Flying High - and One-Handed Revolver Shots

[PT7]

Tuesdays are typically my day away from my caregiving for my wife, and I try to spend time at the range. I did get to the MDC outdoor range today to shoot my Ruger LCRX revolver. But first, a short story about Flying High.

The MO ranges changed to summer hours on May 1st. My time off starts at 10AM, and the range doesn't open now until 2PM. So I adjusted and spent some time at a cool LGS in Liberty, MO. It is called James Country Mercantile. Along with the FFL services they provide, they mainly carry products and specialty items focused on the Civil War. They are one of the largest suppliers of all products needed for Civil War reenactments, which happen regularly here in MO and neighboring KS.

I met a fellow there today, name is Bill, who is a good friend of the owner. He approached me because I was wearing my USAF cap, and asked about my service time. I thought he might be an Air Force vet, so I asked him. His response was a very neat surprise, and we had an interesting chat about it.

I'm a WWII buff, and it was most interesting to learn that Bill's Dad is a WWII veteran, also Air Force. (It would have been named Army Air Corp during WWII). Okay. So I asked him what job his Dad did, where he served, etc. His Dad served/flew in B17s. But there is a unique mission he was on, and I'm hoping if/when I get to chat with Bill again, he'll share more about his Dad's experiences. His Dad was the lead B17 navigator on the first bombing run over Berlin during the war! Wow!! That's when I started "flying high." We chatted just a very short time longer, then he had to get with the LGS owner to finish some work they were doing. I was disappointed our chat ended so quickly, but there will be another day! So that started my day out just fine.

Got to the range, and had only one goal today: practice shooting one-handed. I'm pretty certain that if ever (the good Lord forbid) there was a need to use my revolver in SD, it wouldn't be done with the steady two-handed hold, with time for focused sighting! I haven't shot my new revolver a lot yet (only about 200 rounds until today), so I needed some trigger time with it. Since it is a 3" snubby, I practiced again at the HD range of only seven yards, using both .38 Special and .38 Special + P ammo. After some practice-practice, I shot my last two groups fairly rapidly --- using only one hand, off hand, both eyes open, and D/A only. Here are my three targets. The top one (3" splash) is the first practice 10-round group. The targets I shot one-handed are the bottom two 6" splash targets. The left was a 10-round group, the right was a 15-round group. As usual, there are some cardboard POIs, and range dirt POIs. Overall, I was mostly pleased with shooting one-handed, D/A today. I'd like to do that more at future range times.

But the "Flying High" chat was about the highlight of my day. All-around fun was had this day; I enjoyed it a lot.
Thanks for reading my story.

.38 special + P targets.JPG (2.6 MiB) Viewed 1897 times

[Henry88]

Great story, PT..............

Just goes to show that going to the range and the lgs is about so much more than just shooting.

[Les]

It sounds like you had a really great day, PT7.

It's funny how sometimes the most mundane things turn out to be so special, and I really hope you get together again with your new acquaintance to continue your meeting.

Great shooting, by the way.

[CT_Shooter]

Thanks for sharing that WWII story and for your excellent range report.

[RanchRoper]

Great shooting.

[North Country Gal]

Loved the story, PT. Thanks for sharing.

Very proficient self-defense DA shooting with one hand. Anyone who carries a DA revolver owes it to themselves to practice until they can do the same and practice as often as needed to maintain that level. From experience, I can appreciate how much practice it takes to shoot, well, in DA with one hand. Keep up the excellent work.

[DAVIDF]

PT, thanks for the story and good shooting. I think training to shoot one handed is very important.

My dad was also in the USAF, or Army Air Corps as it was during WWII. He might have flown with Bill's dad as he was a bombardier on B17s and later a navigator. I think he also flew at times on B25, B29's, and on the Looking Glass EC-135C during the 60's. If I remember correctly he flew on bombing missions to Berlin. On one mission, his B-17 took so many hits from AAA that they barely remained airborne and got separated from the rest of the flight. They got safely back to England and counted 197 holes. He said the AAA flak was so heavy that you could not see any of the other aircraft even though they were flying almost wing tip to wing tip.

In the 60's he was in JSTPS (Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff). That is the unit that comes up with the SIOP (Single Integrated Operational Plan). A fancy term for the nuclear war plan. They determined the target plans for all the strategic bombers and ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles). His targets were bigger and a lot further away than ours

[PT7]

~
Thanks, NCG. Agree with your comments on getting to and maintain a good proficiency shooting this way -- or with any other way to shoot. I will keep after it for sure.

It reminds me of the countless rounds of 12-gauge 1-oz. slugs I sent down range over two summers. My goal was to match or better a slug-shooting exhibition by Hickok45 using a 12-gauge Benelli tactical shotgun. I sent round after round down range, and with all that practice, I got only better at placing very good long-distance POIs. I duplicated his demo early fall after that second summer; didn't best him, but my results were more than I ever expected. Bottom line, it was also great fun!

Loved the story, PT. Thanks for sharing.

Very proficient self-defense DA shooting with one hand. Anyone who carries a DA revolver owes it to themselves to practice until they can do the same and practice as often as needed to maintain that level. From experience, I can appreciate how much practice it takes to shoot, well, in DA with one hand. Keep up the excellent work.

~
DavidF, I liked your story about your Dad also flying high in the Army Air Corps during WWII. In my eyes, yes, those folk are the greatest generation that faced such a terrific challenge of that lengthy and terrible world war. That would have been something else, if he did fly with Bill's dad. Next time I chat with Bill at the LGS, I'll try to find out what fighting group/squardon his dad was in. If I do, I'll try to get that info your way. It would be a cool ending to our stories if they did know each other. Appreciate you adding the neat stuff to my story.

PT, thanks for the story and good shooting. I think training to shoot one handed is very important.

My dad was also in the USAF, or Army Air Corps as it was during WWII. He might have flown with Bill's dad as he was a bombardier on B17s and later a navigator. I think he also flew at times on B25, B29's, and on the Looking Glass EC-135C during the 60's. If I remember correctly he flew on bombing missions to Berlin. On one mission, his B-17 took so many hits from AAA that they barely remained airborne and got separated from the rest of the flight. They got safely back to England and counted 197 holes. He said the AAA flak was so heavy that you could not see any of the other aircraft even though they were flying almost wing tip to wing tip.

In the 60's he was in JSTPS (Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff). That is the unit that comes up with the SIOP (Single Integrated Operational Plan). A fancy term for the nuclear war plan. They determined the target plans for all the strategic bombers and ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles). His targets were bigger and a lot further away than ours