So, I've updated the gear a bit.
1911 platform: I have 2 Wilson and 2 ACT 8rd magazines, and I'm going to test both of them to see which performs best in both my 1911's. Ordered a quad mag carrier from Blade-Tech, should arrive this week or next. Taking forever to get here. Once a mag platform is chosen, I'll pick up half a dozen of that type. Personally, I'm rooting for the ACT magazines. They're half the price of the Wilsons. The 1991 has the Ed Brown safety installed. I did it myself and it works great. Very educational experience. Still need to get off my duff and begin experimenting with making 1911 grips. I need some wood grips, cut to accomodate the ambi safety notch on the right side.
.44 Redhawk: Got the correct moonclips from TK Custom, but realized after my first shoot that I only have 60 rounds staged up in my 10 moonclips. I probably should have about 150 staged up in my range bag, ready to go. I don't want to moon/demoon between stages. Gonna have to order another 20 moonclips.
Smith K-frame: Got the gun, been out shooting it, really like it. Ordered a kydex holster from Blade-Tech for it, should arrive with the quad mag carrier. Have 3 HKS-10 speedloaders as well as an Uncle Mike's dual speedloader carrier, but I probably need at least 2 more, probably 3 more. Gonna familiarize more with this gun and let the Redhawk gather dust in the safe until I'm a deadeye with DA .38 shooting and can rapidly operate the speedloaders.
CZ-75: Up to 5 magazines how, and also ordered a dual mag carrier from Blade-Tech along with the other stuff. However: I only have my IWB holster for this gun. Need a decent OWB holster. I'll keep working the 1911 and K-frame until then.
And... I drank the blue kool-aid. Got a Dillon Square Deal B. I still refuse to run a progressive for rifle rounds, but if I'm gonna shoot 100+ rounds a week from handgun, then I can't replenish that supply on a single stage. Ain't gonna happen. I don't have the time at 50-75 rounds per hour. Once all my gear is "tested" and approved functional, I intend to predominantly run the CZ-75 since 9mm cast bullets are by far cheaper than anything else I shoot, followed by .38 boolits. I've got SDB dies for .45acp, 9mm and .38/.357.
So, all my half-completed platforms are getting closer to being complete.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
1st Shooting Match - "Tuesday Night Steel"
I went to Tuesday Night Steel at the Usery Pass shooting range. Wow, was that awesome. There are some amazingly talented shooters there. I'm going to learn a LOT from these guys.
I'm having gear-drama in regards to my 3 "best" guns for pistol competitions, though.
First up, a CZ-75. This 9mm handgun is great and I shoot well with it, but I only have 3 magazines and 2 separate single magazine pouches. I need a couple more mags and more mag carriers. So I couldn't run it for my first time out. That's okay... I wasn't planning to anyways. Fully equipping this gun can wait until next spring.
I intended to run my custom 4" .44 Redhawk, cut for moonclips. Only problem was the moonclips that came in the mail this week were cut incorrectly for a Ruger extractor star. TK Custom is sending me the right clips... but it wasn't in time for this week. I also didn't have a holster really suitable to this type of competition. I don't go for "race" holsters as a rule, but my leather holster for this gun is too high and tight and the nylon one I have has a retention strap that would slow me down quite a bit. I'm waiting for a custom kydex one to be finished, which I should be able to pick up tomorrow.
My other gun I was considering running is a Colt 1991 full sized .45. But, it has a standard right handed safety and I'm one of those gawd-awful southpaws. I've been trying to get an ambidextrous safety from Midway with no success. They've sent me two Colt 1911 ambidextrous extended thumb safeties so far...at least the wrapper says so. The part in the bag is a right side only safety. So, no full sized Colt. Finally changed the order to an Ed Brown safety and we'll see if that gets me the right type of part. I think Midway has an inventory bug in regards to the Colt ambi safety.
That really only left my lightweight Colt Commander to run. It's a nice and accurate gun, but competitions are easier to be competitive if your gun is heavier and comes down from recoil quickly. I sorted through my magazines and found I had six that I considered reliable enough: 2 factory Colt 8rd, 2 ACT 8rd, and 2 ACT 7rd magazines.
The course of fire required 96 hits over 4 different bays. The fastest guys were in the 46 second range! I don't know what their hit rate was, but you can never miss fast enough to win... so I guess it's pretty high. I ran the course and had malfunction drama from my Colt magazines (but the ACT's all ran fine). Failure to lock the slide back mostly, but also one stovepipe and one failure to strip a round from the mag at all. I don't know exactly what my round count was that I shot... somewhere around 125.
So: I geared up with a Fobus paddle holster for my Commander, a Fobus 2-mag carrier, and pockets full of extra mags. Ran each of the four courses and ended up with a total time of 208.46. I'm pretty happy with that, considering everything.
I have more gear on the way to better-equip myself for this type of competition without going overboard.... the proper ambi safety for the full sized 1911, extra mag carriers, things like that. Some replacement springs for the Colt malfunctioning magazines. Probably next year I'll replace all my magazines in one batch for matching ACT's with bumper pads.
I'm having gear-drama in regards to my 3 "best" guns for pistol competitions, though.
First up, a CZ-75. This 9mm handgun is great and I shoot well with it, but I only have 3 magazines and 2 separate single magazine pouches. I need a couple more mags and more mag carriers. So I couldn't run it for my first time out. That's okay... I wasn't planning to anyways. Fully equipping this gun can wait until next spring.
I intended to run my custom 4" .44 Redhawk, cut for moonclips. Only problem was the moonclips that came in the mail this week were cut incorrectly for a Ruger extractor star. TK Custom is sending me the right clips... but it wasn't in time for this week. I also didn't have a holster really suitable to this type of competition. I don't go for "race" holsters as a rule, but my leather holster for this gun is too high and tight and the nylon one I have has a retention strap that would slow me down quite a bit. I'm waiting for a custom kydex one to be finished, which I should be able to pick up tomorrow.
