Arex REX Zero 1 CP – At the Range

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Got out to the range and burned up about 200 rounds of Winchester White Box 115 grain ball – went through several targets – kind of a getting acquainted thing. Very impressive piece.

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Dug the CZ 2075 RAMI out of the bunker – a closes match to the REX – the CZ is one very good shooter – The REX is right on the same page with it – I have put about 450 rds through the RAMI – I’m thinking some more quality time with the REX will pay real good dividends.

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It’s not quite an apple to apple comparison – but close enough that the attributes of both play off of each other – the CZ handles like a small pistol ( I would hope so – it’s real close to a Glock 26 in size – LOL ) and shoots like a larger pistol – with the 14 round magazine ( gives you that longer grip ) almost feels like a Glock 17 – and to me a Glock 17 feels better than a Glock 19.

The REX has a larger grip that just has a good “natural” feel with a two handed grip – it handles like a small pistol and shoots like a full size pistol.

Will take some time to post about “grip styles” and how different sizes affect “the grip” and simply by paying attention you can take something you can’t hit anything with into a natural “pointer” just by altering your grip. Ergonomics  of a given pistol and how you interface with the pistol can and does make incredible differences. Maybe I can get Shawn to help with that post – he can explain that stuff a whole lot better than I can.

It was interesting shooting them side by side.

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Even with the higher bore axis the Arex had less muzzle flip and perceived recoil than the CZ 2075 – the 4.7 oz heft over the CZ really helps with control-ability.

Is the Arex line of pistols worth buying into??  If you can conceal and handle that size size of pistol – Hell Yes!! Jacques shoots a lot – he owns a range after all ( damn I’m jealous – LOL )- His stand out comment was “That trigger is awesome” and yes the S/A trigger is that good.

Shawn Steiner was at the range and had a few free minutes – he shot the Arex and really liked the ergonomics – the pistol really “works” with a two handed grip. He found himself riding the reset a couple of times. Folks – the Rex just flat out runs.

The accuracy is dead on – and the accuracy potential is about off the scale – and this is a compact pistol with a 3.85 inch barrel.  I might have to nose around and try to find a deal on  a full size. Grabbed a shell for my Alien Gear IWB and it tucks the grip up against you and it is very easy to conceal.

I will have to do a few more side by side comparisons with different “stuff” – maybe get some different folks to try the REX – hmmmm . . .

And all y’all need to trot your happy ass over and check out the stuff at GGGPawn – Doug has some incredible deals on some really neat stuff!!

I try to keep these posts coming but real life sucks sometimes . . .

Remember – Have Fun – Run the Gun – and Fish Heads are Cheap!!

S&W 45 Shield – Small Package – BIG Performance !!

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Smith & Wesson continues to expand their Shield line with the intro of a .45 caliber version – and yes – like the rest you can get it in just about ANY flavor you want – with or without – thumb safety / night sight sights / performance center version / garbage disposal / dishwasher / built in trash compactor – and that isn’t really the cool factor to the pistol.

The “cool” is the size of it – combined with the reliability/shootability factor equals one really good combination that makes it an excellent concealed carry choice.

How about a  Glock brand Glock 36 ?? The slides are wide – damn near chunky. 1911 “compact”? – Small ( three inch barrels / shortened frame and grips ) are really cool, but reliability starts creeping into that equation – sometime when you you have a day to spare we can go into event timing and dwell and how it affects different firearm platforms and different sizes of similar platforms – just get a hold of me and we shall go down the rabbit hole and have tea with the queen and the mad hatter – HINT: that is why they are called the LAWS of physics – not the suggestions of physics – LMAO – Let’s take a look compared to the 9mm Shield – size wise there is not a lot of difference – but they are different critters.

And not to intentionally neglect anybody – there has been quite a number of manufacturers who have brought a variety of very small .45 auto loaders to market over the years – hell I shot more than a few of them – shot an AMT Back Up in .45 when they first showed up in the 80’s – the reason that one sticks in my memory is the fact that my hand finally stopped hurting late last year – to say the recoil was BRUTAL is an understatement – but it was fun to shoot!!

