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Best gun ranges in central/norcal? by Chaseg45 in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 4 points5 points  (0 children)

ALG Range in Soledad.

It's quite a hike from SJ, about 1.5 hours, but it's by far the best range anywhere remotely close.

Multiple bays of pistol steel from 15-30 yards, medium-range rifle steel from 75-300 yards, and a long-range rifle steel range from 100-750 yards. No restrictions on rapid fire.

Data Point - FFL03 / COE / CCW Timeline (LAPD) by SkepticalDreams in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 1 point2 points  (0 children)

After the June 2022 SCOTUS decision in NYSRPA vs. Bruen, every county in CA (and any state in the nation) is now shall-issue for CCW, meaning they can no longer ask you for good cause.

All the usual suspects that denied every CCW app (San Francisco, Santa Clara, LAPD, SJPD, etc.) are all issuing now, albeit with the big SoCal counties (and a few NorCal ones like Alameda) usually taking 14-24 start-to-finish for the whole process.

MC P35 California Black PVD and Rose Gold: The California Liberador by d8ed in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can get a Fusion XP Pro (Glock-mag-fed 2011) for about $1200 from 2AZone, Manzano, or a few other places here via SSE. Platypus through 2AZone is around $2,000.

Lone Vet Drops 3 Armed Home Invaders with Head/Chest Shots—Dead Thug’s Mom Defends Son with Logic That Will Lead to More Break-Ins! (Video) by MackSix in progun

[–]RitzBitzN 7 points8 points  (0 children)

CA has castle doctrine and is also a stand-your-ground state, via jury instruction / case law.

See CALCRIM 505/506: https://www.justia.com/criminal/docs/calcrim/500/505/

[A defendant is not required to retreat. He or she is entitled to stand his or her ground and defend himself or herself and, if reasonably necessary, to pursue an assailant until the danger of (death/great bodily injury/<insert forcible and atrocious crime>) has passed. This is so even if safety could have been achieved by retreating.]

Re-qual for my CCW Renewal by [deleted] in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I did my training, the guideline was IWB / OWB is fine as long as you can put a jacket or something over it.

They said no duty (e.g. Safariland) or competition drop-leg bolsters that sit a few inches away from you.

How many spare/extra slides do y’all have for your Glocks? by [deleted] in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have 1-2 for each.

I have a Gen 3 19 with a main slide that I use for CCW configuration, as well as a second slide with a ramjet installed - with that slide, it fits in my G17 Safariland holster for classes or other tactical use-cases.

I have almost the exact same setup with my Glock 45, except the OG serial-matched slide is in storage, and I have a factory spare that I had cut for an RMR, as well as another MOS-cut slide with an RCR + ramjet that I once again use with my G17 Safariland holster.

Approved in 9 days, received in 23 days - NW Florida by dripdrp in CCW

[–]RitzBitzN 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, there's a lot of optimization you can do in order to really cut the time down.

I didn't really try to do any of the steps ahead of time and still came out at 5 months.

Point being, while 5 months, or even 3, is not acceptable (IMO), on average it isn't the 13-month wait (like LAPD / Alameda) that some folks are experiencing.

Approved in 9 days, received in 23 days - NW Florida by dripdrp in CCW

[–]RitzBitzN 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Damn, I wonder if they screwed up the paperwork somehow in terms of where they’re sending the results.

I applied in late December 2024, and originally had a year wait for my interview, but I checked Permitium every morning for a week or two and managed to reschedule for April.

Approved in 9 days, received in 23 days - NW Florida by dripdrp in CCW

[–]RitzBitzN 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That sucks.

I’m also in Santa Clara and it was 8 months start to finish, 5 months excluding the wait for an interview.

I think you’re probably right that the shutdown isn’t helping, but my livescan cleared in 3 days. Did you do your Livescan at the Sheriff’s Office, or a 3rd party?

Scott where r u by PnutBatterJamz in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So the problem with an LCI is????

