Just the Basics – the Double-Action Semi-Automatic Pistol

 

Another option shooters have with semi-automatic pistols is to purchase a version that has a Double Action trigger. As in a Double Action Revolver, the trigger performs two functions: First it cocks the hammer and second, it release the hammer to strike the firing pin.

In the case of a Double Action Semi-Automatic pistol, racking the slide will eject a cartridge or spent casing, strip a new round from the top of the Magazine and drive it into the chamber. However, it will NOT cock the hammer. That function is done by pressing the trigger to the rear.

Let’s take a walk through a Double Action Semi-Automatic Pistol.

The chassis, the primary component that holds all the parts together is the Frame.

The Barrel is the component that allows the bullet to exit the handgun after it is fired and adds a spin to the bullet to increase its accuracy.

The Muzzle is the region immediately at the end of the Barrel where the bullet exits.

The Front Sight, used in conjunction with the Rear Sight is used to acquire an accurate sight picture prior to engaging a threat.

The Hammer is manually cocked by pressing the trigger to the rear. The pressure is continued until the trigger “breaks” and the Hammer strikes the firing pin which, in turn, strikes the primer in the cartridge.

The Magazine contains the cartridges to be fired and feeds a new cartridge into chamber each time the weapon if fired – until the magazine is empty.

The Magazine Release is used to drop an empty magazine from the Magazine Well in order to make room for a replacement magazine that is fully loaded.

The Grip is the portion of the pistol that is actually “gripped” by the shooter. The Back Strap fits into the shooter’s palm and the Front Strap provides a purchase for the shooter’s fingers.

The Thumb Safety is a mechanical device that locks the slide in place and disables the firing pin.  It must be manually disengaged with the shooters thumb in order to prepare the weapon to fire.  (Remember, it is a MECHANICAL device and CAN fail.).

The Trigger is the component that is pressed to the rear that first cocks the internal Hammer and then releases it to strike the firing pin, firing the cartridge.  Many Double Action Semi-Automatic Pistols have a very stiff - and long – trigger pull. This, in many cases, takes the place of a manual or Thumb Safety.

The Trigger Guard provides protection against an accidental discharge from rubbing the Trigger against clothing or a holster.

The Semi-Automatic Pistol is loaded by inserting a loaded Magazine into the Magazine Well and seating it with a firm palm-slap to the bottom of the Magazine. The shooter than manually racks the Slide to the rear and releases it. This will strip a new cartridge out of the Magazine and load it into the chamber at the rear of the Barrel. From this point forward, each time the weapon is fired, part of the energy is captured to automatically force the slide to the rear, eject the spent cartridge out of the Ejection Port and to strip a new cartridge from the Magazine and load it into the chamber at the rear of the Barrel. This process will continue each time the Trigger is pressed until the Magazine is empty.

Unloading can be done by depressing the Magazine Release and capturing the Magazine as it falls from the Magazine Well. To display that the weapon is empty, rack the Slide to the rear ejecting any un-fired cartridge that may still be in the chamber out of the Ejection Port. Push the Slide Lock up into the notch on the Slide. This allows the shooter to easily verify the weapon is, indeed, empty.

This particular example of a Double Action Semi-Automatic Pistol is the Ruger LC-9. It is one of my favorite carry weapons. I completed the following video review shortly after I purchased the LC-9.

 

Training – Scan and assess . . . . Scan and assess . . . .

 

I had an experience today on the way to the range that I thought I’d share. Nothing to do with weapons but with the process of living the color code.

One of the things that can take your life sideways in a real hurry is to simply let life flow by. In Jeff Cooper’s world, this would be Condition White:

White: Unaware and unprepared. If attacked in Condition White, the only thing that may save you is the inadequacy or ineptitude of your attacker. When confronted by something nasty, your reaction will probably be "Oh my God! This can't be happening to me."

Or, you can do your best to live in Condition Yellow:

Yellow: Relaxed alert. No specific threat situation. Your mindset is that "today could be the day I may have to defend myself". You are simply aware that the world is a potentially unfriendly place and that you are prepared to defend yourself, if necessary. You use your eyes and ears, and realize that "I may have to shoot today". You don't have to be armed in this state, but if you are armed you should be in Condition Yellow. You should always be in Yellow whenever you are in unfamiliar surroundings or among people you don't know. You can remain in Yellow for long periods, as long as you are able to "Watch your six." (In aviation 12 o'clock refers to the direction in front of the aircraft's nose. Six o'clock is the blind spot behind the pilot.) In Yellow, you are "taking in" surrounding information in a relaxed but alert manner, like a continuous 360 degree radar sweep. As Cooper put it, "I might have to shoot."

