Apr 15, 2010

BAG Day Arrives!

Well, this is actually half the post I'd been planning on, thanks to UPS not delivering my other acquisition to the pusher last night. That'll have to wait for next week.

I put up a teaser post last week, with a chance to win shiny prizes. Only six of you, my faithful readers, decided to enter. That made me feel sad. I expect compensation from each and every one of you that chose not to guess.

I reckon the box was a bit of a giveaway, but not as much as I'd feared. Some folks don't know their S&W boxen so well!

I shot the twin to this gun last year at the range, when an NYPD buddy came to visit. They have three choices for their duty gun: a Glock, a Smith&Wesson, and a SigSauer, if memory serves. All in 9mm.

He chose the S&W. I fell in love with it. I'd been keeping my eyes open for a full-size 9mm bottom-feeder for a while. Glocks don't feel "right" to me - they're fine guns, but I don't care for them personally. I've nicked my thumb and web on the slide on them due to no beavertail. I still would like either an M&P9L or a XD9, but like Weerd I have a poor reaction to stuffing ten rounds in a 15-17-round magazine well.

This model was introduced in 1990 or '91, and other variations of it were in existence earlier, so pre-ban magazines are out there, not hard to find, and not horribly expensive because the gun itself is less popular. It came with two pre-ban magazines and I found a deal on a few more that should be here next week.

So with all that leadup, and no further ado, the 2010 ZerCool BAGDay purchase:

A Smith & Wesson 5946; DAO 9mm with fixed Novak 3-dot sights, some duty wear, and two beautiful pre-ban magazines. (All photos from my Palm, so please forgive quality issues.)

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And one of the BEST things about this particular piece of machinery:
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Not ALL of my guns are "Made in America" ... but the VAST majority are. In fact, a quick count shows that all but TWO are homegrown. (My Springer 1911 and the Bersa Thunder .380 are both imports.)

Are there well-made import guns? Absolutely. Glock and the Springfield XD series come immediately to mind, as well as RIA 1911s, some of the Taurus line... There are good deals to be found in imports... but dammit, GUNS are AMERICAN. "God made Man. Sam Colt made Men equal." "The finest battle implement ever devised." ".45ACP, God's own round, JMB PBUH." "Ma Deuce." We just do them right.

So, yes, another "Springfield, MA" piece has found its way into the safe, and I am pleased. Range report forthcoming; this may be my new IDPA gun as well.

4 comments:

Tam said...

Third-Gen S&W bottomfeeders are some of the most underrated autos out there.

About the only thing I really don't like about them is the plastic disconnector; other than that, they're very well made and durable.

elmo iscariot said...

Only six of you, my faithful readers, decided to enter.

Some of us just don't know our Ess-and-Dubs well enough to come anywhere near a make and model guess. ;)

There are good deals to be found in imports... but dammit, GUNS are AMERICAN... We just do them right.

Hey, hey; let's not knock Belgium, now. Their guns are as good as their beer, and they were wise enough to make the proper supplications before St. John II.

ZerCool said...

@ Tam: While I'm not a big fan of the mag disconnect in there (or mag disconnects in general), it *seems* to be a pretty solid design. And truthfully, since this gun will be more of a range/gamer toy than anything else, I'm not going to sweat the disconnect.

I wonder if NYPD puts a disconnect in theirs ... I'll have to ask my friend next time I see him.

aaronspuler said...

I hear ya, I'm not a Glock fan either.

For my BAGD purchase, I picked up a Marlin Model 60.