Ruger Single Six Stuck Base Pin

I also shot my Cowboy Pimp Gun, AKA my Ruger Single Six Vaquero in .32 H&R Magnum today. The last time I shot it I didn’t do a full cleaning, just an external wipedown. After I got home today I wanted to do a full cleaning, but when I went to pull the base pin it was stuck. Unless I removed the ejector rod housing I would not be able to get pliers on it.

I squirted some Ballistol in at the front and back of the cylinder and let it soak for about a half hour in the hopes that it would loosen things up. Luckily I was finally able to pull it out.

This leads me to believe there was a buildup of crud on the pin.

Unfortunately, single actions with transfer bars like the Ruger New Models don't allow you to push the cylinder pin from the back, because the transfer bar is in the way. Brownells sells a base pin removal tool (part number 080000367) but it's $45. So, the moral of the story is if you shoot a single action, pull and wipe off the base pin even if you’re not going to do a full cleaning.

Ruger Security-380

Being in my late 50s and having spent about 26 years in IT using a keyboard a lot, my hands no longer take well to heavy recoiling guns. I recently got a CZ-82 in 9mm Makarov but being a straight blowback, I'm limited to about 50 rounds per session with that gun.

A couple days ago I traded off my SIG P365X, which had gotten unpleasant to shoot, in favor of a Ruger Security-380 Lite Rack. It's based on the Security-9 Compact but chambered for .380 ACP. Size-wise it's comparable to a Beretta 81 or 84 Cheetah .32 or a SIG P365 AXG Legion. Unlike the blowback Berettas, the Ruger is a locked-breech gun so my hope was that it would have mild recoil.

Shown between a 3" S&W Model 10-8 K-Frame and a S&W Model 432UC J-Frame (my EDC):

I tried a few holsters that I have on hand for other guns and found that it fits my El Paso Saddlery M-1942 Tanker made for the S&W M&P M2.0 Compact 9mm:

It's large trigger guard kept it from seating in a Tanker holster for 1911s.

The Ruger came with two 15-round mags (for this RSR-exclusive SKU), a mag loader, chamber flag, owner's manual, and gun lock.

The front sight is a green fiber optic while the rear is blacked out with a U-notch that gives just the right amount of space on the sides of the front when aiming. Sight visibility is excellent.

My hands are medium-sized and I'm able to grip the gun and reach the trigger comfortably.

There is a thumb safety on the left side, but not on the right for us lefties. The safety lever is small and might not be easy to work with gloves on. I plan to ignore it.

One caution I saw in a video review by Honest Outlaw on YouTube is that if you eject magazines and let them fall onto a concrete floor, they may shed their floorplates and possibly break. So, don't do that.

Today was a good day to test my theory that a locked-breech large .380 pistol would be good for folks with hand issues, because they were acting up.

While .380 ACP may not be as powerful as 9mm, the ballistics are similar to those of the Colt 1851 Navy .36 percussion revolver, which put a lot of men in the ground in the late 19th Century. Think of the Ruger as a 15-shot Colt Navy.

I put 137 rounds of .380 FMJ through it (38 Federal American Eagle, 49 CCI Blazer w/aluminum cases, and 50 rounds of PMC). The gun ran perfectly.

The trigger pull is consistent and my SWAG is that it breaks at about 4 - 4.5 lbs. There is zero overtravel due to a stop molded into the trigger guard. There is a little takeup in the pull before you encounter resistance, similar to a two-stage military rifle trigger.

The two 15-round mags that were included with the gun definitely need a magazine loader to fill, especially for the final round. I used my Maglula UpLULA instead of the one included with the gun. The magazines have the same bodies as those for the Security-9, but with a spacer in the back to work with the shorter .380 rounds. Any mag loader meant for double-column 9mm pistol mags will work.

Seating a fully loaded magazine with the slide forward requires you to give it a good whack on the bottom to ensure it's latched in place.

I shot it on paper at 10 yards and on steel at 25 yards. The point of impact is a little to the right at 10, more so at 25. Looking down at the top of the slide it looks like Ruger didn't get the rear sight perfectly centered. It's a hair off to the right. I'm going to center it before I shoot it the next time.

Field stripping is easy but may require a small flat head screwdriver to pull out the takedown pin, if it's dirty or dry. A good accessory for this gun would be a Czech surplus CZ-82 cleaning rod, which has a flat head screwdriver on the tip.

Despite Ruger not getting the rear sight properly centered on my sample, overall I'm very impressed with the Security-380.

The recoil is very soft, similar to the Beretta .32. However, the slide is much easier to rack than the Beretta's, more like a .22 autoloader's. Even after 137 rounds my hands weren't feeling much worse than when I started. If you have hand strength or pain issues, or are just recoil-sensitive, this is a gun to seriously check out.