My other gun I was considering running is a Colt 1991 full sized .45. But, it has a standard right handed safety and I'm one of those gawd-awful southpaws. I've been trying to get an ambidextrous safety from Midway with no success. They've sent me two Colt 1911 ambidextrous extended thumb safeties so far...at least the wrapper says so. The part in the bag is a right side only safety. So, no full sized Colt. Finally changed the order to an Ed Brown safety and we'll see if that gets me the right type of part. I think Midway has an inventory bug in regards to the Colt ambi safety.
That really only left my lightweight Colt Commander to run. It's a nice and accurate gun, but competitions are easier to be competitive if your gun is heavier and comes down from recoil quickly. I sorted through my magazines and found I had six that I considered reliable enough: 2 factory Colt 8rd, 2 ACT 8rd, and 2 ACT 7rd magazines.
The course of fire required 96 hits over 4 different bays. The fastest guys were in the 46 second range! I don't know what their hit rate was, but you can never miss fast enough to win... so I guess it's pretty high. I ran the course and had malfunction drama from my Colt magazines (but the ACT's all ran fine). Failure to lock the slide back mostly, but also one stovepipe and one failure to strip a round from the mag at all. I don't know exactly what my round count was that I shot... somewhere around 125.
So: I geared up with a Fobus paddle holster for my Commander, a Fobus 2-mag carrier, and pockets full of extra mags. Ran each of the four courses and ended up with a total time of 208.46. I'm pretty happy with that, considering everything.
I have more gear on the way to better-equip myself for this type of competition without going overboard.... the proper ambi safety for the full sized 1911, extra mag carriers, things like that. Some replacement springs for the Colt malfunctioning magazines. Probably next year I'll replace all my magazines in one batch for matching ACT's with bumper pads.
Friday, October 30, 2009
J.D. Hayworth
Let me preface this with the declaration that I like most of JD's political stance...
But I can't stand his voice or his style of radio programming.
Biggest gripes:
#1 - Open line Friday. Thank God he finally got rid of this. "Open lines" is the laziest form of talk radio possible. His particular version of it encouraged telephone "actors" to call up with skits and corny voices, and they even became regulars. Devolved into a not-funny parody of 1940's era Pappy O'Daniel radio.
#2 - Weenie of the Week. His theme song for this sucks and makes me turn the volume down on the radio. His attempt at clean language insults isn't even childish... it's just lame. JD: Either get as dirty as the FCC will allow you, or attack from the heights of intelligence rather than from the mediocrity of this skit.
JD, please put McCain out of the Senate and get off of the air waves.
But I can't stand his voice or his style of radio programming.
Biggest gripes:
#1 - Open line Friday. Thank God he finally got rid of this. "Open lines" is the laziest form of talk radio possible. His particular version of it encouraged telephone "actors" to call up with skits and corny voices, and they even became regulars. Devolved into a not-funny parody of 1940's era Pappy O'Daniel radio.
#2 - Weenie of the Week. His theme song for this sucks and makes me turn the volume down on the radio. His attempt at clean language insults isn't even childish... it's just lame. JD: Either get as dirty as the FCC will allow you, or attack from the heights of intelligence rather than from the mediocrity of this skit.
JD, please put McCain out of the Senate and get off of the air waves.
The only S&W's I own
I own two Smith and Wesson revolvers.
Actually, for full disclosure, I'm not sure if I really own the second one yet.
The first one and solidly in my possession is a 2008 S&W model 642-1 snubnose .38 revolver. Double-action only, lightweight aluminum frame, no internal lock system. I refuse to buy any S&W revolver with a lock installed in it.
The second revolver is a S&W model 65 K-frame in .357 magnum. It was shipped to my gun dealer of choice this week and I'm picking it up on Saturday. I've paid for it, but I haven't taken possession of it or undergone the mandatory NICS check since it is an interstate purchase yet. I have a CCW permit so I'm not likely to have my NICS check denied... What do you think? Is it "mine" at this point?
Looking forward to this K-frame. I'm going to be using it for my earlier stated uses in this post. Lots of .38 to put downrange. Last night I scrounged up all my .38 brass I could find. Definitely don't have as much of it as I wish I had... maybe 500-600 pieces total. Historically I've just kind of walked on by .38 brass on the ground, looking for .357 to feed my SP-101. Wish I picked up those thousands of cases over the years. Well, I can change that from here on out.
Going to tuesday night steel at the Usery Pass range this week. Gonna either take the 4" moonclipped redhawk with moonclipped specials, or this K-frame with .38's and speedloaders, depending on which I shoot better this weekend out plinking at the range. Probably the redhawk.
I sure wish someone still made a K-frame .357 sized gun today. Dan Wesson M15, Smith K-frames, Colt Troopers, Ruger "sixes." I don't like L-frames and I don't like locks. The GP series from Ruger is too big. Colt and DW are gone. Sigh.
Actually, for full disclosure, I'm not sure if I really own the second one yet.
The first one and solidly in my possession is a 2008 S&W model 642-1 snubnose .38 revolver. Double-action only, lightweight aluminum frame, no internal lock system. I refuse to buy any S&W revolver with a lock installed in it.
The second revolver is a S&W model 65 K-frame in .357 magnum. It was shipped to my gun dealer of choice this week and I'm picking it up on Saturday. I've paid for it, but I haven't taken possession of it or undergone the mandatory NICS check since it is an interstate purchase yet. I have a CCW permit so I'm not likely to have my NICS check denied... What do you think? Is it "mine" at this point?
