I could not pass up the perfect weather today, and spent an hour at Parma Woods shooting range (MO Dept of Conservation) with my .357 Big Boy (H006M). Temp peaked at 81 degrees, sunny blue sky, and mild wind.
I shot 70 rounds of .357 magnums, off hand, at both 25 yards and 50 yards. My BBB has a barrel-mounted Skinner rear peep sight and bead front sight.
Started with
Target One at 25 yards, and I used 20 rounds of PerFecta 158gr FMJ. 18/20 POIs in target, two are very low and just caught white foam core backing. I’ve regularly been shooting low, so not totally unexpected. (Ignore the other red dots -- I used those to cover up previous hits. And the holes in the white backing above target are all from previous outings, too).
- Target One
Next two side-by-side targets are at 50 yards. Shot 15 rounds at each target using Freedom Munitions 158gr XTP.
Target Two (with rectangular bullseye) took 12/15 in target, again 3 were low at 1” off and 3” off.
Target Three with round bullseye is where I experienced some difficulty shooting. OK, here I’m shooting only rounds 35-50. But I could barely hold that heavy 20” octagon barrel up and steady for these rounds!! It felt like the barrel almost doubled in weight! I know it’s a solid and heavier barrel, but hasn’t “weighed me down” to this extent. So 6/15 POIs in target, 4 hits in cardboard, and the other five I’m certain I shot low, off target somewhere down range –> bye-bye to those five. I wasn’t discouraged at all, just surprised how quickly the rifle felt so heavy!
- Target Two & Target Three
For
Target Four,
I debated on whether to shoot or not. I simply wondered how heavy the rifle would be to handle. Well,
I went for it and shot my last 20 rounds, again using the Freedom Munitions 158g XTP. I left the range quite satisfied with the entire day, as this “last ditch effort”
was fun with good results! 17/20 POIs in target, including the two at top of target! That was strange to see because of my normal low shooting. Finally, three rounds hit off target, but stayed low on the cardboard. So I was content with all 20 rounds showing as a visible record – for a change!
- Target Four
Best part of this beautiful day was how much fun it was to shoot the Henry.
Enjoy your next range outing, too!
