So my best buds are Filipino and they have a tradition of making loud noises to scare away evil spirits for the new year. So we get together right around this time each year and do some shooting.

I packed up a bunch of pistols and met up with them. I refuse to shoot outdoors under 40 degrees, so we did an indoor range and it was busier than I expected and the tree of us had to share 2 lanes.

I started off with my old 1994 .40 P229. Was my EDC for a long time before I moved to a 9mm P320 Carry. I like the P320 trigger but man is that P229 just so sweet. Oddly, I was dipping a bit on double taps. Strange, since .40 is soooo snappy and SIGs have such a monster bore axis, I'm surprised I was even able to keep the second shot from shooting the moon!

Next I took out the HK P7. Even with the so-so trigger, that pistol is just so effortless. I only put two mags through it, cuz it's boring how the holes stack on top of each other. Not to mention I only have one mag for it so reloading is a time sink on shared lanes. And I didn't bring any bacon to cook on the frame, so no point in shooting that critical third mag!

One of the guys was shooting his .380s, and I had just bought one of those CDNN mags, so out came the P230. No surprise, 7 rounds made 4 holes. Those fixed barrel guns! Loaded up a second mag to do some double taps and found my big hands make it hard to manipulate that small pistol fast. Pinched my finger behind the trigger once. Don't mind shooting it, but I think I like the idea of it more than I like the reality of it.

The guy that was shooting some .380s is debating picking up a P365 he ordered that finally came in, but he's all worried about the striker drag. He had already tested his LC9S and G43 for signs of it as a baseline. The Ruger was noticeable, the Glock barely there. So I unloaded my EDC P320 and put some target ammo through it. Nothing noticeable. Offered to get out the PPQ and VP9 for him, but we figure since they're duty sized, they're not gonna show anything. As for the P320, it's just so easy to shoot that thing at speed. The trigger is nice (sure, not as nice as the well-worn P229 in SA with an SRT), the pistol just comes right back on target, it makes me look like I know what I'm doing!

To finish the day off, I busted out the anniversary 1911. Being Filipino, my buddies have a bit of ironic love for the 1911 and .45. They keep talking about getting matching RIAs, with something in Tagalog engraved. Filipino built pistol originally designed to kill Filipinos. Anyway, we each put a mag through it. They each mentioned how spoiled they are by modern sights as opposed to the minuscule notch and blade. Strange thing about the 1911, I've never been comfortable enough shooting them quickly. Dunno if it's a function of the recoil, the sights, super light trigger...I just don't feel it. Weird, I know. Mentioned as much as we were packing up and one of the guys said Sgt. York did it well enough. I couldn't argue with that.

Anyway, it was good to get together with the guys and make some noise. They were both "those guys" with their AR pistols at an indoor range. I'll give them a pass since the whole idea was to make a lot of noise. Mission accomplished!

Have a happy, and noisy, New Year everyone!

Sounds like a good time was had by all!
Now you can spend tomorrow cleaning them all.