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DanChamberlain
Posts: 3,395 Senior Member
When It's Time To Quit
DanChamberlain
Posts: 3,395 Senior Member
Finally got a chance to try out the little XD-S .45 after Springfield sent it back. Was at a fellow's private range and watching everyone else shoot. I'd only come to give the XD a try to see if it still worked. The impromptu group was standing around shooting the scheit when I asked if I could send a few down range, telling them I needed to check reliability after its trip back to Springfield.
I loaded up with 230 grain Remington Hollow Points and stepped up to the line. I had two target choices. I elected to try a swinging bowling pin at 50 yards with the little 3.3" barrel.
First shot swung the pin. Knowing I probably couldn't do it twice, I just emptied the gun quickly to check function.
When I was done, the fellow who owned the land said: "Heck (actually, he used another word) even when you were missing, you were still within an inch or two. That little gun can shoot!"
It's nice to have the occasional good shot witnessed.
He's right. This little gun can shoot.
I loaded up with 230 grain Remington Hollow Points and stepped up to the line. I had two target choices. I elected to try a swinging bowling pin at 50 yards with the little 3.3" barrel.
First shot swung the pin. Knowing I probably couldn't do it twice, I just emptied the gun quickly to check function.
When I was done, the fellow who owned the land said: "Heck (actually, he used another word) even when you were missing, you were still within an inch or two. That little gun can shoot!"
It's nice to have the occasional good shot witnessed.
He's right. This little gun can shoot.
It's a source of great pride for me, that when my name is googled, one finds book titles and not mug shots. Daniel C. Chamberlain
Replies
-96 lbs
Dad 5-31-13
I knew, very soon, that the XDs .45 was a keeper, and also realized that I needed to practice more often with it. When I was practicing every couple of weeks, I had come to think that I was about as good as anybody else with a short barreled pistol, but his excellent shooting reminded me that I really was not. The next time I saw this guy, he was wearing his own XDs .45, and was waiting for the 9mm model to hit the local shops, to buy for his wife. The XDs is a great little pistol.
The best example of that for me, was with Joe's Remington 1100.
A couple of years ago at the SE Shoot, Joe handed me his shotgun loaded with 2 of some kind of retinal detaching slugs (I like heavy recoiling long-guns....not so much on the handguns though). I brought it up to my shoulder and in about 3 seconds, put both rounds on the 200 yard gong (complete fluke, btw). Joe asked me if I wanted any more ammo, "Nah, I'm good, shotgun shoots pretty well though.", and walked off like I actually meant to do it!
:roll2:
Reminds me of an incident with my BIL, who isn't much on technical stuff with guns, but is the best hunter and natural marksman I've ever seen, and also has a penchant for getting great deals on used firearms that he knows very little about. I was trying everything I could to deal him out of a long barrel Model 94 in .375 Winchester, including offering him quite a bit more than it was worth. He believed that it was worth much more than it really was, and enjoyed refusing all 'fair' offers. He had bought it several years previous at a great price, and had never shot it. It was in nearly pristine condition, had nice checkering and an octagonal barrel with buckhorn sight, and my mouth watered every time I saw it. Not knowing anything about the .375 Win chambering, he mistakenly thought it would be like shooting a .375 magnum that he had tangled with at some point, and was obviously not interested in shooting it, especially in front of witnesses who might detect a flinch.
All this was taking place during an all day event, complete with the consumption of adult beverages. I had just arrived and had only consumed one light beer, which has absolutely no effect on me. At some point, he decided it would be a good idea for me to shoot the rifle, thinking it might bring blood and entertain the group. So, he retrieved one of the few precious cartridges he had for it, and showed me a about a 4" mark on a hickory tree that was probably 85-100 yards away. Most of the witnesses couldn't even see the target, but I'm far-sighted and could see it pretty well without my glasses, although the rear sight was very fuzzy. I had no expectation of hitting the spot, but I really wanted to at least hit the tree, and then claim that the elevation needed to be adjusted, since he had never fired it. I also wanted to do it offhand, to absorb the recoil and make it look like it was no big deal. I took the best shot I could manage, and no bark flew, so my BIL started crowing about me missing the whole big tree. The shot felt pretty good to me, so I started walking downrange, hoping that I could at least prove that I had hit the tree, and everybody else followed.
As it turned out, the joke was on him, because I had actually hit inside the paint, about an inch off of center. Nobody was more surprised than me, but all I said was, "see there, you should sell this gun to somebody who can shoot it." The recoil was actually much milder than even I expected, so he was wrong about that, too. It stopped his crowing, but I still don't own the rifle.
I'm just glad that he only had a handful of cartridges and didn't insist on me repeating the lucky shot.
Perfect bullseye, dead center, right on the money. :worthy:
The rest of her shots were all over the place, but that one was perfect.
I could consistently hit the center of a pie pan at 100 yards all day.
I called it a can't miss gun.
DPRMD
I had one of those, except it was a Mossberg 500 with a 24" smoothbore slug barrel...it always amazed me how well that thing shot. Another thing, the projectile is (for all intents and purposes) a small, lead badminton birdie (end heavy projectile that doesn't spin) that has no business being all that accurate..
"The Un-Tactical"