Saturday evening recap

I spent the morning on the range, working with my duty pistol. Pistol shooting is probably the most quickly eroded of the gunny skills. I shot a couple of hundred rounds of .45 ACP. I had two loads, Winchester white-box 230 ball ammo, and my reload using 0.5 cc of Bullseye under the Lee TL452-230-2R. I cast those out of wheelweights and was gratified to see that they printed with the Winchester White box at 25 yards. My sights are regulated for that load and that is what I qualify with.

I tried to learn something with each shot fired, concentrating on technique each shot. My group isn't as good as it was five years ago, but I haven't been shooting much pistol lately.

I also tested magazines. Sometime last year I had purchased six cheap mags on Ebay. After I got them, I ordered upgrade kits from Wilson and installed those kits. Today I wanted to wring them out and I found two mags that just wouldn't work. One of them wouldn't reliably engage the slide lock. The other bad magazine exhibited a catastrophic failure, blowing out the bottom, scattering floorplate, spring, follower and a full load of ammo across the range. I was considerably amused, but not as much as the rangemaster, who positively guffawed. He thought it was hilarious.

After the .45 ammo was expended, I took out the Model 66 and shot it with my favorite reload until my hand tingled. About fifty rounds of full-house magnum ammo. I carried that revolver during the first 23 years of my career. It was manufactured sometime before 1977. I got it in 1980, on a trade for a Ruger Security-Six. Pinned and recessed, without a dash-number, that pistol was a constant companion through a lot of hard times. It has been retired from active service and is now my woods-packing piece. I really should find a nice piece of leather to carry it in. Some have asked if I regret trading the Security-Six. Yeah, I do. I wish I had it and the Smith.

Tomorrow, I cast bullets and prep brass. It felt good to shoot the pistols today. Qualfications are in June, and I need a couple of more range sessions so that I can better the score I made last year. Qualification isn't the issue, as I have never had any problem qualifying on the police course.

As the sun went down, I recalled that tomorrow begins Daylight Saving Time. Remember to set your clocks forward.