Category: Photo of the day

Photo of the day: A Dirty 1911

There are a lot of misconceptions about the 1911 floating around on the web. One of them is the idea that the 1911 is a delicate little princess that can’t function if she’s dirty. In truth, a properly built 1911 will run dirty if it has been properly lubricated. On Saturday I stopped by the excellent Elite Shooting Sports facility and in the space of an hour working on recoil control and sight tracking blew through over 450 rounds through my 9mm Wilson CQB. The picture tells the tale…this is no princess. She’s a very dirty girl.

It’s at the point now where handling the pistol leaves crud on my hands, so I’m actually going to break down and clean her up. Saturday’s outing pushed the round count through my CQB to over 4,000. That’s more than 4,000 rounds without cleaning. All I’ve ever done is properly lubricate the pistol with Wilson’s Ultima Lube and occasionally wipe down the outside of the pistol to keep the black crud off my clothes.

A properly made 1911 will still run if it’s dirty. A spotlessly clean 1911 will shut down in short order if it isn’t properly lubricated. I’ve been on the line with a lot of 1911 pistols over the years, including attending courses dedicated to the 1911 pattern pistol. Most made the mistake of lubricating their 1911 like it was a Glock…meaning they use minimal or no lubrication at all. Invariably those people ran into problems inside the first 150 rounds. An all metal pistol, even one with a neat high-tech finish that provides some lubricity (like Wilson’s Armor-Tuff finish on this pistol) needs proper lubrication to function. Especially if you do crazy things like burn 450 rounds through the gun in an hour’s time because you happen to be near the range and have a case of ammo in your trunk.

Wait…you don’t drive around with 1,000 rounds of ammo in your trunk? What kind of heathen are you? (Note: this is a joke. If you write me claiming you were microaggressed by this statement I’m going to laugh at you with all of my friends)

To be clear, I’m not arguing that what I’ve done here is a best practice because it most certainly isn’t. Only cleaning your gun every 5th case of ammo is not really a good idea. I didn’t set out to do this because it’s a good idea or because I was trying to prove a point. I’ve just been too damn lazy to clean the gun. So now it’s time to be a responsible adult and properly clean the beast.

…although I kinda like the stripe pattern that’s formed on the muzzle.

 

Speaking of small revolvers…

NRAWalterWeaverThe NRA Museum has a unique S&W model 642 on display. It’s the model 642 carried by NYPD police officer Walter Weaver as he went into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Officer Weaver died trying to evacuate citizens trapped in a burning hell unleashed by vile bastards intent on the destruction of Western Civilization. Much gets said on the internet about the militarization of police and use of force issues, but none of the rioters or complainers ever seem to mention the Walter Weavers out there who will literally run into a burning building to try and save the lives of innocents.

Officer Weaver didn’t make it out of the World Trade Center alive, but his scarred, charred little J frame made it out to serve as a marker of what separates the protectors from the predators. The nitwits looting stores and claiming the police are worse than terrorists are contradicted by the silent testimony of this little gun. Some men want to set fire to the world. Some men will brave the fire to stand for what’s right…even if it costs them everything.

If you can visit this little revolver in person, I encourage you to do so. And say a little prayer of thanks for the man who carried it into harm’s way.

 

Guns Save Lives…sometimes in strange ways.

We often say that guns save lives…well here’s an example where that proved to be true, only not in the way you might expect. The picture shows what’s left of a Glock 22 that belongs to a friend of mine. A great guy, but sometimes bad things happen to good people. While he was at work his house caught fire. His wife was asleep away from the point of origin of the fire, blissfully unaware of what was happening.

Housefires can reach incredible temperatures.
House fires can reach incredible temperatures.

According to the CDC, most fire fatalities are the result of smoke and toxic fume inhalation, not from burns themselves. During a sleep cycle we are particularly vulnerable to inhaling lethal amounts of smoke.

That’s where the Glock comes in. Under the intense heat of the fire, the ammunition in the Glock cooked off, and the resulting noise woke my buddy’s wife in time to realize what was happening and get herself out of the house.

People make jokes about combat tupperware all the time, but it actually takes quite a bit of heat to melt the frame of a Glock…not to mention all the metal fire control bits inside of it like springs and the trigger bar. In the picture you can see the metal liner from the inside of the magazine, the slide, the barrel, and the recoil spring. Everything else is just…gone. A testament to how hot a residential fire can get.

That’s certainly not how anyone pictured a Glock coming to the defense of a homeowner, but the world is a very strange place. And if you think you had a bad week, maybe take a look at that Glock and think about what a bad week really looks like.