Nice! It being a S&W I am sure it is a quality piece. Did it come with three PMAGs?

Only One PMAG...

I ended up ordering Some Magpul stuff when I ordered the rifle to accessorize it:yum:

Still undecided on which light and which optics

I had an Apex Tactical FRE on order. It was supposed to ship yesterday, but conversation with Randy Lee indicated that he's been finding that that new extractor isn't helping as reliably on the Gen 3 9mm Glocks. He's developing an extractor specifically for the Gen 3 - likely available in about 2 weeks - , so I'm waiting on that. Going to fix the Glock, then sell it unless I just can't shoot the PPQ. My LGS was able to find a PPQ in 9mm for me, should be here today or tomorrow. De Santis Speed scabbard on order as well as a couple of magazines.

On Friday I picked up the PPQ that my LGS found for me ($525 +tax). Nice gun. I took some measurements with my Lyman electronic trigger gauge:

• M&P 9L w/DCAEK (stock trigger return spring) - 4 lb 6 oz
• Glock 19 with LW 3.5 conncector (about 1000 rounds) - 5 lbs 9 oz
• Stock PPQ 9mm (50 dry fires) - 5 lb 7 oz

Some observations:

• The grip on the PPQ makes the G19 grip feel kind of blocky. It makes the M&P feel even more so.
• I find that with my normal grip, my thumb rests below the slide stop lever. That seems to worry some people because it extends farther back and they're afraid it will get inadvertently pressed.
• Takedown of the PPQ is conventional, unlike the M&P which is a little wonky.
• The PPQ "feels" like a more substantial gun than either the Glock or the M&P. Very subjective, but related (for me) to how much it rattles, smoothness of action...stuff like that.
• The PPQ does indeed have a nice crisp let-off. The Glock is quite a bit creepier by comparison. Neither one is as good as the M&P with the DCAEK. That pistol has a lighter trigger because I elected not to install the heavier trigger return spring that came with the Apex kit.

PPQ without magazine weighs 1 lb 5.2 oz. My Glock 19 weighs 1 lb 5.4 oz. The M&P (long slide) weighs 1 lb 9.2 oz. This kind of surprised me. The PPQ feels like it would be heavier than the Glock.

I found a nice De Santis Speed Scabbard at Amazon for $52, no tax or shipping. It fits the PPQ well, retains it well too, for a leather holster. I'll probably make a Kydex holster for it this weekend.

The gun comes with two magazines and some kind of hokey loader that looks like the one that came with my Glock. It will have to work pretty damn well for me to throw away my MagLuLa. I have a couple of 17-round mags on the way.


I got out to shoot the PPQ today. I shot it with my Glock 19 (5.5 lb trigger pull) and my M&P 9L (4.5 lb trigger pull). By no means should anyone consider this any kind of "review". They're just my non-expert observations.

After some slow fire with the PPQ to warm up, I found it to be extremely accurate from 7 yards and easy to keep within a 4 inch circle. I put it on par with the G19 and slightly better than the M&P. I attribute that largely to the crappy stock sights I have on the M&P.

Others have mentioned that the PPQ has a higher bore axis than either the M&P or the Glock. I tried to pay close attention to muzzle flip with each of the three guns. Maybe I could perceive a little more with the PPQ, but I didn't find it in any way intrusive. I found it easy to control, comfortable grip. A lot has been made of the pre-travel and reset on that gun -- too short to be a safe carry gun. I noticed nothing but I don't feel for the reset when I shoot, I just let it out to the end of its travel trying to remember to not let my finger come off the trigger.

I tried some (relatively) rapid fire strings. Below is representative of what I (inexpertly) achieved. 7 yards, 6 shots from low ready. Timed from Surefire app on iPhone.

PPQ -- 2.85 seconds
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M&P 9L -- 2.75 seconds
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Glock 19 -- 2.39 seconds
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Even more fun like this

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Nice looking sound suppressor. I am afraid that once I get one, I won't be able to stop...that would cut into my golf budget :)

You won't. I bought a 556-212 for my M4...


...that was to be my one and only NFA purchase...


...I am now waiting on an SBR, Spectre II, and another 556-212, and I am trying to stop. I am. I really am. :wtf2:

so i got my tarus judge love it!

Here's my two favorite toys in my stable.

Many people feel that the M4 must be clean--absurdly so--to function.

To prove this notion wrong, putting the rubber to the road, I took my Noveske 14.5" Midlength M4 to Viking Tactics Carbine 1.5 course.

The course was excellent, instruction world-class, and I highly recommend this to ANYONE who is ready to take their training to the next level. Many people in attendance from local SWAT to Force Recon learned new things, techniques, etc. and everyone had a great time! Huge +1 for Viking Tactics!

Anyway, back to the M4, since that's what this sub-section is about...

We fired (well, I fired) just shy of 1700 rounds through my M4 over the 3 day course.

I began with a clean, properly lubricated weapon. I used MPro-7 LPX.

That's it.

There was no wiping, cleaning, spitting into the BCG, nothing. I just "forgot" to do a damn thing for the weapon (except to lube the switchblock and move it around to prevent carbon from freezing it...which turned out to be pointless. The 2nd and 3rd day I just left it alone, and it was just fine when I got home, Noveske is right---don't lube it, just move it every few hundred rounds and you will be G2G).

