Quote:
The Springfield XD
The "Bubba Glock" is perhaps the most annoying pistol in the universe as of its release under the Springfield Armory stamp (despite originating in Croatia). I figure that any product that occupies 17 separate advertisement pages in an issue of American Rifleman has to be a total turd if for no other reason than its being pushed so hard. Also, there are almost as many models and variations of the XD as there are of H&K, S&W, and Glock combined. Now, there is nothing particularly bad about the XD design (looks are a matter of taste)... in fact, its a perfectly acceptable pistol with many modern features and is probably perfect for someone who only wants to buy one handgun and use it for target practice and self defense, but if their advertising campaign wasn't close to being subliminal it would really help their image. It's unclear how the XD developed its comical Bubba image, as similar products are produced by H&K, S&W, and Glock. Aside from the old school M1A series (SOCOM II RULES!!! *gag*), Springfield hasn't come up with anything particular good (or original) in a long, long time.
|
I prefer the XD to any other pistol in its' class, and have one for my carry gun. It is:
1: More comfortable than the Glock
2: Easier to disassemble and clean than the Glock.
3: Possessed of a -far- superior trigger to the Glock.
4: Possessed of a much better control suite than a Glock: I like being able to reach/feel/use my controls, as opposed to needing GPS just to find the fuckers.
I've also found it to be supremely reliable, with all ammo and under all conditions, dirty or clean. It puts the rounds right where I tell it to, has never malfunctioned on me, and comes with safety features which make it extremely attractive to families.
Quote:
The Taurus Judge
Take two of the most generic-rare and largely antiquated calibers you can find, .45 Long Colt and .410 shotgun, and combine them into one monstrous abortion of a double action revolver that nobody can take seriously... and profit off idiots who would also purchased a Swiss Army Knife with a Fleshlight attachment. Needless to say, the Judge is often purchased by people that own the Springfield XD. It even comes in four flavors: regular, tactical (rail ZOMG), magnum, and snubnose. I find it hilarious that they made one designed for concealed carry... they bob the hammer and give it a barrel less than half the length of the cylinder. What makes this gun even more atrocious is that holster companies are in on this train wreck. Taurus has a hard time building credibility amongst serious shooters and producing miracle products like this 5-shot failcannon isn't helping.
|
I do have to take serious issue with this. In my extensive experience (we've carried, sold, owned and used the Judge since it came out) the Judge offers more capability in one place than any other product on the market. With the heavyweight .45LC ammo it can approach or even exceed the ballistics of the .44 Remington Magnum, making it suitable even for large bears. The .410 capability makes it far superior to anything else out there for small pests, snakes, etc, and with .410 Buckshot (especially Federal's new 1200fps high-performance loads, or the even uglier Winchester PDX-1) it is a more-than-workable close-range defensive weapon. It's especially well-suited to use from a car, or for home-defense in built-up areas where overpenetration is a significant concern. As a "Woods gun" it's literally unbeatable IMO. Load the first two chambers with birdshot (for snakes), third chamber with .410 000 Buckshot (rabid small critters) and the last two chambers with .45LC: right there you have one weapon, with one loadout, that's literally capable of taking any animal which walks, crawls, slithers or swims on the North American continent. No other handgun offers that kind of versatility. And if you -do- have to draw down on a Bad Guy or a bear, so what? About the time he/it gets the memo that it might oughta get mad 'cause you just blasted it in the face with birdshot, those .45's are on the way and he's got -much- bigger problems!
Is it a target weapon? IDPA match gun? Skeet shotgun? No, and of course you'll be disappointed if you try to use it like that. It's a close-range defensive arm: a perfectly legal 5-shot revolving sawn-off shotgun. Until and unless they bring back the Ithaca Auto & Burgaler (and ditch the NFA) IMO it's probably the best close-range arm available right now for someone who hasn't the time or interest in becoming truly proficient, or who needs to potentially throw down a lot of lead in a short period of time with minimal overpenetration concerns and/or aiming time (carjacking).
Edited To Add: I also haven't seen this "problem with serious shooters" you mention. Most of my more serious customers (competitive shooters, 1911 freaks, one old Bounty Hunter) have nothing but good to say about Taurus: Their M-9 knockoff is 1/2 the price with no frame cracking problems, their PT-1911 has $1600 worth of name-brand extras on a $650.00 out-of-the-box race/target gun (and Kimber/Wilson/Les Baer have been forced to unsuccessfully compete), the PT-24/7 has probably the best ergonomics I've seen on a full-sized handgun in a -long- time, and their revolvers are licensed copies of S&W designs for half the money or less. Sure the action will need a little work, but with all the money they save on the buying end you can afford a few minutes with an emory cloth or a coupla hundred bucks at Cylinder & Slide.
As for guns I wish would go away? That's easy.
I want that damned-fool AA-12 thing to just dry up and blow away. The design has been around since 1964. Chuck Atchisson couldn't make it work. Nobody else has been able to either. But every week, I get some numbnut either asking me when we'll have one he can buy (with the $5.00 he hasn't spent on meth or comic-books yet), or bragging about how he used his personal AA-12 to mow down a dozen Hajjis in Sadr City, Afghanistan. It doesn't work reliably, it probably never will, Civvies will never be able to own one in any case, and the Saiga does everything the AA does except break down (for a tenth of the price and a twentieth of the mechanical headache). When the Spetznaz wanted a full-auto shotgun, they took a proven 104% reliable design, chambered it in 12ga, and went back to killing Chechens. When the Green Berets wanted a full-auto shotgun, we took 40 years to cobble together a hybrid of 3 different designs that has never worked properly and made it look like a lunch-box.