Okay...this was too good not to post

Last Tuesday I took a couple of friends of mine out to Bob Swainson's range for some pistol work. They were both very rusty and wanted my help working out the kinks.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Bob's range, he has some rifle steel set up around the 150 yard mark. We were shooting adjacent that on Bob's dueling tree and a couple of paper targets I brought. Bob came over with his beautiful STI .40 race gun and took 4 shots at the center rifle silhouette (standing - 2 handed grip). He tagged it on the 4th shot. Pretty impressive shot.

As we were finishing up at the end of the day, I had a hair up my ass to take the same shot with my Glock 23 EDC firearm. My two friends (Ryan and Kevin) were standing there anticipating my shot. I took note of the wind and elevation. I was also shooting my .40 cal reloads.

I broke the first shot off....and "ping". Done. One shot, one kill. I about crapped myself and decided to quit while I was ahead. It was a lucky shot, no doubt but that day was one of my "on" days. :-)

At least you are humble about it and not cocky.

Bob did that with me too but I didn't take that long shot with my handgun like you did, good job. He runs a fun range.

Bob helped me get out of the 7-10 yard rut I was in. He showed me some good handgun stuff and got me shooting 65 yards and getting some hits.

I hope to get out there next week while I'm on vacation.

I saw Bob hit steel at 175 yards second shot with his 1911.

The furthest I've shot with my handgun was out to 100 yards, but it was in the prone position. Bob is one heck of an instructor and shooter. He was one of my instructors in the police academy years ago.

I've always been humble about my shooting ability. I know I'm a good shooter and it took my wife hounding me years ago to become an instructor. As we all know here, it is a perishable skill. You have to get out and shoot as much as possible to stay sharp. The way I see it, as a conceal-carry holder it's my responsibility to be as proficient as possible with my carry gun. Every dime I've made as an instructor has gone back into my own training. I'm always looking for feedback, advice, etc. to make me a more proficient shooter.

I about crapped a gold brick when I heard that round hit the steel plate though. Even though I admit it was lucky, it still felt great.

Impressive!!

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Originally Posted by cfortune

I saw Bob hit steel at 175 yards second shot with his 1911.

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I've done the same with my MK23 shooting at steel....

... twice... had to make sure, lol!

Great shot lucky or not !! I can take center mass 7 rnds with my sig 220 at 65 yards it took 500 rds to get there! very comfortable with her ! Gettin there with my buddies 92fs now !!

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Originally Posted by islandermyk

I've done the same with my MK23 shooting at steel....

... twice... had to make sure, lol!

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LOL, that's a great shot with a .45 ACP. I wonder how far above the steel silhouette you had to place your front sight? I know with my .40 it was right at about an inch. My .40 reloads aren't hot by any means. I used to own an H&K USP .40 and I really loved how it shot. One of the few firearms I regret selling. One of these days when I have the $$$ I want to pick up the P30-L. The next time I'm out there I'm going to give it a go again. Definitely not expecting the same result, but I'll try to get it on video.

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Originally Posted by Squeeze

LOL, that's a great shot with a .45 ACP. I wonder how far above the steel silhouette you had to place your front sight? I know with my .40 it was right at about an inch. My .40 reloads aren't hot by any means. I used to own an H&K USP .40 and I really loved how it shot. One of the few firearms I regret selling. One of these days when I have the $$$ I want to pick up the P30-L. The next time I'm out there I'm going to give it a go again. Definitely not expecting the same result, but I'll try to get it on video.

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about a foot, lmao!

I was shooting at a 12 in diameter steel plate and I pictured one on top of it, :D

it wasn't easy....

it took me 5 or 6 shots to hit the first time, and the second took me 3 or 5 shots to hit.

At least you waited until the end of the day. I felt like hot shit when I hit a clay at about 100 yards with my 9 mm on the first shot when I went out last month. It took about 10 or so misses on close easy shots right after that to put me back in my place.

Reminds me of the time I was putting down bowling pins at 30 yards with my CZ, switched to my M&P and immediately missed one at 5 yards.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Reminds me of the time I was putting down bowling pins at 30 yards with my CZ, switched to my M&P and immediately missed one at 5 yards.

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That's the same problem I had....


that's why I got rid of my Glock 34... switching from 9 mm to .45 threw me off most times.... and I just decided to stick to .45's

Good job. Pushing your self and finding your limitations is one of the greatest parts of training.

Bob is an outstanding instructor. I am not surprised he can hit the steel at 175 yards out of 5" barrel. With some practice, most decent shooters can hit it about 30% of the time. Really good shooters can get close to 50% hits at distances like that.

Next time you are out at the Bennett Farm, ask Bob if he would ever take that same shot, or even at 65 yards, with an everyday carry pistol while pedestrians are present and the target has a semi automatic, 30 round magazine fed rifle to shoot back at you with. More importantly, even if your hit percentage jumped to 75% would you start taking those longer shots, 50+ yards under the above circumstances. Each of us need to know our limitations and then expand our ability to decrease those limitations.

Any day at the Bennett Farm just knowing that Bob is around to provide correction or give some helping tips is a great day in my book.

Be safe.