Looking forward to this K-frame. I'm going to be using it for my earlier stated uses in this post. Lots of .38 to put downrange. Last night I scrounged up all my .38 brass I could find. Definitely don't have as much of it as I wish I had... maybe 500-600 pieces total. Historically I've just kind of walked on by .38 brass on the ground, looking for .357 to feed my SP-101. Wish I picked up those thousands of cases over the years. Well, I can change that from here on out.
Going to tuesday night steel at the Usery Pass range this week. Gonna either take the 4" moonclipped redhawk with moonclipped specials, or this K-frame with .38's and speedloaders, depending on which I shoot better this weekend out plinking at the range. Probably the redhawk.
I sure wish someone still made a K-frame .357 sized gun today. Dan Wesson M15, Smith K-frames, Colt Troopers, Ruger "sixes." I don't like L-frames and I don't like locks. The GP series from Ruger is too big. Colt and DW are gone. Sigh.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Jim Deakin: A Freakin Idiot
I'm all for ousting McCain in 2010. RINOs suck. McCain, despite his service in Vietnam, doesn't have any fight in him. And he's an illegal alien sympathizer. He's also interested in working with "my friends" across this aisle to pass a Health Care bill. Since I believe in deregulation of (just about) everything, I don't trust McCain and his "friends" to increase the amount they leave me the heck alone.
I've been very interested in learning more about McCain's primary challengers as a result of this.
First up: Chris Simcox. Founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, he's been embroiled in more scandal than you can shake a stick at. Huge dust-up with Jim Gilchrist over Minuteman tactics and future of the organization resulting in a split in memberships and organizations. Restraining order against him by his ex-wife and son. Embezzlement of MCDC fence funds (allegedly). Getting in bed with Deiner Consulting and other DC Beltway insiders, allowing them to tap into the finances of the volunteer driven MCDC. A financial efficiency rating of about 8%, last I heard, after all of that. Just abysmal financial management. Another dust-up with the Arizona MCDC core group resulting in another fracture of the Minuteman coalition and the creation of Patriot's Border Alliance by the dissenters. Simcox is a schmuck.
Next up, and the topic of this blog post for today: Jim Deakin.
I was initially excited over this guy... his page sounded good.
Then one day, Stacey O'Connell (formerly of the MCDC, PBA, and Phoenix City Council) sent me this email, part of Deakin's mass mailing strategy to get his name out to more folks:
I have a HUGE issue with this statement: Jon is giving $200 Million in borrowed tax dollars to prosecutors to investigate and target everyday Americans who are down on their luck and who resort to stripping their homes prior to foreclosure.
Jim, you just lost my vote. You've revealed your lack of moral core, populist sympathies and unsuitability for the office of Senator.
A Senator must be a man above the fray who is armed with reason rather than bribes to hand out in his pocket, and a proponent of the Law before mob rule. A Defender of the Republic rather than a promulgator of Democracy. We've all heard Ben Franklin's famous saying, right? Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for dinner. A Republic is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Deakin revealed himself here, hoping to garner the votes of the types of low-lifes that once it becomes apparent they cannot make their mortgage payments, lower their behavior to the point of petty vandalism.
Ask yourself: If you are about to lose your home, is it your right to vandalize the property by stripping copper wiring and piping from it for salvage? How about rolling up the sod from the backyard and selling it? Perhaps you could disassemble the drywall, shingles and lumber to sell to another home builder? Or, maybe, you can just have a house moving company pick up the house and move it elsewhere in one big chunk?
What sympathy could anyone possibly have for thieves? Mortgages exist as they do under the assumption that both sides act with honor. When the borrower attempts to steal valuable infrastructure from the house upon default, the value of the house drops so that the lender cannot recoup their losses. The result is an increase in mortgage costs for everyone. What other industries do we see behaving like this?
Health Care. Auto Insurance. Retail, as a result of shoplifting.
Get the idea? It's another case of self-sufficient people (healthy people in the case of health care, safe drivers in the case of auto insurance, honest purchasers in the case of retail, and responsible borrowers in the case of home loans) being forced to bail out the dregs of society who refuse to accept responsibility for themselves. The twinky-munching fatsos in the electric scooter at WalMart that buys nothing but junk food with his food stamps and complains of being "big boned" rather than fat-headed when he goes in for a heart attack on my dime. The texting idiot driving in one of the lanes beside you, on his third car this year. The shoplifter. And now the mortgage defaulting vandal.
So, I say again: While I give brief acknowledgment to Deakin for at least discerning the difference between state and federal law enforcment budgets and priorities... Deakin did more than that. He revealed deliberate sympathy for petty vandals.
I hope Terry Goddard puts every one of Deakin's apparent voter base behind bars.
I've been very interested in learning more about McCain's primary challengers as a result of this.
First up: Chris Simcox. Founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, he's been embroiled in more scandal than you can shake a stick at. Huge dust-up with Jim Gilchrist over Minuteman tactics and future of the organization resulting in a split in memberships and organizations. Restraining order against him by his ex-wife and son. Embezzlement of MCDC fence funds (allegedly). Getting in bed with Deiner Consulting and other DC Beltway insiders, allowing them to tap into the finances of the volunteer driven MCDC. A financial efficiency rating of about 8%, last I heard, after all of that. Just abysmal financial management. Another dust-up with the Arizona MCDC core group resulting in another fracture of the Minuteman coalition and the creation of Patriot's Border Alliance by the dissenters. Simcox is a schmuck.
Next up, and the topic of this blog post for today: Jim Deakin.
I was initially excited over this guy... his page sounded good.
Then one day, Stacey O'Connell (formerly of the MCDC, PBA, and Phoenix City Council) sent me this email, part of Deakin's mass mailing strategy to get his name out to more folks:
While I do give Deakin minor approval for discerning between federal and state law enforcement and revenue streams...Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., is teaming with Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to back the Fighting Real Estate Fraud Act of 2009.
