Well I did it... retired my Ruger Mark lll "Target" and adopted a S&W Model 41. Actually the Ruger has gone to a new home as I didn't figure that I would be shooting it much any more and the extra money would come in handy.
Picked it up this morning, mounted my beloved UltraDot MatchDot sight and changed from the factory grips to a set of Morini's.
I'm a little unsure of the grips though. Found them on eBay, I believe them to be a size "Large" and I would probably be better off with a set of "X-Large". The slide just barely misses my hand so will take the factory grips with me for the first outing just in case I get "slide cut".
Tonite is the weekly Indoor Rimfire Pistol Bullseye League. I've always used the Ruger Mark lll with Federal 510's and currently average 789/900 (263/300). Really looking forward to trying the 41 tonite... will be using CCI SV ammo.
Well, atleast I didn't embarrass myself tonight. I had planned on going out to the range an hour or so early to get the red dot sighted in... just too cold and windy to do anything halfway serious outside though. Fortunately they always have a 20 to 30 minute "practice" session before the match. Gave me enough time to get it pretty much centered on the paper.
My fear of being "slide cut" was unfounded... didn't get a single scratch so guess I will be leaving those grips in place.
Fired an 822/900 (274/300) tonight... I think that I am REALLY going to like this Model 41. As usual my downfall was the Slow Fire stages. 81, 85 and 86. All of the Rapid and Timed stages were in the 90's.
steyrlp10 wrote:
How do you like the Ultra Dot? I have one on my Hammerli 215. For the last couple of years, that gun's been hibernating in the safe.
I absolutely love the UltraDot. I tried 4 or 5 others and really didn't care for them... too much flare in the dot or not enough control over dot size and intensity. With the UltraDot I can pretty much get exactly the combination I am looking for at any given time. Currently I am experimenting between using the smallest dot and the next size up. At 50' the smallest dot will just about fill the 10 ring on the Slow Fire target, the next size larger dot pretty much fills the 8 ring. Last night I used the larger dot for the entire match. I'm thinking maybe the smaller dot for Slow Fire and the larger dot for Timed and Rapid. Will never know for sure until I give it a try.
Also want to try Federal 510's as I have a couple thousand of them in addition to a goodly supply of CCI SV.
Bullseye-L have reported changes in poi when doing so. Pretty sure I dealt with that myself after dusting myself off after a long layoff and resuming BE shooting.
It is very subjective what size a person likes. I have shot as many as 7 10's @50' with the 12moa dot in use. Seems to play less with my head not seeing a smaller dot dancing about.
I hope you have heard of TD Smith. I have watched him shoot three shot strings from the fifty yard line in slow fire mant times.His average was above 95 per target. You may be trying too hard to be perfect. that may cause you to shoot too slowly and have the pistol firing as your hold deteriorates. This is just a guess as I've never watched you shoot. Good Shooting Bill Horton
My Timed and Rapid Fire targets currently average in the mid-90's. It is my Slow Fire targets that need improvement... they are in the low to mid-80's. I generally take about 7 minutes of the 10 minutes allowed per string. My current goal is just to keep everything within the black... then start working on keeping it all within the 9 ring.
Last night was the second outing. Decided that I wanted to try Federal 510's since I had 8 unopened bricks plus 3 or 4 50rd boxes. I'd installed one of the Buffer Technologies buffers so wasn't particularly worried about the higher velocity ammo causing any appreciable damage.
Fired the normal 900 match and was at best totally underwhelmed !!! Last week using the 100rd plastic box CCI SV I fired a 822/900 (NMC 274/300). Last night with the Federal 510's it was 789/900 (NMC 263/300).
As soon as I got home I listed those 8 unopened bricks on one of the local gun boards.... had sold it by this morning for what I had into it.
Next time out I will probably try the 50rd paper boxes of CCI SV and see how they fare compared to the 100rd plastic boxes.
