Snubbie, Bird, and Snake

[BrokenolMarine]

Got down to the range today, and as promised I took the snubbie and a couple other guns. First, a look downrange from the steps of the range house. This is about 80 yards to the berm, and I can set up here to sight in Rifles, or move beside the range house and shoot from about 92 yards.

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If I turn around, you can get a peek at the range house itself. I got a deal on this building when we bought Miss Tina's building new. This one was used, had been Repo'd by the selling company and didn't have steps and I proposed a package deal. They were hesitant at first, but Tina said, "Let's check that other place over by Home Depot and see what they'll do."
"I guess we can make that deal after all."

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A peek inside. The range house is where I store the target frames, cardboard, steel targets, and the buckets of fired brass I haven't cleaned and polished for reloading. There are also other goodies in here for use on the range. It doesn't look it, but there is an organization to the storage.

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04 range house interior 2.jpg (357.91 KiB) Viewed 990 times

I had a similar building on the range in VA.

[BrokenolMarine]

Going to test the sights on the Smith 64 Snubbie. That front sight pops now, and I set up the target and marked out seven and fifteen yards. Healthwise, it's not as good a day as yesterday. The lower back is giving me issues, but I wanted to shoot. Check out the new sight picture.

06 64 snubby sight.jpg (222.98 KiB) Viewed 989 times

Here's the target: the group on the left is double action slow fire at SEVEN yards. Not bad for an old poop.
The group on the right is Fifteen yards slow fire, twelve rounds. I'm not happy, and even though I was in pain, it's not a good showing. I'll need some practice, unless the next time I shoot that group shrinks considerably.

07 snubby target.jpg (368.29 KiB) Viewed 989 times

[BrokenolMarine]

Next up is the BIRD. The Uberti Birdshead Single Action .357. Still shooting the 148 grain wadcutters, in deference to the recent hand injuries, but I love these guns. She's a beaut and a shooter.

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I shot this one at ten yards and here are the first six rounds down range. The pain was settling in my back rather well, but I wanted to shoot this piece and in spite of the pain, the group wasn't bad.

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I knew I could do better and reloaded for another six. This time I held at 6 o'clock, floating the ball on the sight. I tried to squeeze the trigger and NOT disturb the sights and I got a tighter group with the next six rounds but NOT up to my usual shooting. You can't always be in top form, but even in pain enjoyed shooting the dang thing.

10 next six.jpg (297.13 KiB) Viewed 989 times

[BrokenolMarine]

I planned to shoot the SNAKE next. I REALLY wanted to, but I just couldn't. She is beautiful. A supermodel, and a shooter. But, I wasn't up for it. Tomorrow... the day after maybe. Hot baths, drugs. (NOT before shooting. )

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(1980 Colt Python) Just a few rounds so far, less than fifty....
I'll bring her back down and maybe add some company for her to fill out the card.
Maybe another big bore Single Action...

[Sir Henry]

Next up is the BIRD. The Uberti Birdshead Single Action .357. Still shooting the 148 grain wadcutters, in deference to the recent hand injuries, but I love these guns. She's a beaut and a shooter.


08 Birdshead Uberti Single Action.jpg


I shot this one at ten yards and here are the first six rounds down range. The pain was settling in my back rather well, but I wanted to shoot this piece and in spite of the pain, the group wasn't bad.


09 first six.jpg


I knew I could do better and reloaded for another six. This time I held at 6 o'clock, floating the ball on the sight. I tried to squeeze the trigger and NOT disturb the sights and I got a tighter group with the next six rounds but NOT up to my usual shooting. You can't always be in top form, but even in pain enjoyed shooting the dang thing.


10 next six.jpg

Nice pistol and shooting it. I have a Cimarron just like your Uberti.

[rickhem]

Great looking set up there BOM, and that pic of your sights really shows how well that paint works.

A range house is a great idea, and me taking my target frames out, setting them up, and breaking them down again is a bit of a pain. The SxS makes that easier, but a range house would be a much better solution. And depending on where I put one, it could double as a hunting blind for me.

[BrokenolMarine]

We found one of the buildings on Craigslist for Tina to repurpose as a coop for something like $700. About 2/3 the cost of materials to build it. All we did was pull the shingles and add a metal roof. On mine, we cleaned the interior, I built the steps, and insurance required tie downs for some reason. (Yeah, yeah, those windy, twisty things.)

I built the first buildings in Virginia, but discovered that I could buy them from the Amish for about 10% over my cost for Materials. I asked the dealer how they could do it. He said he toured their facility. Everyone working their was Amish, community business. Low labor costs. The templates were painted on the floor.
Teams built walls, others built floors or roof sections. Teams assembled frames, still others added siding. Being inside, they had hoists for heavy lifting.

The main savings? Where we bought a pickup load of materials... they bought train car loads, and the siding ran thru the warehouse. A car filled with 2x4s, one with barn siding in various colors, one with roofing, one with hardware and supplies. Unloaded the cars onto the dock, train leaves. Back in a couple weeks, repeat.

[North Country Gal]

Much better on that front sight, Marine. I use a red or yellow oil based enamel for my front sights. It takes 24 hours to dry, but is more durable than anything else I've tried.

I also have a couple of 357 mag Colt clones. One is a Pietta and one is the Uberti. As much as I love the Colt 1873 as far as balance and fit in my hand, I find the 357 to be pretty darn brisk in these guns. Much prefer shooting 38s in the Colts. When I want to shoot 357s, I go with my DA revolvers.

That fine original Python is very impressive. Hope you get a chance to shoot it again, soon.

[Hatchdog]

Pardon me for channeling my inner “Captain Obvious” but your 15 yards group with the 64 is exactly what the gun was designed for. I can appreciate your feelings about knowing you can do better but I don’t want to be the bad guy facing you down from 15 while the 64 is in your hands.

[BrokenolMarine]

Thanks Hatch. I have said before that I carried my four inch 64 for a couple years as a duty weapon straight out of the Academy and never felt undergunned. My Rabbi used to embarrass Rookies from local PDs by proving I could speedload my 64 as fast or faster than they could swap mags in their semi-autos.

Of course he would fail to mention we shot three PPC matches a month, with four or five different courses of fire at each match, all but service auto shot with revolvers. I got a lot of practice speedloading.

Plus... All the practice between matches, including dedicated speedloading practice with dummy weighted rounds.