goal. There are clearly better platforms to be had. They may even be "plastic" guns.

I never said I felt that the Glock was the way to go. HK45, perhaps. M&P 45 perhaps. There are others that I'm too tired to think about but still, the 1911 platform -- as nice and nostalgic as it is -- is not exactly state of the fighting art anymore. And I'm a big 1911 fan.

Other than backward compatibility with their existing inventory of 1911 magazines, I find it hard to believe that they are looking at the 1911 platform still. There are others out there that would make better replacements for it, IMO.

Good thread.

This coming from someone who for about 12 years was a die-hard Mustang guy... anything but a Mustang. They have become like a--holes and elbows... everyone has them. I've been digging the SRT8 Challenger since they came out and think that would rock. I had an SRT8 300C a few years ago and the 6.1L Hemi is a beast. You'd love it.

I liked that brand in particular, but you have my attention...

As you probably are aware, I just ran through this myself. My budget was $40K and I needed four full doors, full-size truck, 4WD and torque. No one... and I mean no one... could touch the deals that I was seeing at the Nissan dealerships. To say that my wife and I are elated with our 2011 Titan Pro-4X would be an understatement. We've only put 200 miles on it so far but it absolutely puts a smile on our face every time we get into it. It may not be the truck for you after you've done your due diligence and the Pros / Cons don't stack up right, but you really should put it on your short list of vehicles to look at.

Understood. The gas tube running beneath the forearm makes a nice hand warmer.

That worried you?

Thank you. It works great. I'm ordering another one for my SBR soon. Danke. The AFG makes perfect sense on a carbine as it requires your support arm be at full extension to maximize the benefit of natural bio-mechanics. I've seen a few run on short barrels and wondered WTF the person was thinking as a regular vertical front grip makes better use of both your muscular-skeletal system and physics, and presents a smaller shooter profile... but to each their own.

Shoot it first and see. For me on two of my three M&Ps it made a huge improvement. My M&P40 was a freak of manufacturing and just has the most awesome trigger I've felt yet from an M&P out of the box. It must have been made on a Wednesday or something.

From all of the stories I've heard about those guys, and from the email the guy who owned the place sent me when he saw a negative review posted by a member here, they should have been driven out of business a long time ago. Some people have no business being in business and, based strictly on my personal opinion of him from what he said in that email, he's definitely one of them.

This.

Agree with Fallguy. Post the names of these instructors so that we all know who has no business teaching the HCP class.

Massive bonus points.

I'm thinking about rebuilding my latest stick with a billet lower and I've liked the C3 Defense stuff since they came to our Expo in 2009. Hit me with a PM if you don't want to post publicly for some reason.

I shoot rifles left-handed, so it's on the right side of the forearm as close to the rear of the forearm as I can get it.

Giggity. Actually, I plan to go shoot it tomorrow. I've got a full plate today.

I have edited the first post to add some photos and to also add an update of sorts.

Military Times Gear Scout I'm sure that he will be very successful in his future endeavors, and I'm likewise sure that Magpul Dynamics will continue to very successful.