Final SCCY Report
Now that SCCY Industries https://sccy.com/ is out of business, it’s probably moot but some thoughts about my experiences with the guns are in order.
My first SCCY was provided to me in 2015 at no cost as a Testing and Evaluation sample. It was produced in 2014, as best I can tell by the serial number. At the time it was furnished, I was doing my second iteration of 1,000 Days of Dry Fire and I used it extensively for dry practice. I also eventually fired about 1,600 live rounds through it. The firing pin broke after about 10,000 dry snaps. During live fire, I had two Failures to Feed between 400 and 500 rounds. No other malfunctions. The ejector broke about the 1200 round mark but it still ejected, just sluggishly and erratically. In both cases, SCCY serviced the pistol and it then ran fine.
Last year (2024), I purchased a SCCY Gen 3 with my own money because I wanted to see what the upgrades had been. This time, it was a disappointment. The gun had a Failure to Chamber every 25 rounds. I traced this to sharp edges around the chamber mouth. SCCY sent me a new barrel and two more magazines, gratis, but the chamber in it had very noticeable machining rings. I didn’t know if it would work but installed it anyway.
A couple of months ago, I purchased an early production used Gen 2, produced in 2013, for $80 at a local range. The trigger on it was much better than my original Gen 2. Whether it has the original mainspring or a replacement, IDK. It had occasional Failures to Eject. The source of those Failures turned out to be a broken ejector. I bought a replacement on eBay and installed it.
For Memorial Day, in remembrance of my Army friends who are dead, I took all three to the range and practiced the destruction of the enemies of our great Nation. Since I’m going to be teaching the NRA Defensive Pistol Course https://www.nrainstructors.org/CatalogInfo.aspx?cid=41 for a Private lesson soon, the Course of Fire I chose was the DP Qualification Course. It consists of 34 rounds fired at distances of 3 to 10 yards. I shot it once with each of them.
All three SCCYs made it through without a malfunction. That’s not a 10,000 round torture test but probably more than 99 out of 100 gunowners will ever fire their handguns. Although they’re not target pistols, they all were sufficiently accurate to group in the eight inch 10 ring of the NRA AP-1.
Bottom line of the whole exercise is that when purchasing a pistol, shoot at least a box of ammo through it to be sure it works. Preferably a structured and measured session. Feeling the trigger and knowing the results it can produce is useful. Inspect the pistol for broken parts after shooting it. My colleague, the late Paul Gomez, was fond of saying “Shoot Yor Guns!” and that’s good advice.
The Demi-Practical Event
#wheelgunwednesday
Caleb Giddings of Taurus inspired me to design a Course of Fire derived from the Bianchi Cup Practical Event. I wanted something that wouldn’t demoralize newer shooters by making them shoot a demanding par time course at a long distance though.
The Bianchi Cup https://thecmp.org/competitions/cmp-pistol-program/cmp-bianchi-cup/ is being shot now at the Green Valley Rifle & Pistol Club in Missouri. The Cup goes back to 1979 and it is one of the most prestigious and lucrative shooting contests in the world. There are four Events at Bianchi, The Practical being one of them. It consists of 48 shots. There are 4 stages, fired at 10, 15, 25, and 50 yards, with 3 series of 2, 4 and 6 shots in each stage. Two targets are set up 1 yard apart, each having a four inch X Ring and a 10 point scoring ring 8 inches in diameter. The target is much larger overall but a competitor who sends more than one or two hits of the 48 outside the 10 ring doesn’t have a chance. The X Ring is to break ties.
Three series are shot at each distance. One shot on each of the targets, two shot on each target, and three shots on each target. At 10 yards, the three shot series is fired with the Support hand after drawing and transferring the pistol from the Primary hand to the Support hand. A nice thing about Bianchi is that it is six shot revolver neutral and there is no reloading on the clock.
Since shooting a pistol at 50 yards would be soul crushing to most shooters, the Event I created is called the Demi-Practical, demi- meaning half https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demi-. The 50 yard stage is eliminated and the other distances are halved. This gives us a 36 round Event shot at 5 yards, 7 yards, and 12 yards. The Support hand shooting is changed to Primary hand only shooting with a time change to 6 seconds since there is no hand transfer. All shooting is done from the Standing position.
