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Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 5:53 pm
by CDFingers
Range trip 11 December 2015

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—this is the range I wrote about in beaurrr's lead thread. 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.

State of Jefferson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson ... fic_state)
beaurrr's lead thread: http://www.theliberalgunclub.com/phpBB3 ... aurrr+lead

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. :shifty:

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.

Image


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 ... 14&t=34410

Nobody posts much down in the Competition and Marksmanship forum, so I thought I'd post this here in Gen.

CDFingers

Re: Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 6:07 pm
by Merkwuerdigliebe
Did you have fun? Well did ya punk?

Which Ruger is that? Looks a little higher quality than a run-of-the-mill Ruger.

Re: Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 6:10 pm
by CDFingers
Well, it's a little scuffed with groovy klownkannon gripz and Unique dust in the pores. Run of the mill GP100. Ruger is quality.

Shooting stuff is fun, yeah. :ohmg:

CDFingers

Re: Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 6:32 pm
by Merkwuerdigliebe
I've looked Ruggers over and they just don't have the crisp edges like the Colt Snakes. The parts look more stamped rather than milled. Just a feeling I had. I don't really know how rhey make them. I know they are very reliable though.

Re: Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 6:42 pm
by Simmer down
Ranges are a trade off. I go to a substandard indoor range because its 15 min away.

My annual fee is less than a dollar a day.
Just a dollar a day.jpg
Just a dollar a day.jpg (12.26 KiB) Viewed 413 times
Sorry, I don't have a dollar, Sarah. I just spent it.

25 yards isn't bad for handguns. No more Range is Cold for you :thumbup:

Re: Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 7:09 pm
by sikacz
Thanks for the report! "Shooting stuff is fun" and it sure looks like fun was had!

Re: Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 7:20 pm
by Paco
Great report and great pic, CD.

I think you're right about the Competition and Marksmanship board. it hasn't met (my) expectations. Guess I'll have to start double posting again to make sure the competition shooters see what's on offer.

Thanks for adding the link.

Re: Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 7:52 pm
by Inquisitor
Well, if you had posted this there, that would have helped ;)

This also would have made a fine blog post.

Re: Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 8:37 pm
by Bacchus
Great report, CD. I've got that very same GP, sans the bitchin grips. Sweet gun. I like your loading technique; I use same, but without the empty chamber - that's a good idea. I'll be you can really see what's going on with your reflex when it just goes 'click.' I've done the same with my SP 101 (3") and I have really got to have a hold of that thing with full-zoot .357. (smooth wood grip on that- not so good for absorbing .357 oomph)

Great you have a range that close. Super-great, actually. I drive nearly an hour for an indoor range I like and that's led to less range time for me.

Question for you about the clothesline target thingy: That's what my indoor range uses also, and if I waited for it to settle, I'd be there for 15 extra minutes every new target. Last postal match I just said hell with it and went ahead when it was still bobbing and weaving. Do you wait for it to settle completely? I've tried to reach up and absorb some of the resonance of the wire with my hand, but that only works (slightly) when the target's close-in. Do you just wait it out?

Murkuer... er, Strangelove: Give the Ruger a try if you can. Yeah, the trigger isn't as sweet as some out of the box, but it can fall off the hood of your truck on the interstate, be run over a few dozen times by the time you circle back around, and still shoot just fine. Pretty certain it'll outlast you and yours no matter how you shoot it.

Paco: The competition and marksmanship forum is good- I think it'll heat up once the bullseye series gets going and folks get used to posting in there. I'll post there next time I get back from a shoot. :)

Re: Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 9:03 pm
by CDFingers
Bacchus wrote: Question for you about the clothesline target thingy: That's what my indoor range uses also, and if I waited for it to settle, I'd be there for 15 extra minutes every new target. Last postal match I just said hell with it and went ahead when it was still bobbing and weaving. Do you wait for it to settle completely?
When I got home I brainstormed a remedy, because I just tried to time it at the end of a swing. It sort of pauses. But 25 yards, the last one, that's a fur piece with it swinging. Lots of fun.

I thought a string with a paper clip bent to a hook, then tied to an ammo box out of the trash. Just long enough to drag along the floor and stop the swing. I might try it. They might think I would want to shoot it. Might talk with the Range dudes or dudettes to see, they've got both kinds there.

CDFingers

Re: Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 9:19 pm
by Bacchus
CDFingers wrote:
Bacchus wrote: Question for you about the clothesline target thingy: That's what my indoor range uses also, and if I waited for it to settle, I'd be there for 15 extra minutes every new target. Last postal match I just said hell with it and went ahead when it was still bobbing and weaving. Do you wait for it to settle completely?
When I got home I brainstormed a remedy, because I just tried to time it at the end of a swing. It sort of pauses. But 25 yards, the last one, that's a fur piece with it swinging. Lots of fun.

I thought a string with a paper clip bent to a hook, then tied to an ammo box out of the trash. Just long enough to drag along the floor and stop the swing. I might try it. They might think I would want to shoot it. Might talk with the Range dudes or dudettes to see, they've got both kinds there.

CDFingers
That's a good idea. I reckon it would depend entirely on the temperament of who's working the line whether that would be agreeable or not.

Re: Range Report: 11Dec15

Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 9:10 am
by Paco
Inquisitor wrote:Well, if you had posted this there, that would have helped ;)

This also would have made a fine blog post.
Good point and good idea. So good, in fact, that I've copied this thread to the Competition board. It should help to have it there, as Quis points out.