Made it to the Sierra Vista AZ Range-2 threads merged

[Shakyshoot]

I finally got out to the local outdoor range today, and it was a great experience overall. As you can see, there's quite a bit of shade provided. There are steel targets way out on that hill, as far as 580 yd. Everyone is very friendly and it's definitely not the Tacticool crowd I'm used to. More revolvers here than Glocks and more Milsurp rifles than Ar's. It's 22 1/2 miles to the range, but on the plus side it's $ 45 for an annual pass. I thought it might be very slow waiting for the rifle shooters during target changes, but I was able to put 6 targets up at a time, and the changes went pretty quick. I shot 40 rd of 38 Spl with my 686+, 25 rds with Smith 638 snubbie, 50 rd with CZ Cold War, and 20 rd of 44 Spl +30 rd of 44 mag with my 629. So, kind of a "heavy iron" day. I managed a couple of 89's on an NRA 25 yd target with the 44 Mag. Not bad, not great, but the wind was a factor. First time shooting outdoors for me in many year.

The best target I shot was this 5 shots with the CZ. Only 10 yards but a less than 3/4" group.




I'm really liking that new 686+. I had bought it with the intention of putting a red dot on it. Lately it's found use as my nightstand gun with 7 rds of 38 +P Critical Defense. So now I'm not sure what I should make my first red dot revolver. I could put it on the 44 mag, but not sure how a Vortex Venom will stand up to 44 mag.

[Shakyshoot]

Oh, and I found out there is another range 10 miles away. Only problems are that it's only open to the public on weekends, and it's on the army base and you have to register every gun you shoot at the MP office. Nope.

[Cuyler]

Originally Posted by Shakyshoot

Oh, and I found out there is another range 10 miles away. Only problems are that it's only open to the public on weekends, and it's on the army base and you have to register every gun you shoot at the MP office. Nope.

Would that Army Base be Fort Hauchuca by any chance?

[RetiredSeabee]

Looks like you are at home on the range. Definitely a plus for your big move out west.

[Shakyshoot]

Originally Posted by Cuyler

Would that Army Base be Fort Hauchuca by any chance?

Yep--Lots of military people around here. I got to see 2 A10 "warthogs" from very close when they flew right over my car about 100 ft up. They fly out of the small municipal airport in Sierra Vista. Our house is in Huachuca City.

[44s Rock]

Originally Posted by Shakyshoot

Yep--Lots of military people around here. I got to see 2 A10 "warthogs" from very close when they flew right over my car about 100 ft up. They fly out of the small municipal airport in Sierra Vista. Our house is in Huachuca City.

One of the wife's nieces lives in Huachuca, we usually stay in the little RV park by the gun shop just north of town. I sure missed that nice range, the BIL shoots at the Fort. Looks like you had a great time and good shooting!

[north country gal]

Shaky, I'd say you hit a home run on that one. Very reasonable distance to drive and looks like a good crowd. Best of all, with that location, you should be able to shoot year round in relative comfort. Oh, we make an occasional winter range trip, but they are always short and never comfortable.

Great work with that CZ.

Love hearing more about your revolvers. I've been slowly, but surely, drifting back more and more to revolver shooting and that includes both vintage and new Smiths along with a new Dan Wesson 715, this year (great revolver) and, of course, my Kimber 357 revolver. In fact, a fair number of range trips, now, are revolver, only for both of us. I'm going more and more to red dots, too, on the newer vintage Smiths because they're so easy to set up with a mount.

Here's a new one for us. It's a S&W JM 625 in 45 auto with a UD 30 for a red dot. I can get factory 45 auto even cheaper than factory 38s and the 625 is every bit as accurate as our best 1911. Total fun and cheap to shoot.



The red dot makes it very easy to shred targets. Those big 45 cal holes help, too.

[44s Rock]

Originally Posted by north country gal

Shaky, I'd say you hit a home run on that one. Very reasonable distance to drive and looks like a good crowd. Best of all, with that location, you should be able to shoot year round in relative comfort. Oh, we make an occasional winter range trip, but they are always short and never comfortable.

Great work with that CZ.

Love hearing more about your revolvers. I've been slowly, but surely, drifting back more and more to revolver shooting and that includes both vintage and new Smiths along with a new Dan Wesson 715, this year (great revolver) and, of course, my Kimber 357 revolver. In fact, a fair number of range trips, now, are revolver, only for both of us. I'm going more and more to red dots, too, on the newer vintage Smiths because they're so easy to set up with a mount.

Here's a new one for us. It's a S&W JM 625 in 45 auto with a UD 30 for a red dot. I can get factory 45 auto even cheaper than factory 38s and the 625 is every bit as accurate as our best 1911. Total fun and cheap to shoot.



The red dot makes it very easy to shred targets. Those big 45 cal holes help, too.

Nice rig!!

[Shakyshoot]

Originally Posted by 44s Rock

One of the wife's nieces lives in Huachuca, we usually stay in the little RV park by the gun shop just north of town. I sure missed that nice range, the BIL shoots at the Fort. Looks like you had a great time and good shooting!