Since the AP1 is not a common target commercially, I substituted the IDPA target. Points down scoring works fine as a practical marksmanship metric. Par timing makes it easier to administer and score.
Today was a beautiful day so I took the opportunity to go shooting. My Taurus 856 snub was one of the test subjects.
At 5 yards, I was 2 points down on the right target. At 7 yards, I was able to shoot both clean. At 12 yards, I was 1 point down on each target.
I had a good time shooting it. You might enjoy shooting it, too.
NRA 2025 Annual Meeting
The NRA Annual Meeting is being held in Atlanta this year. The NRAAM shares some things in common with the SHOT Show but is oriented toward the individual gunowner instead of the industry. The Exhibit Hall Map proclaims “14 Acres of Guns & Gear.” “All the Firearms Industry’s Leading Brands Under One Roof!”
Day 1 – Friday
I visited some gear oriented booths, attended a seminar, had lunch with some industry folks, and went to a gun collector display.
The Virginia Gun Collectors Association had an interesting display regarding one of the earliest snub revolvers, the Webley Mk III Pocket. The Webleys were used by the Royal Irish Constabulary as far back as the late 19th Century. The ‘Black and Tans,’ as they were called, were notorious for their ill treatment of the Irish people. After the partition of Ireland, some of them emigrated to Canada, which is where this particular example came from.
This shows the Black and Tans in action.
A piece of gear that could be useful was at the Lyman booth. Ammo Checkers™ Multiple Calibers has a Handgun Gauge – 380 Auto, 9mm Luger, 38 Super, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, 38/357, 44 Mag/Spl, 45 Colt that allows a shooter to chamber czech ammo without disassembling your gun. An example of why this is useful is given in a recent Tactical Wire article. https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/3fe2ede6-09e3-4b32-8fec-b12737186e5f
https://www.lymanproducts.com/ammo-checkers
Walking around, I wasn’t really looking for guns Friday. However, the Charter Arms Undercoverette .32 H&R Magnum https://charterfirearms.com/collections/undercoverette/products/73220-undercoverette-ss-std caught my eye. The Undercoverette has been around for a long time, although originally in .32 S&W Long, not .32 H&R Magnum. All the Charters I’ve owned have beaten themselves to death within 600 rounds but maybe a .32 wouldn’t.
At lunch, I was introduced to an NRA publication I wasn’t familiar with, Concealed Carry for Women. I was told that NRA Women https://www.nrapublications.org/news/nra-women/ publishes one hard copy per year and this is the 2025 edition. It is available as a digital download also. https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nra/ccw_2025/
At the Smith & Wesson booth, I looked at the new Model 10 and new Model 36. Frankly, they leave me cold. Although lockless, they have the new style frame and old style half moon sights. I don’t get it. They have decent triggers though.
The class/seminar I attended was about Every Day Carry by Matt Mallory, a POlice officer in New York State and NY Concealed Carry License instructor. His style is very interactive and entertaining. One of the things he mentioned was the ability to communicate with potential attackers to determine their intent. Using the STOP! Hand Signal and your voice can be very useful. I concur completely.
More about the Meeting tomorrow.
TacCon 2025 Match
The Rangemaster 2025 Tactical Conference is a wrap. For the Match, 251 participants (63%) of approximately 400 shows for the Conference chose to shoot the Match. It consisted of 30 rounds for the Four Second Standards and five rounds for the Tiebreaker that was shot immediately after the Standards. The target was the Rangemaster Q and more specifically the eight inch circle in the upper chest. All equipment had to be completely concealed.
I chose to shoot it with my Taurus 856 snub with Viridian LaserGrips. The laser dot was visible at all distances involved. To reload, I used a pocket full of Zeta6 K Pak2 loading strips.
FOUR SECOND STANDARDS
- 3 yards – Draw and fire 6 shots
- 5 yards – Draw and fire 5 shots
- 5 yards – Draw and fire 5 shots
4. 5 yards – From Low Ready, Present and fire 4 shots, Primary Hand Only
5. 5 yards – From Low Ready, Present and fire 3 shots, Support Hand Only
6. 7 yards – Draw and fire 4 shots
7. 10 yards – Draw and fire 3 shots
30 rounds subtotal for the Standards
TIEBREAKER
• 5 yards – From Low Ready, fire 5 shots to the head, individually timed and scored.
