Home Authors Posts by Patrick Sweeney

Patrick Sweeney

Top Tips For Making Your Suppressor Last A Long Time

The author shares his top secrets for making your suppressor last a very long time.

You’re giddy as a schoolkid with a new …. well, let’s move on, shall we? You’ve just gotten your new suppressor, and you want to do this right, and you want to get the most out of it. Doing that involves five things: mounting, feeding, cleaning, performance and longevity.

Mounting is easy, right? Just screw it on, go to the range and have a blast.

Uh, no.

To do it properly, you need at the very least a proper wrench to fit the suppressor, and a fixture to hold the barrel. On an AR-15, that’s a “reaction rod,” a steel rod that holds the barrel by the locking lugs. On a bolt-action rifle, you want a set of barrel clamps and a vise. Clean the threads and then spin the suppressor on by hand. Use your alignment rod to check.

Oh, an alignment rod? That’s a straight steel rod that just slides down the bore. You slide it in and press the end flush to the endcap of the suppressor. If the suppressor is centered, you’re good, you can proceed. If it’s not, then you might be OK, and you might not be able to use that suppressor on that barrel.

There’s no “it looks bad, but it will be OK” here. A baffle strike can destroy your suppressor, so when in doubt, don’t. You follow a similar process with a QD mount: hand-tight the mount, mount the suppressor and check alignment.

suppressor-maintenance-baffle-strike
This is a “minor” baffle strike. It’s ugly and will need to be repaired.

If everything checks out by hand, take all the parts off. Degrease the threads. Use Rocksett to lock your muzzle device on and let it set. If your suppressor is a direct-thread and you have only the one rifle, then use blue or red Loctite to hold it in place and torque it on to the manufacture’s specs.

Oh, the top gun guy at your club sneers at Loctite, does he? He only uses Rocksett for everything? On a direct-thread installation, if you were never going to take it off (like for a police department), I’d agree. But you aren’t them. You might—someday—want to swap your suppressor to another rifle. Or you want to put a new suppressor on your AR, and this one comes with a QD setup. Yes, Loctite burns, but the ashes of it still bind the threads, and your suppressor won’t fall off.

You now have a properly installed suppressor. What to feed it?

original-maxim-suppressor
This is an original Maxim suppressor, used in the Chaco Rebellion back in the 1930s. If we got it out of the display case, it would work just as well today as back in 1935. Properly treated, they just don’t wear out.

A Balanced Diet

In centerfire rifles, the answer is easy: jacketed bullets. In pistols, also jacketed. No lead, no coated, and I’m personally leery of plated, but some have found them to be no problem. Pistol suppressors gunk up with powder residue and lead (even jacketed bullets with an open base, lead some) and must be cleaned, and using lead or coated bullets just accelerates that to an enormous degree. When it comes to rimfires, there’s no getting around using lead bullets, so you’ll be cleaning often—don’t shirk this or you might not get your suppressor apart.

suppressor-baffles
The baffles and their tube may not be the same material. Make sure you read the manufacturer’s instructions before cleaning.

As far as ammo goes, you’ll find that some will spit more than others. Rifles tend to be uniform, if a suppressor spits crap back, it will with almost any load. But pistols are a different breed. Basically, the more powder the round uses, the more it spits.

I was doing a TV show once when we ran out of the vanilla-plain .45 ammo we’d been using with a suppressor. All that was left was the +P ammo. And, boy, did it spit. Every shot was like blipping the trigger on a sandblaster with the cabinet door open. If you want to have the best experience, pay attention to what loads or brands spit the most and avoid them, and the least and use more of them.

Rifle suppressors tend to improve accuracy, as they strip off muzzle gases that might otherwise cause turbulence for the bullet. It’s not a lot—and you need a good shooter and an accurate rifle to see it—but it does happen.

suppressor-maintenance-baffle-strike-2
Oops, this one is bad. Don’t be this guy—use the correct ammo and make sure your suppressor is aligned when mounted.

Scrub With Purpose

After a day of shooting, you’ll want to clean your suppressor. Well, some of them. Suppressors used in centerfire rifles with jacketed bullets don’t need cleaning. No, I’m not pulling your leg. If you’re using it properly, you get it hot enough to burn out anything that might try to remain and file for residency. Your pistol and rimfire ones will require cleaning, as in after each range session. Disassemble and use solvents (wear gloves) or throw the parts into your ultrasonic cleaner with the correct solvent.

suppressor-neglect
Here’s a pistol silencer that hadn’t gotten cleaned. They get heavier and noisier when neglect like this happens.

I know shooters who spent their whole lives cleaning firearms by hand and after a couple of suppressor-cleaning sessions went out and bought an ultrasonic cleaner. It’s that bad an ordeal. And the gunk is that nasty, being a large percentage of lead.

Jumbled Decibels

There will never be an end to the argument of whose suppressor is quieter, and what your suppressor actually does. Let me let you in on a little secret: Everyone has it wrong, apart from a few OCD math nerds.

suppressor-internal-design
There are many internal designs. They do different things, but the differences, for the most part, are minor.

What do I mean? OK, let’s take an example. Someone will tell you, “The AR-15 muzzle blast is 165 dB.” Actually, no. The more detail-oriented will say, “Under standard conditions, an AR-15 with a 16-inch barrel, using M193 ammunition, will be 165 dB.” Close, but no cigar. The truly science based will add in the brand of rifle, the lot number of the ammunition and conclude with: “It will average 162 dB, plus-or-minus 4 dB, with a plus 2 dB first-round pop, and a confidence level of 90 percent.”

Yep, there’s no such thing as a single number for performance. So, your “noisy” suppressor is producing reports from 158 to 166 dBs, while your friend with the “quieter” suppressor is producing reports from 156 to 164 dB. Add in the human factor that even the best of us has a hard time telling noise levels apart that aren’t more than 3 dBs, and we come to the conclusion that they’re all pretty much the same. (Oh, I’m going to get hate letters for that.)

suppressor-decibal-meter
There’s no such thing as a singular muzzle blast decibel level. It varies, and there’s no getting around it.

Is yours quieter than someone else’s? It might be the ammo. Change ammo and you can shift the average decibel level by 3 to 4 to 5 dB. Your “noisy” suppressor with the ammo it likes to be quiet with may well be quieter than your buddy’s “quiet” suppressor with noisy ammo. So, what can we conclude from this? Unless you bought an absolutely crap suppressor, you’ll be knocking a big chunk of noise off the muzzle report, getting better groups and having fun. Be happy.

decibal-meters
There are a host of meters to measure with, and the pro ones are expensive. Your smartphone isn’t one of these, so don’t bother.

Oh, and your smartphone decibel app is absolute crap when it comes to measuring firearms. None of them work; they all fail, because the microphone built into your phone just isn’t built for the task. So, give it up.

For the Long Haul

Lastly, we have longevity … and that depends, in part, on you. If you clean your suppressor (when needed), don’t shoot frangibles through it, and don’t shoot unstable bullets (the classic being M855 through a 12-inch twist barrel), you’ll have a forever tool. Avoid baffle strikes and gunk, and you’ll have long-term fun time.

suppressor-buildup
Any more buildup and a bullet might not pass through. Bad suppressor owner, bad owner!

When I went through the LE class with Dr. Phil Dater (imagine this: a gun writer and photographer in a class filled with local and Federal LE, evidence examiners and prosecuting attorneys—no one wanted a group photo), he showed us a rifle suppressor that had been sectioned. He asked how many rounds it had seen. I had the highest round count guess and wasn’t even close. It had a documented 108,000 rounds through it, and it hardly showed wear.

suppressor-maintenance-100000-rounds
The famous suppressor that took 108,000 shots. Looks pretty good. I wonder how much mileage it had left when it got shopped.

At current barrel-wear rates and ammo costs, 108K in an AR-15 amounts to eleven barrels ($279 each, Bravo Company) and ammo at $510 per thousand, for a total of $58,149. With that kind of longevity (with care), who cares if you spent a couple of hundred dollars more for your suppressor? Buy the best one for your needs.

What Do You Need?

And the sixth thing, needs? What do you need? If you’re hunting, you don’t need a full-auto-rated suppressor. C’mon, really? Less weight to pack, an less weight out on the muzzle will mean a more enjoyable hunting experience, and for that you want titanium. Yes, it costs more, but again, costs are relative.

You’ve plopped down, what, $5k for a hunt out West? A couple hundred more for the titanium version, and that’s a price that will be amortized over your hunting career. That extra cost is covered by not buying your special latte on the way to work each morning for a few months. No, really, a $7 drink five mornings a week for two months is $280. That just paid the upcharge for your all-titanium suppressor.

suppressor-maintenance-busted
Abuse is abuse, and it leads to a busted suppressor. This one was busted deliberately in order to see what it could withstand. Can your budget survive such testing? I think not.

Oh, and those of you who must have the full-auto suppressor? Don’t complain about the weight—spend a little more time at the gym and you’ll be fine.

I learned a long time ago, street-racing cars, that speed costs. If you wanted to go fast you had to spend money (luckily, I didn’t have to actually foot the bill—long story, but basically Ford paid for it). If you want to go quiet, you have to spend money. How much is up to you.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Suppressor Special 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Suppressors:

Check Once, Fire Lots: Suppressor Alignment Rods

The author highlights the importance of using a suppressor alignment rod, a simple piece of steel that will save you heartache.

The best—and simplest—tool you can own for your suppressors is an alignment rod or gauge. Yes, a simple steel rod, straight and clean. Why? Because a baffle strike is no joke, and it can be expensive. Even a baffle glance. (That sounds like a line in a mystery novel: “The dame gave me a baffle glance over her shoulder.”)

The first ones I saw came from Geissele. I had to have them, so I got them. At that time, the company made them for only 5.56 and 7.62 bores, but now he offers the full range of rods, from .50 down to 5.56, with 9mm and the oddest one, 5.45, in the lineup as well. (So much for my search for the correct-diameter rods at industrial sites a few years back to make sure I had rods for all the sizes I’d need.)

suppressor-alignment-rod-strike
Oops! This is what can happen if you don’t check alignment, and the alignment isn’t up to snuff. This won’t buff out.

Using them is easy. Make sure the rifle/pistol is unloaded, install the rod and push it until one end is flush with the front cap exit hole of your suppressor. Now look.

Is the rod perfectly centered in the exit of the cap? Life is good. Is it closer to one side but not touching? Well, you can probably get by—as long as you don’t use a bullet that’s too long for your twist. Then, life will be not-so good. (The too-long bullet might yaw really early in its travel, once having exited the muzzle, and by the time it gets to the endcap, it might be angled enough to hit the cap.)

Is the rod touching the edge of the endcap clearance hole? You’re done here; this suppressor can’t ride on this hoist until the problem is solved.

No—I mean it.

Something is wrong, and it’s probably that the threads are off-center or tilted, or the bearing shoulder of the muzzle isn’t perpendicular to the axis of the bore. You need a gunsmith with a good lathe or a machinist who understands the problem to solve it for you.

suppressor-alignment-bearing-shoulder
The bearing shoulder on your barrel is a small area to depend on, so you should check alignment every time you screw on your suppressor. “Good last time” doesn’t guarantee this time.

I’ve seen combos where the alignment rod scraped along the edge of the cap when inserted. Ouch. That’s a “never gonna get shot” combo, and it might not be solvable.

If you’ve invested in a suppressor alignment rod, use it. If someone wants to try your suppressor on their rifle, you gauge it. If it doesn’t pass, they don’t get to shoot—not even “Just one round, please?”

You can tell them I said so.

Every time you install your suppressor on your own rifle, be borderline OCD and gauge it. Sometimes, a bit of grit might get onto the fit and tip the suppressor. I do that every time I screw on a direct-thread suppressor, but I don’t when I’m using a QD mount system. The QD mounts have enough bearing surface and self-alignment that a bit of grit won’t matter.

suppressor-QD-mount-brakes
The various QD mounts offer enough bearing surface that they won’t be bothered by a small amount of grit. I’m not OCD enough to check alignment every time with these.

