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On a whim I took my G17.2 out to the range Tuesday and noticed something.
No little scrape on the side my hand from the slide.
The G17.1 clones scrape my hand. The Gen 2 grip textures were/are an improvement over the Gen 1. Gee, I think I remember reading the GunWriters® saying something about that in the way back...
I shoot low with it, though...
Shooting the 915 today reminded me that there's nothing wrong with many older guns.
You can get 17 round mags for it.
It's only a little heavier than a Glock 17.
You're not giving up anything, really, by carrying one.
There's scads of guns that still work fine and have enough beans to be competitive.
They may be used by the time we get to them, but that just means the previous owners ate any depreciation there is.
I've seen so many used, but unfashionable, guns with almost no wear on them going for about half what a new one would go for.
Several are in the safe!
The downside is parts support. The manufacturer might not support it any more.
But it's, mostly, not a problem.
The Lovely Harvey is getting more comfortable with her new Equalizer.
It also helps if I stop hovering.
After shooting we stopped at the Tarpon Springs Aquarium and Animal Sanctuary. It's touristy fun!
Then we hit Britton Guns and managed to escape without buying anything. Russ and Heidi both say "hi!" to Willard.
I test fired the S&W Model 915 with the curved grip and the two magazines for it that I'd replaced the springs.
I think it went well.
The curved backstrap is definitely superior to the straight one and recoil was very gentle.
I don't care for the sights on this second least expensive version of the S&W 3rd gen. They are not conducive to fast shooting, but I made due dew do.
One round failed to fully chamber and the round below it had its nose up the feed ramp. Not sure if that's a magazine problem or not. It's disappointing because it has a new spring in it and it'd suck to have to decommission it.
Harvey is digging the experience of her new Equalizer! Absolutely thrilled to, finally, have a pistol where she can easily work the slide.
Next up, getting her glasses where she can see what she's doing better.
But she was happier leaving the range than I've seen in months.
We fed the Equalizer several brands of ammo, including Hornady 135gr Critical Defense and Federal 124gr HST.
Her old gun, an M&P 2.0 Compact, would not feed Hornady Critical anything. It liked HST.
No problems of any kind turned up with the Equalizer!
It ate three brands of 115gr ball and both of the brands of carry ammo!
The counter person who sold us the hollow-points was a little surprised we were taking them straight to the ranged down the hall. It seems that a lot of people don't ever shoot the ammo they're betting their life on.
I shot my M&P 2.0 Compact and continued to try and speed up my Mozambique drill. I'm no Jerry Miculek.
They're proving something I've advocated with my Behind Every Blade of Grass concept.
You don't have to spend mega dollars to get a perfectly acceptable rifle for social purposes!
It's not as good as the higher end gun, but you cannot justify those long shots socially. I don't have a handy range to go past 200 yards.
I've experienced a similar loss of zero with a Del Ton barrel, but it only did it the first time I got the gun hot. Rezeroing fixed it and it stayed zeroed thereafter. That was Kaylee's first barrel.
Took the .38 Super Gov't Model out today.
Such a honey!
Of course, that means Mozambique drills!
The nine shot magazine capacity is a natural for these drills too!
I do not regret getting this pistol in the slightest.
Even if the hammer bites me.
There's a thread asking if our adult gun purchases have exceeded our childhood expectations?
In a word, "Wildly."
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| I think I still own one of these guns. |
Though if I traveled back in time and told Young Thag, "You will never own that Galil ARM, but it not bother you you don't."
Young Thag would not believe me.
Further, if I told him, "Your favorite rifle will be an AR-15," I think he would try and get the crazy old man talking to him committed.
That, of course, means I'm talking to the Thag who's just discovered role playing games and is slowly coming to the realization that you actually could just buy some of these guns.
Not all that long before that, despite my interests in military history and technology, he'd have been shocked that someone could amass such a collection. Nobody NEEDS a gun, after all.
FuzzyGeff, talked me down.
Dottie has seen almost as many changes as Kaylee.
Took the 915 to the range with both it's new curved grips and refreshed magazines.
