The Dumb Gun Collector
07-01-08, 00:55
the beginning of this is from the pic page...
This is a really neat class guys. Larry is a hoot and is always good for at least one or two memorable pieces of creative profanity.
Earlier 1911 Operator's course AARs, and the article in SWAT tracked this class pretty closely. The second day is a must for folks who really want to know what it takes to keep your 1911 going. I was pretty proficient with the field strip/cleaning stuff already, but Larry shows you a lot of little things you can do yourself to make your 1911 more reliable. He also fitted a new trigger to my Colt GSP, beveled my guide rod, showed us how to properly tension extractors, how to adjust and recognize ejector issues, peen the hammer strut pin, etc. Lots of stuff that I knew about, but am 100 percent more confident doing now that I have seen it done by LAV.
This class was filled with a lot of cool folks. There were tons of lawyers (which is awesome). Lawyers are indeed awesome and Larry heaped endless praise on us. It was embarassing really, we were like, "Larry, we aren't that great, you love us too much!"
We had military folks, including a mortar operator with a project 1911 he was building. He had installed a beav, checkered the front strap, etc. We had a lot of ex-military including a old Ranger who Larry harassed about his smoking endlessly. Bob Moran was there, and he was shooting like a champ.
We also had police officers and a collection of other interesting folks. A lot of whom I had met at the earlier Hackathorn class.
Another reason to take these classes. If you want the straight unvarnished truth about a gun, part, technique, etc. Larry will tell you. Now sometimes he will ask you not to repeat it on the net, because he doesn't want to catch hell, but he will tell you. I will honor his wishes, but rest assured the class was a real eyeopener.
My bud Shane was there. He brought his bizzilion dollar Chuck Roger's custom. He let me bum a room in his pimped-out cabin. This guy knew Jeff Cooper, and actually has some of his stuff (And I mean, COOL stuff). Yeah, Shane sucks.
We did a lot of drills. Larry, as he is famous for, is Mr. Accuracy. Still, he is no plinker, he ran plenty of timed drills and various competitions for us.
Again, the shooting portion stressed the strengths of the 1911, but wasn't the core of the class. The class was really geared towards getting the 1911 owner where he needs to be if he is really going to trust his life to one. As Larry said, (or something approximately like it), a 1911 is like a Ferrari. It runs faster than anything else, but you better find a mechanic and bring money.
A big plug for the Talon folks. Mike Benedict and his wife are awesome (again, she is way out of your league Mike). Mike is a phenomenal shooter, and an all around nut. He teaches a lot of classes himself and charges nothing. If you are in GA you should get up and shoot with Mike. A lot of folks in this class were from his little gang, and they were all awesome shooters.
other notes...
1. Delta's guns were similar to the Meu Soc pistols.
2. Glock 17 is the best service pistol. What Larry would issue.
3. The key to a custom 1911 is to get one that works out of the box before you mod it.
4. Colt is the gold standard for base guns.
5. Kart/Nowlin barrels are great because they are forged.
6. The HK is the ONLY way to go suppressed.
7. Use 17-18 pound spring.
8. Larry Vicker has a Judas Priest ringtone. Before this, I thought he was overrated. Now I know he is actually the real deal!:D
9. Don't fool with sub 5 inch guns. As the great Ken Hackathorn says, why bother when there are so many other good small guns?
10. Larry is building a 9mm shooter. He reccomends the aftek style extractor in 9mms. He says 9mm 1911s are the funnest pistols to shoot. However, they are toys only.
This is a really neat class guys. Larry is a hoot and is always good for at least one or two memorable pieces of creative profanity.
Earlier 1911 Operator's course AARs, and the article in SWAT tracked this class pretty closely. The second day is a must for folks who really want to know what it takes to keep your 1911 going. I was pretty proficient with the field strip/cleaning stuff already, but Larry shows you a lot of little things you can do yourself to make your 1911 more reliable. He also fitted a new trigger to my Colt GSP, beveled my guide rod, showed us how to properly tension extractors, how to adjust and recognize ejector issues, peen the hammer strut pin, etc. Lots of stuff that I knew about, but am 100 percent more confident doing now that I have seen it done by LAV.
This class was filled with a lot of cool folks. There were tons of lawyers (which is awesome). Lawyers are indeed awesome and Larry heaped endless praise on us. It was embarassing really, we were like, "Larry, we aren't that great, you love us too much!"
We had military folks, including a mortar operator with a project 1911 he was building. He had installed a beav, checkered the front strap, etc. We had a lot of ex-military including a old Ranger who Larry harassed about his smoking endlessly. Bob Moran was there, and he was shooting like a champ.
We also had police officers and a collection of other interesting folks. A lot of whom I had met at the earlier Hackathorn class.
Another reason to take these classes. If you want the straight unvarnished truth about a gun, part, technique, etc. Larry will tell you. Now sometimes he will ask you not to repeat it on the net, because he doesn't want to catch hell, but he will tell you. I will honor his wishes, but rest assured the class was a real eyeopener.
My bud Shane was there. He brought his bizzilion dollar Chuck Roger's custom. He let me bum a room in his pimped-out cabin. This guy knew Jeff Cooper, and actually has some of his stuff (And I mean, COOL stuff). Yeah, Shane sucks.
We did a lot of drills. Larry, as he is famous for, is Mr. Accuracy. Still, he is no plinker, he ran plenty of timed drills and various competitions for us.
Again, the shooting portion stressed the strengths of the 1911, but wasn't the core of the class. The class was really geared towards getting the 1911 owner where he needs to be if he is really going to trust his life to one. As Larry said, (or something approximately like it), a 1911 is like a Ferrari. It runs faster than anything else, but you better find a mechanic and bring money.
A big plug for the Talon folks. Mike Benedict and his wife are awesome (again, she is way out of your league Mike). Mike is a phenomenal shooter, and an all around nut. He teaches a lot of classes himself and charges nothing. If you are in GA you should get up and shoot with Mike. A lot of folks in this class were from his little gang, and they were all awesome shooters.
other notes...
1. Delta's guns were similar to the Meu Soc pistols.
2. Glock 17 is the best service pistol. What Larry would issue.
3. The key to a custom 1911 is to get one that works out of the box before you mod it.
4. Colt is the gold standard for base guns.
5. Kart/Nowlin barrels are great because they are forged.
6. The HK is the ONLY way to go suppressed.
7. Use 17-18 pound spring.
8. Larry Vicker has a Judas Priest ringtone. Before this, I thought he was overrated. Now I know he is actually the real deal!:D
9. Don't fool with sub 5 inch guns. As the great Ken Hackathorn says, why bother when there are so many other good small guns?
10. Larry is building a 9mm shooter. He reccomends the aftek style extractor in 9mms. He says 9mm 1911s are the funnest pistols to shoot. However, they are toys only.