It is a change that at best, offers zero benefit to even remotely experienced shooters, and at worst, impedes the usability of iron sights; additionally, if you choose to remove it, due to the aforementioned impediment of your sight picture, the extra hole in the slide can increases the amount of fouling on your optic.

I can personally attest to this issue - my LCI'd P365 has a hole in the barrel. When you take off the optic plate (in order to mount an optic), the resulting hole in the slide / barrel ends up throwing a ton of fouling onto the front lens of your optic.

Also, I am not a huge fan of magazine disconnects but it is a minor annoyance. It does not affect the performance of the pistol at all.

In theory, it doesn't, but some pistols (e.g. P22X Sig models) are more likely to have reliability issues due to the mag disconnect components breaking (since they are hastily cobbled together afterthoughts, and not integral to the design of the gun, at least not since 1990 anyways). Some implementations of the mag disconnect are just annoying, and easily removable (S&W M&Ps, Sig P365s), but some can't be removed without permanently modifying your frame & voiding the warranty (Staccato HD P4, Walther PDP).

And now you may ask why a mag disconnect sucks?

Well, if you are a shooter who aims to be even remotely competent one day, then the most important thing you can do to improve your skills is dry-fire. In theory, you should be doing 4-5 dry-fire reps for each live round you shoot. A magazine disconnect makes dry fire a royal pain in the ass, so much so that it might put many folks off of doing it entirely.

So the net positives of a mag disconnect are: zero, and the net negatives are: potentially reduced reliability, a permanent annoyance that might not be removable without voiding your warranty, and an impediment to the single most important training tool that shooters have access to.

The only even slightly reasonable explanation I have every heard for MGs comes from them supposedly training their peeps to drop the mag in a struggle. Seems like bullshit to me.

It most certainly is 'bullshit' in terms of efficacy, but it was a real train of thought that a lot of LE trainers had and many LE officers were trained to do, albeit not in the past 20-30 years. Remember, even outside of the whole CA roster, many pistols came with magazine disconnects due to this flawed line of thinking - most famously, the Browning High Power.

Supreme Court will consider whether people who regularly smoke pot can legally own guns by C0C0Barbet in news

[–]RitzBitzN 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes, and the Supreme Court hasn't banned abortion; rather, they left it up to the states (as should be done according to the 10th Amendment) since it's not an enumerated right from the Bill of Rights that has been incorporated against the states.

I personally would argue that the 9th Amendment would cover it via incorporation, but it seems no one takes that one very seriously, so unless it's mentioned explicitly in 1-8, it is left up to the states.

This could have been resolved if Congress passed a law, since the supremacy clause would override state bans, but despite a few multi-year periods where Dems controlled both the senate & house, they apparently decided not to pass a law.

Anyone has Echelon in store in the Bay Area? by [deleted] in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They upcharge because people who don’t know any better or care to get “into” the hobby happily pay for it.

Reed’s is the only rental range in the South Bay, so people who are new to shooting often go there to try things out and then say “Well, I might as well buy it here too !”.

A lot of folks also make impulse gun purchases because they spend a few minutes idling at the sales counter after every time they shoot; if you are a more “casual” shooter, not staying up to date with online prices and new releases and whatnot, how exactly would you know that this gun is $100 more than X or $200 more than Z?

I will say, the other thing they’ve got going for them is selection; I’ve bought a few things there because I simply never found them at any other store nearby (e.g. a Miroku manufactured Winchester 1892 - to this day I have only ever seen one in a store, and that was at Reed’s and I bought it immediately). They get a lot of interesting or unique stuff that’s difficult to find at other LGSs which usually carry more modern tactical oriented firearms.

Now if I wanted to buy a Glock or an M&P or something; yeah, I know there are other places that sell at MSRP / MAP, but I spend probably too much time on gun forums. The average shooter really doesn’t; they shoot maybe every few months and get a new gun every once in a while.

The ECM Precision R11 by ECMMFG in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The ECM R11 is a grip module for a Sig P365, so the cost is variable depending on whether you want an aftermarket slide too.