It shoots.
I am not unhappy with my group with it.
Harvey tried it out and discovered she likes a dot on the front sight and no dots in the rear. We can change her M&P over to that.
We tried her out on all four backstraps and she's changed from the L to the S. We originally used the larger grip when she was recovering from her shoulder surgery to compensate for some grip strength issues and numbness.
The S is working better for her now and shooting induced numbness appears to be reduced. Win!
I'm working with her on stance and she needs a wider one than feels natural for her. I remember going through this myself. The immediate improvement in her group after she took a wider stance was worth it.
We talked about the differences in stance between archery and throwing darts, which she is more familiar with.
What we've done by buying and using the 75% IDPA targets at seven yards is to simulate shooting at ten yards.
7 yards is -3 to hit. 10 yards is -4, so we've been giving ourselves a -1 penalty at the range vs "real life".
In the above photo, going for the Mozambique Drill, it's -3 for the vitals and -7 for the skull. How to GURPS it is on page 15-16 of Tactical Shooting.
In total:
Vitals: -4 for range, -3 for location,+1 for all-out-attack (determined), +1 for no risk to self, +1 for no risk to others, +3 for well lit range, +3 for known distance. +2 to hit vitals.
Skull: -4 for range, -7 for location,+1 for all-out-attack (determined), +1 for no risk to self, +1 for no risk to others, +3 for well lit range, +3 for known distance. -2 to hit vitals.
If you're patting yourself on the back for how well you do on the range, notice the +8 for being at the nice, safe, comfortable firing range.
I've calculated my Guns/TL8 (Pistol) at 15 before, so I'd need a 17 or less to hit with one round at the vitals, 15 or less to hit with both in round 1. Then I'd need a 15 or less to hit the skull in round 2.
I am definitely not running at the pace that requires using the Rapid Strike version of the drill!
In the real world, I'd need a 9 to land one shot and a 7 to land both in the vitals. Rolling a 10 or 8 means hitting the torso instead. To hit the skull in the next round I'd need to roll a 5 or less. I don't feel super confident of that head shot. Rolling a 6 means hitting the torso instead.
In the real world I'd prolly not be ready to shoot until the person attacking me was a lot closer than 10 yards, more like three... So -1 for range instead of -4 and then 12 for the vitals, 10 for both rounds (13 and 11 get the torso) then 8 or less for the skull shot.
Probably more doable.
Actually, hitting the paper.
Harvey has hit the proverbial wall in becoming a better pistol shot.
She is also frustrated by me being so much better than her in a casually effortless way.
I don't even think I'm that good, I'm OK.
And it took many long years to get to it.
She was very depressed and down on herself so I said, "let's sit here on the stools behind the range on the other side of the glass."
We sat for a while watching the other people shoot and I say, "you're already better than half the people here."
And she is.
She's getting all her shots on paper. Nearly all of them in the -1 ring of a 75% sized IDPA target at 7 yards.
With an epic flinch while she jerks the trigger no less!
She tends to string vertically with a low bias.
We're working on it. But it doesn't help that she cannot feel her pinkie on her right hand and often cannot feel her ring finger thanks to something pinching in her right elbow.
Her eyes/glasses combination isn't helping. Our last trip to the eye doctor did NOT get us glasses we're happy with at all.
The center group is the M&P 2.0 9 Compact. The other two groups are the Shield Plus.
I then decided to so some Mozambique drills with the Compact.
While I keep hearing about how great the Gen 6 Glocks are, they'd have to really be great to replace my Smith.
For some reason I'm better with the Gen 1 Classic than the P80 Classic.
Two mags at 7 yards.
The factory Glock sights still suck for me trying to go fast on a 3x3 set of rings though. Lack of practice, I am sure.
The Gen 1 Classic's slide doesn't scrape the top of my hand like the P80 Classic. Odd.
Decided to try my luck at 10 yards instead of the customary 7.
With the S&W M&P 9 2.0 Compact, a double tap at each of the red circles, alternating as fast as I can. I'm better from the last time I tried this and didn't post the picture I took. Not a lot better, but most of the rounds are in the circles now.
