Saturday Range Day

I took Abby to the range yesterday,  It's been quite awhile since she had come with me so it was a nice time together.

She really liked the M&P Compact 22 with the can on it and after a bit of practice did very well with it.

She could hit all three on demand, but occiasionally would rush herself and inevitabley shoot high above the plates, but once she settled down she could knock them all down.  I may even be able to talk her into trying steel challenge someday.

 She also tried the M&P 15-22 and thought it was a bit heavy but then she remembered shooting it awhile back as a kid and then she also got her hits with it too.

She said the Tavor felt too heavy for her but she would hit the paper with it (No plates with the Tavor as that steel is pistol-rated only).

I shot the Glock with the replacement Holosun on it and finished zeroing it.

Then we did a bit of shooting and (slowly) moving - first the rack of thre plates then moving to the other side with another rack of three plates for Abby and three plats and two poppers for me.  Good practice in teaching her how to move with a firearm while controlling the muzzle direction at all times, and she had a lot of fun doing it.

Overall a very nice and easy range trip.

Then we drove back and met up with the rest of the family for lunch and then got a lot of cleaning done around the house which was all good.  hen I headed out to a friend's 40th birthday party and had a good time doing that too. 

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

Sunday Quarantine Range Trip

Nothing like going out for a social distancing outdoor activity.

Leah and I drove to the range, and the unofficial highway limit seems to still be set at 90 mph, with permissible increases to 100 mph. which is nice. I certainly burned any carbon deposits out for the engine on this trip.

With the unofficial speed limits being what they were, and the very light traffic, we made it to the range in exceptionally good time and had it pretty much to ourselves including our favorite bay with the plate rack in it.

I mainly shot the IWI Masada, on its first range trip after its 2,000 round cleaning. No failures and another 250 trouble free rounds through it all done drawing from concealment for practice including 5x5 drills and a dot torture drill.

Leah shot the M&P .22 Compact, the Beretta 81, the IWI Masada, and the IWI Jericho 941.

The IWI Jericho 941 is an Israeli Police surplus that I acquired just prior to the Wuhan Flu shutdown.

A CZ clone with some Israeli enhancements, the 16-shot, all steel, frame 9mm fits the hand extremely well and shoots really nicely with no real felt recoil compared to polymer 9mms of similar size.

When I received it, it clearly had signs of use and character, including sand under the grip panels, and the name of the officer that had been issued it taped on the slide and it has the Israeli Police Star on the right side of the frame:

The Israeli Police 941s are all single action and can be carried cocked and locked. They replaced the Browning Hi Power in Israeli police service and have since been replaced by the Glock 17 and 19.

Very nice and accurate pistol, with a very nice trigger, albeit heavy compared to the polymer wonder nines that replaced it. A nice piece of shooting history.

More Shooty Stuff At The Range Today.

Leah shot "her" S&W .22 compact with silencer as its her preferred firearm. She also shot the Beretta 81 as it is both fashionable and more powerful as it knocks down steel plates, unlike the .22.

I also let her shoot my new-to-me James Bond gun. She's been watching the Bond movies recently given the downtime, and got to where Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies, (in the guise of Pierce Brosnan, Tash's favorite Bond) upgraded to the Walther P99.

These are Spanish Civil Guard P99 turn-ins from Classic Firearms and their condition, while stated as Very Good to Excellent, vary a bit farther than that.

The first one I ordered, in the proclaimed Very Good to Excellent condition came with every steel part rusted - every pin, the extractor, the bolt face, you name it. Considering it came in a clear plastic bag, it's not like they could have missed all that rust when they packed it for shipping.

That was rather unsatisfactory.

On the upside, Classic Firearms was good about returning it, especially once they viewed the pictures of the rust, and I got this one in exchange.

This one, while clearly never cleaned by the officer who carried it on duty, as it was all gunked up and dirty, cleaned up rather nicely and this was its first time out to range after picking it up on Friday. It certainly has a most politically incorrect serial number.

Aside from the unfortunate serial number, that serial group has the later upgrades - mainly the longer paddles for easier mag changes, which is a nice plus. The Rusted one was an FAC serial numbered gun with the short paddles and you can really tell the difference between them on sight, with the longer paddles being a lot more usable without having to switch your grip.