But the tiny bearing shoulder on most barrels, well, that can be problematic. That’s just me. If you don’t want to do that, that’s fine … just don’t blame me later.

Yes, they cost, but what’s $75 to $125 compared to a blasted suppressor? As I’ve said many times before, this is America: You get to decide.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2024 special suppressor issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More Useful Firearms Tools:

Three Classic Defensive Pistols That Still Do Their Job

A look at three semi-old school, middle-aged pistols that still work great for self-defense.

When it comes to home defense, you don’t have to have the latest, hottest polymer blaster. You don’t need ultra-compact nor something eminently concealable. You don’t even need something new to the market. You can go old school—at least by today’s standards.

I offer up for your consideration three potential pistols that you might see languishing in your local gun shop display case, unloved because they aren’t new: the Sig P226, the Beretta 92 and the whole series of S&W M59.

Sig P226

This is a full-sized 9mm pistol with a generous magazine capacity, one that first saw the light of day back in 1985 as part of the U.S. Service Pistol trials. A collaboration between Sig and J.P. Sauer & Sohn, it ended up losing to the Beretta, but that’s another story that’s best told at another time. Despite not being adopted as the official U.S. sidearm, it was adopted by Naval Special Warfare, aka SEALs, for their use. So, you’ll get a lot of “used by SEALs” when you look at one in a gun shop or shoot it at the range. This also will keep the price up a bit for a non-polymer pistol now approaching middle age.

Sig-P226-slide
Depending on when it was made, some of these old iron pistols will have an accessory rail. Others won’t, so you’ll have to train to work with that.

The action is a hammer-drop double-action design. That means you can fire the first round by using the trigger or thumb-cocking the hammer. If you don’t want to fire (once you’ve loaded or changed your mind), then you use the lever on the left side of the frame to safely decock the hammer. There’s no thumb safety. In this regard, the P226 operates just like a revolver: If you do not want to fire it, you do not press the trigger. And the DA trigger stroke is long enough that it’s unlikely to be inadvertently fired, as long as you keep your finger off of the trigger.

Sig-P226-decocker
The Sig uses a frame-mounted decocker, one that’s spring-loaded and jumps back up after you’ve lowered the hammer.

The Sig P226 advantages are a very comfortable grip shape and smooth DA trigger stroke. The disadvantages are the bore axis being a bit higher than the others, although that’s much more a competition consideration than a defensive one, and the sustained higher cost due to its panache as the weapon of SEALs.

Sig-P226-grip
The Sig P226 got an improved grip halfway through its life, and the E2 grip is more ergonomic … but the old one wasn’t bad.

Beretta 92

The Beretta became the service sidearm in the mid 1980s, replacing the 1911A1, and has been used (and loved and hated) by several generations of servicemen and women ever since. As a design predating the Glock, it also uses an aluminum frame (all three of these pistols do, with some variants using steel frames) and a double-stack magazine. The 92 has an open-top slide, so the very idea of brass failing to eject is simply not a thing.

Beretta-92-1
Because these pistols have been around since the early 1970s or 1980s, plenty of magazines are available for them, like this P9 magazine still sealed in its wrapper.

The 92 safety is mounted on the slide and differs from the Sig in that it’s both a hammer-dropping safety and a safety. That is, on the main variants (the M9 and the standard 92) when you press the safety lever down to decock, it does that, but it also stays down and, while in the downward position, prevents the 92 from firing. In some variants, the safety lever is spring-loaded and pressing it down decocks, but when you let go it snaps back up again and isn’t on “safe,” just like the Sig decocking operates.

Beretta-92-controls
On all of these—not just the Beretta—when the hammer is cocked, the trigger rests to the rear, and it’s a single-action trigger pull.

The advantage of the Beretta 92 is its ubiquity; you can find magazines, holsters and other accessories galore due to it being the military sidearm for four decades. Despite the initial teething problems, it’s ultra-reliable … as long as you ignore the advice to run it dry. Like any other firearm, oil it. One noted disadvantage is that when operating the slide, you have to learn to not inadvertently press the safety down to the safe position.

Beretta-92-slide
The Beretta has a completely open-top slide, so nothing can get caught in there. No ejection port, that is.

S&W M59

The “59” is a whole series found in multiple generations. The first one appeared on the scene in 1971. It was the evolution of the M39, a single-stack 9mm pistol to a double-stack 9mm pistol holding a then-revolutionary 14 rounds. The safety follows the same pattern as (in fact, probably led, but who was on first is another argument for the future) the Beretta, in that it both drops the hammer and locks the mechanism. You have to press it back up to fire and that can be double action or thumb-cocking the hammer and single action.

Smith-Wesson-910-top-4046-bottom
Top, a 910 with an aluminum frame in 9mm. Bottom, an all-stainless 4046, a DAO in .40 S&W with 11-round magazines. Choice abounds in the M59 series.

The 59 was the first generation; in 1988, the second generation, the 459, came out. That lasted until 1990 when the third generation, the 5906, came out. By this time, S&W offered it in so many variants that they even produced a circular slide rule to show size, caliber, materials (aluminum, carbon or stainless steel), traditional double action, double-action only, decocking, sights, etc. At the time, those of us working in gun shops joked about the “S&W pistol of the week” program they seemed to be on.

By the mid-to-late 1990s, with polymer pistols proliferating, S&W attempted to reduce production costs as much as possible. This led to the M910 and M915 models, both third-gen M59s, but with cost savings in machining and features. They still used the same magazines (the 910, 10-round magazines due to the Assault Weapons Ban of the time) and are just as reliable and accurate as the non-savings models.

As a result, you could devote your time as a collector to just M59 variants and probably not ever assemble a complete array.

SW-M59-slide
The S&W 910/915 series had a lot fewer machine operations done to the slide. This cut costs but didn’t harm reliability.

Unlike the Beretta and the Sig, which can be found almost exclusively in full-sized models, with aluminum frames, the S&W series can be found with steel (carbon/blued or stainless) or aluminum frames and blued or stainless slides. Also, compared to the other two, the M59 offered fixed or adjustable sight models, caliber variants and trigger options and were made in much larger numbers. Due to the slide-mounted safety, the M59 series has the same need to be aware of slide manipulation as you do with the Beretta.

The Price Of History     

All three of these pistols can be had with some modern features, depending on when the one you’re looking at was made. The earliest variants will lack an accessory rail, so no light mount. Rails didn’t become common until the start of the 21st century. Later variants will have them in some instances, but not all, so you’ll have to learn offhand light use if you want illumination while using an early pistol.

All three are double-action pistols, so you’ll also have to learn to switch from the long initial double-action pull to the shorter single-action pull when shooting. This is made out to be a bigger hindrance than it really is by striker-fired advocates. National and international championships have been handily won by shooters using a DA pistol.

All three have been around long enough that there’s a lifetime supply of magazines already in existence and more still being made. In fact, they’ve been made for so long that you might even have to give used magazines a thorough going over to make sure the springs aren’t tired and not abused.

SW-M59-sights
One way the 900-series generation of the 59 saved money was in not having an ambi safety. There wasn’t a lever on the right side.

They’re known quantities, so if you find a real bargain of a buy with something like a rusted-out barrel, you can easily find a replacement barrel, drop it in and be good to go. The same for holsters, if you feel the need for one. If yours proves to be balky, there are many pistolsmiths who can solve reliability or assembly problems and get yours up and running.

As full-sized pistols, they’re all reliable, accurate and easy to shoot. You won’t find the recoil of 9mm to be problematic, although I’d avoid getting a variant of any of the three in .40 S&W. The .40 is a fine cartridge, the FBI notwithstanding, but it does have more recoil and will cost you magazine capacity. Compared to the 15 to 16 rounds of 9mm, you’ll get 10-11-12 rounds of 40 in the same tube. Now, if recoil isn’t a problem and you find an absolute steal at your local gun shop, by all means jump on a .40. Ammunition for it will continue to be made probably for the rest of your life. (I suspect the last run of .40S&W ammunition produced will happen at the end of the 21st century as a commemorative run or to satisfy some cranky old collectors.)

Last is cost. The Sig will always bring a premium, again due to SEALs. The Beretta has just been replaced by a new Sig, the P320, as the service pistol, but two generations of service members know it, and there’s also the movie connection: It’s seen on too many movies and TV shows to mention, but the biggies would be Lethal Weapon, Die Hard and Terminator 2. Every one of those to show up in the local gun store’s showcase will garner attention.

This leaves the S&W 59 series as the unloved but gold nugget of home defense. They’re everywhere, there seems to be no end of pistolsmiths who can work on them and S&W will still service one if you buy a broken one for $20. (It may cost 10 times that to rebuild it, but so what?)

Smith-Wesson-Model-59
The S&W 910 differed from the 915 in being shipped with 10-round magazines, a legacy of the failed Assault Weapons Ban of 1994.

A Fork In Your Road

So, there you are, at your local gun store, looking over ordnances with a friend who is new to shooting. You can spring for the hot new model and have what everyone says you (or your friend will get) is “the best.” Or, you can get some classic iron, solid, dependable and inexpensive, and buy ammo and get some familiarization and practice with the cash left over.

You tell me: Which is better? The hottest thing and little or no practice or solid old school and a bigger practice budget? And remember, this will spend its time resting in your safe during the days and on the nightstand each night. Weight and concealability won’t matter. I thought so.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the April 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Defensive Handguns:

Hardware Talk: Dillon Wrench Rack Set

Organization is the universal tool every gun room and reloading bench requires, and the Dillon wrench rack set helps with that.

Do you ever say to yourself you’ve had enough? More specifically, have you had enough with the litter of tools on your loading bench?

I have.

I’m regularly swapping toolheads to change calibers on my presses as I test this or that, trying something new or swapping calibers. I tried to keep the Allen wrenches for those adjustments in a plastic box, but they always ended up on the bench.

And then, where on the bench were they? Mumble … mumble … mutter.

I finally had enough, so when I saw the wrench rack from Dillon, I knew my 550 and 750 were each going to get a set. The rack is simple: It’s a heavy-gauge stamping that you bolt to the top back of your strong mount, behind your press. You don’t use a strong mount? We’re going to have to talk about that in the next issue.

Dillon has it all covered. You bolt the plate by means of the rear bolts on your press/strong mount setup. The kit comes with the Allen wrench sizes you need to work on your press, plus a die ring wrench as well. They all slide right into their reserved spots. And, just to make it even easier, Dillon includes a strip of label, with the sizes already printed on it, and they’re spaced to line up with the spot for each of them.

Dillon-Wrench-Rack
The Dillon wrench kit bolts into your strong mount, on the back of your Dillon press. Once there, it’s in easy reach to put each one back when done.

Hot tip: Install the label before you bolt on the plate to save yourself the stretching and reaching to get the label in place after you’ve bolted things together.

Wait, there’s more. The wrenches come with the angle to the short leg of each one pre-dipped in vinyl, so you have a good grip and can see the wrench clearly when you go to pluck it out of the rack. As an extra bonus, the working end is a ball-end wrench tip, so you can spin the wrench even when you approach the screw you’re tightening from an angle.

Of course, gear doesn’t come cheap. The kit runs $46 from Dillon.

“Ouch,” you say?

You can buy the wrenches for a buck each. Yes, you can. But then you’ll still have them scattered on your loading bench or in a box you have to find. Once you lose one or use it someplace else and leave it there, you’ll buy another. And another. You’ll end up with three, four or five sets of them scattered to the winds.

With the Dillon kit, you have a place for them. And the Dillon blue vinyl coating lets you know “This is a loading room wrench; I have to get it back there.”

I’m not saying you need to go full-on Marie Kondo on your loading room, bench and components storage, but keeping the tools that get things properly adjusted is a smart thing to do. And when you can make a change by simply grabbing the handy wrench and put it back right where it was, your loading process will be less distracted, more focused and more productive.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the April 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Tools & Gunsmithing:

Gear Review: Liberty Lubricants Cleaning Kits

The author takes a look at the cleaning kit offered by Liberty Lubricants, perfectly sized to throw in a range bag.

