I took my PT145 Mil Pro to the range today. This was the second time I have shot it at the range. During the first time, I found that I was shooting low and to the left at 25 yards. I am not the best shot in the world, and I am a bit rusty, so I figured it could be me.
So, today, I went to the range with the following goals.
1. Try Winchester 230 grain Hollow Point Ammo to see how it cycles
2. Shoot for accuracy with Winchester 230 grain (non-hollow point) using the Heinie sites
3. Shoot for accuracy with my new Insight Laser/Light combo using Winchester 230 grain non-hollow point.
RESULTS
1. I put through 3 clips of the Hollow point ammo. I found that it cycled okay, but I did notice that the slide was not slamming smoothly back into place after each round... it seemed to be stressful for the weapon to chamber a round and close the slide. By the 3rd clip, I had 1 failure to chamber a round in which it appeared that the nose of the round was positioned against the bottom part of chamber. The slide was open, exposing the round. I was able to apply a moderate amount of forward force onto the slide and the round then chambered properly. I think I will be avoiding this particular ammo for this gun as it seems to stress the weapon. I cleaned and oiled this weapon about 12 days ago after my previous range trip.
2. Using the non-hollow point ammo, I fired 5 clips using the Heinie iron sites. I experienced no failures with the Winchester non-hollow point ammo. The weapon cycled each round perfectly. As for accuracy, on my previous visit to the range, I shot low and to the left. Mind you, I am putting the front site white dot directly on target. I had adjusted the rear site for Left/Right correction earlier in the day. I am careful with my breathing and with my trigger pull (squeezing smoothly). I noticed that my left/right aim was very good but I was still shooting low, 15 yard target... about 12 inches low.... very low in my book. Yikes.
3. I installed my new Insight laser/light combo on the rail and fired off 5 clips of ammo. WOW! The laser was nearly dead-on accurate right out of the box. Without using the Heinie sites and focusing only on the laser, my aim was very accurate at 15 yards both vertically and horizontally. On one target, I shot 10 rounds, got 2 bulls eyes and the rest within a 3-4 inch group.
CONCLUSION
What the hell is up with these Heinie iron sites? I have just confirmed that the gun is accurate with the laser but not with the Heinie sites. I considered the possibility that it could be the way I was physically aiming through the iron sites, so I did use two different stances with little change from either stance. I am no expert shooter, so I suppose it is possible that hmy results with the Heinie sites are attributable to me... but I don't think so... at least not to the degree I am finding. I feel that I will need accurate iron sites on this weapon, so I need to decide what to do about these sites. Maybe a vertical adjustment is possible with the front site... I have no idea... but if so, maybe that is what I will try next.
I like the Insight laser/light combo. The laser light had good visibility on brown and black background targets at 15 yards. The sky was partly cloudy/sunny. I am very accurate with this laser. This laser has given me more confidence in the accuracy of this weapon and in my own ability to shoot accurately with this weapon. I highly recommend this add-on.
About the Winchester 230 grain hollow-point ammo... I don't think I will use this ammo in this gun. The gun seemed to have a difficult time chambering each round. The winchester 230 grain non-hollow point ammo worked fine.
One last note... I am not sure about this trigger yet. I realize it has a long travel to it... that isn't the problem so much. To me, there is a large difference between the amount of force required to pull the trigger from its resting position to the point just before it releases the firing pin. What I mean is... just before the trigger releases the firing pin, the resistance on the trigger increases greatly.... too much in my opinion. I noticed that it was a bit distracting to me. Maybe I need a trigger job.
So, today, I went to the range with the following goals.
1. Try Winchester 230 grain Hollow Point Ammo to see how it cycles
2. Shoot for accuracy with Winchester 230 grain (non-hollow point) using the Heinie sites
3. Shoot for accuracy with my new Insight Laser/Light combo using Winchester 230 grain non-hollow point.
RESULTS
1. I put through 3 clips of the Hollow point ammo. I found that it cycled okay, but I did notice that the slide was not slamming smoothly back into place after each round... it seemed to be stressful for the weapon to chamber a round and close the slide. By the 3rd clip, I had 1 failure to chamber a round in which it appeared that the nose of the round was positioned against the bottom part of chamber. The slide was open, exposing the round. I was able to apply a moderate amount of forward force onto the slide and the round then chambered properly. I think I will be avoiding this particular ammo for this gun as it seems to stress the weapon. I cleaned and oiled this weapon about 12 days ago after my previous range trip.
2. Using the non-hollow point ammo, I fired 5 clips using the Heinie iron sites. I experienced no failures with the Winchester non-hollow point ammo. The weapon cycled each round perfectly. As for accuracy, on my previous visit to the range, I shot low and to the left. Mind you, I am putting the front site white dot directly on target. I had adjusted the rear site for Left/Right correction earlier in the day. I am careful with my breathing and with my trigger pull (squeezing smoothly). I noticed that my left/right aim was very good but I was still shooting low, 15 yard target... about 12 inches low.... very low in my book. Yikes.
3. I installed my new Insight laser/light combo on the rail and fired off 5 clips of ammo. WOW! The laser was nearly dead-on accurate right out of the box. Without using the Heinie sites and focusing only on the laser, my aim was very accurate at 15 yards both vertically and horizontally. On one target, I shot 10 rounds, got 2 bulls eyes and the rest within a 3-4 inch group.
CONCLUSION
What the hell is up with these Heinie iron sites? I have just confirmed that the gun is accurate with the laser but not with the Heinie sites. I considered the possibility that it could be the way I was physically aiming through the iron sites, so I did use two different stances with little change from either stance. I am no expert shooter, so I suppose it is possible that hmy results with the Heinie sites are attributable to me... but I don't think so... at least not to the degree I am finding. I feel that I will need accurate iron sites on this weapon, so I need to decide what to do about these sites. Maybe a vertical adjustment is possible with the front site... I have no idea... but if so, maybe that is what I will try next.
I like the Insight laser/light combo. The laser light had good visibility on brown and black background targets at 15 yards. The sky was partly cloudy/sunny. I am very accurate with this laser. This laser has given me more confidence in the accuracy of this weapon and in my own ability to shoot accurately with this weapon. I highly recommend this add-on.
About the Winchester 230 grain hollow-point ammo... I don't think I will use this ammo in this gun. The gun seemed to have a difficult time chambering each round. The winchester 230 grain non-hollow point ammo worked fine.
One last note... I am not sure about this trigger yet. I realize it has a long travel to it... that isn't the problem so much. To me, there is a large difference between the amount of force required to pull the trigger from its resting position to the point just before it releases the firing pin. What I mean is... just before the trigger releases the firing pin, the resistance on the trigger increases greatly.... too much in my opinion. I noticed that it was a bit distracting to me. Maybe I need a trigger job.
