Went out to Wildcat Valley with Shootin' Buddy yesterday.
Shot falling plates and pepper poppers with the 9mm Para and a loaner Ruger MkII 22/45. I was very happy with how much my weak hand shooting has improved since I started really paying attention to it last summer. Truth be told, I wouldn't have been able to clear a plate rack in a timely fashion shooting a service caliber handgun weak hand only, just this time last year.
I ran a mag through my carry gun, the Springer Pro, while I was there. It's depressing to see how much better I shoot the Para right now than the Springfield; the ammo drought has put a big dent in my trigger time with .45 and the two guns don't shoot exactly the same. It was enough to make me seriously consider toting the Para (Right now somewhere, Gunsmith Bob read that and shook his head and said "Sometimes I just don't know who you are." :D ) until I get current on the Professional again at the Awerbuck course next month.
Then we went out to the steel critter range, where I got to play with a 4" S&W Model 63 (that's a stainless Kit Gun .22 revolver) and a pair of nice rifles: a scoped T-Bolt and an old Marlin 39A.
I was good on chickens with the Kit Gun double action. However, it had splinter stocks and I've gotten really used to having the space behind the trigger guard filled in, so I couln't hit the piggies DA with the little J-frame no matter how hard I tried, and I won't shoot a Smith single-action, because that way lies madness. It was annoying, because I know it was something to do with my grip mechanics; I couldn't figure the correct sight hold to save my life. I'd be shooting just over, kicking up puffs of dust from behind the piggy, but when I'd lower the sight, I'd hit the steel rack they were on. I usually bat above .500 with a 6" Model 17 on the pigs, shooting DA offhand, so I gave up on the Kit Gun and went to long guns.
With the rifles, I was actually doing better on the turkeys with the iron-sighted lever gun than with the scoped straight-pull. I think the scope gave me a tendency to rush shots, thinking of it as a "sure thing". Also, the turkeys let me know that it's time to give serious thought to going to see the eye doctor. I shot some rams with the T-Bolt. They weren't impressed.
I didn't remember to put a flea collar around my boot. Luckily I only got about a half-dozen bites per ankle and got hydrocortisone on them as soon as I got home, and they feel okay. (Last time I went 24 hours, and by the time I got any ointment on them, ther were angry red circular welts over a quarter inch across with bright yellow centers. My legs looked like they were being flown by the Qatari air force.)
I think I may go play Range Roulette and see if Iggle Crick is open this morning.
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8 comments:
Sounds like fun. I emerged from my sulk long enough to go to Atlanta and shoot with a new toy or two. About time I'd say.
Is the range too big to fog down with Raid Yard Guard, Tam? Alternatively, has anyone written the range managment and suggested that they run a broadcast spreader full of Sevin dust out there to take care of the problem?
Wildcat Valey is vast. However, I emerged chiggarless from my only (so far) sojourn there. (Maybe the bugs don't like my taste). I was on the plate range and the shortest high-power rifle range (poodleshooter checkout) so I'm thinkin' wherever they were Pepper-poppering might be the Grand Lodge Of Bitey-ness.
(vw: slithor. Noooo. No slithoring creatures on the range, please! "Lord Greystoke, that impertinent vine just stuck out its tongue at me.")
I douse my ankles/socks/shoes liberally with OFF! and the chiggers stay away.
The stuff stinks but it's much preferable to chigger bites! ACK!
Bob: It's a club run organization and considering all the venues they offer probably one of the best three shooting ranges in the state.
As for the chiggers, well, Bobbi said it best as they affect some and then leave others alone. Maybe some of us are too sweet or perhaps too sour for their taste.
All The Best,
Frank W. James
"...and I won't shoot a Smith single-action,..."
Words to warm the heart of an old PPC shooter. Keep up the good snark!
the Awerbuck course I'm considering it, Just gotta make the final decision, I contacted them & they said I could do level 2. But still it's been a rough year on the old wallet.
Assuming a standard silhouette setup with pigs at 50 yards, hitting .500 with a double action trigger is pretty good. Just about everyone will shoot single action in silhouette. Out to 100 yards with rams, there's very very little room for even the slightest mistake with mechanics.
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