"That's a short night for you..." the Range Officer said as I was heading out. Indeed it was, as I needed to get home to prep my bike and stuff for tomorrow's ride.
But I still found 50 minutes to put 220 rounds downrange--100 rapid-fire through my 617, 100 rapid-fire through the 17, and 20 slow-fire through the 617. I actually did have one rapid-fire target with all 20 in the black, for a score of 195. And the one slow-fire target I shot had 18 on-target. Nice.
I should use rapid-fire as a warm-up from now on...just start off with it, to get my mind and body settled in. It's the more "frantic" of the disciplines, anyways, so it doesn't require me to be as steady as slow-fire, and timed-fire is basically sustained slow-fire.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Range Report
Started off with my 617 at 75 feet, aiming at the large target...when I wasn't getting good groups, I switched to the smaller target and my groups improved. 200 rounds thusly. Then I switched to my 17-8, 100 rounds of rapid-fire. Then back to the 617 (which is definitely heavier, because of the all stainless steel cylinder, versus the 17-8's aluminum cylinder) for 100 more rapid-fire rounds. Then to the 17-8 for 100 rounds slow-fire (having been sufficiently warmed up with rapid-fire), and then the 617 for 100 rounds slowfire. Finished up with the 17-8 with 100 rounds, rapid-fire. All told, 700 rounds, and I'd been on the range for about two and a half hours. It felt good.
The guys beside me in lane 2 were practicing their IDPA draws and such (getting sub 1-second-draw-and-fire-once drills in--wow!), and they looked over and saw my targets and said "man, that's f*cking scary!". Hopefully that meant that they were impressed by my ability to score good hits on a target 50 yards away with a revolver and open sights. =)
Today felt good because all I brought was the 17 and the 617, and so that's all I needed to focus on. No other guns in my bag with their associated magazines and stuff. Just bring what I'll shoot, shoot what I bring, and leave the rest at home. Shoot those another day. Maybe. Maybe after Tahoe and after this Bullseye thing lets up.
Plus, I want to experiment with the ammo to see what will give better grouping, to see just how much the "shotgun patterns" on my targets are me, and how much is the gun+ammo. Right off the bat, I know that having that cylinder-barrel gap and cheap bulk-ammo probably means that I'm losing velocity as the bullet jumps the gap, and that the powder charge/bullet weight may not be consistent, and Bullseye is all about being consistent (and consistenly good).
The guys beside me in lane 2 were practicing their IDPA draws and such (getting sub 1-second-draw-and-fire-once drills in--wow!), and they looked over and saw my targets and said "man, that's f*cking scary!". Hopefully that meant that they were impressed by my ability to score good hits on a target 50 yards away with a revolver and open sights. =)
Today felt good because all I brought was the 17 and the 617, and so that's all I needed to focus on. No other guns in my bag with their associated magazines and stuff. Just bring what I'll shoot, shoot what I bring, and leave the rest at home. Shoot those another day. Maybe. Maybe after Tahoe and after this Bullseye thing lets up.
Plus, I want to experiment with the ammo to see what will give better grouping, to see just how much the "shotgun patterns" on my targets are me, and how much is the gun+ammo. Right off the bat, I know that having that cylinder-barrel gap and cheap bulk-ammo probably means that I'm losing velocity as the bullet jumps the gap, and that the powder charge/bullet weight may not be consistent, and Bullseye is all about being consistent (and consistenly good).
Monday, May 12, 2008
Bullseye...or not
my downward-slide continues, but mainly in the slowfire--137 today, my worst ever.
I made up for it somewhat with my timed-fire, only letting two shots out of the black for a 188 (second best), and a decent rapid-fire at 175 for a face-saving 500, but if I don't do something about it...
