Tag: Concealed carry

Lee’s Classic Turret Press and the S&W Shield: Range Results

By Joe Berk

Check out that photo above.  It’s a flat dark earth Smith and Wesson M&P 9 Shield, with ammo reloaded using the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit.  Yep, this is a “two-fer” blog:  A first look at the Shield, and an evaluation of the first loads prepped with the Lee Classic Turret Press Kit.

I initially tried two loads in the Shield:

      • 124-grain plated roundnose Rainier bullets and 5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 powder.
      • 124-grain plated roundnose Rainier bullets and 5.6 grains of Accurate No. 5 powder.

I wanted to start low and work up, partly because that’s good reloading practice and partly because the Shield was new to me and I didn’t know how it would work and what it would like.  The first reduced load (5.2 grains of Accurate No. 5 and a 124-grain plated bullet) wouldn’t cycle the Shield’s action.   I fired 50 rounds this way, one at a time.  I’d have to pull the slide back and release it after each shot.  For the Shield portion of the evaluation, I knew I needed to bump up the load.  For the ammo portion of the evaluation, every load fed and fired flawlessly.  The Lee turret press had done its job.

Bumping up to the 5.6 grains of Accurate No. 5 (still with the 124-grain plated bullet), the Shield’s action cycled but a couple of times the slide closed after the last round in the magazine fired.   I fired 50 rounds in this test, loading 5 rounds in the Shield’s magazine each time.  The Shield was pushing the slide back far enough to strip off a new round, but on two magazine loadings the slide did not go far enough  back to engage the slide stop after the last round. I needed to bump the charge a scosh more.  For the ammo eval, every load fed, fired, and ejected flawlessly.  Again, the Lee turret press had done its job.

The Lee Classic Turret Press, a phenomenal value and a great reloading setup.

At this point, I knew I needed to go a little higher on the powder charge with the 124-grain plated bullet, and I knew the Lee Classic Turret Press was making good ammo.  Everything fed and there were no jams.

The first rounds loaded to an overall cartridge length of 1.610 inches. I later moved that back to 1.140 inches.

I loaded the above 9mm ammo to an overall length of 1.160 inches, which is longer than I usually load 9mm.  The Lee manual has the cartridge overall length with a plated 124-grain Rainier bullet at 1.169 inches.  The cartridges would go in the Shield’s magazine and they fed fine when shooting, but when loading them in the magazine, the first cartridge tended to go horizontal instead of being angled up as others were loaded on top of it.  That hung up the magazine while cartridges were being loaded into it.  In the past, I had normally loaded 9mm at around 1.120 to 1.130 inches overall length.  I decided that for my next load I would go up to 5.8 grains of Accurate No. 5, and I would seat the bullets for an overall cartridge length of 1.140 inches.  I went home and in 20 minutes I had loaded another 50 rounds.  That Lee Classic Turret is fast.

50 rounds of custom-crafted 9mm ammo created on the Lee Classic Turret Press.

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When I returned to the West End Gun Club, I set up a target at 50 feet, took out the Shield, and loaded the first magazine.  Loading to a cartridge overall length of 1.140 made it easier to load the magazine.  So far, so good.

Next, I fired 20 rounds to assess the ammo’s functionality.  Everything worked perfectly.  Every round fed, every round ejected, and life was good.  The Shield’s bright fixed sights were printing a bit to the left, so I held to the right on a fresh target and rattled off 30 rounds.

Thirty rounds at 50 feet from the Shield. Not too shabby for a belly gun.

The Shield’s recoil was not at all uncomfortable; it was way better than a .38 snubnose revolver.  The Shield is a very light pistol (19.0 ounces).  That’s lighter than the S&W Model 60 (23.2 ounces) or a Compact 1911 (33.4 ounces).  Those weights for the 1911 and the Model 60 may not sound like a lot, but (trust me on this) it’s enough to weigh on you at the end of the day.  I guess the Shield’s light weight is the big advantage of a Tupperware gun.  I like it, and I like the fact that the gun is pleasant to shoot.

