Grapes & Oranges

I put all my firearms and weapons related musings here

[angoorvanaranjak]

Keltec Sub 2000 Gen 2 Review (2017)

Keltec Sub 2000 Gen 2 (40 S&W - Glock) Review (2017)

In my hunt for a pistol caliber carbine that was lightweight and relatively small I only found a few options that fit what I wanted. Ideally, I’d just get another Marlin Camp Carbine in 45 and call it a day, but those are no longer in production and haven’t been for many years. Too many people want too much for them and I’m not willing to pay 1200 or more for one. So my options came down to pistol carbines in the typical AR platform which I have no interest in because AR platforms are boring and everyone has one. What did that leave me? Beretta offers a very nice carbine called the CX4 which I considered, but the price initially drove me away. Next up was the Keltec with their Sub2000, which has a colored history to say the least, as with most Keltec products.

Being in the gun game for as long as I have you start to learn about certain manufacturers and Keltec definitely was on the list of things to watch out for. Some people have great experience with their weapons, while others don’t. Having never owned one myself I figured I didn’t have much experience to draw from myself so I kept my mind open. This one in particular was cool because this gun folds on itself, so that’s the size requirement down. It also shot 40 S&W which is nice because a 40 S&W coming out of a 16 inch barrel has some pretty good power and range to it compared to a 9mm. It also takes my Glock mags which my Glock also happens to be in 40 S&W. Seems like a match made in plastic heaven.

I had read a ton of reviews about this gun and how crap the first generation run of Sub 2000s were. This didn’t stop me though, as I ordered a Gen 2 which seemed to fix a lot of the problems and it looked pretty good too. Even the well known Nutnfancy had good things to say about it. What could go wrong?

As it turns out, a lot.

When I had received my rifle I noticed the front sight post was ever so slightly canted to the right. After doing some reading in the manual, they strongly advise you to not touch the set screw for the front sight post at all. So I figured ok fine I can leave it as is and still get a nice sight picture and be accurate with it. Still, a knock against Keltec for allowing this gun to ship this way from the factory.

The rest of the rifle looked and felt good, if very light and plastic feeling. The charging handle is unfriendly and I ended up getting bit by it and it left a nasty little cut in the web of my hand. It didn’t help as well that the recoil spring is very very strong which makes it hard to cock the rifle. Combined with a crap charging handle and it makes it very uncomfortable and awkward to use.

Now unfortunately I shoot rifles left handed, and this weapon is not lefty friendly at all. The magazine release in the grip sticks out just enough to be uncomfortable to grasp tightly and is not reversible. The ejection port is also on the right side of the gun but this was not an issue for me at the range. I had read reports that due to the blowback nature of this gun, the gasses would vent directly into my face. I’ve dealt with guns like that before and didn’t put much stock into it.

So off to the range! I intended to shoot about 200-250 rounds through it to get a nice break in and see how it shot. I was excited because I expected it to be fun and reasonably low recoil considering its much larger and heavier than a comparable pistol in 40 S&W. I was dreadfully wrong.

 To start, I could not get a sight picture on this rifle without really cranking my head down on the all metal tube (which was by this point pretty hot because I was in the sun most of the day) and taking off my headset hearing protection. I took off my headset and replaced them with earplugs instead. Next, the trigger was pretty average and nothing to write home about but the worst part was the recoil of this gun.

 I’ve shot Mosins that hurt less than this rifle did. Considering the all plastic construction of the buttstock and the very sharp lines in the stock (especially where the sights sit while in folded configuration) there was no comfort to be had shooting this rifle. At the end of 50 rounds I said enough was enough and stopped firing because it hurt so much. I ended up with a nice bruise with the outline of the stock and where the sharp lines cut into my shoulder. The long and short is, the gun is not fun to fire.

The gasses sure enough flowed back into my face but it was exceptionally bad and not something I could do all day, even outdoors. Everytime you took a mag out after firing the smoke took more than a few seconds to clear from the gun itself and sometimes would even rise up and get in the way of the sight picture. I did not expect that much gas and smoke from a 40 S&W, even in a blowback gun like this one. Not even a CX4 Storm carbine makes this much smoke and those are notorious for being dirty guns.

