Range Night and Other Odds and Ends

I just realized I never got around to posting part 3 of the Caliber series of posts. Oops. I'll get around to it eventually. Maybe. No one's been sending me hate mail asking where it is. So, maybe not.

I had an opportunity to get out to the range this evening with my best friend. It was my first chance to go pistol shooting since we attempted to simulate a small war in Hill County on Mother's Day. Much fun was had by all; but, sweet barbecue sauce, it was monkey melting HOT that day. We took turns shooting and sitting in the shade of carefully positioned canopies while drinking plenty of water, and it was still hot enough to marinate in your own juices. I didn't take many pictures that day because...it was just too dang hot to be bothered.

I did get to play with several toys that were brought by others including:

Ruger SR9 - my brother in law's Christmas gift from my sister. It's a polymer 9 made by Ruger. You could do a lot worse. Trigger is nothing to right home about, but I went bang every time.

Savage Mark II bolt action .22LR rifle with a suppressor - my cousin's friend Alex brought this little number out to play. It came nestled into a Boyd's At-One Adjustable Stock and propped up by a bipod. This thing was a frikkin' giggle factory. You've not heard quiet until you shoot subsonic .22LR ammo out of a suppressed bolt action rifle. Savage makes a really good trigger. However, their little stamped steel magazines, while functional, could be used to shave in a pinch.  I guess I'm just spoiled by Ruger 10/22 mags.

Sig P226 and P229 - Best friend brought both. I still don't shoot DA/SA triggers worth a flip, but I didn't embarrass myself quite as badly this time. Both of these guns are very nice with SRT triggers, upgraded suppressor height sights, etc. Maybe one day I will invest the time, energy and money into learning DA/SA triggers to make it worth it to add one to the collection. In the meantime...there's always 1911s to play with.

No name,  homegrown, AR-15 chambered in 9MM. My cousin's friend is a budding machinist in addition to being a gun nut. He made the lower receiver himself. Not hogged out an 80% lower on a jig made it. He took a block of aluminum, a mill, some measurements and went to town. This one uses stick mags, but he has another one he made which takes Glock mags. He's single and still lives at home with mom. So, he can get away with making his own toys.

AR-15 with a CMMG .22LR upper and a Franklin Binary trigger system - This is another giggle factory. It's as close to full auto as you are going to get this side of a tax stamp, and very controllable. I was able to put 25 rounds of standard velocity CCI onto a 3x5 note cards at 25 yards as fast as I could pull the trigger using a red dot optic. Like I said...giggle factory.

Tried out a 16 inch .300 Blackout AR upper on my Aero Precision lower. I might just have to get one as a short to medium range hunting option. Roughly the same power as a 7.62x39 or a .30-30. Not much more recoil that a 5.56/.223 AR.

There was my best friend's Sig P320 X-Carry with the Romeo1 red dot on it. He's had a lot of  stuff done to it including a flat faced trigger and a Norsso slide. I would need to spend a lot more time with it to give a fair opinion, but the trigger is really nice for a polymer striker fired gun. I need more time on a red dot equipped pistol to be anywhere near comfortable with them. It fed the rounds down range with reasonable accuracy. Further, affiant sayeth not.

There was a lot more stuff out there, but I didn't get to play with all of it.

Tonight was pistol night though.

We started off with DOT TORTURE. Again.

43 out of 50 at 5 yards with a Ruger Mk3 22/45

The hardest part of Dot Torture is learning to take your time. Once you learn how to control your gun and clean to drill, you can add a time element in...if you're a masochist. I probably should have run a magazine through the gun before starting the drill just to knock the rust off. But, sometimes you just have to see if you can perform the dancing bear routine cold.

Same distance - Sig P320 Carry 9mm

I'm not even sure how to score this target. If I'm being generous, that's a 42 out of 50. If I'm being honest, that's a sub 40 circus of mediocrity.

Learned something new tonight. Well, not really new per se. I already sort of knew it. I had just never thought about it in the context of a pistol before. When you shoot a bullet, it flies in a parabolic arc. That means that it leaves the barrel and "climbs" a little bit above the line of sight until evil, old gravity sucks it back to earth at which time it drops back below the line of sight and keeps going until it hits pay dirt. What this means for the pistol shooter is that your point of impact will "rise" as range increases for a constant point of aim to a certain point (the top of the parabolic arc). Rifle shooters already know this stuff and have serious, poo slinging arguments over what the best distance is to zero their weapons or maximum point blank range and other silliness that pistol shooters typically ignore.