A few days later, I was on an indoor range and I set up the Alco target that has four mini-silhouettes on a single sheet.  I ran it out to 21 feet and put 50 rounds on target (dividing them roughly between the four targets), all shot offhand while standing.  The load was the same as the one mentioned above.  That’s 5.8 grains of Accurate No. 5 and a 124-grain plated Rainier roundnose bullet at an overall cartridge length of 1.140 inches, and for these, I used mixed brass.

The quad mini-silhouette from Alco Target in Monrovia, California, and 50 rounds fired standing at 7 yards.

I also tried two different powder-coated bullets with Accurate No. 5.  One was the 147-grain Boudreau flat nosed bullet with 4.8 grains of Accurate No. 5.  This is an accurate load in the Shield (even more so than the plated bullet load mentioned above), but it leaded the bore.  The other was the Boudreau 124-grain round nose bullet with 5.4 grains of Accurate No. 5; it, too, leaded the bore.  The plated bullets did not lead the bore at all so I think they are a better load.    I loaded more 147-grain powder coated bullets with a lighter charge to see if that would eliminate the bore leading, but they did not and I had cycling issues.  4.8 grains of Accurate No. 5 is what this 147-grain powder coated bullet wants.

The Shield with 124-grain powder coated roundnose bullets. These leaded the bore.
147-grain powder coated bullets. These, too, leaded the bore. They are accurate, though.
Another Alco quad mini-silhouette with 5-shot groups fired standing at 7 yards, this time with the 147-grain powder coated Boudreau bullet and 4.8 grains of Accurate No. 5.

Let’s talk about the Shield a bit.  My Shield is the first iteration (not the Shield 2.0, as that model is not sold in California).  The Shield has a 3 1/8-inch barrel.

The Shield’s 8-round magazine. The left arrow points to the spacer. It can slide up, as indicated by the right arrow.

The Shield’s magazine could be better.  It has a plastic spacer at the bottom, and that spacer rides up when loading the magazine.  Conceivably, it could interfere with seating the magazine in the gun.  In my opinion it is a poor design.  The collar slides down as easy as it slides up, so that’s good.  You get two mags with the Shield.  The one you see above holds 8 rounds and it has a grip extender that feels just right to me.  There’s another one that doesn’t have the grip extender and it holds 7 rounds.  I haven’t done anything with that one, other than checking to make sure it was in the box when I bought the gun.

The Shield’s sights are the best I’ve ever used.  They are bright and easy to see.  The sights let in light from the sides, and that design just flat works.  It’s the first gun I have ever shot with these sights.  They are better than my SIG P226s’s Tritium sights, and those sights are good.  The photo below isn’t enhanced; it’s what the Smith’s sights actually look like.

The Shield’s sights. They are the best I’ve ever used.

The Shield’s trigger, in a word, is terrible.  There are other triggers available for the Shield, but I will leave this one alone.  The trigger got a little better with use and a couple of cleanings (I’ve put about 600 rounds through the Shield so far).  The Shield is a striker-fired gun and the trigger is not what I would consider good, but it’s better than it was initially.  Compared to a good 1911 like the Springfield, it’s awful.  But, it’s good enough to get rounds on target (as you can see above).

The Shield’s slide release, out of the box, was super stiff and essentially unusable.  I could release the slide with two thumbs, but not with one.  I found it best to pull the slide back and let it go to release the slide.  This aspect of the design (or its execution) is poor, and requiring two hands to release the slide is not good for a defensive weapon.  A close examination of the slide stop showed that it was rough where it interfaced with the slide, so I judiciously worked it over with 600-grit sandpaper, and it releases more easily now.  I can release it with one thumb with no magazine in the gun, but it still takes two thumbs and a lot of effort with the mag inserted and that’s bad.  It’s surprising that Smith and Wesson would let this happen.

