Mega Rad Gun Thread

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I am handing my old reliable Baby Browning in .25 ACP to a close family member who had expressed deep interest in it for a milestone birthday present. The little thing is likely older than I am. Ever since I got the gun from my father, I had used it as a concealed carry and backup gun. I was carrying before I could legally smoke, I'm sure that would get half my family thrown in jail these days.

To cut a long and sentimental and blogpost short: I want a new ultra-compact conceal carry and backup handgun. As most of you already know, I carry a long-slide 10mm Glock 40 MOS for my primary conceal carry weapon. So I don't need something that mirrors that sort of capability. I usually carried the Baby Browning in either an ankle holster or in an interior vest pocket/holster.

What's good/reliable in the micro-gun market these days?
 
Ever since I got the gun from my father, I had used it as a concealed carry and backup gun. I was carrying before I could legally smoke, I'm sure that would get half my family thrown in jail these days.
From the same cloth, fam.
To cut a long and sentimental and blogpost short: I want a new ultra-compact conceal carry and backup handgun. As most of you already know, I carry a long-slide 10mm Glock 40 MOS for my primary conceal carry weapon. So I don't need something that mirrors that sort of capability. I usually carried the Baby Browning in either an ankle holster or in an interior vest pocket/holster.

What's good/reliable in the micro-gun market these days?
NAA Guardian or Keltec P32 depending on preference. the Guardian comes in .25 ACP and is about the same size (a bit larger, but it's not much) as a Baby Browning.
If I had my druthers, it'd be a Bullpup.
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Bond Arms

 
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I am handing my old reliable Baby Browning in .25 ACP to a close family member who had expressed deep interest in it for a milestone birthday present. The little thing is likely older than I am. Ever since I got the gun from my father, I had used it as a concealed carry and backup gun. I was carrying before I could legally smoke, I'm sure that would get half my family thrown in jail these days.

To cut a long and sentimental and blogpost short: I want a new ultra-compact conceal carry and backup handgun. As most of you already know, I carry a long-slide 10mm Glock 40 MOS for my primary conceal carry weapon. So I don't need something that mirrors that sort of capability. I usually carried the Baby Browning in either an ankle holster or in an interior vest pocket/holster.

What's good/reliable in the micro-gun market these days?
I have a pair of Kel-Tec P32 pistols I pocket carry.
I have been carrying them satisfactory for years.
One of them is in a simple Galco leather job the other is in a Desantis rig (cargo nemesis) that has a spot for a spare magazine.
Regular mag is 7 and you can get a 10 round extended for them as well.
I went .32 over .380 because the .32 holds one extra round & locks open on an empty magazine.
Only ever feed it the hotter euro made FMJ.
Being so simple means I carry it every day without thinking about it.
Before this I was lugging around a Glork 23 with a spare mag and it was honestly a pain.
Well, this is what I would do if I owned any icky guns & had pants with pockets.
 
Speaking of different pocketguns, we picked up a brace of Taurus Spectrums (Spectra? Spectrii?) for my wife & her dad several years ago, which cost less than $250. She wanted one for use during runs & workouts, while my father-in-law drives trucks and wanted one that he could throw into a pocket when leaving his rig. We even found nice, fitted leather IWB/pocket holsters on Etsy, of all places.

They're honestly not bad & surprisingly accurate; even if the triggers are staplegun-tier (though smooth), and early production pistols universally don't like Blazer (w/ hard primers). And it was surprisingly easy to get new striker springs from Taurus, gratis.
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I wanted to see if those slide grip panels were glued in, but they turned out to be plastic/rubber inserts; also available separately from Taurus.

The mag release is also reversible.

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I was highly dubious about these things at first, but turned out to be good & affordable enough that they've proliferated through my family on their own accord. My FiL hasn't shot his much, but my wife carries hers daily & has at least 500+ rounds through it. The trigger got better, the plastic inserts haven't shown any wear internally, and the fit & finish hasn't become worn.
 
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Beretta seems to be introducing new pistols to the market with the models 80X and the 92XI being unveiled ahead of this year's SHOT show.

While the 80X has received most of the attention, the 92XI intrigued me far more. Despite the vast majority of the 92-variants having a decocker, Beretta has over the years developed an unofficial tradition of releasing frame safety-equipped variants exclusively as either commemorative or competition models, often in a rather limited production quantity compared to the mainstream models. The 92X performance has since seemingly shattered that custom, and the addition of the 92XI might indicate that Beretta might be re-evaluating the policy of offering almost exclusively decocker-equipped pistols.

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Those Archangel SKS stocks are decent, very sturdy, but have a few issues. Main one is that you need to disassemble the whole thing to clean it, can't just take off the dust cover without removing the stock. Other issue is odd ergonomics with the pistol grip being far from the trigger due to the way the stock attaches to the action.

