March Range Again

Yay, I got to the range again the other day, right after work. And I specifically went to work on known issues, as I discussed. AND I am happier with the results. Not ecstatic, but happier.

This time, I wanted to try out the full length guide rod, and did so on the 1st target. I was pretty casual, not concentrating, and you see my typical pattern because of it. The target on top right is Federal Premium jacketed hollow points. 230 grain, just like the FMJ ball ammo I use. EVERY magazine I've shot of the Federal has been low and spread across the bottom, not favoring left or right. Odd. I'll have to try other hollow point varieties.

The ones you see scattered along the middle bottom are from the 1903 Colt Pocket Hammerless. I was aiming for the very center. Too casual, clearly. I had a partial box of .380 I wanted to use up.

I've been happy with my stance, a hair over shoulder width apart, with the right foot forward and straight, the left point out a bit. On the second paper target I concentrated better. I have to CONCENTRATE, as patience is not one of my best virtues. I also tried to lock my left (shooting) arm a little better, so all the recoil force goes up to the shoulder. And I tried to grip the pistol a bit more firmly. Before now I've been holding with "decent handshake" grip. If I shook your hand it wouldn't hurt, but it would be firm. NOW I want to take that up to the "old Marine buddy handshake" grip. Not trying to hurt but definitely more firmness, as he is an old buddy and you know he shakes with gusto and you haven't seen him in a while. Do you get me? Going up to "trying to crush you brother's hand in a handshake" grip firmness is too much, as the pistol will shake with the effort. It's a .45, you CAN be firm.

I'm happy with my sight alignment, for the most part, and I always focus on the front sight. So that's good.

Most importantly, I tried to do a better job on the trigger Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze.

I still go a little low and right, so I can't let up on trying to improve and practice, but I am improving. Here is a pic from the second target, at my best.

See? Better. but if that size group was 2 inches left and 2 inches up I'd be 'done.' Practice from then on would be to retain that accuracy and bump up the speed and maybe the range. Oh, all this shooting is at the 25 foot line.

Chuckles and Corky are better shots than me. Chuckles' only flaw is his speed. He takes a LONG time to get a shot off, but at the end of the day the yellow area in the target above is about gone and there are no holes anywhere else.

Here is the 3rd target of the evening. Also not shabby, but there are some holes in there from Corky and Chuckles trying out my 1903 Colt and my 1911. Looks like they hit the top 2 and the bottom left circles. The light pen marks are around my own groups. The two fliers are mine, sorry to say. I wasn't aiming to the far left or the bottom, off the yellow. Other aim points are the center and top white-bar intersections (I only had these 3 targets. I must buy 4 next time and get a silhouette for just playing around.)

One odd thing. The last clip I fired with the .380 Colt I was getting a lot of failure-to-eject. Now it couldn't have been THAT dirty. It was less than one box. The only other reason I can think of is by this point I was using the firmer grip. Could I have been holding my little gun TOO hard and it needed more flip during recoil to properly eject the spent casings? It sounds crazy, and I am willing to entertain other theories. I couldn't test that as I was out of ammo. You think you are closing in one solution and new problems crop up. That 1903 is a fun little gun, but MAN you notice how small the sights are after using the big Springfield 3-Dot types.

Corky and GunGeek suggests a laser bore sight for dry firing at home. Good idea. I do some dry fire practice, but that may help a lot more. And use THAT to improve my trigger squeeze.

I'd love to get a boresight for the rifle too. Maybe one of those kits is in my future.

I shot Corky's XD. Not too shabby, considering I was back in 'casual' mode, and it was late in the session and we were getting antsy to be done. Man that's a mushy trigger. But it sure points nice.