A SIG P226, the Smith and Wesson Shield, and a Springfield Armory 1911, all chambered in 9mm. Flat dark earth is the new black.

I had the SIG and my 1911 with me when I shot the Shield.  The Shield doesn’t look that much smaller in a group photo, but it is flatter and it will carry concealed better.  In subsequent blogs, I’ll explore different loads prepared on the Lee Classic Turret press fired in all three of the guns above.  I fired a few rounds through the Springfield, and they worked just fine; the same is true for the SIG P226.  Interestingly, the lighter loads that wouldn’t work in the Shield did work in the Springfield.  It’s counterintuitive, but compact handguns are tougher to make work well than are full size handguns. That’s because the recoil spring in a compact handgun has to be much stiffer than one in a full size gun.

The Shield’s sear deactivation lever.  You have to push it down to remove the slide and barrel.

To takedown the Shield, you do not simply unlock the slide takedown lever. There’s a sear deactivation release in the magazine well (identified with a red arrow in the photo above), and you have to push that down before you can turn the slide takedown lever for disassembly.  You can’t do it with your finger; you need a small screwdriver or a thin pen.  With the SIG, you just turn the slide takedown lever with the slide back.

Cleaning the Shield is a breeze.  You make sure the gun is unloaded, release the mag, lower the sear deactivation lever, rotate the slide takedown lever, and the gun comes apart.  The slide comes off the frame, and the spring subassembly and barrel come out.  That’s it.  Five parts (the magazine, the receiver, the barrel, the spring subassembly, and the slide.

The plated ammo I loaded on the Lee turret press didn’t lead at all.  Zero.  Zip.  Nada.  The powder coated bullets did, which surprised me.  All were accurate.

The bottom line?  Let me put it this way: I like the Shield; I love the Lee Classic Turret Press kit.  The Shield will get better with more shooting and I want to try more loads in it, but that 5.8-grains of Accurate No.5 and 124-grain plated Rainier roundnose load is a winner.  The Lee Classic Turret press and all its accessories were good to go right from the beginning.  Its design and quality are excellent.

The Lee Classic Turret Press…what can I say?  It’s awesome.  It’s fast, easy to use, inexpensive, and it makes great ammo.  I say it’s the best bang for the buck in the reloading world.  As an engineer I’m impressed; as a consumer and reloader I am delighted.  I have already fired several hundred rounds loaded on the Lee Classic Turret Press in my Shield, the Springfield, and the SIG and once I settled on a load, every one of them fed, fired, extracted, and ejected perfectly in three different handguns.  I had a box of 1000 124-grain plated 9mm bullets a few days ago; I like the Lee turret press so much they’re all gone now (they were either sent downrange or they’ve been loaded and labeled and they’re waiting their turn to go downrange).  I love reloading and shooting; I love it even more now that I’m loading with my Lee turret press.

A word of caution here…these loads performed acceptably in my guns.  Your firearms may vary and you need to develop your own loads.  Always start low and work up in any load development program.

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More information on Lee reloading gear.

Our earlier blogs on Lee equipment:

Lee Safety Prime
Lee Auto-Drum Powder Measure
Lee Classic Turret Press Kit
Lee Bench Plate
Lee’s Modern Reloading Manual
Lee Safety Powder Scale
Lee Classic Turret Kit Unpacking
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 1
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 2
Lee .44 Magnum Dies 3
Lee .357 Magnum Dies

Two Bodacious Belly Guns

Not too long ago, I posted the Model 60 handjob blog, which was a story about fitting a new hand to the revolver to correct an out-of-time situation.  When I took the reworked Model 60 to the West End Gun Club to check its performance, I brought along my Rock Island Compact 1911.  Both guns are on my concealed carry permit and I thought it might be cool to rapid fire on the police qualification target at 7 yards.