Apparently Jon Kyl has not learned that reaching across the aisle to Democrats is what will cost John McCain the election to Jim Deakin. Jon is giving $200 Million in borrowed tax dollars to prosecutors to investigate and target everyday Americans who are down on their luck and who resort to stripping their homes prior to foreclosure.
HEY JON, BANKS ALREADY RECEIVED HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS. IF THEY CAN NOT REPLACE A FEW TOILETS AND LIGHT FIXTURES THEN THEY SHOULD GO OUT OF BUSINESS. FAILED BANK MANAGERS SHOULD NOT GET ANOTHER BAIL OUT FROM THE TAX PAYERS.
HEY JON, IT IS NOT IN YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY TO GIVE MY TAX DOLLARS TO STATE PROSECUTORS.
Maybe John will challenge Jon in the 2012 Senatorial race?
Whoever reads the US Constitution first should win.
I have a HUGE issue with this statement: Jon is giving $200 Million in borrowed tax dollars to prosecutors to investigate and target everyday Americans who are down on their luck and who resort to stripping their homes prior to foreclosure.
Jim, you just lost my vote. You've revealed your lack of moral core, populist sympathies and unsuitability for the office of Senator.
A Senator must be a man above the fray who is armed with reason rather than bribes to hand out in his pocket, and a proponent of the Law before mob rule. A Defender of the Republic rather than a promulgator of Democracy. We've all heard Ben Franklin's famous saying, right? Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what to eat for dinner. A Republic is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Deakin revealed himself here, hoping to garner the votes of the types of low-lifes that once it becomes apparent they cannot make their mortgage payments, lower their behavior to the point of petty vandalism.
Ask yourself: If you are about to lose your home, is it your right to vandalize the property by stripping copper wiring and piping from it for salvage? How about rolling up the sod from the backyard and selling it? Perhaps you could disassemble the drywall, shingles and lumber to sell to another home builder? Or, maybe, you can just have a house moving company pick up the house and move it elsewhere in one big chunk?
What sympathy could anyone possibly have for thieves? Mortgages exist as they do under the assumption that both sides act with honor. When the borrower attempts to steal valuable infrastructure from the house upon default, the value of the house drops so that the lender cannot recoup their losses. The result is an increase in mortgage costs for everyone. What other industries do we see behaving like this?
Health Care. Auto Insurance. Retail, as a result of shoplifting.
Get the idea? It's another case of self-sufficient people (healthy people in the case of health care, safe drivers in the case of auto insurance, honest purchasers in the case of retail, and responsible borrowers in the case of home loans) being forced to bail out the dregs of society who refuse to accept responsibility for themselves. The twinky-munching fatsos in the electric scooter at WalMart that buys nothing but junk food with his food stamps and complains of being "big boned" rather than fat-headed when he goes in for a heart attack on my dime. The texting idiot driving in one of the lanes beside you, on his third car this year. The shoplifter. And now the mortgage defaulting vandal.
So, I say again: While I give brief acknowledgment to Deakin for at least discerning the difference between state and federal law enforcment budgets and priorities... Deakin did more than that. He revealed deliberate sympathy for petty vandals.
I hope Terry Goddard puts every one of Deakin's apparent voter base behind bars.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Double Action Revolver: Week 1
So, it's been forever since I shot any of my DA revolvers. Ever since I got my Colt Lightweight Commander .45 and my CZ-75, the allure of the wheelgun has just been less potent.
Headed out in the desert with the following objectives. Some of them are woefully behind the times and inappropriate: Should have been done months ago, but set on the wayside until today.
The shameful objectives include function checks on both of my Redhawk revolvers. The older 5.5" blued one has had a lot of modification done to it: Fiber optic front sight, V-notch rear sight blade, lightened hammer spring installed. Who knew if it would even function, or shoot to point of aim? All this was done over a year ago, and I hadn't put a single round through it in that time. The newer 4" stainless Redhawk was heavily customized from this summer up until September: bead-blasted finish, chromed cylinder turn line, lightened hammer spring, lightened trigger return spring, optimized trigger for double-action shooting, fiber optic front sight, and the big one: cylinder cut for .44 moon clips.
Aside from the health checkup on my pet wheelies, I had these 5 skills to begin working on:
1. 1-handed DA target shooting.
2. 1-handed DA point-shooting.
3. 1-handed SA target shooting.
4. 2-handed SA target shooting.
5. 2-handed DA defensive shooting.
My tools for skill development include a Taurus model 94 5" .22 revolver, a Ruger SP-101 3" .357 revolver and the above mentioned Redhawks.
I began with the 1-handed DA target shooting with the .22. I set out a target at approximately 20 feet and put on my shooting glasses: the right eye is taped on these glasses as I am trying to get my left eye to become my dominant shooting eye (since I shoot left handed). My target was a bull circle about 2 inches across, and I didn't get a single shot inside that bull. Predominantly high and right, but some went high and left, too. I noticed during trigger pull that I had a tendency to not put tension on the grip with my pinky, which caused the front sight to climb during trigger break. I practiced dry-firing with the spent casings in the gun for a bit and reloaded, targeting a fresh target on the paper each time. I was now getting about 1/3 or 1/2 of each cylinder into the bulls, and the remainder were around the upper perimeter of each target, no more than 1-2 inches from the edge of the bull. I was happy with that, but this Taurus was a dog of a gun. The DA pull was horrific on it even with the lighter spring I had put in it.