 Accuracy was nothing exceptional. Shooting from a sandbag setup at 25 yards I managed 2.5 inch groups (which were incredibly off target as well, about 6 inches low and 2 inches to the left). I can get better accuracy from my pistols offhand at 25 yards.

 Now for the absolute joke of a front sight post. While adjusting the front sight post I remembered in the manual they said not to mess with the internal workings of the front sight post because of the sheer number of springs and other bits that make it work. I could see why as I tried to adjust this gun. The top post is similar to an AR15 style front sight post but that’s where the comparison ends. This post was so loose and springy that you could easily break it with your bare hand. The post rotation retention pin did not even spring back up to lock in place after one rotation. Everything about this whole front sight assembly felt springy and wrong. I was able to sight it in eventually but I would wager with enough backpacking and general use, the sights would wander quite significantly. To sum it up, it sucks.

 Now for reliability, this gun functioned perfectly. No hangups, no malfunctions whatsoever.

 For field stripping its certainly not an easy gun to take apart or put back together. There’s a crosspin you must knock out of the stock in the back that releases an end cap that makes all the other parts of the weapon (bolt, weight, and recoil spring) fall out. The barrel is quite easy to clean due to the break open folding feature of the gun however. The parts themselves are nothing noteworthy. To reassemble almost requires 3 hands, as getting the plug back into position where you want with the butt is not as easy as it seems as you are fighting against the recoil spring itself. I wish the crosspin had some sort of marking to indicate which way it was supposed to go in, as there is only one way it is supposed to fit but its not readily obvious. Not my favorite takedown.

 Now I hear you clamor and say, what about upgrades? To that I say, by the time I put all the money in upgrades just to make this gun somewhat useable for me, I could’ve just bought a CX4 Storm carbine and be happy with it straight from the factory (because those things are cool as shit). I don’t believe in spending for upgrades for a gun that ends up costing more than something at a higher price point already comes from the factory. Additionally, the gun looks ugly with the side mounted optic system and I don’t like it.

 Overall, I am very unimpressed with this rifle and with Keltec. It is unique sure in its folding nature but that is just a gimmick when compared to other “qualities” of this weapon. For my intended purpose of a pistol caliber carbine that has interchangeable magazines with a pistol I own, that was lightweight and reasonably compact, this thing should’ve filled those requirements easily. But it just isn’t fun to shoot, isn’t terribly accurate, and doesn’t feel durable enough. I guess I have to refine what I want in my pistol carbine and look for better options (CX4 here I come).

 As a good friend of mine said, everyone wants a Keltec until they have a Keltec.

 Accuracy: 2/5

 Ergonomics: 3/5

 Trigger: 3/5

 Customization: 4/5

 Reliability: 4/5

 Maintenance: 2/5

 Value: 3/5

 Aesthetics: 4/5

 Fun factor: 1/5

[angoorvanaranjak]

Sig P250 Review (45 ACP, full size) (2017)

Sig P250 Review (2017)

For the purposes of this review I will be talking about my experience with the Sig P250 in 45 ACP in the full size frame. You’ll see why that’s important later on.

A bit of history first, if you will. I have been a Counter Strike player for years, as far back as CS 1.5 before Steam even existed and WON was the name of the game. Fast forward to recent times and the ever popular CS:GO is the newest thing. One of my favorite pistols to use in that game is the…you guessed it, Sig P250. I’m a sucker for buying guns that are featured in video games and this is no exception, especially when you look at the price tag. You can find these pistols for anywhere as low as 350 to anywhere as high as the 500-600 dollar range.

I was in the need for a new, easy to take down combat pistol in 9mm anyways so I did some looking around for one. Unfortunately I was in the middle of my military training so local gun store options were very limited but I did come across a 250 in 9mm in the compact frame for 350 bucks. I was going to buy it that day but I had to go and get some paperwork done and arrange for storage as I was not allowed to keep it on base with me. When I came back, cash in hand, the gun had already been bought. When I asked who, they simply said it was a man in uniform. Someone, somewhere, on the very base I was stationed at had bought my pistol. Naturally I was a bit peeved for a few weeks and even considered tracking down this individual and offering him more than what he paid for the pistol. I settled as the one that got away.