A threat can take many different forms, one of which can be a man with a gun. Another could be a woman in a dark red Chevy Impala.

I’m headed for the range, crossing a small bridge just north of town. There is a right turn lane that begins immediately after the bridge to a road that joins from the right and leads to – among other things – a quarry. In front of me are two very large dump trucks going to get a load of crushed rock. Construction season is in full bloom in our county with virtually all the quarries in the county going at full tilt.

Our speed is 55, slowing a bit so the trucks can pull into the turn lane. By the time they are fully in the lane I am closing on the front truck pretty quick and am about ½ way past his bed when a woman in a dark red Chevy Impala simply appears from in front of the truck and then directly in front of me. The road the trucks are turning down “Ts” into the road I am on though the drivers must stop before coming onto the highway. This lady obviously stopped, saw the trucks turning and ASSUMED there was nothing in the lane next to or behind them. So, out she comes.

These instances are good training examples of muscle memory rather than thinking. Without telling my body to do anything I:

• · Breaked hard
• · Turned slightly right and released the break so I didn’t loose full control of my Jeep
• · Breaked hard again
• · Turned slightly right again and released the break so I didn’t loose full control of my Jeep
• · This allowed me to miss the rear bumper by a ½ foot or so
• · It allowed me to miss the front of an umteen ton dump truck by a few feet
• · And, it allowed me to continue merrily on my way to the range none the worse for wear.
• · It also helped that it was obviously not my day . . . . . that day will come, but it was not today

So just a little reminder for folks taking all those defensive pistol classes out there where they hammer on Cooper’s “Color Code” or the NRA’s “Levels of Awareness” – we do it for a reason. Many threats, whether from weapons or folks driving cars, jump at you right at the Condition Red Level:

Red: Condition Red is fight. Your mental trigger (established back in Condition Orange) has been tripped. "If 'X' happens I will shoot that person".

If it’s an existential threat and if you respond poorly, your day is not going to end well. Bottom line?

Keep your head in the game 24/7 . . . .

Welcome to a couple new followers . . . .

 

First to JD – had the pleasure of taking a course with him as well as doing an IDPA shoot run by his club.  A Marine, great hubby and dad – welcome JD.

And to Robert – lives in our state’s fair capital.  Welcome sir!

Training–NRA Basic Rifle Course

 

A couple of weeks ago I received an email asking if I had any Basic Rifle courses scheduled.  The short answer was “Nope” – however, I’m a pretty flexible critter so I asked the person what they were looking for.  They indicated the “needed” to take this class and were willing to travel the 500+ miles to take the class.  How could I say no?

So, I met Tracy and Fred Saturday at our Chapter House and Range for the NRA Basic Rifle class.  I had to ask, why the heck travel all that way, surely there was someone closer?  Nope, she had sent out 12 emails and I was the only one to reply.  Gotta question why these folks are going through the process of becoming NRA certified instructors and then not serving the folks in the shooting community.

Some of their local folks would only do a class if there were 5 or 10 students.  Honestly, in the rural areas of Mid-America – these folks may wait a mighty long time to teach a class.

So, we had an intimate little class with lots of conversation, questions and range time.  It was nice.  One other little item – both were competitive F-Class shooters.  Why then take the class??  Tracy is looking to become a NRA Basic Rifle Instructor for their shooting club and the TC in their area would not do a dual-training – Basic Class and Instructor Class together.  She had to take the NRA Basic Rifle class and have the certificate before she could enroll to take the Basic Rifle Instructor course.  Kinda odd to me – yet there ya go.

We had a great time, they shot their six courses of fire – bench rest, standing free arm, standing arm rest, prone, kneeling and sitting.  98+ degrees on the range.  I’d show you the photos I took, but honestly the camera never left my pocket – I was too busy wiping down with the sweat towel and changing targets!

Anyway, we had a great time – covered lots of ground – and prepped the way for a new rifle instructor.  Not a bad way to spend a weekend!

