This afternoon I was out making visits to church members. About 3 p.m. I started hearing "voices" calling out to me. I did not see any pecan trees burning, but I did see a nice wide open freshly plowed field. So, like a prophet of old, I turned aside to see what I might see. And behold! There was a big old harrow blade standing on edge at the bottom of the field. And in just a few moments there was a nice 4" 686-1 in my hand. That was when I figured out that the voices were Smith and Wesson calling me to try out some Federal .38 Special LRN ammo that I had bought at Wal-Mart. Now, here's the good part. Firing from 7 yds., 4 rounds went through the axle hole. At 10 yds., 8 of 12 rounds went through the axle hole. At 15 yds., all 12 rounds went through the axle hole or else were within an inch of it. At 20 yds., I still kept all 12 shots within an inch of the axle hole. At 25 yds., I fired the remaining 10 rounds. I dropped 5 rounds barely outside the hub on the blade. The rest were right in the overall group. I was firing Federal Champion .38 Special 158 gr. LRN ammo. It was very nice stuff. The bullets appeared to be knurled. Like they were swaged lead. There was no unburned powder particles noted. There was almost no soot. The forcing cone and barrel were clean. The interior of the charge holes showed little of the residue normally found when .38 Special lead ammo is fired in a .357 Magnum chambered revolver.
I then shot the same routine with my Glock G-22 using Tula S&W 180 gr. FMJ. I was very pleased that all the rounds were inside the hub until I got to 20 yds. Then reality set in and I put some shots out to the right. The end result was the 50 rounds were inside 6 inches minus 7 errant rounds that I failed to fire properly. I have fired a good bit of the Tula ammo in both my G-22 and S&W 625. It has been uniformly excellent in function and on target results. I will buy more as opportunity presents itself as it is good ammo and normally cost about $2 less per box.
Then, I took out my little Ruger Mk. II and fired the same routine twice. I was not surprised that it produced a nice little 3 inch overall group located in or immediately under the axle hole. I was firing Federal Hi-Power .22 LR ammo in the red and blue 500 rd. box that used to be so commonly available. The box I was using was from a batch I bought in 1985. Not one single round exhibited any weak report, low unexplained impacts, difficulty in chambering or extraction or firing. Every round fired perfectly. I've heard reports of poor quality .22 LR ammo. This ammo was of excellent quality. In fact, back in 1985 I used some of this same ammo in a Ruger 77-22 that my wife bought for me. I shot it a lot at 100 yds. 10 shot groups normally were under 2.0 inches. When I was very careful and when the wind cooperated, groups would go under 1.5 inches. That was with a little Weaver V-4.5 scope on top. It has now been replaced by a Weaver 2x7 Wideview scope. With care one can still take that little rifle and just about keep all shots in the bottom of a Contadina Tomato Paste can at 100 yds.
I was very pleased with the results I obtained shooting these handguns. The sun was ideally located behind me nicely illuminating both the sights and the target. But, the wind was fierce! It was blowing at about 90 degrees from the right in hard gust. It was actually blowing so hard that it was moving me. I fired some shots by trying to snap the shot off when the wind was not blowing so hard. Tomorrow I fully intend to get the bulletin for the two Morning Worship Services completed not later than 10 a.m. Then I have about three more families to visit. Then, after lunch, I'm heading out to spend the afternoon studying and walking in the woods! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and Palm Sunday.
I then shot the same routine with my Glock G-22 using Tula S&W 180 gr. FMJ. I was very pleased that all the rounds were inside the hub until I got to 20 yds. Then reality set in and I put some shots out to the right. The end result was the 50 rounds were inside 6 inches minus 7 errant rounds that I failed to fire properly. I have fired a good bit of the Tula ammo in both my G-22 and S&W 625. It has been uniformly excellent in function and on target results. I will buy more as opportunity presents itself as it is good ammo and normally cost about $2 less per box.
Then, I took out my little Ruger Mk. II and fired the same routine twice. I was not surprised that it produced a nice little 3 inch overall group located in or immediately under the axle hole. I was firing Federal Hi-Power .22 LR ammo in the red and blue 500 rd. box that used to be so commonly available. The box I was using was from a batch I bought in 1985. Not one single round exhibited any weak report, low unexplained impacts, difficulty in chambering or extraction or firing. Every round fired perfectly. I've heard reports of poor quality .22 LR ammo. This ammo was of excellent quality. In fact, back in 1985 I used some of this same ammo in a Ruger 77-22 that my wife bought for me. I shot it a lot at 100 yds. 10 shot groups normally were under 2.0 inches. When I was very careful and when the wind cooperated, groups would go under 1.5 inches. That was with a little Weaver V-4.5 scope on top. It has now been replaced by a Weaver 2x7 Wideview scope. With care one can still take that little rifle and just about keep all shots in the bottom of a Contadina Tomato Paste can at 100 yds.
I was very pleased with the results I obtained shooting these handguns. The sun was ideally located behind me nicely illuminating both the sights and the target. But, the wind was fierce! It was blowing at about 90 degrees from the right in hard gust. It was actually blowing so hard that it was moving me. I fired some shots by trying to snap the shot off when the wind was not blowing so hard. Tomorrow I fully intend to get the bulletin for the two Morning Worship Services completed not later than 10 a.m. Then I have about three more families to visit. Then, after lunch, I'm heading out to spend the afternoon studying and walking in the woods! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and Palm Sunday.
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