Centerfire revolver day at the range

[Graybeard]

Today was a centerfire revolver round day at the range.

I loaded all the shooting gear into my John Deere Gator and drove up to my shooting range. Once I had all the guns and gear unloaded onto the table by my shooting bench I set down to begin.

First up was my Ruger Bisley Black Hawk convertible with the .45acp cylinder in place. This one somehow had a broken back sight blade some time back when I took it out to shoot. Ruger replaced it quickly at no charge of course. I had this gun with me last time I went to the range but failed to bring the ammo for it. Today I had the ammo.

I began by setting up paper targets at 10-12 yards. First six shoots went into a nice tight group and was almost dead on. I did make an adjustment of 3-4 clicks left and 4-5 up and then fired another cylinder full on paper. Those were very well centered and I moved to steel at 25 yards and went thru I think maybe 3 cylinders of ammo there without a miss. Declaring it properly sighted in for now I set that one aside and broke out the next.

Next up was my Ruger Bisley BH flat top in .44 Special. I began shooting using a reload with the Lyman 429667 bullet over 8 grains of Unique on the paper target. I knew it was already sighted in but was planning to shoot two different loads today so wanted to see where each was hitting on paper.

It was as dead center of the target as I can see to shoot so I moved to steel at 25 yards. I put 2-3 cylinders full of ammo thru it on steel at 25 and again didn't miss a single shot. The steel rang each time.

So I moved to ammo using the Lyman 429241 Keith bullet over 7.75 grains of Unique. On paper it shot about a half inch from dead center perhaps but easily within my margin of error for iron sighted shooting. So I moved to steel at 25 yards and ran a few cylinders full thru it without a miss. Yeah I'm beginning to be pleased at this point with my shooting today as I hitting that steel each time the gun goes bang.

I set that one aside and broke out my S&W Model 638. Last time out this one had shot way off to the right using the laser. I had made an adjustment here in the house best guessing how much and which way to move it. Seems I over did the adjustment badly. First five shots were almost 5" to the left this time. So I made another adjustment and loaded it back up. Today I was using Hornady factory 125 grain JHP ammo to sight it in as that is what I keep it loaded with.

The second group was as perfectly centered as I could hope for using the CTC laser grip rather than sights for aiming. Since I didn't have the laser adjustment tools with me last time I had shot it only with factory irons once I saw how far off the new laser grips were.

I then moved to steel at 25 yards. I ran five of five on the 12" gong using the little snub nose revolver and the red dot of the laser. That's way better than I can do with the factory sights on it for sure. I shot it some more with reloads using both the Hornady 140 grain Cowboy lead bullet and some 160 grain lead RNFP bullets I had picked up from someone on the classifieds years ago. All loads were on the 12" steel gong at 25 yards with the laser.

So I moved on to the next revolver. I next shot my S&W Model 60 3" with adjustable sights. I've owned this gun since S&W began making it in .357 magnum and had owned one in .38 Special before trading for the .357. This one is an old friend and has been carried all over for many years.

You might or might not, recall I had mentioned last time out that the full old time magnum loads I ran thru it last time I shot it hurt. They hurt big time to my old arthritic hands. So today I used only lead .38 special ammo.

I used two different loads, the same two as in the 638. One uses the swaged lead Hornady 140 cowboy bullet and the other a 160 grain lead RNFP bullet. I think both of those is loaded over about 5 grains of Bullseye but that's a from memory recollection and not a load suggestion for you. Both are fairly stiff but within book maximum loads for those bullets.

From the 638 which is a light weight gun recoil is noticeable but not painful. In the heavier all steel 3" M60 it is a very pleasant shooting load with the 140 Cowboy being a little milder.

Both loads were fired multiple times at the 12" steel gong at 25 yards and all shots were hits. In fact I hit that gong every single shot I fired at it today. The only misses on steel today were with the BH .45acp on 8" falling plates before I made the sight adjustment.

I had taken my S&W 69 with me and just failed to notice I had it in the bag. I had full intentions of shooting that one also and had 3 loads I wanted to shoot in it. I didn't remember it tho until back at the house so that will have to wait for another day. I had a couple of rimfires with me but didn't do any rimfire shooting today.

So it wasn't a real long shooting session but other than the M69 I got done all I had intended to do and I was very pleased with my shooting today. All shooting was done from the bench with my hands/wrist supported by sandbags. My shaky hands aren't up to much free hand shooting these days, well not if I want to hit what I am shooting at they aren't.

[oldandslow]

It sounds like you had a good day. I'm glad to see from your line about the S&W 69 that I'm not the only one that forgets things.

A norther blew in last night bringing more Texas panhandle/south plains dirt and and pretty cool temperatures with it so I amused myself by going to the grocery store with my wife which is soooo much fun. If the weatherguesser hits his forecast there won't be any decent shooting days around here for the next week. 

[Graybeard]

Hey forgetting is what I do best these days.

Notice I also said last time I shot I brought the BH .45acp but forgot the ammo. It's not like it was a long trip back to the house, my shooting bench is only about 15 yards from the house. And I was in the Gator not walking but I just didn't go back down to get it.

