Range Report: While The Cat's Away, Practice: 11/11/23

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Well, I made it to the range today for some practice with a couple of 9mm and a .45, all Springfield. Shot at 10 yards most of the session but the pushed one target out to 40 feet just to see how I'd do. Not terrible. I'm planning to go at least one more, maybe two more days while Mrs. BassCliff is out of town. Full range report afterwards.

From 10 yards, here are the first shots of the session from my Garrison, five on each little bullseye (sort of).

Started at the top and worked my way down. The last group at the bottom was the tightest.

Here are the first ten rounds from my XDM Elite 5.25 "Precision".

This is my 40 foot target with the XDM.

Then I treated myself to a few of my favorite adult beverages from my favorite local brewery.

After I've had all my fun this week I give you the whole enchilada.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Belt Fed]

Good shootin sir, that second target is expert marksmanship there.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Good shootin sir, that second target is expert marksmanship there.

Thanks! You are too kind. When I can do that at 25 yards instead of 10 then I'll pat myself on the back.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Bassbob]

Good work Cliff.

 

[somorris]

I agree. Good work Cliff!

 

[wolfpack076]

Nice shootin

 

[BassCliff]

Hi everyone,

I made it back to the range today for another practice session. That's two days in a row. Can the old noob make it three days in a row? Stay tuned to find out.

I shot the same pistols today but in a different order. Yesterday I shot the .45 Garrison, the XDM, then the XD9. Today I shot the XD9, then the XDM, and the .45 last. I did not shoot the .45 well at all today.

Both days I was on my favorite lane, #1. (Pssst! They're ALL my favorite lane.)

Yesterday was really crowded. Today, not so much.

Both days I shot my "main" larger pistols. Tomorrow I'll bring at least one .22 to target practice with. I used 124 grain 9mm Blazer and 230 grain .45ACP LAX Ammo.

Yesterday I shot the .45 first and shot it pretty well. Here you see five hits on the top three targets and ten hits on the bottom target.

Here's a close-up of the bottom B-8 center. Only one out of the black from 10 yards.

Fast forward to today and this was the result of 10 hits on a B-8 with my .45. Yick!

I patched it up and target #2 was a little better, but not much.

Next I tried a few five shot strings and a "custom" target, 2" circles over an 8" reactive. Since my .45 exercise was at the end of the session today, maybe it was fatigue?

I think in the future, when bringing more than one pistol to practice with, I will work out with the .45 first.

Yesterday I practiced with the XDM second, same as today. Several of you complimented me on my first target. Yes, I'll admit I was a little proud of that one too. From yesterday, this was the second target with a string of 10 hits on it. You'll have to give me that "oops" for hitting the other bullseye instead of the head shot. Still, not bad. Those are three inch circles on the top of that small silhouette.

Today with the XDM I did just OK. Here are a few targets.

Seven hits in the A zone.

If you give me a couple of line breaks, nine hits on this 4" reactive circle.

Seems I'm having a little slump today. I'll get a good night's rest and get out to the range tomorrow to redeem myself.

I'll be back after an appointment to share some more of my mediocrity over the last couple of days. I still have the XD9 performances to compare. Thanks for coming along.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[edr9x23Super]

No worries, you did just fine. SA “entry level” 1911s are light years beyond where 1911s were when I got into competition shooting in the late 1980s. I took my Ronin straight out to the range after I picked it up and the LGS and found that the gun punched way above it’s weight in terms of barrel fit, accuracy and trigger pull (4.5lbs measured). Below are targets I shot with it using the last of my old USPSA loads that had been in the back of my garage for 20+ years sealed up in an old GI ammo can. They were old Rainier copper plated 200g LWSC with 4.5g of AA2 in generic cases with Federal primers. After shooting up the rest of that and some old 230g hydra shocks I basically cleaned out all my old ammo that had been sitting for decades and ran them through the Ronin, daring it to cough. It didn’t not one time even when I loaded 8 different loadings in a single magazine. Anyhow, I don’t know what role the Garrison fils in the SA lineup, but I’m sure it will do the job for you.

The 230 grain hydra shocks were the first rounds I fired through the gun and I pulled the first shot, not being used to the trigger. The rest I dialed in, then loaded a magazine of 8 rounds of my old competition loads and let er rip…….

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Wow @edr9x23Super! Bangtastic group at 15 yards! Look at that!

I was at the range again today. It was my third day in a row! I did a lot of shooting at 15 yards. I usually shoot at 10 yards but I was feeling rambunctious. Let's jump ahead in my range report so I can show you my results at 15 yards using my 1911.

