Any of you all have been or are competitive shooters?

3bolt79

3bolt79

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I used to compete in handgun shooting. I shot on a pistol league at a local club. And also competed in IDPA matches and Bullseye shooting.

The Bullseye matches were the most fun as it was 3 calibers, .45, .38 and .22.

The objective there was to get the most minuscule groups on paper. Seriously, they would take out calipers and measure the size of the group, or hole if you put all of your shots in the same hole. You had a long time to make your shots.

I mention this because my son just gave me a Colt Custom Shop Competition .45 cal target pistol. He felt bad that I would be without a center fire pistol after I gave him my Beretta M9 A3 to use as a duty gun in his upcoming police endeavor in Oklahoma.


The department issued Glocks don’t fit his hands well, and he can’t shoot them as accurately as his Beretta, which he can’t use because it doesn’t have an accessory rail. So I gave him mine. It has night sites, a rail, and interchangeable grips. But man, I never expected him to give me such a gun as his Colt. We are going to go to the outdoor range in a week or two, and take the set of calipers with us. It should be interesting.
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Robb said:
Fine piece !
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Yeah, I wasn't expecting him to give that to me. I was just gonna give him my Beretta back, which he bought me as a gift several years ago. But this 1911 should be a lotta fun for target shooting.

I told him to just consider it on loan to me, as I'm never gonna sell it, and he can have it back if and when he wants. I've had a few Colts over the years when I shot competitively. I'm just looking forward to punching some paper with my son.

I haven't been to the range in two years. It gets boring when all of your shots go in the same hole, and I can't afford to shoot 500 rounds a week like I did when I was competing. I'm disabled now and I can't stand for long periods of time. Thankfully, the firing points at the range have a seated option.
 
Well, my son will be here for a few more days while he’s waiting on parts to come in to get his truck fixed. So, we are planning on going to an indoor range that’s right by the local Community College. Hopefully on Monday.

I have to test some magazines for the Colt. My son gave me five Springfield 7 rd mags, but apparently one is a stinker, and he can’t remember which one always fails to feed. So I will figure out which one is the dud and disassemble it so I don’t use it.

As I haven’t been to the firing range in a few years, I am primarily going to be shooting my .22 cal Browning Buck Mark.

I will check the adjustable sights on both of these guns from a rest while seated. I can’t stand for long periods of time as I’m at risk for losing my balance. That is the reason I do all of my guitar repair work seated on the floor.

Both of my guns are Target Pistols. They are nothing that a LEO would want to use for duty, as they have fragile mechanical sights that would likely break in a scuffle. Both of these guns are basically designed to poke the smallest hole possible in a piece of paper.

If this turns out to be fun, I might start reloading brass again. I used to make .45 rounds with barely enough powder to launch the bullet out of the barrel, using 180, and 200 gr. wad cutters that made the smallest, cleanest holes in the paper targets.
 
I've done my share of Jaeger shots and once won a jello shot contest!!! 🏆

But that's not what you mean is it? ;)
 
About ten years ago I was shooting IDPA competitions, with friends.
Loaded tons of .45ACP and between practice and weekend matches was sending about 1200 rounds down range per week, in the summer.
My Wilson Combat Elite Pro got quite a workout. Ran 100%!
I managed to get to Sharpshooter, before hanging it up (I’m 74 now).
Had tons of fun!
 
My son and I went to the indoor range today. I shot 75 round of .22 cal. And then about 35 rounds of .45 cal.

I didn’t get two decent 5 round targets until my last two five shot groups with the 45 until the last 10 rounds and then I was tired and had to stop.

We had fun though.
 
One ragged hole drills are impressive, but I’m now past the shelf life.
Haven’t shot anything in a couple years. Rust never sleeps.
 
RustyChops said:
One ragged hole drills are impressive, but I’m now past the shelf life.
Haven’t shot anything in a couple years. Rust never sleeps.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm getting to old and decrepit for anything other than Bulls Eye, but I would have to spend so much time making ammo that it would take all the fun out of it.

I got two groups today that were about twice the size of the .45 bullet at 50 feet. They we five shot groups. But man I was worn out after shooting the center-fire. I wasn't able to sit and use a rest today, because the one stool they had left in the fifty foot range was broken. I reported it to the range master and told him it was broken, and his reply was, "Well, you can still sit on it". And I said " Yeah, and the person who injures themselves can still sue you".

I was there two years ago, and it was nice. They had lots of guns, and lots of ammo, and the facility was nice. Today they had no rental pistols, no ammo, the same carpet that had been in it from when the old owner had it in 2019, except there were massive holes in the carpeted surfaces, holes in the ceiling tiles, I doubt that they've changed the air filters recently, the cables on half of the firing points didn't move.

They didn't have tape in many of the firing lanes for taping targets, and only had three of the 10 paper targets that they sell in stock.

The place is really run down since I was there last, a couple of years ago. It's obvious that they are struggling. It seemed that one of the vacuum fans wasn't working in the 50 foot range, as the smoke stuck around for a long time after each shot. It's really sad what became of that place. I knew the original owner of the facility from the time it was built until his death. Then his wife sold it to the current owner a couple of years after he died.

The way it is now, I'd say they can't go out of business fast enough. It used to be a vibrant place with competition leagues. You could rent Tommy Guns there, and I took my son and my step son and step daughter there when they were old enough to shoot a center-fire gun per the clubs rules.

Now the place has become a dump. It's filthy from the range, to the sales floor, to the bathroom. I won't be going back. There's a nice outdoor range that is open to the public that they have been doing massive improvements to, about a half hour out of town, for the last decade. That will be where I go next time.
 
I cleaned my pistols today. I used the last of my gun oil and patches. I’m going to have to get some more just to keep on hand.

I oiled everything real good, as they are likely just going to sit in the safe for a long time. Like I said, our trip to the range the other day was my first time shooting in a couple of years.

It was fun though. I’m thinking that maybe I will try to get out more and practice with my .22 Browning.

The local outdoor range is really inexpensive, and the ammo is cheap. It will likely only cost about 20 dollars a week to go there and bring my skills back up to snuff.

It would probably just be cheaper to buy a membership, but it all depends on my health. I haven’t been able to get out and do much for the last couple of years due to it. But, I’ve had an amazing week. I’ve done more outside the hose this week than I’ve done in months.
 
I shot CMP Military for a couple of years until my shoulder nixed it. I shot a bargain basement AR15/.223 when we could find ammo and an even more bargain basement .22LR when we couldn’t.
 
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