More single action shooting action
Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 11:48 am
Yeah, I'm on a roll with this single action shooting, but after laying off my single action shooting for a few years, getting back into the SA shooting game really is like going home, again, for me. After all, a Ruger Single Six was my very first handgun, ever. As a teenager, I learned how to shoot handguns with that old fixed sight Single Six, eventually becoming skilled enough to use that single action 22 LR for the bulk of my squirrel and rabbit hunting. Using a rifle was, well, getting too easy and it sure as heck wasn't as fun using the revolver for small game work. Some years, later, my first ever deer "rifle" was a Ruger Super Blackhawk in 44 magnum and, yes, I put a lot of venison on the table with that single action. In fact, single action shooting is so much in my blood that I shot single action for twenty years before getting one of those fancy double action revolvers.
Enough with the memory lane stuff. Let's get to work. All work, done, yesterday.
I'll start off with what I call my "rescue" single action in this Cimarron/Pietta Frontier 357. I call it a rescue gun because at one point it was my only single action left in the safe. In other words, this is the gun that's kept that spark of single action shooting alive for me. On this one, I filed down the front sight for a dead on hold with 38s. (I now have another 357 SA for serious 357 work.)
And it's a shooter.
Next up, my recently acquired Taylor/Uberti Cattleman 12 shot 22 LR. As I've reported, before, I've fallen in love with this single action revolver, so much so that I rate it as my favorite range sidekick gun, meaning that it goes with me on every range trip, now, regardless of what else we are shooting for the day.
I filed the front sight down on this one, too. Got it set for a dead on hold with HV 22 LR ammo at 16 yards. Much prefer a dead on hold with my revolvers for field work and such, though, for sure, I could shoot smaller groups using a six o'clock on bullseyes. I use my adjustable sight revolvers for that kind of hold, though. These fixed sight Colt replicas stay traditional dead on hold.
Still getting to know the gun, so here's a target I shot with standard velocity ammo to check POI. Those two shots at the bottom were using a dead on hold in the center of the 3" bull with the CCI SV. The ones in the bull were shot with the front sight tickling the very top of the bull. Took little experimenting as to how much to hold over, but estimating hold over is part of shooting a fixed sight single action.
On to some distance work. Now, no one ever accused fixed sight Colt SAs of being bullseye guns, especially when using a dead on hold, which tends to make those sights disappear in a big black bullseye. Still, pushing things is the best way to get to know a gun, so here we go at 30 yards with a 6" bull. Actually found it fairly easy to keep all but a couple of shots in the black from my usual standing position. That tells me the accuracy is there, despite the hassle of the sights getting lost in that black background. Actually got in a rhythm, here, with a fairly moderate tempo. Having 12 shots before needing to reload is a big plus, here.
And out to 50 yards. Why not? Who says pistols are supposed to be shot at 7 yards? Not me. Oh, yeah, definitely had to slow the pace at this distance and give it my best, but very pleased that the majority of the rounds still landed in the black. Had to hold in the upper half of the 6" bull for hold over, but got the job done. This is about my limit with those old squinty to see Colt gutter sights, but good to know what this Uberti 22 LR single action can do.
Yeah, we'll be shooting all types of guns this summer, but I can now promise you that every trip will include a single action in the range bag and most of the time it will be this Uberti Cattleman 22 LR. Yup, meet my sidekick. Every cowgirl needs one of these.
Hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane, here.
Enough with the memory lane stuff. Let's get to work. All work, done, yesterday.
I'll start off with what I call my "rescue" single action in this Cimarron/Pietta Frontier 357. I call it a rescue gun because at one point it was my only single action left in the safe. In other words, this is the gun that's kept that spark of single action shooting alive for me. On this one, I filed down the front sight for a dead on hold with 38s. (I now have another 357 SA for serious 357 work.)
And it's a shooter.
Next up, my recently acquired Taylor/Uberti Cattleman 12 shot 22 LR. As I've reported, before, I've fallen in love with this single action revolver, so much so that I rate it as my favorite range sidekick gun, meaning that it goes with me on every range trip, now, regardless of what else we are shooting for the day.
I filed the front sight down on this one, too. Got it set for a dead on hold with HV 22 LR ammo at 16 yards. Much prefer a dead on hold with my revolvers for field work and such, though, for sure, I could shoot smaller groups using a six o'clock on bullseyes. I use my adjustable sight revolvers for that kind of hold, though. These fixed sight Colt replicas stay traditional dead on hold.
Still getting to know the gun, so here's a target I shot with standard velocity ammo to check POI. Those two shots at the bottom were using a dead on hold in the center of the 3" bull with the CCI SV. The ones in the bull were shot with the front sight tickling the very top of the bull. Took little experimenting as to how much to hold over, but estimating hold over is part of shooting a fixed sight single action.
On to some distance work. Now, no one ever accused fixed sight Colt SAs of being bullseye guns, especially when using a dead on hold, which tends to make those sights disappear in a big black bullseye. Still, pushing things is the best way to get to know a gun, so here we go at 30 yards with a 6" bull. Actually found it fairly easy to keep all but a couple of shots in the black from my usual standing position. That tells me the accuracy is there, despite the hassle of the sights getting lost in that black background. Actually got in a rhythm, here, with a fairly moderate tempo. Having 12 shots before needing to reload is a big plus, here.
And out to 50 yards. Why not? Who says pistols are supposed to be shot at 7 yards? Not me. Oh, yeah, definitely had to slow the pace at this distance and give it my best, but very pleased that the majority of the rounds still landed in the black. Had to hold in the upper half of the 6" bull for hold over, but got the job done. This is about my limit with those old squinty to see Colt gutter sights, but good to know what this Uberti 22 LR single action can do.
Yeah, we'll be shooting all types of guns this summer, but I can now promise you that every trip will include a single action in the range bag and most of the time it will be this Uberti Cattleman 22 LR. Yup, meet my sidekick. Every cowgirl needs one of these.
Hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane, here.