5 hits – 3.01 seconds
35 rounds total for the Match
My final place was 167 out of the 251 participants. Considering only one other shooter used a revolver and that was a 686 Plus, I’m happy with how I did.
Trigger Press Casualty
A post is circulating on Facebook about a fellow whose hand became a casualty when the chambered round in his Glock 44 (.22 Long Rifle caliber) failed to eject. He then pressed the trigger and a loud noise occurred instead of the ‘click’ he expected. Unfortunately for him, his hand was over the muzzle and the bullet injured his hand.
Many, in fact most, of the comments involve some version of Rule 2 “Never let your muzzle cover anything you’re not prepared to destroy.” This is true. While that statement tells you what NOT to do, it doesn’t cover what the correct thing you SHOULD do is.
The correct thing to do is always establish a proper grip and deliberately take a sight picture whenever you press the trigger. It doesn’t matter when, do it at all times. When clearing your pistol at the range, take a sight picture on some particular target and observe what the sights do when you press the trigger. When you have to press the trigger to disassemble the pistol, aim at something that will involve the least amount of “damage to property and/or injury to personnel.” Aim at a door frame or something else solid that is more likely to stop a bullet than an interior wall made of Sheetrock.
“Avoid damage to property and/or injury to personnel”, was repeated to us daily during the Weapons phase of the Special Forces Qualification Course. We spent all day handling and working on small arms so the instructors drummed it into our heads regularly. It was my first exposure to the concept of Negative Outcomes and set the concept firmly in my mind.
Establishing grip and taking a sight picture even when you don’t expect the pistol to fire reinforces good marksmanship principles and mitigates safety risks simultaneously. It’s a total WIN WIN.
Car Gun – Negative Outcome
Firearms are relentlessly unforgiving of even the slightest moment of carelessness.
4-year-old dies after accidentally shooting self
“Chosen was excited about the family outing and detectives believe he entered the vehicle to wait for the rest of the family, when he found the handgun under the driver’s seat.”
Davenport police news release Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025 (excerpt)
What a beautiful little boy. Gone due to a moment’s carelessness.
Chief: Davenport father forgot to store gun ahead of accidental shooting death of 4-year old
“’Normally he will take the firearm out from underneath the seat and go secure it in his bedroom and he forgot. He just simply forgot,’ said Chief Parker. ”
Your car is not a holster. –Pat Rogers
This is the second incident this year in Polk County of a toddler gaining access to a pistol in a car and shooting himself. https://www.wfla.com/news/polk-county/6-year-old-rushed-to-lakeland-hospital-after-self-inflicted-gunshot-to-head-police/
“Officials remind residents to remain vigilant with firearm safety and to never leave a firearm unattended and unsecured in a vehicle.”
The friend who brought this sad incident to my attention shared some related information.
“On a related note, we baby sat our two grandchildren 1.5 & almost 3 years old boys, and while playing with his cordless drill I was amazed at the interest & ability of the 1-1/2 YO in putting the drill chuck in his mouth and manipulating the trigger to activate the drill. The drill looks a lot like a handgun profile, just no trigger guard….there were several other innocuous toys like that as well. Clear to understand how a small toddler could find a gun and place it on the floor to push the trigger while muzzle directed at their head.”
Don’t let this happen to you, your loved ones, or your friends. Firearms are relentlessly unforgiving of even the slightest moment of carelessness as Chief Parker mentioned. Firearms CANNOT be ‘hidden’ from children; they WILL find them.
We all need to have a way to constantly secure our firearms. Holstering it on your person is the best way. If your gun is too big, too heavy, or has too much tactical crap hanging off of it to keep constantly holstered, then you need to make better decisions about your choice of pistol. A Little Crappy Pistol on your person is better than a .40 S&W with WML in a child’s mouth. And for those times when you can’t holster it, get some kind of safe or lockable container that’s easy to use. Practice using it until it’s as second nature to you as shooting your pistol.
Sorry for being preachy but that little boy’s picture brings tears to my eyes.
