Shooting the biggest guns best

[Wedge]

It was a great day so I played took off work and hit up the range. Now I am not the greatest shot in the world (far from it) but I did notice that I wasn't as terrible as some of my guns would make me think.

I shot my P22, Glock 17 and Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt (5.5" barrel).

P22 was shooting remington golden bullets 550 pack. They cycle, fire, eject everytime. However, they give more of a "pattern" than a group. At 15 yards it is about a 8" group. 7 yards at least it will stay in the 7-10 rings. However, it gives me a lot of trigger time, allows me to work on practicing shooting with both eyes open and I don't have to worry about flinching.

Next up the Glock was shooting 115gr JHP over 5.1gr Unique. Pretty soft on the recoil (less than WWB), all shots at 15 yards are within a 5" circle.

Finally the Blackhawk shooting 255 gr. laser cast LSWC over 9gr. of Unique. Yes, the gun stands pretty much straight up from recoil (not as bad as 10gr Unique and 300gr LSWC...RUGER ONLY don't go shooting that in your SAA). Now we're talking a 3-3.5" group, cenetered nicely around the x-ring.

Now I know the reasons I shoot the biggest caliber best.
1) it has the longest sight radius
2) it has the best sights
3) it has the best trigger
4) I have the most trigger time with that gun
5) I have had all the chamber throats reamed to a consistent diameter (they were small from the factory big surprise)

The Glock I think I can get a little better and I "think"

The Walther seems to be a basket case. I've loctited anything that could come unscrewed, I'm using the only ammo it seems to like and it still just "patterns". My wife likes the gun though, it makes for a decent plinker but I don't think that it is really useful outside of tin cans and 10 yards. I wish someone made better sights for it.

In the end I am going to end up getting another .22LR and hopefully be able to keep the Walther but if funds dictate that I have to sell it, so be it. I don't think that I would miss it all that much, except for paying the depreciation on it :-/

 

[GRIZ22]

Wedge, I'm not trying to offend you but your accuracy with all of your guns is no where near what it can be.

 

[Wedge]

No prob Griz22. I am fully aware that I still have a ways to go. I actually got the P22 as a way to get some more trigger time, but I am not really getting any positive feedback. I get more out of shooting the Blackhawk with 9.0gr Unique and a 255 gr LSWC which will stand the gun up on end after each shot than shooting the little 22 with no recoil.

The Blackhawk is fully capable of shooting ragged 1 hole groups at 15 yards, I am sure of it. And I think that the Glock 17 isn't far behind.

The Walther is still a little disapointing though.

Shooting from a Weaver stance, both eyes open.

 

[GRIZ22]

I think there might be something wrong with your Walther. Is is still under warranty?

 

[Wedge]

Yes, should be I bought it less than a year ago.

I'll clean it up and give them a call tomorrow and see if they can do anything. Thanks.

FWIW it was cleaned before this outing and accuracy never deteriorated today...it just never really started.

 

[Wedge]

Well I cleaned the P22. There was some nice leading around the crown area. Don't know if that had been there for a while, but it certainly wasn't helping accuracy at all. I actualy detail stripped the gun and checked all bolts to make sure they hadn't come loose.

I will blame my otherwise mediocre day on touching off some 7.62x54R rounds before the pistol shooting...my shoulder is still sore (off a bench...less than comfy).

I might also have to consider getting an air pistol so I can practice more frequently.

 

[Wedge]

Okay. I am a moron.

The P22 was filthy. I thought it was "clean enough" but the 20 patches and a couple of bronze brushings in between told me otherwise.

The Glock 17 was just as filthy. Some nice powder deposits at the crown. I only shot about 30 9mm yesterday and I know that these didn't come from that. They were like part of the barrel. Again, 20 patches or so, some shooters choice, a couple of bronze brushings and good as new.

I'm moving on to the Blackhawk now...this gets shot the least and cleaned the most...but if history is any indication I am guessing that it too will be super filthy and not due to my shooting yesterday.

I'd say I need to do some penance but I think that the massive cleaning effort going on will cover that just fine.

 

[rhubarb]

I took my five year old son to the range again a couple of weeks ago. He shot quite a bit with a Ruger MkII from the bench. At five yards he kept most rounds on the 24"x36" paper.

He kept insisting he shoot my Ruger P95. I knew he couldn't handle the recoil, so I loosely hooked my thumb in the trigger guard while he shot it off the bench. He put several rounds touching in the bullseye. I wasn't aiming for him. I was standing at arms length beside him. It was all him.

So there you go.

As for cleaning, I was reading the owner's manual for my Marlin 60 the other day. It said something to the effect that it is unnecessary to clean the bore unless it gets water or mud in it. Ever.

 

[Wedge]

Good for your son! And good for you for taking him out!

Your Marlin 60 sounds like when they originally issued the M-16 in Vietnam.

The bores on all of my guns I took out shooting were really dirty with some nasty deposits on them. We'll see how I do next time I make it out.

 

[Wedge]

Just before turning in last night, I wanted to take one more look at the Walther P22. It has become somewhat of an obsession of mine. I hate to lose money so I really don't want to sell it, plus it is closer to how full size, centefire semi-auto's function and I like that "trainer" aspect of it.

As I disasseble the gun, I check the stove bolts that hold the receiver together. LOOSE! ARG! I loctited them about 6 months ago, and degreased the bolts and holes first but sure enough the threadlocker failed (they had been tight before). The threadlocker on the barrel nut is still holding strong.

At this point, it is no holds barred.

I took out the stove bolts, followed the trusty P22 manual and disassebled it all the way. Detail stripped if you will.

In the far recesses there was still some grease, some grime and probably whatever was making my trigger sound and feel like sand on rough metal.

So I REALLY degreased it. I took it out into the garage and just hosed it down. Everywhere and everything. I was taking no prisioners.

Now that it is clean and degreased I am going to start putting it all back together, again with some blue threadlocker which hopefully will hold a little better this time.

So my final post-mortem of why shooting was so poor with the Walther P22 is:
- Dirty bore, specifically at the crown with what looked to be a lead or powder deposit.
- Loose stove bolts. These are crtical to holding the receiver together. Any play will result in barrel movement, specifically as the trigger is depressed. On the P22 the trigger and all components are between the two receiver halves. So as the trigger is moved, unless the halves are rock solid and practically welded together, they will move as well, which results in a moving barrel. Obviously not much, but enough to take a 2" group and turn it into 10". The same thing happened when my barrel nut came loose.

In the end, I still like the P22. It makes a fun plinker and a good trainer. It has proved to be more of a project gun than I expected and that is a little depressing. I think that this will be the final time I need to rebuild the gun though and thoroughly expect it to shoot well after the detail strip, clean, rebuild and dry lube.