My shoulder was starting to get stiff from the 1-handed target shooting, so I switched to some point-shooting for a bit. I found an old bottle out in the desert and from 15 feet fired at it on the ground, holding the revolver at my hip. The goal was to fire rapidly but not out of control, about 3 shots per second or so, going for an instinctual alignment of the gun with the target in my eyes, not unlike pointing at it with my hand. My first two shots hit just in front and just behind the bottle, missing by inches and the third shot sent it flying. I repeated this several times, bringing the gun back into the holster between sets. Draw, present, shoot: fire until the bottle is moved. With the Taurus .22, it was never the first shot but never more than 5 before I found my mark. More practice would be required.
I switched over to my SP-101. I was shooting some old ammo I had loaded up years ago... plated .38 reloads pushed by a light charge of Titegroup powder. Definitely not +p material, and not even knocking on the door of max standard .38 loads. Very soft stuff. I started in with the 1-handed DA target shooting.
I did extremely poorly with the little SP. The trigger pull was so drastically different from the Taurus. Though a lighter spring than the rimfire revolver needed, it stacked differently and increased tension as I squeezed. I gave it a good try, but couldn't find a rhythm with that gun with this drill. After 40 or so rounds, I gave up and found myself doing 2-handed SA shooting. I asked myself the point of this with gallery .38 loads and a short-barreled gun: I'm not likely to hunt with the SP-101 and especially not with light .38's. I was practicing nothing, so I put the gun away and switched to the next one.
This was the 5.5" Redhawk. I tended to carry this gun on hiking or hunting trips, in a Hunter leather holster and cartridge belt, and the 25 cartridges in this belt had been there for about 2 years. They were starting to build some tacky residue from being in leather loops too long. A goal for this rig is to locate some nickel-plated .44 magnum cartridges so the tackiness is less of an issue for long term storage. For today, however, I intended to shoot off these cartridges and reload the belt with fresh ammo.
I shot the gun 12 times in single action two handed, and from 25 feet. It hit about 4 inches high at 25 feet, even dialing the rear sight all the way down. The load was a 240gr lead semiwadcutter pushed by 16 grains of AA #7 powder. This is my standard load. It grouped consistently so my sights aren't loose or anything, but apparently either the rear V-notch blade is taller than the stock square notch, or the front fiber optic blade is shorter than the stock front sight. I'm going to need to do some range testing with this load, as I love how it shoots from both my Redhawks and it's my standard load... find out where the load comes back "down" to intersect with my sights, and what the peak height it reaches is, and where? I shot the remaining cartridges in the belt double-action two handed: I'm not ready for .44 magnum recoil in a one-handed grip yet.
Finally, I moved on to my pet gun: The customized 4" Redhawk. I started out with some 200gr lead roundnose .44 special loads. I shot six rounds single action, seated on the ground, with elbows braced against my knees, to confirm zero at 25 feet. Spot-on. I did do some 1-handed target work with this gun, using the .44 specials. Nothing to write home about. I found the gun had a tendency to twist in my hand slightly from the recoil, and my shots tended to move high and right from this. The mating of the grip backstrap to the webbing of my hand was critical to avoid this. Even slight variations would send the bullet in wildly different directions. After a dozen rounds like this, I moved on to DA two-handed shooting: Draw, fire 3 rounds, crouch and fire 3 rounds, get off the X and move sideways while reloading, keep moving and fire six more.
An aside: I don't have any spare moonclips for the gun yet, so I'm using HKS Speedloaders. These rely on gravity to drop the cartridges into the chambers. I found that after a handful of lead rounds downrange, gravity couldn't overcome the gunk that provided friction. I had to assist some of the cartridges to seat. This won't be an issue with moonclips, as a moonclip can be seated from the center with mild assistance from a single digit of the shooter.
The drill went well and exposed a weakness of my revolver when it comes to using speedloaders. I'll be ordering moonclip tools in the next couple weeks. Marksmanship was acceptable for defensive standards: Everything was getting inside of a 6" circle while firing, crouching, or moving sideways. Of course, the target was stationary. :-) Ken at Wild West Guns did a fantastic job on the DA trigger of this sixgun.
For grins and giggles I put a dozen full magnum loads downrange at about 50 feet, seated on the ground, single action. two handed. All in the bull and with touching circles. Probably a 1.5" group or so. Seems like the 4" is the only one cleared to go hike with me, until the 5.5" one gets its sights regulated back to normal.
Things I've realized:
1. I've been spoiled by 1911's and single action CZ's.
2. My trigger finger has the beginnings of a blister. I don't shoot often enough. Gotta fix this.
3. My left wrist is weak, as are the muscles responsible for holding that arm up. Push-ups and light weightlifting should help that, along with dryfire practice.
4. I trust the 4" Redhawk to carry as a daily defensive piece.
Headed out in the desert with the following objectives. Some of them are woefully behind the times and inappropriate: Should have been done months ago, but set on the wayside until today.
The shameful objectives include function checks on both of my Redhawk revolvers. The older 5.5" blued one has had a lot of modification done to it: Fiber optic front sight, V-notch rear sight blade, lightened hammer spring installed. Who knew if it would even function, or shoot to point of aim? All this was done over a year ago, and I hadn't put a single round through it in that time. The newer 4" stainless Redhawk was heavily customized from this summer up until September: bead-blasted finish, chromed cylinder turn line, lightened hammer spring, lightened trigger return spring, optimized trigger for double-action shooting, fiber optic front sight, and the big one: cylinder cut for .44 moon clips.
Aside from the health checkup on my pet wheelies, I had these 5 skills to begin working on:
1. 1-handed DA target shooting.
2. 1-handed DA point-shooting.
3. 1-handed SA target shooting.
4. 2-handed SA target shooting.
5. 2-handed DA defensive shooting.
My tools for skill development include a Taurus model 94 5" .22 revolver, a Ruger SP-101 3" .357 revolver and the above mentioned Redhawks.
