I finally had the chance to head to the range today and shoot the new [to me] 6944 that I picked up last weekend. Now, I've never shot any Third Gen Smith and Wesson, so I had no idea what to expect. All I've read is that they're incredibly reliable and highly underrated. I was pretty excited to find out for myself.
I started off with my "carry set up" to shoot it exactly like I would have it in a carry situation. Clean gun, loaded mag, one in the chamber, full with Hornady American Gunner +P 124gr JHP. I shot 11 rounds, and every single one went off without a hitch. After that, I unloaded the last two rounds in the mag, and loaded up with Winchester white box 115gr FMJ target ammo. This was the ammo I used for the rest of the range session - 200 rounds. In all 211 rounds shot this afternoon, there were no misfires, no light primer strikes, no FTF's, no FTE's, and no true malfunctions of any kind. For a 20-some year old gun that was reasonably priced, I was incredibly impressed with that reliability, to say the least.
Now, I said "no true malfunctions" because I did have a small issue that kind of confused me. I'd say it was in my last 40 or so rounds, but the issue is something I'd never experienced before. I loaded a full mag into the gun, pulled back on the slide and let go, and *click*, the slide stopped in the open position without closing. I tried it again ... and again. I tried pulling down on the slide stop/release ... Nothing. I can't say I've ever had an issue where the slide stop/release stayed in the lock position and wouldn't let the slide close. I tried for the longest, and couldn't get it to close. I took the mag out, and tried with an empty gun, same thing. So I walked out to the gun counter with the empty gun and asked the employee what he thought. He fiddled with it for a couple minutes and finally was able to drop the slide.
His opinion was that the gun probably had not been shot much and it just had incredibly tight tolerances and just needed to be broken in more. He said some of his new 1911's have the problem where the slide stop/release is incredibly hard to push down. I'm not sure how much merit is behind that explanation; I've never heard of that before, and certainly not experienced it. Maybe someone here can shine some light on that?
I went back to my pistol lane and was able to finish up the remainder of my ammo. I did have a little trouble dropping the slide a couple more times, but I was able to get it without too much effort (nothing like the first time), and it did not effect the shooting or performance of the gun at all.
Now for the feel of it... The first 50-75 shots I took, I did them at about 5-7 yards and was only getting a feel for the gun and not really too concerned with placement or accuracy at the moment. As you can see from this photo below, my shots were all over the place at that short distance. Perhaps it's because I'm not too used to a DAO trigger.
After I reached about 100 rounds down the pipe, I decided to start focusing on the trigger and trying to shoot this gun well. I backed the target out to about 12-15 yards and that's where it was for the remainder of the session. On a side note, I'm not sure if it's because this is an all metal gun, but the pistol sure was really hot all over! I've shot all metal guns plenty of times, the Beretta 92 being one of my favorites, as well as a small Walther PPK .. I've never really noticed the gun getting too hot further down from the muzzle, but this one, man, I could feel the heat from the gun from the trigger guard to the beaver tail. Not unbearable, but certainly noticeable.
After the next 50 rounds I tried to settle down my groups and really focus on the aim and accuracy. Shot slowly, took my time. But I just couldn't seem to get a good tight group going. As you can tell from this pic, the groups may be a little better, but not by much.
I took a little break, and as I swept up the brass around me I tried to think of ways to shoot better. I knew I was a better shot than what my groups were showing. I thought about how on other firearms I have, I stage the trigger by pulling it right before it breaks, stopping and re-aiming, then giving the final tug. With this DAO trigger, there's no clear sign as to when that happens because it's just such a smooth pull from start to finish (not necessarily a bad thing).
But I figured I could try to time it anyways and attempt to stage the trigger somehow. After a few very slow pulls, I was able to time the trigger just right and stage it. This improved my shot tremendously!! I was able to shoot out the entire center of the target (pictured below) with the last 40 or so rounds. It took a good minute, but I was able to figure out how to shoot that DAO trigger successfully!
Final impressions ... Well, I can't say I'm disappointed in this gun! The reliability of it alone makes it worthy of not going on a gun sell/trade site. I love it's feel in the hand, and once I got used to the trigger, I love how it shoots and how accurate it is. How does this gun categorize for me and my needs?
Well ... Is this gun a good range gun? No, not at all. The DAO trigger is heavy, and it takes a lot of concentration. The gun being all steel gets extremely hot after about 50 rounds, and it makes it uncomfortable to hold because the gun is so hot. For a nice relaxing day at the range? No, this gun is a no go for that.
Conceal carry? Home defense? This gun is PERFECT for that! It may not be good for long range sessions of shooting 200 rounds continuously, but it's size makes it a great size to conceal, and that DAO trigger (while it sucks for range sessions) is very good and safe for carry purposes. Not to mention its reliability being the top qualification for the "protect my life" purpose. It may not fit the bill for every category for me, but where it does fit in - a carry gun - it shines.
Needless to say I won't be taking it to too many range sessions other than to run maybe a couple mags through it to make sure it still functions, and then going right back to shooting another gun at the range that will be much more enjoyable for the long haul.
