I’d forgotten how loud .357’s are indoors—made the concrete walls sing: boooonnng.
I’d been to this range’s shop many times, but this was the first time shooting there. I’d been looking for a range closer than the one 40 minutes south, the outdoor public range. This new one is at the north end of town right along the freeway. Ten minutes. I kid you not. Drawback is it’s only 25 yards indoors. They have plans for additions out to 100 yards indoors. So that will be cool in a year or so.
The lanes have partitions between the shooters with the range open. Concrete walls. Laundry line hangie-down target wires where you buzz it out and buzz it back. Distances painted on the walls in yards, not meters, as this is the future State of Jefferson. The targets swing in the ventilation. Twenty bucks, but I can shoot my own reloads. The other indoor range in town is way cheap, but you have to buy their ammo. Ugh.
This is the end of the semester, so meetings and what not get poo-flung into the fan and nothing fits anywhere, no schedule works. If I survive the next ten days, things will rock.
So I hadn’t loaded ammo for the Bullseye Match. Means I had to catch as catch can. I needed 40 rounds. I found 45 rounds outside of my PD ammo (inside too dark to see even Groucho). I think four different loadings for two different bullets: 148gr semi wadcutters and 158 JHP. This sample pic shows the first five odd rounds. You can see the JHP and the SWC.
GP100
I was the only guy. Sweet. Buncha 9mm on the floor. I put the range target on the backing and buzzed it out to 7. Shot the strange five. The first .357 round, even with muffs on, a thunderous boom that echoed in the empty range.
For the match I had mostly the SWC’s, with about 1/3 being the JHP 158’s. I staggered them so as to mess with my mind. I loaded five with one empty then spun the cyl and eased it home. Sometimes the first hammer fell on the empty, so I could anticipate the next ones. But it was cool when the first round went off. Until I hit the empty I could not anticipate. So I could tell if I flinched. It’s a neat technique. Sometimes in practice I’ll load two skip one load two. Fun city. The times: again, I shot the slow session too fast. I was OK time-wise for the faster strings, but I didn’t wait enough between shots for the slow. Must shoot more.
What most surprised me was the feel of the different rounds. The twist of the wrist was different, more torque, with the heavier bullets. Busted for time when I got home, I just swabbed the Unique off the revolver and looked down the bore. Good enough, man: No lead from the SWC’s. Loaded it up with PD and put it back where it goes after the pic.
This range has a deal that if you join up, you pay like $240 a year, like $20 a month, eh? Bennies like unlimited range trips tempt me like a 1919 Mauser. Discounts, classes, gear, archery range—did I mention they have an archery range? What I’ll do is see if I go there three months in a row. If so, I’ll join up. If I go there more than once a month for some time, that would show me, too.
I hadn’t shot the GP since last match. I haven’t shot anything but arrows since then. Fleep! Ah, it’s the season: juggling five when you can really only do three reliably—say that fast after two shots of tequila. Maybe I wouldn’t be going at all without these matches, so that’s cool.
Bullseye Match link: http://www.theliberalgunclub.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=34410