I need to go back to where this was new and wonderful and exciting, that feeling I get when I'm flying down a mountain on a bike or a snowboard. Just the exhilaration of movement, of excellence. It was definitely lacking while I was shooting today's slowfire. Oh, I can list a bunch of 'reasons' why I'm not doing so well--lack of meaningful practice, aging eyeglass prescription, my equipment wearing down--but in the end it all boils down to me. Bullseye is an internal sport, it's all mental. After the external factors have been accounted for (sights adjusted, bullet-weight taken into consideration, foot placement OK, etc.), the only variable thing left, the only thing uncontrollable, is the internal state.
Somehow I need to master that...
I made up for it somewhat with my timed-fire, only letting two shots out of the black for a 188 (second best), and a decent rapid-fire at 175 for a face-saving 500, but if I don't do something about it...
I need to go back to where this was new and wonderful and exciting, that feeling I get when I'm flying down a mountain on a bike or a snowboard. Just the exhilaration of movement, of excellence. It was definitely lacking while I was shooting today's slowfire. Oh, I can list a bunch of 'reasons' why I'm not doing so well--lack of meaningful practice, aging eyeglass prescription, my equipment wearing down--but in the end it all boils down to me. Bullseye is an internal sport, it's all mental. After the external factors have been accounted for (sights adjusted, bullet-weight taken into consideration, foot placement OK, etc.), the only variable thing left, the only thing uncontrollable, is the internal state.
Somehow I need to master that...
Friday, May 9, 2008
Stand Your Ground
This was today:
---
Eric F.: dude someone pulled a knife on me today
me: seriously? when? where?
Eric F.: almost got himself shot
me: holy shit!
Eric F.: at the metro bus stop
Eric F.: I was alone in one of the covers
Eric F.: some kid rides up in a bike pills out a knife and opens it up
Eric F.: 6-8 inch
Eric F.: I didn't hear what he said because I was too busy watching the knife
Eric F.: but I stod up and told him "that is a bad idea"
me: you didn't draw on him, did you?
Eric F.: nope
me: move your hand near your sidearm?
Eric F.: he ran off
me: "make for your weapon"
me: whew
Eric F.: hehe
Eric F.: there were people around
me: the main part, probably, was that you stood your ground and were prepared to fight back
Eric F.: well I was to focused on the knife/scared shitless to hear what he said
Eric F.: probably though he would pull a knife a I would give him money
Eric F.: before people saw
me: good thing you didn't have to draw...
me: and I'm glad you're alright =)
Eric F.: hehe
Eric F.: so I called the police
Eric F.: they kept asking "what did he say?"
Eric F.: I am like he had a knife I don't care what he was saying
Eric F.: I don't know if they found him
Eric F.: probably didn't look
me: at least they know there's a guy going around with a knife
me: won't help much, though
Eric F.: yea
me: because they definitely know there's a guy going around with a gun--you.
me: heh
Eric F.: hehe
Eric F.: true true
me: wow, man, just...wow
me: one of those "never thought it would happen" sorta stories...
Eric F.: well I got 2 now
me: stories
Eric F.: house robbed
Eric F.: and knife
me: yeah
me: yay Alexandria...
Eric F.: heheh
Eric F.: I think the kid was just looking for an easy target
me: I'm quite happy that Invertix has moved out of Annandale...
me: probably
me: aren't they all?
Eric F.: yea
Eric F.: probably came from DC on the metro
me: they wouldn't do it if we were all hard targets...
Eric F.: true
---
Eric F.: dude someone pulled a knife on me today
me: seriously? when? where?
Eric F.: almost got himself shot
me: holy shit!
Eric F.: at the metro bus stop
Eric F.: I was alone in one of the covers
Eric F.: some kid rides up in a bike pills out a knife and opens it up
Eric F.: 6-8 inch
Eric F.: I didn't hear what he said because I was too busy watching the knife
Eric F.: but I stod up and told him "that is a bad idea"
me: you didn't draw on him, did you?
Eric F.: nope
me: move your hand near your sidearm?
