Today I took the Walther P-22 for a workout, and also took along the old standby Ruger SP-101. I started with the Walther and ended up putting about 300 rounds through it. It's amazing how fast you can burn through .22 ammo with a gun like this. This time I was focused on accuracy so I could really figure out how well it shoots. I wanted to get on the 10-yard line but that section was already kind of crowded, and I don't particularly care to shoot with other guns going off right next to me. So I took a more isolated position on the 7-yard line.
I stuck Shoot-N-C targets all over my range issued target so I could see what was going on and so I wouldn't have to walk out and change targets during my session. This post will be updated with pictures of the target tomorrow. It got dark on me before I could photograph it, and it looks lousy with the flash, so I'll wait for daylight.
The Walther is a shooter, no doubt about it. I changed out the original palm swell with the other one that's a little bigger, and decided I liked it better with the bigger swell. After 30 or 40 shots to see how things were going, I did tweak the rear sight a little to bring the point of impact a little to the left, and then got down to business. The biggest thing I learned today is that I need to work on my trigger pull. I could feel when I was doing a good squeeze and when I wasn't, and the target agreed with me. I had plenty of fliers to be sure, but also plenty of shots that made me pause and admire my own work. I wasn't shooting like I used to 20 years ago, but still pretty good, considering. The Walther ran through the 300 or so rounds without a hitch. As usual, I must mention that I am left-handed, and I did get one empty inside my shirt (and a burn mark on my chest), but one out of 300 is pretty good, considering my past history with some other guns.
Most of the other shooters there were using a variety of 9mm pistols and smaller. No one else had a revolver. So after using up most of my .22 ammo, I took out the Ruger and brought the thunder down from the mountain.
I mentioned previously that I had installed Hogue grips on the SP-101. In my opinion, they are much better than the factory grips. They were much more comfortable and easier on the hand, and I think they improved my control and accuracy as well. They are a little bulkier than the original grips, which some may want to take into consideration for concealed carry. However, I carry it just as comfortably with the Hogue grips.
I was shooting some reloads that a friend had cooked up for me, both .38 Special +P and .357 Magnum, both loaded with semi-wadcutters. The +P loads were noticeably hotter than regular .38's. He did an excellent job of reloading, and both loads were extremely accurate. Although I love this gun, it is not a great gun for an extended period at the range, and after 35 rounds my trigger finger was starting to get a little battered, so I called it quits, but had a great target to show for it. As before, I realized that I need to work on my trigger squeeze more than anything else. I'm almost ready to do some trigger work on it, or perhaps have someone who really knows what they're doing do some trigger work on it. Next time I plan on using some normal .38 Special loads and see if I can do 50 or 60 rounds before my finger wears out. At one time, I had the custom of switching hands with every reload, but since it's been a while I just stuck with left-handed shooting today.
The guy next to me was trying out one of those Russian Makarovs in .380 ACP, that had been given to him by a relative. Since I could see he was shooting a Makarov, I had to go talk with him about it, and ended up lending him one of my Magloaders because I could see he was having a hard time loading the magazine.
One of the local gun "experts" started talking about ammo for the Makarov. He said he had tried .380 in his once, but it wasn't very accurate. I bit back my standard response of, "What are you, nuts?" Then afterward I quietly explained to the man with the .380 that the .380 actually uses a .355 caliber bullet, whereas the Mak uses a .364, so it's not a good idea to substitute ammo.
Another person there brought out a full auto .22 that was built like some kind of submachine gun. Sorry I can't identify it better than that. When he started up with it, all other shooting stopped and everyone there was all smiles when that shower of brass came raining down.
At one point, the range marshall asked me if I reloaded. Uh oh, I thought. I had heard of some of the local ranges having rules against people using reloads. I told him they were reloads, but a friend of mine had made them, I didn't do it myself. He handed me an empty cartridge box and said, "Well, you probably want to save the brass." He probably noticed they were reloads because I had just dumped them out of plastic ziplock bags.
One other man was there who was shooting a couple of S&W 9mm semi-autos, and a Makarov. I spoke with him, too. He said he was trying them all out to see which one he preferred to use for his upcoming CHL qualification, and it looked like he was doing his best with the Makarov. I told him I had used my own Makarov for my last qualification. Then I added, "But they'll make fun of you because it's not a Glock." He answered, "That's okay, my motorcycle is a Honda, so I'm used to it." He also told me that he had had a Walther like mine, but that last week it had fallen apart on him. Then he added, "But of course, at that point I had put about fifteen million rounds through it." Then he loaded up his Mak and told me to have a go with it. I had just finished shooting the Ruger, and had a hard time getting used to the extremely light trigger pull of his Mak. He said he thought the previous owner had done some work on it. It almost seemed to shoot itself. I don't know if I would want a trigger pull that light, but maybe it only seemed that way because I'd been shooting the double-action Ruger.
There was also a very petite young lady there whose very large boyfriend was trying to teach her to shoot. But his gun was a tiny Glock, I think the model 26. In my opinion, this is not the best gun to teach someone with. Too small, too light, and too much recoil for a new shooter, especially one as petite as this girl was. He had also instructed her to use the "cup and saucer" grip, and it was bouncing all over the place. If she had been alone, I would have been prone to teach her some better technique, and let her shoot the Walther, but I didn't want to make her boyfriend look like an idiot. It seemed apparent to me that she hadn't ever fired a gun before. I was relieved that when her boyfriend took over, he at least wasn't shooting it gangsta-style.
Part of the pistol range has a 25-yard line, and they allow rimfire rifle shooting at this position as well as pistols. There was one person there who had his young daughter, or perhaps granddaughter, shooting a .22 rifle.
After I collected my target, some of us looked it over and decided I and the Ruger had done a good job.
One odd thing was that someone complimented me on the quality of my earmuffs. Okay...
There is at least one other area range that doesn't allow what they call "rapid fire." This means they don't even allow double-tap practice. Not so, here. You can blaze away as fast as you want.
It turned out to be a fine spring day in south Texas, at Bullethole Shooting Range.
UPDATE: Now with a picture! The spray of small holes all over the bottom big target is when I first started with the Walther. I was not aiming directly at the center hole all of the time. I was also shifting the sight picture as I went along to get a better idea of how I was going to adjust the sights. Once I got things straightened out, I ripped that big hole out of the center of the target and then went for all the little targets.
I began with the Ruger on the bottom target. This is a gun that requires constant use to stay proficient with, much more so than some other guns I have--or so it seems to me. I started out really lousy but then started improving, and that big ragged hole in the top picture consists of between 10 and 15 bulletholes. The fliers up high on the target were quick follow-ups, which I started doing right toward the end.