Fast forward again to this month (September 2017) and a local gun show later I had my hands on a 250 in 45 in the full size frame. After my experience with owning a P320 I knew this gun would be great and definitely worth the money as it is essentially the same gun with different innards. The stand in question was selling them for 400 bucks, but I managed to get lower than that. I will just say it upfront, you cannot find this level of quality and accuracy at this price. Sig’s 250 and 320 lines are far superior to other guns in their price ranges (base models of course).

 So the big points of Sig’s new-ish line of 250s and 320s is that they are “modular” but I use that term lightly. Sure you can change out slides, barrels, and grip frames to different calibers and sizes but ultimately these exchange kits run you almost as much as a new pistol which begs the question why not just buy a new pistol altogether? I don’t particularly care for hyping up this modular design when I don’t really intend to take advantage of it until the price comes down or secondary market picks up the slack. Others may see it as the next development in pistol design but I remain skeptical.

 Now, the differences between the 320 and 250 is how they fire. 250s are double action only at a very very nice 6 lbs, while 320s are striker fired. Having grown up fired some S&W double action automatic pistols and revolvers, I hated the notion of DAO triggers. The 250 made me think twice. It feels incredibly light(for a DAO), breaks very cleanly and feels very even the entire way through. Some even say the 250 is one of the best DAO triggers ever made for automatic pistols and I’m inclined to agree.

I’m getting slightly ahead of myself here, but the trigger really is that nice. If you get an opportunity, try to dry fire it in a store (ask first) and you’ll see what I mean.

 Alright so, the 250 comes in the usual Sig plastic pistol case. My pistol in particular came wrapped in plastic bag on the inside of the pistol case and it was absolutely smothered in oil. It became hard to even rack the slide because my hands kept slipping off. Not sure what the deal with that was. It comes with the usual extra mag, lock, ads, manual, all the stuff you’d expect from a big name like Sig.

Aesthetically, the 250 in full size is a massive, blocky pistol in classic Sig design. In size comparison, it is bigger than my 1911 Series 80 Govt Model in almost every dimension except maybe length. I got the standard boring all black. Sights are the regular 3 white dot you see everywhere. It definitely looks the part of a combat pistol. It feels great in my hands and just handles really well all around.

Seeing as how the gun was coated in oil already, I just took it out to the range as is. I had about 150 rounds, 100 of regular Federal target ammo and 50 hollow points that I can’t remember the brand of but it was a bit hotter ammo than the target loads were. Each magazine holds 10 rounds which is a fair amount for a full size combat pistol in 45. Some other designs hold more but those other designs are also many times more expensive (FNX45, USP, etc..). Value is of course the name of the game with this gun for me.

I started my first shots at 15 yards (all shooting is done offhand) and found myself putting rounds in the same holes. I did not expect it to be so easy with this gun. Normally folks argue that a DAO trigger affects accuracy and I can see why but this is still very impressive for coming right out of the box with no work on my end with regular cheap ammo. I opted to move out to 25 yards once I was satisfied with tearing ragged holes in my target.

 At this range, the DAO trigger was affecting my accuracy. I managed at best a 2.5 inch group at this distance but I know for sure the gun is capable of better accuracy than that. After going through my limited 150 rounds I was very satisfied with the accuracy of this gun.

 Recoil was very manageable. Just given the sheer size and weight of this gun its not surprising that this gun didn’t jump around much or really put a lot of strain on my hands. I can tell you for sure my 1911 has more felt recoil than this gun does by a fair bit.

 During shooting I encountered no malfunctions which is excellent.

