Randy's Range Report gives us an interesting double this time, reviewing the 1895 Nagant Revolver and the Tokarev TT-33 pistol.  The Nagant is tested with both actual 7.62x38R ammunition and .32 H&R Magnum.  The metric designated ammo is the stuff actually made for this gun.  It can also shoot a variety of .32-caliber revolver ammo.  (There have also been conversion cylinders made so it can shoot .32 ACP, by the way).

The TT-33 uses 7.62x25 ammo, which in case you don't know, fires a very fast little bullet (85 grains at around 1600 fps).  What I didn't yet know is that Wolf now produces a JHP version as part of the Wolf Gold line (warning, *.pdf).  I'll have to look for some of that.

I don't have a TT-33, but I do have a CZ-52, which uses the same ammo.

I was planning on taking the camera to the range today but I forgot it.  I went to our "private range."

I started with some factory PMC loaded with 158 grain JSP (jacketed soft point).  Recoil was pleasant but not intimidating, and it turned out that this was by far the most accurate (as in, already zeroed--no sight adjustment required) load for the range at which I was shooting, which was 50 yards.  The rifle was probably as accurate as it could be with me doing the shooting.  Although I would not have been able to drive nails with it, if my dad had been there I'm sure he would have said, "that'll drop a deer."

I had only 10 rounds or so of the PMC stuff left from previous handgun shooting, so it didn't take me long to finish it off and start on the various handloads that I have.  I didn't load them, but the person who did gave me all the details about them for my future reference.

The first batch was shooting 158 grain JSP's with 13.3 grains of Hercules 2400.  Maybe that means something to you reloaders, but it didn't mean much to me.  Until I shot it, that is.  These were some serious reloads.  The recoil even punched me pretty hard a couple of times when the butt wasn't seated in just exactly the right spot of my shoulder.  These loads shot high, but grouped well.  Next time I might try some 100-yard shooting and see how these work.  These might turn out to be good 100-yard loads, and judging by the recoil, they would easily drop a deer.

Also, our backstop is made of a couple of layers of heavy metal sheets angled to deflect the bullets downward.  The PMC factory loads just clanged and ricocheted into the dirt.  These reloads were hitting so hard the bullets were exploding into puffs of lead dust upon impact.  They were both loaded with the same kind of bullet.  Like I said, these were some serious reloads.  I'm amazed that I've actually used these in the SP-101 before.

After that I tried two other reloads, one a very lightly loaded .357 magnum and the other a plain old .38 Special.  Both were made to be very easy-recoiling target practice loads for snubby revolvers.  Shooting them in the rifle was an anticlimax and sort of disappointing after the first two loads.  The .38 Special was so wimpy they almost felt like squibs, but weren't.  Both of them shot very low.  I still have quite a few of these left, and will save them strictly for snubby practice.

Next step is to figure out exactly how the PMC factory stuff is loaded so I can duplicate it.  I think I may eventually start reloading just to keep myself supplied with .357.

As far as function, the rifle functioned well.  There were no serious cycling problems, only a few minor ones because I was sometimes ejecting carefully to keep from losing any brass.  When I worked the lever like I was supposed to, it worked perfectly.  The trigger is light and crisp, although I have no way to actually measure it.  One quibble is that although this is supposed to hold 10 rounds in the tube, I can't get more than 9 rounds in it.  Still, 9 rounds of .357 magnum from a rifle is some pretty good firepower, especially if you have another one or two .357 magnum revolvers nearby to back it up.

Technorati Tags: 357 magnum, e.m.f, winchester 1892

Or at least, I intend to be.  I'm going to call it a range day.  I feel lousy today, with a pretty bad sinus-related headache.  I didn't feel like driving all the way to the real range (also, that uses up more than 4 gallons of gas).  So I set up my home indoor/outdoor/backyard range and did some shooting with low-powered .22 ammo.


First up was the lower target.  The cluster of holes in the center is using the old Steven's Favorite and Remington 22 Subsonic ammo.  Ballistics from the box:  MV 1049 fps, ME 93 ft-lbs, "ballistics developed in rifle-length test barrels."  Just because I like including these kinds of details.  Fires a 38 grain hollowpoint.  I adjusted the sights twice until I started getting them in the 10 ring.  I guess my dad likes to use a different sight picture.  The top target is 5 or 6 shots after I finished adjusting the sights.  Looks pretty good except for that one flier.  This is from a distance of roughly 20 yards, because I was shooting out of my back door and that's the first dense clump of oak trees in the line of sight from the door.

The lower cluster of shots in the lower target are those Super Colibri "no powder" .22's in the Single Six.  I wasn't too worried about pin-point accuracy because I'm not convinced this ammo hits to the same point of aim as "real" ammo.

All shots were fired from a bench.  I didn't feel up to free hand today, and I plan on doing my squirrel hunting from carefully pre-planned sniper positions, anyway.


