Mini Review: Zombie Targets

A good friend gave me a set of Zombie Shooting Targets for Christmas that I've been using for the last couple of times I've gone shooting.

They are fun and great gift (one of the best shooting gifts I've received, really funny!), but for any "serious" shooting, they have some issues. The biggest is because they are a lot of black and gray printing on white paper, it can be difficult to see where you're hitting when hung at the range.

At 30ft:

It can be pretty hard to see what you've hit, especially on this specific version ("Zombie Chuck"). When close up its no problem, however. Here is the same target at 3ft:

And lastly the target at the counter, or "too late" range for a zombie. :)

So, to wrap it up, they are fun targets and worth buying some as a present or joke. If you're hosing down the target with a GSG-5 or something like that, or are just having a day blowing off steam or getting used to a new boomstick, there are totally worth it.

But if you're seriously trying to work on grouping, trigger control, and/or shot placement, they aren't that great.

I'll happily use the rest of the them for fun, then go back to my green torso silhouettes.

Simple Novice Shooting Problems Diagnosis

Found on Mad Duck Training via Says Uncle, apparently reposted about 80 million times.

Review: Cannon Safe EX20 (sold exclusively by CostCo)

Recently, CostCo had a $779 gun safe onsale for $200 off, with free curbside delivery. Fire rating is 30 minutes, UL and Residential Security Container listed (a must have), Type 1 electronic lock (made by S&G), weighs 420 pounds, and is 60"H x 28" W x 21" D. It also includes a power passthrough, so you have power inside the safe for a humidifier, lighting, or whatever.

It was identified as a Cannon EX20 14-gun safe, a model that appears to be exclusive to CostCo, as Cannon Safe's website had no such model. On inspection and based on the sticker on the door,  I'm guessing this is an older model Patriot safe, with corners cut for CostCo. On the door there is a sticker that lists it as a "Series P1".

Delivery arrangement was easy. CostCo emails you to let you know the order was sent to fulfillment, and Cannon them emails you to arrange delivery. It took a couple of weeks.

Cannon makes it crystal clear this is *curbside* delivery only, but the driver didn't even blink when I asked him to put it under my carport in the backyard (I have an RV gate and its concrete the entire way).

The exterior is flat black, with a glossy knockdown splatter over it, like the common texture on drywall, and was made in Mexico according to the sticker on the back.

The power passthrough (cable included, but its just a regular computer power cable) is in the back.






The interior is *very* basic, I'd even say its the absolute minimum possible. The interior walls are drywall (which provides the 30 minute fire protection) covered by very thin fabric, and the shelves and dividers are 3/8" pressboard.

I took the shelves out so I could add some rope lighting along the inside edge and it was obvious that construction was the most basic available.

The safe has 4 holes in the bottom for drilling into the floor, but one of the holes in mine is offset between the hole drilled in the drywall bottom and the actual hole in the safe that it'd be a pain to tighten a bolt into it. It was a pain to unbolt the safe from the pallet. Typical of the low-end "quality" of the safe.








The safe holds a decent amount of guns, and I'm pleased at the price I paid.

Overall impressions are you get what you pay for. If you're looking for a safe that is reasonably priced (close to cheap, IMHO) and does an acceptable job as a theft deterent, this isn't a bad choice.






As a side note on lighting...I bought a 12' LED rope lighting strand at Christmas for $8, and hot glued it into the safe around the inside edge every 8-10", which left plenty of slack to plug it into the internal outlet. It works FANTASTICALLY and really lights up the safe. Totally worth the minor glue gun burns!

Update: After several months, the hot glue holding the LED lights in lost its grip and I found the lights lying in bottom. I re-glued using GOOP glue (available at any hardware store) and its working like a champ...I also found that the largest of my plastic woodworking clamps (like these: Just Clamps) work great for securing the drying glue.

Next up is to figure out some automated on/off switch...

Sharing is caring...

Sometime this week I'm going to take it on the chin and march into Caswell's, walk straight up to the counter and look the clerk in the eye. I am going to stand there, straight and proud, and ask, yes ask, to rent ... a Desert Eagle. I know, I know it's embarrassing; I can envision the TapOut logo magically superimposing itself over my shirt. I can sense the pity and amusement coming from my fellow range members ahead of time. Yes; but I shall do this in a good cause. I shall let all of you know just how silly the damn thing is. There may even be diagrams.

