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2005-03-21: Range Day

So, today was the first time I've ever fired my Hakim. I forgot the gas port adjustment tool at home, which left me unable to adjust the amount of gas it feeds back into the blowback system. Truthfully, even if I'd had the tool, I couldn't have adjusted it. When I took it apart with a screwdriver this evening, the port was actually tightly siezed up. The plastic adjustment tool would've broken if I'd twisted as hard as I did with the pliers to break it loose - but once that was done, the gas port pivots freely now.

The gas port adjustment dial has a little arrow on it. When the arrow points straight down the barrel, the port is totally closed and no gas can enter the gas system. When it's pointing back towards the shooter, the port is totally open and a LOT of gas (enough to blow smoke in your face) is being diverted through the recoil system. In the sealed configuration, the Hakim exhibits negligible recoil. And by negligible, I mean that it's about what you might expect from a slightly juiced up 22 long rifle round. It's also pretty accurate, and the sights are just plain gorgeous. I expect that there'll be more recoil now that I can open up the gas valve, but truthfully I'll be surprised if it has more kick than my SKS by the time it's been tuned.

The ammo was expensive, though. It was just barely cheaper than the cut-rate Speer 50cal ammo I buy for my Desert Eagle... although I'm looking around for some cheap 8mm ammo, preferably non-corrosive. Sadly enough, John's been getting ungodly deals - on the order of $40 for 700 rounds - on Turkish surplus corrosive ammo. I'm not quite sure I'll be able to bite the bullet and go corrosive, but I'll at least pick up the Olympic ammo, which is half the price of the PMC ammo Iron Sights was stocking.

Next up, my good friend and former-and-current co-worker Don has been moved to day shift. This means we can hang out more, plus he's lost his excuse to skip out on range night. I wondered why he looked kinda depressed tonight, then he showed me the groups he was getting. Turns out I'd never run him through basic handgun operations, and he was going off of memories from years ago. I switched him over to the CZ-97B for training, and ran over some grip and form pointers. Mostly I think he was having issues with hand placement and trigger pull. While I'm no expert, at least I pointed him in the right direction, and he's several times more likely to successfully engage and terminate a zombie, if need be, than before.

FirearmPerformance notesMaintenance notesActions taken
HakimWorked; no semi-auto, no recoil.Adjust gas port system.Adjusted.
Desert EaglePerfect.Clean.Pending.
Para P-14Perfect.Clean.Pending.
CZ-97BPerfectClean.Pending.
CZ-52PerfectClean.Pending.
PAR-1Not firedNone required.None required
Modded SKSNot fired.None required.Pending.
M590A1Normal performance.Clean.Pending.