Compact comparisons

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Let’s look at the tech stuff first:

Glock 32. 13 rounds. 4.02” barrel. Unloaded weight* 24.34 oz. OAL 7.36”. 5.04” height. 1.26” width.

Ruger Max 9. 12 rounds. 3.2” barrel. Unloaded weight 18.4 oz. OAL 6”. 4.52” height. .95” width.

Ruger LCP. 6 Rounds. 2.75” barrel. Unloaded weight 9.6 oz. OAL 5.16”. 3.6” height. .82” width.

(* Yes, I hate unloaded weight – not very useful except as a comparison point. Loaded, the G32 comes in at 30.34 oz. and will definitely be a factor in comfortable carrying consideration.)

Yes, some significant size differences. Take a look:

And capacity:

How about concealability?

The G32 is in an IWB holster, the Max 9 in a pocket holster, and the LCP is in a wallet holster. Much has been written about concealed carry, and it is very much an individual choice. IWBs are uncomfortable to me. Being in the frozen north, I can carry pretty much any handgun I want in an OWB holster underneath a jacket. I do that for both the G32 and the Max 9. But the tiny LCP in its wallet holster fits inside my back pocket, or a cargo pants pocket, or a jacket pocket. And it just does not print, other than being shaped like a wallet.

What it comes down to is the ease and comfort that will encourage you to carry every day. With the LCP, I do.

We’ll take a look at more variables tomorrow, as well as effectiveness of the round. I mean, I can carry a literal peashooter very comfortably, but it won’t do the self defense thing. Is the short little .380 ACP adequate to the task of being my EDC? And can I hit anything with it?

How small is “compact”?

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Well, from yesterday’s bullets, anything shooting them should be compact, right? Mmmm, no. From left to right, .380 ACP, 9 mm Luger, and .357 Sig. They do all share the same actual diameter – .355 inches. Yep, don’t rely on bullet names to accurately represent dimensions; there’s usually a bunch of marketing in the name. .357 Sig was meant to match the stopping power and name recognition of the .357 Magnum, but shoot out of an autoloader instead of a revolver. And the European name of the .380 is the 9mm Kurz, Kurz being Short in German.

So what size compacts will shoot these rounds?

,

Top is the Glock 32 (but it’s really the G19, which is the compact version of the original plastic fantastic Glock 17). The 19, 23 and 32 are the exact same frame, but calibered in 9 MM, 40 S&W, and Sig .357 respectively. Swap out the barrels and they are virtually interchangeable. Minor quibble, the 40 and 357 use identical magazines, while the 9 uses its own.

So, the G32 above, marketed as a compact, can shoot the barn-burning .357 Sig, as well as the 40 “Short & Weak” and the 9 mm “EuroPellet”.

Next pistol down is a Ruger Max 9. It is chambered in, you guessed it, 9 mm. But it is significantly smaller than the Glock. Maybe we can call it a Sub Compact.

And finally, the Ruger LCP. Little Compact Pistol? Perhaps we are talking Micro Compact. And it is significantly smaller than the Max 9. I’m betting it will fit in a pants pocket easily.

Tomorrow, let’s compare dimensions, performance, accuracy and some other factors. But all shooting the same diameter bullet should make it easy. Right?

Up Periscope

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Yup, been in the wind. Secret project and all.

So let’s get back to things, like guns and cats. I’d do politics, but things are changing so quickly that discussion is mere guesswork and bloviating.

I’ve been wanting to do an homage to Mr. Browning and Herr Glock. My not so humble opinion is that the 1911 is like the Garand – the finest battle implement known to man. Or something like that, thankyouverymuch, Gen. Patton. I also think the Glock 17 etc. is/was a game-changer. I almost said paradigm shift, but that would be something along the line of a hand-held laser pistol.

But first, I’m going to discuss something I worked on a few years ago, roughly summarized as, “How small is compact?” I’ll drop a teaser with the bullets pic below.
A Major Prize will be awarded to the first person successfully identifying these three cartridges:

So I went back to the range.

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In the rain. The rifle performed flawlessly. The three shots in yellow were Hornady 140 AMax, followed by the three in blue, which were Sierra Game King 140s. Disregard all the .22 holes – it was raining and the target was down there.

I talked about the issue last night on Ace, with the following as maybes: tight chamber, need a small-base die, hot chamber. But I’ll go with this one: Socks too tight, and the Range was angry that day, my friend.

Still thinking . . .

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This is the case that jammed. It sat in a hot chamber, enough to get scorched. But the bottom of the shoulder is bright, meaning (I think) that it was hard up against the end of the chamber.
I compared it to a just-sized case:

Bad angle – it looks bigger – it ain’t. Both pop in and out of the go-no go headspace/length tool (whatever its name is). Another view shows manual extraction scrapes:

No conclusions yet. Going to rain all day. I guess I’ll get wet at the range.

KatsNotNapping

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Me. *Heads to bathroom* 5 seconds later, Cat 1 pushes door open.

Cat 1: hey! where you go?

Me: Nowhere. I’m right here.

Cat 1: got food?

Me: No.

Cat 1: got scritches?

Me: Yup, c’mon over.

Cat 1: i bat you with tail.

Me: I love you too, Max.

Cat 2: hey! what going on? Got food?

Me: No. Scritches, Thor.

Cat 2: ok. i bat you with tail.

Cat 1: i sniff you butt, Thor.

Cat 2: no way, Zach.

Cats 1 and 2 depart rapidly.

Me. Flush. Go downstairs.

Cats 1 and 2: hey! where been? gots food?

Me: No. Scritches.

Cats 1 and 2: oh, bummer. later?

Me: Yes, later.

Cat 1: i sniff you butt, Thor!

Cat 2: no way, Zach! *races off*

Cat 3: boyz . . . i watch from on high.

Reloading Day

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Yes, I got back to the bench and worked up 3 different .308 Winchester loads – Hornady 168 A-Max, Sierra 165 Game King, and Hornady 178 BTHP Match. Should hold me over while I order some more bullets.

I took a look at the .308 round that FTE’d.

It did not finish going into battery and I had to apply pressure to seat it. Then, because the trigger did not cock, it would not fire. At home, I had to “tap” the charging handle backward to unseat the round.
You can see that the middle of the case is scorched, but that the bullet and powder were fine. I scoped the bore (and was amazed how clean it still was) and found no obstructions or anything out of place.

I pulled the bolt carrier group and noticed that the bolt rotated a bit slowly, so cleaned everything. After reassembly, I locked a magazine and loaded a round, then extracted it easily. The second round needed a bit of effort, as did the third. I’m not in the habit of extracting unfired rounds much, so I’m just not sure if there is an issue.

Only way to check – back to the range.