As you can see from the photo above, the guns appear to be comparably sized, but that photo is a bit misleading.  I don’t feel like I’m printing with the Compact 1911 (you know, allowing the gun’s outline to standout against my shirt), but the 1911 does hang heavier and it presents a bigger shape under an untucked shirt.   I’ll get to the specs of both guns in a minute, but first let’s take a look at how they compare on target.  The first target is the Model 60; the second is the Rock Island Compact 1911.

50 rounds, rapid fire, at 7 yards from the Smith and Wesson Model 60 (all fired double action).
50 rounds, rapid fire, at 7 yards from the .45 ACP Rock Island Compact 1911.

I shot both targets using a two-hand hold from the standing position.  Both are accurate and close enough, as they say, for government work.

The loads were fairly stiff.  I used a cast 158-grain truncated cone bullet with 4.4 grains of Unique propellant for my .38 Special ammo, and a 185-grain cast semiwadcutter bullet with 5.0 grains of Bullseye for the .45 ACP.  Given the choice, I wouldn’t want to be hit by either one.  But I’m betting that the 1911 hits harder.

.38 Special and .45 ACP reloads. Both were fairly stout. The 158-grain truncated conical bullet .38 Special loads are potent.  The .45 ACP semiwadcutters come from Jim Gardner’s casting operation, and they are accurate and hard hitting.

The Model 60 Smith and Wesson weighs 19 ounces empty and it carries 5 rounds (which adds another 1.8 ounces, for a total of just under 21 ounces).  The 1911 weighs 34.6 ounces empty and it carries 7 rounds in its 7-round mags (that adds another 3 ounces, for a total of 37.6 ounces).   The loaded 1911 weighs almost twice as much as the loaded Smith and Wesson revolver.  Anything you measure in ounces may not seem like a lot, but trust me, when you carry it all day, it is.  From a weight perspective, the Model 60 has an advantage.

I know all you keyboard commandos want to tell me I could carry 8 rounds in the 1911, but I won’t carry with a loaded chamber in a semi-auto.  Save your breath if you think I should.  The Israelis don’t carry with a round chambered and they seem to know what they’re doing, we didn’t carry with a round chambered when I was in the Army, and I’ve seen more than a few accidental discharges from folks who carried with a round chambered in a semi-auto handgun.  Nope, it’s an empty chamber for me.  Your mileage may vary.

From an accuracy perspective, you can see from the targets above that I shoot the 1911 better.  I don’t think the 1911 is inherently more accurate than the Model 60.  But in my hands, and with my old eyes, I can hold a tighter group with a 1911.  Most of that has to do with my 1911’s sights.  I have a red ramp/white outline set of Millet sights that good buddy TJ (of TJ’s Custom Guns) installed on my 1911, and those things are the best handgun sights I’ve ever used.  The Model 60’s sights…well, let’s just say it’s a game of hide and seek with them.  The 1911 gets the nod from an accuracy perspective.

You might think 7 versus 5 rounds is a tremendous advantage.  On paper, maybe.  In real life, the average number of rounds fired by a concealed carry permit holder in a confrontation is less than 2 rounds.  It’s kind of a draw from a capacity perspective, at least from my perspective.  If you’re a keyboard commando, you may feel differently.  Go post your opinions on Facebook; they need folks like you.

So what’s my preference?  Most of the time, it’s the 1911, but I love both of these handguns.

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The CZ 2075 9mm Rami

As concealed carry powerhouses go, it doesn’t get much better than the CZ 25 Rami.  One of my good buddies owns one and I had an opportunity to play with it.  I was impressed.  On the plus side, it is an all-metal gun with a flat black finish, a hammer (greatly preferred by yours truly over a striker-fired pistol), great sights, and a marvelous trigger.    My bud had a trigger job on his, and it was awesome (light and crisp, with zero creep, just like it should be).

