Range report on new, newer and newest

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  • doddg

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    May 15, 2017
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    This thread should be called: Fun, Fun & Fun.

    I took about a dozen or so guns to the range.
    Some new ones I've bought and some to see if I can sell.

    First, I tried out my used Taurus 85, SS, 38 special, 5 shot snubbie w/hammer that I traded my Beretta .25 (and cash coming my way), for last week) and compared it to my new last summer S/W 642, SS, 38 special, hammerless snubbie, both Airweights.
    I tried them out at 15', 30' and 45'.
    The Taurus 85 shot better than the Smith.
    Of course, the Taurus could be shot single action and not just double action like the Smith hammerless, but when I shot the Taurus double action like the Smith it was still more accurate.
    The Smith wanted to pull to the left more. I even have special Delta grips on the Smith to absorb recoil, but I was fine with the stock rubber grips that came with the Taurus.
    Since this snubbie-type .38 specials are strictly for CC, I don't need both and if I had to decide today, I'd sell the Smith just thinking of my own preference, but selling one 15 yrs. from now I know I'd rather have the Smith probably.

    I then shot my 22 magnums. I dearly love my heavy monstrous Taurus Tracker 971 22 magnum 7 shot SS revolver! Accurate at any distance.
    My Smith 351 Airweight snubbie, 7 shot revolver (that I boght on impulse at Tim's Shooting Academy in Westfield is not that accurate, but that could be mostly me, but other guns do fine for me.
    I think the sights need adjusting, which is something I need to learn how to do since some of my guns shoot low, and many to the left, but the left could be me.
    I finished up shooting my hated NAA 22 magnum 5 shot single action, but it is what it is for something to CC when you can't carry anything else, or as a back-up.
    I can't hit squat with it at 15 feet. I'll shoot at the target and not even know where some of the shots go (not use fresh dedicated target b/c I know it's not going to be accurate anyway: strictly a "gut gun." It's so small I simply can't get a firm grip on it and the recoil snapping up the barrel is crazy with it.
    I'd love to sell it since I hate it so bad, and perhaps I should since I have my Beretta .32 tip up and a couple .380s, but nothing is as small as it is, but I don't trust semi-automatics and the NAA magnum is a simple single-action revolver that always will work.

    I shot the Rock Island Armory 1911 22LR and it lived up to everything I wanted: accurate and heavy.
    I put 50 rounds through it w/o a fault. The magazines are really strange with it: all metal gun with plastic mags and they are like nothing I have had on any other semi-automatic. At the bottom of 2 of the 3 it says "Kimber." The owner said something about how they came with the gun when he got it off a friend (indicating the friend had bought them extra for the RIA 1911-22).

    I then put some rounds through my GSG 1911 22LR with the $500 upgrades that I'd only shot 1 other time: very accurate: I continue to love it.
    I probably don't need both of these 1911s: illogical, so when I retire I'll have to cut one when the reality of the money crunch hits, but until then: I'll enjoy both.

    I put through some rounds through my Taurus Tracker 990 22LR that I picked up Saturday, only a 4" barrel, so it isn't the monster that my Tracker 6" barrel 971 22 magnum is, but it is wonderful. Shoots low, need to learn to adjust sights.
    Again, since I have my Ruger GP100 22LR, I don't need both, but I'll enjoy them both until I have to "trim" one.

    I got the brand new Bersa Thunder 22LR SS that I ordered at Hoosier Armory ($280) and have fired only once.
    It never skipped a beat and I put about 50+ rounds through it: enjoyed it.
    Does fine for a smaller 22LR filling a niche there for me.

    I shot the H & R 939 older revolver that I picked up a month ago: always have liked it, but I have bought probably 6 other 22s since then, so I'm thinking I don't need it and should cut it, but I like the grips and barrel on it, so I don't have to be in a hurry, especially since I don't have too much in it.

    I tried out both of my Beretta .32 tip-up barrels b/c I need to sell one and I know which one I'll sell.
    One is a little "fresher" looking (the 2nd one I bought), so I'll see the 1st one I bought.
    I paid $275 for each of them, but the one I'm keeping came with a box and extra mag: that's the only reason I bought it in the first place.
    Hopefully, I'll be able to sell the other for what I have in it: $275.
    Actually, the one I'm selling seems to have a "tighter" barrel on it anyway.

    Got the Beretta Neos out next with the nice long 6" barrel: I really love this gun: only $175 and it is sooo accurate!

    Next was the S/W 22A-1, and it was sublime: big grip, smoothness, accurate, and only $200 in it.

    Didn't have any FTF or FTE on anything this evening.

    I didn't bring about 3 or 4 other 22LR with me.
    I need to make a decision on whether to sell the Taurus and/or Beretta 22LR tip-up barrels: they fill a niche for very small 22s, but probably should cut one: the Taurus doesn't have a hammer so the Beretta has the edge since it does, but I don't have much in the Taurus, but it all adds up an gun here and gun there.