I guess in comparison, this gun is a sprinter, not a marathon runner. I love it, there is no doubt there, and for my subjective perspective, it fits into the carry/defense category a lot better than the fun day at the range category.
I started off with my "carry set up" to shoot it exactly like I would have it in a carry situation. Clean gun, loaded mag, one in the chamber, full with Hornady American Gunner +P 124gr JHP. I shot 11 rounds, and every single one went off without a hitch. After that, I unloaded the last two rounds in the mag, and loaded up with Winchester white box 115gr FMJ target ammo. This was the ammo I used for the rest of the range session - 200 rounds. In all 211 rounds shot this afternoon, there were no misfires, no light primer strikes, no FTF's, no FTE's, and no true malfunctions of any kind. For a 20-some year old gun that was reasonably priced, I was incredibly impressed with that reliability, to say the least.
Now, I said "no true malfunctions" because I did have a small issue that kind of confused me. I'd say it was in my last 40 or so rounds, but the issue is something I'd never experienced before. I loaded a full mag into the gun, pulled back on the slide and let go, and *click*, the slide stopped in the open position without closing. I tried it again ... and again. I tried pulling down on the slide stop/release ... Nothing. I can't say I've ever had an issue where the slide stop/release stayed in the lock position and wouldn't let the slide close. I tried for the longest, and couldn't get it to close. I took the mag out, and tried with an empty gun, same thing. So I walked out to the gun counter with the empty gun and asked the employee what he thought. He fiddled with it for a couple minutes and finally was able to drop the slide.
His opinion was that the gun probably had not been shot much and it just had incredibly tight tolerances and just needed to be broken in more. He said some of his new 1911's have the problem where the slide stop/release is incredibly hard to push down. I'm not sure how much merit is behind that explanation; I've never heard of that before, and certainly not experienced it. Maybe someone here can shine some light on that?
I went back to my pistol lane and was able to finish up the remainder of my ammo. I did have a little trouble dropping the slide a couple more times, but I was able to get it without too much effort (nothing like the first time), and it did not effect the shooting or performance of the gun at all.
Now for the feel of it... The first 50-75 shots I took, I did them at about 5-7 yards and was only getting a feel for the gun and not really too concerned with placement or accuracy at the moment. As you can see from this photo below, my shots were all over the place at that short distance. Perhaps it's because I'm not too used to a DAO trigger.
After I reached about 100 rounds down the pipe, I decided to start focusing on the trigger and trying to shoot this gun well. I backed the target out to about 12-15 yards and that's where it was for the remainder of the session. On a side note, I'm not sure if it's because this is an all metal gun, but the pistol sure was really hot all over! I've shot all metal guns plenty of times, the Beretta 92 being one of my favorites, as well as a small Walther PPK .. I've never really noticed the gun getting too hot further down from the muzzle, but this one, man, I could feel the heat from the gun from the trigger guard to the beaver tail. Not unbearable, but certainly noticeable.
After the next 50 rounds I tried to settle down my groups and really focus on the aim and accuracy. Shot slowly, took my time. But I just couldn't seem to get a good tight group going. As you can tell from this pic, the groups may be a little better, but not by much.
I took a little break, and as I swept up the brass around me I tried to think of ways to shoot better. I knew I was a better shot than what my groups were showing. I thought about how on other firearms I have, I stage the trigger by pulling it right before it breaks, stopping and re-aiming, then giving the final tug. With this DAO trigger, there's no clear sign as to when that happens because it's just such a smooth pull from start to finish (not necessarily a bad thing).
But I figured I could try to time it anyways and attempt to stage the trigger somehow. After a few very slow pulls, I was able to time the trigger just right and stage it. This improved my shot tremendously!! I was able to shoot out the entire center of the target (pictured below) with the last 40 or so rounds. It took a good minute, but I was able to figure out how to shoot that DAO trigger successfully!
Final impressions ... Well, I can't say I'm disappointed in this gun! The reliability of it alone makes it worthy of not going on a gun sell/trade site. I love it's feel in the hand, and once I got used to the trigger, I love how it shoots and how accurate it is. How does this gun categorize for me and my needs?
Well ... Is this gun a good range gun? No, not at all. The DAO trigger is heavy, and it takes a lot of concentration. The gun being all steel gets extremely hot after about 50 rounds, and it makes it uncomfortable to hold because the gun is so hot. For a nice relaxing day at the range? No, this gun is a no go for that.
Conceal carry? Home defense? This gun is PERFECT for that! It may not be good for long range sessions of shooting 200 rounds continuously, but it's size makes it a great size to conceal, and that DAO trigger (while it sucks for range sessions) is very good and safe for carry purposes. Not to mention its reliability being the top qualification for the "protect my life" purpose. It may not fit the bill for every category for me, but where it does fit in - a carry gun - it shines.
Needless to say I won't be taking it to too many range sessions other than to run maybe a couple mags through it to make sure it still functions, and then going right back to shooting another gun at the range that will be much more enjoyable for the long haul.
I guess in comparison, this gun is a sprinter, not a marathon runner. I love it, there is no doubt there, and for my subjective perspective, it fits into the carry/defense category a lot better than the fun day at the range category.