I began with the 1-handed DA target shooting with the .22. I set out a target at approximately 20 feet and put on my shooting glasses: the right eye is taped on these glasses as I am trying to get my left eye to become my dominant shooting eye (since I shoot left handed). My target was a bull circle about 2 inches across, and I didn't get a single shot inside that bull. Predominantly high and right, but some went high and left, too. I noticed during trigger pull that I had a tendency to not put tension on the grip with my pinky, which caused the front sight to climb during trigger break. I practiced dry-firing with the spent casings in the gun for a bit and reloaded, targeting a fresh target on the paper each time. I was now getting about 1/3 or 1/2 of each cylinder into the bulls, and the remainder were around the upper perimeter of each target, no more than 1-2 inches from the edge of the bull. I was happy with that, but this Taurus was a dog of a gun. The DA pull was horrific on it even with the lighter spring I had put in it.
My shoulder was starting to get stiff from the 1-handed target shooting, so I switched to some point-shooting for a bit. I found an old bottle out in the desert and from 15 feet fired at it on the ground, holding the revolver at my hip. The goal was to fire rapidly but not out of control, about 3 shots per second or so, going for an instinctual alignment of the gun with the target in my eyes, not unlike pointing at it with my hand. My first two shots hit just in front and just behind the bottle, missing by inches and the third shot sent it flying. I repeated this several times, bringing the gun back into the holster between sets. Draw, present, shoot: fire until the bottle is moved. With the Taurus .22, it was never the first shot but never more than 5 before I found my mark. More practice would be required.
I switched over to my SP-101. I was shooting some old ammo I had loaded up years ago... plated .38 reloads pushed by a light charge of Titegroup powder. Definitely not +p material, and not even knocking on the door of max standard .38 loads. Very soft stuff. I started in with the 1-handed DA target shooting.
I did extremely poorly with the little SP. The trigger pull was so drastically different from the Taurus. Though a lighter spring than the rimfire revolver needed, it stacked differently and increased tension as I squeezed. I gave it a good try, but couldn't find a rhythm with that gun with this drill. After 40 or so rounds, I gave up and found myself doing 2-handed SA shooting. I asked myself the point of this with gallery .38 loads and a short-barreled gun: I'm not likely to hunt with the SP-101 and especially not with light .38's. I was practicing nothing, so I put the gun away and switched to the next one.
This was the 5.5" Redhawk. I tended to carry this gun on hiking or hunting trips, in a Hunter leather holster and cartridge belt, and the 25 cartridges in this belt had been there for about 2 years. They were starting to build some tacky residue from being in leather loops too long. A goal for this rig is to locate some nickel-plated .44 magnum cartridges so the tackiness is less of an issue for long term storage. For today, however, I intended to shoot off these cartridges and reload the belt with fresh ammo.
I shot the gun 12 times in single action two handed, and from 25 feet. It hit about 4 inches high at 25 feet, even dialing the rear sight all the way down. The load was a 240gr lead semiwadcutter pushed by 16 grains of AA #7 powder. This is my standard load. It grouped consistently so my sights aren't loose or anything, but apparently either the rear V-notch blade is taller than the stock square notch, or the front fiber optic blade is shorter than the stock front sight. I'm going to need to do some range testing with this load, as I love how it shoots from both my Redhawks and it's my standard load... find out where the load comes back "down" to intersect with my sights, and what the peak height it reaches is, and where? I shot the remaining cartridges in the belt double-action two handed: I'm not ready for .44 magnum recoil in a one-handed grip yet.
Finally, I moved on to my pet gun: The customized 4" Redhawk. I started out with some 200gr lead roundnose .44 special loads. I shot six rounds single action, seated on the ground, with elbows braced against my knees, to confirm zero at 25 feet. Spot-on. I did do some 1-handed target work with this gun, using the .44 specials. Nothing to write home about. I found the gun had a tendency to twist in my hand slightly from the recoil, and my shots tended to move high and right from this. The mating of the grip backstrap to the webbing of my hand was critical to avoid this. Even slight variations would send the bullet in wildly different directions. After a dozen rounds like this, I moved on to DA two-handed shooting: Draw, fire 3 rounds, crouch and fire 3 rounds, get off the X and move sideways while reloading, keep moving and fire six more.
An aside: I don't have any spare moonclips for the gun yet, so I'm using HKS Speedloaders. These rely on gravity to drop the cartridges into the chambers. I found that after a handful of lead rounds downrange, gravity couldn't overcome the gunk that provided friction. I had to assist some of the cartridges to seat. This won't be an issue with moonclips, as a moonclip can be seated from the center with mild assistance from a single digit of the shooter.
The drill went well and exposed a weakness of my revolver when it comes to using speedloaders. I'll be ordering moonclip tools in the next couple weeks. Marksmanship was acceptable for defensive standards: Everything was getting inside of a 6" circle while firing, crouching, or moving sideways. Of course, the target was stationary. :-) Ken at Wild West Guns did a fantastic job on the DA trigger of this sixgun.
For grins and giggles I put a dozen full magnum loads downrange at about 50 feet, seated on the ground, single action. two handed. All in the bull and with touching circles. Probably a 1.5" group or so. Seems like the 4" is the only one cleared to go hike with me, until the 5.5" one gets its sights regulated back to normal.
Things I've realized:
1. I've been spoiled by 1911's and single action CZ's.
2. My trigger finger has the beginnings of a blister. I don't shoot often enough. Gotta fix this.
3. My left wrist is weak, as are the muscles responsible for holding that arm up. Push-ups and light weightlifting should help that, along with dryfire practice.
4. I trust the 4" Redhawk to carry as a daily defensive piece.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Drastic CCW weapon change
I've had some interesting evolution in my choice of concealed personal defense weapon.
When I first started carrying, I found myself most easily carrying a 3" Ruger SP-101... a 5-shot .357 magnum revolver. I had a Glock 21 (.45), a Springfield XD9 (9mm), a Charles Daly 1911 (.45) and a Redhawk (.44) to choose from as well... but they never seemed to fit my body right.
