Well... First Day At The Range...

[AnthemBassMan]

-My Wife and I spent an hour at the range today. She took her Taurus 85S .38 Special, and I took my SD40 VE and my little Titan 25. Didn't do too bad. I definitely need some practice. Unfortunately my shots were all from the 21-25 foot mark. I wasn't even going to attempt the 55 foot range limit until I get better acquainted with my new pistol. I had only one FTF, but that was from an intentional limp-wristed shot. Held the pistol so loose that at first I thought I was going to drop it after firing! One bump to the rear of the slide and I was off to the races again.

-It ate up all of the CCI Blazer that I fed it. I bought that stuff because I know some pistols have problems with the aluminum cases. But not my Smith! Everything in the black makes me happy! The one flaw I found about the pistol is the grip. I'll end up either getting a Hogue slip on grip, or some Talon grip tape. I could feel the grip really move around in my hand. But that simple fix will cure the problem. Well, let the critiquing begin. I know I was pulling a few shots low, but I was taking my time with the trigger. Like I said. I need more practice. One thing about the recoil of this .40S&W. It didn't have any more recoil than my Wife's Taurus. It's a pleasant shooting pistol!

-Of course... As soon as photobucket is done with their maintenance, I'll post a few pics of my targets...

L8R,
Matt

 

[hmbiohazard]

how was your groupings? when i first started i shot low almost all the time while getting used to the heavy trigger. now im spot on with tight groups a few thousand rounds later

 

[leejack]

Sounds like you had a great first outing!

Practice will only make it better. Keep up the good work!

 

[AnthemBassMan]

-Grouping weren't great, but not too bad for being so long away from shooting. Roughly 4" groups except for a few flyers. The trigger didn't bother me at all, although I had some low flyers. My Wife was shooting too high, then I told her to take off her glasses. She hates trying to get use to her new bifocals. We just used standard 12" 10 ring targets with a 1" red bullseye for this time. Yep, photobucket is still out...

L8R,
Matt

 

[AnthemBassMan]

-Ok, here we go...

L8R,
Matt

 

[AnthemBassMan]

-And here's my Wife's target along with mine using her Taurus 85S .38 Special. And the last one is mine using my old Titan 25 .25acp. I took it just to see if she still fired. Not too bad for such a tiny pistol!

L8R,
Matt

 

[leejack]

First time out with the gun, that looks pretty good to me.

I haven't shot mine yet, but with the mighty sigma you had to cover the bull with the front sight, my guess is that these SDs behave the same way.

In no time, you'll be putting a baseball hole in the 10 ring!

 

[AnthemBassMan]

-I've always shot aimed at the center of the bullseye. Never understood the 6 o'clock hold. I have to say. My Wife put three or four rounds through the bullseye when she was shooting. That girl makes me proud!

L8R,
Matt

 

[dajogejr]

Anthem, I started shooting 180gr and my shots came up dead on. A little low when I throw 165 down the range. Lookin good first time out.

 

[hmbiohazard]

yeah i alsways carry/use 180 GR in my .40

i aim a bit high because when i pull the trigger i know i drop my front sight. its how i adapted to the long and heavy pull

 

[AnthemBassMan]

The shop where I bought my SD40 VE had plenty of both 165 and 180 gr. So it was just an eeny-meeny-hey moe grab for a box of ammo. I know a heavier bullet will possibly bring the point of impact up. Next trip to the shop will get me a box of 180gr.

-Thanks for the compliments, but I know I need quite a bit more range time. Like I said. It's been years since I've been shooting. I'm not expecting to be a sub-MOA shooter with this pistol, but as long as my groups are nicely clustered in the black near the bullseye, I'll be happy. One funny note though. As we were in the car getting ready to leave the range, my Wife was scratching her nose. Then she started smelling her hand. She was smelling the gunpowder residue from shooting and said, "Why can't they make this smell into a cologne?" Once again, I love that gal!!

L8R,
Matt

 

[leejack]

The shop where I bought my SD40 VE had plenty of both 165 and 180 gr. So it was just an eeny-meeny-hey moe grab for a box of ammo. I know a heavier bullet will possibly bring the point of impact up. Next trip to the shop will get me a box of 180gr.

-Thanks for the compliments, but I know I need quite a bit more range time. Like I said. It's been years since I've been shooting. I'm not expecting to be a sub-MOA shooter with this pistol, but as long as my groups are nicely clustered in the black near the bullseye, I'll be happy. One funny note though. As we were in the car getting ready to leave the range, my Wife was scratching her nose. Then she started smelling her hand. She was smelling the gunpowder residue from shooting and said, "Why can't they make this smell into a cologne?" Once again, I love that gal!!

L8R,
Matt

LOL! If my wife were wearing Hoppe's #9 instead of Chanel #5, I'd have married her two years earlier!

 

[AnthemBassMan]

-I must say that I'm really digging the FrogLube CLP! I've seen other CLP products in the shops, but I decided to try this one. I've been a Hoppe's user since I was a kid rabbit hunting in the mid '70s. Matter of fact, my newest Hoppe's cleaning kit was bought in '93 when my Wife bought her then new Taurus 85S. The idea of an all in one cleaner/lube was interesting, yet a bit scary. It just wasn't the SOP for me.

-But yesterday after getting home, I field stripped my pistol and started wiping it down with a microfiber towel. My SD40 VE cleaned right up! A couple dry patches through the barrel and it was shining like a mirror. A couple tiny dabs of FrogLube on a patch wiped on the frame rails, barrel & locking block/lug, and through the barrel will keep her ready for the next trip. I liked this stuff so much, I did the double treatment to my Wife's Taurus 85S.

L8R,
Matt

 

[hmbiohazard]

-I must say that I'm really digging the FrogLube CLP! I've seen other CLP products in the shops, but I decided to try this one. I've been a Hoppe's user since I was a kid rabbit hunting in the mid '70s. Matter of fact, my newest Hoppe's cleaning kit was bought in '93 when my Wife bought her then new Taurus 85S. The idea of an all in one cleaner/lube was interesting, yet a bit scary. It just wasn't the SOP for me.

-But yesterday after getting home, I field stripped my pistol and started wiping it down with a microfiber towel. My SD40 VE cleaned right up! A couple dry patches through the barrel and it was shining like a mirror. A couple tiny dabs of FrogLube on a patch wiped on the frame rails, barrel & locking block/lug, and through the barrel will keep her ready for the next trip. I liked this stuff so much, I did the double treatment to my Wife's Taurus 85S.

L8R,
Matt

i use M PRO 7 products. if i do use a CLP i use the one from safariland. never been a fan of hoppes. im going to have to do a heavy cleaning this weekend before painting

 

[dajogejr]

I've been having excellent luck with the Tetra products.
I have their cleaning kit and aerosol cleaner/lube.
I only put a little tetra grease on the four slide tabs, a dab on the sear/hook...the outside of the barrel and the bump on the bottom of the slide.

 

[AnthemBassMan]

-Where it hits the sear disconnect? I do that too. I'm liking this product because it's a non-toxic, non-petroleum based, food grade product that has a great mint smell to it. Almost makes me want to take a bite out of my pistol! Less hazardous chemicals are a good thing to me anymore...

L8R,
Matt

 

[hmbiohazard]

lol. i just like the name

 

[AnthemBassMan]

-Love it!!

L8R,
Matt