Liberty Lubricants has a slick cleaning kit (see what I did there?). The firm-sided zippered case holds the essentials for cleaning: solvent, oil and grease, patches, brushes and pull cables, as well as a handle and rod segments. Firm-sided? You know, formed textured nylon cases with a zipper around three sides that opens and lies flat. It’s firm enough to offer protection to its contents, but not so firm that it can’t be forced into a range bag. With it, you can do the cleaning you need at the range.

Using the Liberty cleaning kit, you can clean all of your various pistols and your AR-15, which covers pretty much any day at the range but that “special” one. Which one? There’s no knowing, but that’s one aspect of the Liberty cleaning kit that I like. The zippered case has enough extra room in it to fit in a few extra tools or supplies, depending on what you most-often shoot.

If you’re focused on AR-15s, a carbon-scraping tool would be a good addition, along with a few spares like some gas rings or a Viton O-ring taped to a business card.

If you shoot mostly a 9mm pistol, adding in a section or two for a larger-diameter cleaning rod to knock out a stuck bullet would be a once every few years lifesaver.

I can even see shotgunners adding in an extra bore brush to scrub the plastic from wads out of the bore to clean the muzzle if you get it jammed into the mud out hunting.

Why do this? Because while the zippered case is good, the solvent, lube and grease are excellent. The set makes the Liberty cleaning kit a package worth stuffing into your range bag to rest until it’s needed.

liberty-lubrication-cleaning-kit
The Liberty Lubricants cleaning kit is a zippered, firm-sided case that holds a lot. And it has room for more.

I know some of you are thinking “Sweeney is OCD when it comes to cleaning; we’ve read columns like this before.” Actually, no. People who know me would laugh out loud if you said that. But what I do know is that things happen at the range.

I’m there a lot, and I’ve lost count of the “oops” and “oh nos” that happen. Like setting up a cool photograph of a pistol and the small-group target it just produced, on the shooting bench, only to have the pistol lemming-like dive off into the sandy mud. Just wiping it off for the photo is fine, but it has to have the bore swabbed out before the next round of shooting.

No cleaning kit? Then, you’re done for the day.

You only have to have that happen once to start packing cleaning supplies in the range bag. With the Liberty kit, you’re set up with a good basic cleaning kit and can customize it as you need or wish. Getting excellent cleaning solutions and tools to use them with is a bonus … a big bonus.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the March 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Gun Cleaning:

Collectible But Usable: Sig P6 Review

The author reviews a West German LE surplus Sig P6, a handgun that’s remained practical while becoming collectible.

It was the early 1970s, and European police forces had a new problem: terrorists. Those LE officers had a miscellaneous assemblage of .32s and .380s in their armories … while the bad guys were starting to use 9mm SMGs.

Not good.

So, the West German Federal police issued a request for a new sidearm, and it was to be in 9mm Parabellum. HK offered up the PSP (which we know as the P7), and Walther offered up a newly built P38 with a shorter barrel, dubbed the “P5.” In-between, the tasking authority dubbed the Sig entry as the P6, the model we know as the P225.

All of the new pistols accepted for use were single-stack 9mm pistols, and that was considered a big step up by the police forces (compared to packing a .32 Auto, any of them would be). All three were approved, and each law enforcement agency or administrative state was free to purchase and issue any of them. The P5 (P38) wasn’t popular, and the P7 (HK) was the more expensive one, so most states bought P6s.

Sig-P6-with-box
The later of the author’s two guns came in a commercial P225 box, but with the issued officer’s name handwritten on the lid. Again, why the difference? Who knows.

Rising To The Top

The P6 is basically a pared-down single-stack P226, or a compact P220. It’s smaller and lighter than either, and since it has a single-stack magazine, it’s easier to grasp for those with smaller hands. It’s a traditional double-action system, trigger-cocking on the first shot and with the hammer cocked by the slide on subsequent shots. There’s a hammer-dropping safety lever on the left side, and this safely lowers the hammer after it has been cocked. Manufactured in Eckernförde, Germany, at the J.P. Sauer plant (which Sig bought a controlling interest in so they’d qualify for contracts), most German states purchased the P6 due to it costing less than the other two pistols.

P6-hammer
The special hammer spur, with the notch that lets the police armorers know when a pistol has been dropped on its hammer. Before you laugh, the Germans aren’t the only ones with persnickety regulations.

One interesting detail found on the P6 pistols, and not on the P225 pistols, is the hammer. The German police standards called for a special hammer, where the rowel of the spur has a notch cut through it. This is the Deformationssporn, or “deformation spur.” It exists for one purpose only: to determine if the pistol in question has been dropped and fell on its hammer. If that happened, the spur would be bent and not be bendable back—uh-oh. The obsession with pistols being dropped, especially on the hammer, is a mystery, but once something is written into the specs, it’s there until the end of time.

The P6 trigger pulls are reported to be heavier than the P225s exported to the U.S., but I don’t have a representative sample to check. I also don’t know if this was due to the West German police wanting to reduce ADs, or that they had to deal with harder primers, or Americans wouldn’t put up with a heavier trigger pull. Mine isn’t bad at all.

P6-breechblock-1
The breechblock, a separate machined piece of steel, is pinned into the stamped, heavy-gauge steel slide.

One aspect of the Sig design (that created part of the lower cost) was the slide manufacture. The slide was a heavy (really thick gauge) steel stamping, with the muzzle end block welded to it, and the breechblock pinned into it. The earliest P226s are built like this, as well as the early P220. The feed ramp of the barrel was designed to be best-feeding for FMJ ammunition (can’t have any of those nasty JHPs now, can we?), and some report that their P6s don’t like JHPs. Neither of mine has ever noticed.

P6-breechblock-2
The giveaway for the pinned-in breechblock is the joint on the top of the slide. Later Sig slides, machined from solid, do not have this.

Two, But Different

I actually have two, and they came in different boxes. One came in a fiberboard box, looking very commercial, and the other in a hinged hard plastic (blue) box, apparently the standard police issue box. This is where collecting can come in. Both boxes had the name of the officer to whom they were issued (last names of Kurio and Schaniejel). And my two came in through two different importers: PW Arms and Century Arms.

Sig-Sauer-P6
The author’s two P6s—the one in the blue plastic box dates from January 1980, while the other dates from December 1995.

They also span most of the period of issue. The older one has a “proofmark,” or acceptance date, stamped on it of 1/80, while the other is stamped 12/95. Both came from the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, and a lot of the ones you’ll see (if you go looking) will be. It happened to be the most populous state in West Germany (now all of Germany), half again as many people as either of the next two. (No big surprise there. It’s the state encompassing the Rhine-Ruhr industrial area.)

Sig-Sauer-Made-In-Germany
Both of the author’s guns are marked on the left side with the Sig Sauer name and “Made in Germany”. Commercial pistols were marked on the right side with the Sig name and P225.

And, clearly, they used them; by December of 1995, the new standard for police pistols had been adopted, and the P6 was on the way out.

The grips are the same between the P6 and the original P225, as are the magazines and internals. They differ only in markings. However, when Sig went and updated the P225 to the P225A1, they changed the magazines and pretty much everything else. The P6/P225 magazine has a reputation of having feed lips that don’t like to always be loaded. Over time, they’ll wear, and this causes failures to feed.

We Americans expect (and get) magazines that can be left loaded literally for decades and still work. The European police department’s usual process is for an officer to be issued his pistol, magazines and ammo when he reports for duty, load up, go to work, finish his shift, unload and turn it all in. In that process, who would notice a problem? A magazine feed lip that doesn’t like to be loaded for years? They stay loaded eight hours at a time … no problem here.

Well, Sig updated the magazine design, and it’ll withstand American use, but it’s not, alas, compatible with the old P6/P225 (rats!). Grips don’t interchange, nor do much of any other parts. So, if you need to repair or want to upgrade, you need to be very careful, as a lot of sellers don’t know or care between P225 and P225A1 parts.

P6-markings-80
The older one, with the slide markings of the German State that bought it, and the acceptance date. Also note the importer and that the barrel is marked with the last three digits of the serial number.

The West German P6s were marked as to the state that bought them, and mine are marked with the date of manufacture and the state on the right side of the slide, along with the last three digits of the serial number. They don’t have the commercial Sig markings, while the P225 imports do. However, the P6s are marked on the left side of the slide, and the left side of the barrel chamber: “Sig Sauer.” They also have the German-law required proof marks, and here things get interesting for my pair.

P6-markings-95
This had to be one of the last P6s the State of Nordrhein-Westfalen, bought in December of 1995.

The slide nose undersurface is the usual place to mark them, and the markings on mine differ. You’d think, with the P6s being built at one plant, and in this case with them being purchased by Nordrhein-Westfalen, that the proofmarks would be the same. Nope. More collectability variance. The surplus ones will, of course, have markings from the importer, most of which were through Century Arms International, but not all.

P6-nose-marking
The slide is proofmarked on the bottom of the nose, and the two P6s the author has sport different proof houses marks. Why? Who knows.

Calculated Rarity          

You may wonder why you don’t see (or didn’t back when they were coming into the U.S.) many of the P5, P6 and P7 pistols. What I’ve been told is this: When the standards changed back in the mid 1990s, the states (each German state is like a U.S. State with their own responsibilities and authorizations, etc.) were told by the Federal government they could get new pistols from the new list. And the Federal government would trade them, one-for-one, or whatever they needed, provided they traded the old ones in.

If they didn’t trade them in, then they’d have to purchase new ones out of their own budget, and the old ones would have to be disposed of within the requirements of the very strict German laws concerning firearms. Taking the easy way, they just handed them over and got new ones.

Some states didn’t, or they at least tried a few lots of test sales, and that’s how we got the ones we got. This amounted to tens of thousands of P6s, but not the whole lot of them. Still, they’re common enough and less expensive (curiously) than the P225 or P225A1, so if you want to get into collecting easily and without breaking the bank, this is one place to start.         

SigP6-chrono-data
Accuracy results were to be averages of three, five-shot groups at 50 yards off a Champion shooting rest. Velocities are averages of 10 shots measured on a Labradar chronograph set to read 15 feet from the muzzle

I tested mine when I first got them and found that they were, not surprisingly, just like all the other Sigs I’d shot up to that point: accurate, reliable, easy to take apart and clean, and resemble a Sig (which is a good look). I seriously considered using one as an everyday carry pistol, but the background on the magazines was just enough to give me pause. It may be true, or it may take years to happen, but who wants to run the risk?

I could load up a magazine and leave it loaded for a few years (I have tests like that going on right now; the longest one is up to 14 years), but I can’t trust it until I know and that’s years away. Plus, if the test magazine does fail, I’ve just thrashed one of a very few I have.

So, mine are range queens and teaching pistols for new shooters. The grip is big enough to hold, but small enough to be managed by shooters with small hands. While the DA pull is more than I’d want a new shooter to struggle with, the SA trigger pull is plenty nice enough and yet not too light. And either are accurate enough that a new shooter who pays attention will hit what they’ve aimed at.

Collectible, but usable, suitable for teaching new shooters, but fun to shoot for the experienced. It uses standard 9mm ammunition (unlike some historical pieces I have in the safe) and doesn’t mangle the brass. Made by the Swiss in Germany for Germans, but now here in America. What’s not to like?

Sig-Sauer-P6-specs

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the March 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Handguns:

Trailblazer Pivot Review: One Swinging PCC

The author reviews the Trailblazer Pivot, a space-age 9mm PCC with a trick up its sleeve.

The Trailblazer Pivot, a blowback PCC chambered in 9mm, is not your usual carbine. Some ideas are so clever you’ve just got to nod and go, “I’m on board with that.” The Pivot is a solution to compact storage that does not use any other usual methods.

Usually, to make a long-gun more compact, several things must be done: shorten the barrel, shorten the stock, fold it, make it a takedown or, my least-favorite, make it a bullpup. Shortening the barrel makes it an NFA item, shortening the stock makes it usable only by short people, folding and takedown bring mechanical problems with them, and, as for bullpups, the less we discuss them, the better.

