1st Handgun Searching... first range visit.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Hi Burgan

It may be a law of physics that the gun you want to buy will remain expensive and hard to find until you finally buy it. Immediately afterwards you will see the same gun for sale everywhere at much lower price than you paid.

I personally do not quibble about slight differences in price when buying stuff. Not that I will pay way too much for an item.

Maybe that is foolish, but a person's time is worth something.

When I get obsessed that I must get gadget X, then I tend to waste a lot of time thinking about X and shopping for X, etc. That is effort that could go toward more useful tasks. If I waste many hours trying to save a few bucks on gadget X, then I could have been doing something useful with those hours and come out ahead.

On the other hand, if one derives enjoyment from hours of shopping to save $25, then in that case it is entertainment and dern cheap entertainment at that, and might be a good thing.

[mikegideon]

I think you should go with what felt the best in your hands and what made you happiest. Accuracy can be increased by several different things, from ammo to sights to plain ole hard core practice. As far as the "hard to load" part, I got one word for you..... MAGLULA

Truth!

[Guest Burgan]

I finally found a CZ75B... online.

Going to going to go see a few places about there FFL rates.

Hopefully, ordering the gun in this week.

I can fully load a CZ magazine by hand (used and new magazines)... But I may pick up a maglula anyway...

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Maglula is a great device.

The HKS loaders that have the swivel thumb lever are a little quicker than a Maglula for me, but if you load several different mags and calibers then you would need several different HKS loaders to handle the job that one Maglula will do. And there are probably some mags that no HKS loader will work with.

However, if you mainly just shoot one or two different mags or calibers, IMO the HKS is a little quicker than Maglula.

It looks flimsy, but have had a HKS 941 loader which fits beretta 92 mags for more than a decade and haven't broken it yet. That 941 will also load my CZ 85C mags just fine, but HKS recommends their model 940 for CZ 75/85 mags.

The HKS is also fairly inexpensive. MidwayUSA sells em for $10--

HKS Magazine Speedloader Browning Hi-Power, BDA, Ruger P85, P89, P930, Sig P226, P228, P229, S&W 411, 4003, 4006, 4026, 4043, 4046, Taurus PT100, PT101 - MidwayUSA

[Guest Burgan]

I just like the Maglula for the versatility vs. other "speed" mag loader.

[mikegideon]

Maglula is a great device.

The HKS loaders that have the swivel thumb lever are a little quicker than a Maglula for me, but if you load several different mags and calibers then you would need several different HKS loaders to handle the job that one Maglula will do. And there are probably some mags that no HKS loader will work with.

However, if you mainly just shoot one or two different mags or calibers, IMO the HKS is a little quicker than Maglula.

It looks flimsy, but have had a HKS 941 loader which fits beretta 92 mags for more than a decade and haven't broken it yet. That 941 will also load my CZ 85C mags just fine, but HKS recommends their model 940 for CZ 75/85 mags.

The HKS is also fairly inexpensive. MidwayUSA sells em for $10--

HKS Magazine Speedloader Browning Hi-Power, BDA, Ruger P85, P89, P930, Sig P226, P228, P229, S&W 411, 4003, 4006, 4026, 4043, 4046, Taurus PT100, PT101 - MidwayUSA

I have one of those, but am much faster with a maglula. Once I got the rythm, it's the fastest thing I've used. It also works on all my pistols except the little .380.

[Guest Burgan]

I also found a CZ85B for $11 more than what I found the CZ75B for... I heard people have trouble carrying ambi guns cocked and locked because the safety rubs the holster... can anyone contest to this problem?

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I have one of those, but am much faster with a maglula. Once I got the rythm, it's the fastest thing I've used. It also works on all my pistols except the little .380.

Hi Mike

Have had the maglula less than a year and the HKS more than 10 years. I use the maglula for most stuff and like it, but for the mags which fit, the HKS seems a little faster. Maybe a practice thing.

Have read about people trimming the tongue of a maglula so the tongue is narrow enough to load .22 magazines-- The fat .22 magazines as are used in .22 conversion kits for centerfire pistols. Dunno if thin .22 magazines for dedicated .22 pistols would work.

The HKS main advantage is that it doesn't require a flat surface to place the magazine on. Everything is handheld.

My main non-fatal gripe about maglula-- Single stack mags sometimes want to twist sideways in the maglula and sometimes want to get stuck so when you lift the maglula the mag wants to lift up too. Maybe just needs more practice.

The loaders seem to eliminate a lot of potential wear and accidental bending of magazine feed lips. Especially magazines with stiff springs where you really have to cram a bullet down into the feed lips doing it by hand.

[mikegideon]

Yep, I use a flat surface if I have one, and usually do. I've done it on my knee as well. The only single stacks I have are for my 1911 haven't noticed a problem. As with all things, it's what you get used to. I've loaded a bunch of mags for other folks at the range after watching them struggle with the thumb method. More than one has left the range with maglula scribbled on a piece of paper or ammo box.

[durtyzulu]

I'm not a big fan of the xd, but they're good handguns. Have you looked at a sig sauer p6/p225? They're one of my favorites if you don't mind a used gun and want to save a couple bucks. The mags can be a little pricey considering they're nothing special, but everything else about them makes it one of my favorite carry guns.

[Guest Burgan]

I'm not a big fan of the xd, but they're good handguns. Have you looked at a sig sauer p6/p225? They're one of my favorites if you don't mind a used gun and want to save a couple bucks. The mags can be a little pricey considering they're nothing special, but everything else about them makes it one of my favorite carry guns.

I did look at a few Sigs shot a few too (p239, p238, p226, p250). As a full size (service model) non-polymer based pistol the CZ I think handles recoil better than a comparable Sig, though.

[Guest Roadkill Bill]

You're going to really enjoy the CZ. I mentioned on another thread that the Russian Special Forces used to carry the CZ75 (probably still do). There have been many clones over the years, but it's best to buy the real deal. The ergonomics are terrific. It's a wee bit on the heavy side, but I've been carrying a Glock 21 for over 15 years now, so I guess heavy is relative.

Just remember the three rules of handgun proficiency:

1. Practice.

2. Practice.

3. Practice.

Good shootin' my young friend. And by the way, don't forget to take Mom with you.

[BigK]

Not sure how you feel about used guns, but I ran across a truly good bargain recently on a CZ 75 BD Police, but I can't afford it right now. PM me if interested & I'll give you the link.