Some range time today.

I met up with my friend Ken and his wife Sam at the range today.  I just had my Rossi 461 .357 Magnum and about 100 rounds of Tula 158 gr FMJ .357 Magnum ammo plus 50 rounds of Magtech 158 gr JSP .38 Special and a few other odds and ends.

My Rossi does NOT like the Tula AT ALL.

Extraction is extremely difficult, and out of my 3" Rossi, recoil is somewhat painful.  It also shoots about 4 inches high at 21 feet.  Whereas the Magtech 158 gr JSP's shoot to point of aim and are a joy to shoot.

I tried some of my old Speer Lawman 110 gr JHP .357 Magnum, and while recoil was brisk, and it was LOUD, it didn't feel as punishing as the Tula and also shot to point of aim.

Ken let me shoot his Colt Mustang .380, and while it was very accurate even on rapid fire, I kept shooting a little low with it, probably because of my ape hands and I was gripping it too hard when my pinkie finger slipped under the magazine baseplate.

With his wife Sam's, Ruger LCP, which was almost exactly like my mom's Kel-Tec P-32, I did the same thing, shooting about 2 inches low at 21 feet.  And rapid fire on the LCP doesn't punish the outside of the knuckle of my trigger finger like my mom's P-32 does.

Ken then decided to let me try some of the ammo he runs through his 2.5 inch snubbie.


A Remington 158 gr JHP .357 Mag and a Federal 158 gr JSP .357 Mag.

OUCH!

Both shot to P.O.A. but the Federal recoil was worse than the Tula, except the brass cased Federal extracted properly.

And both were MUCH louder than the Tula.

Just for fun, I stuck a Shoot and See target over the B-27 I was using and went back to the bench at 75 feet to see how accurate I could be with the Rossi.

Taking my time and holding the front sight about 6 inches below the stick on, remember the Tula shoots high, I could put 5 out of 6 Tula rounds about 3 inches below the bull and about an inch to the left.

Using the Magtech, holding even with the bull, I got 3 rounds about 3 inches to the right and an inch or two above the bull in about a 2-3 inch group.  The B-27 was covered in holes already so I don't know what my other 3 rounds did, but they were probably the other 2-3 inch group just about an inch off the shoot and see to the right of and equal with the bull.  Remember this is at 75 feet with a 3" revolver.

Ken, Sam and I worked on Sam's grip, she is new to the LCP, her regular pistol is a Glock G19 with fiber optic sights. with which she can put 15 rounds on a 4-5 inch group at 21 feet, but the grip size and shape of the LCP  plus the sights, are something she still hasn't gotten used to.  Add to that, she is left handed but Right Eye Dominant.  So shooting with her right hand is a little difficult for her.

And Ken and I also talked to another shooter on the range who was shooting his new to him Gen 4 Glock 17, to get ready for the CCW class and qualification.  He was worried about the time factor involved and it was affecting his accuracy.

Ken and I both told him the trick.  Take your time in a hurry.

Which sounds like a misnomer or non sequitur, but if you think about it, it does make sense.

The largest issue with shooting a handgun fast is accuracy.  You can jerk the trigger until you reach slide lock, but that doesn't put your rounds in the 10 ring.  So to get faster, you have to be more accurate.  To get accurate, you have to have proper CONTROL of your pistol.

If you limp wrist it or hold it incorrectly, you are not going to get rounds where you need them to go.  You have to have a proper firm grip, proper sight alignment, proper presentation towards the target, and proper trigger control.  Once you have all of those for each and every shot, you will get better accuracy.  And with that control and accuracy, you will get increased speed.

As we wound down our shooting, we just sat there on the bench seats and talked about various loads and firearms.  Ken had a surprise for me when he presented me with a midsized box that weighed about 25 lbs, which was full of old wheel weights, I'm going to have fun sorting through them to get rid of the Zinc and Iron weights, but I already have a idea about a 180 gr, gas checked, hard cast, SWC to see if I can get a mold.

Finally a little bit before the range closed, we loaded up and headed out.  They went to go get some crawdads for dinner, me, I came home to get off of my feet and to allow my spine to stretch out and realign itself.

So I had a pretty good day today.  I got my big blue car hauler trailer moved to where the boys and I can fix it, I got some shooting  with some friends and my son Sprog #6 is making spaghetti for tonight's dinner.

How was your weekend?