Ballistol Cleaning Wipes

Last weekend I placed an order with the Ballistol online store for a couple bottles of their oil, along with some of their cleaning wipes. In my experience, Ballistol is a pretty good CLP, and when made into a water/Ballistol emulsion, is good for cleaning black powder or corrosive primer fouling. I've been using it more lately because it's non-toxic.

My order arrived today and I used one of the wipes for cleaning my S&W Model 64-3 and my EDC, Model 432UC.

The wipe is made from is some kind of synthetic cloth. It reminds me of the Hoppe's No.9 synthetic cleaning patches. It was large enough that I cut two rectangular patches from it and used one each to clean the bores of my guns, after first running a brush wet with Ballistol through them. The remaining wipe was large enough for me to do a quick external wipe down of both guns. I.e., cleaning fouling off the outside of each cylinder and getting rid of most of the fouling inside the cylinder window on each gun's frame.

Ballistol is often criticized for its smell, which reminds many people of dirty gym socks. I noticed that the smell of the wipes wasn't nearly as pungent as when you use a spray bottle, whether aerosol or pump. I don't like Ballistol's odor so this was welcome.

I'm planning to add a couple wipes to each field cleaning kit I have for my guns. They'll be good for external wipe downs and if necessary, oiling the bore.

CZ-82 Military Flap Holster

Yesterday I received the Czech military suplus flap holster that I ordered from an eBay seller for the CZ-82 I picked up two Fridays ago. Like many older European military holsters, it's basically a gun case with belt loops. Unlike every other Euro flap holster, it's ambidextrous and doesn't look like a holster for a pistol. You could probably wear this on a trail where you're likely to encounter earthy-crunchy types and they'd be unaware you're armed.

The holster I got had some sports on it from either water or mildew. I gave it a rubdown with Ballistol to neutralize any mildew and further protect the leather. It's stamped 1989 on the inside, making it one year younger than my CZ-82.

The holster is well made of good quality leather with nice stitching.

With the flap open you can see how it accomodates the gun and a spare magazine. There is a sleeve on either side for a cleaning rod. I'm expecting one in the mail shortly.

The back has belt loops. This shows the stiching for the interior compartments that hold the muzzle end of the gun and the spare magazine. One could put a small oil bottle in between. I may put a small Ziplock back with a few patches wet with Ballistol in that space.

The Falco holster that came with the gun holds my Beretta 81 Cheetah perfectly, but this one won't accept the Cheetah. The Beretta's slide and dust cover are too tall near the muzzle. I'd expect a Makarov to fit fine.

However, the Czech holster does accept my Beretta 71 Jaguar .22 along with two spare magazines.

Now, this obviously is not something we'd want to use for normal CCW around town. However, I could see this being useful if you're carrying out in the wilderness where you want to protect the gun against the environment. That you can carry the gun, a reload, and basic cleaning gear in it is a nice bonus.

9x18 Makarov Ballistics

Since I picked up the CZ-82 the other day I got to thinking about the ballistics of the 9x18 Makarov round that it fires.

For most of the 20th Century much of Europe viewed the 7.65 Browning (.32 ACP), 9mm Browning Short (.380 ACP), and the 9x18 Mak as suitable for use in service pistols. For example, as late at the 1970s Beretta designed and produced a new design in 7.65mm for use by Italian law enforcement. This was, of course, the Model 81.

The 9mm Mak is often said in the USA to fall in between the 9x19mm and .380 ACP. While this is true, in reality it's much closer to .380 than 9mm.

Let's look at some common ballistics for each round:

• A typical 9mm load will push a 115 grain bullet to 1180 FPS for 355 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy.
• .380 ACP will shoot a 95 grain FMJ bullet to about 980 FPS for 203 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy.
• 9x18 Makarov shoots a 95 grain FMJ bullet to 1050 FPS for 220 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy.

Obviously, there's quite a bit of variation for each cartridge depending on bullet weight, pressure, and the barrel length from which its fired, which directly impacts velocity and energy.

Let's take a look at the 9x18 in comparison with a design even older than the.32 ACP, which dates from 1899. I.e., how well did the .36 caliber Colt 1851 Navy perform and how does the Makarov stack up against it? After all, the Colt Navy was considered perfectly suitable for combat use on the American frontier and in the American Civil War.

Last summer I chronographed several loads through my Uberti 1851 Navy, using a variety of powders. Keep in mind that the sporting grade black powders available in the mid to late 19th Century were actually better than the black powder we can currently get. The closest we can get today is Swiss BP or Hodgdon Triple 7 BP substitute.