The G21 was too wide, had too long of a grip, and "bit" at me with the squareness of the frame when carried inner-waistband (IWB). The grip of the gun was the heaviest point when fully loaded with 13 rounds, and it had a tendency to rotate behind my waist and print noticeably.
The XD9 had a shorter grip and was lighter, but it still had the square-slide bite issue against my hip... even with a high quality holster.
The full sized 1911 was fine in regards to width and contour, but was a bit too heavy, and the Redhawk with its 5.5" barrel was simply too big to carry in a concealed manner.
So... the SP-101 got the nod.
I tried out other guns as I got more and more proficient at carrying: I got a CZ-75 at one point when capacity became a concern of mine. Despite its drawback with weight, it was otherwise very concealable and some day I will have a lightweight PCR or P-01 variant of that product line as a potential carry gun. I think I enjoy the platform even more than 1911's. Blasphemy, but it's true.
I got a Colt Lightweight Commander last spring... that finally trumped the SP-101 as daily carry. And how! Same weight, thinner profile, 8+1 rounds of .45, single action trigger, faster reloads.
I carried that all spring and summer quite happily.
Now that fall is setting in and the low, low 90 degree fall Arizona temperatures are upon us, I've taken to carrying my project gun: A customized 4" Redhawk in .44 magnum. This is largely an experiment, and we'll see how long it lasts.
This Redhawk sports the factory rubberized finger groove grips, which I like alot: But I'm considering changing them out for the other hardwood factory grips and a Tyler T-grip. I'll experiment on the larger Redhawk first and then migrate those changes to this one. Aside from that, this Redhawk has its chambers cut for moonclips, so I can run .44 Russian, .44 Special and .44 Magnum in moonclips for extremely fast reloads. The trigger was tuned for swift and smooth DA work by Ken Feinmann up at Wild West Guns in Alaska (he also cut the cylinder for me). The finish was matte bead blasted and a chrome turn line is on the cylinder to reduce drag of the bolt stop. I also have a fiber optic front sight on it.
I'm carrying it with 200 grain Speer Gold Dot .44 Special hollowpoints. I practice with 200 grain lead roundnose equivalent loads.
I have two ways I can carry this gun: Out in the woods I have a Wilderness Tactical Products Instructor Belt, with an inexpensive yet sturdy Uncle Mike's 4" large frame revolver holster with hammer retention snap. Around town (and the dominant way for as long as I can stand to do so), I have a Simply Rugged pancake holster that fits OWB on my Beltman 1.5" belt.
I'm going to try and make it all year until next summer with this gun on my side. The 4" Redhawk weighs in slightly more than a GI 1911, @ 47 ounces. Just shy of 3 pounds, unloaded.
Why? Why on Earth would I set aside a perfectly good, comfortable, powerful Colt LW Commander for this thing?
-Because I can. :-)
-I'm just drawn to Redhawks.
-I've got a goal to be able to one-hand operate a Redhawk in a defensive manner, accurately, with .44 magnum ammunition. Helps to treat the Redhawk as my primary defensive platform if I want to attain that goal.
So, range trips are going to be a revolver-oriented pursuit for awhile: I'll be practicing with .38's to build eye-hand coordination in both hands (I found a model 65 to buy, I think), and practicing with .44 specials at least with the left dominant hand to keep defensive proficiency.
At least I won't have to chase brass!
(Actually... I intend to "dump" my brass during reloads so that I practice correctly. I'll pick it up after practicing the reload and re-holstering or otherwise setting down the revolver depending on range rules.)
When I first started carrying, I found myself most easily carrying a 3" Ruger SP-101... a 5-shot .357 magnum revolver. I had a Glock 21 (.45), a Springfield XD9 (9mm), a Charles Daly 1911 (.45) and a Redhawk (.44) to choose from as well... but they never seemed to fit my body right.
The G21 was too wide, had too long of a grip, and "bit" at me with the squareness of the frame when carried inner-waistband (IWB). The grip of the gun was the heaviest point when fully loaded with 13 rounds, and it had a tendency to rotate behind my waist and print noticeably.
The XD9 had a shorter grip and was lighter, but it still had the square-slide bite issue against my hip... even with a high quality holster.
The full sized 1911 was fine in regards to width and contour, but was a bit too heavy, and the Redhawk with its 5.5" barrel was simply too big to carry in a concealed manner.
So... the SP-101 got the nod.
I tried out other guns as I got more and more proficient at carrying: I got a CZ-75 at one point when capacity became a concern of mine. Despite its drawback with weight, it was otherwise very concealable and some day I will have a lightweight PCR or P-01 variant of that product line as a potential carry gun. I think I enjoy the platform even more than 1911's. Blasphemy, but it's true.
I got a Colt Lightweight Commander last spring... that finally trumped the SP-101 as daily carry. And how! Same weight, thinner profile, 8+1 rounds of .45, single action trigger, faster reloads.
I carried that all spring and summer quite happily.
Now that fall is setting in and the low, low 90 degree fall Arizona temperatures are upon us, I've taken to carrying my project gun: A customized 4" Redhawk in .44 magnum. This is largely an experiment, and we'll see how long it lasts.
This Redhawk sports the factory rubberized finger groove grips, which I like alot: But I'm considering changing them out for the other hardwood factory grips and a Tyler T-grip. I'll experiment on the larger Redhawk first and then migrate those changes to this one. Aside from that, this Redhawk has its chambers cut for moonclips, so I can run .44 Russian, .44 Special and .44 Magnum in moonclips for extremely fast reloads. The trigger was tuned for swift and smooth DA work by Ken Feinmann up at Wild West Guns in Alaska (he also cut the cylinder for me). The finish was matte bead blasted and a chrome turn line is on the cylinder to reduce drag of the bolt stop. I also have a fiber optic front sight on it.