The results?

2 failures.

The first happened toward the 500 round mark. The weapon had locked back on an empty chamber (I glanced), and when I slammed a new mag home and pressed the bolt release, I got a double-feed. Was the first round in the mag dis-lodged coming out of my mag-pouch and thrown into the chamber and a second one fed? I don't know. I can't blame this on the rifle, though, as it locked back on empty, and the problem came when a new mag was inserted. Mag failure? User error? I don't know. It never happened again.

The second failure occurred on the last few hundred rounds of the course. I rode the charging handle after a mag-change during an administrative reload after I had shot a drill. Again, user error.

Other than that, sewing machine. It always locked back on an empty mag, etc. Flawless.


Buy a quality AR, and you won't have to be such a prude about keeping it clean. Just lube it every few thousand rounds or so, and it seems G2G. The bolt would fully seat when gently dry-cycling the weapon, after I got home, btw.

Here is what the weapon looked like when I got home today and broke it down:

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Others had a jam or two every now and then, most who had feed issues were using USGI mags. One person started with what was probably a dry weapon, and began having failures at around the 6-700 round mark. It was lubed and forgotten for the rest of the course and did fine. Another person somehow got something in the firing-pin "channel". It was cleared on the bench. We do not know what it was. Other than that, all of our weapons ran just fine. Most were LWRC, BCM, DD, Colt, and others. There were also a few quality self-built rifles, and one RRA. Ammo ranged from Wolf to Lake City M855.

As a whole, there were no "problem children" AR's, and only the guy who ran his dry, and the firing-pin channel blockage caused weapons to be down for more than a few seconds on the line. All other stoppages were cleared quickly, and there were precious few of those. There were far more user errors, than there were weapon-failures (Failure to seat mag, forgetting to charge weapon, etc. etc.)

Over-all, the whole course re-affirmed my opinion that the M4 is a helluva weapon, and plenty durable.
Learning happening. - YouTube

Anyway, on to clean-up...


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I've had the same experience at two different 2500-round TriCon courses with Jeff Gonzales. Jeff usually suggests that people try this so that his students can get an idea of how their rifles will run when neglected for whatever reason. Last year, my Noveske 16 inch mid-length went the full course with only lube when I could start to feel the bolt dragging. This past October, I used my 11.5 SBR with Noveske upper/lower, BCM BCG and BCM barrel and didn't lube it until the third day when I dripped a little SLIP onto the bolt. Not a single malfunction of any kind.

The only other rifles in either course that didn't require any mid-course "attention" was my buddy's 16 inch Noveske and three guys that were shooting Huldra gas piston guns. I see those Huldras a lot around here since Fleet Farm HQ is located here and Stewart Mills (owner of the brand) shot both courses.

My experience does indeed reinforce for me that there are differences in functionality between upper-tier rifles and the rest of the pack. I also see a lot of DPMS rifles around here since DPMS HQ is also located pretty close by (about 60 miles south). They tend to be...problematic...when pushed hard, as is true of the Bushmasters that some of the local police agencies use and RRAs that the local Gander Mountain pushes so hard.

Speaking of Stewart Mills and Mills Fleet Farm...

For those of you that don't know have one in your state (they're mostly just upper midwest), it's a large-scale store that sells a little bit of everything - farm suppies, hardware, lumber, housewares, sporting goods, automotive etc. As Stewart has become more interested in shooting over the last few years, we've seen Fleet Farm become increasingly more firearms-oriented. He developed the Huldra line of gas-piston rifles and expanded the firearms sections of their stores to include a wide array of "tactical" gear, including such things as the full line of MagPul accessories...things that aren't found at Gander Mountain or Cabelas, for example.

As part of that new-found enthusiasm, Fleet is in the final stages of completing a state-of-the-art 10-lane 50 yard indoor range here. Should be opening within the next couple of weeks. It will include regular "tactical" instruction rather than the usual paradigm of just standing behind the booth and firing away. It should be a great opportunity to work drills year-round...an important consideration here in Minnesota where outdoor winter shooting can be...challenging. I have a couple of buddies that are cops and firearms trainers. They have "Northern Command Training", and this indoor range will be their new headquarters. Good times.



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My new found hobby... Instead of a twin turbo kit build, I decided to invest in what is below. :icon14:

Top to bottom...

Remington 700 Target Tactical .308 - Vortex Scope, Larue Picatinny Rail & Low Profile Scope Mounts, Harris Bipod

Remington 870 Tactical 12 Gauge

Ruger 10/22 - Timney 3lb Trigger + Assembly, Hogue Olive Drab Stock, Larue Picatinny Rail, Burris Fastfire III Red Dot Sight

Daniels Defense M4 5.56 - Daniels Defense Omega Rail, Aimpoint Comp M4S Red Dot, Magpul Stock & Trigger Guard, Troy Flip-down Rear Battle Sight, TangoDown Fore-grip

FN SCAR 16S 5.56 - Magpul Selector Switch, Larue ACOG Mount, TangoDown Fore-grip, Trijicon TA-31 ACOG Sight

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