I've been up to that gun shop twice when they were supposed to be open, and they were closed both times. The motorcycle repair/gun shop is open, but nor the gun shop right next to it, I suppose I could ask about it at the motorcycle shop.

[Shakyshoot]

Originally Posted by north country gal

Here's a new one for us. It's a S&W JM 625 in 45 auto with a UD 30 for a red dot. I can get factory 45 auto even cheaper than factory 38s and the 625 is every bit as accurate as our best 1911. Total fun and cheap to shoot.

Nice setup and nice shooting. Now I'm debating about taking the Matchdot2 off the Volquartsen Scorpion and putting it on my 629. Then put the Vortex Venom back on the VQ. The 629 wouldn't be overwhelmed by that big Matchdot and it would probably take the 44 mag recoil better. Or maybe I should start putting the 44 mag next to the bed instead. I have some good 44 Spl hp's for it.

[RidgeRunner]

Glad to hear your range trip was a pleasure, and good shooting.

[Terry_P]

Looks like a great range. If someone wants to hang some paper it could take 15 minutes just to do it.

It would be nice to stretch out a rifle or two.

[Shakyshoot]

Originally Posted by Terry_P

It would be nice to stretch out a rifle or two.

I only own one rifle, because I've always shot at 25 yd ranges. (S&W AR) I'll have to bring it next time.

[north country gal]

Originally Posted by Shakyshoot

Nice setup and nice shooting. Now I'm debating about taking the Matchdot2 off the Volquartsen Scorpion and putting it on my 629. Then put the Vortex Venom back on the VQ. The 629 wouldn't be overwhelmed by that big Matchdot and it would probably take the 44 mag recoil better. Or maybe I should start putting the 44 mag next to the bed instead. I have some good 44 Spl hp's for it.

I can personally vouch for Ultradots handling recoil. Have used them on handguns with much heavier recoil than a 44 mag and not a single failure. They're my go to brand for shooting the heavy stuff.

[Shakyshoot]

Originally Posted by north country gal

I can personally vouch for Ultradots handling recoil. Have used them on handguns with much heavier recoil than a 44 mag and not a single failure. They're my go to brand for shooting the heavy stuff.

I might just go that way, and make the 44 my "serious" target revolver. The 629 has a better single action trigger than the 686+, and the DA trigger on the 629 is really pretty lousy. So, it might make more sense to have the 629 as a designated target gun and the 686 7 shooter as an SD gun. What's a good rail mount to put on the 629?

[north country gal]

Weigand makes a nice bolt on rail for the S&W revolvers. Just unbolt your rear sight and bolt on the Weigand. It's what I have on the 725 in the pic.

[Shakyshoot]

Originally Posted by north country gal

Weigand makes a nice bolt on rail for the S&W revolvers. Just unbolt your rear sight and bolt on the Weigand. It's what I have on the 725 in the pic.

Thanks--I bought one on ebay. I looked yesterday and the only Weigand rail I could find was the real short one. It doesn't help when google, android, ebay, and who knows how many others conspire to keep you from finding gun parts.

[north country gal]

Originally Posted by Shakyshoot

Thanks--I bought one on ebay. I looked yesterday and the only Weigand rail I could find was the real short one. It doesn't help when google, android, ebay, and who knows how many others conspire to keep you from finding gun parts.

Go directly to their website, http://www.jackweigand.com Very few places carry their full line. I usually just order direct from them. They're not a very pricey mount, anyway. Won't save all that much by using flea bay. That short version is just the ticket for the micro red dots like the Burris Fastfire, but you'll need the full size for an Ultradot.

[Shakyshoot]

Originally Posted by north country gal

Go directly to their website, http://www.jackweigand.com Very few places carry their full line. I usually just order direct from them. They're not a very pricey mount, anyway. Won't save all that much by using flea bay. That short version is just the ticket for the micro red dots like the Burris Fastfire, but you'll need the full size for an Ultradot.

Well, I did save $4, and I got it from someone with pretty good feedback, I did find the longer one today. Funny yesterday I searched "Smith Wesson Rail" and the only thing that came up was airsoft guns. Then I looked for "S&W rail" and found the short one. I found it today by looking for "Weigand Smith Wesson."

[Shakyshoot]

Back from the 2nd range trip. Not quite as good as the first, since there was a crowd of 12 kids trying to use the 2 lanes next to me for some kind of intro to shooting lesson. Not really sure how well I shot, since they put so many holes in my targets. I was shooting 10 shot strings, and I don't think I had a target all day that only had 10 holes. One had 15. Plus they insisted on sweeping up all the brass in my lane and theirs. They were literally moving my stuff to sweep brass. They never asked me if I wanted my brass. I'm not saving brass right now except 44 mag. The hot range periods were a lot longer this this time too, so I did a lot of waiting around. Didn't shoot quite everything I planned on. I shot 100 rd of .22, 40 rd of .223, and 60 rd of .45 with the Range Officer. I had intended to shoot the 45 Shield a bit, but didn't want to wait around any more. I was there for close to 2 hours, and it is 100 degrees. But it's a dry heat. Got my rail for the 44 mag in the mail, so I plan to swap around red dots and shoot the 44 mag on the net trip. Payed my $45 membership, so I'm good for a year.