DAK

Ugh.

A buddy had a P229 that I shot a magazine through.  I was way better with it than with the 1911 of mine.  So I got one.

With a Double Action Kellerman trigger.  In .40. 

This was years and years ago.  I have come to regret it.

I mean it's no worse than a Smith & Wesson snubbie DA trigger.  By my lights.  But why would I want that? 

I mean, it works fine, after a fashion.  I just wish I had gotten something else back then.

Live and learn.  And I have learned a lot since getting it.

Why did I shoot it so well as a n00b for the first string?  Probably because I didn't know it and didn't know where the break was, so it surprised me.  Always a good thing.  But that effect doesn't last and you are gonna have to develop a better trigger pull anyway, T-Bolt.

Range Report January 2011

So, It's been a while since I went to the range to shoot pistols.  Over a month.  Needed to shake the rust off of this perichable skill and I brought my 2 'carry' pistols.  The Sig229 and the Snubbie

Here is the first target, 8 yards, not horrible, not great.  The .38 +P on the right.  Note only 9 holes (one is almost obscured by the pistol near the bottom.)  Where is the 10th hole?  In the backstop somewhere:

Note also the Sig has black plastic grips.  I bought those to see how they worked.  I need to evaluate more.  They aren't spongey nor too rough but that day at the range they gun didn't find that sweet spot in my grip to line up the barrel with my forearm and elbow.  Something for me to track, see if it goes away.

Then I just blasted away to get a bigger pattern.  The shots fall to the right and down.  Signs of a flinch and a need to re-evaluate the trigger finger position on the trigger face, according to that shooter flaw diagnosis wheel.  But look at that range up and down?   What is that?  Can't tell if it's .40 or .38, but...

In this third target I split left .40, right .38 again and you can see it's the .38 that can vary in 'elevation.'  I only put pasters on to aim at for a reason.  I wanted to see how I shot without immediate gratification of where they hit.  About normal for me on the .40, but look at those 6 shots by the .38 circled in orange.  Whoa!  I need to keep that up and get more like that.  

 So, how to fix the finger placement?  I'm guess more dry fire with an eye toward strength training.  I thing I am putting too much finger on there and need to back out, but that makes squeezing harder.  A stronger finger should help.  I hope. 

Also, the low center shot are from the last mag being aimed at the bull, they aren't ranging that far from the left side aimpoint.  I'm bad but not THAT bad.

Sig Product

When I saw this entry I thought it read that Sig was coming out with an 8 shot .50 BMG pistol.

I knew there was a magazine fed Desert Eagle pistol in .50 BMG, but I had no idea Sig was jumping on that band wagon.

I was shocked to learn there was a SINGLE shot .50 BMG pistol.  I knew about the .600 Nitro revolver.

Sig Upgrade

Maybe I should take Sig up on the E2 grip upgrade Caleb details here: (603) 772-2302

But the ship back to the factory nature of the upgrade probably means they aren't that easily swappable if I want to change back my ownself. E2 grips are a 'permanent' maybe.

June Sig Work

So I just took the SIG P229 SAS DAK to the range. (The K part stands for Kellerman. As in Double Action Kellerman. I did not know that.) I am almost through the ammo can of Georgia Arms ammo.

Here is my standard cold shoot target with just one magazine at 7-8 yards:

Could be better, but not half bad. At least all 12 are on the paper and in the vicinity of the center.

I wanted to try some other things. Like this one:

The target on the left is one shot at a time. The target on the right is double taps. You can see the spread opening up, noticeably.

And here is something I rarely do:

That's 50+ feet. And there are 12 holes. If it was a full sized silhouette they'd all be one the silhouette. What made me do that? I was remembering the Mumbai shooting, where a photographer snapped a picture of 2 terrists with AKs with NO magazines in the rifle. If the photographer was shooting bullets instead of pictures, and was at my relatively low skill level, he could have ended that part of the massacre right there. It wouldn't have saved the day, but it would have saved someone's day.

More Range

Ok, that was interesting.

