Welcome!

Hello and Welcome to the very first post of Total Recoil!

This blog will be primarily run by me, who will be writing reviews of guns and gear that I have owned and or tried extensively. It could vary between video and written reviews as well as first impressions of whatever my family has bought at the time. There may also be videos posted just from the range where I did something I thought was cool. It obviously depends on what I’ve got developing in my head.

Stay tuned for the reviews that we have forthcoming and if I continually write something that you enjoy reading feel free to subscribe to this. I will try to keep posting in this regularly. Feel free to ask any questions. I will do my best to answer them.

Update on September 2nd, 2011.

I am currently an Operator on a Pro-Gun IRC Channel for Reddit’s Gunnit. If you would like to join us, you can click the link here:

Gunnit IRC

Apologies. There has been a lot going on

As many of you may have known, Massachusetts has been hit with a decent amount of random weather. First a Tornado, then another Tornado, then an earthquake and finally a hurricane last Sunday.

But that does not excuse my lack of posting and maintaining the reviews that I am supposed to be doing. There has been a lot of new information in my life, including the recent addition of a C&R license which opens the doors to other purchase opportunities. I’ll tell you what, I am going to be posting more videos in the upcoming weeks, and doing more writing on this because I am truly starting to feel the need to.

 

Optimistic Preview for the future

To be bluntly honest, I am sorry. I haven’t been to the range in the last couple weeks due to business and a tornado that hit my parents house and the last couple weekends have been spent cleaning it up.

However, I have purchased a decent amount of ammo to feed the four next gun I am going to review, the M&P9, the M&P15-22, the Taurus PT100 and the Taurus PT99. I have also decided to write an ammo review on “TulAmmo” that you can pick up at Walmart for relatively cheap. I’ve picked it up in .45 ACP and 9mm and will be putting through its paces.

If nothing else I am in the process of writing a review on the most recent customer service experienced I’ve had with Smith and Wesson, which didn’t go as well as I had hoped.

For those of you who would like to there is also a new Gun IRC chatroom that I often participate in. If you are interested in checking it out click here. That community started based on Reddit’s Gunnit community but we’re more than willing to accept anyone who would like to talk about guns.

New Review Next Week

Last week I was away from my firearms on Business and this week I will not be able to give the gun I’d like to review a proper run through until Saturday of this week.

I will try to make the review post early next week. I’m not a hundred percent sure on the gun I’d like to review, but I have a few ideas that will be making a trip to the range this weekend

Review: Sig Sauer Mosquito

My father picked up the Sig Sauer Mosquito in the first week of March to replace a .22LR handgun that was given to him by his father. He chose the Sig Sauer because he wanted to try something from a company that he doesn’t normally purchase firearms from and because they have had an upstanding reputation of being a reliable and a decent shooter for the money.

The Sig Sauer Mosquito

The history of the Sig Sauer Mosquito isn’t as well-known as most would think. In fact in all my searches I could not even find when the Mosquito was first introduced to the public. However, I was able to find out that the Mosquito is based on its larger brother, the P226, but has been scaled down by 10% and there are currently five standard models on the market today. They consist of:

• Standard
• Two-Tone
• Sport
• Threaded Barrel
• Reverse Two-tone

The one that we have purchased is the two-tone because my father was a big fan of the way the slide looked. Personally I’ve always been a big fan of a gun that had a single color but to each their own and the color of the firearm will not impact how it actually shoots.

The Specs

Caliber	.22LR
Barrel Length	3.9 inches (99 millimeters)
Total Length	7.2 inches (182.88 mm)
Total Width	1.5 inches (38.1 mm)
Total Height	5.3 inches (134.62 mm)
Capacity	10+1
Sights	Adjustable Rear sights with a bladed front sight.
Action	Capable of firing in either Single or Double Action
Other Notes	Fixed Barrel Pica tinny rail

The Good Bits
One of the big things I like about Sig Sauers, and many other pistol companies, is the fact that they have the ability to decock the hammer. It makes the firearm easier to be put into double action which is beneficial for carrying because it is less likely for you to have a negligent discharge due to something getting caught on the trigger and it does this while maintaining the firearm’s ability to fire. For the Mosquito, carrying it for defense is probably not going to happen due to the fact it is a smaller caliber, but if you do decide to carry it or you do have it holstered on the range, decocking the hammer makes a bit safer in my mind.

The Mosquito has a great set of sights on it. Don’t get me wrong, I would not say that they are the best I’ve ever seen on a firearm, but you can easily acquire a target in all situations. Add this to a decent stance and you’ll be able to switch between targets with little to no delay. Another good selling point is the fact that you can adjust the rear sights. It may not be a big selling point to you, but I’ve always felt that if I was purchasing a gun, I shouldn’t have to compensate for windage being off. Having adjustable rear sights allows me to correct that with little to no worries.

The Mosquito

Of course with the Mosquito, you’ll get the expected Sig Sauer accuracy. The very first time I picked up the pistol I was able to hit what I was intending to hit 9 out of 10 times at a mixed distance of 20 to 30 yards. Considering that I had never picked up that firearm before that was somewhat impressive. Obviously with any firearm the more you practice with it the better you will be, but the learning time with the Mosquito is surprisingly short.