My friend suggested I give this a whirl with the Sig P320 and the Ruger SR1911. The way you do this is put a 1" paster on the bottom of a piece of paper or 3x5 note card. Heck, any target will do. The key is to use the same point of aim. Fire one shot at 3 yards. Move the target back to 5 yards. Fire one more shot. Keep doing this at 7, 10, 15, 20 yards, etc. out to whatever range you can realistically center your sights on the same 1" paster point of aim reference. You should see your point of impact "ladder" vertically at each distance. With the P320, I shot a 3 round cloverleaf at 3, 5 and 7, but the 10 yard shot was definitely above the others. With the SR1911, the effect was more noticeable with each round stringing vertically with distinct separation between each shot. The shot at 3 yards was at least 2 to 3 inches lower (maybe 4) than the shot at 10 yards.

It's something everyone should do with any gun/ammo combination you intend to rely on for self defense. Not every self defense situation occurs at the same distance at which you practice, and you need to know where your gun will shoot for a given point of aim at a given distance. As a general rule of thumb, lower your point of aim as distance to target increases. Know yourself. Know your gear. Because you never know when you will have to hit the light switch on an intruder's CNS...in the dark...with your pulse doing twice the speed of light.

Last but not least, we did draws from concealment shooting two rounds on an A zone target at 5 yards. This was to put to bed a bit of smack talking that took place some months ago when my friend mentioned he'd picked up a shot timer and was working on his draws. He had started out in the 4 second range for 2 shots on target from concealment. I allowed as how he was a ham handed, gormless ape with no thumbs and two left feet. He questioned my parentage and allowed as how I could put up or shut up. I challenged him to same gear/same distance, and he suggested loser buys a box of ammo. So, I put on his Deadpool Kydex holster along with the previously mentioned 9mm Sig P320 Carry and gave it my best draw from concealment.

According to the timer, I threw down a 2.23 second time landing both hits in the A zone at 5 yards. Frankly, I'd never timed myself specifically on draw to double tap before...ever...much less using this gun and holster. So, the result was news to me. If I were to practice more with that gun and holster set up, I'm pretty sure I can bring that down in the sub 2 second range. Probably. Maybe. I'll just keep telling myself that.

Now, though, it was my best friend's turn. His time....drumroll please....2.40 seconds. Huge improvement over where he started in the 4 second range.

After all was said and done, we agreed that we were both in the same ballpark and the contest was a draw. It was all smoke and noise, and we had a great time.

Oh, one last thing, I ran 10 rounds through my friends Sig P365. This is Sig's new sub compact carry pistol which manages to stuff 10 rounds of 9mm in a package roughly the same size as a Glock 43 or a S&W Shield. The things shot amazingly well for a gun that size. I put all 10 in a head shot grouping of about 2 to 3 inches from 5 yards. I'll just say I wouldn't turn one down if it were given to me.

Something to (Re)Consider

I had a great time at the gun range on Sunday. My best friend is getting married, and he had asked me to organize a gun range outing as part of the bachelor party festivities. Our original choice for location was to be a large, outdoor range in the DFW area; however, "Spring" weather in Texas struck a death blow to that plan with temps in the 40s and a windchill in the 30s.

No worries, the recently reopened DFW Gun Range took care of us on short notice with a three lane bay all to ourselves. We got there at the right time too. When we packed up to leave, there was a huge crowd waiting for an open lane. For those in the Dallas area, DFW Gun Range has made some really nice improvements as part of the rebuild following the fire. It's well worth your time to check them out.

As is known to happen from time to time when acquainted gunnies gather, gats were passed around for sampling. This is both a good and bad thing. It's a good thing in that you get to try out things that you don't currently own without forking over a rental fee and paying range ammo prices. It's a bad thing in that people, like me, afflicted with gun trader ADD might be tempted to sell or trade something for something else because....OOOoooo, shiny.

For the most part, I was immune. I ran a box of .45 through best friend's newly acquired Ruger SR1911...which set me off jonesing for another 1911 (the Sig Traditional Reverse Two Tone to be exact). There is nothing wrong with the SR1911. It's as accurate as every other 1911 I've had the pleasure to play with including a Colt, a Kimber, the Sig 1911, a Umarex/Regent, a Firestorm, etc. Price point wise, you will have a hard time finding a higher quality 1911 for under $700 (buddy paid just over $600 plus tax for it at a gun show a couple of months ago).

