Shoot Day

Hit the range today. Proud Hillbilly stopped by and we went out to do some shooting. I tried out the Iver Johnson TP-22 (below) and I was impressed. Compared to other small pistols that I've shot or owned, it was slick smooth and more than accurate enough for what it is--a last-ditch back-up pistol intended for point-blank range. With standard Winchester loads, I had a few rounds where the slide didn't slam home hard enough to put the pistol all the way into battery, but with CCI's 1435fps "Velocitor" hollow-points, it ran flawlessly. I'm by no means an advocate for small pistols as a rule, but as a back-up, or a convenience sidearm to jam into my pocket for a quick trip to the store, this one works. It's the same size as my Ruger LCP, only difference being 8 rounds of .22lr vs. 7 rounds of .380. Oh--and the IJ has better sights and a better trigger pull, especially when fired in single-action mode.

Verdict: I'm keeping it.

Next up, I practiced with my LCP since Aaron at The Shekel got me a spare magazine and a DeSantis pocket holster for it. I practiced drawing and firing two-shot strings from the pocket holster, and while I coud not practice this drill as much as I wanted to due to other club members on the range (and silly rules against drawing from the holster or other "tactical" shooting methods), I still got a feel for what's possible and I was happy with the session.

Now there's always got to be a downer, and this time, it was my newish Trapdoor Springfield. I picked u some Ultramax cowboy loads for it for testing, and while it shot and ejected perfectly, it was also hitting nearly three feet high at 100 yards with the Buffington Sight set as low as it would go, and it wasn't much better with the battle sight. As the sights are gradated from 200 to 1400 yards, I moved the target back to 200 yards (or rather Proud Hillbilly did as I used her shamelessly as my range monkey on the rifle line) and fired some more. Still way high, but I was at least able to land some hits. I would not want to be defending myself with this rifle, at least with this ammo. Had this been a real shooting situation, the Indians would have wiped out the wagon train.

A plus though was watching PH shoot the new M1 carbine that she got from Aaron. With virtually no rife experience to speak of, she managed to tear the center out of her target at 25 yards standing off-hand, and she did so well at 50 yards that we decided to try her at 100. Again, she kept all but two rounds in the target's 8 ring (most of them being 9s 10s and Xs), and when I called on her to switch to my 200 yard target, she made several nice hits on that as well. Truth be told, as a shooting coach, I'm proud of her, and if I were an attacking bad guy, I'd be afraid...very afraid.

Post-shooting, we went for wings and beer. It would be hard for the day to get much better as of right now. Hopefully she'll have a post up soon as well.

"When I grow up, I'm going to be a 1911!"

So sayeth my newest acquisition, an Iver Johnson TP-22 in .22lr.

A 7-shot DA/SA .22 that's small enough to fit in your pocket behind your wallet, it's a handy back-up pistol or primary carry piece for those situations in which you cannot carry a larger pistol.

Size-wise, it's about the same as a Ruger LCP. The ergonomics are similar to that of the Walther PPK. I've been known to carry each of those as well, so this is a nice addition to the armory. Actually it's a "re-addition" as I had one once about ten years ago and sold it when I needed money. I'd always regretted that because it was totally reliable with high-powered ammunition (CCI Mini-Mag or comparable rounds) and it was pretty shootable and accurate at surprising distances. I carried it on many backbacking trips because the weight penalty was easily justified by the fun factor.

Here it is again, shown with it's role model and my preferred carry piece for reference:Cute little sucker, ain't it? It gets test-fired tomorrow.