Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Firearms

Range Report

Sunday’s target practice went well. We took our 9mm pistols (my Glock 26 and Damsel’s S&W 908s) and Damsel’s S&W 686 .357 magnum revolver. We also took a couple of our shotguns, the 12 and 20 gauge Remington 870s.

We have been having warm weather this week and Sunday was no exception. The target shooting was fun and all, but the indoor range was a bit too warm. We toughed it out, though, and shot 50 rounds of .38 special, 100 rounds of 9mm and 50 rounds of shot shells.

In the video here, I’m following up on Damsel’s handy work by finishing shooting the target in half and then shooting off the left side (stage right) of the dangling silhouette target. After that series of shots, we exited the range to enjoy the cooler temperatures in the gun shop.

31 Aug 2009 by Firearms Shooting

Hogwash

We went to the range today for some overdue target practice. Afterward, we had our usual cleaning session. I cleaned up my little Para Warthog .45 ACP compact pistol and took this photo of her sparkling in the sunlight.

She cleans up pretty good, I’d say.

hawg-sparkle.jpg

23 Aug 2009 by Firearms Photography

Range Report 08/02/2009

muzzle-flash-870.jpgAfter a two-week absence due to vacation and other business, we were back at home on the range today. We missed our weekly shootout, so we packed up the handguns, shotguns and ammo and showed up raring to go.

I brought my S&W 686 and 50 rounds of .38 special. I also brought my Glock 30 and 50 rounds of .45 ACP. Damsel brought her Para Warthog and 50 rounds of .45. We each brought shotguns – our Remington 870 12 gauge security shotgun and Damsel’s 20 gauge Remington 870 Junior.

I captured a frame from one of the videos Damsel shot of me firing the security gun. There were a couple of fairly nice muzzle flashes in the video and that is one of them in the photo above.

We took turns firing the .38 special rounds. The revolver’s cylinder holds seven rounds, so after seven turns shooting, there is always one round left in the 50 round box of ammo. Damsel stuffed the remaining round into the cylinder and sent the last bullet downrange. We have been saving the .38 and .357 brass thinking that *one of these days* we will take up reloading.

We shot the .45s without incident except at one point the slide on the Warthog jammed with a live round still chambered (or nearly so). Damsel couldn’t move the slide at all, so she kept the muzzle downrange and handed it to me. I gripped the slide and worked it back and forth for about 15 seconds and it broke loose. Close examination of the open chamber and ramp showed no reason why this should have happened. Damsel also inspected the round that had been stuck and could find no nicks or other deformity. She put it back into the magazine, slammed it into the gun, racked and fired the rest of the rounds in the magazine – all normal.

We won’t be able to go to the range next week because the management is going to refurbish all lanes with new baffles, traps and other equipment as necessary. It has been thirty years since this range has been upgraded – we will report on the new range in a couple of weeks.

02 Aug 2009 by Firearms Shooting Sports

Packing Light

SW442When I’m puttering around the house and yard, I have this little ensemble clipped inside my waistband. It’s my little S&W 442 .38 caliber J-frame (loaded with plus-P anti-personnel* rounds) in a Bianchi leather clip-on holster.

When the weather is a little warmer, she rides in a special holster on my leg under the sun dress. Either way, she is light enough that you just might forget you’re packing and venture somewhere you shouldn’t under such circumstances – not that I’ve ever done that, of course.

* One of our commenters described hollow-points as “limited penetration” rounds. He says that description is less apt to get a reaction from liberals than “anti-personnel.”

14 Jul 2009 by CCW Firearms Second Amendment

S&W 686 Muzzle Flash

Glenn B from Ballseye’s Boomers asked if there was any way I could post the video from which I extracted the “Burnin’ Ring of Fire” image posted here a few days ago. The short answer is yes, but with the caveat that, by bandwidth necessity, the picture size has to be reduced resulting in half the resolution.

Regardless of the reduction, the video shows several of the muzzle flashes captured during the seven-rounds that Damsel fired on target. No two are the same, and I can’t tell you exactly which was the flash we posted here last week. It’s one of the two prominent rings near the middle of the sequence, I assume.

I use SWiSHVideo, which is a tool to convert most video formats into Flash™ animation format. I wrote my own set of on-line tools to seamlessly embed the animations into our webpages and posts. We hope everyone enjoys them.

12 Jul 2009 by Firearms Shooting

Before and After

before and afterHere is the muzzle of the .357 Magnum S&W 686 before and after cleaning. I guess you could reverse the photos and say before and after shooting. I showed a “During” picture yesterday of Damsel firing this gun at the range. From that picture, you can appreciate how all the residue generated during target practice can foul up the gun, inside and out.

Not to worry – Damsel takes some Strike Hold CLP and transforms the dirty to the clean in just a few minutes. She took the before and after cleaning photos and I scaled and merged them into this composite image. Click for the close-up.

10 Jul 2009 by Firearms Shooting

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