Monday, March 21, 2011

best target for a woman

Well, okay... it could always be better* but this is my target from last Thursday. I was shooting one of those much-maligned snubbies - a Smith & Wesson 642 airweight .38 revolver with a monsterously heavy (no, really) DAO trigger at a distance of about 25 feet.

Mom, who chose to spend St. Patrick's Day afternoon at the range, had read all of last week's snubby blog kerfuffle and wanted to try the little pistol that had caused so much contention and debate.

She hated it.**

My feelings for the 642 seem to have mellowed to a mild loathing. I can shoot it, but I sure as hell am not going to like it.

*I'm fairly pleased with it since I haven't been shooting since...um...I really can't remember. Let's just say I haven't been shooting in months.

** she happily went back to shooting her .22 (quite well, I might add) and even tried out my Bersa .380, which she said she liked. Progress!

22 comments:

Bubblehead Les. said...

Want to sell It? Serious. eMail me.

Paul said...

While the 642 and such J frames are hard to shoot, with stock grips and stock trigger pull, they can become much much easier to shoot with a swap of Wolf springs, a bit of stoning (the inside surfaces of the gun, ok) and some practice with a .22 J frame revolver.

The snubbies main claim to fame is compactness, power, and reliabity. But it takes some work to get good fast hits.

Tango Juliet said...

Looks like good shootin' from here.

PottShott said...

Nice shooting! I just started following your blog and appreciate your willingness to shoot a gun your not a big fan of.
I like Paul's comment and agree with him. I am writing a series of posts on my blog about a model 40. I haven't touched on it yet in my blog but my trigger pull is down to #11 verses the #14 pull they come with.

Sigivald said...

I've had good fun with a friend's J-frame... but it was a .22.

I can't imagine it being at all pleasant with serious ammunition.

TBeck said...

I've owned at least one .38 snubbie since I first started carrying seventeen years ago. Until now. I sold or traded them all over the past few months. Now I carry a Kahr. The CW line is lightweight, easy to shoot, and very affordable. They're also less than an inch thick.

TinCan Assassin said...

I am so glad what I thought of when I saw THAT headline wasn't true.

And what're you talking about, that's good shooting for anyone outside the U.S. Army's Marksmanship Team! Sex has nothing to do with it!

Kristophr said...

Exactly, Breda.

Snubbie .38s are convenient to carry, but hard to master.

And they hurt. I practice with a glove on.

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

I love my snubbie, and shoot it well. Well for me. I wish I shot it as well as you, however...

Mike W. said...

The best target for a woman.....is one with all the holes inside the 9ring.

Great shootin' Breda!

Tam said...

Nice shootin', Tex! :)

Mad Saint Jack said...

I wonder if Breda has more loathing for the 642 or for Glocks?

Mr Evilwrench said...

You gotcha one dead bad guy there, that's all you can hope for. I'm not a revolver guy, snub or otherwise, but whatever you're comfortable with, and will do the job. I may get one someday, just to fill out my skill set.

On a Wing and a Whim said...

Heh. Instapundit just liked to proof that a pink .38 snubby will do just fine when it's what you've got against a home invader: http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/couple-recount-fatal-fray-at-their-tierra-verde-home/1158689

Good gun, bad gun, the survivors were still the one with the gun.

Unknown said...

I think that's a good looking target.

I can't shoot my model 37 Airweight well at all double action. I have resolved to master it this year.

Mad Saint Jack said...

Wing-

I love that story. Also I noticed they are not allowing comments there.

You don't always have to be good, you just need to be better than the other guy.

ASM826 said...

I had one. I sold it.

I bought a Ruger SP101. Not much larger, but a lot heavier and pleasant to practice with.

Good shooting, that is a nice group for a 642.

An Ordinary American said...

I remember what an old instructor from the FLETC days once said to us when we were learning all the tricks of the little Remington 870 Chipmunk shotguns.

For those not familiar, these were/are extremely snubby 12-gauge pump-action shotguns. The only thing that could have made them possibly more uncomfortable to shoot would've been one of those idiotic pistol grips the tacticool commandos like to put on their 18" black shotguns. . .

The Chipmunk was made for the witness protection detail agents, but it was discovered that it was useful for a variety of other LE functions as well.

But damn, it was/is no fun to shoot.

The instructors had very little sympathy for us: "It's about proficiency--not pleasantness."

I feel the same way about the j-frame and j-frame airweights.

I believe in them, like them, and recommend them for the right people in the right situations. But they're not pleasant to shoot.

phlegmfatale said...

*pow!* *pow!*

Good times!

Anonymous said...

I totally agree that snubbies are a bear to control, and my wife shot much better with a Glock 22. I think the key to controlling my 638 (Airweight) was installing fat aftermarket stocks/grips. The li'l gun is harder to hide in an inside-the-pocket holster, but now I can get all four fingers around the grip. I bought one set, maker not recalled, from Ten-Ring Precision (sadly, he only had one set) and a set of factory walnut grips from CDNN Sports Inc. (a/k/a Target Sports) online for only $2.99 about 5-10 yrs ago. Carrying my snubby in my pocket was great, but now I'm going to use my Kydex (Uncle Mike's?) holster on my belt more often. Thank god for bigger grips. Keep up the good work!

Jerry said...

I've been reading your blog for a while, and I enjoy it, so I'm going to recomend something to you. Here's the link:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CZ_82
Do some research, and keep on being smarter than the rest of us. (I meant that in a good way, BTW.) It's like two Bersas, and ammo is half price. For the cost of a Smith, YOU & MOM & Mike can have one.

Thanks,
Jerry

Jerry said...

PS,
My nineteen year old daughter shoots mine, better than me.