The Smith & Wesson 4 inch Model 27-2 in .357 did not awaken any urges for me nor did "Bertha". Bertha is a Colt Single Action Army clone in .45 Colt. She makes a big boom and puts a big hole in the target. She's also heavier than an opera singer on a Ben & Jerry's binge. The Sig P238 in .380 wearing the Equinox finish was cute, and I succeeded in shooting it without leaving blood on the slide (unlike his Colt Mustang from ages ago). Alas, I have no need nor desire for a pocket mouse.

Here's the thing that really threw my gun ADD in a tizzy. The Gen 3 Glock 19 in 9mm. Ugly as sin, and boring as all get out. Couldn't be planer than a white bread bologna sammich. I have no need of a polymer wonder 9. I have the Smith & Wesson M&P40 (with the 9mm barrel). But, here's the thing I could not ignore.

I flat out just shoot a bone stock Glock better than I shoot the M&P.

The Glock has a better trigger out of the box than the M&P. There is no debating that point. The Glock also gives up a half inch of barrel length and sight radius to the M&P, but that's mostly negligible at social distances. The M&P has better ergonomics, better factory sights and just feels better in the hand; but, even with the crappy plastic stock Glock sights, it outshoots the M&P for me.

This is intolerable.

I could spend about $100 on parts from Apex to make the M&P trigger better than it is, but there's no guarantee that it would improve it's shootability enough for me to shoot it better than I shoot the Glock. I had a Glock in the past (a Gen 1 or Gen 2 G23 in .40) with which I had a neutrally ambivalent relationship. I have shot Glocks in the interim with similar results though never head to head with the M&P like this. I bought the M&P on the premise that it's made in the USA (because...'Murica! Dang it!), felt better in my hand and had better sights which should mean that it shoots better. Right?

Wrong.

I ignored my own good advice (given freely to others and now, again, to you) to try before you buy. Seriously. Go find a range or a friend who has what you are interested in. Shoot it against possible alternatives. If it ain't working for you, don't buy it.

Now, I have to go hang my head in shame secure in the knowledge that I will be stuck carrying an ugly Austrian just because it's a better tool for my hands than the sexy M&P.

[grumble, grumble]

Maybe I will name it...Frau Blucher.

Ammo Shortage - An Example By The Numbers

Okay, I know some out there really hate the new math especially when it translates into a 50 round box of Winchester White Box 230 grain .45ACP going for 40 of my hard earned dollars, and I know many of us would like to blame the evil government like any good conspiracy theorist would. We can blame the government INDIRECTLY all we want. BUT, let's take a step back an look at some real numbers for a second.

According to the May 2013 issue of American Rifleman (that'd be the NRA's membership magazine for those of you who are not NRA members), somewhere between 1 billion and 1.5 billion rounds of .22 long rifle ammunition is produced by all manufactures ANNUALLY. That's up to 1,500,000,000 .22 pills of all sizes and flavors from my personal favorite CCI Stingers to your cheap, dud infested, big box store, bulk pack stuff made to supply the whim and demand of every man, woman and child over a 365 day span of time. And, last I checked, the goobermint wasn't sending out orders for .22 bullets by the ship load.

So, assuming for the moment that the smallest size box you can buy is a 50 round box of formerly cheap fun in a gun, that's 30,000,000 (30 million for those getting tired of seeing zeros like I am) boxes of .22 caliber satisfaction hitting the streets every year.

But, wait, that amount of ammo doesn't hit the street all at once. There's twelve (12) months in a year. 30 million divided by 12 is 2,500,000 boxes hitting the streets a month on average. If we assume that there are an average of 30 days in each month, we get that narrowed down to 83,333.33 50 round boxes of ammo arriving on store shelves somewhere every day (setting aside the fact that deliveries don't happen every day).

And where is all that ammo going? Well, the USA is a big place. There are literally millions of gun owners spread across 50 states clamouring for a piece of that action every day. I know that reality is different, but let's assume that the 83,333.33 boxes a day gets spread equally among the states. That leaves us with 1666.66 boxes per state per day.