Eric F.: he ran off
me: "make for your weapon"
me: whew
Eric F.: hehe
Eric F.: there were people around
me: the main part, probably, was that you stood your ground and were prepared to fight back
Eric F.: well I was to focused on the knife/scared shitless to hear what he said
Eric F.: probably though he would pull a knife a I would give him money
Eric F.: before people saw
me: good thing you didn't have to draw...
me: and I'm glad you're alright =)
Eric F.: hehe
Eric F.: so I called the police
Eric F.: they kept asking "what did he say?"
Eric F.: I am like he had a knife I don't care what he was saying
Eric F.: I don't know if they found him
Eric F.: probably didn't look
me: at least they know there's a guy going around with a knife
me: won't help much, though
Eric F.: yea
me: because they definitely know there's a guy going around with a gun--you.
me: heh
Eric F.: hehe
Eric F.: true true
me: wow, man, just...wow
me: one of those "never thought it would happen" sorta stories...
Eric F.: well I got 2 now
me: stories
Eric F.: house robbed
Eric F.: and knife
me: yeah
me: yay Alexandria...
Eric F.: heheh
Eric F.: I think the kid was just looking for an easy target
me: I'm quite happy that Invertix has moved out of Annandale...
me: probably
me: aren't they all?
Eric F.: yea
Eric F.: probably came from DC on the metro
me: they wouldn't do it if we were all hard targets...
Eric F.: true
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Range Report
got on the range and spent 30 rounds zero-ing my 617. Bench rested and everything...well, I didn't really bench the gun itself but my arms and the butt of the grip, so all I really had to concern myself (aside from the wobbly table) was the 2-handed grip and working the trigger. Turns out the sights were adjusted too high, for some reason, so I dropped it back down 2 clicks, and I was reliably getting 17/20 hits on paper, with 14 of those hits in the black (and good groupings in the 10/X rings).
Rapidfire is where it really helped out: my first RF target, I put 19/20 in the black. The rest of my RF practice was spent trying to duplicate that. Didn't quite work, though, as many of my shots were going low. They were all on-paper (I would hope so, with the target being so close) and all orbiting the black.
I actually got kicked off after an hour and a half because there were a lot of people there tonight, but it came at the right time. I was given the 5-minute warning just as I was running out of ammo to shoot, so it worked out anyways.
With tonight's shoot, my 617 has just surpassed 8,000 rounds through it, with 5,700 being shot in the past three months. Damn. At 10,000 rounds, I'll send it back to S&W for a tune-up and to get a target hammer and trigger fitted to it. So in about three weeks, basically.
Rapidfire is where it really helped out: my first RF target, I put 19/20 in the black. The rest of my RF practice was spent trying to duplicate that. Didn't quite work, though, as many of my shots were going low. They were all on-paper (I would hope so, with the target being so close) and all orbiting the black.
I actually got kicked off after an hour and a half because there were a lot of people there tonight, but it came at the right time. I was given the 5-minute warning just as I was running out of ammo to shoot, so it worked out anyways.
With tonight's shoot, my 617 has just surpassed 8,000 rounds through it, with 5,700 being shot in the past three months. Damn. At 10,000 rounds, I'll send it back to S&W for a tune-up and to get a target hammer and trigger fitted to it. So in about three weeks, basically.
A Moratorium
alright, alright, ALRIGHT!!! No more buying guns for a while! My bank account isn't made of money!
But I've found the perfect brother for my 617--a blued 17-8 10-shot 6" (my 617 is a stainless 10-shot 6"). Ebony and Ivory indeed.
And I'm entertaining another Ruger Mk. II, even though I just bought one last month and traded for another back in January.
Just collecting .22s, and all I ever shoot is the 617...
Bah! That 1911, 686, BHP, CZ75b, et al can wait! Christmas!
But I've found the perfect brother for my 617--a blued 17-8 10-shot 6" (my 617 is a stainless 10-shot 6"). Ebony and Ivory indeed.
And I'm entertaining another Ruger Mk. II, even though I just bought one last month and traded for another back in January.
Just collecting .22s, and all I ever shoot is the 617...
Bah! That 1911, 686, BHP, CZ75b, et al can wait! Christmas!
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