Monday, November 28, 2016

Seiko Prospex 200m diver automatic SRP773K1 blue

My long time friend Eric decided to get me into watches this year.  I've personally never owned a watch that cost more than $150, to this is a first for me.  He likes watches about as much as I like guns, and his collection shows, nearly 50 or so watches (I don't have that many guns though).  

Anyway, we've had conversations about watches, how to get started, what to look for, where to look etc.  I've had my eye on the watch of James Bond for a short time, lol, because that has really been my only reference to fine time pieces.  Of course, I know of Rolex, but in all honesty, that's just beyond my comfort level of spending for metal and glass, especially if it does not allow me to spot my splashes at 1,000m away, hahaha!

Omega on the other hand, was within my realm of possibilities.  I was casually shopping around for a Seamaster 300m Chronometer (2531.80.00) or a Seamaster Planet Ocean ( 2201.50.00), but other obligations popped up and shopping for a watch sort of fell by the wayside.  I still want one of these, but that will have to wait.

In the meantime, my buddy Eric decided to plant the seed of watch collecting and sent me a Seiko Prospex SRP773K1.  


Some details on the watch:

Imported
NEW 4R36 Automatic winding with manual winding mechanism, 24 Jewels
Power reserve 41 hours
LumiBrite luminous hands and indices

Brand, Seller, or Collection Name: Seiko Watches
Model number: SRP773
Part Number: SRP773K1
Item Shape: turtle
Dial window material type: Hardlex
Display Type: Analog
Clasp: Fold over clasp
Case material: Stainless steel
Case diameter: 45 millimeters
Case Thickness: 13
Band Material: Stainless steel
Band length: Men's Standard
Band width: 22 millimeters
Band Color: Silver
Dial color: Blue
Bezel function: Unidirectional
Calendar: Day and date
Special features: 41 hours running time
Movement: Japanese automatic
Water resistant depth: 200 Meters



This is pretty much the finest watch I've ever owned.  I don't actually wear watches that much as I often resort to my cell phone for the time, and I don't wear any jewelry aside from my wedding band, but it felt kind of nice to put this time piece on.  Though it is not often visible in my regular work attire (plain business attire minus the tie), I find myself thinking about it sometimes, wanting to look at it.  Lol, I feel like Golem, coveting the one ring that ruled them all, hahahaha!







So, on CGN, I sometimes see folks taking these artsy style photos of their watches, often with a knife, gun, flashlight and passport or other such objects so I decided to play around with some of my toys to see if I could get the same effect.  

I have to say, the watch photographs very well.  It looks great in photos, it looks great in real life, and I know this sounds silly, but it feels good wearing it.  I went to The German Watchmaker in Vancouver and had the watch fitted today and it's kind of nice to wear a watch again.  He told me that I had a very functional and very useful watch which should serve me well for a very, very long time.  As this is not really a review, rather observations from a noob watch guy, I defer further information and details about the watch to a professional watch review:

https://monochrome-watches.com/seiko-prospex-srp-srp773k1-srp775k1-srp777k1-srp779k1-hands-on-review-price/

Anyway, I'm very happy with my new Seiko, thanks again Eric!

5.11 Bail Out Bag as a diaper bag

For all you dads out there who don't want to carry around that paisley diaper bag, 5.11 Tactical has come up with the perfect solution.  I present to you the 5.11 Bail Out Bag.


It's a decent size bag with one main compartment, three external mag pouches, and two zippered pockets.  


The back of the bag has some sort of Velcro loop, presumably to attach to your belt if need be, 


The external zippered pockets are large enough to house snacks, baby wipes, rolled up change of clothes for a kid, more magazines, a water bottle, small radio, or binos, or range finder.


The mag pouches have Velcro fasteners and they should be good for water bottles, milk bottles, beer bottles, or three STANAG magazines each.

The first pouch has an extra section of Velcro so you can throw on morale patches.  Sometimes you need a little something like this to put a smile on your face when your kid is stressing you out, or you just want to piss off the liberal soccer moms at the playground:





The main compartment is filled with molle in case you want to attach anything else like additional mag pouches or a holster or something.  Otherwise, it is large enough to fit a decent size diaper bag/change pad (filled with wet wipes and three or four diapers), a toy Millenium Falcon as well as a bib and some more clothes.



Yes, all that stuff fits neatly in the 5.11 Bail Out bag. 

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Para Ordinance PXT 745 Kandahar TF 1-08 Canadian Forces edition

Wow, I am the biggest poser ever, lol!  First, I'd like to make it clear I was not on TF 1-08, I have never been to Afghanistan, have I ever been deployed overseas, nor do I want to appear as if I'm a CF vet with experience outside of my in-Canada reservist life.  I haven't been in the CF very long, so I was a bit hesitant to get one of these for the longest time, but a deal popped up on CGN and the price wasn't horrible so I figured why the hell not.  I'd get it as a commemorative firearm, sort of like my Colt Canada SA20.