I am now through the .38 Special ammo I had accumulated for range work, and am working on my .38+P blasting ammo. I load +P hyrdroshoks right now for CCW carry, I thought it a good idea to get a lot of practice with cheaper +P range ammo. The brand is Lawman. And I don’t know if it is me or the ammo (probably the former) but my results with the snubbie aren’t as good as they were a couple weeks ago with Federal .38.

First off, this Lawman stuff is jacketed and the powder is clean burning. Noticeably so. Instead of being black with carbon the inside of a spent case is almost as shiny as the outside. I like that.

Being +P, the pistol jumps in my hand a bit more than with regular .38. I noticed that I get better shots if I don’t let my finger slide across the trigger face anymore, and just park the edge of the joint on the trigger. But it took 40 shots to realize this. But this is why we practice. To learn the foibles and idiosyncrasies of the shooter and the individual gun. In the .38 targets I got better as range time progressed.

It was the opposite with my SIG. With all the DA and weekly practice my shots with the SIG were very decent (for me) from the git go, increasing my confidence in the pistol. Accuracy only fell off when my concentration lagged and I tired and I was rushing the shots.

Oh, and .38 +P feels much snappier in the recoil department than the .40.

On to the targets. The left side is .40, the right side is .38 +P. Range is 21-25 feet. This is my traditional cold first target:

The .38 is marked with only one in the black. The shot on the left from the .38? Would that have hit an attacker? I need to be better. I only have 5 shots, I should make them all count. Lots more of the .40 on target.

Here is the second set:

See what I mean? That .38 is way to spread compared to last week. And only 2 shots from the Double Action only SIG .40 were off the 8 inch diameter shoot n' see target. Unacceptable for the .38, but I can rely on my .40 performance. That is, if I froze my skill in time to this moment.

And target #3:



