Range Report

I've really got to start photographing my targets. It would make these sort of things so much more interesting...

At any rate, some time was spent over the holidays wielding boomsticks at innocent paper targets, and showing them no quarter as volleys of lead were flung at will. A trip on New Year's Day was organized (loosely), and my next door neighbor's elder son (hereafter The Kid) +1 came along with The Wifey and I to one of my favorite local ranges for shooty goodness. We brought way more guns than we would end up shooting, but we had plenty of fun just the same. The Kid was on Christmas Vacation from West Point Academy, and I wasn't about to miss spending some good quality time with him while I had the chance. Dude's an Eagle Scout (both literally and figuratively). Seriously.

The arsenal that actually hit the range included a Magnum Research Baby Eagle Compact 9mm (polymer), a North American Arms .22 WMR Mini-Revolver, my Beretta Px4 Storm 9mm with three new mags, and The Kid's three-inch Smith and Wesson Model 586 .357 Magnum.

The Baby Eagle is blessing. Since I won't likely find a Mini-Cougar or compact 92 in like-new condition for less than the cost of my first-born child, this gun fills that role beautifully. The Baby Eagle Compact is a shorter-barrelled and smaller-gripped version of the full-sized pistol, which is a CZ-75 clone manufactured by Isreal Weapon Industries. From the same company that brought you the Uzi, we have a pistol that has been imported by several different stateside companies under several different names. Originally the Jericho 941 - whose name was derived from the fact that early iterations of the pistol included a feature that allowed the pistol to easily convert from 9mm Luger to the short-lived yet powerful .41 Action Express with a barrel and magazine swap, hence 9-41, or 941 - the Baby Eagle also imported as the Uzi Pistol. If you get the chance to shoot one, take it. It's as simple as any 92-variant or CZ-variant to operate, and it's a pleasure to shoot. The sights are quick to acquire, and the pistol runs flawlessly. New versions (i.e., RIGHT after my model; D'OH!) include Novak sights with Tritium inserts. Nice.

It ate up 200 rounds like it was no big deal. The Wifey had exactly zero buyer's remorse. It was every bit as good as she'd hoped it would be. More magazines are on the way.

I've run around 1,000 - 1,500 rounds through my Px4. Number of failures? Exactly zero. I'm gonna have to get some snap-caps to practice failure drills on this thing, because I don't think it's gonna screw up any time soon. I love this gun. Beretta is the shit. The three new magazines ran no sweat. The Kid and his buddy ran most of those rounds, and they loved it. The Kid has been waiting to shoot the Px4 for a while, so he was smiling from ear to ear pretty much from the time I called him.

Next up was the NAA Mini-Revolver. I cannot remember shooting a more ornery, difficult, inaccurate, pain in the ass firearm in all my life. Though recoil is barely noticeable, muzzle flip is nigh uncontrollable whether you're shooting 30-gr high velocity or 40-gr heavy varmint rounds. All that said, it is, after all, strictly a back-up-gun, and if I've got to go to that thing I'm close enough to jab it into someone's ribs before I start pulling the trigger. Despite it's shortcomings, it's still very fun to shoot. Though only two rounds of about 80 hit the 10-ring, the relatively low recoil and high novelty makes this little BUG an absolute winner. Now if I can get a match-grade barrel, night sights, and an accessory rail for it...:)

Last up was The Kid's Smith. I don't know for sure how long the Model 586 has been in production, but this one had two features that led me to believe that it was one of the earlier models: first, the firing pin is on the hammer; second, the trigger pull. See, I've heard from many that you haven't experienced a good trigger until you've fired an old Smith wheelgun. Well, it's DA TROOF. Without a doubt, that revolver has the smoothest, most consistent, greatest trigger of any firearm I have ever held in my hands. Zero exaggeration. Granted, we were shooting 158-gr wadcutters, but follow-up shots were so easy to acquire due largely to the heavey barrel and full-length shroud. I tried to get some heavy .357 loads, but the range had none, and neither did Bass Pro Shops. I HAVE to have an old Smith L-frame. Wow.

I must have spent four hours the next day cleaning guns. I loved it. I like cleaning my guns anyway, but this time it meant that the Baby Eagle could take on a couple mags-full of Hydra-Shoks, the NAA could load up and begin its career as my pocket gun, and that I had plenty of magazines to have a regular rotation for my primary carry gun. I also spent a nearly obscene amount of time cleaning The Kid's .357. (I must have dry-fired that gun 150 times, no joke. It was that nice.)

Hopefully, I'll be hitting the rifle-range soon since I acquired a rear sight for my AR (thanks for the sight and all the patience, Cowtown Cop!!!). I've also got to spend some quality time breaking clays with the new .20 ga.

Hmmm. Needing to shoot guns. That's a good problem to have.



tweaker