Finally on the range again

[BrokenolMarine]

Finally managed to get some early morning range time this morning, but it was already humid and muggy. Severe thunderstorm muddied up the range so I took a tape down and laid out a 15 yard area to shoot in where the grass wasn't bad, and still lined up with the impact area. My normal shooting area was what Tina calls Oklahoma Puddin'. Muddy Slime I didn't want to slip and fall in.

This morning's line up?

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From L to R:
Smith and Wesson M&P340PD 357 Scandium (The Beast)
Sig P220, thirty years old and still going strong.
Model 41 Smith Target .22 A gift.

First up was my old friend, the Sig P220 45. We have had a long history together. Miss Tina gave me this gun as a Father's Day Present the first year we were married, in 1993; the PD issued the same gun and I carried mine off duty and shot it in Service Auto in PPC competitions. The first five shots with the gun, which I hadn't shot in about a year... the first round was double action and low, the rest fired single action were dead on.

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Five more shots gave me this ten shot group at ten yards. Didn't need to fire any more right now. I was pleased that the old girl and I still have a good relationship. Next range session we'll shoot some from the holster and some pairs and body armor drills. The first shot dropped again, but the others were in there tight at ten yards.

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Next up was the 340PD, my EDC for the hot weather. With 38 +P this thing stings a bit. These groups were fired at seven yards, and my arthritic hands told me ten rounds were all I was going to shoot in that hard recoiling airlight gun this morning. All the work on the projects over the last month had already irritated the hands and they were not in the mood for a pounding.

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Still, not a bad group for a Snubby with a hot load. I put her away and pulled out the Model 41 Smith target. A gift from a friend, I had been wanting to shoot this since I got it a month ago. I SHOULD have shot this target pistol first. I was overheated, sweating like a little piggy and my hands were pleading for mercy, but I wanted to give her a whirl. Three five shot groups reminded me what a great trigger the Model 41s have, and though I struggled to hold a tight sight picture, I didn't do well. Still, not bad groups for a shakey old man...

I'll shoot this again soon and see what the gun does when my hands and I are fresh.

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I can't wait to get back down on the range. I have a number of other guns I want to shoot, including the Henry's and checking the sights on the Ruger American Ranch 556, my Coyote Rifle. I have a .308 that needs shot. Miss T has a couple she needs to shoot so I'll try and get her down there too.

[BrokenolMarine]

Now the fun part. I actually don't mind the cleaning of the guns afterward. Is it just me, or do others like the smell of Hoppes?

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Some of you have seen my gunsmith/armorer's box. My wife came in the shop a few years ago when I was making it, and thought I was making a jewelry box for her. I already made her a couple. When I told her it was my Armorer's tool box, she nearly died laughing, until I reminded her she was going to buy me a fancy oak and brass one from Orvis one year. She loved the little closet I put on the end of the box to hold the cleaning rods. The door is held shut by magnets, and the rods are hung by the spent cases of the caliber they clean.

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The drawer pulls on the front of the box are all spent 38 special brass. The top opens to a mini-trunk where the hammers, gunsmith blocks, and different gauges and other tools hide. Took a while to lay out, but the drawer fronts are all black walnut and the grain flows across the draw fronts in a swirl. Miss T says it's wasted as a toolbox.

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When I die, I'm sure it will become a jewelry box with necklaces hanging in the cleaning rod closet.

[BigAl52]

Nice shooting Marine looks like you dont have much rust to get rid of. I like the smell of hoppes a hell of a lot better than ballistol. As far as when you die thing. I was always told you might be lucky when you die if you stuff ends up in the bottom of someones coat closet.

[fortyshooter]

All great shooting from 10 yds! Love that cleaning tools box too!!

[BrokenolMarine]

Nice shooting Marine looks like you dont have much rust to get rid of. I like the smell of hoppes a hell of a lot better than ballistol. As far as when you die thing. I was always told you might be lucky when you die if you stuff ends up in the bottom of someones coat closet.

Yeah, I have a bunch of Military and LE memorabilia that I'll imagine will go to goodwill or get tossed, but I earned it and it'll stay around as Iong as I'm here. Most folks who have served in either know what I mean. Coffee cups, patches, wall plaques, engraved knives, a flight suit and helmet from my door gunner days... Cool Stuff to me... I don't know if any of the family will want all the shooting medals and such.

I already recycled the trophies, took the plates off the front of each one, then gave three big boxes to a 4H friend who ran barrel racing for the kids. He paid a few bucks for new tops, and a dollar each for new plates. Then he had monthly trophies, semi-finals and annual championship trophies for several years. I sorted the engraved plates from my shooting wins into order and mounted them on a nice piece of oak. (toward the end I let the match directors keep the trophies and just took the engraved brass plates. After a while a lot of the veteran shooters started doing the same. The directors started bringing blank trophies and the plates for the matches in an envelope. They would ask if anyone wanted a trophy or just the plate. I still have a stack of plates to mount, just haven't gotten it done yet.

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[Sir Henry]

Great shooting at ten yards. That is a cool box.

[North Country Gal]

Marine, that is all so impressive! You are one classy shooter, as always.

That 41 is to die for. Has me drooling. Still my favorite target 22 autoloader.

[Travlin]

Good shooting and very nice job on the cabinet from a retired carpenter/ cabinet maker . Also I too like the smell of #9 and I had to build a reloading room in my detached garage as my wife doesn't share my love for Hoppes.

[BrokenolMarine]

Good shooting and very nice job on the cabinet from a retired carpenter/ cabinet maker . Also I too like the smell of #9 and I had to build a reloading room in my detached garage as my wife doesn't share my love for Hoppes.

I still consider myself a hobbiest woodworker, but I take my time and try to do the best I can. The wife knows I don't just cobble things together, and will say something like: "I need a potato and onion bin for the kitchen. You can just throw something together with plywood, that'll be fine." Then she'll call the kids and laugh... I'll spend a week on the layout. Then use spalted maple and walnut. My first cutting board ever was the top to her bin.

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Then she'll think up the next project.

[BrokenolMarine]

We were lucky enough to buy a pickup load of slab wood from a woman whose father had just passed. He had been a cabinet maker for decades and had four barns filled with wood. She loaded us down with the best pieces for the price of a load of cut and stacked firewood. Walnut, cherry, and exotics. If I had had the storage space I would have gone back for two or three more loads, she wanted me to. At the time we had just moved to the new farm and had NO outbuildings to speak of. The wood in the bin came from slabs.