Except When They Stay in the Barrel

The range was a great experience today. I shot my .38 Super and .45 ACP reloads. I already knew my .45s were wonderful, but it turned out the .38s shoot very well, too. I was pleased.

The only irritating thing is that it seems like I invariably open up my groups with the last 10 shots, spoiling some very pretty targets.

I am pretty sure this is 30 shots from the Colt .38 super, at 7 yards. It’s roughly 30, anyway. I noticed today that some flyers seem to appear no matter how well you do your job. I’m not sure. Maybe it’s just me, but I had one shot that was way off, and I was extremely confident I was doing things right when I pulled the trigger. Someone who knows more about guns might be able to tell me. I always thought gun writers were making excuses when they said semiautomatics produce their own flyers occasionally. I know it’s possible I dinged a bullet during manufacture, or that I undercharged a round. I don’t think fouling was a problem. These babies should have been running close to 1200 fps, and I saw nothing of interest in the barrel when I cleaned the gun.

I got out the SW1911, and I thought it shot great. And of course, the group opened up at the end of the set. Fifty rounds:

Here are about 20 more rounds from the .38. I think I was concentrating badly here.

I started the last set with the .45, but a round stopped up the gun. I thought I had some casings that were too fat to chamber, but when I stripped the gun at the podium, I found that a slug was just past the chamber, and it was keeping the next round from chambering. Thank God. I don’t know how it happened. Undercharge, I guess? Anyway, there was no damage to the gun. No ringing. When I got home, I shoved the dowel from a mullet boner (look it up) into the gun and popped the round out, and after cleaning, everything was swell. Scared me, however.

I have to reiterate my concern about not knowing whether rounds have cleared the muzzle. As you can see, I was shooting through the same hole over and over, getting no feedback from the gun or target except for recoil and noise. I guess the undercharge fooled me when it went off. Maybe that’s because I concentrate too hard to really hear what the gun is doing. I wish I had a target that always told me where the bullets landed. Trail Glades won’t let you use multiple bullseyes any more. If they did, I could divide the rounds up among them, reducing the “same hole” problem.

Here are 50 more from the .38 Super, along with two or three .45s.

I shot next to a cop today. He was dressed in black (sunny and 90+ today), including SWAT boots, and he was wearing an H&K shirt. Had a badge on his belt, which seems like an odd thing to do at the range. Not a great shooter. I felt a little self-conscious, but after all, I went there to do my best. I think I could have helped him a lot. He leaned way forward. His gun must have been shaking all over the place. He looked cool, however.

I think people show up at the range, point the gun, and pull the trigger, without even thinking about studying or asking for tips. I used to do that. It’s a big waste of time and money. If you want to hit anything, you have to think about technique. I help anyone who asks me, although I am not qualified to teach. I tell them what works for me. I wish I knew how to not shoot to the left.

I really don’t understand cops who shoot badly. They get free ammunition and range time, and I’m sure they get training. And I know a lot of them like to shoot, because they show up at the public range with big boxes of ammunition and very pretty guns. It must be ego. They must be too proud to ask for help. Which doesn’t make much sense. You would think they would be too proud to let themselves shoot poorly. Their messed-up targets aren’t exactly invisible.

I ask for advice here, I read websites, I read books, and I pray for help. I may ignore your advice once I’ve heard it, but I do think about it.

I found out Miami is finally having a gun show. I never thought it would happen. I haven’t been to one in years. Hope it doesn’t stink.

I think I learned a few things today. For one thing, I tend to lean forward when I shoot, ruining my balance. So when I find myself doing that, I stop and fix my stance. My trigger pull is too slow; it takes so long, sometimes I start to shake, or I lose my sight picture, or my concentration fades. And I worked on keeping my weak fingers tight.

I don’t know if it’s possible for me to shoot much better than I am right now, with these sights and these targets. Once the center of the target is gone, I lose my point of aim. And the sights force you to guess where your POA is, within a circle, on the target, which is over an inch in diameter. And I don’t think I can reduce my natural shaking much more. If you’re alive, you’re going to shake a little. My guess is that if I keep working at it, I may be able to reduce the size of my groups by a third, but I don’t think I can get more accurate than that.

I don’t know why these Laser-Cast bullets are so accurate. I tried to choose the optimal diameters. Not much choice with the .45s, but I didn’t have to pick .356 for the .38.

Accurate No. 7 powder seems cleaner than Unique. It doesn’t matter. Unique isn’t filthy enough to be a problem. I’m shooting about 5.2 grains of Unique in the.45 rounds, and 8.2 grains of No. 7 in the .38 rounds.

Best achievement of the day: I killed two horseflies and smeared their guts on the pavement. MAN, I hate those things. I had to wear bug repellant, so I was afraid to drive my own car, which has leather seats. I had to borrow my father’s SUV.

I keep thinking about the new Colt Peacemaker clones they’re making these days, and how much fun it would be to have one. Then I ask myself: how do you hit anything with those crappy sights?

I also want a Colt Woodsman clone. But I don’t think they’re on the market yet. If I had any idea which grandchild ran off with the one my grandfather had, I’d make a cash offer.

I used Hornady One Shot to clean the 1911s. It hurts to say this about a product that costs so much, but that crap is incredible. It seems to dissolve powder much better than Gun Scrubber, although I haven’t tried them side-by-side. If I knew of a way to spray Hoppe’s with force and precision, I think I’d use that instead, but their aerosol is probably expensive, too. One Shot blows the crap out of your gun fast, and to get lubrication at the same time, you just wipe the residue off the parts where you DON’T want lubrication. The rest will have a nice silicone film on them. I left some of the film on the SW1911, which has a matte finish. But I used denatured alcohol to take it off the bright-finish Colt.

That’s the range report. God bless America.