One of my goals this year is to classify in all 13 divisions of Steel Challenge. I don't own a PCC but had struck a deal with a shooting buddy that I'd loan him my 929 so he could shoot Revolver and he'd loan me his Kel-Tec 9mm. I got antsy and decided that I wanted to buy my on PCC. Got the Ruger PC-9. Plain version, heavy plastic stock. Still kicks more than I would have thought.
I decided to do some upgrades. Got replacement parts from M-CARBO which seems like a good 3rd party provider.
mcarbo.com Decided on their improved trigger, extractor, extended bolt handle and the buffer plate. Passed on the muzzle brake as I think I have something in my parts drawer.
So, do I just dive into the PC-9 and figure it out on my own? Or do I consult the Ruger and MCARBO instructions?
WRONG ! I actually got out the Ruger instructions and watched the MACARBO videos. Here lies my only rub with MCARBO. They evidently didn't have the budget to make separate promotional videos and installation videos. The bolt handle is held on with on 5/16" hex head bolt. Other than to make sure the gun is unloaded, just unscrew the old one and screw in the new one. The video should have taken no more than one minute with intro and outro and safety warnings. THEIR VIDEO WAS 7:52 minutes long. They went through all the features and did a side by side comparison of the original parts vs their parts. One of the primary rules in sales is to stop selling when you've made the sale. ENOUGH RANTING. Good products otherwise.
The PC-9 uses lots of plastic parts internally. No screws or bolts inside where everything is pinned together, which is one reason MCARBO sells replacement (tighter) pins. As you remove things other parts can easily fall out. Even knowing this, after I was done and put it in the safe I turned around and there was a pin on the floor. You do need to watch a video on disassembly so you don't loose anything.
As I said it does kick a bit more than I thought. The trigger is okay for what it is but the rifle functions well and it's quite handy. For Steel Challenge I don't have a problem with the provided peep sight and am probably going to shoot it that way for both PCCIronsights and PCCOpen. I'm just not a red-dot person.
Since this may be just shot in competition two times and then sold, I'm not willing to put much more into it. Yeah the tactical stocks are cool. I'm thinking about carving out my own skeletal fore end. Practice with it the next two Tuesdays then match on 8/14. Doing Open first as practice for the next month in the PCCI division.