Another beneficial aspect of the Mosquito is the fact that the ammo is relatively cheap to purchase. One could spend an entire day on the range with it and only spend about 20 dollars for ammunition. My father and I have spent several days on the range with just one or two handguns and enjoyed it completely, the Mosquito just makes that day a bit easier on the wallet. Another benefit of having such a small-caliber allows the recoil to be completely manageable even when you increase the rate of fire. This is great for people who want to train themselves on rapid fire as well as beginners who are taking their first shots.

The Stuff that couple be improved
One of my biggest problems with the Mosquito, and most .22LR pistols in general, is the fact that 10 rounds is not enough. I’ve found that even a trained shooter such as my father will go through an entire magazine then look at the pistol just asking for more. I don’t know why nearly all .22LR handguns (it may be all but I am not sure of this fact) choose to have only 10 rounds but it is definitely frustrating. Considering how difficult it is to load the magazines in the first place, asking for a 15-20 round magazine would not be too much. At least not in my opinion.

With regards to the Mosquito, I’ve got to say that the trigger must travel an unnaturally long distance in order to reset itself, especially when it is set to fire single action. There have been several times in which the shooters who have tried this pistol on the range with my family (My girlfriend, my father, my sister and myself) have expected the gun to be ready to go but it wasn’t, and it wasn’t until we let the trigger slide out further that it would be ready to go again. I suspect that this could easily be solved with some trigger work but considering that this is how it was behaving stock from the factory is a bit disappointing. If you watch closely in the First Shots video for the Mosquito, you can see me experience this.

A lot of people have said that if you purchase this pistol new, you will have to spend some trigger time working in the trigger in order to get to be very smooth. We purchased this handgun used and we do not know how many rounds have flown through her. We have put over 600-700 rounds through her in the months that we’ve owned her. I personally haven’t experienced much change in the trigger, so I’m going to assume that it was already broken in before we got her.

Finally, and probably the worst thing of all is that over the last four or five times the Mosquito has been to the range, it has had several serious failure to ejects. serious enough that dropping the magazine and racking the slide doesn’t do anything and the firearm has to be taken apart or a stick be pushed down the barrel to eject the spent round. Unfortunately this does not seem ammo specific because of the fact that we’ve tried several different varieties of ammo, and every one of the other firearms calibered in .22LR have eaten that ammo fine. It has seemed to be a problem that has recently developed, as for the first 200 or so rounds have went smoothly but the last 300 or so have not. A search on the internet has revealed that this does happen some what often to other people. It appears that the extracts just sometimes do not grab the round to eject it out.

Conclusion:
The Mosquito is a great pistol for a beginner who wants to pick up something for relatively cheap. It’s low recoil, cheap ammo prices, and great sight picture allows a perfect scenario for someone to start their trip down path of gun ownership. For someone who is a bit more experienced, the gun is fun to shoot but there are a lot more accurate and more reliable .22LR’s that are out on the market for just a little more money.

Close-Up of the Sig Sauer Logo

Close-Up of the Mosquito Logo

Link to First Shots Video

Review: Smith & Wesson M&P45

The first firearm you buy after getting your license or turning of age is always going to be one that you hold close to your heart. You’ll always remember how you selected it, what was going through your head when you purchased it, the rush of excitement you felt once the dealer said “It’s yours. You can take it home.” Today, I’m going to review the pistol that gave me those feelings. The Smith and Wesson M&P45.

My M&P45 sitting on the counter while I was filling out the paperwork

I purchased this pistol on February 19th, 2011 and I have not regretted my purchase yet. Before I dive into the actual review, I’d like to take a moment to write about what the M&P Series is, and once I’m done with this I promise to get down to the points I love and the points I’m not too fond of.

The M&P line, introduced by Smith and Wesson in 2005, is a striker fired, polymer semi-automatic handgun that was designed for Military and Police units and was open commercially to the public. It was originally offered in three calibers, 9mm, .40 S&W, and .357 Sig in either full sized or compact. In 2007, Smith and Wesson introduced a full sized M&P45 and a compact sized M&P45 in 2008.

The whole series was designed to use a Browning type locking system, which is similarly used in 1911 pistols as well as Glocks.

