Grips that show how much ammo you have left

If ever made for the Boberg this might be a answer to all the people wanting to know when their gun is dry (wanting the slide to lock back). These grips tell you how much ammo you have left.

http://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/2011/12/30/radetec-speed-shot/#m...

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Permalink Reply by PTrinh on December 30, 2011 at 11:17pm

Neat little gadget for sure, but the display's worth is questionable on a CCW weapon such as the XR9S. In a self-defense situation, you're never going to take a quick glance at the display. It doesn't even serve as an empty/loaded chamber indicator either (just informs you of how many rounds are left in the magazine), which was the main problem of the XR9S since it doesn't lock back. The point of a "lock-back" was for faster reloads (on conventional systems) and it serves as an obvious weapon is "dry" indicator. The XR9S only has 7+1 capacity anyways, so keeping track isn't very practical. Fire a couple, then you're going to dump the mag no matter what.

This system was developed for those that partake in competitive shooting anyways, with weapon systems that have large caps, are extremely bulky, and where speed counts under controlled situations.

A better solution would be to develop the following:

1. a conventional lock-back system

2. with a "bullpup" format

3. that doesn't suffer from bullet/case separation!

Are you still working on that Arne? ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Arne Boberg on December 31, 2011 at 11:02am

Due to the texturing in our grip mold, a clear plastic material would not be that transparent. Plus, in a self-defense situation, I doubt that people will take a look at their grip to see if the gun is empty - i agree with PTrinh that knowing that the chamber is empty is most important. I have done some work on a flag that pops up in front of the rear sight. I want it to flip up in such a way that is is somewhat pre-loaded and pops up (for positive action and motion amplification) - doing a snap-action design like this is quite time consuming and that is why I haven't gotten to it yet.

As far as the current XR9 design:

Conventional lock-back with the XR9 has been discussed extensively on this forum.

As far as cartridge separation - I do have one way of minimizing it - and that is to open up the chamber throat a bit (which loses some velocity of the bullet). The larger throat gives the bullet a slower acceleration profile, which reduces the initial slide acceleration. When you think about this, the worst combination for a pull-back mechanism is a cartridge with no crimp, a bullet with over-spec diameter (hangs up in the throat), and extremely fast burning powder. All aluminum-cased ammo I have found have no crimp. Some batches of ammo have bullets that are .3560-.3565" diameter (SAAMI limit: .3555"). Generally, most bullets are .354-.355 diameter. And as far as hot powder - well, that is expected with +P ammo;however, +P is generally self-defense ammo made to a higher standard, with very good crimps and consistent in-spec bullet diameters. As I have said before, always test your carry ammo at the range.

As far as any future designs that meet the three criteria PTrinh has requested:

I am open to any an all ideas as to how this can be accomplished. Just because no one else has done it doesn't mean it can't be done.

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Permalink Reply by Mary P. Sayman on January 17, 2012 at 11:30am

Does it compensate for mis- or hang-fire? If you have to 'tap,rack, bang' does it compensate? I'd be afraid that people who don't train enough would become easily distracted or reliant on the counter and not pay attention to business.