Verna and I went to the range today for our weekly target practice session.

The firearms shown in the image at the right (click to enlarge), are the ones we practiced with today. Top to bottom, Verna’s unnamed S&W 908S 9mm pistol, “Fat Man,” my Glock 30 .45ACP pistol and “Jerry Lee,” my S&W 686 .357 magnum revolver. The guns are shown on the cleaning station that we break out after each practice session.

We shot a total of 50 rounds of 9mm, 50 rounds of .45 ACP and 50 rounds of .357 magnum. All shots stayed on target (as far as we could tell) with many of them close to or on the bullseye. We don’t keep score, so both of us generally use just one target per session.

We missed our trip to the range last week. We both just decided not to go - maybe it had something to do with it being Friday the 13th? Naaaah.

Anyhow, we made it out there today and fired Verna’s S&W 686 .357 revolver, my S&W 908 9mm pistol and my Glock 26 9mm sub-compact pistol. We fired 100 rounds of 9mm and 50 rounds of .38 special.

We set up a single silhouette target and paced off 7 yards to establish our firing line. By the time all rounds had been fired, most were within the center 30 percent of the target with a few outliers around the edges. I’m pretty sure all rounds actually hit the target somewhere. Keep in mind that we let ourselves get rusty while we were building and furnishing our new home. We’ll get better, I’m sure.

In the image above, Verna is practicing shooting from her weak side. She likes the little S&W pistols just because they don’t kick a lot and she can practice single-handed shooting with them. Click on the image to enlarge.

We went to the range today for our weekly target practice. We took three handguns with us: “Jerry Lee,” my .357 magnum revolver, “Little Boy,” my Glock 26 9mm pistol and Verna’s unnamed S&W 908S 9mm pistol. We shot 50 rounds of .38 special and 100 rounds of Luger 9mm parabellum ammo for a total of 150 rounds shot downrange.

Video - Verna shooting “Jerry Lee.”

Now that we’re getting back to shooting on a regular basis, we can see ourselves improving after the long period of not shooting while we were building and getting moved in to our new house. The Better Half put a nice group of rounds on the small target at the top of the stand and I got three or four rounds out of 10 within two inches of the center of the big target. The other rounds were all in the black. We were shooting at a distance of about seven yards.

One of the more positive things about our new (to us) shooting facility is that it is in a very scenic location in the high desert hills outside of town. We went to the range last Friday and I took some pictures of the range and some of the scenery in and around the area. Bob created the slideshow seen below. Click on the image below to start the show.

This is where I go to shoot - what does your range look like?

Verna and I have made an early New Year’s resolution; we will be going to the range on Fridays (weather permitting). We were there two Fridays ago but missed last week doing pre-Christmas chores. We went today and had a great time.

Image - A Great Day at the Range - click to enlarge

We brought our 9mm and .357 guns today. Verna brought her S&W 908S 9mm pistol while I brought both “Little Boy” and “Jerry Lee,” my Glock 26 pistol and S&W 686 revolver, respectively. In the image above, she is shooting “Little Boy” and I am getting ready to shoot her 608. We each shot about 50 rounds of 9mm and we both shot about 50 rounds of .38 special ammo. We stayed about an hour at the range before heading back to our nice little house.

The Wickenberg Sportsmen’s Club, where we went to practice shooting today, is less than a fifteen minute commute from our little house. It’s a short distance but the route takes us out to the east side of town where there are wide-open desert spaces.

Image - Desert Delight - click to enlarge

This scene is the view across Constellation Road just outside of the entrance to the club’s shooting facilities. Note the very happy saguaro cactus on the right and the hills and mountains in the desert beyond. It’s just beautiful!

A week after Bob’s Concealed Weapons Permit arrived, mine showed up in the mailbox at the house. Funny, because Bob’s was delivered to the PO Box. Both of the applications we sent to the Department of Public Safety listed the PO Box as the mailing address. My permit took 45 days to get here but still well ahead of the 75 days expected.

Anyhow, we’re both now able to carry our guns in the other 32 states that recognize the Arizona permit. I feel a vacation coming.