It was my third time pistol shooting today. As some of you may recall, I bought a Glock 17 last week and putzed around with it at the range, and in my poorly filmed range report #1, I reported two failures to feed in my 4th & 5th magazines, which in internet terms might be attributed to 'user error'
So, following the advice of you CGNers, I tightened up my grip and also improved my weaver stance (I lean toward it because it feels more natural than isoc.), and later that week, I took my buddy out to shoot with me and Lo, the FTF issue was resolved, and we drove 100 rounds downrange and on the seventh day I rested and said that it was good.
But today, by a stroke of delightful serendipity, I managed to get a hold of my dad early in the afternoon scant moments before I was ready to pack up the Glock and go shooting, so I managed to drag him out to the range (twisted his rubber arm, you see) with me.
Now, he has an old S&W model 15 Combat Masterpiece that belonged to my grandfather. It's a wonderful old pistol that I've wanted to shoot ever since I saw it. He had to have the barrel removed when they passed that stupid law making barrels < 4.14" prohib (although he probably could have had the pistol grandfathered), and he put a 6" barrel on it.
Also, we brought a box of hand-casted handloads of .38 Spl 143gr. that my grandfather had made probably back in the 70s or 80s which had been sitting in my dad's workshop waiting for just such an occasion.
It rains a lot here. It was raining today, but we set up our targets at 25 yards and sent a few magazines downrange. We both managed to get on the paper. I considered this an auspicious sign.
Now, I'm a total beginner with pistol shooting. The only pistols I'd fired before today was my Glock and an old .22 LR makarov target pistol some 20 odd years ago. Which means that my only experience with pistols is the 200 or so shots of 9mm from my Glock, so I had no idea what to expect by way of a comparison when I shot the Model 15--this was my first time shooting a wheelgun.
I'll spare you descriptions of the curious melange of melancholy, excitement, and bonding I felt loading my grandfather's old pistol with cartridges he'd cast and loaded possibly before I was even born. I trust the feeling of blood chiming through the generations and the simple joy of the moment isn't lost on you.
The first thing I noticed when I took aim was how the revolver was much more front heavy. Much of the weight in the Glock is in the magazine, but there was an incredibly natural line of sight for me going down the barrel, moreso than the Glock, for sure. It felt much more like the gun would put my shots where I wanted them, rather than just 'around' where I wanted them. Consistency will be a challenge for me with the Glock.
I took aim, got a good grip with a solid base, and thanks in part to long-distance running and some meditation here and there, my breath control is pretty good to begin with, I lined up those old black iron sights, exhaled slowly and...
The second thing I noticed with the revolver was the immediate, and light, light trigger-pull shooting single action. The actual shot felt smooth as butter, a gentle push, unlike the choppy action of the automatic: the slide snapping back, the sharp barky feel. Just, the hammer fell, the gun fired.
It was like eating spicy enchiladas for a few weeks, then having a buttered croissant. Just a real joy to fire. So my dad shot the Glock for a bit and I shot the S&W, and we traded off a few times, and went up to the 7 yard line. By that time we'd sent about 100 bullets back to the earth, and had run out of my grandfather's old handloads, so we moved on to some FMJ semi-wads. I was shooting alright with the Glock, but then I took the S&W again, loaded it up with the semi-wads, and started to shoot. Oh, for chrissake, I was missing the paper completely, but I kept at it, doing what I knew was right, easy breathing, focus, relax, concentrate, front sights, and after 6 shots popped the brass out.
My dad went up and had a look at the target, and said 'holy f**k, does he ever have an excedrin headache'
Thanks for reading!
- hem
So, following the advice of you CGNers, I tightened up my grip and also improved my weaver stance (I lean toward it because it feels more natural than isoc.), and later that week, I took my buddy out to shoot with me and Lo, the FTF issue was resolved, and we drove 100 rounds downrange and on the seventh day I rested and said that it was good.
But today, by a stroke of delightful serendipity, I managed to get a hold of my dad early in the afternoon scant moments before I was ready to pack up the Glock and go shooting, so I managed to drag him out to the range (twisted his rubber arm, you see) with me.
Now, he has an old S&W model 15 Combat Masterpiece that belonged to my grandfather. It's a wonderful old pistol that I've wanted to shoot ever since I saw it. He had to have the barrel removed when they passed that stupid law making barrels < 4.14" prohib (although he probably could have had the pistol grandfathered), and he put a 6" barrel on it.
Also, we brought a box of hand-casted handloads of .38 Spl 143gr. that my grandfather had made probably back in the 70s or 80s which had been sitting in my dad's workshop waiting for just such an occasion.
It rains a lot here. It was raining today, but we set up our targets at 25 yards and sent a few magazines downrange. We both managed to get on the paper. I considered this an auspicious sign.
Now, I'm a total beginner with pistol shooting. The only pistols I'd fired before today was my Glock and an old .22 LR makarov target pistol some 20 odd years ago. Which means that my only experience with pistols is the 200 or so shots of 9mm from my Glock, so I had no idea what to expect by way of a comparison when I shot the Model 15--this was my first time shooting a wheelgun.
I'll spare you descriptions of the curious melange of melancholy, excitement, and bonding I felt loading my grandfather's old pistol with cartridges he'd cast and loaded possibly before I was even born. I trust the feeling of blood chiming through the generations and the simple joy of the moment isn't lost on you.
The first thing I noticed when I took aim was how the revolver was much more front heavy. Much of the weight in the Glock is in the magazine, but there was an incredibly natural line of sight for me going down the barrel, moreso than the Glock, for sure. It felt much more like the gun would put my shots where I wanted them, rather than just 'around' where I wanted them. Consistency will be a challenge for me with the Glock.
I took aim, got a good grip with a solid base, and thanks in part to long-distance running and some meditation here and there, my breath control is pretty good to begin with, I lined up those old black iron sights, exhaled slowly and...
The second thing I noticed with the revolver was the immediate, and light, light trigger-pull shooting single action. The actual shot felt smooth as butter, a gentle push, unlike the choppy action of the automatic: the slide snapping back, the sharp barky feel. Just, the hammer fell, the gun fired.
It was like eating spicy enchiladas for a few weeks, then having a buttered croissant. Just a real joy to fire. So my dad shot the Glock for a bit and I shot the S&W, and we traded off a few times, and went up to the 7 yard line. By that time we'd sent about 100 bullets back to the earth, and had run out of my grandfather's old handloads, so we moved on to some FMJ semi-wads. I was shooting alright with the Glock, but then I took the S&W again, loaded it up with the semi-wads, and started to shoot. Oh, for chrissake, I was missing the paper completely, but I kept at it, doing what I knew was right, easy breathing, focus, relax, concentrate, front sights, and after 6 shots popped the brass out.
My dad went up and had a look at the target, and said 'holy f**k, does he ever have an excedrin headache'
Thanks for reading!
- hem