Taking the First Steps Pistol Orientation
My latest article on Shooting Illustrated is posted.
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/taking-the-first-steps/
Wisely, the NRA Education & Training Division resurrected the First Steps Pistol Orientation after dropping it for a few years. Most people who purchase their first gun aren’t particularly interested in learning a lot about guns in general. They want to know how to operate their gun. First Steps is an excellent format to learn about it.
First Steps isn’t a tactical course nor does it need to be. The phrase Crawl, Walk, Run is frequently forgotten in our community and it shouldn’t be.
Unsecured Gun Discharges – Child Dead, Mother Wounded
Periodic reminder – secure your guns from unauthorized access.
“Tragic accident in Inglis 5-year-old dead, adult woman in critical condition after unsecured gun discharges
One child accessed an unsecured firearm and the gun, a 9mm Glock, accidentally discharged.”
Secured doesn’t have to mean an elaborate setup. A two drawer file cabinet with a locking drawer could have prevented this tragedy. I bought mine at Goodwill for $10. Granted that a file cabinet may not keep them from being stolen but at least your kid won’t shoot you and another kid.
If you like my work, join me on Patreon where I post more in-depth articles about shooting, marksmanship, and incident analysis.
Shootist’s Challenge – The Final Word
Ever since I published the Shootist’s Challenge, https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2024/10/25/shootists-challenge-target/, the question has arisen, “How far is ’10 paces’?” There is finally a definitive answer.
Although Wild Bill Hickok didn’t have access to the CIA World Factbook definitions of Weights and Measures Appendix G :: Weights and Measures, I think that tome has supplied the answer.
paces (US) – inches 30
Wikipedia provides us with a prose rendering and background of this measurement. “In the United States the pace is an uncommon customary unit of length denoting a brisk single step and equal to 2 1/2 feet or 30.0 inches.” It also provides the link to the CIA World Factbook for which I am grateful.
I accept that definition, which would make the distance for the Shootist’s Challenge 25 feet. The updated target is attached.
My thanks to Mr. David Fortini whose question led me to the final answer. He receives whichever of my books he would like with my compliments.
If you like my work, join me on Patreon where I post more in-depth articles about shooting, marksmanship, and incident analysis.
Periodic Personal Evaluation
#saturdayskillsczech
My December article for Shooting Illustrated is entitled Near to Far Marksmanship Practice.
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/near-to-far-marksmanship-practice/
Although New Jersey made a strong try to keep people from getting their License To Carry, the qualification course itself is a decent practice regimen. It’s also a useful metric for measuring your skill periodically.
Try shooting it on an IALEFI-Q and score it by the rings. Center ring gets 5 points, next ring get 4 points, balance of the Q receives 3 points. Hits inside the face circle score 5 points. Anything outside the Q scores 0. A Possible would be 250 points (5 x50 shots). If you don’t have an IALEFI target, just trace around a paper plate in approximately the same place on your silhouette. Your scoring is then 5 points for the circle and 3 points for the rest of the silhouette.
To make it a good tune-up and personal evaluation, shoot the course as a version of Jimmy Cirillo’s 1-2-3-6 drill. Instead of 6, fire 4 shots for the final string. Start loaded with 6 rounds only. Draw and fire 1 shot, reholster, draw and fire 2 shots, reholster, draw and fire 3 shots, reload, and immediately fire 4 shots. Bear in mind that the second most missed shot in shooting is the shot immediately following clearing a stoppage. The reality of transitioning back to trigger control after doing a gross motor manipulation can be tricky.
Since CCARE starts at 3 yards, at that distance shoot all face shots. Repeat the same sequence at 5 yards, 7 yards, 10 yards, and 15 yards but shoot for the 8 inch circle. After shooting each distance, tape your hits before moving to the next distance. At the end of the course of fire, place your pistol in whatever condition you wish to when you leave the range.
Although the CCARE is rather stringent for a CCW qualification, it has value as a practice regimen. It includes a minimum of 10 presentations to the target or 15 if you use the 1-2-3-4 sequence. There are multiple opportunities to practice reloading, and it’s highly manageable with wheelguns. Even J-Frames can work, just reload in a slightly different sequence. It’s a good use for a box of practice ammo.
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