Just the Basics – the Safe-Action Semi-Automatic Pistol

 

Perhaps the most famous Semi-Automatic pistol of modern times it the Glock pistol, first produced in 1982. The move to a semi-automatic pistol ( it goes “bang” every time the trigger is pressed until it’s empty ) captured the energy of the firing of the cartridge to eject the spent casing and to feed a new cartridge into the chamber. This allowed for faster, more accurate shots as well as an expanded cartridge capacity. The Glock pistol was the first mass-produced weapon that was made using a polymer material for much of the frame. The result was a much lighter weapon

It is called “Safe-Action” because the safety has been integrated into the very front-portion of the trigger. The weapon is safe until the shooter actually places their finger on the trigger and presses the first fraction-of-an-inch to release the safety and preparing the weapon to fire.

Let’s take a walk through this latest innovation in the world of the Semi-Automatic pistols.

The chassis, the primary component that holds all the parts together is the Frame.

The Barrel is the component that allows the bullet to exit the handgun after it is fired and adds a spin to the bullet to increase its accuracy.

The Muzzle is the region immediately at the end of the Barrel where the bullet exits.

The Front Sight, used in conjunction with the Rear Sight is used to acquire an accurate sight picture prior to engaging a threat.

The Hammer is manually thumbed back or moved into firing position by moving the Slide to the rear and releasing it. This prepare the Hammer to strike the primer in the cartridge.

The Magazine contains the cartridges to be fired and feeds a new cartridge into chamber each time the weapon if fired – until the magazine is empty. Magazines in many Glocks are “Double Stacks”. This means that cartridges are stored nearly side-by-side. While this provides a significant larger capacity in the Magazine, it does force the Magazine to be wider, thus increasing the overall width of the grip and the weapon itself.

The Magazine Release is used to drop an empty magazine from the Magazine Well in order to make room for a replacement magazine that is fully loaded.

The Grip is the portion of the pistol that is actually “gripped” by the shooter. The Back Strap fits into the shooter’s palm and the Front Strap provides a purchase for the shooter’s fingers.

The Safe-Action safety is installed in the front of the Trigger. At the beginning of the trigger press, the shooter releases the Safe-Action safety preparing the weapon to fire when the Trigger is pressed to the rear.

The Trigger is the component that is pressed to the rear releasing the internal Hammer and firing the cartridge.

The Trigger Guard provides protection against an accidental discharge from rubbing the Trigger against clothing or a holster.

The Semi-Automatic Pistol is loaded by inserting a loaded Magazine into the Magazine Well and seating it with a firm palm-slap to the bottom of the Magazine. The shooter than manually racks the Slide to the rear and releases it. This will strip a new cartridge out of the Magazine and load it into the chamber at the rear of the Barrel. From this point forward, each time the weapon is fired, part of the energy is captured to automatically force the slide to the rear, eject the spent cartridge out of the Ejection Port and to strip a new cartridge from the Magazine and load it into the chamber at the rear of the Barrel. This process will continue each time the Trigger is pressed until the Magazine is empty.

Unloading can be done by depressing the Magazine Release and capturing the Magazine as it falls from the Magazine Well. To display that the weapon is empty, rack the Slide to the rear ejecting any un-fired cartridge that may still be in the chamber out of the Ejection Port. Push the Slide Lock up into the notch on the Slide. This allows the shooter to easily verify the weapon is, indeed, empty.

The name “Safe- Action” comes from the fact that the trigger performs as the weapons safety as well as to release a cocked internal hammer to fire the cartridge. Hence, this is a “Safe-Action” pistol. Because the weapon captures part of the energy of a fired cartridge to activate the Slide, eject the spent casing and to strip off a new cartridge from the Magazine and load it into the chamber – the only thing the shooter must do is to press the trigger to fire a new round. Thus, it is a Semi-Automatic pistol as well.

This particular weapon has been a favorite around the world since its introduction for recreational shooting, competition, personal defense and as a side-arm by our military.

Just the Basics – the Single Action Semi-Automatic Pistol

 

Perhaps the most famous Single Action, Semi-Automatic pistol on the face of the earth is the 1911 first introduced by the Colt company in – strangely enough – 1911. The move to a semi-automatic pistol ( it goes “bang” every time the trigger is pressed until it’s empty ) captured the energy of the firing of the cartridge to eject the spent casing and to feed a new cartridge into the chamber. This allowed for faster, more accurate shots as well as an expanded cartridge capacity.

