Okay, everybody knows – because I go on and on about it – that my steppin’ out pistol is a beat-up Taurus 431 with which I have had a … complicated relationship…
The marriage still has its ups and downs.
Years ago when I needed to thoroughly clean the cylinder axis, I found I couldn’t unscrew the extractor rod without laying pliers upon it, something I refused to do. So imagine my surprise a few days ago, at the commencement of a belated cleaning, when I found that same forever-stuck rod within a turn or two of falling right off the gun. I look at it in its little pocket, and that shouldn’t even be possible. In hindsight this explains why the cylinder was getting a bit hard to close lately – it was pushing the extractor and cartridges out the rear of the cylinder. No idea how or why it suddenly worked loose when before I couldn’t move it with all my might, but there it is. And now I check it obsessively, because it’s one more thing in my life I can’t trust.
On the other hand I met Ian at the range yesterday for some rifle shooting. I was waiting at the 100 yard bench for him to show up with the real guns, and decided to kill some time and ammo trying to see how much holdover I’d need to clang the big lower gong. At 100 yards, with my snubby .44, this was a complete waste of time but it was there to be wasted. So I held up at the center of the rack, hoping I could see the bullet splash in the clay of the backstop. Pulled the trigger and a second or two later heard “CLANG!”
Huh? That was the last thing I expected. I tried it again. “CLANG!” I fired five times in all, and got three clangs. Wouldn’t you know, this is the sort of thing that only happens when nobody’s around to see it. Except just about then Ian came around the turn of the wash, laden with rifles. “Hey, Joel, great shooting! I heard five shots and three clangs!”
Uh, yeah. And I should have shut up and taken the accolades, except – third hand – none of those ‘clangs’ came from the target I’d been shooting for. Most of my practice is around 12-25 yards and I always knew the Taurus shoots high, but now at 100 yards it was ringing gongs on the upper rank, a good two feet over my point of aim. The Taurus shoots really high. Consistently, though, if the ammo’s doing its job…
Sounds as if that old dog needs to go to the gunsmith vet… But I’m glad you got the pleasure of hearing those gongs. 🙂 Can’t imagine carrying a gun I couldn’t trust.
Never have tried anything farther than 25 yards with a handgun, and that only once. Total waste of ammo for a 9mm, of course. My training range is from point blank to 20 feet or so, the usual spread on any self defense shooting. I figure if I’m more than 20 feet away, I can get out of the area or find really good cover, actions far more apt to keep me safe than long range shooting.
Interestingly, my students initially have a harder time with the point blank range, even though that is most apt to be required in a self defense situation. I get them to shoot from 1 to 5 feet out, at least a few rounds each session at first. They soon become fairly comfortable with it, but nobody actually likes to shoot that way, including me. But I think it is necessary to train for that so we would not be inhibited if the requirement were thrust upon us.
That sounds about right. My Star PD .45acp has a short front sight ramp and when entire blade elevated in rear groove (bottom of blade / top of slide visible), it will occasionally hit a gallon water jug at 130ish yards (too lazy to measure it exactly), the misses making it visibly nervous. Its a good exercise – you never know when you have to lob a few rounds as far as your handgun sights allow.
Good shooting sir.
I have a Taurus 905, 9mm revolver. Fixed sights. Shoots very low. I just aim high.
MamaLiberty, I regularly shoot my carry gun at 50 yards, it’s a 9mm with about a 3″ barrel. I am shooting seated resting on a table at that distance, but forcing my self to slow down and get a perfect sight picture to make longer shots helps my accuracy shooting close and fast, My ISPC scores got better, I made more good hits faster at 20 feet.
What can I say, joat… we each have our priorities. I shoot only to improve the skills necessary – that I think are necessary – for self defense. I would not ever try to shoot that far, so don’t practice that. Yes, in this crazy world, almost anything “might” happen, but I’ll have to go with the information about what is most likely in a self defense encounter, and what I need to meet it. I have no interest in precision target shooting or competition, but have nothing against those who do.
My 3 – 4 inch groups in the center of the target, at 10 and 20 feet – standing, with no support, or in several other probable SD positions, fill the bill for me. 🙂
I might have to kill a rabbit in my garden at 25 yards and all I have is my carry gun, or a fox in my hen house. I know I’ll never make a self defence shot at that range, but I have fun target shooting. Knowing that I can hit a man sized target at 50 yards or any distance closer in the unlikely chance I need to is also good. I do practice shooting closer and faster, and I find run and gun games a good way to get some trigger time under some pressure. A timer isn’t as much pressure as someone point in a gun at you but it’s about as close as I’m going to willingly get.
I think that some manufacturers used a one-time lock type washer in the ejector rod to cylinder assembly – so once you’ve disassembled and not replaced it there’ll be a tendency for it to work loose. I’ve got some Rugers that are this way. A sparing amount of blue loc-tite has done the job for me – but I still find myself checking them occasionally. Depends on the fit/design – but I’ve read of some people locking up their firearm while shooting because of the rod backing out far enough and seizing up the back of the cylinder.
“No idea how or why it suddenly worked loose when before I couldn’t move it with all my might”
There’s no pleasing you, Joel. 😉
There was a writer for Precision Shooting magazine who used to shoot at juniper bushes at a thousand yards, using a Freedom Arms revolver (and also a S&W, both in .44 Mag). It’s actually kinda fun throwing those big slow lumps of lead and seeing where you (eventually) hit. Probably using a snubby is not going to cut the mustard though.
I’m reasonably confident that I can hit heads or hips inside of 25 yards with my .308 Springfield. And I doubt that body armor will do the swill much good at that range.
Nice shooting!
And that sight picture is just what you want, you get a full clear view of the target.
I had a close look at the photo. Fixed front blade?
Building up stainless with weld is asking for trouble ( iirc Martensitic stainless es have a big no go range of tempering temperatures, within which they end up temper brittleness). And milling a dovetail for a higher blade is both a lot of work, and once windage is set, it will take some ugly staking to keep it in place.