Tuesday, February 2, 2010

January Range Report

Well, after waiting for my new pistol, and then waiting for the range to fix its ventilator, I FINALLLY got a chance to try it out Friday the 30th.

As an aside, I don't think I am cut out for target shooting. It is so easy for me to just relax my concentration. I still get hits, but they fall off quite a bit in accuracy. The first couple in a string are often the best. Then I start jerking the trigger or letting my stance slack or rush the shot... just to be done. It's fun, my way, but flawed. You'd think I'd be better by now. I'm not such a NEW New Jovian Thunderbolt. I am pleased about my trigger control improving, though.

I was lucky enough to drag another co-worker/colleague and his girl friend to the range. We'll call this friend, and we DO really call him this, The BEARD.

The BEARD is recently out of the military. He's been out long enough to grow a majestic, tremendous, intimidating, and, some say, SENTIENT beard. With his life settling down to the higher pay and less authoritarian hassle of civilian life, AND with me talking a good game, he thought it time to get a firearm or two. His first purchase, picked up on the 27th, was a .22 Ruger Mk III Target. Just a plain Jane Mk III with adjustable sights and a bull barrel. An excellent choice, I thought.

He's never fired anything but the M-16 with the military before this. So he knows what to do, and can shoot safely, but he has the whole world of range fun ahead of him.

His Girlfriend, the Companion Of BEARD, has something a little bigger. Her pistol is a blued .357 S&W Model 327. Early 90s manufacture. So NO trigger lock. It's a very nice looking gun, too.

I shot .22, mostly. Though I did put some mags through the SIG P229. I need more practice with it, anyway. Except where my concentration fell off, I was pleased with the .40's performance. But I am not going to win any accuracy prizes with that.

Nor am I going to win any with .22, but I will come MUCH closer. The S&W 617 shoots well, and it shoots like my 686 does, so, except for the recoil difference, I feel the .22 will translate to a great practice gun for the .357. So I am pleased with that. Very.

I also shot the 1911 with its .22 conversion kit. I'm starting to get the groove of trigger control down with a 1911. Hope to have some more "All .22" range days, now. I can also have the "All 6" stainless steel revolver" range day, too. When I go to the pistol range, I prefer to only go with 2 firearms. On weekdays, at least. If it's an introductory to a newbie range effort, more guns get brought. Or a weekend trip. But those sessions last longer.

One purpose of the this trip was to try out a speed strip with the .22 revolver. Meh. Useless to me. Maybe with my practice.

Another thing to investigate was some 50 year old ammo of my father's. They .22s had developed a ring of corrosion, probably due to mismatched metals, where the lead round met the brass case. And they were impossible to seat into the revolver cylinder because of this. So I poop-canned them.

Anyway, the BEARD and his Companion both tried the .22s I brought a long. They had more jams with the 1911 than I experienced. And the BEARD tried the .40 as well. I didn't spend too much time watching their lane, but they shot the bejeez out of that new .22 and ran a box of .38 through her revolver. They shot as well or better than me, which is typical.

I can tell that someone that is a better shot could be spot on accurate with this 617 revolver. No yard squirrel would be safe. You wouldn't need to break out the rifle.

How to overcome my lack of self-discipline while shooting? Practice, naturally, but it should be GOOD practice, not the kind that reinforces my impatience. Maybe set up reactive targets. Spent shotgun shells on a fence rail make good .22 targets.

I did notice I'm shooting high, 1 O'Clock while going DA with the revolver, and to the right at 3 O'Clock when shooting SA. Though I accidentally left the target with good SA shots behind at the range. Top left is DA with revolver, there are some .40 on the splatter targets, top right is conversion kit, bottom left is SA revolver, and bottom right is BEARD's work. He's left handed too.


High on DA means... I dunno. I'm not jumping the gun or anything. It's .22. Shooting to the side on DA means I need better trigger finger placement and polish that trigger pull a bit more. Straight and back and smooth and surprisey.

The BEARD would love to figure out a way to have less take up and trigger travel on his Mk III. How much more can you want with a SA trigger?!!!

4 comments:

Paladin said...

I think I vaguely remember what a "shooting range" is....

If I can't get a decent weather day to coincide with one of my days off from work soon, I'm going to have to break down and go to the (expensive) indoor range.

Anonymous said...

I'm flattered...

Can't wait to practice some more.

Kirk said...

Does this mean that OnTarget is back up and Running.

I need to get the Deagle out there and make a lot of giggling noises...

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

They have to have the guys back to do the floor, and they are planning better light. Call ahead to see if that day is lucky and the range is kaputclosen. No more bench at the back of the lane behind you. They moves the vent to the ceiling.

With good light only better target trolleys will make that place ideal for me.