Paul - as I recall, you decided to go for a 45 after a nasty encounter in the woods when youwere with your son and you had anly a 22 to keep you both safe from harm.
Todd Jarrett shoots at targets and is a practiced competitor. Practice at what ya'll got that 45 for, making your first shots as rapid as you can get on target, but deliberate in your focus. I think it was Elmer Keith who said something like - a steady hand and a cool trigger will beat simply quickness every time - I would translate that to - practice your presentation and first shot hits, and make your point of aim deliberate - if you put that front sight on your target and squeeze that trigger, you should hit every time.
I am a bad boy - I have this little trick that worked for me in Vietnam and on occassion I will use it at the range to show some newer shooters that a 15 round magazine and spray and pray techniques don't always work. - Me and one other shooter on the range, 10 yds distance from the targets (5 of them) with the call to take them all - he empties his magazine into the first target, needing to reload for the other four. I simply placed head shots, one near twixt the eyes on each target, leaving 4 rounds left (8 shot mags and one in the chamber) and re-holstered before he was through with his first mag.
You carry that 45 for protection - practice for that first and you will find yourself back at that stream busting up apples for the birds and small critters at distances you never thought possible, and havin' a ball doing it. That's an awful lot of fun with a 22, but a lot more with a 45. Mikey.