I'm carrying it with 200 grain Speer Gold Dot .44 Special hollowpoints. I practice with 200 grain lead roundnose equivalent loads.
I have two ways I can carry this gun: Out in the woods I have a Wilderness Tactical Products Instructor Belt, with an inexpensive yet sturdy Uncle Mike's 4" large frame revolver holster with hammer retention snap. Around town (and the dominant way for as long as I can stand to do so), I have a Simply Rugged pancake holster that fits OWB on my Beltman 1.5" belt.
I'm going to try and make it all year until next summer with this gun on my side. The 4" Redhawk weighs in slightly more than a GI 1911, @ 47 ounces. Just shy of 3 pounds, unloaded.
Why? Why on Earth would I set aside a perfectly good, comfortable, powerful Colt LW Commander for this thing?
-Because I can. :-)
-I'm just drawn to Redhawks.
-I've got a goal to be able to one-hand operate a Redhawk in a defensive manner, accurately, with .44 magnum ammunition. Helps to treat the Redhawk as my primary defensive platform if I want to attain that goal.
So, range trips are going to be a revolver-oriented pursuit for awhile: I'll be practicing with .38's to build eye-hand coordination in both hands (I found a model 65 to buy, I think), and practicing with .44 specials at least with the left dominant hand to keep defensive proficiency.
At least I won't have to chase brass!
(Actually... I intend to "dump" my brass during reloads so that I practice correctly. I'll pick it up after practicing the reload and re-holstering or otherwise setting down the revolver depending on range rules.)
Sixgun Handgunnery
I just got done reading Pale Horse Coming by Stephen Hunter. Not to ruin it for anyone, but the last part of the book REALLY made me want to work on my DA revolver work.
I've committed to finding an inexpensive DA .38 service revolver... possibly even a pair, and maybe even in .357.
I've got a pair of Redhawks (with my monicker? go figure...) but my one-handed shooting is not ready even for .44 special in my dominant left hand. I've also discovered that my Hogue monogrip on my "first" redhawk is great for two handed target shooting, but not so great for one-handed shooting. I'm going to put the factory grip back on, but with the addition of a Tyler T-grip to block in the area behind the trigger guard. That's the whole reason I went with the monogrip in the first place... that space behind the trigger guard. If the T-grip and factory grips work out well, I'll outfit the "second" redhawk the same way. It's a 4" model with the new cushy rubberized grips.
I want to work up to where I can ultimately run a pair of Redhawks (one in each hand) with moderate .44 magnum loads, accurately. I've started with my crapper Taurus 94 in .22 already, but I'm about ready to move up to .38's for the next phase, with the intention of progressing from gallery .38's to standard .38's to .357 magnums to .44 specials and ultimately to the .44 magnum.
Anyways, I'm looking for used, pre-lock S&W's, Colts or Rugers: S&W K-frames 10, 19, 65, 66.... Colt Trooper or Cobra (though less desireable since these tend to cost more than they are worth to me for this project)... Ruger security sixes. Condition isn't an issue: cosmetic flaws are welcome as these guns are going to shoot a LOT of rounds while I train my hands up. Worn bluing or old worn chrome is just fine: These things will see a LOT of Hoppes in the next couple years. I'd like to have a pair of the same model so left and right hand don't get accustomed to a particular gun's action type.
And, I'll need gun leather appropriate to this. Since I'll be shooting these often, I'm probably going to be putting my trusty Commander in the safe for awhile and relying on these guns instead as my carry weapon(s). I'll need left and right handed OWB holsters without an aggressive retention system, I'll need a left handed IWB holster for one of 'em... and I might even want to experiment with cross-draw, though most ranges around here don't allow for cross-draw practice.
I've committed to finding an inexpensive DA .38 service revolver... possibly even a pair, and maybe even in .357.
I've got a pair of Redhawks (with my monicker? go figure...) but my one-handed shooting is not ready even for .44 special in my dominant left hand. I've also discovered that my Hogue monogrip on my "first" redhawk is great for two handed target shooting, but not so great for one-handed shooting. I'm going to put the factory grip back on, but with the addition of a Tyler T-grip to block in the area behind the trigger guard. That's the whole reason I went with the monogrip in the first place... that space behind the trigger guard. If the T-grip and factory grips work out well, I'll outfit the "second" redhawk the same way. It's a 4" model with the new cushy rubberized grips.
I want to work up to where I can ultimately run a pair of Redhawks (one in each hand) with moderate .44 magnum loads, accurately. I've started with my crapper Taurus 94 in .22 already, but I'm about ready to move up to .38's for the next phase, with the intention of progressing from gallery .38's to standard .38's to .357 magnums to .44 specials and ultimately to the .44 magnum.
Anyways, I'm looking for used, pre-lock S&W's, Colts or Rugers: S&W K-frames 10, 19, 65, 66.... Colt Trooper or Cobra (though less desireable since these tend to cost more than they are worth to me for this project)... Ruger security sixes. Condition isn't an issue: cosmetic flaws are welcome as these guns are going to shoot a LOT of rounds while I train my hands up. Worn bluing or old worn chrome is just fine: These things will see a LOT of Hoppes in the next couple years. I'd like to have a pair of the same model so left and right hand don't get accustomed to a particular gun's action type.
And, I'll need gun leather appropriate to this. Since I'll be shooting these often, I'm probably going to be putting my trusty Commander in the safe for awhile and relying on these guns instead as my carry weapon(s). I'll need left and right handed OWB holsters without an aggressive retention system, I'll need a left handed IWB holster for one of 'em... and I might even want to experiment with cross-draw, though most ranges around here don't allow for cross-draw practice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)