New Toys for a New Year

I haven't posted since May of last year. Can that be right? Yes. Yes, it's right.

2009 thankfully passed. One year of Obama's policies is too much. But that's not what this post is going to be about. It's going to be about enjoying new toys.

In one of my previous posts, I gave a short report about IDPA. In that report, I mentioned my CZ-75b, a wonderful little Czech pistol that has a global reputation. It is my understanding that the CZ-75 fills the holsters of most of the world's police forces. I have to admit, it's a fantastic little pistol. It hasn't given me so much as a hiccup since I bought it. Well, that's not altogether true. I did have some problems with one of the magazines. But that issue has been resolved.

So, with that in mind, I ended 2009 by purchasing a brand new CZ-97b. This pistol is the big bore brother to the CZ-75b, and it is chambered in 45 ACP. Check out the picture below.

Notice the full length dust cover on the frame. It gives the pistol, in my opinion, a very sleek look. While this pistol may look svelte, it's built like a tank. It's heavier than most 1911s, but the recoil is absorbed by the large grips. It doesn't hurt that this is a double stack .45, able to carry 10 rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber.

Unfortunately, this bad boy had some problems feeding. Ever so often, a round would fail to feed properly, and the slide was unable to go back into full battery.

So, I took it back to The Arms Room in League City. Their gunsmith took a look at it, and upon CZ's request, they sent it back to CZ to have some work done on the feed ramp. Hopefully, that will resolve the issue.

While I was a little bummed out about this, I didn't stay in the dumps too long. I have been reading about the 10mm Auto, a little round developed in the early 1980's with the assistance of Col. Jeff Cooper. The 10mm Auto was adopted by the FBI, but later it was dropped in favor of the .40 S&W. There is a long history about this, one which I will not go into here, but in short, the FBI wanted a cartridge that all of their agents could wield, and the 10mm Auto was just too much for some of the agents.

That really is too bad. The 10mm Auto is a fantastic round.

How do I know? I bought one today.

Yesterday I called my friends at The Arms Room and asked for a price quote on an EAA Witness full sized steel pistol in 10mm Auto. After getting their price (which was astounding), I asked them to order it. Today it arrived, and I picked it up around three o'clock.

While I filled out the appropriate paperwork, Bill cleaned the pistol up for me.

I left The Arms Room and headed straight for the range. The weather was quite nasty, about 55 degrees, very windy, and raining. But that's okay. I wasn't going to spend a lot of time there anyway. Just enough to see what the new pistol shot like.

The following pictures were taken with my cell phone, so they aren't the greatest.The first order of business was to shoot a five shot group from about twelve yards. I wasn't about to walk out to the rifle range and set up at twenty-five yards. The ground was just too soggy. So, I used my range bag as support, and squeezed off five rapid shots. The results are as shown:There always seems to be that one flyer

The recoil on this pistol is something one has to experience to understand. It does have a stout recoil, but it is not at all unmanageable. I followed up with triple taps on three separate plates, at about seven yards.

Triple taps, as double taps, are not shot groups where the shooter pulls the trigger as fast as he can. Rather, there are three or two shots that are made as quickly as possible while aiming. I would wager that the string of three shots took right at or just above one second. It doesn't sound fast... because it isn't. But it's as fast as I can go and still hit my target. Results are below.

One of the things that came as a pleasant surprise to me was the rail on the dust cover. This pistol is made of entirely steel. The fit and finish are excellent. It feels solid in the hands, and the Hogue grips really help reduce felt recoil. It has a full length steel guide rod, too. I was not expecting to have these features when I ordered it. Heck, even the mighty CZ-97 doesn't have the full length guide rod, nor does it have an accessory rail on the dust cover. This one does, and for a little more than half the price.

Even more attractive is the fact that EAA Corp offers a myriad of conversion kits for their pistols. So, even though I purchased mine in 10mm Auto, I can purchase a conversion kit that will allow me to shoot .22LR for about $230 American. Or, if I decide, I can drop another $230 and purchase a conversion kit to shoot 9mm Luger. Or .38 Super. Or 45 ACP. Purdy damn neat, if you ask me.

Check out EAA Corp's website at http://www.eaacorp.com/. It's a fantastic deal. Really.

I can't say this enough.... this pistol is solid. It fits well into the hand. And while it is not compact by any stretch of the imagination, I will have no problem concealing it on my 6'2" frame. There are no machining marks on the pistol anywhere.

The only things I don't like about it are the front sight, and the trigger. The trigger isn't bad, and for a carry pistol it will do. EAA offers single action triggers, and I will probably be speaking to the smith at The Arms Room to have one installed. The front sight is a different story. It's part of the slide, or at least appears to be. I don't know how this will be replaced, but I am sure the smith will be able to figure something out. I like having night sights on my weapons.

That being said, this will fast become my primary carry pistol. All I need is a good leather holster for it. That shouldn't be too hard to find. And if I can't find one, I am sure I will be able to find someone that is willing to make one for me.

I will also be visiting MidwayUSA.com in order to purchase a heavier 18lb Wolff recoil spring. That should make the felt recoil even less.

I'll give another range report once that recoil spring has been purchased.

In the future, I will be posting more often. Not that so many people read this blog, but ya nevah know.... some one might just want to hear what I have to say.