Greetings from that other country where JMB felt at home
 

Hello,

new member here, from Belgium, i'm in Ypres/Boezinge, smack in the middle of Flanders Fields, you know, where the poppies blow.

After a very long wait, i finally took ownership of my Dan Wesson PM7-45 last tuesday. The wait was long because of paperwork required to get a permit around here.. It's a 3-4 month process that cannot be sped up. This ain't the US of A.


But finally got her home, it's my first own gun

http://www.cotep.org/forum/attachmen...1&d=1317449670

Also bought a box of food for it
http://www.cotep.org/forum/attachmen...1&d=1317449670

Have taken it to the range, it's a total blast, pun intended
And unfortunately figured out a day to late what the idiot scratch is all about.
But i'm sure it will polish out just fine.


I think it's an 08 gun that spent a few years in stock at the shop, DW guns are not to well known around here.
It came in the original case, with the spent bullet, no target, no oil in the case though.
http://www.cotep.org/forum/attachmen...2&d=1317449924

Congrats on your new D.W.! And Welcome to the forum:toast:

Really nice pistol you got there and I am glad you joined up.

Congratulations on your DW and welcome to the site:) Mike

Thanks guys,

Went back to the range,
I want to go frequent these early days, so i can get used to the .45, recoil, weight, handling ..

Nevermind them .22's , they aren't mine... Because most folks shoot .22, i can re-use their target cards from the bin instead of stickering the holes i shoot, i simply take another card..

This was 2 x 5 shots at 10 meter , 2 hands

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1317487732.jpg

I typically shot groups like this at 25 meters with the .22 club beater, one handed, but like i said, i'm still busy on getting used to it.. I'm not even trying to hard to be really accurate..

The gun itself is shooting very low, when i got it, dead center aim was almost off the target card. clicked it up , but it's still not quite there.
I read this might because the Fiocchi ammo is slightly hot, and hot loads shoot low , not sure if that makes sense?

welcome

Welcome! And congratulations on your patience, it looks like it was worth the wait.

Your thinking is correct about a hot load shooting low, but I believe the Fiocchi ammo is about standard velocity, at least what they sell here is. My Colt shot very low with standard 230 grain "Hardball" loads too. I had to replace the rear sight with a taller one to get it up. It looks like you have a fairly tall front sight, so you might want to find a shorter front sight.

Have fun! I have quite a few guns but I shoot my Dan Wesson 1911 more often than all the others combined because it is such a joy to shoot.

Once you get used to the recoil, you'll realize that even though it pushes you around a little, it's not really very harsh or uncomfortable.

Can't remember where i read it, but i was looking for ammo reviews of the Fiocchi, and came on a forumthread where everybody seems in agreement that it's pretty good stuff,
though just a tad hotter than other normal velocity.
I don't think it was meant to say it's P+ or anything like that.

But the front sight, might not be a bad idea.
I'll keep it as is for a while first, make sure that all else works fine before i tinker with it.

The recoil, like you said, it's not uncomfortable at all, once i got past the initial experience upgrade .22 > .45 , it's been getting more fun with each magazine.

And no Jams ,
to me that's a big change because the .22 club ammo, in the .22 club beater pistols jammed all the time.
1 in 10 was a non firing shot.. then re-cock, retry, rotate the bullet a bit so it strikes a different side of the rim
1 in 15 was a stove pipe

At some point it got so bad, that i was loading the pistol by hand, 1 bullet at a time,
because that meant less jams, and more importantly , if it jammed it didn't bugger up the next round as it tried to feed.

Now, it goes bang every time.
It also means my sessions are over a lot faster or i use up way more way expensive ammo :eek:
I'm saving the brass, guess that 1000 rnd box won't last long and i'll be looking into reloading real soon:D

welcome to the club. congrats on that fine looking pistola.

Welcome! Are there any other 1911 shooters at your gun club(range)? If there are what do they have?:rolleyes:

Well, from what i hear a couple of the older guys have or have had a 1911 Colt.
But i don't often see em at the range shooting it..

Mostly .22 shooters at our range, for competition.
Walther ESP , Hammerlii X ESSE stuff.


There's also a 100 meter range, but those are mostly hunters that come to practice pre-hunting season.

Active Gun ownership is not as obvious in Belgium (though plenty of unregistered guns, some say 2 million guns vs 11 million Belgians).

So i had the choice, either i followed the .22 route, then upgrade eventually to a 9mm , and then a .45..

Or... I figured i might as well get the .45 and buy ammo and reloading equipment with the money i would have spent on the .22 and 9mm...

I feel more content making fewer bigger holes then lot's of tiny ones.
And it's quite fun showing up at the range, and see the heads pop up from the other lanes when the .45 starts making noise :D

Next on my list, maybe next year, would be a Springfield Armour M1a..
To reach out and touch.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../SA_M1A_NM.jpg

It helps that i live on a small hill, one of the few hills where the Britts managed to keep control during WW1..Maybe i should try digging, i might find some Brittish officer 1911 in .445 webbley in my backgarden :D

Congratulations on your new purchase and welcome.:D

Generally with someone not used to larger calibre pistols, shooting low can be "recoil anticipation"..pushing forward with the pistol when the trigger is squeezed. My advice is to practice dry firing at a target at home, and watch what your sights are doing when the trigger breaks..it can be enlightening. Sometimes putting something such as a coin on top of the slide can help during dry fire drills, if the slide is flat enough. Good luck, and welcome

Welcome to Our Own Little Forum...........


Clyde

Been doing just that, every evening :D
No movement, but then again, one would not expect recoil during a dry fire so it changes things in that end.

Anyway, i think i'll get used to it real soon, i'll make sure to get plenty of practice now so the routine set's in.Ellison

Back from the range, 50 rounds.
Oddly enough now i was anticipating the recoil .. If i tried to aim slowly, i'de flinch on the trigger. bad. with flyers going real low, and pulling the trigger but feeling the hesitation and aborting
I think i'm jinxed now :eek:


But not to worry, decided to just forget the slow aim and start popping off intuitively... from low position, raise up 2 handed, and pop one off right away.

And low and behold, I was putting some really tight groups in at 10 meter. 9's and 10's. several groups with one hole in another...


note to self, hold blackberry still when taking a pic.

kewl beans:D