BassCliff
Hellcat
Howdy Buckaroos!
I had grandiose plans for my range trip today but, as usual, they turned out a little less than grandiose. This was a "marksmanship" day, a modest rate of fire, mostly 10-shot strings, mostly 10 yards, various targets, and I struggled with a couple of 15 yard targets today. The weather was brisk. This time of year I'm glad I have an indoor membership. This is the closer, older, analog facility.
I was the only person on this side of the range so I unloaded my kit on my favorite lane #10. I brought the XD9 Mod.3 (w/Holosun) but didn't shoot it. I did shoot the Ronin 9mm, XDM Precision 5.25, and VP9.
I was using PMC 124 grain. I'd also brought a box of PPU 124 grain, just in case, but I didn't shoot it either. I had to cut my session short so that I could stop on the way home and pick up something for Mrs. BassCliff. It's our anniversary. But I digress. I started with the VP9, still dirty from my class last week. I thought I'd try a 3x5 card. Here's the first one.
With line breaks I guess all 10 hits are on the card but there are a couple a little too wide left. I sent target #2 downrange. The red circle gives me something to focus on. Yeah, right.
That target came back like this, a little better, I guess.
Just one hit there on the left edge of the card. That's just me with my inconsistent trigger press. For target #3 I thought I'd really challenge myself. I'm going to use a dot torture drill target and try to put one hit in each circle at 10 yards.
Well, I hit half the circles, a few I got close, and I don't know where that stray was supposed to hit. Wow, that one's really out there. Drat. For target #4 let's get back to a good old basic B-8 center. I put the yellow dots in the X-ring to help my focus, ya know.
All but three hits in the 10 ring. Meh. Even though I'm not having a great day, I want to try a target at 15 yards anyway. I stuck on an 8" reactive circle and tried to settle down. Here's the result.
At 15 yards the slightest deviation in your sight picture during the trigger press will be amplified. At least they're all on the silhouette. That's 50 rounds through the VP9. Next up is the XDM and its 5.25" barrel. The longer sight radius is supposed to be a good thing, right? Here's target #1.
Three hits out of the 10-ring, a couple of them way out. Target #2 is a 1/3 size USPSA silhouette.
I guess that's a little better. Gimme a line break and there are only two hits out of the (2.5"x3.5") A box. Next I'll try another 3x5 card on target #3.
They all landed on the card, barely. I wish I could've hit that sticker at least once. For target #4 let's get back to your basic B-8 center.
That's a little bit better with only 2 hits outside the 10-ring. One of these days I'll at least be able to keep them all in the black. But is this target good enough for a glam shot? Not really, but what the hey?
OK, last 10 rounds, last target for this pistol today. I'm sending it out to 15 yards. Here goes nothin'.
Yep, I'm struggling at 15 yards today. I think the VP9 was better at 15 yards this time. I'm taking this XDM back to the range next week. It's great to shoot but I'm a little out of practice with it. Speaking of 'out of practice', I haven't shot the Ronin for quite a while either. Since it's getting late I'm just going to put a bunch of rounds on a couple of targets. Let's see if I can make a big ragged hole. Here's the first Ronin target, 30 rounds, at 10 yards.
Um, yeah. More of a spread than what I was expecting. The Ronin is a joy to shoot. Let's do that again to see if I can tighten up that group. I'll paste on another 8" reactive circle.
I'd say that was a tighter group but still just a little to the left. Hmm. I'm wondering if I need to give that rear sight a click or two. Tell you what, I'll put up a fresh target for these last 15 rounds.
Still at 10 yards, I'm going to put 10 hits on center and 5 hits on the head, hopefully.
OK, not my best work. Except for a couple of bad flyers on this target, the hits do seem consistent. Perhaps I will give the rear sight one or two clicks to the right and see if I can center up those groups. Next time. I'll take this same bunch of pistols out two or three more weeks in a row so I can get comfortable with them again. Checking my records shows that I haven't shot the XDM since March. It's probably been almost as long for the Ronin. But that's no excuse. Thanks for putting up with me. You guys are great. Holiday blessings for you all.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
I had grandiose plans for my range trip today but, as usual, they turned out a little less than grandiose. This was a "marksmanship" day, a modest rate of fire, mostly 10-shot strings, mostly 10 yards, various targets, and I struggled with a couple of 15 yard targets today. The weather was brisk. This time of year I'm glad I have an indoor membership. This is the closer, older, analog facility.