The Pivot uses none of those. Instead, the upper receiver rotates on the lower receiver, and since the pivot point is not in the center of the assembly, it increases in length from its closed size. That’s how you get a 21-inch closed package to unfold into a carbine with a 16-inch barrel.

Nice And Tidy

The folding and unfolding is easy enough. On the front of the lower is a flush button. Press the button to unlock the receivers, and you can then rotate the upper to the unfolded position. (Can it “unfold” if it never folded in the first place? The English language has some very strange quirks and shortcomings.) The rotating is easy; you can use your fingers to give it a flip/rotate in either direction, and you can do it pretty briskly. When the upper gets around to its 180 position, it will automatically lock in place.

Trailblazer-Pivot-rotating-upper
The upper hinges across the lower, and that means there has to be a clearance slot for the hammer. Also, the Pivot has to be unloaded and have the bolt locked back to pivot open or closed; you can’t have a magazine in place like this.

Now, the folded position is going to raise some eyebrows, at least until you understand the setup. When folded, the muzzle is going to be pointed back at you. Do not be alarmed. The designers took care of that, in part for safety and also for good mechanical reasons.

To fold or unfold (rotate? pivot? swing about?), the Pivot has to be unloaded, that is, with no magazine in place and with the bolt locked to the rear. The non-reciprocating charging handle has a locking notch, very much like that of the MP5. (And yes, you can do the “HK swipe” to chamber a round.) These are both necessary for the upper receiver to swipe across the top deck of the lower.

TB-Pivot-charging-handle
The bolt locks open with a notch in its travel slot, just like the MP5. And you get to do the “MP5 swipe” on loading, as well.

If you look closely at the Pivot, you’ll see there is a notched segment in the upper. That’s there to clear the top of the hammer, as the upper swings around across the lower. The hammer has to be high enough to be depressed by the bolt when it cycles, so it sits high in the lower. And the magazine lips have to do the same in order to feed. So, bolt back and magazine out, to provide clearance.

hammer-clearance-slot
The clearance slot for the hammer is in two locations on the upper, as expected. But the front slot location is also the place of the locking system to hold the Pivot locked in place, open or closed.

To use the Pivot form in its stored condition, you pull it out of the case, from behind the seat or wherever and hold the pistol grip in your firing hand. Press the unlock button and swing, slap or rotate the upper to lock, grab a magazine, insert in the pistol grip and slap the charging handle down. You carry loaded and have a chambered round. If the stock, as folded, is too short, you simply press the stock latch and slide the stock out as needed. It has 3 inches of travel, and while it’s still a tad short for long-armed gents like me, I find it entirely usable. If you don’t have a 7-foot wingspan, then the stock will be just fine for you. The ambidextrous safety lets you use the Pivot right- or left-handed, and from there it is safety off, aim and fire.

Oh, sights? The Pivot doesn’t come with any. There was a time when every carbine, PCC or other had to come with sights. There weren’t many choices; optics were still fragile and untrusted, and shooters expected sights. Now, there are so many to choose from, and optics are normal; anything Trailblazer put on the Pivot, 80 percent of the buyers would swap out for something else. So, why bother?

Pivot-review-shooting-2
The Trailblazer Pivot is a compact-storing 9mm carbine that opens up to be a useful tool in an emergency, or just a fun plinking firearm.

Diversity Is The Key

Now, the Pivot doesn’t just have the rotational aspect to it—it isn’t a one-trick pony. The stock, as mentioned, is adjustable to length, and it also has a storage space for a magazine. And did I forget to mention the Pivot uses Glock magazines, and the pistol grip is made deliberately a tad short, so you can use G19 magazine, holding 15 rounds? You can use higher-capacity magazines if you wish (and most of us would), but since the G19 is common, one might even say a baseline EDC pistol, making it compatible with G19 magazines makes sense.

TB-Pivot-mag-storage-stock
The stock, which is adjustable, also holds a magazine. It comes with a 15-round G19 magazine.

If they made the grip a bit longer, for more comfort, to work only with G17 magazines, none of the bazillion G19 magazines in existence would work. That would be stupid, and the folks at Trailblazer are not. And since it works with Glock magazines starting with the G19, every Glock mag bigger than that, in 9mm, will work as well. I’m not saying that having a 33-round magazine handy would be too much, but it certainly isn’t going to ride well on your belt. So, if belt-loading the Pivot is your plan, have a belt-appropriate magazine or magazines there and the 33-round one someplace handy.

The upper is an aluminum shell with the steel barrel and bolt inside, while the lower is aluminum and polymer. The upper has a Pic rail on top, but it doesn’t extend the full length of the receiver. It starts at the rear, but a hand’s-width back of the charging handle stop position, the rail is cut away. This does two things: It keeps your hand from the sharp edges of the rail, while you’re working the charging handle.

And it precludes mounting gear there that would do the same thing. The rail picks up again forward of the charging handle travel, so there’s room to mount a front sight if you want a BUIS set. My suggestion, if you do: Be sure and select something that folds. It’d be a shame to take the very compact Pivot and make it a bulky thing with fixed sights.

A compact red-dot sight would be just the ticket here, and I used an Aimpoint Micro T2, 2 MOA for the fun. The Pivot isn’t a long-range carbine (although the Pivot and Aimpoint and I did heroic work on the 100-yard gongs at the club), so even a low-power variable scope would be more than needed and, by the time you had mounted it, add considerably to the bulk of the Pivot.

Pivot-review-shooting-1
The ambidextrous safety makes it easy to shoot from off the shoulder, should the need present itself.

That said, if you want to add accessories, the Pivot is handy. The upper receiver has two rows of M-Lok slots for accessories on each side. The lower receiver has M-Lok slots at the 6 o’clock position, so you could, if you were just not paying attention, hang a whole lot of gear on the Pivot. The whole point of the Pivot is that it’s compact, so resist the temptation to bling it up.

In testing, I found that the blowback design is effective, but it has some unavoidable consequences. Since the Pivot is compact and this limits bolt travel, the bolt is heavy and stoutly sprung. Not so much so that it is difficult to hand-cycle, but more so than my various competition PCCs, which isn’t a fair comparison. Those have been tuned to be smooth and soft, and the shortest one of them is a full foot longer than the Pivot, and the lightest one tips the scales 2 pounds heavier than the Pivot. Unfair, as I said, because the Pivot is meant to be compact, and my competition PCCs are made to win matches.

But the recoil is no big deal in the Pivot—we are, after all, talking about a 9mm carbine. The barrel is threaded 1/2×28, the standard 9mm muzzle thread, so you have your choice of muzzle brakes, suppressors or just use the included thread protector instead.

I tested the Pivot with a cross-section of 9mm ammo, not really expecting to find anything wrong, or amiss, and guess what, I didn’t. Boringly, the Pivot fed all, fired all and ejected all with no problems. The Pivot does not lock open after the last round has been fired, but I don’t see that as an operational problem, and I can see it as a mechanical and safety problem.

Trailblazer-review-table
Note: Accuracy results were to be averages of three, five-shot groups at 50 yards off a Champion shooting rest. Velocities are averages of 10 shots measured on a Labradar chronograph set to read 15 feet from the muzzle.

Disassembly is not obvious. It involves a punch or small-diameter Philips-head screwdriver, and a hole in the rear plate of the upper receiver. The owner’s manual lays it all out, and once you have extracted the bolt assembly, your job is done. There’s no need to separate the upper and lower, as you can gain access to everything with it hinged open, and the large socket-nut bolt on the bottom does not appear to be user-serviceable. Once the bolt is out, clean the gunk, scrub the bore, aerosol hose out the firing assembly, lubricate and reassemble. There’s really no need to make it more complicated than that.

trailblazer-pivot-swinging
The Pivot hinge has to be open to disassemble it, and that could entail needing three hands.

But … Why?

So, what’s the usefulness of the Pivot, very clever engineering aside? Well, if you want to be packing a PCC, but don’t want to be using something as obvious as a gun case, this is your ticket. At just under 21 inches long, folded, the Pivot will disappear into bags and cases that don’t shout “firearm.” Instead of a skateboard pack, a messenger bag will do—and even a not-large messenger bag, provided the zipper arrangement allows.

That said, know the laws in your jurisdiction. Your CPL may cover the Pivot, and it may not. Is it a concealed pistol license or a concealed firearms license? Some states don’t allow the concealed carry of rifles and shotguns. And in some other (even more irrational) states, the law or case law has determined that a firearm that has a loaded magazine in the case with it, or touching it, is loaded. So your unloaded Pivot, with a loaded magazine in the stock, is “loaded” based on some ignorant judge decades past. Know the law.

trailblazer-pivot-internals
With the Pivot hinged open, you can reach and clean everything. You do not need to separate the upper from the lower.

As to the cost, the list price seems a bit much at first. Well, it did to me, but then I remembered “it isn’t the 1980s anymore.” If you’re comparing the Pivot to a 9mm-chambered AR, then the price is normal. In fact, you can flip open the latest Gun Digest to the AR/PCC section and be hard pressed to randomly drop a fingertip onto one AR or another and not exceed the cost of the Pivot. Oh, you can find 9mm carbines for less, but they don’t fold or rotate.

Nope, there’s only one Pivot.

Pivot-specs

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the February 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On PCCs:

Gun Cleaning: Get The Lead Out

A look at the author’s simple recipe for getting all the lead out when cleaning a gun.

If you ever get a chance to read some of the seminal gunsmithing books—books written more than a half-century ago (in some instances more than three-quarters of a century)—you’ll be horrified.

Some of the concoctions they used for bluing and rust and lead removal were simply toxic. Back then, there was no Brownells; if you wanted it, you had to make it yourself. Today, some of the home mixes you might find online aren’t any better.

But, you’ve got a leaded bore … so what do you do to remove the lead?

I do a lot of testing, and I do a lot of reloading, both for practice (practice ammo) and R&D. That means that sometimes I end up with a grungy bore. The solution is simple: one can and one brush. I use Shooter’s Choice lead remover and scrub the bores with Hoppe’s Tornado brushes.

Unlike the various caustic, corrosive and borderline lethal mixes you read about, Shooter’s Choice is merely “petroleum distillates.” I’ve got a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and “petroleum distillates” covers a lot of ground, but it isn’t like you’re using reactive materials that can create lethal compounds.

But they do say not to leave it in the bore overnight, so take at least some care, OK?

One “home remedy” creates lead acetate as a byproduct, and that stuff is nasty. There’s an old saying in chemistry and medicine: Dose makes the poison. Well, lead acetate isn’t something you can just shrug off. Instead of chemically reacting to the lead, the Shooter’s Choice works on the bond between lead and steel, and that’s where the brushes come in.

Shooters-choice-lead-remover-back
The list of ingredients of the lead remover is simple: nothing caustic, abrasive or reactive … and nothing to create nasty byproducts.

The Hoppes Tornado brushes aren’t made with bristles. Instead, the brush is a cylinder of springy stainless-steel loops, ones that scrub on their edges—not their ends. This means you have less abrasion on the bore and the tops of the lands than the bristle style creates.

Yes, the loops can’t reach down into the corners of the grooves as well, but once I’ve gotten the bulk of the lead out (and rather easily, I might add), I can use a bronze brush for a few strokes. OK, two brushes then, not just one.

Swipe And Shine

The process is simple: run a patch with a bore cleaner, any cleaner, down the bore to mop out the powder residue. Then, a dry patch. A patch wet with the Shooter’s Choice is next. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. The hardest part is the waiting. Then, scrub with the Tornado brush, a few passes with a bronze to clean it up and voila, done.

shooters-choice-lead-remover
The new design is a lot more eye-catching than the old, but the results are the same: It gets the lead out.

I developed this routine at Second Chance, the bowling pin shoot, where it was common to go through ammo by the thousands of rounds in the weeklong match. This process also worked miracles on shotguns to get the lead and plastic out from days of shooting buckshot and slugs. Although, for that I had to go with a Chore Boy bronze pot scrubber, as there were no Tornado brushes for 12-gauge back then.

