Strapped

Well Friday was fun. I suppose.

You see, a while ago I got me a Winchester Model 94. as in 1894. The original 1894 rifles were designed by John Browning - who also made other legendary rifles such as the 1911 .45 pistol, the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle).30 caliber and the M2 .50 caliber "Ma Duce" machine gun.

My Winchester is not an original. It was made much more recently.

The 1911, BAR, and M2 are still in production today, largely as they were designed by Browning way back then.

This is the Winchester Model 94. Back in 1894 it was the latest and greatest. One of the first multiple shot (repeating) rifles mass produced. And it used the then new smokeless powder, as opposed to black powder which makes a large cloud. Also smokeless powder could create higher pressures and therefore develop more power.

But today it is just a curiosity. A replica of a primitive rifle from a bygone era. It can not use high capacity magazines, and it can not rapid fire. The rifle I have can not even have a scope attached.

But it shoots well. The sights are a little off. It shoots to the right of the point of aim. No big deal, I can adjust the sights to correct that. I was shooting 170 grain loads - which are heavy for a 30-30. There may be heavier 30-30 bullets, I really do not know. The rifle is light and it kicks enough with the 170 grain bullets for me. Next time I take it out I will get some 150 grain loads for it. The recoil will be less, and I suspect the rifle will be more accurate. The Winchester lever action rifles like the 150 grain bullets better than the 170 grain bullets.

And while I was going all the way to to the range with the rifle, I figured why not bring the Smith 5903. I was only going to take 2 boxes (40 rounds) of 30-30 ammo, so I had to bring something else to make the trip all the way out to the range worth it.

The Smith and Wesson 5903 is just a 9mm pistol, which could be the most common pistol caliber out there. Originally used in the German made Luger, many armies considered the 9mm to be underpowered. Some people still do. But the 9mm has proved itself. It does not have a lot of recoil, and packs more than enough power to do what it does.

The 5903 has a polymer frame and a stainless steel barrel, slide, spring, and recoil spring guide. The frame weighs almost nothing, all the weight is in the slide and barrel. So the gun feels top heavy. No big deal though. You get used to that quickly.

The gun was intended to be marketed at law enforcement. It has some cool safety features that a cop might want. You can chamber a round, and then either carry it hammer back safety off so the first shot is single action (bad idea, I think that Smith recommends not to do this) or drop the hammer using the safety (gun will not fire this way but the hammer does drop) and then the first shot is double action. What this means is that you pull the trigger and the hammer moves back then drops. The trigger pull is longer than with a single action, and the trigger weight is greater too. MUCH safer to carry in double action / single action mode.

Also if you drop the magazine, the gun will not fire. So if you are a cop and end up fighting over your own gun, all you have to do is press the magazine release button then let go of the weapon and step back. The bad guy gets your gun, but he can not fire it unless he picks up the magazine. By that time you have your backup weapon.

The 5903 can also use a high capacity magazine. But you do not really need one of those. I have one but never use it. There is no point. If you can not hit the target with 10 bullets (plus one in the chamber if you are so inclined) you are not going to hit the target with 15 rounds.

The 9 also shoots well. But it does not like the cheap ass Russian ammo I was feeding it. With the cheap ass Russian ammo every shot required me to push the slide closed. Another range patron let me have 5 rounds he hand loaded using good brass and the gun functioned perfectly.

So no more cheap Russian crap ammo for the Smith. Which is a shame. The Russian stuff is cheaper and therefore more affordable than other ammo. Going to the range can be very expensive.

Also accuracy using the cheap Russian crap is not very good.

Hand loading is the way to go. This is the only way to tune loads to a gun. Bullet weight, powder type, and powder amount does make a difference. A big difference. Once I almost got reloading stuff. I used to go to the range more. But now I hardly ever go, so the expense of reloading equipment and supplies can not be justified.

The only reason I went Friday was because I already had the ammo. Otherwise the expense of buying ammo would not have been justifiable. I need that "economic stimulus" check like 2 weeks ago. But at the same time, I want to refuse the check and instead tell someone to cash my check in pennies, then stick each and every penny up their ass one at a time.