Recent content by Billy Shears

Maybe you encountered a bad one. I don't know. I haven't handled one yet, but I do own an original Hudson H9, and there is nothing wrong with the trigger on that gun. I know this new H9 is an almost complete redesign, but that redesign is a matter of specifications, tolerances, dimensions...

I can't think of a reason in the world why a gun maker would design a new toggle action pistol today. Certainly a reliable, functional pistol could be made with modern design, manufacturing, and materials, but the market would never justify it. Remember, when the Luger was replaced in German...

They've already got an $1100 paper weight. The guns have almost no parts support -- I think KE Arms was/is handling some service and repair, and they still have some parts, but not every part. So if you shoot it and something breaks (and I believe the slide stop has proven not to be very...

Glad you got a good one. I have had two, neither of which has been able to be fixed to a degree that I would regard as acceptable. The first, which I thought my gunsmith had finally been able to fix, suffered from incurable extraction problems. As I say, just when I thought he was able to get...

Onty... I don't know if they ever made the 686 with a partial underlug barrel in any other length. The only other one I've ever seen (in a photograph) looked identical to this -- same fiber optic front sight, and same Ahrend's grips, which makes me think those were factory installed. I know...

I just picked one up. A 686-6, and unfortunately, it has that damnable internal lock which I've made it a point to avoid, but this one had a 5" barrel with partial underlug, which I've only ever seen one other time (and that gun also had Ahrends grips like this, making me wonder if Smith &...

My gun is in the 6000 range. The pistol was priced well, but I think that may be part of the problem. Some of the edges were sharp, and the internals had to be deburred. I can't help but think that's because Springfield was trying to keep the cost down, which is admirable, but if it leaves...

I just got back from the range with mine a few minutes ago. This is the first time I have been able to enjoy a range session with it without any problems. Sadly, mine came with some serious extraction problems, for which it went back to Springfield Armory twice without the problem being...

Nothing I can see without removing the extractor. It stands to reason it's a problem with either extractor itself, or the extractor spring (or perhaps both), as the cases are staying in the chamber.

Especially from a reputable manufacturer like Springfield Armory. I am going to go out on a limb and say that the problem is that in order to offer it at a price competitive with the relatively inexpensive polymer-framed guns everybody is used to today, they have skimped out a bit on the final...

I paid $569.00 for mine -- but the dealer I bought it from has an LEO price similar to Glock's "Blue Line" deal. I can't believe people who are paying double MSRP on Gunbroker. My serial number is 67XX. I was really hoping Springfield Armory had addressed these issues by now as well.

I just picked mine up, which I had ordered months ago. I took it to the range yesterday, with 300 rounds of factory ammo. I got through three boxes without issue, and was quite pleased with the accuracy and reliability -- though I did have to put a piece of moleskin over the web of my shooting...

Never owned or fired one, so I can't speak to details of that design. I know I've never seen polymer slide rails on any other pistol, and I think there's a good reason for that.

Yes, polymer is soft. But polymer is also not used on any of the wear points, like locking surfaces, slide rails, etc. That's where the softness becomes a durability issue.

It's not weak, but the BHP is an old design, with small parts, with a comparitively light slide. It holds up fine to thousands of rounds of standard pressure 9mm -- but even there is not nearly as durable as any number of more modern designs, which are overbuilt to a degree the Hi Power is not...