From my Uberti Navy with a 7.5" barrel:

• 82 grain round ball over 25 grains of Swiss FFFg black powder: 1051 FPS for 201 ft.lbs.
• 82 grain round ball over 25 grains of Triple 7 FFFg BP substitute: 1111 FPS for 225 ft. lbs.
• 140 grain conical over 17 grains of Swiss FFFg black powder: 780 FPS for 189 ft. lbs.

Basically, the 9x18 Makarov performs similarly to a Colt Navy .36 but in a more compact package that holds more rounds and is more reliable due to using self contained centerfire  metallic cartridges.

I don't think that's bad performance at all.

A CZ-82 Followed Me Home

A 1988 production CZ82 in 9x18 Makarov followed me home from the gun show yesterday.

The CZ82s are a bit more expensive than they used to be, but what isn't? Like many of these surplus guns the paint finish shows some wear, but the grips are in nice shape and mechanically it seems perfect. The oval bore is bright and shiny.

The gun came in a cardboard box with one 12 round magazine, a gun lock, and a used Falco thumb break holster, which also fits a Beretta 81 or 84. I'm giving it to a friend to use with his Beretta 81. I'm left handed so the holster is useless for me.

The CZ next to my Beretta 81:

The ergonomics of the CZ82 are impressive. It fits my hand very well. The safety and magazine release are ambidextrous, although the mag catch is significantly easier to depress from the left side, which works for me because I'm accustomed to using my left index finger for that.

The CZ field strips just like a Makarov. First, ensure it's empty and the magazine is out of the gun, and the hammer down. Pull down on the front of the trigger guard. Cock the hammer and then pull the slide to the rear and up, and it'll pull off the gun.

To reassemble first put the recoil spring back around the barrel and then reverse the disassembly steps.

I own several DA/SA semiautos but the CZ82 has by far the best DA trigger of any of them. It actually feels like a good DA revolver trigger, under 10 lbs. and smooth. The SA pull has some take up but is light, probably no more than 5 lbs.

I got a couple boxes of Sellier & Bellot and one box of Barnaul 9x18 at the show. Last night I put in an order for 500 rounds of S&B.

After some searching I found some surplus CZ magazines at Royal Tiger Imports for $29.99 each, including a mag pouch, so I ordered three. On eBay I found a correct surplus cleaning rod and separately, a Czech military surplus holster.

The surplus holster I ordered is basically a leather gun case with belt loops, but it's  ambidextrous and completely conceals the gun, while not even looking like a holster. It will hold the gun, cleaning rod, and a spare magazine. I wouldn't use it for around town but it should work well for trail hiking where you want to protect the gun from weather while also not scaring any earthy-crunch granola types you might encounter.

Pic borrowed from an eBay seller in Czechia:

It looks more like an e-tool carrier than a holster, IMO.

The CZ also fits into a commercial Tanker holster for 1911s, which gives me another option.

Today I took the CZ to the range and put 50 Barnaul and 25 S&B through it. The Barnaul ammo gave me two hiccups. The second or third shot in the first magazine misfed and to clear it I had to drop the mag and rack the slide to clear it. On another mag it failed to lock back after the last shot. The S&B ran fine.

Accuracy was good with me able to keep 50 rounds within a few inches offhand at 10 yards. Between presbyopia and shooting indoors under florescent lighting which made it hard to see the front sight so I'm happy with how it grouped. Recoil was a bit snappy, especially compared with the Beretta 81 .32 I also shot today. I have a Wolff spring kit on order to see if the extra power recoil spring can tame that.

It's a neat gun I look forward to shooting more.

Jewish Man Saves Family from Attack in Florida

Here's another recent example of why Jewish Americans must embrace and exercise their right to keep and bear arms as protected by the Second Amendment. Being a defenseless victim is NOT a Jewish virtue. In fact, it is against Jewish law.

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/man-charged-antisemitic-hate-crime-miami-beach/3790877/

My book "Guns for Jews" discusses why being armed for self defense is in accordance with Jewish law, and provides resources for those new to owning and carrying a firearm. The link goes to the free PDF on my Google Drive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18GXFERy8nH1iM6ERtLs-PXX3qXDo5C0K/view?usp=drive_link

Found Some More 7.62x25 Surplus

Sorry, it's not for sale. I found a .50 caliber can full of Romanian 1983 production 7.62x25 Ball in my crawlspace where I stash ammo. Apparently I bought this shortly after I got the Polish Tokarev and forgot about it.

It has corrosive primers but so what. That just means you need to clean the gun after firing it.

So, now I have three loads that I want to run over my Garmin chronograph from the Polish Tokarev:

• 1983 production Romanian milsurp 7.62x25
• 21st Century production Sellier & Bellot 7.62x25
• 21st Century production Prvi Partizan 7.63x25 Mauser

w00t!