Well, I had to go on vacation this weekend...
The wife visited an art show in CA and wanted a travel companion. None of my coworkers would go with her even though I offered them money!
Ok, maybe she'll never read that 
Anyway, I found that there was a rental range near where we were staying--problem was they wouldn't allow me to rent if I showed up alone. I posted a question about that policy online and Beetle Bailey volunteered that the range was in his area and he would be happy to show up.
Turned out that "in his area" meant over an hour's drive! At 1:15 yesterday, I was standing in the lobby of On Target indoor shooting range in Laguna Niguel (near Lake Forest, CA) when Beetle Bailey and Bam-Bam31 walked in with a PLETHORA of guns and ammunition.
A couple of hours later, I had shot most of their guns, used up some of their ammo and targets, talked about a LOT of gun stuff and spent a very enjoyable afternoon shooting with a couple of really nice fellow THR members.
On Target is a pretty nice range--other than "no rentals to single party walk-ins", "no shotguns" and "no faster than 1 shot every second" rules it was reasonably relaxed. Ventilation was great but without the "blown away" feeling some ranges can give you. When I got back to the hotel room, I found almost no smoke residue in my nose. Pretty impressive for spending a couple of hours shooting at an indoor range. Their rental policy is flexible--they allow you to swap out guns as many times as you like and still pay only one rental fee. I shot a SIG P228, a Springfield XD 9mm, and a Beretta 92FS INOX.
The SIG shot pretty good. I've never shot a SIG before so this was a perfect opportunity to try one out. Using the range reloads, it showed it was capable of very good accuracy--I managed one 5 shot group at 25 yards that was a bit under 3". The DA pull was smooth, I noted no negatives with the SA pull and I had no problems with the gun overall. I've never been a big fan of the SIGS due primarily to their price, but I have to say that's about the only complaint I can make.
The XD wasn't my favorite. The trigger was uncomfortable for me, and although BamBam31 was able to make a one hole group with the gun at 12-15 yards, the accuracy just wasn't there for me. After shooting awhile I had one failure to extract and then a couple of rounds later the trigger stopped resetting. That didn't improve my view of the gun. It's a range rental so who knows what abuse it's put up with--it certainly needed a cleaning (at least) in my view--but the failure still left a funny, if not a bad, taste in my mouth. Not sure exactly what went wrong. When I took it back to the desk to exchange it the attendant tried to break it down for a diagnostic and it wouldn't come apart.
The 92FS was predictable--but I was really trying to finish up the ammo I had bought at this point. This gun wasn't as accurate as I expected based on my experience with others of its kind. Could be hard use as a rental, could be it didn't like the range reloads they were using, could be I was getting tired by then.
Beetle Bailey brought a couple of CZ pistols that he was kind enough to let me shoot--I'm afraid that little test-run is going to cost me some cash. His full-size CZ-75 was extraordinarily accurate using American Eagle ammunition. I shot the best 5 shot group at 25 yards that I've managed in several years. Gonna have to get me one of them! I've already started shopping... His 75 compact was equally as nice with a trigger that was actually a bit slicker--perhaps from more use.
I also got a chance to "exercise" a couple of BamBam-31's treasures, a tricked out CZ SP01 and a customized Glock 17. VERY nice machines there, but my fingers are so used to heavy trigger pulls that these tuned guns were almost too good for me. Maybe if he'd have let me take one home so I could get used to it...
Sorry, I know that was a bit long, but I left a BUNCH of stuff out.
The wife visited an art show in CA and wanted a travel companion. None of my coworkers would go with her even though I offered them money!
Ok, maybe she'll never read that Anyway, I found that there was a rental range near where we were staying--problem was they wouldn't allow me to rent if I showed up alone. I posted a question about that policy online and Beetle Bailey volunteered that the range was in his area and he would be happy to show up.
Turned out that "in his area" meant over an hour's drive! At 1:15 yesterday, I was standing in the lobby of On Target indoor shooting range in Laguna Niguel (near Lake Forest, CA) when Beetle Bailey and Bam-Bam31 walked in with a PLETHORA of guns and ammunition.
A couple of hours later, I had shot most of their guns, used up some of their ammo and targets, talked about a LOT of gun stuff and spent a very enjoyable afternoon shooting with a couple of really nice fellow THR members.
On Target is a pretty nice range--other than "no rentals to single party walk-ins", "no shotguns" and "no faster than 1 shot every second" rules it was reasonably relaxed. Ventilation was great but without the "blown away" feeling some ranges can give you. When I got back to the hotel room, I found almost no smoke residue in my nose. Pretty impressive for spending a couple of hours shooting at an indoor range. Their rental policy is flexible--they allow you to swap out guns as many times as you like and still pay only one rental fee. I shot a SIG P228, a Springfield XD 9mm, and a Beretta 92FS INOX.
The SIG shot pretty good. I've never shot a SIG before so this was a perfect opportunity to try one out. Using the range reloads, it showed it was capable of very good accuracy--I managed one 5 shot group at 25 yards that was a bit under 3". The DA pull was smooth, I noted no negatives with the SA pull and I had no problems with the gun overall. I've never been a big fan of the SIGS due primarily to their price, but I have to say that's about the only complaint I can make.
The XD wasn't my favorite. The trigger was uncomfortable for me, and although BamBam31 was able to make a one hole group with the gun at 12-15 yards, the accuracy just wasn't there for me. After shooting awhile I had one failure to extract and then a couple of rounds later the trigger stopped resetting. That didn't improve my view of the gun. It's a range rental so who knows what abuse it's put up with--it certainly needed a cleaning (at least) in my view--but the failure still left a funny, if not a bad, taste in my mouth. Not sure exactly what went wrong. When I took it back to the desk to exchange it the attendant tried to break it down for a diagnostic and it wouldn't come apart.
The 92FS was predictable--but I was really trying to finish up the ammo I had bought at this point. This gun wasn't as accurate as I expected based on my experience with others of its kind. Could be hard use as a rental, could be it didn't like the range reloads they were using, could be I was getting tired by then.
Beetle Bailey brought a couple of CZ pistols that he was kind enough to let me shoot--I'm afraid that little test-run is going to cost me some cash.
His full-size CZ-75 was extraordinarily accurate using American Eagle ammunition. I shot the best 5 shot group at 25 yards that I've managed in several years. Gonna have to get me one of them! I've already started shopping... His 75 compact was equally as nice with a trigger that was actually a bit slicker--perhaps from more use.I also got a chance to "exercise" a couple of BamBam-31's treasures, a tricked out CZ SP01 and a customized Glock 17. VERY nice machines there, but my fingers are so used to heavy trigger pulls that these tuned guns were almost too good for me. Maybe if he'd have let me take one home so I could get used to it...
Sorry, I know that was a bit long, but I left a BUNCH of stuff out.
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) so it's good to get a chance to shoot one, if only briefly .