That's an 8" reactive bullseye pasted on top of that 12x18 silhouette. In my extra-mediocre style, I managed to keep most of that 10 shot string inside the 8" circle (if you give me the line break). This is, so far, my best target at 15 yards with this pistol. I've got a ways to go but I don't mind practicing, at all.

But I digress. Let's pick up where we left off yesterday. I was planning to compare my XD9 performance between Saturday and Sunday's sessions. (Note: I also shot my XD9 today - Monday - but only at 7 yards with strong hand only and weak hand only. I needed some single hand practice with my EDC.)

Here are a few XD9 targets from Saturday's session, the first 10 shot string.

Let's add on a couple more 10 shot strings.

Here are the last 15 rounds on Saturday's session using my XD9.

OK, now what did I do on Sunday? Oh yeah, the first thing I did Sunday was shoot a 10-10-10 drill, a lousy 10-10-10 drill. It's been a while.

Than I taped on a few B-8 centers to continue with 10 shot strings. #2 wasn't terrible.

#3 was my best of the session.

With #4 I let one get out of the black.

For #5 I thought I'd use a 2" circle. I wanted to "aim small, miss small". But the pattern looked eerily similar to my B-8 targets.

I'll share my fun from today in the next post. Thanks for looking.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

My practice session today, Monday 11/13/23, was pretty fun and productive. I remembered something my instructor told me and it helped me to keep my sight picture during the trigger pull. I need to grip tighter with my off hand and a little looser with my dominant hand. It made quite a difference, I could almost hit stuff!

I went to the newer Fletcher Arms facility today. I don't mind going to the older facility but I like the computer controlled target carriers here. You don't have to guess at distances.

This was the first time I've shot from lane #1. It's my new favorite lane!

I started the session with the .45 Garrison. I'm really starting to love this pistol.

I shot 50 rounds of .45 today, in ten-shot strings. Here are the first four targets at 10 yards.

I let one get way low-left on #3. oops.

I guess #4 was not a bad group, I just wish it was a bit more centered.

I sent target #5 out to 15 yards to try something different.

Dang! That target looks small to these old eyes.

As I showed you earlier, it came back looking like this. While it won't win any marksmanship competitions, I should be able to defend myself with that performance.

I moved on to the XDM Elite "Precision" with the 5.25" barrel. I shot 50 rounds all at 15 yards today.

Here are all five targets. I guess you could say the groups are starting to tighten up a little. I'll start practicing more with this pistol at 15 yards.

Oops, one bad low-left flyer on this one. I lost my concentration.

On this last target I got all but two hits inside a 4" group. I guess I need more practice. Yay!

If anybody's still awake, I'll finish up this practice session in the next post. Thanks for stopping by.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[edr9x23Super]

Looking at your 1911 targets, I would say going to a gunsmith (a good one that specializes in 1911s) and just having a good trigger job done on that gun will tighten those groups up sufficiently. I would say with a good, 4lb trigger you could cut those group sizes in half. You can also check your barrel fit by holding the gun one hand and using the thumb on your other hand, press down on top of your exposed barrel hood with the slide closed. If it doesn’t move at all downward, your barrel was fitted properly. If there is any play whatsoever, then the gunsmith can fix the barrel too. That will further tighten your groups up……

 

[BassCliff]

Hi!

Welcome back! We left off with my XDM Elite getting a pretty good group together at 15 yards.

Next, I also shot my Mark IV at 15 yards for this session.

I put 50 rounds through this pistol as well, 10-shot strings. Let's see those targets!

The group is starting to tighten up. Relax, Cliff, relax.

Let's get a fresh target and try again.

Target #4 has one hit outside of that 4" circle. Drat.

Doh! Target #5 has a really tight group with just one hit outside that 4" circle. Did I sneeze or something?

For my XD9 practice today I shot single handed. I wanted to use a few 4" bullseyes and alternate hands. I think it would've been better just to shoot at center mass on the large silhouette target. Oh well. Next time. Here's strong hand only trying to make head shots.

This is my weak hand only, trying to hit the target on the high center chest. I think I need to practice this more often.

Since I barely grazed the target, I patched everything up and tried again. I guess this group was a little better. I actually hit it once.

Next was strong hand only on the "left shoulder" target. I guess I would've done some damage anyway.

For the last ten rounds of the session, I tried putting ten hits, weak hand only, on the center X of the silhouette.

Like I said, no marksmanship awards but that should be able to stop a bad guy at seven yards.