After checking up on Shooter’s Choice, they changed the packaging; I still have a few more tins of the old label left, so I’ll keep using them.

Oh, and pay attention to what got you into this mess, and don’t do it again, OK?

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the February 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Gun Cleaning:

Leave No Trace: The XS Sight Pusher

If you’re tired of dinging up your handguns while messing with their sights, it’s time to take a look at the XS Sight Pusher.

Previously, referring to someone as a “pusher” meant they weren’t to be trusted. That’s not the case with XS Sights. Today, it’s used to adjust your sights, and the Inline Sight Pusher kit for Glock is a simple and straightforward tool.

Normally, sight pushers are designed to work with, well … everything, making them complex. I mean, when you actually have to read the instructions, perhaps it’s too much of a good thing. The XS Sight Pusher, however, is simple and straightforward (or sideways, if you get what I mean).

There’s an adjustment bolt, a sliding brass pusher and an included nylon wedge. Wedge? Yep. You slide the wedge along the angled base of the pusher to adjust the position of the slide and produce a non-slip surface that won’t mar your slide.

Then, you crank the bolt to push the sight. XS Sights also made the brass pushing part with a marked scale, so you can see how much you’ve moved the sight and get a better estimate of how much is “enough.” The best part of all this is that it’s compact and lightweight enough that you can put it in your range bag and take it with you.

Shoot and adjust until your Glock is on-center. If you’re doing the adjustments at home, then the XS Sight Pusher, with its scale on the brass plate and index marks on the pusher body, will tell you when you have your sight centered.

XS-Sight-Pusher-tool
The XS Sight Pusher with the brass pusher retracted and the wedge in place, ready to receive a Glock slide.

Now, even a Glock-specific tool has to have some complication. In this case, it’s one provided by Glock themselves. If you’re working on a Glock 42, the .380 micro-Glock, you’ll have to read the G42-specific step to make sure you do it correctly. Oh, and for those who are online mavens, use the QR code etched on the side of the pusher to download and read the instructions, should you need them at the range. (Brave new world indeed.)

It should go without saying that any and all Glock-clone slides will work just as well in the XS Sight pusher. The kit is the pusher, wedge, Allen key to turn the adjustment bolt, steel Glock front sight tool (so if you’re installing a complete new set of sights, you can do the front one as well), oil and thread-locking goo.

This is the sort of thing that we gunsmiths back in the dark ages wished for or made ourselves to avoid marring sights with aluminum, brass or steel drift punches. No more hammering rods to move sights and no more brass marks or dinged sights. The DIY Series runs $150, which if you own a couple of Glocks is not a big deal. If you only own one Glock, it might seem like a bit, but wait until someone at the gun club has a sight-in issue and you have the tool to solve their problem right there in your range bag.

Being the hero of the day makes the cost go down easier, and getting your own Glock on-center is a whole lot easier.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the January 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Tools & Gunsmithing:

Both Hands On The Wheel: Gunsmithing Screwdriver Sets

A look at the Wheeler 43-Piece Professional Gunsmithing Screwdriver Set, featuring all the bits and drivers you need for common firearms.

Back in the old days, I’d buy screwdrivers whenever I found them at garage sales and harden the tips and grind them to fit. Fit what, you ask? Whatever needed fitting. Regular screwdrivers didn’t fit firearms screws and trying usually meant cosmetic damage and heartache.

Well, that ended a long time ago when those who make firearms tools started offering properly fitted and hardened screwdrivers. Now, we have a plethora of choices of brands and sizes—and Wheeler is right there in the mix. They offer a wide array of kit sizes. Here, I focus on the sweet spot of kits: the Wheeler 43-Piece Professional Gunsmithing Screwdriver Set.

All The Things

One of the first things you learn when looking into tools is that you can’t have a complete toolkit—unless you’re willing to stock a rolling cabinet. You know, the steel box on wheels that’s larger than your grandmother’s china cabinet and has everything needed to pull maintenance on any machine? Try and take that to the gun club “just in case.” (Even then, it won’t fix everything.)

The Wheeler 43-piece kit has all the bits and drivers for all the common firearms you’ll most likely encounter or have with you, at home or at the gun club. The handle is rubberized and has a magnetic insert, so the bits won’t fall out when you invert them to start tightening something. And all its bits come in a closable hard case.

Wheeler-Gunsmithing-Screwdriver-set
The Wheeler 43 -piece gunsmithing screwdriver set has all the firearms-common bits, as well as a handle, adapter and space for more bit if you need them.

The bits themselves are hollow ground (the flat blade ones), properly hardened and given a phosphate coating to slow down corrosion. They’re hard, so they can’t be rust-proof, but the phosphate slows down corrosion. The rest is up to you. There are also hex, Torx and Phillips bits in there, so you have almost all the bases covered.

Now, the 43-piece kit isn’t the most compact screwdriver set you’ll come across, but it is compact enough. It’s protected, and it’ll fit into your range bag. And the design of the case means it won’t slide off of a shelf; it latches shut. Plus, the front and sides are printed with what it is, so you won’t have to take everything off the shelf to see what is what. Those who commonly label everything can relax—the job’s been done for you.

You get all this for a list price of $45, which is a very fair price. Plus, the case has a small, recessed section inside, so if you have some specialty bits that you need for the specific firearm you use at the range, you can drop those into the recess and count on them being with you if and when you need them. You can make your 43-piece kit a 50-piece kit … or whatever number you need.

Don’t be that guy at your gun club. You know, the one walking the line saying, “Anyone got a screwdriver to fit my pistol?” Be the guy who can say, “Probably, what is it?”

Be that guy.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2023 EDC special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Tools & Gunsmithing:

Organizing For Sanity: The AR Parts Holding Template

Tired of losing springs, screws or roll pins while working on your AR? Let the AR Parts Holding Template remedy that.

Ever be in the middle of an assembly project or reassembling something after cleaning and drop a part? Sir Isaac Newton had no clue regarding the physics of small parts: The smaller and more necessary a part is, the faster it scurries to the darkest corner of your workshop to hide behind a bench leg. I’m convinced when the old neighborhood revives and someone rehabs the building my gunsmithing operation used to be in, they’ll find parts. Lots of ’em.

Other times, you’re holding a part up to the light, wondering which one is this one?

Let Edge Independent Product Developers help you with that. They make a tray they plan for use as an assembly template for your AR-15. Me, I see it as that and a great aid in keeping things straight during cleaning and rebuilds.

The template is simple: a laser-cut and laser-labeled sheet of wood bonded to a backer, so you have parts-shaped pockets. And this isn’t even the best part—they have them numbered. There’s a laminated instruction sheet in the kit that tells you what number goes with what part, but the cut slot for each makes it pretty easy to figure out.

Somebody out there is all set to be insulted. “I know my AR parts,” one will say. Yes, you do, but once you bump the table and the various springs all roll together, have fun sorting them out. There’s even a small magnet set into the board to let you keep ferrous parts from escaping, parts that you might want to keep close at hand. And there’s an inset marked “misc” for the “whatever” parts. It even comes with tweezers so you can pick the small springs up out of the slot into which they fit.

AR-Parts-Holding-Template
The laminated guide gives you the number code just in case you haven’t committed them to memory.

Assembling And Cleaning

The fellow who got me onto this thought it was a great idea for those who are assembling an AR-15. I agree, but it’s even better for those cleaning one. The kit comes with links to assembly instructions (not that those are difficult to find online), just in case you need some guidance.

For me, the trick is in cleaning. For that, I plan to dig into the shop and find a spray can of something polyurethane to give the board an oil and carbon-resistant finish (it may already have one, I haven’t abused it to see), so I can easily clean it once I’ve dumped grubby parts into it.

I won’t have to worry about losing this or that (it’s amazing what parts will do if you take your eyes off of them for just a second) and can keep them corralled waiting their turn.

Just to indulge in one of my pet peeves of other gun writers: Patents have been applied for. So, don’t go thinking you can horn in on this great idea. And I’ve been told there are other popular firearms models receiving the same template treatment, so you can soon have control of parts for those when cleaning or building.

AR-Parts-Holding-Template-tweezers-magnet
There’s a magnet for small parts you don’t want to lose, and tweezers so you can pick them up.

And the best part? The Edge template is smaller, edge-to-edge, than a sheet of copy paper and thinner than a politician’s promises. This means you won’t have to work hard to find room for it in your workshop or loading and cleaning bench. In fact, you might have to work hard to find it, once you’ve slid it in-between a couple of boxes on the shelves. Now that I think about it, I might, once the polyurethane is fully cured, just paint the edges bright orange or neon green, so I’ll be able to find it on the shelf.

Online, from Edge Independent Product Developer, it goes for $45. You might think that’s a bit high, but after dropping and breaking, or dropping and losing (or spending a half-hour fishing it out of its special crevice behind your workbench) a vital part, you’ll find it money well spent.

For more information, visit EdgeProducts.bkollar.com.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Gunsmithing:

How To Properly Install A Telestock

Most ARs these days already have a telestock, but many aren’t properly assembled. Here’s how to do it right.

One of the things that we find very important in the LE Patrol rifle classes is getting rifles to fit officers. While no one would consider for a moment the idea that the standard and only issue shoe should be a size 9, the uniform jacket a 38 Regular and trousers 30L-32W, management blithely assumes that one pistol will fit them all. And one rifle, as well.

Well … no.

So, in the early days, we saw officers arrive with fixed stocks, and they’d look enviously at the one or two who had telestocks. Now, it’s rare to see a fixed stock, they’re all telestocks. And yet, not all are properly assembled. Or even tightly assembled.

The telestock has a buffer tube, a sliding stock with some sort of latch, and the tube is secured to the lower receiver by being screwed in and then locked in place with what’s called a castle nut. It also holds on to the rear plate that guides the buffer tube and holds in the takedown spring and plunger.

Here’s a quick primer on how to take a telestock apart—not doing it correctly can damage parts:

Unload and disassemble, removing the upper and lower. Remove the buffer and spring. Use a castle nut wrench to loosen the castle nut, and then spin it back far enough to clear the retaining plate. Slide the retaining plate back from the receiver, and control, remove and set aside the takedown spring. You can, if you wish, now remove the buffer tube by unscrewing it. Once it goes back a turn or two, the buffer retainer and its spring will pop loose, so control those and set them aside.

Doesn’t sound so bad, right?

Well, we can now get to the mistakes, errors and dimensional problems that crop up.

Buffer Tube

The buffer tube has to be screwed into the lower receiver hoop far enough to trap the buffer retainer, but not so far that it binds the retainer down in its tunnel. If not screwed in far enough, the buffer retainer pops out, and it and its spring get to dance with the hammer, trigger or disconnector. Soon the rifle stops working. Install it in too far, and the retainer gets bound down and doesn’t keep the buffer under control. When you open the action to disassemble for cleaning, you get a spring-launched buffer flying across the room. (Or it hits someone, who rightly objects to such treatment.)

The solution is to check the engagement. If the engagement is minimal, you can remove the buffer and spring, loosen the castle nut, turn the buffer tube in another rotation, and tighten everything back down again. If your rifle has the hoop threads cut wrong, then you’ll have to either swap tubes until you find one that works or file the lip of the tube you have to fit properly. Screw it in until it holds the retainer down. See how much too much you have (and it may even stick out of the top of the hoop as well), then remove the tube and carefully file the lip back until it’s just right.

You might even end up with an uneven—or lipped—tube, with clearance on the top for the upper receiver, and enough protrusion on the bottom to hold in the retainer.

Or you can buy a buffer tube that’s been built to provide a retaining lip and still clear the upper. PWS makes one, and it works like a champ.

PWS-buffer-tube
The PWS buffer tube, with an extended lip to retain the buffer catch, will still clear the upper receiver.

Tipped buffer tubes are those that have been allowed to move when the castle nut has been tightened. The tube, and the stock attached to it, needs to be vertical to the bore axis, or else it will be uncomfortable or difficult to shoot. The trick here is keeping the tube vertical while you tighten the castle nut. There’s no trick, just patience.

