Tonight I took the Obsidian 9 to the range for the first time since I picked it up from the store. I knew if I didn’t go tonight, I wouldn’t have a chance until Sunday and after waiting weeks for the ATF approval, I just couldn’t wait anymore. My son wasn’t too happy with me when he got home from work, but I’m sure he understands. 🙂
I have to say that it performed admirably well. I did use high-temp Teflon tape on the threads to help prevent walk-off, but I also made sure to check it between magazines. I never felt it move during any of the tests which was a good sign.
I shot 80 rounds of 115-grain CCI Blazer FMJ. I had some 124-grain with me but the challenge to going after work is having enough time to do everything. I set small goals and plan additional trips as needed.
This is the very first target. I opted for 7 yards to get started. You can see that the grouping (aside from a single flyer) is very tight.
On the second magazine, I tended to be shooting to the right. This might be attributable to the additional weight of the suppressor. Regardless, the grouping is still tight (for the most part) and I’m ok with the results.
After letting the can cool down (it’s crazy how hot it gets and I was glad to have shooting gloves) I dropped down to the shorty version using just the main body. The noise level rose a bit but it was still acceptable. I’d hoped to put a decibel meter to use but I wasn’t the only shooter and there was too much other noise to make it worthwhile. The shortened version is definitely easier to keep on target and you can see I was back to the center of the target. It’s a little interesting that the patten is the opposite of the last example: grouped to the center with two outliers to the right rather than grouped to the left with two outliers to the right.
I also brought my Glock 19 to see how it would do. Mind you, I don’t have suppressor-height sights. And without my contacts, I really struggled to even see the night sights. So this was really blind point shooting. While far from what I experienced with the Romulus, I’m confident the attacker would be wishing he’d chosen another victim. I definitely need to tighten it up on the Glock but good enough for government work as the saying goes. I’m already shopping for new sights.
Since it was nearing closing time for the range, I decided I’d better let the can cool off for storage so I went back to unsuppressed. Wow! The noise level really shot up. It was almost deafening compared to either of the suppressed versions. The can makes a huge difference! As you can see, though, the patterns between unsuppressed and suppressed are very similar.
Overall, I’m very pleased with the purchase so far. I know I’ll be heading back with my son this weekend and I’m looking forward to seeing the expression on his face. I’m also realizing I can’t love this gun more. I’m very happy with it.
I did have one issue. Screws seem to be the bane of my existence, lately. At one point early on I realized I’d lost the red dot. I couldn’t find it no matter how much I searched. That’s when I realized I’d lost the screw holding the battery compartment closed and the drawer had slid halfway out. There was no way I was going to find it so I taped it up as best I could and continued. Fortunately, I had spares at the house and replaced it, ensuring I used Loctite this time.
During cleaning (and a little during the session) I realized that the front glass of the optic was covered in carbon. It doesn’t come off easily, either. It took some scrubbing with the fine cloth Osight provided to get it clean and I still need to get the edges cleaned up better. Just something I need to be aware of and make sure I’m keeping clean during the session.