The three-dot sights on the CZ are crisp and non-gimmicky.  There’s no glow-in-the-dark nonsense and they stand out.  In the photo below, the sight picture is just the opposite of what it’s supposed to be (you want the front sight to be in sharp focus, and the rear sight to be a bit fuzzy, but I couldn’t get my iPhone camera to cooperate when I shot these photos).

I liked the feel of the CZ.  I didn’t get to fire it, but I think I might have an opportunity at some point.  The one you see here is chambered in 9mm.  The Rami was also available in .40 S&W, which I think might be a bit much for a gun this small.

The Rami was discontinued in 202o with the introduction of newer CZ models.  I haven’t seen the new handguns, but I can’t see how they can be any better than the CZ 2075.  This pistol just feels right.

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Aging like a fine wine: My Model 59

The Smith and Wesson Model 59. Mine is a very early one, with a serial number that puts it in the first year of production. These old guns can shoot!

Dial back the clock a cool 46 years (which would put us in 1972), and Smith and Wesson had only recently introduced its Model 59 9mm, double-stack, semi-auto handgun. The 59 was the latest and the greatest in ‘72…a high capacity 9mm with a double stack magazine (like the Browning Hi-Power, the only other gun of its day with this feature) and a double-action first shot (pulling the trigger both cocked and fired the weapon).  It was cool.  Nah, scratch that.  It was super cool.

I first became acquainted with S&W semi-autos with their Model 39, the predecessor to the Model 59.  Dick Larsen, a family friend, had a Model 39.  Sergeant Larsen was on our local PD and to me he defined cool.  I really looked up to Larsen and I loved talking guns with him.  In one such discussion the conversation turned to the topic of the day: 9mm handguns versus the venerable .357 magnum revolver.   I thought Larsen was a dyed-in-the-wool revolver man, until he showed me his off-duty Model 39.  He had it on his belt under a Hawaiian print shirt.  It was a cool thing…small and light. I wanted one. “The one to get today is the Model 59,” the good Sergeant said, “if you can find one.”

The Model 59 was a new limited-production item from Smith and Wesson in 1972, and they were tough to get.  Rumor has it that S&W developed the 59 for the Navy SEALS (nobody outside S&W and the Navy knew this back then). That’s probably why they were so hard to get initially; nearly all the production was headed to Coronado Island.  I was going in the Army and after that conversation with Sergeant Larsen, I wanted a Model 59.  In those days, if you wanted to find a hard-to-get gun you either made a lot of phone calls or you visited a lot of gun shops (the Internet and Gunbroker.com did not yet exist).   My Dad did both (plus, as a world-class trapshooter, he knew people). I got lucky.  Dad found a distributer who could get a Model 59, and I had one before I shipped out for Korea.

I’ve had my Model 59 since 1973, and I’m guessing I’ve probably put something north of 30,000 rounds downrange with it. In my early days, I replaced the black plastic grips with cool tiger-striped exotic wood grips I bought at a Fort Worth gun show (who would want a gun with black plastic parts?), and I had to replace the safety once back in the ‘80s. Other than that, all I’ve done with my Model 59 is shoot the hell out of it and occasionally clean it. It’s surprisingly accurate, it feeds anything, and it’s just plain fun to shoot. It’s a gun I’ll never sell.

Zombies don’t stand a chance against the Model 59. My favorite 9mm load in the 59 is a 125 gr cast roundnose bullet over a max load of Unique propellant.

The good news is the Model 59 ultimately went into high rate production.   More than a few police departments chose the 59 when the migration from revolvers to autos occurred in the 1980s.  All of those PDs moved on to newer guns, and today you can still find used Model 59s for cheap.

Most folks today have either never heard of the Model 59, or they would smile quaintly at its mention and then tell you how great their plastic Glocks are. But don’t dismiss the Model 59.  The 59 is a grand old handgun and I’ll bet you a dollar to a donut you’d love it.  Mine just gets better with age (like a fine wine, I guess), and I love shooting it.

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