Gunpowder Therapy

 

It was only in the 90s, overcast and pleasant, so we loaded up some guns in the rig and headed out to the range for gunpowder therapy. You know what it's like, sometimes you just have to get out there and shoot, and that's what we did. First up, skeet, or "clays."

It's not hard, just swing into the vibe, put the bead on the orange biodegradable White Flyer bird and squeeze the trigger. Boom, smoke that clay, but would a young Irish Guardsman achieve that lofty goal on his first try? Yes, he did, and then some, most notably with a great value CZ O/U 20 field gun. Quick presentation and hey, it works without breaking your shoulder.

A US Army Sergeant operated as 2nd gun, shooting a vintage 870 Wingmaster 12. Pump. Boom. And I acted as thrower before rotating to both firearms. Have to say, the Wingmaster was Old Skool awesome but I like the fast action of the CZ 20. OK, it's not hand engraved/checkered amazingness but it works and works well, and you don't have to worry if its Turkish walnut gets dinged up in the field.

Next up? Pistols. Viz. 2 .38 Chief Specials (best being S&W) and 2 Glocks, a 13 and a 21 (9 & 45). The Guardsman grouped well with both Glocks but shot low left on the Green Terr, why? Trigger pull and lack of practice; you see, they're issued with Glock 13s in the Guards but I don't think they get much range time. Being a helpful and encouraging instructor, I suggested he hold at around 2 O Clock in the 8 ring (appx shoulder) and land center mass. Sure enough he did, then finished off with a good correction, holding center, hitting center.

Sergeant LSP shot really well. The pistol's his friend, more so than shotgun. Me? Shot last and punched out the X Ring by some weird quirk of shooting fate, and then we headed back to the Compound, all shot out. What a lot of fun.

Keen-eyed readers will note a wind turbine looming dystopian above the range. This is a new development and I don't like it one bit. In fact I really hate it. Have any of you run the money on this destruction of the country? 

As in: Who's paying for it and to what gain? I'm guessing taxpayer ca$h at the behest of our beloved rulers. Feel free to chime in and educate. In the meanwhile, what a good day. We finished off with burgers and brats on the grill, delicious. 

Shoot On,

LSP

Scarlet Begonias & Fire

 

Ain't nothing wrong with the way she moves.

Then there's Bob Weir's shorts. Ignore them, get in the groove and thank God for his mercy. Speaking of which, picked up a valu pak of 9mm today. Time to take that little pistol out for a spin. Fire onna mountain style.

Cheers,

LSP

Get It On

 

Get it on, well yes, quite, but what exactly. A Burris Fastfire 3 RDS onto a Glock 45 Compact Crossfire. Should be easy, right? Just buy Glock's cheap adapter kit and away you go, but not so fast. Everything goes swimmingly well until you notice the slide adapter plate's canted up at an angle towards the rear sight as opposed to flush with the slide.

Bad Error

Bad error. Why would this be? Two reasons. 1: You over-torqued the screws affixing adapter to slide. 2: The screws which you've handily set aside from the gun's original slide plate, the same screws which Burris tells you in its wisdom to fasten sight to slide, are too long. They protrude from the bottom of the adapter plate onto the slide and raise the thing up. Useless.

So what's the fix. Burris tells you to go to Burris and buy their special, proprietary lock washers, which will act as a kind of shim to lift the offending screw (s, there's two) by about a millimeter and hence flush with the adapter plate. Huh. Why not include M3 .50 x 7 in the adapter kit, you tightwad cash heads.

Solution? Go to the hardware store, buy some fresh M3 .50 x 8 screws and some toothed lock washers, it'll cost around 2 bucks if that. Then take them home, file or clip off the teeth of the washers. Then fix the adapter plate to the slide using Glock's provided 6 mm length screws, being careful not to overtorque, "hand tight" says the manual. 

This Locktite accomplished, fix the sight to the adapter/slide by way of custom washers. And there you go, one RDS topped pistol ready to hit the range with all of its compact fury. Will it perform? Let's find out. More anon.

#2A,

LSP

Sunday Pistol

 

You're not allowed to own a pistol in England unless you're a criminal or a cop, but you can in Texas. You see, free citizens are able to defend themselves whereas serf-slaves cannot. That in mind, here's a Sunday pistol.

Just a little 9, a Glock 45 Compact Crossover Gen 5. Note improvements to magazine well and slide and I tell you, this little barker fits well in the hand. An improvement on Gen 4? Hey, all you Glock experts can argue it out but I'd say yes.

This handy pistol comes with a Burris Fastfire 3 red dot, which I'll set up tomorrow. Then let's see how this diminutive beast performs. Fast, I'd wager. That in mind, I favor .45s with all their explosive power.

Still, I like this little fella.

#2A,

LSP

You Plinker!

Some say that a dinner of roast quail and venison sausage, rifle to table, helps you shoot better the next day at the range. I drove out into the Texan countryside with my philisophical pal, GWB, to find out.

We took along a couple of scoped Ruger .22s, an American and a 10/22, representing the bolt and the semi side of the rimfire world. And a couple of pistols, a Sig and a Glock, chambered for 9mm and .45. But what about the quail and venison theory of marksmanship, how did that stand up, in the real world?

If a metal kettle, a plastic Folgers container, steel plates and turkey, at 75 and 100 yards, are anything to go by, the theory holds true. Down went the opposition, with a vengeance. I claim the best pistol shot of the day, hitting the kettle at 75 yards with the Glock. Sorry, kettle, you lose. I never much liked you anyway.

Shoot over, GWB wanted to check out the land behind the range for what he calls "native Texan grasses." That excitement over, I spotted a piece of metal, shining in the hot spring sun. "Look at that, you see it, glinting in the sun?" I asked my Wittgensteinian ally, "Maybe it's a piece of UFO debris. Let's have a look."

It wasn't a bit of space junk, annoyingly, just an old air conditioner that someone had dumped. And as I reflected on the higher implications of that, a long rattlesnake uncoiled silently from beneath the rusting metal and made its way, gliding and deadly, into a nearby pipe. Moral of the story?

Quail and venison help you shoot. This is now settled science. Also, don't be a dimwit when you go for a nature ramble in Texas, it's not Devon, or the Cotswolds. Take a gun, you might need it, and be careful poking around in space junk, who knows what killers might lurk within.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Get a New Gun?

What Gun?

I'm thinking of getting a new gun, probably a bolt .308 or .30-06 but it's confusing because there's a lot of rifles out there in the right price range and they all seem good. Like the Ruger American or the new offering by Savage; very affordable. That said, I'd prefer something that wasn't black plastic. Maybe I should look for a used rifle, one with a wood stock?

Mighty Ballistics

Then there's pistols. I fired a friend's XD .45 the other day and really liked it, so now I want a new pistol. But it's like rifles -- which one? Something chambered for 9mm, perhaps a 4th Gen Glock, or the CZ SP-01 (steel frame)? Then there's SIGs and XDs. Tricky.

I think they're all good, and they are, but feel free to advise. I want to get several. 2014 will be the Year of the Gun.

Shoot straight,

LSP