Category: Shooting

I’ve decided I want to compete in Silhouette Air Pistol “Any Sight” category, so I’ve placed an order with the Crosman Custom Shop for a .22 Caliber CO2 pistol, showing here:

One of the guys I shoot with uses a .22 caliber CO2 pistol, similar to the one I’m getting, and when I’ve tried it, I’ve consistently been able to hit animals with it, despite the fact that the triggers on Crosman’s pistols kind of suck.  The heavier weight of the .22 barrel, plus the weight of the scope make a difference, I think.  Rowland even threaded a nut on the end of his model, and even though it creates some jokes about which end of the gun the nut is really on, I think it does help with it’s balance of the pistol.  Mine will have a brake on the end, which should, hopefully, closely approximate.

The big disadvantage with a .22 air pistol is that you go through CO2 a lot faster.  Getting 40 shots out of a .22 is about the best you can hope for, whereas 80 shots isn’t too much to ask of a .177 air pistol on a good day.  In the winter, CO2 is a real bear.  But I still plan to get an IZH 46 at some point.  For now I want to be able to shoot in two categories, and you can’t beat 155 dollars as a price for getting in the game.

Oh, one thing Crosman’s Custom shop will do for you is laser engraving.  No extra cost.  You know all those stories about how the FN Five-Seven is supposedly known in Mexican drug cartel circles as “Mata Policia?” In Spanish, this means “Cop Killer.”  Much like the cop killer bullet hysterics from the 80s, this is another bunch of overblown nonsense from the anti-gun crowd, as the armor piercing rounds for the Five-Seven are unavailable to civilians.  In honor, or perhaps in jest, of the hysterics, I am having Crosman engrave my air pistol with “Mata Gallina” which translated means “Chicken Killer.”  You see, these fearsome weapons are not only known to kill the chickens, but hurl them back several yards, making them hard to find in the grass.  It is truly devastating.

Brillianter links to a video of a guy who ends up shooting himself in the hand with a Glock 18 when the foregrip he’s using comes off. Another good reason not to use them on Glocks is the fact that it makes it an AOW by ATF rules, because it’s no longer “designed to be fired by a single hand.”  On a Glock 18, which is already a machinegun, it’s fine, until you shoot yourself in the hand.

Blackfork talks about people who believe high-power shooters tell talls tales.  The money quote:

A little caution on Highpower rifle shooters. They may be low-down lying dogs but they are armed and they can shoot your ass from 600 yards away with open sights, even in the wind.

In one of the sports I shoot, IHMSA, I know guys who could do it with a pistol, offhand, at 200 yards with iron sights under the same conditions.  Start going to matches, and you’ll meet a lot of people who are better shooters than you think you’ll ever be.

Arizona Rifleman wonders why commie bloc ammo smells so bad.  I’ve always figured it was the priming compound they use.  I’ve noticed that even with .22 ammo, there’s a difference in smell between, say, federal, and anything that is Eley primed.  Could be the powder, but even the cheap Eley primed Mexican ammo smells this way.

… when there’s more passionate debate going on in the gun blogosphere about shooting.  Hey, I’m happy just being able to watch this one from a detached distance.

The Arizona Rifleman is offering to tumble brass for the cost of shipping.  I could keep his tumbler busy for a while with what I’ve collected.  I will make a similar offer, except I get to keep the brass when I’m done :)

Looks like a number of Pennsylvania teams and shooters did quite well.

This time DiNatale, the developer who has been trying to gt Blue Trail shut down for a while now, is using the lead issue to try to get his way:

Tests commissioned by a Durham man who is suing the Blue Trail firing range in Wallingford show high concentrations of lead from bullets on land near the Ulbrich Reservoir opposite the range, and elevated levels in the sediment at the water’s edge.

Blue Trail and the town will be allowed to do their own tests.  Generally speaking, elemental lead is fairly imobile in soil, and not all that hazardous.  But it some soils, the lead can become more mobile.  This is going to continue to be an issue for commercial ranges, clubs, and public ranges as time wears on.

Entries are due on Monday for Flying Aces, the E-Postal match for this month.  Don’t forget to send me your results, along with a scan or photo of your target.  I hope I can get more entries before shooting closes on Monday at midnight.

Looks like there’s been a fair amount of back and forth between Linoge and Mostly Genius about accessories on your self-defense guns.  My competition guns are pretty heavily accessorized, but I keep my self-defense guns as they came from the factory.  My Ruger Mk.III with a Volquartzen trigger in it is nice, but I’ve also had it take the gun down because one of the adjustment screws came out a bit.