Sometimes it’s Just For Fun

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Today I went off to the range with several .22s, just for fun. OK, I took the M1917 snubby to verify function with defensive ammo. The fun guns were the Ruger Standard semi-auto .22, the S&W Model 61-2 and the Lignose Einhand and plenty of ammo.

The range was pretty full and the folks either side had some fun guns. I let them shoot some of mine, I got to shoot theirs too! One was an AR braced pistol in 5.56mm the fellow was shooting for the first time, and it was nice. Never malfunctioned, good trigger. The fellow on the other side let me shoot his AR braced pistol in 7.62×39, and that pretty much rocked too. He also let me run a magazine through his Ruger 5.7, which was super-generous given the cost of ammo. I liked that gun a lot!

The M1917 has been problematic with a lot of failures to ignite with what appeared to be solid hits on the primers. I took some of my defensive ammo (which I know has good primers) and it functioned 100%. When the other fellows fired it using their own factory ammo it also worked flawlessly, so it’s comforting to know it was just the crappy random primers.

7-yard rapid-fire. Of course there’s a flyer, because me.

I had some fun with the Ruger .22 also, though results were uninspiring at 20+ yards.

At 20+ yards shots were hitting low-left and the group size is unimpressive. Need to work on this!
Better at 10 yards. First group is covered with dots and was fired at the other side of the paper. I flipped the target and tried again. Low and left both times.

The S&W Model 61-2 is always a hoot. I did find I was shooting high at ten yards, which has not been a thing before so I think it’s me.

OK for ten yards, but I am shooting high.
My 20+ yard group was half-again the size I usually shoot at this range, but not tragic considering the gun.

The Lignose is also a fun shooter, and the other folks that tried it thought it was pretty cool too. Despite having effectively no sights surprising accuracy is possible.

The spots cover the results of my ill-conceived attempt to fire at 20+ yards. The group is at ten yards, and yes, once again there’s a flyer.

Last but not least was the High Standard double-action derringer in .22 LR. Unlike practically any other derringer I seen both barrels hit roughly the same spot, and the POI actually bears a logical and consistent relationship to the sights! This ten yard target shows this quite well:

In the end I burned through three full boxes of .22 LR and a box of .25 ACP. Some other folks got to fire some of my cool guns, I got to fire theirs and a good time was had by all.Nice to go shooting when it’s about having fun, not testing stuff or filming video. Need to do more of that.

Stay safe and take care,

Michael Tinker Pearce, 16 December 2022

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