I spent a productive hour or so at the range, pushing another 100 rounds through the pistol. It was only 2 degrees above zero, but without any wind, so the conditions in the unheated firing line were tolerable ... at least for awhile. I did notice that very few people were there today.
Another guy & I arrived at opening time, and set up about 20' apart, to aid in communications. This particular range rule is that the first to arrive is the range officer, and being somewhat close just made things easier.
I neglected to take along a new target, so I wound up making more holes in a used one. The other fella finally said, "I can't see what you're hitting, but it's throwing up snow on the backstop in the same place each time."
I couldn't really tell, either; I know that the majority of my shots were within a 6" circle at 40 feet. I did see a couple of flyers hit outside the circle, but not too many. I also noticed that I was grouping many shots in a fairly tight pattern, with each clip, but the patterns tended to move around.
That probably had more to do with my grip than anything else. As I've mentioned, I carried a revolver for years. After the slide or beaver-tail on the 1911 whacked me on the knuckle of my weak-hand thumb, this morning, I changed my grip. I may be a trifle slow, but I'm not that dumb.
After 45 minutes of shooting, my hands suddenly got cold - it had gone up to 3 degrees; I can't understand what happened - so I fired the last 8 rounds in the current box and called it a morning.
Note to self: put some fresh targets in the range bag.
I also discovered that the Remington ammo I used today is WAY cleaner than the CCI Blazer (aluminum casing) rounds that I fired last time. That time, the pistol innards looked like they'd been dunked in muddy water. This time, there was just normal powder residue. Clean-up, once I got home, didn't take nearly as long.
One thing struck me as odd: I've been using the 230-gr. hardball ammo for the range. I've been reading Massad Ayoob's books, though, and he cautions that because of the tendency of those rounds to over-penetrate and/or ricochet, it's not considered particularly defensible in court.
He recommended 185-gr. JHP instead, so I got some. I checked out what the ballistics of each round are reported to be, and then tried an experiment.
I put both the FMJ and JHP rounds in the same magazine, two of one, then two of the other, and so on, just to see how they compared in terms of my perception when firing them.
The part that puzzles me is that I could barely tell the difference. I expected that the lighter rounds would produce a noticeably lighter recoil, but that didn't really happen. It was a very slight difference, but only just. Anyone else have this experience?
That's about it for now. It remains sunny with blue skies, and has rocketed up to 8.4 degrees - just about what AccuHunch predicted.
Another guy & I arrived at opening time, and set up about 20' apart, to aid in communications. This particular range rule is that the first to arrive is the range officer, and being somewhat close just made things easier.
I neglected to take along a new target, so I wound up making more holes in a used one. The other fella finally said, "I can't see what you're hitting, but it's throwing up snow on the backstop in the same place each time."
I couldn't really tell, either; I know that the majority of my shots were within a 6" circle at 40 feet. I did see a couple of flyers hit outside the circle, but not too many. I also noticed that I was grouping many shots in a fairly tight pattern, with each clip, but the patterns tended to move around.
That probably had more to do with my grip than anything else. As I've mentioned, I carried a revolver for years. After the slide or beaver-tail on the 1911 whacked me on the knuckle of my weak-hand thumb, this morning, I changed my grip. I may be a trifle slow, but I'm not that dumb.
After 45 minutes of shooting, my hands suddenly got cold - it had gone up to 3 degrees; I can't understand what happened - so I fired the last 8 rounds in the current box and called it a morning.
Note to self: put some fresh targets in the range bag.
I also discovered that the Remington ammo I used today is WAY cleaner than the CCI Blazer (aluminum casing) rounds that I fired last time. That time, the pistol innards looked like they'd been dunked in muddy water. This time, there was just normal powder residue. Clean-up, once I got home, didn't take nearly as long.
One thing struck me as odd: I've been using the 230-gr. hardball ammo for the range. I've been reading Massad Ayoob's books, though, and he cautions that because of the tendency of those rounds to over-penetrate and/or ricochet, it's not considered particularly defensible in court.
He recommended 185-gr. JHP instead, so I got some. I checked out what the ballistics of each round are reported to be, and then tried an experiment.
I put both the FMJ and JHP rounds in the same magazine, two of one, then two of the other, and so on, just to see how they compared in terms of my perception when firing them.
The part that puzzles me is that I could barely tell the difference. I expected that the lighter rounds would produce a noticeably lighter recoil, but that didn't really happen. It was a very slight difference, but only just. Anyone else have this experience?
That's about it for now. It remains sunny with blue skies, and has rocketed up to 8.4 degrees - just about what AccuHunch predicted.
2 comments:
Why didn't you post a photo of your target?? Sorry, but I know that hunters tell tales as tall as the fishermen do!! ha ha
Cassie, as I said my shooting is only within a 6" circle; the pistol is supposed to capable of a 2.5" group, so I'm still pulling it one way or the other. Also, the target was very well used. By the time I put another 100 rounds through it, it was in tatters. Not much to see at that point.
Where I come from, a 6" grouping at only 40' is nothing to brag about. When I get 'em down to 3", I'll put up pictures...
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