The newer FAB Defense stocks are nicer, they have a spring-loaded part that slides back when you need to remove the dust cover. They also allow for much easier AK style one-handed mag changes thanks to the lever that locks into the original mag release. There are rails for attaching a light, QD mounts everywhere, and just in general the whole thing has decent ergos. No room for a bayonet.
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it's nice to see more modernized .380 compacts get increased attention in 2023, but it'd been nice if they gave the classic 84 some love too, it's a gorgeous pistol with a nice and svelte form. It feels almost like a 92 in the hand yet is so small and light that I've slipped one into my pocket like it basically wasn't there, and the lines of the pistol is part of why it does that so well, something which that rail gets in the way of.
 
Those Archangel SKS stocks are decent, very sturdy, but have a few issues. Main one is that you need to disassemble the whole thing to clean it, can't just take off the dust cover without removing the stock. Other issue is odd ergonomics with the pistol grip being far from the trigger due to the way the stock attaches to the action.

The newer FAB Defense stocks are nicer, they have a spring-loaded part that slides back when you need to remove the dust cover. They also allow for much easier AK style one-handed mag changes thanks to the lever that locks into the original mag release. There are rails for attaching a light, QD mounts everywhere, and just in general the whole thing has decent ergos. No room for a bayonet.
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Speaking about fudding up WW2 guns:

Behold the M1 EBR by Sage
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M1GALCS-BIG2.JPG
 
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My pocket carry is a Seecamp .32 acp. Before that I my "pocket carry" was a Beretta Tomcat in .32 acp. IMHO The Seecamp .32 is the ultimate pocket carry. Also IMHO self defense starts at .32 acp

https://youtube.com/watch?v=z9I5I4Bl-CU
I've thought of getting a Tomcat for my first semi auto handgun to compliment my revolver, it's on the list, though I also know about the slide issues all too well. .32 has always fascinated me. Despite its energy and size, its effectiveness, according to all records, is nothing to scoff at. That and it was one of the first cartridges old John Browning worked on, which is way too cool.

That said, I'd probably pick up either a Smith SD40VE or a Ruger Security 380 first, since I already have a pocket pistol with my Model 36- which I do recommend as a pocket pistol, a used J-frame will do wonders- and I'm looking more for a home/car gun. Still who knows what the future holds, might end up with a 32 next lol.
 
Behold the M1 EBR by Sage
View attachment 4277106
Thought I was looking at a fucking SPAS-12 for a split second there.
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Still really want one as just a cool toy. Maybe some day.
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There's cooler ways to modernize an M1 though, once saw some Canadian guy build this .308 one from the ground up using surplus parts such as an unused Italian receiver, and a few smaller M14 parts which either fit or were adapted. The duracoat and plastic stock makes it pretty all-weather, and with the exemption the M1 has with Canadian law, he could have a capacity of 8 with the en-blocs over the 5 he could have with the Norinco M14 he sold to finance the project. A thorough upgrade IMO.
 
Thought I was looking at a fucking SPAS-12 for a split second there.
View attachment 4277410
Still really want one as just a cool toy. Maybe some day.
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There's cooler ways to modernize an M1 though, once saw some Canadian guy build this .308 one from the ground up using surplus parts such as an unused Italian receiver, and a few smaller M14 parts which either fit or were adapted. The duracoat and plastic stock makes it pretty all-weather, and with the exemption the M1 has with Canadian law, he could have a capacity of 8 with the en-blocs over the 5 he could have with the Norinco M14 he sold to finance the project. A thorough upgrade IMO.
I feel that this upgrade is far more respectful and reversible to the M1 compared to the EBR thing. There's just fewer and fewer M1's anymore, which is the same reason I'm extremely hesitant to make permanent changes to my Nornico SKS, it's all about the history. This however, is at least based on a mod that did happen in the past- the transition to 308- and it keeps the soul of the Garand while giving it things like a polymer stock.

Now I don't have these qualms when it comes to things in production- say I buy a PSA AR-15 to mod into that 350 legend gun we were talking about? No issues, that gun is in current production with no signs of stopping.
 
Anyone else feel like Ruger's QC has shit the bed in the last few years? They were never perfect, but the amount of issues that I've seen pop up seems more common than usual. A buddy was showing me his EC9 and racking the slide on that sucker felt worse than the one on my cheap zastava.
 
Ruger's quality control seems to be pretty normal over the years. the EC9 is largely a cost-reduced LC9, and borrows heavily from the LC9's design. i've noticed that it's possible to unseat the action spring, which can cause unreasonable roughness during slide movement, as well as a tendency for the slide to unexpectedly lock rearward because of the position of the slide lock and the average user's thumb position. assuming the factory lubrication was cleaned and replaced, it's an alright pocket pistol.
 
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