HK45 Endurance Test: Week Eighteen

Apologies to anyone who guessed lower than 23,905 on the When Will It Stop? contest, but we’ve gone another week without incident.

Over the past week I’ve put a lot of effort into using the NRA HQ Range’s new target system to establish some baseline par times for various basic skills. Unfortunately, due to a software issue the timers, for now, have a lowest setting of 1.2 seconds. This has made it impossible to work on certain things I’d like (such as one-shot draws) under time pressure.

But plenty of other skills have been easier to establish. For example, I can pretty consistently get two hits on an 8″ at 7yd in 1.3 seconds, from concealment. Sometimes I’m able to break a third shot but not with any kind of guaranteed accuracy. So one goal I’m setting is three hits in 1.4 seconds. I’m definitely not there yet. A goal like that forces you to work on your drawstroke,  your press-out, and (to a lesser extent) your aimed splits.

Another goal is 1-R-2 from concealment draw in 3 seconds or less. I’ve hit that time before, just not consistently. I’ve even pulled off some in the 2.6-2.7 range, but can’t really say I was in visual control of the gun when it happened. (i.e., I got lucky)

And in the No Department: 1.5 second concealment draw to a 4″ circle at 25yd scored me one hit out of 10. Applying some of my hard won highly sought after professional firearms instructor diagnosis, I have come to the determination that I can’t do that yet. I was keeping them all inside the head of an IALEFI Q target, which of course with the massively powerful .45 means I still would have killed the target, his family, his dog, and most of his neighbors. But since the goal was hitting a 4″ circle, that’s a Fail.

From a day to day carry standpoint, the HK45 continues to work out just fine. It’s definitely a big gun, and I’m the first to admit it’s not as comfortable for very long drives, etc., as the smaller P30. Concealing it effectively just isn’t all that hard, though. Yesterday I took the new puppy to a playground to be around small children, and none of the soccer moms noticed anything out of the ordinary even with all the bending over and scrambling around on the ground. The Garrity In-Victus continues to work very well.

The most compromising part of the CCW package is the spare magazines. Even in the great Custom Carry Concepts BMC, the huge HK45 mags can print. In fact, I’ve gone from carrying two spare magazines to carrying just one, specifically due to comfort & concealability. I can manage two, but one is just much more workable day in and day out. And since it’s a .45, I really won’t need more than one round to take out an entire gang of attackers, right?

The HK45 should be getting a fair bit of range time before next week’s report, including a full day on an open range with some buddies. We’ll far surpass the 25,000 round point. So, next week expect the promised P30/HK45 Comparison. And expect anyone who guessed less than about 27,000 rounds on the When Will It Stop? contest to get a disappointing round count update.

Train hard & stay safe! ToddG

Previous HK45 Endurance Test posts at pistol-training.com:

• Week Seventeen
• Week Sixteen
• Week Fifteen
• Week Fourteen
• Week Thirteen
• Week Twelve
• Week Ten
• Week Nine
• Week Eight
• Week Seven
• Week Six
• Week Five
• Week Four
• Week Three
• Week Two
• Week One
• Announcement