Here is where I finally figured out a better trigger finger position for the revolver. The revolver jumped less on follow through and the group tightened up to a more acceptable accuracy. The Sig still isn't too bad but you can see the later shots starting to drift off as I lost concentration.


~~~

And hey, look. JayG is in a similar boat as me. .22 works good, but we anticipate too much with heavier calibers. And practice seems to help us both.

Range Report

I mentioned I was itchy to get to the range last Friday. I shouldn't have bothered.

I still have the same 'ol problems I always have. Thinking back, though, I think I feel better about more individual shots now than I did at the beginning. And I know when I am doing everything right as the shot goes off and know that that shot I just sent downrange will be placed well enough.

Anyway, like I mentioned, I just brought the .40 Sig 229 SAS DAK and shot at 21-25 feet with Georgia Arms reloaded ammo. (I'll have the new Smith on the next report...)

ALL my handguns make my trigger finger sore. Right at the corner of the fingernail, the corner closest to the ground. It's the recoil, I am almost positive. The frame of the trigger guard is touching it.

I tried to see if my finger wanted to slide across the face of the trigger, ala 'rowing the boat' but didn't notice it even wanting to do that. I did pay attention to my natural finger tip placement. It wants to be on the tip side of that last distal joint.

Why do my hands always seem to grow weak walking into a gun range? It's like I can NOT grip any tighter. A tight grip helps dampen the squeeze effect my shooting hand's no trigger fingers on the grip, and other things, and makes me more accurate. It also helps maintain the grip after explosive recoil so you don't have to re-adjust after every shot. Yet my support hand's 'thumbs forward' thumb always seems to fall out of place at each shot. Dangit!

(Is all this self-criticism minutiae too much Inside-Baseball? It's sort of why I started this blog, as a N00b. Paying attention and trying to self diagnose my numerous flaws. I certainly don't have natural talent, nor enough time money and discipline to turn myself into a world class shooter of any stripe. But I do want to get better. So I hash it out as best I can, here, on the screen. When I started blogging I asked myself "Do you have anything to write about that will last more than a month or two?" and I answered, "Sure! I can write about how dumb and clueless I am. I have 100 years of material for THAT." It's my niche...)

Here's the first target of the session. Counterclockwise starting with the upper right:



Here's the second:
The bad stuff? I don't even know what is going on with the bad shots, at this point. The good stuff is inspired. For me. I just need to make those more frequent.

I developed a NEW flaw. I hope to have quashed it in the crib before it grew up and was able to take me. I was raising the pistol up into position on the target and pressing the trigger. But I hadn't fully arrested the upward movement when the shot went off. The holes are the high ones. DON'T do that. See, it's right there upper right target, upper right corner:



Lots of weird flyers. Too rush rush, me. As usual. Luckily I am less embarrassed by a bullseye in a lower target while aiming at the upper. Mistakes that bad get hidden in the clutter. One not lost in the clutter is that bottom right target. Decent shot. But I wasn't aiming anywhere NEAR that.

And I say mistakes... Even the bad shots, if I was shooting at a bad guy, the worst shot hit's his appendix or liver instead of the middle of his sternum. Not ideal, but better than nothing.

I did NOT visualize that the target was a zombie shuffling toward me. I will have to try that again next time.

Itch

I'm itchy and excited. I think I'll hit the range after work tomorrow. One gun. The SIG.

Must remember, Shootin' THEN Drinkin'. Not tother way round.


I'm gonna try THIS, in practice. The 'rowing the boat' technique for Double Action triggers. Article by Grant Cunningham:

"The key is to let the trigger finger slide across the trigger face. Now that sounds simple enough, but it’s tough to do—at first. It gets easier after just a little dry-fire work.

As the trigger moves backward in compression, pay attention to the way the finger wants to slide. It will want to slide down the trigger face. Let it. It will want to slide sideways, across the trigger face. Again, let it do so.

You may feel as though your finger is going to slide right off the trigger, but it won’t! Compress the trigger, letting the finger slide down and across the trigger face. Pay attention to how it feels, and replicate that feeling with each repetition."

Though the Sig's DA is lightish compared to my revolvers. Sorta. Let's just say my fingers doesn't want to slide in dry firing.

So if rowing the boat is a bust I'll just try focusing on the front sight, gripping 20% tighter, and bending my knees.

DA Trigger Drill

Saw a link for some instructions on how to improve your DA trigger work.

The article goes on to talk about how Double Action can be the most difficult trigger type to master because of the force used and the long travel time that can pull your sights off target.

His suggestion, practice letting your knuckle and finger position slide on the trigger face.

Intriguing! I'll have to try that, dry fire. Be right back.

