Shooting

The gunography for today’s shoot was fairly simple. Damsel’s Warthog and her 20 gauge “Junior” Remington 870 plus my Glock 30 and full-sized 12 gauge 870. Since we were at the gun show yesterday, we figured that this could be a short session at the range and we would have satisfied our gun stuff urges for the weekend.

We started with the .45 caliber guns. We only brought 50 rounds per gun, so that went pretty fast. Damsel put up a bullseye target for the first forty out of 100 rounds. When it got to the point that the middle of that target was shot away, we put up the first silhouette target. I had first shots on it and tried to practice the Mozambique – two to the heart and one to the head – while two rounds landed in the heart area and one to the left upper temple. I figured this wasn’t a record so no photos taken. Instead, we finished the .45 rounds and broke out the shotguns.

In the video above, I took shots on the silhouette trying to shoot off the right side. Voila! It went down, hanging only by threads. Then Damsel gave it the coup dé grâs after which she proceeded to give the target dimples.

Not much shooting today, but a lot of fun.

Update: Thanks to Robb Allen for the link!

At the range tomorrow, that is . . .

Clicky biggy.

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.

Handguns

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.

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.

Week after week, we put up our silhouette targets and try to shoot them down with our Remingtons.

Before this video starts, Damsel has already put some 20 gauge rounds through the center of the target. My turn came up and I used the 12 gauge to cut the right side of the target away from the top. I reloaded and Damsel stepped to my left side to capture the next two shots which finalized the separation.

Sometimes it takes more shots to get the job done, although we both have cut these targets in half with only five rounds. I think you have to get lucky for that to happen, but it does once in a while.

We didn’t shoot last weekend, mainly because ammunition is in short supply and we’re hoarding ours – like everyone else – until the supply side starts catching up with the demand again. So, we rely on our video therapy for now.