I grabbed this frame from a video I made of Damsel firing her 20 gauge shotgun last weekend. I was looking for the perfect muzzle flash when I noticed that two, and possibly three of her ejected shells were in mid-air at the same time. Look closely at the two yellow blurs – one coming out of the port and one just falling past the table. Extrapolating the position of the third shell would seem to indicate it, too, still has not hit the floor.
You can watch Damsel’s rapid-action shooting here.
Long guns
We headed to the indoor range today for our regular target practice. Upon arrival, we found the parking lot full and we had to park on the street across from the range. The crowded lot and street was due to a group using the training room at the range. We got our gear ready, went into the range and found an open lane right away. In fact it didn’t get crowded until halfway through our session.
Today we brought the 9mm handguns (Glock 26 and S&W 908s) and Damsel’s S&W 686 .357 magnum revolver. Since we scored some 9mm and .357 ammo a couple weeks ago, we decided to bring both calibers today. We also brought the shotguns, a Remington 880 20 gauge and the Remington 12 gauge security gun.
Shooting was fun today. We dispensed about 150 rounds total of 9mm ammo through the Glock and S&W. Both guns performed flawlessly, which is more than I can say about the shooter (speaking for myself). We weren’t all that bad today, but since this is the first time in weeks we shot the revolver and the 9mm pistols, our rustiness was showing.
As for the shotguns, we had fun sending 25 rounds each, of 12 and 20 gauge, into the silhouette targets. We went through all three targets we took into the range, shooting 2 of them down completely and perforating the last one pretty good.
Availability of ammo seemed to be improving at the range. As far as the local sporting goods outlets, not so much. One thing is for sure, the prices are up considerably for both factory new and reloads at the range. I managed to get a rain check on some 9mm ammo at the bargain price from the sporting goods shop – if it ever gets delivered to them, I’ll be able to get a couple hundred rounds at a good price.
We didn’t get to post our range report earlier due to the holiday and other events. We also took a trip to the Botanic Garden after shooting Sunday. Finally, I can get the record up to date.
We went shopping for ammunition on Saturday and found plenty of shotgun target rounds, both 12 and 20 gauge. We also found some .45 ACP ammo; we got 200 rounds for about $23 per box. The UMC rounds were a dollar off the regular price at the local sporting goods store. Other ammo was sparse and there were only 400 rounds of .45 left on the shelf when we got to the counter. We also bought 100 rounds of UMC .357 magnum.
On Sunday, we got another 100 rounds of .45 at the range where they still have the ‘buy it here and shoot it here’ rule in effect – no ammo to go. We also scored 100 rounds of 9mm which went into the range, but stayed in the bag. In essence, we’re not breaking the rule since we’re going to shoot the 9mm next weekend. We didn’t have the 9mm pistols with us.
The shooting was fun. I had a pretty good grouping with the Glock 30 .45 pistol – all ten rounds inside the zone. Damsel also shot 50 rounds with her Warthog. There was one stovepipe, and she thinks she had a solid grip on the pistol when it happened, so it remains unexplained.
After we finished with the pistols, we shot large silhouette with our shotguns. Damsel sent five rounds downrange in about 3 seconds with her 20 gauge Remington. When she finished, some cops that were in the range shooting came over from their booth to express amazement at how this girl performs with her shotgun. I took a video (above) of her first shotgun series just before the guys came over.
We decided to rent an RV and camp in Phoenix last week while attending the NRA Convention because we wanted to bring our dog, Bear. She’s eleven years old and we’re quite attached to her. Besides, Damsel and I had such a wonderful time camping out last December for our Winter RV Cruise, that we knew this would be fun.
One problem we had because the dog with us, was a logistical balance between getting her in a doggie day care center near the campground and getting transportation to the Convention. We wanted to go to the exhibits on Friday and did OK with that, but we had traffic, parking and proximity to the Center problems because of the overwhelming attendance. By the time we finished with the exhibit hall, it was time to head back to doggie day care and thence back to the RV.
One thing that needs to be said is that without Bitter and the 2A Bash groundwork, we would have waited in the two-hour lines to even get into the place. We got our stuff in the media room and headed into the exhibits. Thanks again to the organizers and to the NRA staff.
We’re sorry we didn’t have the chance to attend the Bash meetings and mingle in the media room. I actively looked at people in the exhibit hall hoping to spot another blogger and say hello, but that seemed to be a needle in the haystack proposition. Plus the guns and exhibits were there to distract us, naturally.
