I'm gonna go through why this year I chose to carry the Walther PPQ 45.
Wyoming, our great state, is an open carry state.
So i can put this on my belt, carry anywhere.
The reason that it is a good pistol for from the trailhead,
all the way up for bear defense,
but also all the way back home as a carry conceal option.
Because you're not going to necessarily always want to have multiple pistols with you.
One for carry conceal and then one for that trail gun
that you would be comfortable in defending yourself in all situations,
not just a bear situation, but all situations.
Two-legged threats, they do exist.
You never know who you're gonna meet out there.
Putting two targets up so I have plenty of opportunity,
because, lets just be honest, shooting a pistol is fun.
I have some ammunition to burn and try it out.
Let's do this.
I grew up with a father who was law enforcement, so we spent a lot of time shooting pistols;
shooting a variety of weapons that were a lot of fun.
AR-15 is a familiar gun to me.
I've also had the privilege of shooting an M14, which a lot of people don't get to do.
And so that is a very cool experience that taught me things that are invaluable when it comes to self-defense.
So let's take a little time and we're gonna start off with the Hornady Critical Duty.
Another reason that I chose this pistol in particular, in the 45 Auto (.45 ACP), you can see that I have plenty of ammunition.
So one of the things that many people don't like to talk about, everyone likes to act tough.
But most of us are never in stressful enough situations to understand
what it's like to shoot under stress, under duress.
That's why it is incredibly important to practice with any pistol that you plan on using for concealed carry,
because an emergency situation requires preparedness.
if you're shooting a pistol for the first time, the first time that you're in a self-defense situation,
I can almost promise you that you will not hit your target.
So you always want to be prepared in the sense that you need to practice.
Practice with the ammunition that you're intending to use in a concealed carry situation.
You want to practice in a situation where you're going to move a little bit.
I would HIGHLY advise anyone who is planning to do carry concealed,
who wants to have a gun with them on their way to a hunt,
even on the hunt, that maybe spend some time with an NRA Certified Instructor.
beyond just your your certification for a concealed carry permit.
And make sure you check your state regulations for concealed carry.
But spending some time, learn your weapon.
I'm gonna shoot at the bottom target and we're gonna spend a little time practicing.
I'll probably put the whole magazine through.
I'm not gonna do rapid-fire.
I'm going to make sure that I am learning this pistol.
I've spent time with this pistol.
I've shot it quite a bit before, but I want to go through the importance of knowing it
and then making sure that I understand so I could use it in a self-defense situation.
So first thing that I noticed about this pistol is that it's very easy to do with the slide.
So you can see that it's very easy to grip.
So you saw that I pulled it out.
I was able to pull that back, then the next piece is drop the magazine out really easily.
Clear the chamber, grab the shell.
Make sure you don't lose that.
So anytime you're talking, you want to make sure that you don't have one in the chamber.
So just a basic gun safety piece.
You will see that the safety is incorporated into the trigger so it's very easy pull.
Time to fire a couple more rounds.
I can see that I was kind of all over the place.
I was a little bit nervous as I was shooting again for the first time.
So we're gonna do it again and I'm gonna work on getting it in the center mass on the target.
Always working to improve, but I'm very happy with the recoil on this ammunition.
I'm very happy with how this gun responds.
You practice. You always want to start from holster because that's where you're going to start from the field.
I prefer to have to put one into the chamber.
I don't like walking around with one in the chamber.
I know a lot of people actually do. That's not my preference for the simple reason of safety.
Sitting on a horse, you never know what could bump.
Even sitting in the vehicle; you hit a really big bump and this thing sitting next to your center console.
I actually had this next to my center console quite a bit this year while I was out hunting,
and I don't want something to go off.
I just I'm just not doing that, that's not the way that I'm gonna do gun safety.
So always always practice the way that you'd have the situation happen.
So next three rounds, going downrange.
Next piece of this equation, I am going to shoot a few rounds of my Hornady Critical Defense.
Reason that I would use this, this would be much more of a concealed carry or an open carry type situation
because this doesn't have quite the hit that this Hornady Critical Duty has.
So where I'm not concerned about large critters that might be coming into camp.
This would be what I would use carrying around.
So a lot of times what I'll do is, I'll have two magazines.
One with one in each, so that's real easy to swap out and change.
so spend some time with this ammunition.
Next up, few more rounds downrange.
So one of the reasons that you want to spend time with any firearm that you use,
and in particular today I'm using the Walther PPQ 45,
one of the reasons you want to spend time with it and the ammunition that you intend to use in the field,
is because I just found out that this Hornady Critical Defense is what this pistol likes and what I like.
This gun fits my hand well.
It fits well in the palm.
Wraps around really easily.
It's also very easy to drop the magazine out.
Very easy for the slide to pull back.
I can see the chamber indicator, where I can tell whether there's one in the chamber or not.
See red, you're dead!
You know that there's one in the chamber.
The trigger is a very easy natural pull.
Which means that the ergonomics on this are good.
You have a handle that you can adjust, pull it out, make it a little bit bigger.
if you need some more space in here inside to make it fit your hand better.
that's critical being able to adjust for your hand for your feel.
I am also very happy with the sights.
You can see very easily down the sight line.
Safety trigger.
All great features that work really well in shooting this Hornady Critical Defense.
I have now practiced with ammunition that I know, I shoot better and the gun likes.
So that's a something to note where I need to spend more time with the Hornady Critical Duty.
If I want to get the same accuracy that I get it with a hornady critical defense.
so I'll make sure I leave specs for both the gun and the ammunition here,
so you guys can see what I was shooting today.
That's gonna wrap up my session for today with the Walther PPQ 45.
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