Until then, have this.

40 S&W vs 9mm: range report

So I finally got to the range to directly compare my XDM 40S&W to an XDM 9mm.

I shot at 10 yards, reacquiring the target each time in a timely manner (not doubletaping), for two magazines of 10 rounds from each gun.

Results were a bit surprising. I normally shoot a bit to the left, something I've been slowly correcting. This day I was quite good, I must say.

The XDM 40 is first, XDM 9mm second.

I'm really pleased with the 40 S&W group. The 9mm group is a bit tighter and has some nice overlapping rounds as well.

Concerning the two handguns, the 9mm XDM certainly feels lighter in the hand, but at this stage...I think I'll stick with 40.

I also brought out my old Taurus PT101 40S&W, as I was thinking of selling it if I moved to 9mm, and wanted to make sure it shot ok. I've owned this gun for a long time, and shot it a lot....and I'm better with the XDM!

Springfield comes out with a new XDM 9mm to tempt me...

As I've said before, I love my XDM 40S&W, but am considering switching to 9mm (if I can ever escape to the range and try it out!)

A couple of days ago, Springfield announced a 3.8" barrel version of the 9mm XDM:

(Image taken from Springfield's XDM site: http://www.the-m-factor.com/)

Its identical to the current 4.5" XDM except for a shorter barrel (so its more easily concealed) and a change of the grooves on the front of the barrel (presumably so its easily to grip the shorter slide). Same capacity (19+1) and it weights 4.5 ounces less (32oz vs 27.5oz).

Not that I complained about the size of the XDM (I'm a big guy and have big hands), but a compact version is pretty much the perfect darned gun.

I may end up just getting this either way, if they are actually available any time soon!

Found originally at: The Firearm Blog

Considering switching to 9mm from 40S&W

Background:

A couple of months ago, I was out shooting with a friend in the Middle of Eff-ing Nowhere. I had some new guns I hadn't had a chance to shoot yet, and my usual 40S&W Springfield XDm.

My friend also had his 40S&W XDm, and he decided to bring out his old Taurus PT99 9mm on the "I haven't shot this in ages" premise.

This was a regular shooting place, and the ground was littered with 12ga shells. One of the fun little games was to toss a handful of these out randomly and see what you could hit them so they'd go flying from 10-15 feet away. Its not a bad test -- if you can hit something that small (or near enough to kick it up) from that distance, doing the "Mozambique Doubletap" (2 to the chest, 1 to the head) to a much larger target at a greater distance should be similar.

With my XDm, which I love, my longest streak of continuous hits was 3.

With my friend's 9mm Taurus (a gun I'm quick familiar with, I have to PT101, the 40S&W version), I hit 7 in a row, more than once.

My friend commented on this.

Which got me thinking...

I had a friend switch from 45 to 9mm because of his arthritis, and watched his accuracy skyrocket. I have another friend who only shoots 45 and 9mm, because he thinks 40S&W is too "tippy" (reacquiring the target is slow because of muzzle climb).

I bought my first gun (the aforementioned Taurus PT101) in 40S&W in the early 90s partially because it was the hot cartridge (luckily I avoided the 10mm!) and it was, I think, superior to the 9mm at the time. 
 
Now, in my honest opinion, with modern powders and super-exaggerated hollowpoint bullet technology (I think Golden Sabers and Black Talons had just come out when I bought my 40), a 9mm is just a deadly as a 40S&W or a 45. As Say Uncle and several other blogs have stated recently (http://www.saysuncle.com/2009/11/19/the-best-way-to-double-the-effectiveness-of-any-bullet-is-a-follow-up-shot/) -- its far more about shot placement ("try aiming") and shot followup ("the best way to double the effectiveness of any bullet is a follow-up shot") than caliber.

From a 30 foot distance, my 40S&W grouping isn't bad -- its all in the inner kill zone:

But the actual grouping of shots together...not so much.

Soon as I get a chance, I'm gonna hit the range with my 40S&W XDm and a borrowed 9mm XDm. If the shot placement with 9mm is exceptionally better (I think it will be), I'll heavily consider switching to 9mm, as I can just sell the 40S&W XDm and get a 9mm XDm instead. Then I'll need to sell my 40S&W HiPoint Carbine, and the PT101...