What's the likelihood that you're going to be one of the lucky ones to snap up a box or two on any given day when every other Cletus in town is waiting at the gun stores doors on delivery day with cash in hand? Um, yeah. Not good. Do those per purchase limits make a little more sense now?

What does all this mean? That's an excellent question. I'm glad you asked. I don't know much, but I do understand basic economics.

Ammunition manufacturers and their suppliers are and have been working at or near capacity according to every report I've gotten a hand on including perusing some of their websites. That means that supply is pretty well maxed out; or, at the very least, it's as good as it's going to get for the near future. That leaves us with two options: increase supply or lower demand.

As long as the current resident at 1600 Pennsylvania is in office, lower demand is unlikely for the foreseeable future. Maybe ever. As long as there are gun banning politicians clamouring to relieve us of our Constitional rights, people are going to be stockpiling ammo. Truth be told, I don't blame them. If I had the extra cash in my budget, I'd be stockpiling too. Which makes me part of the problem.

On the other side of the coin, supply is harder to predict. For the near term, we can expect it to be relatively constant. In order for there to be an increase in supply at this point, one or more manufactures would have to invest in additional facilities, equipment and the manpower to staff the production line as well as getting their raw material suppliers to ramp up too. The likelihood of those stars aligning comes down to a cold, hard, cost/benefit/profit/loss calculation. If a company foresees that investing the necessary capital to increase production by adding another plant will yield a net profit over a period of time that makes sense to them, it will happen. If not, don't count on it. 

Don't ask me to figure out what that magic profit/loss number is...I don't have enough information to figure it out. For example, if you assume those 30 million boxes sell for an average of $8.00 a box (don't quibble with me about prices for match ammo...this is an example), that's $240,000,000 ($240 million) in gross retail sales. A guesstimated SWAG of the manufactures net profit out of that would be 10% or $24 million. Split that among however many ammo manufactures there are based on market share, and the picture gets even bleaker for the chances of a new ammo factory sprouting from the earth anytime soon.

Now, go ask your buddy who's bragging about his 1000 round score to sit back and let the rest of us have a shot.

Teaser

Finally made it to the range Sunday with a new toy. Quickly figured out what food it REALLY likes:



5 shots on a 3 x 5 index card with a 1 inch target circle from a bench

This group is a tad low as the initial sighting in was done with CCI Stingers which are a 32 grain bullet moving about 400 FPS faster.

More to follow when I get all my photos and thoughts in order.

Gun Powder Therapy - Pretty Much a Perfect Way to Spend a Sunday

July/August was a disaster for me; I traveled for work and then went to Julie Goodnight's place for a week to film her TV show, Horse Master with Julie Goodnight, made an appearance at RomCon and then raced up to the High Country Rendezvous.  The constant running around, even though it was only for about ten days, really cut into my range time, so it felt *fabulous* to be out on the range today.

Boss Man fixed my Para (it was the three-fingered spring - yay me for guessing that!) and I wanted to put a couple hundred rounds through it to make sure all of the ghosties are gone and that it'll be okay to take to the September match.  I'm all about challenging myself, so I decided I'm going to shoot the September match completely weak-handed.  I'm confident in my ability to shoot weak-handed, but I've never presented from a holster left-handed or changed magazines with my right hand.  I picked up a cheap Kydex paddle holster the other day and spent some time today working on presentation.  Holy cow, it was U-G-L-Y!


(Yes, Mez was nearby, just barely behind the firing line, but I was doing dry-fire practice with empty magazines.)



Throughout the day it got more smooth, but I've got just two weeks to get as comfortable as possible before I do it at the match.  That means even more dry fire practice at the silhouette on my bedroom wall.

Mez brought out his new toy, which for the life of me I can't remember the manufacturer, a .308 carbine (essentially a FN FAL, but Austrian-made).  That is a sweet shooting gun.  We had an 8" steel plate about 60 yards out and I hit it with every round I shot right-handed from an off-hand (standing) position.  My accuracy wasn't as great with my left hand; I only hit the plate about 50% of the time (but I did manage to shoot holes clean through the legs, which are much smaller than the plate, that ought to count for something, right?).

Of course, standing around plinking at paper's not a ton of fun, so we decided to add an extra degree of difficulty and set up our own carbine course.



Yep, pretty much a perfect way to spend a Sunday.