Mrs. BassCliff will be out of town one extra day. How about that? Will BassCliff go for an unprecedented four days in a row? I'll let you know. Thanks for hanging out and letting me share my fun.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Belt Fed]

Great shootin, all shots would have been terminal. those indoor ranges are pretty neat. didn't know they had that electronic board. i never shot at one. you burn't some ammo here lately. practice makes perfect, but i noticed it didn't have two foot range. i'd miss everything at those yardages.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Looking at your 1911 targets, I would say going to a gunsmith (a good one that specializes in 1911s) and just having a good trigger job done on that gun will tighten those groups up sufficiently. I would say with a good, 4lb trigger you could cut those group sizes in half. You can also check your barrel fit by holding the gun one hand and using the thumb on your other hand, press down on top of your exposed barrel hood with the slide closed. If it doesn’t move at all downward, your barrel was fitted properly. If there is any play whatsoever, then the gunsmith can fix the barrel too. That will further tighten your groups up……

Thanks! I've been window shopping some upgrades. I'd like to add an extended slide release and mag release to make it a little easier to manipulate. These old eyes could use some upgraded sights. But I digress.

Would you suggest a new trigger? I've heard people have great results by really smoothing and polishing all the parts, trigger, trigger bow, spring, sear, disconnect, etc.

This Garrison supposedly has a forged match barrel. I will do the wiggle test for fit. But to be honest, I probably won't do a lot to this pistol until I'm sure that I am doing everything right. Then I'll start looking at the hardware.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[wolfpack076]

Good WORK SIR...

 

[BassCliff]

Hi guys,

Thanks for stopping by.

Good WORK SIR...

I appreciate the encouragement.

Great shootin, all shots would have been terminal. those indoor ranges are pretty neat. didn't know they had that electronic board. i never shot at one. you burn't some ammo here lately. practice makes perfect, but i noticed it didn't have two foot range. i'd miss everything at those yardages.

For Sat, Sun, and Mon I went through about 350 rounds of 9mm and 150 rounds of .45ACP. That's certainly a lot for me. A regular practice week for me is 100 rounds of 9mm and 50 rounds of .45. That's the reason, at my unprecedented fourth range day in a row, I was strictly plinking with my small collection of .22 pistols. It's been a while since I've used a couple of them. The bad thing is, now I have to clean just about every pistol I own.

I started with the Rough Rider. I like the slower pace of the single action cowboy gun. I put two cylinders, 12 shots, on each target. One of these days I'll remember the sight picture for his pistol. I was kind of all over the place.

Target #4 was dangerously close to getting all the hits inside a 4" circle. So I took a glam shot with the pistol.

Target #5 had two bad flyers. Drat.

OK, one last go round with the Heritage was pretty average.

Our next segment features the Walther P22(CA). I've had to replace the front sight on this one and I forget that the replacement is a little taller than the stock. The normal "equal height, equal light" makes it shoot low.

Now that I've been reminded, let's see if I can remember the proper sight picture.

OK, that's a little more centered but still kind of all over the place. The 3.5" barrel on this pea shooter does me no favors. But target #3 was good enough for another glam shot, all but three hits in the 10 ring.

Target #4 isn't terrible. I almost got the line break for eight hits in the 10 ring.

I pasted on a 4" reactive circle for the last magazine. It's pretty average. Oh well.

I was shooting a lot of different targets today. For the Mark IV I wanted to try the 2" circle target. I guess I need to aim smaller so that I can miss smaller.

My next MkIV target was a 1/3 size silhouette with the enhanced A Zone. (It's easier for these old eyes to see.)

Drat. I know I can do batter than that at 10 yards. Let's try another.

There ya go! Good enough for a glam shot. Since that group was so small I pasted on a 4" reactive circle and found some success keeping them all on that target.

OK, I'm feeling pretty cocky. Let's move it out to 15 yards and see what happens.

Dang! I guess I need to pay attention during EVERY shot. It's getting near the end of my practice session. The old bones are getting tired. Let's try one more target at 15 yards. Here's a magazine on center and one on the head.

I let a couple get out in the yellow by the head. Pardon me. I shot this Ruger better yesterday. I'll work on my consistency. Oh boy! More practice! But I think I'll wait until next week. This has been quite a run while Mrs. BassCliff is out of town. Thanks to all of you who came along and shared my fun.

EDIT: One thing I forgot to note. The P22 ran great with the Federal Range Pack ammo, no mals at all. But the Ruger choked a few times on both types of ammo that I'd brought today. I think I'm going to have to run more expensive ammo in the Mark IV to keep it working reliably. Either that or give it more time to break in. We'll see.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff