Range Report

Took a little time today and went out to the range. 

Today was a pistols only trip, since I didn't want to drive to the outdoor range.  The indoor range I go to has rifle lanes, but they're prohibitively expensive on my budget.

The 1911 continues to be a good shoot, even if I don't burn through a couple hundred rounds.  I put 50 rounds through it and was able to bring my groups to about 4" for a magazine of 7 at 20 feet.  I put in a few snapcaps and loaded the magazines without looking, so I was able to practice my malfunction drill a bit.  I did get bitten by the slide a couple of times in the space between my thumb and finger, so I need to work on my grip with it.  I need to do something with the front sight on this one.  I can barely see it against a dark background. 

I recently put Hogue rubber grips on my Taurus .38, and I was curious to see if that made a difference with how the gun sits in my hand and felt recoil.  I definitely felt a difference in recoil.  My groups with this one weren't even close to the .45, though.  I need to start making a habit of doing a lot of dry fire with the .38, and maybe that'll improve my shots.  The sights on this one were hard to see against a dark background too.  I burned through two cylinders of rounds before the range safety asked me to stop using CCI Blazer ammo.  Appears that it messes up their brass collection and they have to manually sort out the aluminum cases.  I looked at their ammo, but the price was way too much for my budget.  I'll remember that range rule next time and save the CCI rounds for Knob Creek.

I also tried out the Bianci speed strips that I picked up , and I like them.  They're faster than hand loading, and a lot less bulky than a speed-loader.  Those are definitely staying with me for carry.

At the pro shop, I picked up a Galco IWB holster for the .38.  I bought it specifically for carry.  My shooting with it is good enough that I'd feel comfortable using it in an emergency, but I'll of course work to improve.

Now I need to work to improve my ammunition situation.  I've burned through almost all of my .45 and I only have a few rounds of .38.   I'm considering purchasing bulk reloads from Precision Cartridge.  That would definitely allow me to go to the range and not hear a cash register ring every time I pulled the trigger.