I'll have to take the Single Six to the range next time and test fire several different kinds of ammo from the bench to see if they all hit the same.  But today I think I'll just try to get some rest and see if the pounding in my head will stop.

I need to see about getting a pressure cooker, too.  Squirrels are best when pressure-cooked.

I wonder sometimes if anyone out there wonders why I post these things.  My targets are certainly nothing to be boastful about.  I post them because:  shooting is fun!

My usual practice now is to take at least three guns to the range:
1) For general practice and trigger pull improvement--Walther P-22, minimum 100 rounds
2) Utility gun--Springfield XD-40 and/or Ruger SP-101, minimum 50 rounds
3) Something else just for fun.


Starting out with the P-22 as usual, I started out right at the tiny bullseye in the center and didn't do much good, so I switched to the big target and, also as usual, my shooting improved as I went along.  Many of the .22 bullet holes in the big target were later chewed out by .40 holes, so you can't see them all.  Later I worked on the two small targets on the upper left, and finally went back to the tiny center target one more time.  I finally managed to hit it a couple of times.

I switched to the XD and worked on the big target, doing pretty well except for some extreme fliers.  This is a problem I have.  I'll do quite well for a while and then I lose concentration or something and I'll have some bad fliers.  I finished off by working on the small target at center right.

Just for fun, I took along the CZ-52 as pictured.  The first two shots were at the big target, but then I realized that I couldn't tell where they were hitting anymore so I moved up to the top center target, and as you can see the remaining six rounds of that magazine went into the black (woo hoo!)  Then I went for the target at top right.  Some strayed off-black, but that raggedy hole had quite a few bullets going through it.  I shot 35 rounds in all, I think.  Four 8-round magazines worth plus a few odd extra to finish out the box.  As usual, my trigger finger was starting to get numb from the beating, so I switched to right-handed shooting for one magazine.  I think the nagging tendonitis that I've had for several years in my right wrist is finally starting to effect my off-hand shooting.  I didn't do too well right-handed today.

All targets were shot at the 7-yard line.  They recently rebuilt the range and eliminated the 10-yard position.  Now they have only 7, 15, and 25 yards.  I'm not ready to go up to 15 yards in public yet, although when alone I have even attempted 25-yard shots with pistols, just not with very good results.  I think I have improved since the last range session.

The plus side of their rebuild is that they now have a separate range for the Saturday morning CHL class, so the rest of us can start when they open at 10:00 instead of having to wait for the class to finish their qualifications.  This morning's class had about a dozen people in it, and at least three women.  It is actually quite fun to hear those volleys of gunfire in the distance when the command to fire is given (a dozen semi-autos all going off at once).

I don't just blaze away as fast and furiously as I can.  I like to take some time, take breaks, and get a look at the guns and performance of other people.  Today a couple of guys came in and each rented 9mm Glocks, which they did quite well with.  They were obviously experienced shooters, and I couldn't figure out why they didn't have their own guns.  Maybe they just wanted to shoot Glocks today.

To my immediate right was a man shooting a small .38 Special.  I'm not an expert at identifying guns at a glance, but my guess is it was a Rossi or Taurus.  To his right was another man with a larger-framed .38.  The odd thing about these two were that, although both of their guns were double-action, they were both cocking and firing single action.  In my opinion, that's cheating.  It almost made me want to break out the SP-101 and make a few holes double-action just so they could see that it is, in fact, possible.  The man with the larger revolver also had a S&W Sigma in .380 ACP.  They were both shooting quite well.

To my left were a couple of friends who were taking turns shooting an H&K 9mm and doing quite well.  All the way at the far left, in one of the 25-yard positions, was a man shooting a Ruger P-345.  That's one gun I recognize even at a distance.

I had planned on trying to get the rightmost position on the line but those four other people got there first.  So when I got around to the CZ, there was some room to my left so I shifted down a little to give them some space.  The guy with the H&K gave me an odd look, and I told him, "I just want to give them some room so they don't get pelted by my empties too bad."  He thought he understood until I actually started shooting.  It immediately became apparent that no one there, including the range marshall, had ever seen a CZ-52 before.

After the first shot, I heard someone exclaim "Whoa!"  After the second shot, someone said "Wheee!" or something like that.  When I finished the magazine, the range marshall had to come up and look at it.  "I was catching your empties from 10 feet away!" he said.  I told him I had actually measured it before, and the empties can easily fly 30 feet before they hit the ground.  I'm almost positive he pocketed a couple of the empties.  As I said, he had never seen anything like it before.  Heh heh.

Ammo used today was Remington High Velocity .22LR, Winchester white box 165-grain FMJ .40 S&W, and Sellier & Bellot 7.62x25mm 85-grain FMJ.

Final result:  I shot better with the CZ than with either of the other guns.  I have said before that, as far as my own guns go, the CZ and the 1911 are the most naturally "pointable" of them all (with the XD following closely behind).  I also like the narrower sights on the CZ.

And I was happy not to be the worst shooter at the range.

UPDATE:  Updated to fix the graphic link and change the category.