Slides – 9mm on top / .45 on the bottom

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Smith added some “shorty” slide serrations on the front of the .45 – not real sure about their functionality – but they are there . . . cool factor maybe??  Meh

.45 on the left – 9mm on the right

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Tried to get then as “lined up” as I could for this pic – both have 3 dot sights and you can see the difference in grip texture on the .45 ( on your left ) – the 9mm has an almost smooth pebble texture where as the .45 has a much more aggressive feel. And you can see the grips are virtually the same width – the .45 is a true single stack and the 9mm is a “stagger” stack.

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Just to give you an idea – .45 Shield on the left – CZ2075 ( 9mm ) -in the middle ( a true double stack magazine ) – and the 9mm Shield on the right.

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Same order left to right . . .

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Kind of a different view but it will give you an idea why people come away with thinking the CZ is ” kinda chunky ” – all 3 with flush mags – all 3 pistols are just about the same size – 6 rounds for the Shield in .45 / 10 rounds for the CZ – 9mm / 7 rounds for the Shield in 9mm – even though they are all 3 similar in size – all 3 shoot and feel different – and that is the biggest thing I try to tell people when they get the idea stuck in their head – “By Golly !! – I think I want me a pistol” – get yourself to a decent range that has a good assortment of pistols to rent ( Inner10 has a GREAT selection!! )- even with my “bizzaro world” schedule I get with folks when I can and help them come up with stuff that “feels” right – then comes the fun part – will it shoot for them? – and sometimes those are two very different things – what something feels like holding it at the counter vs shooting it.

Grip texture on the 9mm – almost not enough . . .

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Grip texture on the .45 – doesn’t look like it but very aggressive . . .

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The 9mm Shield

SKU: 180021 Model: M&P®9 SHIELD™ Caliber: 9mm Capacity: 7+1, 8+1 Safety: Thumb Safety Barrel Length: 3.1” (7.9 cm) Overall Length: 6.1″ Front Sight: White Dot Rear Sight: White 2-Dot Action: Striker Fire Grip: Synthetic Weight: 20.8 oz / 589.7g Barrel Material: Stainless Steel Slide Material: Stainless Steel Frame Material: Polymer Slide Finish: Armornite® Frame Finish: Matte Black Purpose: Concealed Carry, Law Enforcement & Military, Personal Protection, State Compliance

The .45 Shield

SKU: 11531 Model: M&P®45 SHIELD M2.0™ No Thumb Safety Caliber: 45 AUTO Capacity: 6+1, 7+1 Safety: No Thumb Safety Barrel Length: 3.3” (8.4 cm) Overall Length: 6.5″ Front Sight: White Dot Rear Sight: White Two Dot Action: Striker Fire Grip: Synthetic Weight: 20.5 oz / 581.2g Barrel Material: Stainless Steel Slide Material: Stainless Steel Frame Material: Polymer Slide Finish: Armornite® Frame Finish: Matte Black Purpose: Concealed Carry, Home Protection, Personal Protection These specs came from Smith & Wesson’s web site – damn I can’t believe I just spent an hour there window shopping . . . focus Bruce – you can go back there when you finish this post . . . All these specs are for you folks that really want them – the problem is – How the pistol feels is subjective – and Smith & Wesson’s  Shields feel pretty good in all flavors – LOL All right – enough is enough – How does it shoot?? – I ran it straight up against the Sig 1911 – after all that is how a .45 is supposed to feel – isn’t it?? Heh-Heh The Shield was shot with 6 rounds in the mag + 1 in the chamber – the Sig was shot with 6 in the mag + 1 in the chamber – 14 out of the Sig – 14 out of the Shield – then repeat – these were at my normal cadence – about 1 1/2 second intervals – except for a function check this was the first time out with the .45 Shield –

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Didn’t realize I forgot to mark the first Shield target until I looked at the pictures the next day – Damn ! – Space : The Final Frontier – and these are the voyages of Bruce’s mind . . .