~~~

h/t Uncle

~~~

Ooo, and another good DA drill is one I remember Tam talking about not too long ago. I forget when. The idea is to build up your finger strength to make your control better. So, in your dry fire condition, (oh for GAWD's sake, be sure your revolver is unloaded...) with the double action hog leg you own with the strongest trigger spring, pull that trigger as quickly as you can for 50 repetitions, daily. It goes easy at first, but you fade near the end. This breaks in the trigger spring a bit, I'd imagine, and makes that finger and wrist pretty damn strong. I recommend it. Ooo, you may want to aim down the sights to see where that front sight bobs to, too. Try to hold your point of aim steady. I figure that can't hurt your shooting either.

Uh Oh, Chongo, Range Report

[Chongo refers to a non-speaking, but annoyingly-loud character on Danger Island. Saw that on the Banana Splits.]

First the good news... I got the trigger squeeze problem I was plagued with about licked with my 1911. When I think in it right, and squeeze it right, I get inside the 8 ring. When I distract myself and yank, I know the hit is gonna be bad before I can shift focus off the front sight to check. Then I kick my metaphorical behind before the next shot, and that one squeezes off good.

So I fixed one problem.

But I got a different problem.

At the gun show, I mentioned buying a lot of ammo for range work. Decent priced stuff from Georgia Arms. I'm pretty sure it was Georgia Arms. I am double checking, but it's hard to find a table map of the gun show. They were sorta close to the corner NRA's table is in. Pretty sure it is GA Arms. Bought 2 ammo cans from them.

Georgia Arms looks to be a semi-factory ammo maker. A bit of a BIG home reload operation. They use new components or once-fired brass to make relatively cheap bulk ammo. I'm not saying anything bad about them, by any means. I just had an issue with one gun with one of their batches. This is my first experience with them.

Well, I was testing the new ammo AND the new mags. (I know. MISTAKE! Test one thing at a time, if something goes wrong suspect the ONE new thing...) In the middle of a magazine... ~click~

On close inspection, the slide is not all the way into battery. I can see brass, so there is at least a case in there. And the slide is jammed up tight. I can't budge it. My Sig is DAK, so double action only, so I can pull the trigger all day long on it, click click click. But I don't because the gun isn't in battery and that seems like a recipe for bad things to happen.

I summon the range guru. He determines it's a live round, and it isn't budging. So the softface hammer is introduced. A few light taps and it's fully seated. I ducked behind the partition as he fired it off. It worked normally, but we didn't find the ejected brass for inspection.

Maybe that was an anomalie. So I continue.

The same thing happened next mag, but I can push the slide into place. It goes off when I pull the trigger, then. The local guru may have found the brass, and it may have had a light strike on the primer before the good strike.

To be sure it isn't the mag (though they weren't suspected at this point) I loaded from a box of factory ammo known to work fine and no hiccup presented itself.

So the likely culprit is cases that are a little too fat. Or the bullet is too far out, or the chamber was dirty/gritty, or there is a burr in the chamber, or the brass was too thick. But I'm thinkin the cases were too fat. Out of spec on the dimensions. The fat ones are stripping off the mag as they should, but then sticking in the chamber and jamming up the works.

The brass is Winchester or Speer. Knowing GA Arms it is new brass or fired once.

It might work fine in someone elses gun, just not in mine. Gonna see if MBtGE wants them. His Beretta prefers round nose FMJ bullets anyway.

Before that, on the suggest of IRC user C-90_Fla from Gunblogger Conspiracy, I'm gonna take the barrel off the gun and drop in a large sample of bullets from this batch, to see if any stick part way down. That will confirm the dimensional integrity. Maybe they were shot at a cop range out of Glocks and the bottoms of the cases are bulging. I'll report back. Same with the can of .45 on the 1911 barrel, just to see. Wait right here. Won't be long.