Eventually, we will be able to hook up with some of the other bloggers. We especially would like to meet Bitter and Sebastian to personally thank them for their help this year. I’m going to be retired next year and I assume we will have more time to get involved.
It was fun – I composed this panorama while we were parked in the campground – we’re the Cruise America rig in the middle. Several of the other rigs in this row were also there with NRA folks. Click the panorama for full size.
Yesterday, while visiting the Para Booth at the NRA Convention, Para’s public relations director, Kerby Smith, showed us this Para PXT LDA 9mm pistol. Since this one is on the restrictive California DOJ ‘acceptable firearms’ list, Kerby asked us to consider acquiring one of these 9mm pistols.
According to the Para Website:
Small, light, fast and carrying 8+1 rounds of low-recoil 9mm Luger ammo, the Para PDA 9mm is a lot of reassurance in an ultra-compact package. PDAs are sized like Snubbies but they have 3-inch match grade barrels because you need accuracy in a defensive pistol.
- Caliber: 9mm
- Rounds: 8+1
- Barrel: 3″
- Weight: 24 oz.
- Length: 6.4″
- Height: 4.75″
- Hammer: Spurless
- Sights: Night Sights
- Receiver: Alloy
- Finish: Duo-Tone
I did like this pistol a lot when I handled it and it is a pretty gun. But, it didn’t make my eyes glaze over like my stainless steel Warthog did the first time I laid eyes on her. But, that being said, I did like this gun a lot. I would have to put a few rounds downrange with one of these before I ultimately decide if it’s for me or not.
Sadly, we didn’t get to attend the Second Amendment Blog Bash activities at all this trip. We brought our eleven year old dog with us because a) she likes to travel, and b) she is a large breed and may not be with us that much longer. We missed meeting our blogging comrades, but being convention ‘virgins’ this is a learning experience for us. We plan to tune it up next time.
First, we took the dog to ‘day care’ recommended by our RV park director. Then we headed into town. Traffic, traffic, traffic, then finally got into a parking spot. Gracious thanks to Bitter and the organizers of the Blog Bash, the rest was all downhill. We checked into the media room and picked up our passes and kits and headed into the exhibits.
Toys, as far as the eye could see! So many guns, so little time!
One stop we had to make was at the Para booth. We wanted to personally meet Todd Jarett and Kerby Smith, both of whom helped get Damsel on the right track shooting her Warthog. It was Michael Bane who introduced us to the Para team in the first place and they took it from there. Damsel spoke briefly to Todd, who virtually gave her instruction on short barrel large caliber firearms training for women via a video that Kerby sent her. We wanted to thank them both for the training and for the extraordinary Para customer service.
When we walked through the Glock exhibit, none other than R. Lee Ermey – the Gunny from Full Metal Jacket – was signing autographs for Team Glock. We didn’t get in line to get his autograph and would have liked to have done so, a lot, but it was starting to get late – we needed to get back to pick up our dog. Besides, look at the lineup this guy gets for autographs! Must have been thirty minutes wait or more. The Gunny was posing for pictures, giving hearty handshakes and personally talking to the folks at length. This guy is the real article – a person who, despite some celebrity status, is a down-to-Earth guy with conservative and second amendment values. Click on the image to enlarge.
It was a lot of fun to see this today. I guarantee the next time we attend one of these, we will be able to show up at all the events and meet our comrades in arms. We’re already looking forward to our next NRA Convention. We can hardly wait.
Two out of our three shotguns have a magazine capacity of four rounds with a fifth in the chamber. It’s only natural that we usually load up our six plus one capacity 12 gauge with only four rounds in the magazine. Every once in a while, however, we put all seven rounds in the gun.
As you will see when you play the video, it can be easy to lose track of how many are loaded. Damsel discovers her seventh round has yet to be discharged.
Range report
With the current ammunition shortage, many ranges, including the one we use, have taken to the practice of rationing ammunition. Our local proprietor has established a rule that you can buy a limited amount of ammunition only if you pay the range fees, whether you shoot or not.
We showed up there yesterday and bought 100 rounds of .45 before going into the range with our pistols (her Warthog and my G-30). We only shot 50 rounds each. We were in and out of the range in under an hour.
Hope the ammo logjam breaks. We’re going to shop for some over in Arizona this week as we head for the NRA Convention and the BASH.