BassCliff
Professional
Greetings my friends,
Today I got to visit another range not too far from my new residence here in the upper Midwest. Fletcher Arms actually has two locations. This is the older facility of the two but it still has all the necessities.
I checked in and chatted with a couple of friendly fellows, Tom and Bob, who really talked up their Platinum membership. (It actually seems like a pretty good deal and I'm seriously considering it.) The family has owned this facility for almost 45 years.
After checking in, paying my $15 fee, getting the lay of the land, etc, I was assigned lane #8. It's my favorite lane.
I brought my three semi-auto pistols, XD9, CW9, and P22. For the XD9 I brought four 16rnd magazine2 and two 10s. The CW9 has three 8rnd mags and a 7rnd mag. The P22 has four 10rnd magazine. I loaded them all up then shot them all down. I finished up that box of LAX Ammunition factory reloads. I also used Aquila .22 Super Extra 40gn.
It wasn't too busy when I started so I was able to get a clean run for my first, cold, 10-10-10 drill. Yes, "controlled" rapid-fire is allowed here. Yay! So I sent the target down thirty feet and set my timer. I can't draw here so I shot from low ready.
I took video of my cold 10-10-10 drill but I must apologize for the continuity. You'll have to take my word for it. I made par time.
As Larry Vickers likes to score this drill (one second penalty for every shot not in the black), I still made par time and scored a 91. Yay me!
My second B-8 didn't turn out so well. I thought I had timed this run in between the other shooters. But just as my timer went off the lane next to me let loose. It startled me a bit and threw my concentration. (Sure, that's the reason for the really bad flyer.) I ended up slow-firing on the #2 target, as well as #3 and #5. I have targets #1 and #2 on video which I'll post in a follow-up.
OK, #3 is not bad (for me), just a couple in the 8 ring.
Target #4 was clean as far as the timer but the marksmanship sucked.
I had one flyer that went off into the next county.
I slow-fired #5 and managed to get all but one in the black with my XD9 from ten yards.
Much like the drills last week, I pasted on some 8" reactive targets and shot strong hand only and weak hand only from ten yards. I managed to get most on the target with strong hand only.
Unlike last week, I managed to get most of these ten rounds off of the target using weak hand only. Drat.
Then for grins and giggles I thought I'd try ten rounds from 50 feet, about 17 yards.
I did a little better than I thought I would and managed to get eight shots actually on the target. I've been trying to improve my distance accuracy.
I patched up the reactive targets, sent them back out to ten yards, and gave the CW9 a whirl. I don't shoot this gun very often, and it shows. I should spend some quality time with it and really get the sight picture figured out.
I pasted on two new reactive targets and did some plinking with my P22. From ten yards I put two magazines on each target. Only one shot out of forty missed the target.
After emptying all the magazines, I had shot 115 rounds of 9mm, 40 rounds of .22, and it was time to pack up my kit. I made sure to peruse the pro shop. Wow, they gotta lotta nice toys in here.
Yeah, you won't see anything like this in California.
Next week I plan to visit the other Fletcher Arms location. That's where they have most of their defensive shooting classes and advanced skills clinics. It seems I'll have to take one of their (expensive) courses before I can draw from holster/concealment inside their range, and then move on to the more reasonably priced skills classes. I don't mind. That way they can get to know me and assess my current skill level.
OK, let me close this so I can link up my meager video in the next post. Thanks for putting up with me. God bless you all.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
Today I got to visit another range not too far from my new residence here in the upper Midwest. Fletcher Arms actually has two locations. This is the older facility of the two but it still has all the necessities.
I checked in and chatted with a couple of friendly fellows, Tom and Bob, who really talked up their Platinum membership. (It actually seems like a pretty good deal and I'm seriously considering it.) The family has owned this facility for almost 45 years.
After checking in, paying my $15 fee, getting the lay of the land, etc, I was assigned lane #8. It's my favorite lane.
I brought my three semi-auto pistols, XD9, CW9, and P22. For the XD9 I brought four 16rnd magazine2 and two 10s. The CW9 has three 8rnd mags and a 7rnd mag. The P22 has four 10rnd magazine. I loaded them all up then shot them all down. I finished up that box of LAX Ammunition factory reloads. I also used Aquila .22 Super Extra 40gn.
It wasn't too busy when I started so I was able to get a clean run for my first, cold, 10-10-10 drill. Yes, "controlled" rapid-fire is allowed here. Yay! So I sent the target down thirty feet and set my timer. I can't draw here so I shot from low ready.
I took video of my cold 10-10-10 drill but I must apologize for the continuity. You'll have to take my word for it. I made par time.
As Larry Vickers likes to score this drill (one second penalty for every shot not in the black), I still made par time and scored a 91. Yay me!
My second B-8 didn't turn out so well. I thought I had timed this run in between the other shooters. But just as my timer went off the lane next to me let loose. It startled me a bit and threw my concentration. (Sure, that's the reason for the really bad flyer.) I ended up slow-firing on the #2 target, as well as #3 and #5. I have targets #1 and #2 on video which I'll post in a follow-up.
OK, #3 is not bad (for me), just a couple in the 8 ring.
Target #4 was clean as far as the timer but the marksmanship sucked.
I had one flyer that went off into the next county.
I slow-fired #5 and managed to get all but one in the black with my XD9 from ten yards.
Much like the drills last week, I pasted on some 8" reactive targets and shot strong hand only and weak hand only from ten yards. I managed to get most on the target with strong hand only.
Unlike last week, I managed to get most of these ten rounds off of the target using weak hand only. Drat.
Then for grins and giggles I thought I'd try ten rounds from 50 feet, about 17 yards.
I did a little better than I thought I would and managed to get eight shots actually on the target. I've been trying to improve my distance accuracy.
I patched up the reactive targets, sent them back out to ten yards, and gave the CW9 a whirl. I don't shoot this gun very often, and it shows. I should spend some quality time with it and really get the sight picture figured out.
I pasted on two new reactive targets and did some plinking with my P22. From ten yards I put two magazines on each target. Only one shot out of forty missed the target.
After emptying all the magazines, I had shot 115 rounds of 9mm, 40 rounds of .22, and it was time to pack up my kit. I made sure to peruse the pro shop. Wow, they gotta lotta nice toys in here.
Yeah, you won't see anything like this in California.
Next week I plan to visit the other Fletcher Arms location. That's where they have most of their defensive shooting classes and advanced skills clinics. It seems I'll have to take one of their (expensive) courses before I can draw from holster/concealment inside their range, and then move on to the more reasonably priced skills classes. I don't mind. That way they can get to know me and assess my current skill level.
OK, let me close this so I can link up my meager video in the next post. Thanks for putting up with me. God bless you all.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