~~~~~~

Ok. Done. Found 4 more that wouldn't fall into the chamber of the barrel and then fall our again, via gravity. So 6 out of 500 isn't bad. IF that is the last of my problems.


~~~~~~~~~~
DANGER ISLAND!





*Horrible show. Not up to today's political sensibilities, inexpert slapstick, poor Saturday-morning acting, African Leopards in the Caribbean... Yay 1960's. But it was a kid's serial.

October Range Report

I went to the range last week. It had been a while. Beginning of September maybe? No, it was the very end of August.

Here is target number one. .45 ACP is the ragged holes on the left, the clean holes from a hollow point on the right are .40, the 1911 and 229 respectively, all at 25 feet.


Check out the lower left!:

Not bad, hey? Well, no, not really. I was aiming for the target above. That's the bad news. I seem to have developed a wrist break. At least when I am rusty. But, note, they ARE centered. I've been working on improving the trigger pull.

The 229 had a wide, kinda centered, pattern. Not bad, but not good.

Once I settled down with the 1911 the groups tightened and got closer to the center for target 2:

The top 2 are 1911, bottom right Sig.

The last target I aimed at was the top right. The ones on the bottom were early in the string and still wrist breaking a bit (anticipating and compensating...) But later they all seemed to move up and toward the center. My trigger pull is getting much better when I can Zen it out. My standard flaw of 'low and right' from bad trigger work is much lessened, this time. Hopefully I can keep up with that kind of improvement.

It was an ACTUAL group on the top right. Kept clustering in the big hunk near the center on the last couple mags. I don't think the 1911 has been that good to me, to date.

Lookie!

Look what came in the mail!

Not the SIG. Nor the book.

Yup, a Milt Sparks holster. Versa Max 2 with shark skin. They were thinking October delivery and sure enough, here she comes.

Pretty!

I'm so pleased. Can't wait to try it out in public. Golly it's nice. Initial forays from the living room to the kitchen show it to be confortable. Those snaps are one-ways. You have to roll them in just right to fully engage them

Here is a pic of ALL the holsters I have for the Sig P229 DAK:

The half leather one is a Comp Tac that works ok. And the paddle one is a Serpa. More of an open carry rig, that. Or IDPA if I ever thought about doing that stuff.

I am thinking of maybe getting another VM2 for a 1911 if I like how this one rides, though I kinda like something with a thumb break retention strap for the 1911. I'm a bit chicken that way. Hmm, I was thinking shoulder holster the other week... But Milt Sparks doesn't have a shoulder style. Stick with Galco. IF I go with shoulder.

I figure I need a few dozen more holsters, tho. All the gunnies with a lot more experience shooting have a drawer full of holster rejects. I'm look at YOU JayG.

Shoulder

A little serendipitous thought is occuring in the gun blogosphere and folks happen to be posting about shoulder holsters right when I was thinking about the topic myself. First Ride Fast, then Ahab... It's like they read my mind.

Sailor Curt brings up the minuses involved with carrying this way. You can end up sweeping the muzzle across some of your favorite body parts with the vertical style, and you WILL sweep against lots of folks if you get the horizontal rig.

Why have I been thinking on a shoulder holster? Butt hurt. An Inside the Waistband holster at 7 or 8 o'clock might give me Fat Wallet syndrome and aggravate my lumbago and sciatica. Also, I haven't figured out the best way to go to necessary room in public with a holster on my belt. Getting your pant back up after finishing your paperwork for that job can be problematic, I've found. I'm not going to hang the pistol on the coat hook through the trigger guard, now am I leave it on the sink outside the stall. Ideally, I want to leave it in the holster so as reduce the time in public monkeying with it. That's how negligence happens. But dangit! My waistband weighs 2 pounds more and it can be awkward. And if the gun fell in the terlet...

I'm also always looking for a way to carry something full size in the hot summer months. You'd need a cover shirt but you could wear gym shorts again. Just an option. You need a cover shirt if you wear belted cargo shorts and an IWB. But a shoulder rig might be perfect for open carry in the summer.

You'll almost need a belted pant of some sort because many shoulder style holsters attach to your belt keep if from flopping around. It gives you some suspenders-action.

They are certainly NOT in fashion right now, but could make a comeback.

But to test, I doubled up with 2 CCW rigs simultaneously while visiting MBtGE. My regular IWB in for the P229, and his .44 magnum in the shoulder holster he loaned me. I was extra strapped. I didn't go out in public with it, but putzed around his house for a few hours. With a light jacket on, he made my IWB before he could make the MASSIVE hog leg under my arm, which was interesting. And I wouldn't wear a .44 if I wore it for real. I'd go with the 1911 sized gun in that case. I didn't notice any shoulder strain, and if the gun was a little less bulky I wouldn't notice it at all. But I am also forgetting the hip gun is there, too. Which is good.