I was the only person on this side of the range so I unloaded my kit on my favorite lane #10. I brought the XD9 Mod.3 (w/Holosun) but didn't shoot it. I did shoot the Ronin 9mm, XDM Precision 5.25, and VP9.
I was using PMC 124 grain. I'd also brought a box of PPU 124 grain, just in case, but I didn't shoot it either. I had to cut my session short so that I could stop on the way home and pick up something for Mrs. BassCliff. It's our anniversary. But I digress. I started with the VP9, still dirty from my class last week. I thought I'd try a 3x5 card. Here's the first one.
With line breaks I guess all 10 hits are on the card but there are a couple a little too wide left. I sent target #2 downrange. The red circle gives me something to focus on. Yeah, right.
That target came back like this, a little better, I guess.
Just one hit there on the left edge of the card. That's just me with my inconsistent trigger press. For target #3 I thought I'd really challenge myself. I'm going to use a dot torture drill target and try to put one hit in each circle at 10 yards.
Well, I hit half the circles, a few I got close, and I don't know where that stray was supposed to hit. Wow, that one's really out there. Drat. For target #4 let's get back to a good old basic B-8 center. I put the yellow dots in the X-ring to help my focus, ya know.
All but three hits in the 10 ring. Meh. Even though I'm not having a great day, I want to try a target at 15 yards anyway. I stuck on an 8" reactive circle and tried to settle down. Here's the result.
At 15 yards the slightest deviation in your sight picture during the trigger press will be amplified. At least they're all on the silhouette. That's 50 rounds through the VP9. Next up is the XDM and its 5.25" barrel. The longer sight radius is supposed to be a good thing, right? Here's target #1.
Three hits out of the 10-ring, a couple of them way out. Target #2 is a 1/3 size USPSA silhouette.
I guess that's a little better. Gimme a line break and there are only two hits out of the (2.5"x3.5") A box. Next I'll try another 3x5 card on target #3.
They all landed on the card, barely. I wish I could've hit that sticker at least once. For target #4 let's get back to your basic B-8 center.
That's a little bit better with only 2 hits outside the 10-ring. One of these days I'll at least be able to keep them all in the black. But is this target good enough for a glam shot? Not really, but what the hey?
OK, last 10 rounds, last target for this pistol today. I'm sending it out to 15 yards. Here goes nothin'.
Yep, I'm struggling at 15 yards today. I think the VP9 was better at 15 yards this time. I'm taking this XDM back to the range next week. It's great to shoot but I'm a little out of practice with it. Speaking of 'out of practice', I haven't shot the Ronin for quite a while either. Since it's getting late I'm just going to put a bunch of rounds on a couple of targets. Let's see if I can make a big ragged hole. Here's the first Ronin target, 30 rounds, at 10 yards.
Um, yeah. More of a spread than what I was expecting. The Ronin is a joy to shoot. Let's do that again to see if I can tighten up that group. I'll paste on another 8" reactive circle.
I'd say that was a tighter group but still just a little to the left. Hmm. I'm wondering if I need to give that rear sight a click or two. Tell you what, I'll put up a fresh target for these last 15 rounds.
Still at 10 yards, I'm going to put 10 hits on center and 5 hits on the head, hopefully.
OK, not my best work. Except for a couple of bad flyers on this target, the hits do seem consistent. Perhaps I will give the rear sight one or two clicks to the right and see if I can center up those groups. Next time. I'll take this same bunch of pistols out two or three more weeks in a row so I can get comfortable with them again. Checking my records shows that I haven't shot the XDM since March. It's probably been almost as long for the Ronin. But that's no excuse. Thanks for putting up with me. You guys are great. Holiday blessings for you all.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