I and Leah together ran 100 rounds through it - 50 Federal 124 NATO, and 50 Winchester 147 HPs, with zero failures. It feels great in the hand, trigger is great, and its a darn nice firearm to carry and shoot both. Glock 19 sized with a 15 round magazine, and its neat Anti-Stress trigger, it'll make a nice carry firearm.

Leah liked shooting it as well.

After shooting the P99, I then set her up with the S&W M&P 15-22 and she had a great time with it. The .22 from a rifle, unlike from a compact pistol, will knock down the steel plates and she had a ball running it. Lots of smiles doing 25 rounds of rapid fire and hitting her targets with each of those rapid shots.

I also brought out the Golani.

Turns out I got a good one. 100 rounds through and it ran like a top, decent groupings, and excellent functioning with no problems at all.

I'm rather pleased with it.

A darn good time at the range. After a couple hours she was getting a bit cold so we packed it in and headed home.

Range Trip: P30SK 2000 Round Test Hits 1,100

Finally headed to the range yesterday, it had certainly been awhile.

I took Leah along and we had a great time.

We tested out the new firearm we had assembled and were quite happy with the results.

She enjoyed shooting the M&P22 Compact which she refers to as "her gun". She can make good hits with it too.

I shot another 50 rounds through the Shield 45 with zero malfunctions of any kind, and Leah liked shooting it too. The fun is certainly growing on me in the likes department.

We also brought the P30SK along and I put 50 rounds of S&B and 50 rounds of Prvi Partizan through it with no issues whatsoever. The brass does come out a little dirty at the case mouth probably due to the uncleaned chamber, but nice and shiny beyond that. Leah and I both shot it and no issues occurred even with an 11 year-old gripping it and shooting away with it.

That's 1,100 rounds through the P30SK with only one failure (round 22) which was not due to the firearm.

Morning Range Trip, P30SK Hits 550 And Springfield Makes It Easy To Shoot like A Girl

One thing about jet lag, you tend to get up earlier than usual.

A morning range trip was in order so Leah and I headed out to the range early this morning.

In addition to the M&P compact .22 with Gemtech that Leah loves, she got to shoot a used while new-to-me and to her firearm - a Springfield Armory 1911 9mm.

It just so happened she was wearing her Springfield Armory Shoot Like A Girl t-shirt and it matched the pistol nicely.

She really liked the pistol and handled it with no issues.

As acquired it turned out it is setup with a popsicle type sight picture and I'll likely adjust it to a center hold. While used aside from a couple scratched in the finish you can hardly tell its been fired and it likely wasn't fired much if at all before I acquired it from its previous owner. It has a very smooth action once it was cleaned and oiled, and aside from an initial couple failures to extract the fired case from the chamber on the second-to-last round from one of the 9 round magazines, it eventually stopped malfunctioning after a few magazines were run through it. Recoil is very light when chambered in 9mm from a full-sized 1911 and Leah pronounced the trigger to be excellent and stated it really was quite nice to shoot.

Leah's target:

I shot the P30Sk and it had no malfunctions after 100 rounds through it, making it to 550 rounds with one failure (round 22) not due to the firearm. The trigger takes some getting used to after shooting the Springfield 9mm. Leah also shot the P30sk and with some coaching was hitting the target but initially was dropping the shots very low due to the long trigger pull.

A very nice time at the range.

Range Trip - P30 At 1,850, P30SK At 300, A CETME That's Not-For-Me, And The M&P 22 Gets A Name.

Yesterday in the late morning the family headed towards the west.

Natasha and Abby headed to a nature trail for a hike and I took Leah to the range and afterwards we met up and had lunch at the nature trail.

Leah got to try the M&P 22, the P30 and P30SK.

She immediately announced the .22 Compact with silencer upon shooting it was now her "Quiet Pal" and thus it got a name.

She was hitting steel plates and poppers with it quite well indeed and really had a good time shooting it.

Leah found the P30Sk and pronounced it cute. I figured if we could induce a failure, having a ten year old shoot the P30 and P30SK should do it. Nope, no failures. However, the LEM trigger system was clearly hard for her to use and she was dropping her shots significantly with both of them and you could see her dip the muzzle as she squeezed the trigger. We worked on it and I then stood behind her, had her aim and I helped her with squeezing the trigger with my finger covering hers and she got it and started no longer dipping the muzzle as she shot but decided she wanted to go back to her Quiet Pal as it was more fun for her and easier for her to shoot.

