Grim's Hall

Pistols in the Barroom, Ponies in the Rain:

Just got back from the range. Now, I have a confession to make about that to my fellow Knights of St. John Moses: I haven't been to a range in way too long. I spent the last year resident in Maryland, where shooting sports are quasi legal and tightly regulated, and to participate in them you have to register your guns with the state (like hell, says I). As a consequence, it's been over a year since I've shot.

However, now that I am happily resident out Virginia way, that's going to change. A gun shop down the highway has a range out back, and so long as you buy your targets and ammo there, you can shoot for free as often as you like, 0900 to 1700 daily. They keep a range safety officer on duty, and my experience today was that he was highly competent. It is, in other words, a cheap, pleasant, safe place to shoot.

I'm going to make it a habit to get down there at least once a week, for at least a box of ammo, until I'm shooting back at the level I used to aspire to in my tactical match days. After that, I'll be making a monthly trip at least.

All that said -- have a gander:

This group came from my brand new .357 Magnum. I shot six rounds to get the feel of the thing, then shot these six on a standard 75-foot range. Smith & Wesson makes fine weapons: the very first round out of the box went through the center ring. For this group, the first round was the one in the center, and then they began to pull up. You can see I adjusted fire down for the sixth round. Still, first one in the white, while the other five in this group stayed in the black. Kim du Toit was talking about how a .357 Magnum with a four-inch barrel is hard to control in sustained fire, and he's right:

Very few people can control a 4"-barreled .357 Mag revolver properly (unless the barrel is ported), especially when it comes to getting off the second shot quickly. I would never consider a .357 Mag with anything less than 6" -- size does matter, in this case. But a Ruger .357 revolver is an excellent choice.

Still, I hope you all noticed the irony that, just a few inches later, Kim advocated the S&W "Mountain Gun" in .44 Remington Magnum with a 4" barrel. I have one of those too, and it's a bear. Still my favorite piece to hike around with.

I may take his advice and get the barrel ported, just for speed on the second tap. I certainly will want a trigger job. Still -- for a guy who hasn't shot in a year, using a brand new gun in a challenging caliber, I think I did OK. Always did love a Smith & Wesson.

PS: If the title of this post means nothing to you, it's a line from a song by Cowboy Nation, one of the few good things besides Hollywood Marines to come out of California.