New 1968 P64 range report

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darthnul
Posts: 5
Joined: February 3rd, 2017, 1:49 am

New 1968 P64 range report

Post by darthnul »

Put a little over 50 rounds downrange with the P64 today. With the targets at 25' the first round hit the bull, second round
same hole, third round same hole, 4th and 5th rounds made another hole about 1/2' below the first. I could do head shots
all day long on a 1/4 size silhouette. I was using Berry's plated Makarov bullets over 5.5 grains of Accurate #5.

The rounded shoulders on the rear sight worked better than I expected. It seemed to help me pick up the sights quicker when
shooting with both eyes open. I did not find the recoil objectionable at all but I've done extensive shooting with other
small 9x18 pistols. I was wearing a Creedmoor trigger glove but I don't think it made much difference. It's not padded at
all, just some stretchy polyester with a printed on rubber pattern for better grip. It was 30 degrees at the range so
gloves came in handy. They definitely made it difficult to work the mag release though.

I put my trigger gauge on the gun last night: single action was consistently 4.25 pounds which is right where I like it but
quite light for a military pistol. Trigger reset was longer than most of my newer pistols but that didn't prevent me from
"doubling" three times at the range today. The first time was a surprise. The other ones were during rapid fire drills and
still hit within an inch or two of POA.

I'm somewhat concerned that putting in a lighter mainspring to tame the DA trigger pull will make the SA pull too light.
The stock DA pull on this gun is ridiculous. I'd estimate it at at least 30 pounds, and if you hesitate half way through

the pull you might as well give up because getting it started again takes two fingers If you can do it at all.

The feed lips on the mags are too long to get the round you're inserting "brass on brass". Placing the head of a round on
top of the round in the mag puts it on the bullet ahead of the case mouth and you you have to pushing it past the edge of
the case mouth below is hard, but I figured out how to hold the new round at a downward angle and "roll" it into the mag.
That worked pretty well.

The gun is great at making the center of the target disappear but it's also very good at making brass disappear. There

didn't seem to be any pattern to how it threw the brass. At one point it seemed to be alternating between bouncing it off
the ceiling and throwing it somewhere to the right. Not a problem for folks who use store bought ammo but for reloaders
it's a pain. Might be my imagination, but this seems to be an issue for every semi-auto that uses "impossible to scrounge"
brass (my 10mm has the same problem). A stiffer recoil spring should help a little. Even though I had the range to myself
today and could search for brass without bugging anyone else, I still lost about 1/4 of my brass. I need to order some more.
I've got a ton of 9x19 I could cut down but (speaking from experience) that is no fun at all. I'd rather be shooting.
snailman153624
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Posts: 291
Joined: May 16th, 2012, 10:14 pm

Re: New 1968 P64 range report

Post by snailman153624 »

One nice things about polymer frames (and wraparound poly grips) is how much easier it makes it to handle in the bitter cold...
BeoBill
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Posts: 85
Joined: March 16th, 2016, 9:42 pm
Location: Maryland

Re: New 1968 P64 range report

Post by BeoBill »

I hear you, darthnul. Now that I've started reloading I'm amazed at where my spent brass winds up. Forward, left, right, and over the shoulder. I still love my P64 regardless of that.

Be careful tuning the main spring - it does affect the SA trigger pull. Check other threads for others' experiences.
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