I shot the P30 and P30SK with both hands, with strong hand only, weak hand only (still needs work but its getting better), and on one string with a P30 in the left hand and the P30Sk in the right hand just to alternate one by one hitting plates and poppers which Leah pronounced quite cool. The technique is a good way to impress your kid, but of little to no practical value.

I also had a friend's Century Arms CETME, one of the older ones, not the newer C308s at the range.

He hadn't fired it before and asked me to take it out to the range and try it as he had never fired it.

How could I say no to such a nice request? Overall it looked good.

It feels pretty decent, has a nice heft and the ergonomics were not bad and it felt rather comfortable to hold and it lined up easily enough on target. When it came to shooting it however....

First, the G3 magazines he had with it would not lock into the gun, an apparently known issue with Century CETMEs. I inserted the mini five rounder that had come with the gun and loaded it with five rounds and inserted it into the mag well with a healthy click and it was seated.

I then chambered a round, no problem. Firing it was fun, the first round fired just fine and recoil was minimal for a 308 rifle. I then lined up the sights pulled the trigger and click. The magazine had unseated when firing the first round. I re-seated it tugged on it to make sure it was locked in which it was, chambered a round, fired and the same thing happened. All five rounds every shot the magazine would drop out just enough to not chamber the next round. Finally I held it in place with my off hand to shoot. A nice gun but this one certainly has issues. I'd probably get one of the PTRs if I ever want a G3 clone, and I just might as even this one fit nicely.

That's 1,850 through the P30 with zero failures of any kind and no cleaning, and 300 through the P30SK with one FTF (#22), not due to the firearm.

P30 At 1450 And Range Trip

A badly needed range trip took place yesterday.

My cousin Matt came in to visit this weekend and I took him to the range. He only has experience (quite extensive experience) with his duty pistol, with which he is quite good, so he was interested to try out a variety of pistols and I was happy to oblige.

Together we ran another 150 rounds through the P30, making it to 1450 with absolutely zero malfunctions of any kind to date. The feed ramp is now covered in black gunk but it keeps on going.

He rally enjoyed shooting my M&P 22 Compact with the Gemtech suppressor. Mirabile Dictu, Walmart had some .22LR CCI standard velocity in stock (3 round box maximum purchase). The M&P and Gemtech loved it and ran very very quietly with no issues and it was much more accurate than the Remington Thunderbolt and quieter as well.

He liked it quite a bit.

I also had quite a few other pistols for him to try: The Inglis Hi-Power, The S&W Model 29-2, The S&W M&P 9, The Glock 17, the Glock 21, the PA-63 and the 1911 and the Mauser HSC out to shoot.

Lots of ammo was turned into noise and many a steel target dropped only to be reset and dropped again.

Then back to the house for an epic cleaning of the guns (all save the P30) and then a good diner of Thanksgiving leftovers and a binge-watching of Game of Thrones.

A darn good time.

P30 hits a flawless 1,300

Ran 100 more rounds through the P30 last night at the range after work.

I went shooting at an indoor range with the Synagogue's gun club. Yes we have one, which I found out about chatting with certain people during the run up to Abby's Bat Mitzvah. While it is a Conservative congregation, most members aren't conservative nor pro-gun politically so to speak, so it was fun finding some kindred spirits among the membership.

So we met up at an indoor range and had a half-hour range rental time to work with.

At 10 yards, my shooting wasn't too bad.

However, for some reason all my left-hand-only shots ended up clustered on the right side of the target with most clustering low (the bunch in the 9-8-7 rings at low right).

In short, more left hand only practice is needed. Heck, more practice is needed period.

The P30 had zero malfunctions, again completely flawless operation and I'm pretty impressed with how this gun fits and functions.

I then shot the M&P Compact .22 with silencer (the shots at the top of the head are the first string from it). I'm finding the sites on it are a bit to the right, most especially with Remington Thunderbolt (the only .22 ammo I could find at the moment) which for some reason shot a lot more to the right than the CCI Mini-Mage. I let some others try it and they enjoyed shooting it quite a bit.

I then, running out of time, did a rapid mag dump from the M&P9 full size. Compared to the P30 it felt like an absolute block in my hand, but it was decent enough shooting though for a very quick emptying of the magazine.

Then we went to a nearby deli for some excellent corned beef sandwiches and good conversation and that was the end to a very pleasant range trip.