[as and aside: We went scouting for spots for deer hunting blinds and while talking at full volume for a half hour a nice deer went by. Totally oblivious to us. It had a smallish rack too. It crossed close enough I could have hit it with my Sig, easy. Whatcha bet he won't come around when I am sitting in that spot all quiet and armed with a Remington Model 11? If a deer like that was my FIRST deer I'd probably do Blackfork's head boiling trick for a trophy. And eat it. Of course. Not the head, the venison.]

Trollop's New Gun, at the Range

Trollop got her new Springfield XD 40 and we were able to shoot it the next day.

The Jarret kung fu grip is not working for her. It took a couple mags before It was better to just let her give up on that crush grip for now, and she will just hold the pistol as is most comfortable for her. Her grip has the weak hand's thumb sticking out in the air. Not ideal, but better than the alternative.

Hers target was top left initial. The holes below the lower left were bleed over from an anticipatory flinch, plus the Kung Fu grip.

Mine are the left 2 circle. I shot 3 out of her XD and did ok, lower left. Top right is a couple mags with my SIG 229. Not ideal, but not bad either.

Unseen is the target the second target that she shot with HER comfortable grip. (She kept that target as a souvenir) Her last few mags were just a bit high, probably anticipation, but much better. Told her just to concentrate on surprise break. Only. Her last bullet was next to the bull. I figure getting her ideal with a good trigger press will get her ahead of the game and better than me. Her recoil anticipation will get lessened with practice.

I'll see if I can get a picture of her second target to post to show her dramatic improvement with a change from orthodox to unorthodox grip styles. Her stance isn't bad. She commented that she sees the flame now, so she is keeping her eyes open, where she might not have, before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aaaaaaand here is a picture of the second target. Top left is her last bunch of shots, using her own grip and concentrating only on trigger pull and a surprise break. Not bad:

Just a bit high. A bit anticipatory.

Milt Sparks

Ok, I finally got through on the phone and ordered a Milt Sparks Versa Max 2 Inside the Waistband holster for my SIG P229 DAK SAS .40.

Black with the shark skin trim, if they still have shark skin when they make it. They will keep me informed about the shark.

Six months until delivery.

SIG P229 Holster

I've been putting this entry off for too long.

I put out a bleg to help me flesh out some options on a possible holster for my SIG P229 DAK. If my CCW from UTAH comes through it is the pistol I'd carry in surrounding states. I have a SERPA paddle holster, but...

I'm thinking about deeper cover than a paddle style holster. Like IWB, or Inside the WaistBand.

TXGunGeek and Mike W. suggested checking out Comp-Tac Minotaur. It looks to be half plastic half leather. It has a nice feature of being VERY smooth on the leather, body side. Well spaced belt clips, too. 9 day production time.

Another option is Raven Concealment offering, and you need to get an Eclipse accessory to make it IWB.

Blade-Tech is another option I found with an internet search.

AE Pilot suggested AKJ ConcealCo. And those are all leather. I like leather. It fits in with my preference for shooting gear that has at least 70 years of field testing. Like Garands and 1911's. Leather has been tested even longer. Centuries. Price isn't too shabby, either. It has a unique configuration for the belt loop. Looks like they make up your holster when you order, so delivery might be slower than the synthetics. But hey, custom made. 24 day production time, minimum it seems. I might go here to upgrade my 1911 holster, too, because they offer a thumb-break that I prefer for 1911s.

A harder to find, pretty much custom made, but highly thought of leather holster is by Milt Sparks. Specifically, the VM-2 model. Versa Max. They are made is small batches so availability is problematic, but people that manage to land one LOVE them. They don't speicifically make a P229 DAK model, but that is probably not a problem. One of the features I really like is the spaced Kydex apart belt loops, allowing for more of a shirt tuck to better hide it. Tuckable is good. Other holster have this feature, like Comp-Tac.

Some Galco IWB P229s stuff don't seem to lend to tuckage. Those that do expose a lot of metal on the "skin" side that other holsters cover with a leather flap. It seems to be this second type would be more comfy. The AKJ and Comp-Tac have this cover protect. It's both for my skin being protected from the gun, and the gun protected from my sweat. Don't forget a magazine carrier.

Don Hume has a leather one.

Guns Holsters and Gear linked to a holster exchange website and could be a source once I decide on a model AND I am lucky to find one there.

