A family that shoots together, is pretty awesome.

I thinned the herd a bit in my gun collection. I sold my Colt Commander, my Kel-Tec p11, and my Glock 23. They were all good guns- but I had run my course with them. I took them out of the safe infrequently, and when I did I derived little pleasure in shooting or carrying them. I got an oodle of credit at my local gunshop, and will be using it to get a few new toys to play with and review.

Right now, they are trying to track my down a NY compliant EAA witness elite match- if that doesn't work, I suspect I might go with a CZ SP-01 in 40sw.  Also on the confirmed list is a 20 gauge encore barrel for hunting season- could be fun and I am excited to give it a try.

Those however, are not the topic of today's post. Today, I got to shoot with not one, but two (aka 100%) of my parents. Rare are the days when we all have time to go together, so I enjoy them

My mom, being awesome. It is genetic.

immensely when they occur. My brother is now actively working on his NYS pistol permit application, so in less than a year- we could truly be having funday gundays at the range as a complete family unit.

My parents are far more interested in shooting from a self defense perspective, with my father also having heavy interest in shooting for hunting purposes. I am generally the only one who views shooting as a sport unto itself. As such, I tend to get much more range time than either of them, so today I focused more on the role of photographer than shooter (though both happened in good amounts).

let that steel ring.

I always encourage my mom to warm up with my 22 caliber Ruger pistol. My old mark II has seen a lot of rounds, and continues to be an amazing performer. I think i may change the recoil spring at some point, as I couldn't begin to count the bricks this thing has fired. It has to be over 75 by now, and frankly I wouldn't be surprised if it were closer to 100. I remember during my undergrad while home on summer break shooting 2-3 bricks per week.

I had a custom steel target put together by a forum member on THR.org a while ago, and it has made my range time not only more fun- but also more productive. having a reacting steel target that you can put out at any range (greater than 50 ft- NEVER shoot steel close up for defensive work) has really made a positive impact on my shooting. Also having a target that auto-resets like my autopopper has provided a level of awesomely fun feedback that paper targets never will be able to provide.

Mom and Dad, loading up

Both of my parents shoot well for their intended purpose. My mother outshoots my father with handguns by a small margin - but my dad claims a mulligan on account of cataracts.  I think he is trying to make excuses, but such is life :). Both of them ring the steel at will between 50 and 60 ft, but things get a bit dicier out at the 75-100 ft range.

My mom had fair success with the 22 pistol and the 50 yard steel- but could not repeat the success with any other firearm shot on this particular outing.

close-up of my steel

After some 22 warm up, my mom moved on to my K-frame m10 and eventually onto her smith 637. The J frame is a handful for most shooters, and she did not linger long with the small pocket rocket- and did much of her range work with the larger guns.

She fired about a box through her Ruger LCP as well- and the gun continues to perform well. The gun probably has about 600 rounds through it, and the slide has worked in considerably, making it much easier for my mom to manipulate the slide.

My dad stuck with his preferred carry gun, which is a (formally mine) cz82. The cz is a great gun and I really have nothing bad to say about it. Always reliable, despite a good bit of neglect on my father's part, the gun shoots well and has a good trigger- putting rounds exactly where you point it.

Mom and Dad, 'winning' as charlie sheen would say

I stuck to the 22 and the k-frame for much of my shooting early in the day- but turned to my Citadel CS officer's sized 1911 for my defensive shooting practice. I remain a huge fan of this gun, and went a full 5 for 5 on the 50 yard steel, which for a 3.5 inch barreled gun with me shooting, is pretty good. I find I carry this gun a lot- but shoot it less frequently than my government sized 1911s. Normally this would concern me, but whenever I do put rounds through the CS- it performs very well and makes me look much more talented than I am in the accuracy department.

All in all, it was a wonderful day spent with people I love very much, participating in an activity I enjoy more than any other hobby I have ever participated in. It is really tough to complain about much when you get to spend a great day shooting with family- so I'll end simply by saying- life is pretty good :)