Let’s take a walk through this classic weapon.

The chassis, the primary component that holds all the parts together is the Frame.

The Barrel is the component that allows the bullet to exit the handgun after it is fired and adds a spin to the bullet to increase its accuracy.

The Muzzle is the region immediately at the end of the Barrel where the bullet exits.

The Front Sight, used in conjunction with the Rear Sight is used to acquire an accurate sight picture prior to engaging a threat.

The Hammer is manually thumbed back or moved into firing position by moving the Slide to the rear and releasing it. This prepare the Hammer to strike the primer in the .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) cartridge.

The Magazine contains the cartridges to be fired and feeds a new cartridge into chamber each time the weapon if fired – until the magazine is empty. Magazines in the 1911 are typically “single stack” magazines meaning one cartridge is stacked directly over another cartridge in a “single stack”.

The Magazine Release is used to drop an empty magazine from the Magazine Well in order to make room for a replacement magazine that is fully loaded.

The Grip is the portion of the pistol that is actually “gripped” by the shooter. The Back Strap fits into the shooter’s palm and the Front Strap provides a purchase for the shooter’s fingers. An additional Grip Safety is mounted in the top portion of the Back Strap to provide an additional level of safety against a negligent discharge if the shooter does not have a firm grip on the pistol.

The Thumb Safety is mounted on the side of the weapon. Positioned up it fits into a notch on the slide it insures that the Slide is unable to move. Positioned down, the weapon is ready to fire.

The Trigger is the component that is pressed to the rear releasing the Hammer and firing the cartridge.

The Trigger Guard provides protection against an accidental discharge from rubbing the Trigger against clothing or a holster.

The Semi-Automatic Pistol is loaded by inserting a loaded Magazine into the Magazine Well and seating it with a firm palm-slap to the bottom of the Magazine. The shooter than manually racks the Slide to the rear and releases it. This will strip a new cartridge out of the Magazine and load it into the chamber at the rear of the Barrel. From this point forward, each time the weapon is fired, part of the energy is captured to automatically force the slide to the rear, eject the spent cartridge out of the Ejection Port and to strip a new cartridge from the Magazine and load it into the chamber at the rear of the Barrel. This process will continue each time the Trigger is pressed until the Magazine is empty.

Unloading can be done by depressing the Magazine Release and capturing the Magazine as it falls from the Magazine Well. To display that the weapon is empty, rack the Slide to the rear ejecting any un-fired cartridge that may still be in the chamber out of the Ejection Port. Push the Slide Lock up into the notch on the Slide. This allows the shooter to easily verify the weapon is, indeed, empty.

The name “Single Action” comes from the fact that the trigger performs a “single” function, to release a cocked Hammer to fire the cartridge. Hence, this is a “Single Action” pistol. Because the weapon captures part of the energy of a fired cartridge to activate the Slide, eject the spent casing and to strip off a new cartridge from the Magazine and load it into the chamber – the only thing the shooter must do is to press the trigger to fire a new round. Thus, it is a Semi-Automatic pistol as well.

This particular weapon has been a workhorse around the world since its introduction and continues to be a favorite for recreational shooting, competition, personal defense and as a side-arm by our military.

Commentary – On the eve of the 4th . . . .

 

After the grand critters went to bed, and before Mrs. B. returned from work last night, my daughter and I were talking a bit about today, July 4th.  She is a true history buff, HS history teacher and lived just south of Boston for about 5 years before they moved back home.  She spend hours/days/weeks steeping herself in the history of the area.  It was a good conversation . . . .

The question that really struck me though was – what kind of conversations were going on at the Green Dragon that evening 236 years ago?  They were at the eve of an action that would change their lives in a drastic fashion, that could easily end their lives and would remake the world in dramatic fashion.  What would they have said to each other?  What kind of doubts did they have?  What were their fears?

These men were surly a gift from God.  We, as a nation, were blessed by them in a very real way by them.

So, as we all enjoy our freedoms today, as we consider how many of those freedoms we have lost or are in the process of loosing – let’s take a moment to offer a prayer and give thanks for those very first patriots who were poised at the cusp of such a dramatic change – with all the fears that went along with that moment – and still went forward, determined to be free men and women!

Thank you . . . .