Quoheleth
Member
It was too pretty of a day to not go to the range this morning. After cobbling together a new target stand, I grabbed my ammo box, stocked with varying .38 and .357 Magnum handloads, and headed for the range. Coming along for the ride was the Detective Special I had asked about last week, my new-to-me Blackhawk I found two weeks ago, my 6-year old GP100, and my Buckmark, going on 10 years old.
All shooting was done at 10 yards. The targets have 1" space between rings.
The COlt had a pile of 148gr wadcutters run through it and a couple handsful of 158gr SWCs. Unfortunately, the box I thought was .38s was actually .357s, so I didn't have as much .38 ammo as I had hoped. Considering this was the first time I really gave it a workout, I was very content with its shooting. The trigger does stack a little bit, but it's not bad and after running a few cylinders through the gun, I felt at home with it. The bell-shaped grips do have a tendency to cause my palm to ride up on the gun. Might have to look into a Tyler T-grip.
The Blackhawk and GP100 both had plenty of stiffly-charged 158gr SWCs and 180 LRNFPs run through them. I loaded all of these earlier this spring and my notes (powder, charge weight) couldn't be found. All I remember is I wanted pretty heavy Magnum loads, and I succeeded. Both guns had plenty of thump. I shot the GP double-action and I was pleased with how smooth it is. That long barrel helps dampen movement and even when I took some shots at dirt clods and clay pidgeons at the 50 yard berm, I was making regular hits. I was shooting quickly enough that I could see heat waves dancing across my sight picture when focusing on the front sight. The Blackhawk is a bit tight - from the loading gate to cocking the hammer, everything moves stiffly. I forgot to put my bottle of oil in my shooting kit; I think a couple drops down into the action might have helped to loosen it up a bit. But, it shot well enough - certainly no complaints. Having bought it, though, I'm not sure it'll do anything the GP100 won't do. Possible trade fodder for the future...
Finally, I pulled out the tried-and-true Buckmark. I had done the poor-man's trigger job on it this summer (turn a spring around) and it's got a very light trigger now. I love this gun. Dad was a gardener and had a Troy-Built tiller. When he passed, I got the tiller but the size of my yard made the monster machine impractical. I sold it and used the money (plus a little extra scratch) to buy the Buckmark, Christmas 2002. I've had more fun with that gun than I can explain. And, it's a 50-yard clay pidgeon killer.
The top right target, with the 6 circles, I was trying to rapidly move from circle to circle, hitting one circle each shot. I did a couple passes with the Colt and one or two with the GP100. I think I took a couple pot-shots with the Blackhawk, too, but now I can't remember.
View attachment 172785
A marvelous day for shooting - just under 70 degrees, a nice north breeze, no bugs, and didn't even work up a sweat. Time to clean 'em up and get ready for next time.
Q
As an aside, I continue to be frustrated by Tula primers. In all of the guns I had about a 20% failure rate. Some would light up on a second lick; others, if I rotated the cartridge in the cylinder they would go. Still, at the end, I had about ten or twelve that just wouldn't fire. :banghead: They were seated firmly but not crushed; just slightly below flush with the base of the case. I keep trying to remind myself, "they were cheap...relax." But I now have a half-coffee can of duds I need to pull to save the brass and bullet (if possible).
All shooting was done at 10 yards. The targets have 1" space between rings.
The COlt had a pile of 148gr wadcutters run through it and a couple handsful of 158gr SWCs. Unfortunately, the box I thought was .38s was actually .357s, so I didn't have as much .38 ammo as I had hoped. Considering this was the first time I really gave it a workout, I was very content with its shooting. The trigger does stack a little bit, but it's not bad and after running a few cylinders through the gun, I felt at home with it. The bell-shaped grips do have a tendency to cause my palm to ride up on the gun. Might have to look into a Tyler T-grip.
The Blackhawk and GP100 both had plenty of stiffly-charged 158gr SWCs and 180 LRNFPs run through them. I loaded all of these earlier this spring and my notes (powder, charge weight) couldn't be found. All I remember is I wanted pretty heavy Magnum loads, and I succeeded. Both guns had plenty of thump. I shot the GP double-action and I was pleased with how smooth it is. That long barrel helps dampen movement and even when I took some shots at dirt clods and clay pidgeons at the 50 yard berm, I was making regular hits. I was shooting quickly enough that I could see heat waves dancing across my sight picture when focusing on the front sight. The Blackhawk is a bit tight - from the loading gate to cocking the hammer, everything moves stiffly. I forgot to put my bottle of oil in my shooting kit; I think a couple drops down into the action might have helped to loosen it up a bit. But, it shot well enough - certainly no complaints. Having bought it, though, I'm not sure it'll do anything the GP100 won't do. Possible trade fodder for the future...
Finally, I pulled out the tried-and-true Buckmark. I had done the poor-man's trigger job on it this summer (turn a spring around) and it's got a very light trigger now. I love this gun. Dad was a gardener and had a Troy-Built tiller. When he passed, I got the tiller but the size of my yard made the monster machine impractical. I sold it and used the money (plus a little extra scratch) to buy the Buckmark, Christmas 2002. I've had more fun with that gun than I can explain. And, it's a 50-yard clay pidgeon killer.
The top right target, with the 6 circles, I was trying to rapidly move from circle to circle, hitting one circle each shot. I did a couple passes with the Colt and one or two with the GP100. I think I took a couple pot-shots with the Blackhawk, too, but now I can't remember.
View attachment 172785
A marvelous day for shooting - just under 70 degrees, a nice north breeze, no bugs, and didn't even work up a sweat. Time to clean 'em up and get ready for next time.
Q
As an aside, I continue to be frustrated by Tula primers. In all of the guns I had about a 20% failure rate. Some would light up on a second lick; others, if I rotated the cartridge in the cylinder they would go. Still, at the end, I had about ten or twelve that just wouldn't fire. :banghead: They were seated firmly but not crushed; just slightly below flush with the base of the case. I keep trying to remind myself, "they were cheap...relax." But I now have a half-coffee can of duds I need to pull to save the brass and bullet (if possible).
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