New Acquisition and Range Report

Almost as cheap as a tank of gas...

Taurus Model 62 pump action .22 rifle.

Squirrels beware!

I've had a hankering for a .22 that was a little more appropriate for a left hander and was a heckuva lot of fun. As with the 1894c, Kim Du Toit raving about this gun influenced my choice. He got Mr. Free Market Fairy Tales coveting one at Auld Sod.

This rifle is the first new gun, apart from the 1911, I've ever bought. Most of the others I own are more than 50 years old.

And it's the same rifle (or maybe she had the Winchester that this Taurus model is a clone of, but THAT rifle costs $900+ these days) Ellen Barkin used to shoot a score of 94 in This Boys Life at a turkey shoot. Kicked Robert DeNiro's butt. He shot a 24 with some bolt action tube fed job with peep sights. Later he said "the gun just won't shoot right. It's the third one I bought and none of them have shot right." Yup, 'Dwight,' it's the rifle's fault. I have THAT problem all the time, myself. It can't be my fault, as I am perfect. If I had a good rifle I'd shoot 10 rounds thought a single dime sized hole 3000 yards away. With my eyes closed. And drunk. In a 40 mph cross wind. Mmmm hmmm.

That Winchester version WAS available at my gun shop for a little while sitting right next to this gun. Side by side the elegant, lithe Winchester made THIS gun look clunky. That one was way to dear for a non-collector like me at four times the sticker price of the Taurus. Still, the Taurus I got isn't too shabby looking with real purty walnut.

You load the tube with a dozen or so cheap .22LR rounds, pump, aim, shoot. It's light and simple and I couldn't wait to test it out.

So, luckily, a Range Trip was in the offing to try it out. It's an indoor range, pistol style, but they will let you shoot rifles that use pistol calibers. You have to shoot standing, or off-hand, but that was fine. This trip was a function test, only.

My rifle target was the lower right. 75 feet. The lower left are some holes Corky and Chuckles shot to try out the gun. Yup they shot better. I was just pleased at the function and enjoying that. The ones way off, the fliers, I at least knew they were going to be when the trigger broke. I'll take it bench shooting soon and see how small I can make a group. I'll have to remind myself if I ever DO need to shoot a rabbit to keep from starving that I better steady better, preferable against something.

The OTHER, top two, targets are all shots taken with my 1911 with the .22 conversion kit. Breda gave me a tip that she got from her instructor and I wanted try something. I shoot low and right with the .45 and my left shooting arm is straight across my body and straight. The supporting left arm is bent a bit at the elbow. My thought was maybe that arm is pulling my shot down and right. Breda's tip was to squeeze the support hand a little tighter.

I tried shooting my regular way to see if it fell where I expected, low and right. Well... Some. But the .22 through it just shoot different than the .45. Look at the top left target above. Not gravitating to the lower right at all. Typical. Whenever you make assumptions ahead of time, you make an ass out of "u" and uh... "mptions". Or something. It did shoot low, and that's ok, just not consistently right.

Anyway, my correction didn't help too much. Some maybe. Enough to try it next time with .45. The result was: instead of pulling back, the palms pushed towards each other.

Breda's tip worked better, if for no other reason than that it helped my trigger squeeze be smoother. I think I have a tendency of 'lobster pinching' with the left hand, in that that my thumb moves as well as my trigger finger, trying to pinch together. Even a slightly firmer grip with the support hand noticeably helps this flaw. And I am not going to argue with a better trigger squeeze. If your trigger squeeze is perfect then you are well on your way, I think. And certainly I am. More practice, naturally, will help. And all this practice is fun, even if the progress and improvement is slow.

Bottom right is where I really concentrated. 25 feet. Thanks Breda, that tip may be the shizzle, if you readers will permit me to slip into the vernacular.

Note: THAT one, the careful one bottom right has more noticeable standard low and right flaw, but the squeeze was better so the shots fell tighter. Baby steps.

The top left is with the palm to palm push, top right and bottom left is settling in with a combination of both tips, but mostly Breda's, and the shooting was fast and casual.