With the Browning Hi-Power, mag dump at the throat circle. Even though it bites, I love my HP!
Harvey did recoil therapy and her groups are doing well.
Marv tested his new G21.3 and it's a shooter. He's gonna tinker with the trigger some. Almost 8 lb. is a bit too heavy even though it's crisp. I think I like the slim frame better than the chonky frame of my G21.2; not that I plan on replacing it.
The best trigger is the one you like and you shoot well.
That might not be the same trigger as the person standing next to you.
A light trigger will disturb your aim less. This is why some high-end rifles have set-triggers. This is why Savage made the Accutrigger® and just about everyone else followed suit.
The problem with a light trigger is it's easier to make the gun go off when you don't want it to.
This is why set triggers are usually very heavy until you pull the set (which is really just partially pulling the trigger to the very edge of the sear).
This is why the Accutrigger® has a Glock-like trigger block in the middle of the trigger.
This is why SIG did a, voluntary, recall and upgrade to the P320; because the trigger (not the trigger pull) was heavy enough to have enough inertia to set the gun off if it fell just right. A lighter trigger and improved firing pin block cured THAT source of unintended discharge.
So, go heavier?
Go too heavy and your disturbing your aim pulling against the sear. Accuracy suffers and you stop shooting the gun.
Most people have a sweet spot between too heavy and too light and it's a preference thing about how much.
The pistols I shoot best break in the mid 6-pound range, or less.
But the weight of the trigger pull isn't everything and when you've got your adrenaline going, you're not really going to notice. Do a 2-gun match and you'll see what I'm talking about. The people with the light target triggers often miss more because they're pulling way harder than they did on a square range. Until they get used to the experience, of course.
Other factors:
How long is the take-up? Does it even HAVE a take-up?
How gritty is the trigger?
Does it break at the same place every time?
Does it break at the same pull every time?
Is the break crisp or mushy?
I like a smooth take-up and a crisp break, though I don't think I know anyone who likes a mushy break.
With take-up, grit, creep, and mush... you can still have an atrocious, but light, trigger.
Without them, you can have an outstanding, but heavy, trigger.
The smooth, crisp, but heavy, trigger will tend to shoot better for most people.
Went shooting with The Lovely Harvey today.
We did rifles again and she's learning where to put the stock into her RoboShoulder® on her AR and her groups are about half what they were last time we took out her AR.
Huzzah!
I decided to bring Dottie to get the SPARC AR zeroed.
It seemed as if I'd done so at 25 yards, but it was massively high and left at 50 yards.
No problem, just dial the knobs a bit...
I then proceeded to send the group back and forth past the point of aim for another 20 rounds.
The adjustment on the SPARC is coarser than I thought and I was cranking the knobs too far.
The last ten rounds actually went where I wanted, but I was getting irritated and I vertically string when I'm irritated.
It's a known problem and I'm working on it. Most of the time, I'm successful.
Being free of the shackles of USGI issue cleaning gear makes owning an AR so much more fun.
Break-Free CLP and paper towels just doesn't do the job efficiently.
Yes, I need both a solvent AND a lubricant, but...
Oh, and I really prefer a boresnake to a cleaning rod.
I am, once again, watching the US suck hind tit at biathlon.
I can't even say it's because we suck at skiing because the penalties (misses) speak for themselves.
Hey, CMP, weren't you supposed to fix this?
Wait, CMP teaches high-power, which is scientifically designed to suck all the fun out of shooting and biathlon is fun. Not their wheelhouse.
Speaking of...
Why the Hell isn't XTC / High Power Rifle an Olympic sport?
For that matter, why don't any Olympic shooting sports use "real" guns?
The Lovely Harvey has overcome her fear of damaging her robo-shoulder and taken Kevina to the range!
Considering she has not had this carbine to the range in more than a
decade... Not too bad a group.
I got the M1956A2 zeroed with the new 5x scope too!
Gotta say, that Faxon barrel is pretty sweet.