I first heard about these years ago when googling military discount (like the cheap bastard that I am) and stumbled on these 1911s.  Para Ordinance PXT 745 Kandahar TF 1-08 Canadian Forces edition.  If you google them now, there are hardly any images of them, or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places.  Anyway, I'd just gotten my RPAL and been in the CF as a reservist for only a few months.  At the time, I could barely afford a Norinco 1911, and besides, I'd apparently missed the boat on these as they were no longer in production and I wasn't even sure I qualified for one, just by being in the military.  

Actually, I still know very little about these pistols other than it might have been possible for members to acquire them for $750CAD?  I don't know what the criteria was, whether you had to just be in the CF, or you had to have been deployed to get one, or if these were available to the general public and available to members for a CF discount.  I do know one thing, they are limited, and of what few were made, there appeared to be a lot of complaints. regarding malfunctions and quality control.  That may have changed, and Para Ordinance may have even fixed all the issues, but like anything else in the firearms business, folks will always remember if a company screwed up.  

So, why did I get one after all the ugly stuff I heard about them?  Well, most of the bad stuff I read about was related to the hi-capa version (double stack 1911).  If I thought there was barely any info on the CF edition Paras, there was even less information regarding a single-stack version.  The only image I found of a single stack was here:

https://www.1911addicts.com/threads/what-was-your-first-1911.16413/page-10




The pistol came in a pretty massive case, the biggest out of all my pistols.  



As you can sort of see, the pistol was previously enjoyed, but the previous owner seemed like a pretty cool guy and though the pistol is used and has some history marks, it wasn't completely abused, and thankfully, no idiot scratch, lol!  Like any used tool, it came with some character, and I won't be afraid to take her out and shoot as it is not much of a safe queen the way it is.


Before I looked at the pistol, I took a quick glance at the shiny magazines that came with it.  Mine came with two, but I understand that if you jumped on these early when the first came out, some came with 5 magazines.


A simple base plate with the Para logo on it.


The first thing I played with was the follower and noticed it tilted.


I'm not sure I like this and have no idea if it will affect performance.  To the best of my recollection, my other mags (Remington R1 mags, Wilson Combat mags, Springfield and Dlask mags) all are sort of designed with an anti-tilt follower.


One of my Dlask mags for comparison,



Something else about the Para mags.  With an empty mag inserted and the slide locked back, I found hitting the slide release was difficult to send the slide forward.  I tried with my Dlask mag (all under control of course), the slide was able to go forward with an empty mag after hitting the slide release.  Is this important?  I have no idea, just an observation.



The Para has a nice rail for a light...more on this later.  The trigger is polymer, and supposedly self-lubricating.  It had a funny feel to it though, as if the reset had a slight step to it before completely resetting.  I will have to see if this is the case after I clean the pistol and send a few rounds through it.  It may not even be an issue, but I'd never noticed this with my Remington 1911s.


Detail of the TF 1-08 markings.




Para decided to go with a curved main spring housing.  I'm not really sure what the reasoning is for this, but for me personally, I am not a fan of the curved MSH and prefer a straight one.  Since this pistol is very used and likely has little collector value, I may swap this out for a straight one.  A polymer one from Colt only runs about $10 if I recall correctly.


The Trijicon night sights still have plenty of glow left in them, though not evident in this photo.



The slight to frame fit was nice and tight, about on par with my Remingtons.



A shot of the maple leaf, though I'm not sure this pistol was made in Canada as it says Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.



Another interesting feature is the full-length recoil spring guide.  Most of my other 1911s do not have a full length guide.


The feed ramp appears to be polished and smooth.  We'll know for sure when I take her out to the range.


The barrel bushing is a nice fit to barrel and the slide.


Despite being a little rough around the edges on the outside, the inside seemed fairly clean and well take care of.


This pistol came with Pearce grips.  They had a rubbery feel like Hogue grips and looked like.....well, someone else's grips for lack of better words.  There wasn't anything wrong with them really, but I had a spare set of Magpul 1911 grips laying around so I threw them on.  I may swap them out with a pair of VZ Operator II grips.  A set of those came on my R1 Carry and I like them a lot.  





I tried mounting one of my lights on the rail, but it wasn't a perfect fit.  I'm going to have to play around a bit to find the best fit as there are several inserts that came with the light for various pistols.



My 1911 family.  So far, it's not as bad as some others.  I have seen some people positively addicted to all things 1911 and my little collection pales in comparison.  That being said, I have 4 more 1911s than I originally planned when I first got into firearms.




I'm really not sure why I have 8 pistols.....but then again, why to men collect man-crap?  Who knows, lol!


No more pistols......said no one, ever, lol!







Not quite a daisho, but pretty close.

 Not quite a daisho, but close at a quick glance.  A lot of times, daisho didn't have perfectly matched koshirae, or even blades from th...