I forget who linked me to J B P Holsters, but it is another data point. It might have been Breda that put me wise, but don't quote me. It's more for small guns, not my SIG. But you never know with a future acquisition.

As of now, I am leaning Milt Sparks, Comp-Tac, and AKJ. Galco is the runner up. In that order of preference

And remember, I am a lefty...

Rugged

So I like my new Sig 229. Is it rugged enough?

Rugged enough for what? I didn’t get it to storm the beach at Iwo. Volcano island seizing is not in my long range survival plan.

I didn’t get it for that. I got it for CCW carry, and CCW only. For that it is plenty rugged.

Now long range survival plans DO include coming through a Zombie Necropalypse. Is it rugged enough for that? Dunno.

I have dubious feeling for aluminum in guns. And the frame of the Sig is aluminum. As is large parts of AR rifles. Another reason to gravitate away from AR’s. At least for me. The military sidearm, the Beretta M92 has a lot of aluminum, too. And I don’t like that weapon for a whole plethora of reasons.

I avoid lighter alloy revolvers too, when considering them. Any snubbie I buy will be all steel. Good for recoil, good for durability. Bad for weight, but that is not an issue to me. It’s just a teeny pistol, after all.

I'd even avoid Scandium revolvers and alloy lightweight Commander size 1911s. Future pickups of revolvers and small, full strength, pistols will reflect this.

When the Necropalyspe comes, and I can choose one pistol, it’ll be the 1911 or the Smith and Wesson 686. I can see crawling through the mud and scrambling through gravel pits and over slag heaps and being just fine.

The Sig comes in third, and is only grabbed because the others are unavailable.



I will grant the Plastic Gun people something. Based on all the torture tests out there, the dang things ARE rugged. Unless you bake it in the oven.



h/t Firearm Blog

Late December Range Report

So I felt a cold coming on. Tuesday.


But you gotta train for other contingencies, including when you feel under the weather. As Churchill said, "most work is accomplished by people that don't feel very well." Or something.

Learned a couple things.


SLOW DOWN. Hurrying through a magazine isn't helping. Oh sure, it MIGHT be center mass, and that is good, but let's get more bullseyes first, shall we? BEFORE going for speed.

Dang. I may never learn that lesson. Impatience.

The .22 conversion kit on my 1911 and my SIG accompanied me this time. I wanted to try out the Federal HydroShoks out of the SIG. Ok.


I learned that the black on black sights for the .22 conversion makes it hard to see the black shoot-n-see target's background, and it's already impossible to see the .22 holes on yellow background ...



Here you can see 3 points of aim, the 2 shoot n' see targets and the head area. Pretty poor, especially at first. I shot better later. I may pick up another Ciener magazine, as I have only 2. Of course that would make me shoot faster if I am not careful. Al target are always set approximately 25 feet away, unless otherwise specified.

When shooting the SIG ALL I see is the front sight. It' s why I shoot it so fast. I see it immediately and want to fire. With a shoot-n-see target, where I can witness results, I slow down a little bit and shoot better.





I shot without the center part and you can see my usual. With the sticker in the center my first 3 shots were in that group close to the bull. Except for drooping a bit and hitting low 6 o'clock. the last magazines aiming for the black center were the best shots. Immediately seeing the results in a low-light range was key, I think.

I must go back in Early January, and test this out some more. If I shoot like that with shoot and see targets I will have to get a lot of stickers and use them exclusively for at least a year. Just to get the skill level up.

SIG December Range Report

I took the new SIG P229 SAS DAK .40 caliber out for a real test drive, and to check my skills with it. Now referred to as 'the Sig' until I get a Mosquito P22.

Summary: Not bad.



I still love the trigger. It's smooth with no change in the pull weight throughout the travel, unlike my revolver or, even more severe, MBtGE's Beretta .40. I sorta compared it to the Glock before. It's not like the Glock trigger. I played with MBtGE's Glocks, too, on hunting day. The Glock trigger is lighter and feels... different... to me. Plastic. Glock trigger action just doesn't suit me. Personal preference. Anyway, here is the first target of a serious range session:




Lost concentration on those 2, didn't I? But look! SIX in the 10-Ring! I never get that many bullseyes.

And the second target is almost as good:

According to the 'scoring for qualification' instructions on the target, I'd get 5 points for any in the 10, 9, or 8 ring, and 4 points for that single in the 7 ring. I guess I'd qualify if this was the Police Academy or whatever.

I tried some shoot-and-see targets, just to, you know, see, on the last target:

3 flyers. Getting tired, maybe. Still good.