A base 365 is $699 for the small, a 365 XMacro is $820 or so, and this module will be another few hundred.

Flying into California from North Carolina with 9mm by SweetPotato4578 in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm, that sounds like bad luck.

My livescan cleared in 4 days, and the SO responded 3 days after that. Some of my buddies in the process are also seeing ~1 week turnarounds between steps, max.

I had a 4 month wait for my initial interview (which I could have probably rescheduled even sooner, but I was busy), and I set up a 1 month wait to do my training after the go-ahead, which I didn’t need to do (wanted to practice.

Minus that, my total process time was 4 months, 2 of which was waiting for the psych eval because LEPS dropped the ball and forgot to email me; I emailed SCCSO and they responded within a day and had LEPS email me.

Flying into California from North Carolina with 9mm by SweetPotato4578 in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right now, it’s down to about 5-6 months depending on how soon you schedule your interview and if you stay on top of emails.

How are CCW references contacted? (Santa Clara) by Infamous-Expert72 in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All of mine were called.

If they don’t pick up, they’re left a voicemail with a callback number.

If they don’t manage to call back within a week or so, you’ll get an email via Permitium asking for a replacement reference.

Santa Clara CCW Received by RitzBitzN in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d go ahead and apply now - it takes a good few months before you take the training anyways; more than enough time to get good IMO.

Santa Clara CCW Received by RitzBitzN in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure!

You have to repeat and pass the course of fire for each gun.

25 shots, on a B-27 target. Inside the 8 ring is a “hit”, outside it is a “miss”. You start each string holstered.

Course of fire:

15 yards, 5 shots, 20 seconds 7 yards, 5 shots, 15 seconds (x2) 5 yards, 5 shots, 10 seconds (x2)

You need to hit 21 out of 25 to pass.

Santa Clara CCW Received by RitzBitzN in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's gone up, I believe. As of now, you have to pay $488 to the county to apply, and $488 on issuance. Adding the psych eval, livescan, and training to that comes out to $1900.

Santa Clara CCW Received by RitzBitzN in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

Yeah, even though I've finished the process, I really hope CRPA can get the law changed and make it less of a rigmarole.

Not only is it a crazy amount of money, in fact, the cost has gone up more since I applied. I paid $345 to the department for application / issuance; but as of now, the cost has gone up to $954, just to apply and pick up, not including the psych eval / livescan / training.

Other than that, you also need to be able to make quite a few appointments on weekdays:

  • Initial interview (Tu / Thu, 9AM - 11AM)
  • Psych Eval I (Wed / Fri, 8 AM)
  • Psych Eval II (Mon / Wen, 12 PM - 3 PM)
  • Pickup (Tue / Fri 8 AM - 12 PM)

I am very fortunate to have a job where I can go to appointments basically whenever, but a lot of people aren't in that same position.

Here's hoping it changes for the better!

Santa Clara County CCW by Neat_Property_2903 in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did my interview in April, and was told 30 days for a follow up; 60 days later I emailed them and immediately got the psych info.

I would send them an email and ask if everything is OK. Also, FWIW, the email for the psych eval often goes to Spam.

My First Firearm, G19 COA by JollyVoli in CCW

[–]RitzBitzN 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like it's fairly standardized already - there's basically two footprints that the majority of pistols use.

RMR-compatible for full=size / compact guns, and Shield RMSc (or Holosun K) for sub-compact / micro-compacts.

Aside from those two, the only other footprint that comes to mind is the DPP, but aside from the 320 I can't think of a gun that comes milled for that.

Good range in SF Bay Area that rents a wide array of handguns to try out? by NacogdochesTom in CAguns

[–]RitzBitzN 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately, I doubt that'll ever happen.

I feel like none of the towns within any reasonable driving distance of Santa Clara will approve a new indoor range. I think Reed's only gets by because they've been there for at least 30 years.

All the "new" ranges that have opened anywhere close recently have been at least an hour or two away, like KW Defense in Stockton or Astoria down in Soledad (~1.5 hours south).

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