Wednesday, July 14, 2010

range report!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting up with fellow #gunblogger_conspirator THOTpd (Ugh, I look so sweaty. It was a million and five degrees on the range) for lunch and some shooting. I hadn't been to the range in...well...months and months but when I walked through the door, I got a big huggy hello from the guy who was working, along with a bit of good natured ribbing.

"What's up, Breda? You haven't been here in forever. Are you shooting somewhere else, don't you like us anymore?"

I mentioned how money had been a little tight lately. "Yay, economy," I said.

That got a sage nod in response - it seems everyone has been feeling it lately. Still, I was excited. All range trips are fun, but this one really felt like a treat somehow - eating cheeseburgers with a new friend and my first time shooting since getting hurt in the car accident.

After a frustrating period of fiddling around with the Ruger Mk II (failure to feed properly) I decided to put it away and shoot my Bersa. I didn't do too poorly, considering my recent lack of practice.

But, of course, there's always one that gets away...

(@ about 25 feet)
THOT brought his own Bersa, which he didn't shoot. (".380 is like gold!") But the two pistols sure look cute together, like kissing cousins. I just wonder why the trigger guards are different shapes.

I shot THOT's Springfield Champion that he brought along because he knows I'm a M1911 fan. (thank you!) It's a wonderful pistol.


I had to quit shooting before I really wanted to because my neck had started to hurt, but I had a great time anyway. I had missed shooting more than I realized.

11 comments:

Mike W. said...

Ah, I see he has the nickel framed Bersa. I love the reverse two-tone look of those.

I'd like one, but then I need another gun (and another caliber) like a need a .380 hole in my head.

Jeff the Baptist said...

Can you still get .22 bersa/firestorms? I would think that would be the way to go for regular shooting these days. Probably help with the neck too.

DragonLW said...

The round trigger guard is the Firestorm branded Bersa. Those are distributed from the Central States westward to the Pacific.

The scalloped trigger guard is a straight-up Bersa, distributed from the Mississippi eastward to the Atlantic.

You do find the odd Firestorm with Bersa factory grips that actually say BERSA on them. The only real difference between the two brandings (they are made in the same factory by the same parent company, BERSA SA) is the shape of the trigger guard.

Google up a picture of a Bersa .380, then a Firestorm .380, and you'll see it in the pictures...

Mike W. said...

Yes Jeff, I have a firestorm FS22
It's identical to the Bersa's pictured, but has rubber finger mold grips and is chambered in .22

They're hard to find, (especially for east coast folks) but pop up on gunbroker now and then.

PPPP said...

I'm not fond of the front-scalloped trigger guards. If someone uses that front scallop for the index finger of their weak hand (which is what it appears to be designed for) and gets in the habit all the time, then sooner or later they'll do it with a revolver as well. And that can lead to a very painful injury (a picture of just that scenario with a 500 S&W is out there on the internet somewhere).

Willorith said...

It is a simple fix to cure the feeding problem on the ruger. about 3 minutes with a file on the magazine feed lips does it. Google it and I'm sure you will find some pictures of how to do it.
Its good to see you back on the range.

Skip said...

I think Marko had a post up on the feed lip fix.
I did it to my MK111 mags and cleared up a lot of probs.

SpeakerTweaker said...

Nice shootin, Tex!

Reminds me. Last few range trips for me have seen the flinging of lots of rimfire brass. Haven't done any work with the Px4 in quite a while.

Methinks it's high time to remedy that.



tweaker

Ed Rasimus said...

If you haven't checked recently, it's beginning to look like the .380 shortage is finally over. I'm getting emails every other day from places like Ammoman, Ammunition-to-Go and Natchez Shooter's offering pretty good prices and availability again.

Geodkyt said...

Yeah, the trigger hook thingie was all teh rage in the early 1980's by people who didn't know better. It's even featured (by US DoD demand) on the M9 Beretta.

Just weakens your grip.

So, I can get a non-hooky Bersa, but I have to find it out West> Cool. . .

THOTpolice said...

I thought it was a Firestorm/Bersa thing just like GM likes to do with cars.