We have a lot of fun when we go to the shooting range. Sunday, Damsel was shooting at a silhouette target with her 20 gauge Remington 870. She gets such a kick out of demolishing the last hanging vestige of the target.
I really love going to the range with her.
The remarkable thing about our weekly trip to the range for target practice is that there were no anomalies to report. Well, other than the knot heads who brought some 12 gauge steel shot shells into the range and were putting on a fireworks show downrange until the range master corrected the problem.
As for us, we had a lot of fun. Damsel’s Warthog performed flawlessly after the replacement parts were installed a couple of weeks ago. She sure loves that little gun, recalcitrant or not. I shot ten rounds through it and experienced the kick that it gives with the new springs. She will be keeping an eye on the wear on the internal parts so we can replace the springs and caps before needed.
Damsel also brought her Smith and Wesson 686. In the photo above, you can see the plume from the .38 special reloads we were shooting today.
The little S&W 908s 9mm pistol gave no problems, as usual. My two Glocks were, as always, a pleasure to shoot.
The end of the session is when we break out the long guns – Damsel’s 20 gauge youth model and our 12 gauge security gun – both Remington 870s. Shooting the shotguns made the finalé a grand thing, indeed.
What a great outing!
When we go to the range, we take a bunch of guns, and wind up blogging afterward about the Glocks, or the Warthog or the 870 shotguns. We seldom have anything to say about our Smith and Wesson 908 9mm semi auto pistols – mainly because they just keep on shooting and require little attention otherwise. We have had these since the summer of 2006. Damsel got hers first and I got mine (shown) a couple of weeks after that.
Honestly, they just keep on ticking. We have replaced the recoil springs and spring guides in each of them once. They’re probably due again but they seem to be just fine for now.
Specifications:
Caliber: 9mm
Capacity: 8 Rounds +1
Barrel Length: 3-1/2″
Front Sight: White Dot
Rear Sight: Fixed 2-Dot
Grip: Straight Backstrap
Trigger: .305″ Combat
Hammer: .260″ Bobbed
External Safety: Single Side
Frame: Compact
Finish: Black
Overall length: 6-13/16″
Material: Aluminum Alloy / Carbon Steel
Weight Empty: 24 ounces
Click on the image for a larger view.
This nice piece of eye-candy is illegal in California UNLESS OWNED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
This morning I read a post over at Ballseye’s Boomers where Glenn asks the question, “Is It Something In The Water?” He quotes a soft-headed Californian who wonders “why gun locks couldn’t be enforced in the city – forcing gang members to lock their guns in order to transport them“. My reaction is basically in agreement with Glenn’s observation that people in California are getting more indoctrination than education in the terrible school system here.
That, and the worst (and most ridiculous) gun laws in the USA, none of which make Californians safer. Consider the following generic restrictions on arms in this state; you will probably find most of them laughable:
The Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989, its subsequent augmentation in 1999, and the .50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act of 2004 has led to many restrictions on semi-automatic firearms. In addition to a lengthy list of specific firearms that are banned by name, the following firearms are banned by characteristic:
- A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following:
- A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon.
- A thumbhole stock.
- A folding or telescoping stock.
- A grenade launcher or flare launcher.
- A flash suppressor.
- A forward pistol grip.
- A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.
- A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has an overall length of less than 30 inches [762 mm].
- A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following:
- A threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer.
- A second handgrip
- A shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel that allows the bearer to fire the weapon without burning his or her hand, except a slide that encloses the barrel.
- The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location outside of the pistol grip.
- A semiautomatic pistol with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.
- A semiautomatic shotgun that has both of the following:
- A folding or telescoping stock.
- A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon, thumbhole stock, or vertical handgrip.
- A semiautomatic shotgun that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine.
- Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder.
We headed for the range today, for our regular target practice and ‘recoil therapy.’ as Robb puts it. The gunography consisted of Damsel’s Warthog .45, S&W 908s 9mm, S&W 686 .357 and her 20 gauge Remington 870 ‘youth model’ shotgun. I brought my Glock 30 .45, Glock26 9mm and my 12 gauge Remington 870 full-sized shotgun.
Damsel received the parts to restore her Warthog during the week and she gave it a test drive today. She will make her second follow-up report on the Warthog in a separate post. Suffice it to say that the ‘Hawg was OK and she put about 100 rounds through it. She shoots ten of those are in the video above.
Our outing today was pleasant. We didn’t try to push any envelopes or make any spectacular shots. It was just a good, healthy shoot, intended to be fun.
The parts to replace the ailing recoil spring and plug arrived last night. Today, I installed the new parts in the Warthog – it’s good to have a complete gun again!
I took some pictures of the old and new parts together and of the slide after installing the new spring. In the upper left panel, note the compression of the old outer spring when next to the new one. Upper right, you can see the wear to the finish on the old spring plug. The lower right is a close up of both flanges note the broken flange on the right (old) one. Finally, the new spring got installed in the slide after a little struggle – it took a lot more force to get it in place.
This is follow-up (1) with follow-up (2) to come after we take her to the range Sunday.
We had an entertaining day at the range today. We were late today and the parking lot was full because there was an NRA instructor with some students in the classroom – but there were several booth still available in the shooting range, so we parked on the street and went inside. Shooting was pretty much the same thing, although Damsel’s Warthog is awaiting parts and didn’t make the trip today.
I took some video while Damsel was shooting and I noticed two sequences where she fired five shots. One of the two was her firing my Glock 30 where she metered out the shots in deliberate fashion to hit on or near the target center.
In the other sequence, she did her trademark 20 gauge rapid-fire, in, what I believe, is a record for her. I like when she ejects the last of the five expended cartridges with a flourish.