[armoredman]

Well, I had two slightly differant firearms two try out at the range this morning...

VZ-58 with new furniture and BSA holosight.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/vz58newforearm1.jpg

And the just returned from the factory, never fired by Taurus 850 CIA Ultralite 38Spl. That box of ammo is now hated by me, but we'll get back to that later...

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/tauruswithammo.jpg

I decided I'd better start with the little snub, and brought a few differant rounds to try, including some homebrew, and some thumper self defense rounds. All shots fired two hand hold, standing, DA only, only way this puppy works.

Here's the very first cylinder full ever fired by me, 10 year old Winchester non plus P Silvertips.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/61209Taurus8503.jpg

Don't miss that flyer way up on the right. This baby kicks! Well, not toooo bad, let's try some handloads. 125gr Hornady XTP, loaded to a book version of a +P round.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/61209Taurus8504.jpg

That kicks more. How about some light cast stuff? Can this little gun be accurate?

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/61209Taurus8502.jpg

Hey, that's not too bad! OK, time for some real SD ammo, factory Remington 158 LSWCHP +P.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/61209Taurus8501.jpg

HOLY COW, hang ON to this thing! Yikes! Glad it isn't a magnum! The shots going down are in order, believe it or not, bullseye first, and down as I began riding that recoil.

So, maybe I should try, just once, what it was designed for, last ditch backup, self defense revolver. So, here we go, weak hand only, 7 yards, Remington wrist breakers...

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/61209Taurus8505.jpg

I did a double take - that'll do! I cleaned off the exterior, loaded it with the 158gr +P Remingtons, and stuck it in my pocket for the rest of the time. Hardly noticed it was there! Yes, I was legal.:D

Time for the VZ-58's new clothes. Now, I know it has to be sighted in, let's put the target at 25 yards. I'd heard you sight at 25 and check at 100, but I just didn't want to miss the paper entirely.
I didn't. I was off to the left, dead on elevation. Here's one pic from the sighting in time.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/61209vz58holosight2.jpg

Sighting in was with Wolf black box ammo - why? That's what's in my SHTF chest rig. So, how well will it work with Wolf at 100 yards? Here's the last six I brought.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/61209vz58holosight3.jpg

Ok, AR guys, laugh all you want - I have NEVER used a holosight before in my life, and a red dot about 3 years ago. I can get minute of bad guy.
But how will it work with my favorite handloads? 24gr of AA#1680 under a Hornady 123gr SP?
It did OK for me.
Then the big one - how well does it hold zero? I removed the sight completely from the rail, then replaced in the same spot, and fired another 5. This target has the ten I fired with the handloads first, taped, and then the after removal/replace 5 rounds.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/61209vz58holosight4.jpg

Looks like it holds decently to me. I am sure the AR guys are still laughing up thier sleeves...:neener: I like it! And that forward handgrip REALLY helped. Weird, keeping that head up orientation to look through the holosight, which was set for basic crosshairs, BTW.
So, I'm ready for Appleseed now, right? I have one target left! Heh, yeah, right! Prone group shot kneeling - forgot my carpet runner again!

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/armoredman/61209vz58holosight1.jpg

I'll own the first group, but the other two? Earth shifted in it's orbit, throwing me off...or, like to paraphrase the legendary Flip Wilson, "The Devil made me shoot low!":banghead::what:

Over all, I had a blast, literally, recovered ALL my brass, always a plus with the way that VZ flings it. Only thing is, my left wrist hurts...seriously...ow...

[seanie!]

Sounds like you had a blast(pun intended). It's nice to see someone put up something other than .5" three shot groupings(because I'm sure that's all that they ever shoot). I'm heading to the outdoor range at the end of the month and hopefully I'll put up a range report.

[bobbytm]

Nice pic's,nice shoots ArmoredMan !!
rgds

[GojuBrian]

great report, thanks!!

:)

[Kind of Blued]

Sounds like fun. :)

The lightweight 5-shots are your best and worst friend. I can hardly remember the last time I shot mine, and I can barely remember the last time I didn't have it on me.

[MrFox]

Great report. How do you like that BSA sight? How much of the target did it cover at 100 yards? I'm looking into optics for my AR-15, and actually considered that as something to play around with to figure out what I want.

Thanks!

[armoredman]

I used the cross hair setting, very visible on setting eleven, (highest), in bright desert sunshine, really didn't feel like it covered much of the target at all. If there was a bullseye target at 100 yards, (That was where I shot the B-27s), it might have obscured the bull a bit.
They're on sale at Midway, $50, regular price, $99, has four differant holos, crosshairs, dot, dot and circle, and a weird circle/cross hairs combo.

[stubbicatt]

Why the left wrist hurts?

[armoredman]

5 rounds of + P ammo out of an ultralite revolver...is all better now...

[beaucoup ammo]

That's some fine shooting armouredman! I got some of those +P .38 SPCL Mucho Grainers during the ammo drought. Nice to see they work in something like a S&W Airweight.

Thanks for sharing some examples of darn good shooting!

[wally]

I think I rejected that BSA Holosight when I looked at it, because you have to remove it from the gun to change the battery. Is yours different?

--wally.

[armoredman]

Nope, it has to come off to replace the battery. That's one reason I removed it and replaced it at the range, to see if it would likely hold zero, and it did. :)
beaucoup, thanks, but I am not a great shot, just having fun.