Weaponology - Present Tense

In years past, my off-duty weapon of choice was a 1911 Combat Commander.  Its size, weight and caliber (.45 ACP) were perfect for my perceived needs.  These days ... not so much.  Some years ago, I sold the Commander and bought an Officers' Model; somewhat smaller but still a 1911.  It was then that I finally realized that whatever 1911 I was carrying on a daily basis as a civilian felt like I was toting a boat anchor around between my belt and my shirt.

Kahr P45

Please, don't lecture me on the wisdom of having a "good gun belt".  I had (and still have) several of them.  The weight of the all steel 1911 was still there.  It was then that I wised-up, defected from the John M. Browning god and bought a Kahr P45.

At 18.7 ounces, the Kahr has worked well for me.  With a 6+1 loading capacity of .45 ACP, I do not believe myself to be "outgunned" by possible threats walking the mean streets of urban Texas environments.

Everything about the P45 denotes that it is truly a weapon for the armed professional.  The trigger has a smooth surface and there are no external safties.  Aggressive chekering is provided on the frontstrap and the backstrap.  The rifling is polygonal and the Khar is more accurate that I am capable of being.

The rifling, however, is the problem.  Those of us who are "into" the shooting sports tend to shoot a lot ...and then shoot some more.  In order to do this, finances dictate that most of us load our own ammunition.  Loading ammunition containing the correct projectile to be fired through polygonal rifling (full metal jackets) can border on being fairly expensive.  It is much cheaper to reload with lead projectiles.  The reason that it's not too wise to shoot lead through polyginal rifling is that even hard-cast lead bullets tend to foul the barrel quickly and cleaning it out requires a long scrubbing session.

My solution?  I still shoot only FMJ's through the P45, but I went out and bought a Kahr CW45 with which to practice.  The CW45 is essentially the same as the P45 except that the CW  has conventional rifling and is, therefore, "lead friendly".

My eyes are older than when I used to happily lug 1911's hither and yon and my groups have "widened-out" a bit.  The Wife Unit suggested that I include a current "group photo".  Oh, to have younger eyes and tighter groups!

Deo Vindice