Now let’s break out the stats about the pistol:

Caliber	.45 ACP
Barrel Length	4.5 inches (114.3 mm)
Total Length	7.75 inches (196.85 mm)
Total Width	1.2 inches (30.48 mm)
Capacity	Full Sized: 10+1 Note: 14 round magazines do exist, which would give you 14+1 Compact: 8+1
Sights	Rear: Steel Novak® Lo-Mount Carry Front: Steel Novak® Dovetail
Action	Double Action Stryker Fired

The Good Stuff:

• With Each M&P, Smith and Wesson sends out three interchangeable grips, which allows many shooters with different sized hands to get a comfortable and strong grip on the pistol. Switching those grips is simple and can easily be done on the range. So I go shooting with my girlfriend, I can have my large grips on the pistol and if she wants to give it a go, I can quickly switch the large grip out for one of the smaller ones.
• The gun is very accurate right out of the box, however if you feel that you need to make an adjustment the sights are adjustable for windage.
• It’s very simple to field strip and clean. It is definitely one of the easiest pistols my family has ever owned in terms of field stripping.
• The magazines are very easy to load. One thing that I’ve noticed when compared directly to the Glock I’ve shot in the past is that loading the magazine is so much easier when you get up to that 10th round.
• It has a beaver tail which allows you to get and maintain a high grip on the pistol, thus allowing you to control the recoil much easier without worrying about getting your hand snagged in the slide.
• The loaded round indicator is very clear and does not rely on anything mechanical so it will not fail on you. This is a big plus, especially if you use it for a carry weapon as some people choose to not have a round chambered for fear that it would go off. Personally, I’d just didn’t like the idea of having something mechanical because over time that could fail on you.
• Ambidextrous slide. The slide release is ambidextrous on the entire series.

I personally love the trigger, whereas a lot of people have told me that it was unbearable for them. My M&P45 does not have a thumb safety or a magazine disconnect, simply because I did not want those, so the idea that there is a point in the trigger pull where you know if you continue to pull the gun will fire is something I truly like. The trigger itself is very different from a 1911 style gun where as soon as you touch that trigger it’s bound to go off because as previously stated the M&P has some play.

The Stuff that could be improved:

A very common problem for the M&Ps involves the white dot on the sight popping off while firing. This happened to my M&P45, however I did not notice that anything was wrong with it until I purchased an M&P9. The gun is still perfectly usable and the sights are still really clear, just not as clear as they could be. In several places where I have seen discussions of the M&P series, there always been a couple people who have experienced this problem. Most of them have handled it either by just repainting it, or ordering different sights altogether. For me, I am going to leave it the way it is because I can live with it for now.

The second thing is a small thing, but it bugs me just enough. The M&P45 is just a tad bit wider than the rest of the M&P series. Some people have measured it to be roughly two hundredths of an inch. This means that in order to carry my M&P45, I would have to order another holster because the one that came with my M&P9 Carry and Range Kit (to be reviewed at a later point), fits just uncomfortably tight on the 45. If I were to make one true change to the M&P Series, I would make them all the same width just for the ease of having them all fit comfortably in all holsters.

The third thing gets better with time, and that would be how you access the frame tool. Initially, it is VERY hard to get that tool out. At least in both my M&P’s it was. I know it gets better though as time progresses and you just do it more and more. A lot of people have said that they have concerns pertaining to the fact that the way it holds itself in is with this little plastic piece, but I’ve absolutely no problems with that.

Conclusion

I’ve taken this pistol to the range every time my father and I have gone since I’ve purchased it, and I would say that I have put anywhere between 100-200 rounds through it in that short amount of time. Personally, I feel that this isn’t enough time to absolutely be comfortable with the pistol. However I do believe that with that amount of shots you can make an assessment as to what you like and what you don’t like about it. I promise you however, as time progresses, if anything happens that changes my opinion in the least then I will definitely revisit this topic and add it.

To be perfectly honest, from the very first shot I took with this pistol, I have loved every trigger pull. Now let’s hope that the state I live in lets me legally order ammo online so I can get a ton more rounds through this.

To wrap this up, here are some pictures:

M&P45 Logo

M&P45 with Magazines

Loaded Magazine and some rounds around it to demonstrate the size of the round.

If you wanted to see the First Shots video for the M&P45, Click here.

Further Range videos of the M&P45 to come later.

First Shots: Sig Sauer Mosquito with first time guest appearance of Becky!

My dad bought a Sig Sauer Mosquito from the Ware Gun Store. It shoots .22LR and will replace the High Standard that we have in the collection (We’re not selling the High Standard, we are retiring it since it was my grandfathers and we do not want to have it break because it would be very sad).

With this purchase, my dad said that it would be cool if we took my girlfriend Becky out for her first time on the range. Here is the video from March 15th, 2011.

This is another gun I will be doing a review of at a time. Currently it is not at my disposal to have in my hands while I write about it. This post marks all the first shot video reposts. From this point forward it will be all new and original content. Promise.

First Shots: Smith & Wesson M&P45 and SW1911

In this video, my father and I take our first shots with our new handguns, the M&P45 and the SW1911, both made by Smith and Wesson. I purchased my M&P45 on February 19th, 2011 and my father purchased his SW1911 just before Christmas. The day after I purchased the M&P, my father and I went up to the range with both our guns with the intent of watching an IDPA match and perhaps to get a little shooting done. To our surprise, a section of the roof at the rifle range had collapsed, but was still in good enough shape to let us make our new toys go bang. Here’s the Video:

Note: This video was taken on February 20th, 2011. However since I am moving over to this blog, I decided to repost this video

As you can see from the video, I had a nasty habit of flinching. But thanks to a training technique which involved the use of Dummy Rounds, I have corrected my flinching problem. I will be doing a review of those dummy rounds as well as showing the range at a later point in time.