Good Range Session This Morning
Household-6 gave me a liberty chit this morning and I chose to spend it at the range. I grabbed the Springfield Armory 1911 in its Comp-Tac holster, four loaded mags and a full box of ammo and headed to Blue Ridge Arsenal.
I only had a little time, so I got two B27 silhouette targets, unloaded at the firing line and commenced the warm-up dry-fire drills. Once I was satisfied that I was drawing and pressing smoothly, I reloaded and got down to business.
Not bad. Not the best, but by no means the worst. I was aiming for the cardiac triangle in the upper chest, not for the 10-ring, and the group showed very little lateral deviation. On the other hand, there was more vertical deviation than I wanted; none above the neck (except the head shots I wanted in the head) but a few dropped, oddly enough right in the X of the 10-ring. That's pretty much standard for me and it's a result of rushing the shot, looking over the sights and generally anticipating the trigger break. There was a good clump at the top of the shot holes, right where I wanted them at the apex of the 8-ring. In fact, the number "8" was shot out.
Practiced mag changes too-- that's a perishable skill-- and even was afforded the opportunity to clear a stoppage, which I promptly botched. I thought it was a failure to feed when it was really a failure to extract, and I neglected to cycle the round out. So I left a spent casing in the chamber and was rewarded with the proverbial click instead of a bang. Good lesson there.
Shoot more, shoot more often!
I only had a little time, so I got two B27 silhouette targets, unloaded at the firing line and commenced the warm-up dry-fire drills. Once I was satisfied that I was drawing and pressing smoothly, I reloaded and got down to business.
Not bad. Not the best, but by no means the worst. I was aiming for the cardiac triangle in the upper chest, not for the 10-ring, and the group showed very little lateral deviation. On the other hand, there was more vertical deviation than I wanted; none above the neck (except the head shots I wanted in the head) but a few dropped, oddly enough right in the X of the 10-ring. That's pretty much standard for me and it's a result of rushing the shot, looking over the sights and generally anticipating the trigger break. There was a good clump at the top of the shot holes, right where I wanted them at the apex of the 8-ring. In fact, the number "8" was shot out.
Practiced mag changes too-- that's a perishable skill-- and even was afforded the opportunity to clear a stoppage, which I promptly botched. I thought it was a failure to feed when it was really a failure to extract, and I neglected to cycle the round out. So I left a spent casing in the chamber and was rewarded with the proverbial click instead of a bang. Good lesson there.
Shoot more, shoot more often!
posted by vmijpp at 4:46 PM
5 Comments:
JPP...
Wish I would've known...I live not far from BRA. We could've hooked up for lunch.
I'll be at Vintage 50 on Catoctin Cir tonight around 7:30pm...I'm meeting a friend, but if you'd like a nice brew...
Hey
Is blue ridge renting MP5s yet?? They were taling about that when the new owners took over. ALso mentioned they wanted to allow rifle calibers inside (or at least .223 and 7.62x39)
Haven't been since the suicide thing there, but I'd go back if I could shoot a sub machine gun :)
Seriously, let me know the next time you head out.
Oh man, I wish I had a good excuse to buy a 1911. It's too bulky for concealed carry and I find a 20 gauge shotgun to be most practical for middle-of-the-night home defense emergencies.
I had much that same extraction problem which you describe in my Ruger Mk. III Hunter last week. Except in this case somehow the next round actually stovepiped into the spent casing and managed to fire! It blew the back of the first casing out, yet the bullet remained in place (half-way seated and stovepiped). This made one hell of a strange, flat pop and blasted a lot of burning powder out through the breech.
Fortunately, nobody was injured and the pistol was not damaged.
No excuse needed, Jack Landers! "1911 .45 ACP" is a self-validating requirement. With the right holster it's less bulky than you think. Every real American should have one-- think of it as a handful of America.
(Not of course, that you're not a real American... that was meant for the larger audience... still, go out and get one and don't look for an excuse!)
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