Now onto maintenance which is a strong point of this gun for me. Takedown is easy by locking the slide back, and switching the takedown lever down and just sliding the slide off and its good to go. It oddly does not feature a captive recoil spring but it is fairly easy to take out and put back in without too much effort. The main part of the gun is the fire control unit mounted in the grip frame itself, and that can also be taken out of the grip frame. This really allows you to get in the nooks and crannies and get all the gunk out and oil up what needs to be oiled. There is something to be said for the sheer ease of maintenance and simplicity the 250 and 320 lines offer. The gun goes back together in reverse order and is just as easy to do as disassembly.

Again, I will reiterate that for the money, this gun is outstanding and absolutely worth a look over. It has one of the best DAO triggers you’ll find on an automatic pistol, it is very accurate and more than accurate enough for a defensive/combat situation, is easy to maintain, and is versatile for those that care enough to utilize its modular design. Additionally, it is available on both T and CT sides and great for eco rounds. Some day I’ll convert it to an actual 9mm compact version, Asimov skin with a StatTrak mounted on the rail, factory new of course. I highly recommend the P250 and the P320 as well but that will have its own separate review later.

[angoorvanaranjak]

Sccy CPX-2 Review (2017)

Sccy CPX-2 Review (2017)

First review here, my reviews are mainly coming from a standpoint of  “is it worth the money” for what you want the gun to do. This gun is clearly intended for carry purposes and fits into the realm of subcompacts albeit on the larger side of the spectrum.

So I started getting into concealed and open carrying recently so naturally I needed a good pistol to carry. While I have a pretty good selection of full size/combat pistols to open carry, I didn’t have any subcompacts to speak of since subcompacts aren’t typically range day guns. I tried carrying my Sig P320 Compact in 9mm, but that ultimately proved too large, and even the subcompact model is too bulky for me to be comfortable with.

So one day I was just perusing my base’s BX/PX gun section and saw one of their pistols there was on sale, a subcompact that wasn’t any of the name brands I’m used to seeing. The Sccy (pronounced sky, weird but alright) CPX-2 in 9mm. I fondled it a bit and found the trigger to be very acceptable and I was impressed with the general feel of quality and trigger it had especially for the price point. I did not buy it that day because I am very skeptical of cheap guns, and even moreso from brands I’ve never seen before. I’m sure you know the feeling.

So after some research into what they were and reading some reviews it seemed like an alright gun. Many weeks later I decided what the heck, why not? If it turned out to be crap I’m only out about 250 bucks. That’s very cheap on my budget considering all the other pieces I’ve bought before, so what’s 250 bucks?

I picked it up from the store and headed immediately to the range with the intention of not cleaning or lubricating it beforehand just to really be hard on it and see how it performed under dry conditions. I don’t normally do that for my guns but I wanted to try something different. If it performs well dry, it will perform well when it is properly maintained.

It came in a surprisingly very pretty and cool looking black cardboard box with red foiled graphics and set foam with cutouts for the gun, spare magazine, keys for the custom trigger lock, and various manuals and ads like in any gun case.

I bought the white frame and stainless slide because I thought it looked the best out of the colors they offered (if they had a deeper shade of blue I’d have bought that one). It felt very good in my hands, both with the flat floorplate and extended floorplate for the magazines which comes included so you can switch out both floorplates if you choose. It racks and releases easily unlike many subcompacts I’ve fired and handled. The magazine release was strong, well placed, and had positive feeling. Aesthetically, it just plain looks good. A lot of subcompacts you see are very to the point, blocky, small, and ugly. This gun does not sacrifice too much in the size department, has great curves, and above all fits well in the hand. Everything about it felt good and I was very excited to take it out to the range.

I took 150 rounds of various cheap target ammo with me and set up firing at 7, 10, and 20 yards (if I had 25 yards I would’ve gone further). The sights are your usual white 3 dot sights you’ll find on a lot of larger sized pistols which should be familiar with many shooters. The magazines hold 10 rounds each.

This pistol is a double action only which usually translates to long, heavy, and inaccurate triggers for some shooters. As I mentioned before, I was very impressed in store with how smooth and easy this trigger was and I still am. It may not be as light or smooth as say a Sig P250, but it definitely is better than a lot of even striker fired triggers out there (I’m looking at you Sigma and LC9 pistols). If you fire revolvers in double action on the regular, then this pistol will feel right at home with you.

