My Glock 23 Review Part Three

'Trigger Disassembly'
I wanted to install a New York Trigger on my unit, and to do so I needed to disassemble the Trigger Assembly. To do this, I first needed to remove the three pins on the frame of a typical Glock: The Trigger Pin, the Trigger Housing Pin and the Locking Block Pin. I was able to easily remove both the Locking Block and Trigger Housing Pins with a slight tap with the help of a small nail. However, I had a hard time removing the Trigger Pin. After a couple of hard taps and nothing still happening, I decided to check in the internet as I felt something was wrong. Besides, I didn't want to ruin my Glock just because of something I missed. When in doubt, check the internet.

And true enough, it turns out that you don't need or want to force out that Trigger Pin. The key to removing it, is to sort of move the Slide Stop Lever back and forth while maintaining force against that Trigger Pin. After a couple of wiggling, the Trigger Pin just sort of slid out easily out of the frame. Its an alignment issue, apparently the spring on the Slide Stop Lever sometimes gets caught in the groove of the Trigger Pin:
- http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1184726

The internet can really be such a great help, I sometimes wonder how things would've been if it weren't around.

'New York 1 Trigger'
I thought about tinkering with the Glock trigger because I wanted to be able to shoot quickly and accurately with it. I read in some respectable sources that experts say the best trigger job available for the Glock would be a so-called "New York 1 Trigger (NY1)", coupled with a 3.5 lb. Connector. When I saw a NY1 Trigger available locally during the recent Gun Show, I immediately bought it as a first step of finding that "ideal" trigger.

The standard, Out of the Box trigger for a Glock 23 is a light slack, followed by a heavy, squishy break, or something like, "light-light-heavier-heavier squishy-break". What the NY1 Trigger does, is make that light slack heavier, or something like, "heavy-heavy-heavier-even heavier squishy-break". It makes the Glock trigger a little bit safer because of that heavier trigger slack pull.

My Glock 23 Review Part Two

'Stiff Magazine Spring'
Of the two magazines that came with the unit, I had no problem loading on one with all 14 rounds (both had +2 magazine basepads). The other magazine, however, would only load up to 12 rounds, and no more. I figured something could be wrong internally in the magazine, so I disassembled it. I couldn't find anything wrong with it, though, so I re-assembled it again.

After re-assembly, there was a slight improvement in that the magazine would now load 13 rounds, but I had trouble loading the last round. I decided to just let the magazine stay loaded with 13 rounds for a couple of days, allow the spring to soften up a little, and maybe I would be able to load all 14 rounds later.

After two days, I tried to load the 14th round, but it still wouldn't go in. I finally disassembled the magazine, then separated all the parts individually. Again, couldn't find anything wrong, so I re-assembled the magazine, then tried loading the magazine again. The 14th round finally was able to fit into the magazine, but only after a lot of pushing and handling.

Left it again for a couple of days, then removed the rounds, and put them back in again. I was able to load the 14th round, though still with a bit of difficulty. I don't know what happened with this particular magazine, probably some tolerance or fit issues as the other magazine was working fine.

'Disassembly and Trigger'
It turns out that all that was needed to be able to consistently and quickly disassemble the gun was a lot of practice. After disassembling/assembling the gun again and again, I can now do it on the first attempt. One thing good about disassembling/assembling the Glock, is that you do not have to take out/in any disassembly lever before you can slide out, like on the 1911 or my P250. Its so simple: Nothing to take out/in, no loose lever, just slide out, and then slide in. No doubt in my mind that this is the easiest gun to disassemble/assemble that I have tried out so far.

My Glock 23 Review Part One

I've always wanted to own a Glock, ever since I first started hearing about it a lot in the mid 80s. It was relatively new then, the first truly commercially successful "plastic" gun. Considering that before that time, the most successful gun was the M1911 family of automatic pistols, which by then was already 70 years old.

The polymer frame, and the relatively new trigger system was just so different, so high-tech. Even more impressive was that its success, as it was then slowly being adopted by more and more law enforcement and military agencies all around the world.

When I finally could afford one a couple of years ago, the supply of the pistol to the Philippines suddenly dried up, when the company decided to stop distribution of the unit in the country due to some controversy over some of the guns bought here ending up in Japan. So I had to wait a couple more years to finally get one, when the gun became available again.

Its a Glock 23, in .40 S & W, with what looks like a 3rd Generation frma. The licensing and release of the gun was an adventure in itself, one that I will relate later. For now, however, I am just going to review the gun first.

'First Impressions'
I'm impressed with the gun box that comes with it. It square with highly rounded edges, and has the company name "Glock" in big letters on the front. The unit came with:
- Two magazines;
- A cleaning brush tip;
- Instruction and other manuals in a sealed envelope;
- Magazine Sleeve;

My AK-47 Review Part Two

First of all, I'm very proud of this gun. I feel like owning a piece of history, as the AK-47 is probably the most iconic firearm EVER in the history of the world. It is the most numerous, and most recognizable rifle in the world, and I got it in its original 7.62 x 39 mm caliber.

The trigger pull was surprisingly light, and smooth, not coarse at all. Pretty nice, actually, and totally opposite of what I was expecting. It does bother me that when you pull the trigger, there is a heavy chunk of metal that goes forward to hit the primer. I think this will have some effect on the gun's accuracy, especially at long range. As far as I know, the AK-47 is not supposed to use an open bolt principle, but it sure feels that way.

The gun does feel heavy, in fact, front heavy, but you can probably blame that on the light folding stock. I would imagine that the fixed stock version would probably feel more balanced.

My AK-47 Review Part One

Ohmygod-ohmygod-ohmygod-ohmygod-ohmygod-ohmygod ...

Those were the first thoughts that went thru my mind when I first saw the AK-47 that I bought at the store. It didn't feel as heavy then, credit that to the adrenaline coursing thru my veins because of the excitement. Anyway, checkout was a quick haze, and driving at around 100 mph I finally reached home to play with my new toy.

The unit came with a free nylon carrying case, labeled "Tactical Edge", which seems to be the brand for accessories for Twin Pines.



The bag has ample pockets for some magazines, and some documents, like the manual, license, etc. Very convenient storage for the unit.

My SIG P250 Review Part Two

Got to fire my SIG-P250 again recently, and just sharing some of the observations I found while shooting it. 

'Slide Locking Problem'
My first two shots went fine, but then after that, each and every shot started locking the slide back, so I had to release it using the slide release lever.  After about five shots of this happening, I switched magazines, thinking it was something wrong with the magazine.  But the same thing happened again with the other magazine, confirming that it was likely due to the gun itself.

Take note that this did not happen during my first shooting session a couple of months ago.  About the only difference in between shooting sessions, was the fact that I tried to clean the gun thoroughly after the first session.  I was then starting to suspect it was something to do with when I disassembled the gun. 

My SIG P250 Review Part One

Finally got my filthy hands on my precious "SIG SAUER P250 Compact (Special Configuration)", which is what the label on the case says about the unit.

'First Impressions'
The gun is handsomely blocky, typical of SIGs, and the lower receiver is gorgeous to look at, just as it is on the picture. The grip is not so wide, perfect fit for my hand. The checkering on the front and back strap, along with the polymer material, is very nice to feel.

The front and rear sights are large and easy to align, and they have the three-dot sighting system. The dots are also luminescent, so you can easily see them under low light or under a dark environment.

Slide spring when cocking back seems relatively light, compared to my Norinco Model 59 (Makarov copy), or that of an M1911.

When the magazine is removed, my little finger loses an area to grip on to.