Castle Nut

The castle nut has notches in its front and rear edges. The big notches are for the wrench that tightens or loosens it, and the small notches are for staking. The big notches go to the rear. No, I’m not kidding: I’ve seen castle nuts put on the wrong way, in part because they’re sometimes screwed on to the buffer tube (as a parts kit) at the factory just to keep them from being lost and end up being screwed on wrong. The castle nut must be torqued on with a proper wrench. (Anything else will either not provide enough torque or mar the castle nut heinously.) You can use Loctite, but this is more a vibration control, and a belt-and-suspenders approach. Don’t depend solely on torque and Loctite.

castle-nut
This castle nut hasn’t been staked. That’ll be changed shortly.

The castle nut has to trap the retaining plate flat against the receiver, and once in place you must stake the castle nut. That’s what the smaller notches are for. Use a spring-loaded center-punch and put the tip against the retaining plate, then close to the gap of the notch. You want to kick up a staked nib that’ll interfere with the castle nut unscrewing. You won’t do this with just one click, you’ll have to keep at it until the nib is big enough to do its job. An un-staked castle nut can loosen, and when it does, the stock gets all wobbly. If, on top of everything else, the buffer tube wasn’t screwed in far enough, it may loosen enough to free the buffer retainer, and when you go to disassemble to fix things, you get the buffer surprise. So be careful when you take the upper and lower apart—you don’t want to take a buffer in the face.

castle-nut-and-punch
A spring-loaded center-punch is the tool you’ll need to stake your castle nut.

Another quick warning here; if you have opted for a single-point sling and are using a retaining plate with loops on it to clip the sling onto, you can’t stake it. For some reason beyond understanding, those plates are made too hard to be staked. This is the one time you will have to depend on torque and Loctite—at least until you decide to give up on single-point slings and can rebuild to a regular retaining plate. If you just have to have a single-point sling, then go with the GG&G adapter, one that clamps on. With it you don’t have to rebuild your telestock to use a single-point sling.

AR-sling-loop
You just have to have a single-point sling and use the GG&G adapter. That way you won’t have to rebuild your stock assembly and then undo that work once you’re tired of the single-point sling.

Castle Nut Torquing

You might think that the vise block that fits into the magazine well is the way to hold your lower while working on the castle nut. No. That risks breaking things. Instead, lay the receiver flat on a padded bench. The pistol grip will act as your lock. When you go to loosen the nut, lay the lower receiver down on its right side. This way you will by rotating the castle nut toward the pistol grip. You can place a hand on the pistol grip and lean on it with your body weight, to keep things still. When tightening, lay it on the left side, so again, the pistol grip is in the direction you’re turning the nut. The Mil-spec limit is 40 ft-lb. That’s a lot for this, and all you need, but you still have to stake it.

staking-castle-nut
The center-punch goes onto the retaining plate, adjacent to the castle nut, at a locking notch.

And you use a padded bench because the various things that stick out, like the bolt latch, or the magazine button fence, would otherwise be pressed hard against the bench top.

staked-castle-nut
Once you’ve clicked the punch enough times, you’ll have a staked castle nut.

Retaining Plate

If you look at the plate, you’ll see a dished section, and on the other side that section is raised. Plates are made by stamping them out of sheet steel, and part of the stamping is to create that raised portion. The raised portion fits into the recess machined in the lower receiver. It seems obvious but I’ve seen a couple of rifles that were assembled with the raised portion out. When that happens, the retaining plate can’t stay in place; it’ll rotate, and it’ll either take the buffer tube with it or it’ll gouge the buffer tube.

buffer-tube-threads
This buffer tube wasn’t screwed in far enough, and the buffer retainer fell out. And when it was opened, the owner got the “buffer surprise” that can be so hazardous.

The plate also keeps the takedown spring in place. A quick look to make sure the spring was pushed fully into the tunnel on assembly is warranted. If it wasn’t, it can be bent, and the plate is tipped. Also, the spring might not have enough force to keep the plunger under control, and you might lose the rear plunger on disassembly.

retainer-FCG
This buffer retainer escaped and rattled around until it could find a way to cause problems.

Stock Swap

While this isn’t something done by Wall Street, exchange the sliding portion of the stock on the buffer tube for another one. The latch on the USGI style is a hinged lever that pulls the plunger out of the drilled locking spots. (The originals had two: open or closed. Only later did we get more, now you can get up to eight positions.) The locking plunger rides in a slot machined on the ventral fin of the buffer tube. The lever can’t move the plunger enough to permit it to leave the groove. So, to remove the slider, you have to grab the whole lever, pull it away from the slider and then slide the stock off. Install the new one the same way.

Magpul-telestock-slider
To remove the slider, you’ll have to pull down on the latch, not lever it. On the Magpul stocks, you’ll have to pull down the crosspin of the latch.

Mil-Spec Versus Commercial

The buffer tube isn’t the same for all stocks. Less so now than in the old days, there are “commercial” tubes that differ. The original-spec tubes are made from forgings, and the tube is machined. If you look closely at a mil-spec tube, you’ll see that the tops of the threads are higher than the tube body. The commercial tubes (assuming anyone makes them anymore, but you might still run into an older rifle with one) are made by extrusion.

mil-spec-vs-commercial-buffer-tube
The original buffer tubes had two locking notches: open and closed. You can get a lot more today; this is a six-position tube next to a clone of an original.

Here, a heated cylinder of aluminum is forced through a shaping die, and the tube is brought down to diameter while the ventral fin is formed. Then, the tube is threaded. The threads can’t be larger in diameter than the tube. (Well … they can, but that adds time, machinery and cost to their manufacture … so it ain’t happening.) And if you look at a commercial tube, the thread tops are the same diameter as the tube.

The threads are the same; they have to be to screw into the receiver. But the slider portion differs, and a mil-spec stock won’t fit onto a commercial tube, while a commercial stock will be a sloppy fit on a mil-spec tube. The easy way to determine? Measure it. Mil-spec tubes are a nominal 1.148 inches while commercial tubes are a nominal 1.168 inches in diameter. Either will fit a lower receiver, but they won’t permit stock swaps without tube swaps. Both use the same springs and buffer weights. Most tubes, and thus stocks, are now the mil-spec diameter. If yours has a commercial-diameter buffer tube, and you want a different slider, you’ll probably find it easier to just rebuild the whole assembly with a new mil-spec tube, to get the stock you want.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


Get On Target With The AR:

The Budget EDC Pistol Buyer’s Guide

Looking for a quality EDC pistol that won’t break the bank? Here are our top carry handgun picks for below $500.

There’s a line of thought in the everyday carry field that you should not be carrying an expensive, custom pistol. Some object because it might give the DA another stick with which to beat you in the legal proceedings. Others claim that your custom 1911 (it always seems to be a 1911, in this argument) will spend years in evidence lockup, and you might not ever see it again.

Well, color me unimpressed.

To throw cold water on those, consider instead the incident itself. If it was in the parlance “a good shoot,” then the DA will do what he or she can or will do, but that’s all. And if it was a good shoot, you’ll be getting your property back. (Well, maybe not, in some jurisdictions, but that’s a life choice and real estate decision, not a pistol selection one.) And if your custom pistol has suffered somewhat in evidence, then the custom ’smith who worked on it will be glad to refresh it now that it has served you well.

EDC Pistols Get Gross

No, I encourage the use of inexpensive pistols for daily carry for an entirely different reason: sweat.

BRG9-in-case
Not every inexpensive pistol has to be available in a host of options to be a smoking deal. The BRG9 Elite comes with everything you see in the case here.

I once had a customer who could rust anything, and quickly. Bart’s perspiration was so corrosive that you could see it on his carry gun. We ended up giving his carry gun a double hard-chrome plating, because we learned he could rust through the hard chrome with just one layer of plating. As I write this, it’s 82 degrees outside, with 88 percent relative humidity. You practically have to push yourself through the air, it’s so thick. A walk around the block has one dripping in sweat. That’s sweat that will drench your carry pistol.

Yes, modern coatings and finishes are much better than the high-gloss blue of the old days, but rusting a $5,000 custom pistol in a weekend of carry isn’t fun. Luckily, you can get a carry gun entirely suitable for daily use for a tenth of that, and you won’t care much if it does suffer some.

Less Can Be More

Let’s start right off the bat with Taurus and the G series. If you want a subcompact pistol, then the GX4 can be yours for under five bills—under four bills if you don’t need or want the option for mounting a red-dot sight. So, a 10- or 11-round magazine, compact size and a list price of $399? It’s hard to beat that, but Taurus does it. If you’re looking for something a little larger or that costs a bit less, then the full-sized G3 can be yours with a list price of $340.

Taurus-GX4-with-mag
Taurus magazines can hold an impressive amount of ammo. With one in the gun, and the spare on your belt, you’ve got close to a box of ammo on call.

Now, if your tastes run more toward the traditional, you’ll be looking for a 1911 pistol. OK, Armscor has you covered here, with a selection of sizes, finishes, capacities and even calibers, starting at $499. You can bling yours up by opting for a nickel finish, if you like flashy or want the corrosion-resistance it offers. If you’re a fan of the hi-cap striker approach, but not too keen on polymer, then the Armscor STK100 fits the need. Its aluminum frame won’t rust, and the STK100 takes Glock magazines, an item so common I expect to see them on the counter of the convenience store at my local gas station soon.

Armscor-1911-1
If you’re old-school and want something .45, or GI, then the Armscor 1911 series won’t hammer your wallet. And you have options in size, caliber and finish, if you’re willing to move up some in price.

If you’re looking to stick with steel magazines, then the Springfield Armory XD series is your choice. The new XDm series are the hot products from Springfield, but the XD line has been offered long enough that Springfield Armory has some real deals to offer. The current Defend Your Legacy XD series, in several sizes, offers you a 9mm pistol of 13- or 16-round magazine capacity, and the XD pistols are hell for tough. At a listed $440, you get steel magazines, grip safety, ambi mag release, striker cocking indicator and loaded chamber indicator, ultra-reliability and the option of using extended magazines to increase your XD's capacity.

Springfield-XD-1
The Springfield Armory XD series has been around long enough to now be affordable. You get steel magazines and many options in capacity (state law permitting, of course), and a pistol so tough it probably would shrug off hammer hits.

One of the sources of solid, dependable and inexpensive handguns of late has been Turkey. Century Arms offers the Canik line, and there you have an embarrassment of choices. If you want a full-sized pistol, then the TP9SF at a listed $399, offering 18- or 20-round extended magazines, is amazing. They have all the features you’d want in a pistol, with replaceable backstraps, an accessory rail, hi-vis sights and coming complete with a holster, spare magazine and cleaning tools, so you won’t have to buy extras just to get started. (Well, ammo, of course.) You do have to like a pistol done up in FDE, because that’s how the TP9SF rolls. Other Canik models offer basic black as a finish color. If you want something smaller than a full-sized duty pistol, then the TP9 Elite SC, a subcompact pistol and also set up for red-dot optics, will probably be in the display case next to the TP9SF and listed at $440.

Canik-TP9-1
The Canik pistols are an incredible value. And those who are fans of FDE can find several options in the lineup. The extra coating adds corrosion resistance as well.

Now, not all pistols have to be offered in a wide range of options in order to be a great deal. The BRG9 Elite is one such. Made by the Burgu Metal Company in Turkey, and imported by BRG-USA, it’s a duty-sized 9mm pistol. Coming in a lockable hard case with replaceable backstraps, two 16-round magazines, a mag loader and cleaning tools, the BRG9 Elite has a list price of $399.

BRG9-with-target
Inexpensive guns like this BRG9 Elite can be accurate. In fact, most are—inaccurate guns don’t sell very well in today’s economy. Find what ammo yours likes and stick with it.

