My Life: Range Report.

Big Mike came to Toledo this weekend, and as usual we went out to the Bullet Stop to throw some lead. I think the proprietor and a few locals are starting to accept us now as peers - good, law abiding citizens who mind their own business.

I started off with my .22 Ruger and did pretty well. The target on the right shows 30 shots at 25 feet, and the one on the left is 30 shots at 50 feet. Keep in mind that my eyes are so bad I can barely see anything at 50 feet, let alone sights and a target.

.22 Ruger Results

Mike hauled out his Glock and displayed a new set of sights he bought, which are absolutely amazing.  Mike got Advantage Tactical Sights for his pistol, and I am truly impressed.

Advantage Tactical - Click to Zoom In

If you haven't seen or tried this system, I encourage you to do so.  The sights are extremely intuitive; you just put the front sight into the top of the pyramid and allow it to cover your target.  Here's a slightly better picture of the sights.

Advantage Tactical Sights

Although the company recommends that the sights be installed by a qualified gunsmith, the mandatory CYA statement is followed immediately by specific directions about how to install your own, which Mike followed with a good deal of success.

Advantage Tactical Kit

Advantage gives you several colors to choose from.  Mike chose green and yellow because it provides a slight advantage to older people - your eyes operate better in the green spectrum.  But if you're not old and decrepit you can have white on white, white on red... the colors provided are white, yellow, red, orange and green.

Here are my efforts with Mike's Glock.

Glock at 25 Feet

The low flyer was my fault.  I torched it off before I could stop myself.  The shot at twelve o'clock is my first, and the tight group are shots two, three and four.  After running a few more clips through it, Big Mike concluded that everything was going slightly off to the left and so adjusted the sights slightly, putting everything slightly high at 25 feet.  I can live with that.  If I ever decided to spend some money on improving my Ruger, I know what kind of sights I want.

I like Mike's Glock, which surprises me a little because I'm more of a traditionalist than most people.  To me, firearms in stainless steel look a little odd, but the synthetic grip and parts of a Glock are almost ugly looking.  For pure beauty, nothing beats the 1911 Mil Spec.

Betsy - Springfield 1911

There's something about the 1911 that says I mean business.  I put a few shots downrange and did pretty well, all things considered.

Shooting Betsy at 25 Feet

Here are my results, about one shot per second.  Not bad for an old man.

Anyone who shoots at the Bullet Stop will be happy to know that there is a new air conditioner in the range.  Big Mike helped install it, and I helped test it.  It works, but with this weather the range is still hotter than a five dollar pistol on Saturday night.