and plenty of fun!
Finally got out shooting yesterday, although not the 7.62 x 51 I was planning on. Given the scarcity of ammunition, I feel more comfortable just holding on to my recent find. But, as I got out of work early yesterday, and it was sunny out, I needed to find something to shoot. Fumbling about in the arms lockers, I looked for something interesting, recreational, and most of all, reasonably easy to restock ammunition I'd burn up. Which led me to the reproduction 1858 Remington, a gift from The Wife years ago (The Wife has outstanding taste in gifts). So far, there hasn't been much of a run on cap and ball components, although one reader has noted Midway ran out of percussion caps recently. But, thirty rounds lasts well over an hour with this gun, while I'd burn up that in ten minutes of leisurely shooting with my modern revolvers.
It was enjoyable just shooting for pure relaxation, with the old single-hand target stance, rather than modern holds. For anyone who would have seen it, there was an interesting contrast: while I slowly shot and reloaded, leaving substantial clouds of smoke for every round fired, a young man in tactical gear several yards to my right practiced his tactical reloads and weapons transitions with his M4 carbine and Glock. I'm pretty sure he burned up a lot more money than I did, although he seemed to be enjoying himself as much as I was. And probably enjoyed cleaning far more than I did at the end of the day, although a bottle of Smithwick's Ale made the task a little less onerous.
Keeping with the theme of Remington and blackpowder, I think I'll whip up a batch of blackpowder cartridges for another vintage gun, although this one isn't a reproduction, but a (mostly) original. A little something to look forward to for the next sunny day I can sneak away from responsibilities.
But now; time to go do the first of several days worth of post-shooting/cleaning rust checks.
4 comments:
Looking at your Rem repro makes me wish that Ruger will, sometime in the future, offer a Vaquero in Remington configuration, with the triangular web underneath the ejector housing.
Bob,
It's an elegant design, as are the Colts from the same era. I'm surprised Ruger doesn't make some outright copies; I've always felt their revolvers are well made, and think they'd have a good share of the repro market if they entered it.
Colorado and Ohio [and how many other states?] allow the sale of black powder revolvers without a background check. And about$250 gets you a cylinder to shoot centerfire rounds - just be sure the revolver has a steel frame. I have a copy of a .36 Colt Navy that shoots .38s. I do stay away from higher power loads. And, yes, shooting black powder is a great way to relax. Plus you get to meet a lot of interested shooters. OldeForce
OldeForce,
Where I'm at, it gets me a lot of curious looks when the clouds of smoke start. Blackpowder cartridge rifles are a real curiosity around here, and will get quite a few questions. I do have to be careful about what end of the firing line I'm on, depending on the wind, or lack of it. People tend to get irritated being enveloped in a haze while their trying to shoot very small groups.
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