    I only stayed at the range for about 1.5 hrs.: could have stayed for another hour, but I just had too many to try out.

    I now have 2 home defense guns, 10 range guns and 9 CC guns (I'm sure the last one will bring some criticisms, but some of those are really range guns, but I have carried all of them one time or another, where the range guns never get carried.
     

    gmcttr

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    ...Shoots low, need to learn to adjust sights...

    Sight adjustment is pretty simple. Move the rear sight in the direction you need the point of impact to move to. If you are shooing low, move the rear sight up to move the POI up, etc.
     

    doddg

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    Sight adjustment is pretty simple. Move the rear sight in the direction you need the point of impact to move to. If you are shooing low, move the rear sight up to move the POI up, etc.

    1. Oh, I get that; it's just that every gun seems to have a different set of screws to turn, and I'll have to watch some youtube vids to "get it."
    2. On the older H &R 939 (I think that is the number), I could just "swivel" the rear sight up by hand (must not be tightened enough (which was glorious), unless it was designed to do that like on my Henry 22LR rifle). It "swiveled" in a very small way, but it was enough to make a difference, maybe you have to use the screws if it needs more than a minor "tweaking."
    3. Till I learn, I simply adjust how I line up the front and rear sights when shooting, like by not keeping the front and rear sights on a horizontal plane, but bringing the front sight up past the right and left "bars" on the rear sight.
    4. But it would be nice to adjust it correctly.
    5. The right and left adjustment (windage/drift?) gives me more pause since I'm not sure if it is me or the gun.
    6. But, with my S/W 642 hammerless 38 sp. snubbie, that consistently shoots left when other guns I have don't: it seems like I should adjust. They could actually be fixed and can't be, I don't remember.
    7. I do love the more "modern' guns that have a red or white front sight "delineation" b/c I can't see the "old" type with my eyes. I know I need to get orange or white women's fingernail polish and "paint" the tip of the front sights, but I am hesitant to do so until I read or watch some vids about exactly what to buy and how to apply so I don't overdo it and make things worse (I tend to overdo things, don't I? ) :laugh:
    8. Appreciate your feedback, gmcttr. I still wish I'd followed what I learned at the range with you with your Ruger and Dan Wesson: that I could live w/o a 1911. I just had to learn that lesson the hard way. Oh, well: it was a $54 lesson; I can live with that, but I'm not confessing it to the wife, especially since I made it up on other trades that worked well for me.
     

    doddg

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    In the attempt to be super helpful, I saw a 6” 22LR Taurus Tracker on Armslist last night... :D

    1. It's not there now: only a Taurus P22 tip-up barrel, when I put in a search for 22LR and Taurus.
    2. I'll check 22 magnum
    3. Nothing: must be gone already!
     

    doddg

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    You got lucky!

    1. Yes, I certainly didn't need the stress b/c the money from the guns I sold last week I'm spending a chunk of it buying ammo off Snorko before he goes to the 1500 Saturday. :dunno: When you have a dozen 22LR handguns, you can't have enough 22LR ammo stored. :laugh:
    The wife knows I'm buying ammo but has no idea that ammo can cost more than most of my guns! :wallbash:
    2. If is was $375 I would have done it to get a 6" barrel since 4" is so "common."
    3. That would have been funny since I would have had to sell it w/i a week of getting the 4" barrel, kind of like what happened when I got the 94 one Sunday and by the next Sat. I had it up for sale and sold it the following Sunday b/c I got the 4" heavier barrel. :ugh:
    4. When it rains: it pours! :rockwoot:
     

    doddg

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    I have several NAA Mini revolvers and they all shoot pretty good. You might want to check out the NAA Pug. It has a 1" barrel and real sights.

    1. I assumed it was b/c mine was a 22 magnum instead of the 22LR that made it so hard to grab: my paws only allow 1 finger on the grip.
    2. I have seen them with a handle that the gun folds into, which allows you to have something to hold onto when you "flip" the gun out of the "handle."
    3. Never held one. Sights? Literally, with the one I have you can barely hit a 5-gallon bucket a few feet away, and the target I had at 5 yds. away yesterday was problematic.
    4. I'll try to keep an open mind since this is one of the 2 guns I kept when I liquidated everything in 1990 due to its uniqueness and my fondness for a small CC.
     

    WebSnyper

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    1. I assumed it was b/c mine was a 22 magnum instead of the 22LR that made it so hard to grab: my paws only allow 1 finger on the grip.
    2. I have seen them with a handle that the gun folds into, which allows you to have something to hold onto when you "flip" the gun out of the "handle."
    3. Never held one. Sights? Literally, with the one I have you can barely hit a 5-gallon bucket a few feet away, and the target I had at 5 yds. away yesterday was problematic.
    4. I'll try to keep an open mind since this is one of the 2 guns I kept when I liquidated everything in 1990 due to its uniqueness and my fondness for a small CC.

    With all of that difficulty I would not consider it a carry gun. I'd consider it a novelty. :twocents:
     
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