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I admit – the .45 shield really feels good and shoots well for me – perceived recoil is actually less ( subjectively ) than the 9mm – more of a push rather than an abrupt smack – much lower pressure round moving slower – euro pellet vs real bullets – the only question is how much velocity are you losing with a 3.3 inch barrel vs a 5 inch barrel. A 5 inch barrel drops you below the expansion threshold somewhere around 40 yards or so – but you still have a great big ugly piece of lead moving about 700 feet per second – ouch! Might be just as good to shoot hardball out of the Shield.

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I am engaged with my CFO in on going negotiations about acquiring a Lab Radar chronograph.

Those meetings have been going on for a while now Bruce – How are they going??

Well . . . I still don’t have the chronograph but I am still breathing through my nose – so we will just have to wait and see . . . and another positive note – I don’t have to wait for the swelling to go down so I can see – so I am hopeful – LOL

Will try to get more stuff up this week – who knows ??

Remember Folks – Have Fun ! – Run the Gun ! and Fish Heads are Cheap !!

Saturday Night Entertainment (?)

A friend came over Saturday night – I told him how glad I was that he came over ( amazing how everybody calls first – almost like they are paranoid ) Sit down my friend – coffee? – beer? – water? Alright Bruce – what am I about to step into?? – don’t answer that he said – just give me an idea – how deep??

Long story short – stripped the 1904 vintage Winchester 1892 down to everything but pulling the barrel – scrubbed hell out of everything – lubed everything back up – stuck it all back together – actually had a good time and no left over or spare parts when we got done – three hands – and even four hands make it a lot easier . . .

Note – this post has a lot of pics – may take a while to load . . .

and away we go!! Pull the stock –

Then pull the magazine – not sure if the 32-20 holds enough cartridges to classify it as an evil baby killing – shoots through schools – shoots down airliners – assault rifle or not – probably not because it doesn’t have a shoulder thingy that goes up . . .

Slick design – the support for the magazine is just dove tailed into the barrel – then the magazine is pinned – the magazine hold the support in place and the pin holds the magazine in the support – – next the fore end . . .

And that’s out of the way – now it starts getting to be much more fun . . .

Pull the top screw – out comes the hammer spring . . .

Then pull the bottom tang and trigger – then out comes the hammer . . .

That screw shown above holds a pin in place that the lever pivots on – you push the pin out from the other side through a small hole – a real thrill to put back together!! . . .

Sometimes they slip right out – sometimes they ( GENTLY ) tap out . . .

Out comes the lever and the locking blocks – then the bolt and ejector – shell guide – shell lifter – sounds easy right?

Believe it or not it all fits back in there – the next set of pics shows you why it got stripped down and cleaned out good – the oil that had been used over the years had pretty much dried out and had started attracting moisture – not a good thing – we soaked and scrubbed with Hoppes – then soaked and scrubbed with CLP – . . . 3 times . . . this first pic really shows the brown crud layer – once you get that off it slicks right back up again – a little lube – Battle Born – an incredible product available here – which I will show on the reassembly of the next one. . .

You just keep soaking and scrubbing – the crud just keeps lifting off . . .

The 1892 Winchester was kinda cool in that it was only available in pistol calibers – .25-20 – .32-20 – .38-40 – .44-40 – and a very small number were made in .218 Bee ( and those are pricey!! ) the last years of production which ended in 1938. When I do the next one I will focus on reassembly and lube pics – and a special thanks to my spare set of hands – “Spare Hands” asked me if I was nervous about a third of the way through this project – damn Bruce that’s like 1800 to 2000 dollars worth of Winchester you are pulling apart!! – I told him not really – if I can get it apart – I can sure as hell get it back together and besides – it’s not my gun – LMAO!!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!