Sunday, March 14, 2010

Target work

I said last week that the shooting a combat pistol is a very perishable skill and that mine had eroded significantly over the past several years. Practice makes perfect, and while I'm not working yet, I have been practicing and I think that this is a pretty good target. It's not perfect, but it's significantly improved.



I fired that target with my old Model 66, a long-time friend. We were 25 yards from the target, at the Alexandria Indoor Range and the target is a standard B-27, blue. The old revolver and I were on our hind feet, Weaver stance, firing double action. It ws at the end of a longer string and those are the final 24 shots. If I'm scoring the target correctly, that scores at a 234-10X out of a possible 240.

I went back to the basics for ammo. That load is a Winchester small pistol primer, 2.7 grains of Bullseye and a Hornady 148 grain hollow based wadcutter. If you want to shot very good groups with a .38 special, that's the load to use. It's a time tested target recipe that shoots extremely well in lots of revolvers.

I feel good about the match next weekend.

5 comments:

Flintlock Tom said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Flintlock Tom said...

Oh, and I forgot to mention:

Well Done!

May I ask how you "sight" at 25 yards?
You and I are the same age. I wear bi-focals and when the front site is sharp, the target is a big blur. If I focus on the target, both sights are a blur.
Your photo shows you wearing glasses, but, perhaps my eyes are "older" than yours.
What is your secret?

Flintlock Tom said...

Maybe I'm doing this wrong but:

10x10=100
14x9=126

Total - 226?

(I also count 25 holes?)

Pawpaw said...

There's an X ring and a 10 ring. They all count ten points. There are 6 in the 9 ring. Everything else is either a 10 or an X. There may be 25 holes in that target. There were people shooting on either side of me. Thankfully, they didn't throw a keyhole flyer through the target.

Ain't scoring targets fun?

I'm still lucky enough to have single-vision glasses, although that's subject to change at my next exam. I focus on the front sight and let the target blur. As long as that front sight is centered on the target I think I'll be okay.

If I ever get into standard bulleye shooting I might have to make adjustments.

Flintlock Tom said...

Thank you, that's helpful.