Range Report: I said I wouldn't but I did. (with questions)

[highorder]

Yesterday I went to my least favorite indoor range in Cincinnati. It’s close to work and I figured that in the evening, the chance of getting shot by some idiot in the lane next to me would be diminished. I was correct, in that there were only 3 other people shooting in the hour I was there. Here are some “bullet” points:

• I fired 200 rounds through my Sig P6 (1992 manufacture) It functioned flawlessly with 115gr. S&B ball, as well as a box of Winchester SXZ Personal Protection hollowpoints. These are the BassPro house brand. I have swapped out the mainspring with a lighter one, and the DA pull is wonderful! I couldn’t be more pleased with The Sig. I bought one from AIM when they were $259.99 with two magazines; I have since added two more mags for a respectable four.

• I fired a hundred rounds or so out a .22lr Federal bulk pack through my recently acquired Iver Johnson Trailsman 66. It’s an 8 shot top break DA/SA revolver with a 6” barrel and adjustable sights. I bought it from a THR member to handle the rabbits in the garden. I usually feed it CCI CB shorts for garden duty. It has some timing issues, and as a result only gets used in SA mode. This doesn’t bother me because I was looking for an SA revolver when this was offered to me. For the price, I won’t complain.

• There was a younger guy next to me doing endless mag dumps through his GSG-5. It was the full stock, fake suppressor model. He was shooting Remington bulk pack, and averaged a feeding jam or dud per magazine. It just seemed odd to poke countless holes in a silhouette target with countless holes in it already; not to mention he was shooting exclusively at 25 yards. He was wearing latex gloves (for loading purposes) and while it looked strange, it was effective. His gloves were filthy. Each to their own; he was having fun.

• This boiled my blood.

I was chatting with counter help after my range session, discussing a few new trends in the industry, including the ridiculous muzzle break on the Mossberg PGO shotgun. The guy then picked up a Mossberg 500 with the “standoff” muzzle and began to describe (his ideas) about its intended use by pointing the shotgun at my COM. I [strike]slapped[/strike] deftly deflected the muzzle away and calmly voiced my thoughts on pointing even “unloaded” guns at people. The guy apologized, and I promptly left. :banghead:

Questions:
The front sight on my IJ revolver is sprung; it pivots from the front. Does anyone know why this feature exists?
It seems unnecessarily complicated.
I would love to find a new replacement cylinder and hand for the IJ. Will these two parts fix my timing issues?

I’ll put some pics up tonight after work. The Sig is vanilla, but I’m sure many of you want to see the revolver.

Questions, comments, concerns, words of wisdom, feats of magic?

 

[dom1104]

hmm this whole experiance is so foreign to me. I shoot in my backyard, never have to deal with any of this.

not sure I would slap away any gun tho, or make any other violent move in a gun shop. but thats just my temperment. I try not to get bent out of shape with people.


I would like to see the revolver, my cousin has one that sounds like its identical, with the identical problem. funny how revolvers are supposed to be more reliable, yet seem in real life to have more issues.

 

[highorder]

re: the revolver; I think the cylinder steel is significantly softer than the hand. The cylinder shows signs of plastic deformation, probably from some extensive DA shooting in the past 40 years.

(ETA, There was no violence in the gunshop. Some people need a reminder of the 4 rules.)

 

[longdayjake]

Maybe the guy with the gsg5 was just trying to break it in or something. Though my range is much further and out doors, I find little targets to shoot at with my new ar's for the first 2 or 3 hundred rounds just to shoot it enough to break it in.

 

[bigalexe]

In defense of the guy with the GSG-5; from what I've read that's about all that gun is good for. It's not super accurate and is really IMHO more intended as a big boy toy more than a tool for when you want to go blow off rounds. Now I'm not saying it isn't annoying to some people at the range but to each his own is my opinion as long as everyone is doing it safely and not actively disturbing others.

 

[Ltp0wer]

I understand the gsg-5 guy. I am one of those people that goes shooting at the range and only buys 1 target for each gun, filling the target with a ton of holes.

 

[mtsurette]

Thats what I like about the range I go to, it's a private range, so it cuts down on the people who can slap a $20 down, be handed a gun and they are allowed to go to town.

 

[dom1104]

I think the gsg-5 is a stupid gun all around, and definatly a toy.

a 22 that isnt accurate, or a conversion of a "REAL" gun is just a blaster toy.

but again in his defense he could have been doing a reliability test, and had to get home before 7 pm

 

[j-easy]

as long as the gsg guy was being safe he wouldn't have bothered me, though I would have been furious if someone pointed a gun at me like the store clerk did.

 

[627PCFan]

I would find out if he thought the breaching standoff thing was worth the money after it was jammed up his .... for pointing that thing at me.

 

[Dannix]

I was looking at the gsg-5 as an newbie introduction gun. I'll probably go with the Colt "AR-15" 22LR instead.

 

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

think the gsg-5 is a stupid gun all around, and definatly a toy.

a 22 that isnt accurate, or a conversion of a "REAL" gun is just a blaster toy.

but again in his defense he could have been doing a reliability test, and had to get home before 7 pm

Shhh! My 1911 conversion heard you, and now she's locked herself in the bathroom: "NOBODY LOVEESSS MEEEE!!!"



REAL SMOOTH DOM, REAL SMOOTH!

 

[pikid89]

I was looking at the gsg-5 as an newbie introduction gun. I'll probably go with the Colt "AR-15" 22LR instead.

check out rugers new sr-22 it uses the guts of a 10/22 I want one bad

 

[vzwnnj]

So what if the GSG5 is a toy...it isn't meant to be anything but that. I suppose you could consider it practice if you had a real MP5, but who does...

What practical purpose besides protecting yourself from a bear does a 500 S&W fill...you're not going to carry it

My point is that most of the guns we all own are because we enjoy shooting. You can say they are for home defense or concealed carry, but the bottom line is you have fun shooting them. If you didn't, you wouldnt own them (think about it). Is there a gun you own that you believe fills a practical purpose but you don't like shooting it??