Note the flaw is still low and right, even when shooting well. Less so with this gun. Yay. I think it's the trigger that helps the most. It smooth enough, even enough, and long enough and it surprises me more. Surprise is the key. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Update: All targets were set at 25 feet

Noob Range Report and...

I took the Random Harlot I've been dating to the pistol range on Black Friday. She did great with the rifles last summer.

I took the Saucy Trollop to the pistol range for a N00b shoot last Friday. Black Friday. That range has an attached gun store and they were VERY crowded. All the AR rifles that were on the wall a week after the election are now gone. They all had little sold signs on them in early November, just waiting for the 1 week waiting period to be up. At least 2 dozen rifles in the hands of free Americans just from that one store.

After a short wait for a lane the fun part began.

First up was for me to function test the new SIG P229 SAS with a DAK trigger. It works fine for me. I wasn't serious. My usual flaws were in evidence. I will go solo with it and see what I can do when I'm not teaching. Or 'teaching' as is this case. It's not quite the blind leading the blind, but.



Now I had taken Trollop shooting before, but with rifles at Hap Baker. She did well there, and loved the Garand most of all (so proud of her), so she had the firearm basics down. I made her memorize the 4 Rules months ago. And I had her do dry fire work at home on and off for weeks.

You usually like to start off a new shooter with a .22. I have no dedicated .22, so the 1911 took that duty with the .22LR conversion kit attached. After going back to the .22 later in the session I saw that she was most accurate more consistently with this.

Next up, the S&W 686 with .38 Special loaded. She learned how to swing out the cylinder and load it. When you are unfamiliar with a firearm that is something. Where to put your thumb on the release and where to put a finger to push out the cylinder are not instinctive when it is a borrowed gun. A gun you familiarized yourself with more extensively after purchasing and before your range trip. Same with figure out how

She did fine after I told her to concentrate on the front sight. Well, AFTER I told her to do that and still line up the rear sight. "Focus on the Front Sight" is a confusing term for the N00b. I explained that you line up the sights and the target like you normally would but that the front sight should be where the eyes focus. The rear sight may be a little blurry and the target definitely will be. Once she grocked that, the center of the silhouette was her domain. Like other new revolver shooters, she lost track of bullet count, so she fired on the 'seventh' round of six more often than not. She had a flinch. And was hitting low and left. So the next instruction was for more of a constant pull on Double Action and let the shoot surprise you. This helped her a LOT. Her trigger finger awareness discipline still needs some work. Especially on hair trigger single action. She cocks the hammer and the finger is already INSIDE the trigger guard. No serious damage would occur if she had discharged before she was ready. Just the ceiling down range a ways. Still.

Next up was for her to try the new SIG .40 caliber. She learned where the mag release was for this and many other semi-auto pistols. Her grip isn't perfect and I didn't harp on it. She has small hands and crosses her support hand thumb back over her shooting hand. There was no danger in getting hit by the slide that way so I let it go. I just wanted her to get used to shooting before fine tuning anything. And she was still hitting near the center of the paper.

I didn't convert the 1911 back to .45. Maybe next time she can try that.

Finally, the revolver with .357 magnum loaded. I demonstrated a couple so she'd see the flame and feel the difference in pressure (And damn I shoot that revolver pretty well. Even double action.) When it was her turn, I loaded just one round in the cylinder, just in case. My concern was unfounded. She loved the .357 shooting most of all and shot that the rest of the session when given the opportunity to choose her weapon. I asked her what her favorite was after the trip and she said the big round, "peels her panties." But you expect language like that from someone named Saucy Trollop.

She kept her main target. As a memento.

One thing. With my new SIG she had a FTE. Failure to eject. It stovepiped a casing. Uh-oh. I don't want a brand new gun to be imperfect. Now, I believe the major reason for a stovepipe is limp-wristing the shot. When I mentioned that, she wholly agreed that she was indeed holding it pretty loosely. And it served as a chance to teacher her the Tap-Rack-Bang method of malfunction recovery. Tap the magazine back into place in case it is loose, rack the slide to clear the ejector port and chamber of any problems, then pull the trigger. She took to that technique like a duck to water.

So, all in all a good piece of range time.





Here is her target. The holes past the right ear are her before she totally understood the 'focus on the front sight concept' All the other holes except the good head shots were her: