Friday, July 10, 2009

Range day, a day late

Hit the range yesterday morning before it got hot. Pocket Hammerless, the Webley MkIV, the carry .45 and the Combat Masterpiece.

The more I shoot that Colt, the more I like it. The trigger's great, it points wonderfully, and it seems to eat anything I feed it with no problems. My one real gripe is that it's a good thing it points so well, because those 'sights' might as well not be there; that tiny front blade and tiny rear sight & notch... Fact is, it was made as a defense sidearm that'd fit in a pocket or purse and not snag when you drew it, and it fits that wonderfully. If someone decided to start making them, though, I'd recommend two changes:
More defined, easy-to-see sights and
Thumb safety a bit more like the 1911, more for your thumb to hit and a positive on-off.
It's have to be someone making them new; if we heard someone was modifying an original this way there'd be screams of agony.

The Webley, if you've never fired one, has a nice front post and a WIDE, deep rear notch for sights; it was intended as a combat/defensive firearm and makes no bones to be anything else. Which doesn't change that with bullets that fit the bore and some care aiming it's quite accurate. That Lyman 200-grain roundnose bullet works very well in it, and actually hits at point of aim. Next time I've managed to collect a bunch of 1-gallon bottles I'm going to shoot some with it and see what that bullet does; I've heard that it tends to go unstable almost immediately after impact, tumbling and giving a much better wounding effect. Be nice to find out. I'll also note it's got a very nice trigger; double-action is a bit heavy, single-action light and clean.

The carry .45 did what it usually does, went bang-bang with no problems, which is why it's the carry piece. I shoot some with the Crimson Trace grips turned on, some with them off; As Tam pointed out once, in bright light, or in cold weather when you're wearing gloves, that laser may not be visible, so you'd better be able to use the sights.

The Smith, I also like more as I shoot it. Marvelous sights, smooth action, light single-action trigger, it even makes me look like a good shot. And it shoots well with every brand of ammo I've fired in it, a very nice thing with the current "Find what you can/when you can" ammo situation.

One thing I noticed, there were a lot of women shooting. All in groups of two or three, and all having a ball burning through a LOT of ammo. Good thing to see.

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