Citizen Carrier
New member
Due to favorable leave time I was able to compete in all of the pistol events at the Camp Perry National Matches. The highlight for me (because my shooting was lackluster...) was taking delivery of a national match M9 pistol built by Dr. Nick Abrashamian of Mountain Competition Pistols.
I placed the order about a month and a half ago along with a shooting buddy of mine. When I found out I would have the leave available to go to Perry, I immediately set about finding a suitable "service pistol" to use in the National Trophy and President's Matches.
We were going to go with standard M1911 "hardball" guns, buy my friend suggested we try to go more futuristic and he knew of Dr. Nick. As you can see, he was able to deliver an outstanding pistol on extremely short notice. I phoned Dr. Nick (as he is called) from Kuwait and he said he could bring it in on time.
I didn't know that since I am U.S. Army he would use a limited edition "U.S. Army" model Beretta as the platform. This was a pleasant suprise and a nice touch.
The heart of the pistol is the stainless steel match grade KKM barrel. These are tested in a barrel vise and must be able to put 10 shots into 1 inch or less at 50 yards according to his website. In the picture above you can see the tungsten sleeve (he previously used a stainless sleeve) added to the threaded barrel to increase weight and improve balance. It is held on with the strongest grade of Loctite. Also visible is the high profile LPA front sight blade. The rear sight is an LPA adjustable unit which necessitates the higher front sight.
The trigger is a wider target type with an overtravel screw. I've left the tape on the trigger guard from the CMP armorer's trailer. It certifies the trigger is at least 4 pounds heavy in single action. Dr. Nick told me the gun will lift a 4 pound weight, but not a 4.5 pound weight.
Dr. Nick's method of tightening slide to frame fit. This is very similar to the Krieger rails advertised in gun magazines. The other civilian pistolsmith making match M9s and the Army Marksmanship Unit utilize steel plates in some fashion to accomplish this. Nick's rails are easily replaced for a few bucks when the slide to frame fit eventually loosens. There is no vertical or horizontal play in the slide to frame fit.
This is a recoil reduction system from Springco. Nice touch.
Unfortunately, I didn't get the pistol in time to go to the function range at Perry and sight in the pistol before the President's and National Trophy matches. My shooting wasn't all that terrific anyway. I was pulling most of my shots off the black around the 7 o'clock position. I need to work on my trigger control. I'll try to get in a range session and post the results soon.
I placed the order about a month and a half ago along with a shooting buddy of mine. When I found out I would have the leave available to go to Perry, I immediately set about finding a suitable "service pistol" to use in the National Trophy and President's Matches.
We were going to go with standard M1911 "hardball" guns, buy my friend suggested we try to go more futuristic and he knew of Dr. Nick. As you can see, he was able to deliver an outstanding pistol on extremely short notice. I phoned Dr. Nick (as he is called) from Kuwait and he said he could bring it in on time.
I didn't know that since I am U.S. Army he would use a limited edition "U.S. Army" model Beretta as the platform. This was a pleasant suprise and a nice touch.
The heart of the pistol is the stainless steel match grade KKM barrel. These are tested in a barrel vise and must be able to put 10 shots into 1 inch or less at 50 yards according to his website. In the picture above you can see the tungsten sleeve (he previously used a stainless sleeve) added to the threaded barrel to increase weight and improve balance. It is held on with the strongest grade of Loctite. Also visible is the high profile LPA front sight blade. The rear sight is an LPA adjustable unit which necessitates the higher front sight.
The trigger is a wider target type with an overtravel screw. I've left the tape on the trigger guard from the CMP armorer's trailer. It certifies the trigger is at least 4 pounds heavy in single action. Dr. Nick told me the gun will lift a 4 pound weight, but not a 4.5 pound weight.
Dr. Nick's method of tightening slide to frame fit. This is very similar to the Krieger rails advertised in gun magazines. The other civilian pistolsmith making match M9s and the Army Marksmanship Unit utilize steel plates in some fashion to accomplish this. Nick's rails are easily replaced for a few bucks when the slide to frame fit eventually loosens. There is no vertical or horizontal play in the slide to frame fit.
This is a recoil reduction system from Springco. Nice touch.
Unfortunately, I didn't get the pistol in time to go to the function range at Perry and sight in the pistol before the President's and National Trophy matches. My shooting wasn't all that terrific anyway. I was pulling most of my shots off the black around the 7 o'clock position. I need to work on my trigger control. I'll try to get in a range session and post the results soon.