Sunday afternoon, jpg and Holly graciously took me out to de-flower my new shooty thing. It was fun, but adapting to the feel of the gun was a little more challenging than I expected. My first 10 or so shots were pretty crappy, although I made it onto the paper plate (target) in most instances. I don't know if I got myself wound up because of expectations, but at first my hand was shaking and my whole arm ached with the tension. Having shot so well with a variety of guns the last time I came out with them, I wanted to do well, but it didn't seem to be working that way at first. Then I gave myself permission to do a terrible (even embarrassing) job of shooting, and the tension seemed to go away almost instantly. I shot about 70 or so rounds. The last two times I fired, I came away with relatively tight groupings (jpg said you could contain them in the space of a dollar folded in half), so I feel happy and comfortable with that.
Thanks to Breda's particular mention, I had some expectation of the long trigger pull and the recoil. The recoil didn't bother me as much as the trigger pull, but by the end of the afternoon, I felt much more at ease. As for changing the grips, it occurred to me it's perhaps better to wait until I've killed a stack of paper plates before I decide I know better about what's comfortable, safe and effective than the designer. I may change the grips later, but not until I'm more familiar with the feel in my hand.
Holly and I have great plans to design and manufacture a range of lady shooter products. Can world domination be far behind?
I must say jpg and Holly were very patient and kind to help me, which is exactly what a n00b needs, I think. I am lucky to have such friends, and I appreciate their abundant generosity and hospitality.
13 comments:
Good job, Phlegmmy.
What kind of lady shooter products...?!
What great friends - sure is nice to have patient friends around to help you relax in a new situation.
Any ideas for a fashionable booby conceal carry holster yet? Maybe you could call it "BUSTED!"
(Just for you ... I finished that story the very next day!)
Oh, puhleeze! This halo you have plopped down on me is giving me a headache. Pass me the Ibuprofen and a frozen 'rita.
It was our pleasure to see YOU so excited Missy! I'm just sorry I missed so much of the banter between you and my wicked spouse due to the need for hearing protection. Y'all were havin' so much fun!
Thanks for bein' gracious enough to let us have a turn with your new shooty stick!
And Christina, when we announce these products, you will want to buy them...your eyelids are getting heavy, you will want to buy them, your eyelids are gettin heavy and you will want to buy them...No, REALLY designed BY women shooters FOR women shooters.
Glad you had fun. Holly & JPG are such good people.
Yes, what kind of products indeed?
Re: Holly & JPG. They're just the bestest, aren't they?
Down the road you may wish to look into having the trigger pull smoothed up a little bit; it will make it ever so much easier. I agree with giving it time before getting to carried away looking for other grips. A lot of people put whompin' huge grips on J-frames in the name of comfort and wind up with a gun too bulky to carry.
Yesterday Roberta took me to the local range, and I brought my Secret Weapon for practicing my 1337 revolver skillz: A little S&W .22 revolver the same size and shape as my .38 and .32 Magnums. Cheap to shoot and good for non-flinch-causing practice on my trigger pull.
Sounds like you did great, Phlegmmy! Good for you!
@ Holly...Gee, I really feel the urge to purchase products I've never seen...I wonder why?
LOL!
I'm going to echo Tam. Did jpg think it would benefit from a little smoothing of the trigger stuff? I couldn't tell from the photo, and I'm not up to speed with the latest 642 specs, but if it has a smooth-faced trigger instead of a grooved trigger face, that'll make a difference, too.
As far as grips, I'd suggested the Crimson Trace grips previously. They do make the small LG-405 model that might be just the ticket.
Regards,
Rabbit.
Suggestion:
Buy enough orange dummy rounds to fill the holes in your shooty thing, and then do so.
Then spend some time dry firing at idiots that appear on the TV.
Make sure that something solid is behind the TV, in case you forget to use dummy rounds someday in the future.
Enough dry firing practice, and the tendency to tense up and flinch will start to go away.
Rabbit - -
It's not a BAD tgrigger, but it could use some smoothing. I need to order some Wolff Springs products anyway and I can just as easily include a J-frame spring kit. In the meantime, Phlegmie's homework assignment is to dry fire the lil' resolver at least one thousand times. This one just has "the feel" of one that will smooth out with use.
Tams - -
Back about 1970 I got me such a "Secret Weapon" for J-frame practice: A darlin' .22/32 Kit Gun with two-inch barrel and round butt. I still have it, and in fact, La femme fatale has shot it.
Best
JPG
I'd be interested in finding reasonably priced, lightly recoiling defensive ammo for my 642. Not sure how effective wadcutters will be, and I don't want to shoot .38 +Ps (as I do in my Model 65).
christina - Thanks, babe! Well, we'll reveal that sooner or later. For now it's a work in progress.
lin - indeed - having schooled adepts nearby take a lot of the uncertainty out of a new experience. We'll definitely keep "BUSTED" on the short list - thanks! LOVED the story, all of it! Thank you.
hollyb - Your spouse is more gem than wicked, darlin'! We did have some laughs, and I'm loving my choice, even though it was really hard at first. I'm honored you tried it, and I really wanted to know what you thought about the way it fires.
Yes, Christina - very sleepy, verry, verrrry sleeeeeepy... YOu will buy our crap! All the cool chicks will buy it.
lainy - Lady shooter accessories.
tam - They are absolutely golden, and fantastic and patient and lovely. Yes, the compactness was something I particularly liked on this model. Thanks for the advice on the trigger pull. I'm going to keep my powder dry and see how things progress. No point in running for the barn before I have my bearings with it. Thanks for the tip on the .22 - maybe I should do the same? And the cheap to practice with is a good thing, too.
breda - Thanks, hon!
christina - our work here is done!
rabbit - sage advice, I know. See jpg's comment below. I'm going to see how it settles down and then make a decision on grips later on. Thanks for the grip tip - will check those out, just to use as a reference for later
kristopher - have been instructed by the sage JPG to dry-fire, and that's sure to help in lots of ways. However, I'll not dry-fire at the tv even in jest - considering the 4 rules, right now I can't afford a new tv!
jpg - Thanks again for everything. I'm feeling more confident by the day.
j.r. shirley - Right now I don't know the difference between one and the other. Once I've put some mileage on my shooty thing, I think I'll be able to discern the difference, and I'm sure I'll have my preferences. For now, I want whatever's in it to get the job done, should the occasion arise. I'll cowgirl up and deal with recoil or whatever.
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