Now here comes my first issue with this gun, or more specifically the magazines. They are made in-house by Sccy and it shows. They feel cheap and the black finish is already rubbing off even on the small amount of time I’ve used them for. The follower/spring is also excruciatingly difficult to push down and load once you get past 5 rounds. These magazines will tear up even the most calloused of thumbs. Trying to unload the magazines also left me unimpressed, as every other magazine I’ve ever used in any of my pistols the rounds almost jump out when you’re unloading them. With these, I had to wrestle them out almost as much as I had to wrestle them into the magazine. Sccy has some work to do on their magazines.

Now onto the shooting. Recoil was expected to be snappy as most subcompacts no matter what will be snappy. While the recoil was snappy, it wasn’t actually that bad and I could easily control it once I started getting a hang of it. Reacquiring a sight picture rapidly was no problem for me after getting used to it.

My first 30 rounds ended up being about 3 inches off center to the left at 10 yards but elevation was spot on. That can be fixed by adjusting the rear sight with the use of an allen wrench so no big deal there. I’d prefer if the sights were actually on point from the factory but I won’t fault them too much for that.

After some more rounds downrange, I was managing 3 to 3.5 inch groups at 20 yards, and putting holes in holes at 10 yards and under if I took my time. The accuracy definitely surprised me for such a cheap and small gun. I am quite pleased with it and feel it shoots above its price point. It’s not a match gun by any means, but it was never intended to be.

For malfunctions, I expected to see some considering this gun was being run completely dry out of the box. I encountered 4 failure to feed malfunctions, all of which happened on the last round in a magazine. The slide would lock open as if it was empty. Not terrible and certainly nothing that bothered me too much. As for feeding the rounds and slide operation, I could really feel the chunkiness of the slide as it tried to go forward without lubrication and sometimes it would actually stop a second and then go fully into battery with a very noticeable “ker-chunk”. Not unexpected either, as this is a problem that even high end pistols can have if you don’t maintain them properly. Overall, nothing stood out to me in operation.

I took it home very satisfied with how it performed and looked forward to cleaning it because we all clean our guns after a range trip right? I place ease of maintenance pretty high on my list of priorities for my guns as I was taught to shoot on Ruger Mark 2 target pistols and Ruger 10/22 rifles both of which can be a nightmare to disassemble and reassemble. Thankfully this gun’s takedown is quite simple, being a common link and tilting barrel design that’s been around for decades. It has a captive recoil spring as well which is handy and allows for very easy maintenance. But once I took a closer look at the field stripped gun I realized why this gun is so cheap to begin with.

Assembled fully, it is actually quite exposed. You can look down the side of where the bolt face meets the chamber and see through the gun easily. A large spring is visible from inside the mag well. Disassembled, the actual receiver itself is a small unit pinned in place like a Sig P320’s internal chassis is (but I doubt it is modular like the 320 is). There’s just not a lot going on mechanically with the gun. Simplicity makes it easier to produce I suppose. The slide, barrel, and recoil spring are all the standard fare we are used to seeing with linked tilting barrel actions. Nothing about the materials or manufacturing seemed especially noteworthy.

The gun cleaned up easily but then I had the realization that maybe white wasn’t the best color to pick the receiver frame in. Blasts from the barrel had stained the end of the frame ever so slightly and will only get darker with use. Not much I can do about that.

So, in closing, I found the CPX-2 to be very very impressive for its price point and well worth the money. The biggest detractor were the magazines by far. I can only hope they get better with time, but seeing this much quality from Sccy on my first gun from them, I am optimistic. The best factor of this gun for me was the overall quality for price. For 250 bucks you can’t beat this level of quality for a subcompact. A close second would be the trigger. Absolutely fantastic for a DAO, and even moreso for a subcompact which normally don’t have great triggers. This pistol absolutely shoots better than its price would suggest and I highly recommend it even as a range gun. I personally will be buying another one and getting it cerakoted in a nice dark shade of blue.