BassCliff
Professional
Greetings and salutations,
This week I made a trip to the newer facility of Fletcher Arms to practice with a few handguns that haven't been out lately. Ya know, I thought these pistols were really dirty but it turns out that I had cleaned them after the last time I used them. That's OK. Now I get to clean them again. You might notice that the roads are clear but there is still a lot of dirty snow piled up along the sides.
It was a pleasant day, about 38° and very sunny. The range was a little busier than usual at this time early on a Wednesday afternoon with six or seven shooters working out. I got my favorite lane #3.
I hadn't decided on what I wanted to shoot so I brought a bunch of different targets. The plan was to shoot 50 rounds of .45 (Garrison), 100 rounds of 9mm (XDM Elite Precision), and an undetermined amount of .22LR (P22).
I shot everything at 10 yards today starting with the Garrison. I didn't take a picture of the first target but here's the second target with 10 rounds on it.
The first target had a couple of hits outside the 8" reactive circle. You see the patches there by the grip. This target had three hits outside the 9 ring. Drat. Target #3 is just OK with a few hits going too low. I'm really thinking a sight upgrade might help me keep the sights aligned through the trigger press.
For my last target with the Garrison I used the three 7-round magazines to load up 20 cartridges and then fire them at a pretty good clip while performing emergency reloads. Here's the target after 20 hits.
There's been some improvement but I know there lots of room for more. I wish I could afford to shoot .45 more often. Practicing more often would hasten my accuracy. But I must do it in baby steps.
I moved on to the XDM Elite Precision with its 5.25" barrel. Instead of straight accuracy I thought I'd make it a little more challenging today. I stuck on these reactive circles and did a modified El Presidente. I loaded 5 magazines with 20 rounds each. I'd put two hits on each of the 8" circles three times, then save the last two rounds in the magazine for the head shot. I didn't use a timer but I tried to move along with a quick-ish combination of speed and accuracy. Here's #1.
I guess the first run wasn't bad but I got only 5 hits on the upper 8" target. I'll patch this up and send it out again. But first, a glam shot!
OK, here's target #2. Still not a perfect run. I got one hit a little high on the 3" circle.
For grins and giggles, here's a gun's eye view of my lane.
I had to back up in my booth a little so that the overhead lamp would allow the front optic to glow a little brighter. I may want to consider different sights for this pistol too. I don't care for that totally black rear sight. Anyway, I tried to pick up the pace a little for target #3. You can tell my accuracy suffered a bit.
This target is getting to be more patches than target. Let's shoot at it one more time.
I still tried to keep a pretty good pace through this magazine. I let a couple get outside, well maybe only one if you give me a line break.
For my last XDM magazine I just tried to put 20 hits on a 12x18 silhouette. I let a couple get low. Drat.
I finished my session with my pea shooter, Walther P22. I had pre-loaded all my magazines for all the pistols before I started shooting. I have only four magazines for the P22 and I put all of them on the center. Then I reloaded a couple and tried 10 hits on the two upper circles.
I don't know why that upper right circle was so hard to hit. Drat. I'm going to load all four mags, patch the target, and try to get a little more serious. Here ya go.
OK, there were only two or three hits outside of their intended target. This little thing is so fun to shoot I tend to get carried away and shoot too fast. Actually, that's my whole problem with all my pistols. I gotta work on that.
The sun is getting low and the snow is still melting as we say goodbye to the range. I know it's supposed to be winter here but there is no appreciable snow in the forecast for February. I'm quite disappointed.
Maybe next winter will be more like a real winter all winter. It seems we got the whole winter in one weekend this year. Of course, it's been known to snow in March and April here. One can only hope.
Hey! Thanks for hanging out. I'll be back next week with a brand new show.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
This week I made a trip to the newer facility of Fletcher Arms to practice with a few handguns that haven't been out lately. Ya know, I thought these pistols were really dirty but it turns out that I had cleaned them after the last time I used them. That's OK. Now I get to clean them again. You might notice that the roads are clear but there is still a lot of dirty snow piled up along the sides.
It was a pleasant day, about 38° and very sunny. The range was a little busier than usual at this time early on a Wednesday afternoon with six or seven shooters working out. I got my favorite lane #3.
I hadn't decided on what I wanted to shoot so I brought a bunch of different targets. The plan was to shoot 50 rounds of .45 (Garrison), 100 rounds of 9mm (XDM Elite Precision), and an undetermined amount of .22LR (P22).
I shot everything at 10 yards today starting with the Garrison. I didn't take a picture of the first target but here's the second target with 10 rounds on it.
The first target had a couple of hits outside the 8" reactive circle. You see the patches there by the grip. This target had three hits outside the 9 ring. Drat. Target #3 is just OK with a few hits going too low. I'm really thinking a sight upgrade might help me keep the sights aligned through the trigger press.
For my last target with the Garrison I used the three 7-round magazines to load up 20 cartridges and then fire them at a pretty good clip while performing emergency reloads. Here's the target after 20 hits.
There's been some improvement but I know there lots of room for more. I wish I could afford to shoot .45 more often. Practicing more often would hasten my accuracy. But I must do it in baby steps.
I moved on to the XDM Elite Precision with its 5.25" barrel. Instead of straight accuracy I thought I'd make it a little more challenging today. I stuck on these reactive circles and did a modified El Presidente. I loaded 5 magazines with 20 rounds each. I'd put two hits on each of the 8" circles three times, then save the last two rounds in the magazine for the head shot. I didn't use a timer but I tried to move along with a quick-ish combination of speed and accuracy. Here's #1.
I guess the first run wasn't bad but I got only 5 hits on the upper 8" target. I'll patch this up and send it out again. But first, a glam shot!
OK, here's target #2. Still not a perfect run. I got one hit a little high on the 3" circle.
For grins and giggles, here's a gun's eye view of my lane.
I had to back up in my booth a little so that the overhead lamp would allow the front optic to glow a little brighter. I may want to consider different sights for this pistol too. I don't care for that totally black rear sight. Anyway, I tried to pick up the pace a little for target #3. You can tell my accuracy suffered a bit.
This target is getting to be more patches than target. Let's shoot at it one more time.
I still tried to keep a pretty good pace through this magazine. I let a couple get outside, well maybe only one if you give me a line break.
For my last XDM magazine I just tried to put 20 hits on a 12x18 silhouette. I let a couple get low. Drat.
I finished my session with my pea shooter, Walther P22. I had pre-loaded all my magazines for all the pistols before I started shooting. I have only four magazines for the P22 and I put all of them on the center. Then I reloaded a couple and tried 10 hits on the two upper circles.
I don't know why that upper right circle was so hard to hit. Drat. I'm going to load all four mags, patch the target, and try to get a little more serious. Here ya go.
OK, there were only two or three hits outside of their intended target. This little thing is so fun to shoot I tend to get carried away and shoot too fast. Actually, that's my whole problem with all my pistols. I gotta work on that.
The sun is getting low and the snow is still melting as we say goodbye to the range. I know it's supposed to be winter here but there is no appreciable snow in the forecast for February. I'm quite disappointed.
Maybe next winter will be more like a real winter all winter. It seems we got the whole winter in one weekend this year. Of course, it's been known to snow in March and April here. One can only hope.
Hey! Thanks for hanging out. I'll be back next week with a brand new show.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