The selection of 9mm hi-cap pistols that retail for under four Benjamins is eye-opening to those of us who grew up with higher, relative to inflationary changes, prices in the old days. To give you a scale, if we backward calculate $400 in modern Biden dollars to when I bought my first 1911 (USGI surplus), the value then of $400 comes to $97 in 1979. I paid $189 for my 1911 back then. New pistols and revolvers cost even more than that. So, the bargain pistols of today really are bargains.

A Fistfight With Rust

One of the things that got me out of gunsmithing and into gun writing was rust. I was doing a survey of the work I had done and realized just how much of my income came from neglect. Hunting guns, rifles and shotguns that had malfunctioned during the previous hunting season, only now, weeks before Opening Day, were being brought in to be cleaned and checked. Carry guns needed the rust buffed off and the hardened oil inside chipped away. Then, there were the hunting guns that were forgotten until they had been pulled out as “pre-hunt planning” and the carry guns not discovered until they had failed to work at an all-too-rare practice session or required departmental qualification day.

Canik-with-target
The Canik TP9 Elite SC is a small gun that performs like a big gun. And if you feel the need for a red-dot optic on your pistol, the Canik can accommodate you there.

I’ll grant that the modern finishes are better than blue, and even the hard chrome Bart rusted. But since you’re paying so little, and treating your pistol so harshly, you can take an extra step and not shed a tear over it. The aluminum or polymer frame isn’t going to rust. If you want to give the slide extra protection, you can be careful and coat it with car wax. That’ll help it shed the moisture and sweat it experiences.

You could even (and this is really getting hard core) field-strip your pistol, degrease the slide and give it an application of spray paint. Now, I’d suggest this only if you lived in someplace even more humid than the Midwest, where I Iive, or if your body is as hostile to metal as Bart’s is, and need the extra rust protection. Be sure to use bits of masking tape to keep the paint out of or off of things that need to move, or need to be not covered, like your tritium night sights. And, once it has dried, be sure that you reassemble and give your carry pistol a thorough range session, just to make sure that the paint hasn’t gotten someplace it ought not to have, and your pistol still works.

Armscor-STK100-stripped
The Armscor STK100, with its aluminum frame, is going to resist rust a lot better than a steel-framed pistol … and have better recoil control than a polymer-framed pistol.

Now, some might object. “Paint? You’re asking me to paint my firearm?” Well, what do you think a lot of the non-black finishes are, essentially, that you can have on your carry pistol? And, if you live in a truly awful environment, you can have paint on your pistol or you can have rust on your pistol. This is America, after all—you get to decide.

Last, and this applies to all daily carry firearms, not just the inexpensive ones, you should stop by your local computer store, or hit up Amazon, for canned air. The really big problem with daily carry isn’t the sweat, although that is a problem. It’s the lint. Lint accumulates, and once it builds up enough, it stops the small parts from working. Even expensive pistols stop working if there’s enough lint, and it doesn’t take as long as you might think for “enough” to build up. Blow the lint out before it builds up to “too much.”

Taurus-G3
The Taurus G3 is a full-sized pistol with a less-than-full-sized price tag. If the size isn’t a problem, the price might startle you.

Be Smart, Not Cheap

It’d be smart to take some of the savings you scored from going with an inexpensive carry gun and invest it in cleaning supplies and canned air. If not, it’d be most embarrassing to be standing and waiting at the pearly gates, where the bouncer is looking at you in scorn. “Lint? Really?”

Looking for inexpensive, given the harsh environment, is prudent, but taking care of your investment so it can take care of you is also prudent.

Do both.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2022 EDC special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More EDC Pistols:

Until It Shines: Using Brass Case Cleaner

How to clean your brass the easy way using brass case cleaner.

My gun club ranges have sand and silt floors. There’s also a carpet of brass on top of the sand. When I’m done shooting, I have this habit of picking up my brass, plus whatever is there that’s a caliber I might need, find useful or gotta have. A lot of that other brass is pretty grubby—some of it’s even chocolate colored.

So, I sort the brass and separate it, by caliber and cleanliness, and I end up with boxes (even buckets) of brass that’ll need more than just a run through the tumbler. The muddy stuff gets rinsed in hot water, dried and tossed in with the chocolate brass. And, once a year or so, I’ll set aside a brass-cleaning day (usually a hot summer day) to do the dirty work.

For that, I use Shooter’s Choice Brass Case Cleaner, a solution requiring a certain level of dilution (I tend to not dilute as much as the instructions call for) and then soaking or using an ultrasonic cleaner.

brass-case-cleaner

Once your brass is clean, drain and strain, rinse in hot water (the hotter the better) and then dry. That’s why I tend to do this in the summer. I can pour the hot, wet brass onto an old bath or beach towel and let the sunlight do the drying for me. In the midday sun, it isn’t unusual for the brass to get so hot after a couple of hours so I don’t dare touch it with my bare hands. I’ll pour them from one towel to a new, dry towel and give them another hour or so, until I’m certain they’re fully dry.

Some of you might wonder if the discolored brass is weakened. No, not if the discoloration is just a uniform brown color. If you get green crustiness and patches of it, then the corrosion has advanced to the point that the brass might be weaker. Just brown isn’t a problem.

brass-tumbler
For most brass, going into the tumbler will be enough to clean it.

Take It Easy

Can you overdo this? Yes. You’re using an acidic solution to react to the corrosion and strip it off. If you let your brass soak too long (the instructions specifically say to not do this overnight, so that’s a clue), the acidic solution could’ve worked at a scratch or gouge in the case that wouldn’t have otherwise been a problem, but now you’ve weakened it.

During the decades I’ve cleaned brass this way, I’ve never had a problem, but my idea of a “long soak” is half an hour. In an ultrasonic cleaner, you might need five minutes, or you might need more depending on the level of patina of your brass.

brass-case-cleaner-feature
To get your “chocolate” brass this clean, go to chemistry … not tumbling.

Can you use this method with nickeled brass? Yes. Although, I have to wonder how you go about neglecting nickeled brass to the point where it gains a patina. The whole point of nickel is that it doesn’t do that. But if you miss a nickel case in your sorting and it ends up getting a bath, you aren’t going to ruin the case nor spoil the mix of your cleaner.

Can you clean your regular brass this way? Yes, but unless you have to etch off the patina, why go through the extra trouble? Just toss it in the tumbler. If it’s muddy, a hot water rinse, a dry and then into the tumbler is all it needs.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the November 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More Reloading Info:

5.7x28mm For EDC?

Do pistols chambered for 5.7x28mm cut it for everyday carry? Yes and no and … maybe.

Back in 1990, NATO wanted a special firearm … a personal defense weapon (PDW). This PDW was to be the modern equivalent of the M1 Carbine. Unlike the carbine, however, they wanted something that’d penetrate the soon-to-be-issued Soviet “superarmor”, something that all Warsaw Pact troops would soon be wearing when they swarmed across the Iron Curtain.

The 5.7x28mm came to us in the P90, an SMG-sized firearm familiar to all fans of the Stargate TV show. Its companion, the PS90, came with a 16-inch barrel and no selector switch. In due time, FN offered a 5.7x28mm option in the FiveseveN, a pistol chambered in the cartridge. The ammunition, however, wasn’t the anti-Soviet loading that NATO could get, but various FMJ and polymer-tipped bullets that could be had here.

FN-57-shooting
All three 5.7 pistols discussed here can have a red-dot optic mounted, if you wish. Here, the FN gets some range time.

So, the question is: Is the 5.7 a suitable option as an EDC firearm and chambering? Quick answer: Yes … and no.

Pistol Potential

OK, first up are the pistols. For the longest time, we’ve had just the FN version, the FiveseveN, which is pretty marvelous. Holding 20 rounds of 5.7x28mm ammunition, and with magazine extensions adding 10 rounds available, you can have a full box of ammo plus one, in the pistol and on your belt, with just two magazines. Then, Ruger added theirs, and just recently S&W unveiled a pistol in 5.7 as well.

So, you have choices.

SW-57-Ruger-57-and-FN-57
FN Five-SeveN Centerfire Pistol (left), Ruger-5.7 Centerfire Pistol (middle) and Smith & Wesson M&P 5.7 Centerfire Pistol (right).

Oh, and if it matters, the S&W comes standard with an extended and threaded barrel, so you can mount a suppressor, if you want to, for more giggle-worthy range practice. Plus, the S&W magazine holds 22 rounds, but you’ll have to use the included magazine loader to get it stuffed full. The FN version differs from what we expect in a pistol in that the safety is not thumb-operated, but instead a lever on the frame located for your trigger finger. Both the Ruger and S&W have a safety (ambi) in the expected thumb-actuated location. Still, you can learn the FN safety location.

But there’s a bigger problem with the 5.7 as a defensive pistol: size.

The 5.7 cartridge is long. At 1.59 inches, it’s longer than a .45 ACP or .38 Super, which means fitting it into a magazine, and the magazine into a frame, makes for a larger pistol than “normal.” And then you double-stack it to gain capacity, resulting in a full-sized-plus pistol. The thinness of the cartridge does mitigate the double-stack fattening of the grip, but not enough to make it not big. There’s no getting around it—you’re going to be packing something as big as a 1911 government model, and then some.

57x28mm-ammo-comparison
The 5.7 is long, longer than standard pistol cartridges. Here, you can see some standard (and not-so-standard) 5.7 loads, compared to 9mm, .40 and .45.

If you can get your hand or hands around the frame to hold and shoot it, then great. But if you can’t, it doesn’t matter if it’s the hammer of Thor—you can’t. This does limit the 5.7 to those with large-enough hands who are willing to dress around the gun. We all have to dress around the gun, but the various 5.7 pistols make that a greater task. In the past, I’ve mentioned the various 5.7x28mm pistols as an option for those who aren’t keen on recoil, but (I’m pretty sure) I’ve always been clear: You’ve got to have hands big enough.

Dollar For Dollar

Next up is the cost of ammunition. It isn’t too difficult these days to find practice ammo for a 9mm pistol at $12 for a box of 50 rounds. Granted, the better defensive ammo is going to cost more, but a box of 50 Gold Dots, for example, that runs you $30 will last you for years as carry ammo. But to practice you need to shoot, and shooting means it’s consumed. For that, $12 a box is a better deal, and it leads to more practice.

In the 5.7, practice ammo is going to run you as much as the premium defensive 9mm does—or darned close to it. The lowest-cost 40-grain FMJ I could source was $29 per box, and it went up quickly from there. And, you don’t have the option of reloading to lower practice costs. The case is a bottlenecked one, not always a problem, but while the S&W is a rotating barrel, the Ruger and the FN are both a short-distance blowback design, so case shoulders are blown forward when fired in those pistols. As a result, case life is thus short, and loading data is sparse or vague. There are a host of other problems as well. The quick answer is: No savings here.

FN-57-with-target
FN was first with the FivseveN. While it’s a great pistol, it’s also the most expensive of the trio.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject of cost, the prices have quite the spread. The FN lists at $ 1,409, the S&W at $699 and the Ruger at $899. In an age of a host of 9mm pistols listing for $425 to $450, those aren’t inconsequential price bumps.

Punching Above Its Weight

How about ballistics? Detractors diss the 5.7x28mm as “being an expensive .22 Magnum,” but that’s not true. The little rimfire has its published ballistics rifle velocities, and using it in a pistol chops a bunch of fps off of those figures. Out of a pistol, the .22 WMR delivers around 1,200 fps or a bit more, with a 45-grain bullet. The 5.7 can accelerate a 40-grain bullet to 1,700 to 1,800 fps, which is a significant difference.

Ruger-57

Field reports on the 5.7 aren’t extensive. It hasn’t received anything like the acceptance of the .40 back in the early 1990s, nor the adoption of the latest-generation 9mm JHPs that we can mine for a trove of data. However, there’s one incident we can turn to—the use of a 5.7 at Fort Hood. There, 45 people were shot, 13 of whom died.

The interesting (from a ballistics viewpoint, otherwise it was horrible) aspects of the incident was that, despite all the victims being young, fit and motivated, none were able to close the distance to the shooter. In fact, the 5.7, when it struck bone, broke bones, which isn’t always something a pistol cartridge can do. As I’ve mentioned before, when a “lowly” .22 strikes the femur and breaks it, there’s something going on here we can’t necessarily explain with the various ballistic theories I’ve read. Ballistically, the 5.7 seems to punch well above its weight.

Accuracy Excel, Recoil Is Pleasant

The impressive ballistics delivered don’t come at a cost in apparent recoil. While the 5.7 in any pistol is going to be a bit “bouncy” in recoil, it doesn’t beat you up like others do. A +P load in a .45 ACP is definitely a workout to shoot. A top-end 9mm, or a +P load, while not as hard-hitting on your hands, has more bark to it, and some people find the noise more of a problem than the recoil. Some loadings of the 5.7 are snappy in noise, but none are what you’d call hard to shoot, recoil-wise.

57-on-the-range
The 5.7 doesn’t have much in the way of felt recoil, so you can shoot fast and accurately. You just must have hands big enough to reach around the grip.

In recoil, momentum seems to be a better yardstick of the impression in your hands than kinetic energy is, so we’ll use the power factor (PF) calculation here (weight times velocity). So, a vanilla-plain 9mm load (115 grains at 1,150 fps) posts a 132 PF, while an average .45 hardball load posts a 190 PF. (The top-end loads of each are considerably higher in PF.)

The 5.7? With a 40-grain bullet traveling at 1,900 fps, you’d have an 85.5 PF. So, that’s soft recoil, if you can get your hands around it.

As far as accuracy is concerned, the 5.7 is no slouch. The ammunition—and the pistols—will be more accurate than just about any shooter out there. And all can be had now with mountings for red-dot optics, so you aren’t giving that choice up.

FN-Five-seven

And The Verdict Is?

So, where are we, as far as EDC for the 5.7x28mm?

We’ve got a large pistol, and for that you’ll need proper leather (or Kydex) to carry it and not be noticed. All three options weigh a few ounces less than a G17 and a half-pound less than the weight of a lightweight commander—just a bit more than half the weight of a steel government model. If you’re carrying a spare magazine (and you really ought to), you’ll have one as big as one-plus of a G17 mag or two 1911 magazines. And that’s even before you take advantage of the extra capacity extensions.

SW-57-magazine
The S&W 5.7 magazine holds 22 rounds, which could be very comforting in an emergency.

I gave up on packing a full-sized government model back when Reagan was president, in favor of a more-compact, lightweight commander. I’m not sure I’d go back to that size, even for the capacity of the 5.7.

But I’m old, cranky … and like my comfort.

To sum things up: If you can hide the size and get your hands around the grip, the 5.7 offerings can be very attractive. For a lot of shooters, those are both big hurdles to overcome. And practice will be expensive, because you can’t cut costs by reloading.

But, as I’ve said many times before: This is America, and you have choices.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2023 EDC special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More 5.7x28mm Stuff:

Night Divides The Day: Choosing The Best Pistol Light

These days, nearly every handgun comes with a rail, so here are some top pistol light choices to help destroy the night.

There was a time when it simply wasn’t possible to mount a light onto your firearm. Oh, duct tape, hose clamps and an indifference to tactical fashion could get a flashlight attached to your riot gun or AR-15, but people wouldn’t have called you clever for that—not even back in the 1980s.

Now, it’s rare a pistol doesn’t have a rail for light-mounting, and the choice of lights to mount are near legion.

Streamlight TLR-1

TLR-SIG-450.jpg

To some, basic is boring. To others, it’s dependable. The TLR-1 isn’t new, it’s not flashy, but it works. And has worked for years. Using a pair of CR123 batteries, it generates 300 lumens of light and continues to do so for two and a half hours. If you’re simply playing the numbers game, 300 might not seem like much, but when it came out that was plenty. And it still is in a lot of circumstances and locations. Indoors, in particular, too many lumens can be a problem. If the predominant paint color on your walls at home is Navajo White, you’re not going to need, nor like, 1,000 lumens.

If, however, you do want to have enough lumen horsepower to signal the mothership, then let’s go up in power.

Streamlight TLR-9

tlr9

Back in the old days, if we wanted lots of lumens, the choice was the TLR-1HL, a high-output light with 1,000 lumens. You can still have it, but a more modern and better choice is the TLR-9. A thousand lumens, but now in a sleeker package. Instead of side-by-side configuration, the “9” loads the CR123 batteries in line, so you don’t have a fat box under your pistol. This does make it a bit long, but if you want 1,000 lumens for an hour and a half, you’ll need a pair of batteries. It has a toggle/rocker switch at the rear you can reach from either side and a light lock-out feature. This lets you make sure the light doesn’t get switched on when you put it away, only to find the batteries dead some time later. (You do have to remember to unlock it when you next go to load up and carry, but Streamlight can’t do everything for you.)

Let’s take a step back and consider not all lighting options need to be focused on power, even if it means bulk.

Streamlight TLR-8

Streamlight-TLR-8-1
The Streamlight TLR-8 fits on the EAA P35 just fine and works like a charm.

This is a light for compact pistols, but it works on full-sized ones as well. The “8” indicates it’s the light/laser combo, and its companion non-laser model is the TLR-7. It generates 500 lumens and offers a strobe function as well. There are dual buttons on either side of your trigger guard (as mounted), and as with all lights, you’ll have to learn the touch-press-hold pattern that generates the desired function. You have the choice of red or green lasers but not in the same unit. Pick one—that’s the color you get. The TLR-7/8 uses a single battery, the common for lights CR123A battery that’s now an everyday item even in big-box hardware stores.

Streamlight-TLR-8
The Streamlight TLR-8, with its adapter plates and tools I used to install it onto and off various pistols.

One detail of the TLR-8 (and the 7) that I like is that the light comes with a set of adapter plates. You need to install one of the plates in the body of the light and then fit the light to your pistol. This permits Streamlight to make a single shell with light, battery compartment and controls; by installing a plate, you fit it to your pistol. That means they don’t have to stock a dozen inventory items to fit everything, and you can make it fit whatever pistol you have … or the next one … or the next.

The attachment isn’t fast or overly engineered. It’s a simple screw that pulls the clamp plate on the far side tight to the rail. The slot on the screw has been produced to fit a coin, so whatever pocket change you have will suffice to tighten, or check the tightness of, your TLR-8.

Lights last a long time.

Insight X2

Insight-X2
Don’t overlook old lights. This Insight X2 may not be blinding, but it’s compact, puts out plenty of light and fits on everything (at least everything I’ve tried it on—and that’s a lot of pistols).

One of my favorite compact lights is the Insight X2, a light/laser combo. The listed light output is only 80 lumens. However, every time I fire it up, I have to ask myself, Who measured that? It punches above its specs. I hang onto it because it hasn’t quit; it’s easy-on, easy-off, fits on everything and produces plenty of light for plenty of applications. Did I mention it fits on everything? If you see an orphan tactical light, don’t pass it up just because it isn’t he newest. New is good, but old can be useful.

Insight-X2-pistol-light
To show versatility, a compact light fits onto a full-sized pistol—and works. Don’t worry too much about lumens; get what fits, works and you’re comfortable with.

Money matters, so let’s not break the bank while lighting up the night, shall we?

Crimson Trace Lightguard

Crimson-Trace-Lightguard

The Crimson Trace Lightguard series doesn’t cover a lot of pistols, only nine models, and they’re not going to get you “what SEALs use” points on your man-card, but not everyone wants to light the dark for any reason other than they have a practical need. The Lightguard series fit onto the trigger guard or accessory rail. They offer ambidextrous controls for momentary and constant-on, and the output, at 110 lumens isn’t going to be laser-like; it’ll show you what’s trying to hide in the dark. Each one comes with the batteries it uses, a pair of 1/3N cells (aka CR1/3N) and will run for an hour on those. With a list price of $90, you can have light on your pistol, even if it’s an older model (one of the nine Crimson Trace makes this for) that doesn’t have an accessory rail.

Crimson-Trace-Lightguard-pistol-light

If you have to have the best, the biggest, baddest, most durable light to be had, then we know which aisle to be shopping in.

SureFire X300

SureFire-X300-2
The SureFire X300 Turbo fits on a lot of pistols, but boy is it big. Then again, it’s tough, so pick wisely for the pistol you use.

The big daddy of lights—in performance and price—the X300 offers you 1,000 lumens. Now, before we get to gushing over the SureFire light, we again have to consider light. And backgrounds. A thousand lumens is great if you’re checking the exterior of your house, out in the country. (Perhaps a rifle or shotguns might be a better tool …) Indoors, maybe not so much. A thousand lumens, especially if your décor tends toward the lighter colors (or white), can cause a lot of “backsplash.” That’s the excess light you’ve projected out, reflecting off light or bright surfaces and bouncing back into your eyes. Disorienting the bad guy with light is great, but not if you’re doing the same thing to yourself.

SureFire-X300-1
The SureFire X300 Turbo fits nicely on this XD-M Elite, but then it’s a big pistol, so a big light isn’t a big deal.

If you have a need for it, and the practice to manage it, the SureFire is king of the hill in pistol lights. It does this with two CR123A batteries, so it’s not as compact as other lights. It offers a quick-attach mount system and can be configured to fit various-sized rails. It’s waterproof to 1 meter for 30 minutes—probably longer than you can hold your breath—and it’s the epitome of solid construction.

SureFire-X300-3
The SureFire light uses a quick-detach system that locks in place and is fast, but you might not fit it onto every pistol out there.

The X300 has toggle levers that are easy to use and work the same on each side of the trigger guard. Those of us with longer fingers find that with some mounting setups we can use the support-hand thumb as the light control.

However, in addition to the extra bulk dictated by the dual batter power (which generates its 1,000 lumens for an hour and a quarter), you also pay for this performance in other ways. At 4 ounces in weight, the X300 is heavier than other lights. It has an extended light housing, making the SureFire itself 3 1/2 inches long. And the price is as much as double that of other lights. But if you want a light no one can speak down on, and want buckets of lumens, Surefire is your go-to.

Spot, flood, “hot,” splash, backup and practice.

Beyond The Lumens

There’s more to light than lumens. Ever wonder why some big bulbs are denoted as spotlights and others as floodlights? Think about it. A spotlight is just that, all (or almost all) of the light generated is focused into a tight circle. Add a pile of lumens to that and you have some interesting reach. With a rifle, in the outside and open, that could be good. If I’m in the country and trying to shoot a problem on the farm at night, a spotlight lets me get a good ID when aiming my rifle. If, however, I want to evenly illuminate the yard or enclosure, I use a floodlight. Weaponlights work the same way.

A “hot” center is a combo, a flood of light, but with a brighter center. You can illuminate the edges, but the bright center is the part lighting up your point of impact.

Splash is light that spills out from where you’re pointing your weaponlight. You must check your local laws, because in a lot, if not all of them, pointing a loaded firearm at someone without legal justification is a crime on your part. One or another variation of assault with a deadly weapon is the charge that’ll be listed, if it gets that far. Even if there are no charges filed, it’ll almost certainly be cause for lifting of your CPL, probably on the subject of “brandishing.” So searching while using a weaponlight as the sole tool of illumination is a fraught proposition. However, with training and practice, you can use the splash from your light to illuminate without actually sweeping someone with your muzzle. It’s not always easy, but it can be done.

Streamlight-TLR-8-pistol-light

Oh, and batteries? Stock up. There’s not much more discouraging than hearing something go bump in the night and when you go to see what it is, discover the battery is dead. Buying batteries one at a time is just crazy—buy in bulk. A quick check of batter costs showed me that I could get CR123s one at a time for four or five bucks each, but if I bought them by the dozen or more, they cost just $1.50 each. The bigger the bulk, the lower the unit cost, but even I take a long time to grind through 100 batteries.

We use lights at night, but not a lot of ranges let you shoot with the lights out—nor do gun clubs like night-time practice. So, you’ll be doing a lot of your practice in the daytime. Do it and learn to press the light on for what you need as you’re doing the drill you’re doing while shooting. Practice is practice, even if it’s in the daytime for getting ready for the night.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the November 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


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