With the Superbowl (sorry about that Patriots, didn’t mean to rub it in) and all today, the wife and I figured it would be a quiet day at the range. Well, it wasn’t as quiet as I expected, but we didn’t have to wait more than a couple of minutes before we got a lane.
We had packed the Smith & Wesson model 66-1 .357 Magnum, the wife’s Bersa Thunder 9mm, and my new toy (yeah, I know they’re firearms and I’m not supposed to call them toys), a Ruger LC9.
We started off with the S&W, shooting a box of .38 Sp. just to warm up before going bang with .357s. I’m amazed at how easy that gun is to shoot. Hardly any recoil worth mentioning, no doubt due to the gun’s considerable heft and the new Hogue rubber grips I had installed to replace the original wooden stocks that look good, but make the grip very thick and a bit hard to handle. Both wifey and I did well, placing our shots in the general vicinity of where we aimed. We also ran into Frank Pinto, a retired cop and shooting instructor we had taken some lessons from, and he offered us a clip of +P .38s to try out, and they went “BOOM” almost louder than the .357s with little felt recoil. No doubt too expensive to shoot for target practice.
Next we pulled out the Bersa Thunder 9mm. Wifey loves this gun, but her “groupings”, if I can even call them that, were a bit all over the place. I shot fairly well with it for the first time ever, and even managed to get some decent groupings (for my skill level) at 15′, semi-rapid fire.
The Ruger LC9
Last, and least, was the Ruger LC9 (Light Compact 9mm), which I had only put about 50 rounds through on Tuesday when I got it. It’s “only” a 9mm (try taking a hit from it and see how “only” it feels), but is very snappy due to it’s light weight (about 17 ounces). It’s also double-action only, with a fairly heavy trigger pull, so both wifey and I were all over the place, lucky to even hit the paper. At the end of 150 rounds my hits very getting closer to where I aimed, though. I guess it’s one of those things you just have to get used to through practice in order to gain proficiency. Right now I gotta say I don’t care for the gun at all. It’s sleek and cool and excellent for concealed carry and all that, but right now there’s no love. I’ll just have to give it some more time, since wifey has put her foot down and no trade-ins or new guns until my birthday. Damn woman.
Did I offer my condolences to the Patriots? I think I did. Whatever.
