I took my M9A1 back to the range today to really give it a work out. I previously had only shot it once before running 100 rounds of Blazer Brass through it for its maiden outing. It performed perfect at that outing.
After that range trip I took the gun apart and did some of the tweeks that are posted in the tuitorials. I reassembled it using a thin coat of TW25 grease on the sear area and the rails and trigger area and a very light coat on the firing pin assembly. I was VERY happy with the results when I dry fired it.
Today at the range I feed 250 rnds of UMC thru it, loading up 2- 15 rnd mags and 4- 10 rnd mags. I shot the first 100 rnds at a fast pace and got the gun hot. I had about 3 failures to extract in this first group. I ran a bore brush down the barrel and fired another 100 rnds about as fast as the previous 100. Again about 3 failure to extract. I then ran a brush down the barrel again and fired off 50 more. I had 2 failure to extract with that group. All FTE were with various mags.
I then left the gun hot and dirty and fired 100 fast rounds of Blazer Brass thru, NO problems.
Conclusion; After 200 rounds of Blazer Brass NO problems, after 250 rounds of UMC about 8 FTE. No more UMC if I can help it.
Also, as I was shooting I noticed the trigger getting more and more gritty with more creep and the pull wieght getting noticeably heavier.
I don't think the TW-25 grease is up to the high temps of a fast, high round count, shooting session. I will try a new lube when I clean and re-assemble Sunday.
On a side note, I took a stock front sight(trapazoid), removed the white insert and drilled a .60 hole all the way thru. I then ground the center out leaving just the front and back of the sight with no middle. I inserted a red fiber optic rod in the hole and mushroomed both ends with a lighter to hold it in place. The front(facing your eye) mushroomed and filled the top of the triangle. It worked GREAT! If you thought the front sight was fast to pick up before you would be amazed at how fast it is to pick-up whith a glowing red dot.This was indoor shooting, I can't wait to try it outside at the next IDPA shoot. If I can figure out how to post pictures I'll post the set-up. I wish Steyr made a taller front sight so I could have the dot appear at bullet impact instead of at 6:00. But at 30 ft or so its close enough.
After that range trip I took the gun apart and did some of the tweeks that are posted in the tuitorials. I reassembled it using a thin coat of TW25 grease on the sear area and the rails and trigger area and a very light coat on the firing pin assembly. I was VERY happy with the results when I dry fired it.
Today at the range I feed 250 rnds of UMC thru it, loading up 2- 15 rnd mags and 4- 10 rnd mags. I shot the first 100 rnds at a fast pace and got the gun hot. I had about 3 failures to extract in this first group. I ran a bore brush down the barrel and fired another 100 rnds about as fast as the previous 100. Again about 3 failure to extract. I then ran a brush down the barrel again and fired off 50 more. I had 2 failure to extract with that group. All FTE were with various mags.
I then left the gun hot and dirty and fired 100 fast rounds of Blazer Brass thru, NO problems.
Conclusion; After 200 rounds of Blazer Brass NO problems, after 250 rounds of UMC about 8 FTE. No more UMC if I can help it.
Also, as I was shooting I noticed the trigger getting more and more gritty with more creep and the pull wieght getting noticeably heavier.
I don't think the TW-25 grease is up to the high temps of a fast, high round count, shooting session. I will try a new lube when I clean and re-assemble Sunday.
On a side note, I took a stock front sight(trapazoid), removed the white insert and drilled a .60 hole all the way thru. I then ground the center out leaving just the front and back of the sight with no middle. I inserted a red fiber optic rod in the hole and mushroomed both ends with a lighter to hold it in place. The front(facing your eye) mushroomed and filled the top of the triangle. It worked GREAT! If you thought the front sight was fast to pick up before you would be amazed at how fast it is to pick-up whith a glowing red dot.This was indoor shooting, I can't wait to try it outside at the next IDPA shoot. If I can figure out how to post pictures I'll post the set-up. I wish Steyr made a taller front sight so I could have the dot appear at bullet impact instead of at 6:00. But at 30 ft or so its close enough.