The M69 was in a side pouch on one of the range bags I had with me. I guess I just didn't open that pouch so didn't see it and didn't think about it until I got back in the house.

Oh well it gives me something to do next range session.

I was happy the Ruger BH with .45acp cylinder sighted in so quickly and easily after having to change out the rear sight blade.

I guess I was most happy tho I got the S&W 638 sighted in with the laser so quickly and easily. Hitting all the shots on the steel plates with the two small revolvers was quite satisfying and just shows what a good day I was having. Some days I do good to hit 50%.

[oldandslow]

I envy you having your own range. When I moved to the country after 3 years of living in town there were four houses on a section of land, one of which I  bought. Today so many people have sought the joys of country life out this way it's almost like living in town again. If I had it to do over I would buy at least a quarter section of pasture, have it surveyed to find exact dead center, and build my home on that spot. A full section would be even better.

My last range trip was a family affair including the two oldest great grand daughters and we were going to shoot steel with pistols and a couple of 22 rifles. I got there with the hanger frame but no steel to hang on it, all the guns I intended to take, but no ammo for the 22s. Duh. My grandson saved the day by having 22 ammo and a phone call to my daughter got some paper target brought by her so the trip wasn't a loss. It was late in the day and a 50 mile round trip back home would have used most of our shooting time. See why I envy you having a range at your home plus the fact that there are no other shooters around.

[Graybeard]

My shooting range is the primary reason I live where I do right now.

Back in early '94 we were renting a place up in a suburban area and while we liked living there the house needed some work. I mentioned to the owner the work needed and he immediately told me I could either buy the place or move out and find somewhere else to live.

So we went looking for a new home to buy. I wanted to be out with enough acreage to not have neighbors right on top of me. When we were looking this place over the owner took me walking in the woods behind the house to show me the property lines.

While we were back there the light came on and I saw a shooting range just waiting to happen.

It was one of the first projects once we moved here. I hired a dozer operator to clear a path thru the woods up the hill and to begin the process of cutting down into that hill to give me a safer range.

I've had folks out three times I believe it was with each cutting deeper and making the 100 yard backstop taller. But honestly after I bought the larger John Deere tractor I now have I have moved more dirt than all those guys with those dozers combined.

Used to be it was a fairly steep walk up to the 100 yard line to set up targets. It's not level yet but is as close as I'm likely to get. I'm running into more and more limestone and really would have to hire an excavator and even then he might not be able to get the 100 yard line at same level as the shooting bench and 25 yard line.

Now I have quite a deep trench about 30' or so wide. It is level down at the shooting bench to the 25 yard line and not that much angle until you reach about 50 yards out. Still the walls of that trench from around 35-50 yards out is a few feet tall. Up at the 100 yard line the walls on each side are 10' or so tall and the back stop to catch the bullets is around 35'-40' tall I guess.

I can safely shoot steel with zero chance of any bullets or bullet fragments getting out and off my land.

I have targets at both 25 and 100 yards that stay set up all the time. I have metal swingers, hangers that don't swing but do kinda rock and sway when hit but stay in place and also falling plates. I have portable target stands to set paper targets where ever I want along the distance from bench to the two large backstops to catch bullets.

I have a very solid shooting bench and a large table beside it to set all of my stuff on while I'm shooting. I have a John Deere Gator I use to take all of my stuff the short ride to the shooting  bench and to use to run targets up to the 100 yard line when shooting paper.

It has taken me a lot of years and a lot of work and expense to get things set up the way I have it but I have a really nice range. All of my neighbors are shooters also and it's common to hear one or more of them out shooting. No one else tho has gone to the trouble to build a for real shooting range as I have.

I'm gonna try to attach some images if I can figure out how. I don't have URLs for them. That worked. First photo is what it looks like at the 25 yard line.

[Graybeard]

Here is a photo up at the 100 yard line:

[Graybeard]

Yeah that worked.

The second one at 100 yards shows you how high those banks are on each side to catch bullet splatter or ricochets.

In that last one you can maybe see a big hole in the back stop behind the targets. It was cut out by bullets I shot into paper up there before I did the last work up there. It used to be down about 3' to top of it above ground level there. Now it's way up in the air. That's how much dirt I've removed in that area using my tractor and the bucket on it.

[oldandslow]

That is a great set-up. Here there are no native trees, just mesquite bushes, although I have a few that are around 8 or 9 feet tall plus some prickly pear cactus and catclaw thrown in. It's about 6" to rock and it's flat. Even if I didn't have close neighbors now I would have to have dirt hauled in for a berm. I guess if conditions permitted it I could pull a Skeeter Skelton and build a three sided trap from old cross ties and fill it with dirt. I could probably scrape up that much soil on one corner where a lot of dirt blew in after a grass fire back in the late nineties. That corner of the place didn't burn due to the wind direction and had plenty of grass to catch the dirt. The following spring after the fire was a dirty mess and as bad as being back over on the east side of the cap in Texas where it's all farm land. All the grass has returned and it's about 60 miles of grass as the crow flies all the way to the Pecos River so I don't have dirt blowing around anymore.