It was -5F this past Monday morning; by the early afternoon the temp was only up to +7F ... I was trying to get enthused about going to the shooting range that day and I just could not muster the desire ... I'm tired of going out in the frigid air and I avoid it as much as possible ... so I sat around the house and lackadaisically clicked on the keyboard, trying to compose something that would meet some measure of blogworthiness. Nothing ... nothing ... nothing. On the Monday prior the weather was a bit closer to tolerable so I did manage to make it to the shooting range that day ... so I decided to attempt some disjointed blog-blather about that event.
=======
The firearm of choice for that effort was a carry gun that I needed to reacquaint with my trigger finger, the pocket-size 9mm Glock 43 ... a pistol that was long overdue for a cleaning and lube ... hey, if I gotta clean it up anyway I rationalized that some powder residue would make the cleaning worthy of the effort ... weird old people think that way doncha know ...
For me the G43 has worked out to be a decent-enough concealed-carry gun (thanks to a quality pants pocket holster and a quality IWB holster) even though I habitually carry it with the harder to conceal finger extension mags. I took six mags to the range, each sporting the extended pinky-finger grip; I favor those for this pistol mostly because of the rather stout 124-grain +P JHP self-defense carry-loads that I prefer for the G43 ... I figure that if I want a short barrel handgun to come near the performance of a full size duty gun the loads need more oomph in trade for what they lose by being launched from a short barrel. Anyhoo, the scant two-finger-grip that my hand can manage with the more concealable flush-fit magazines does not work quite as well for me with the +P loads. If I squeeze my fingers together real tight I get a three finger grip with the pinky-mags.
Anecdotally, I find that a +P 125-grain .38 special fired from a steel J-frame snub sends more OUCH to my shooting hand than does a +P 124-grain 9mm fired from the G43 (which would probably chronograph as the more powerful load of the two). Comfort and concealment wise, carrying a J-frame snub in a pocket or IWB is (for me) pretty much the same as my carrying the G43. I find the J-frame boot grips do provide a better grip for drawing from concealment. The G43 offers an initial couple of extra rounds of ammunition (7-rounds for the G43 vs 5-rounds for the J-frame .38). Reloads are faster with the G43 mags than on my best days using speedloaders with J-frames ... and the mags offer an extra round of ammunition (6-round magazine vs 5-round speedloader). For me, choosing between a pocket size snub .38 revolver and snubby size 9mm semi-auto is a toss up. Sometimes seasonal or social attire / activity makes one or the other more comfortable or concealable. If local news or rumors suggest that I need more tacticality than practicality I stay home if at all possible ... otherwise I carry heavier hardware and scurry back home as soon as my obligations are finished.
-----------
30-rounds total of Speer 124-grain +P JHP fired at Target#1 from 30-feet (10-yards)
Initially I was going to do a practice Illinois CCL qualification drill of 10-rounds (2 mags loaded with 5-rounds each) at each distance of 15-feet, 21-feet, and 30-feet (a qualifying score is keeping a minimum of 21-rounds inside the scoring rings) but I changed my mind. I decided to just shoot all 30-rounds from 30-feet with the noble intent of putting every round inside the 9-ring or better. As you can see, I did not quite make it. While the trigger and sights of the G43 are (to me) more shooter-friendly than are the trigger and sights of any common DAO J-frame snub revolver, this little pistol is still a challenge to shoot. My trigger finger took a beating ... the +P 124-grain loads put some kind of a whip into the recoil that whacks my finger in a way that does not happen with standard pressure 115-grain loads.
----------
More on the fun side was the faster pace of Face-Time / Edge-Time.
25-rounds of Winchester 115-grain JHP (NON +P) fired at Target#2 from 21-feet (7-yards)
I started with the G43 at low ready with a round in the chamber and a fully loaded magazine. When the target timed out and moved from edge to facing, I aimed and fired as fast as I safely could empty the pistol before the target timed out back to edge. Drop the empty mag, insert full mag, chamber a round and wait at low ready for the target to again face me. Repeat until all mags are empty.
I mentioned earlier that the gun needed cleaning and lube ... it was full of pocket lint, cat fuzz, and the lube had vanished long ago. The slide started to get sluggish during this phase of the session and one round failed to chamber ... but then suddenly obliged as soon as I started to make motions to clear the mal-feed.
------------
55-rounds total were fired during this range visit. That's pretty much my arthritic limit.
30-rounds of 124-grain +P JHP
25-rounds of 115-grain standard pressure JHP
------------
I put a white sheet of paper on the floor under the targets to provide contrast for these photos. While I do not think it affected my accuracy for this session, I was disappointed to find that my favorite shooting range only had the standard B-27 targets in black; they were apparently sold out of B-27 targets in other colors. Black is the color my eyes find the most troubling when it comes to seeing the holes that I punch at any distance (unless I am shooting .45 caliber). On targets that are any color other than black I can usually see the holes as I shoot and make adjustments as needed. With black targets I often have to reel them in every so often to see how I am doing; it may be the fact that the other side of the target is the lack of a contrasting color, just the black color of the mound of shredded tires downrange used to backstop the bullets. Then again, maybe it's just my tired old eyes.
