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Been shooting mostly centerfire recently, but felt a hankering to give some range time to one of my favorite .22s, a 3-screw Ruger Single Six I inherited from my dad. The 4 clicks and the solid lockup of this little revolver are tactile and audible ambrosia for me. I really enjoy slowing down and shooting one-handed, left-handed, 2-handed right and left. Hit the plates with every shot, even shooting a handful of mixed .22 ammo I save from various trips. That plus a 50-round box of Federal American Eagle lasted me a good while and left me satisfied. With semi autos, particularly my Ruger .22/45 MKIII with 6 mags and the "ultimate cliploader," I can easily go through a brick of ammo and still want more. But this thing is a different experience.
Then I decided to install my Colt .22 conversion upper on my Dan Wesson 1911 (which took a bit of fiddling to get the floating chamber and the barrel lug in exactly the right spot, but it eventually slid right into place). This is a unique experience in the rimfire world because it is a fully steel upper that actually ends up weighing more than a standard .45 ACP 1911 because the .22 caliber hole in the barrel leaves more steel. Thus the need for the nifty floating chamber arrangement which accentuates the recoil and enables the .22LR rounds to reliably cycle a full steel slide with a pretty stiff recoil spring. This makes it recoil more than a standard .22 pistol but not as much as, say, a 9mm. Kinda in between and perfect for new shooters or recoil sensitive people.
My 8- and 10-year old girls tracked me down and said they wanted to shoot so they took turns shooting the DW with the Colt .22 upper and they would have kept shooting all night but we finally had to leave. What a great experience. They were both able to keep 8 of 10 shots on a 2/3rds sized IDPA steel torso at 18 yards their first mags, and were soon hitting 8" plates with alarming regularity. They even hit a 5" bear swinger twice each, a feat I can barely do. They both asked to go shooting again tomorrow.
Since photobucket decided to hold all my images for ransom I can't post pics (unless someone can recommend a free, reliable image hosting service) but here's a quick video of my 8-year-old.
I'll see if I can figure out how to upload a pic attachment later
Then I decided to install my Colt .22 conversion upper on my Dan Wesson 1911 (which took a bit of fiddling to get the floating chamber and the barrel lug in exactly the right spot, but it eventually slid right into place). This is a unique experience in the rimfire world because it is a fully steel upper that actually ends up weighing more than a standard .45 ACP 1911 because the .22 caliber hole in the barrel leaves more steel. Thus the need for the nifty floating chamber arrangement which accentuates the recoil and enables the .22LR rounds to reliably cycle a full steel slide with a pretty stiff recoil spring. This makes it recoil more than a standard .22 pistol but not as much as, say, a 9mm. Kinda in between and perfect for new shooters or recoil sensitive people.
My 8- and 10-year old girls tracked me down and said they wanted to shoot so they took turns shooting the DW with the Colt .22 upper and they would have kept shooting all night but we finally had to leave. What a great experience. They were both able to keep 8 of 10 shots on a 2/3rds sized IDPA steel torso at 18 yards their first mags, and were soon hitting 8" plates with alarming regularity. They even hit a 5" bear swinger twice each, a feat I can barely do. They both asked to go shooting again tomorrow.
Since photobucket decided to hold all my images for ransom I can't post pics (unless someone can recommend a free, reliable image hosting service) but here's a quick video of my 8-year-old.
I'll see if I can figure out how to upload a pic attachment later
I really want that one back...
