This revolver is also sobering. When I wanted to know how accurate it can be, my eyeballs reminded me in no uncertain ways that a crisp sight picture is a thing of the past. Refusing to believe the gun is to blame I kept experimenting (- wait, am I not here to just plink??). Eventually I did prove, again, that every good firearm is more accurate than I can shoot it. Larger all-white background around the target and shooting off my bench gave me the conditions to shoot the two groups shown here. That was at 15 steps, with two types of .38 Special fodder.

Next time out I tried double action at an IPSC target about a dozen steps out. For the first six shots the trigger felt heavy since I’m so used to semiautos. Hits with .38 Special type power (158gr SWC and 5gr WSF) were what I call all over. Then again, practice matters. The next six shots already landed better.

With Magnums I did not see much use punching paper. What did get punched was a tin can. Of course, tin cans and plinking go together like peanut butter and jelly. No need to bring water, only a gardening shovel. Fill the cans with dry dirt and hits result in satisfying dust clouds.

L to R: .243Win 90grELD-X; .300BLK 180grFN; .300BLK 190grRN; .357Mag 125grXTP; .38Spec 158grSWC; .223Rem 55grBalTip; 10mm 180grJHP

Hmm, clarification – not so with a 22LR. At least the hollow point bullet from a CCI Stinger round failed to exit the can. But we are plinking this morning with bigger calibers. The 125gr Hornady XTP (20gr H110) barely made it out the can. A 158gr SWC fueled by only 5.3gr W231 produced a bigger exit ‘wound’. Subsonic lead bullets from a Ruger American in 300BLK had no problem penetrating.

Top: The .500 S&W during its murderous act. Notice how the Handy Rifle climbed in recoil. Below: 9mm 147grJHP; .500S&W 350grJHP & 440gr lead FN

As expected, exit holes began gaping with more power, like from my Tikka T3 in .243 Win or Steve’s Glock in 10mm Auto. The dust clouds became more impressive as well. There seems to indeed be something to it that a semiauto in 10mm makes for good assurance should a bear ever show special interest in you. Next time out my Beretta 9mm and H&R Handy Rifle (remember those?), this one in .500 S&W, also got a go at tin. Those 500s really ripped the tins wide open. Note that the .357 Mag with 125 JHP and 9mm with 147 JHP had nearly identical exit wounds.

Well, killing cans was fun (as long as the wind isn’t right at you). While those cans were plinking casualties, it isn’t difficult to understand why the revolver has become rare in law enforcement.

Compared to for instance a Beretta, by no means the smallest 9mm, the wheelgun is heavier, longer, fatter and has a round count of 6, whereas this FS 9 holds 20+1. But wait, they call it Highway Patrolman. On the open road distances could stretch out. How will these two guns do on an IPSC target about 50 yds away?

While the .357 Magnum ammo noticeably operated at higher pressure, and more than once spit in my face, they tended to group a little better than the 147s out of the Beretta. I had more of that magnum ammo along. A 10” steel plate begged to be engaged, about 140 paces from where we shoot. After two cylinders the plate remained untouched, that with me resting my hands on some bags on top of my shooting table.

So let’s choose something not quite so far away. Since it was HSC silhouette season, a steel pig at about sixty yards made perfect sense. Standing offhand I could hit the pig 3 out of 10 shots with 38 specials. Not exactly inviting to bring this 4-incher to our next match. Wondering how tough that target is, I did allow Steve to take ONE crack at it with his 10mm Auto. He hit it near the hind leg. Pig wasn’t happy, almost swinging completely over. Yet, the 180 grain JHP only put a shallow dent into the unhardened steel.

Left: Plate out at 140 yards. Right: Swinging pig target a little closer.

Next was something I had been itching to try myself for a while, shooting a bolt action really fast. To do that you grab the bolt handle with thumb and index finger and NEVER let go, therefore activatating the trigger with your middle finger. And that as soon as the bolt handle goes down. For a moment forget about hitting anything. This stunt of course burns ammo fast.

So I first tried it with my CZ 452. The concept worked, that is ‘firing’ the rifle with my middle finger. But the CZ 452 bolt handle is rather small and close to the stock that I just could not run it really fast. Fine, what about the Ruger American?

With lead bullets in 300 BLK this was still rather inexpensive ammo. But this rifle and ammo combination wasn’t all that fast-cycling, either. I plan to slick up the bolt travel, and at least once try jacketed bullets, thinking that the lead tips on my cast projectiles cause more friction on their way into the chamber. Of course, Tikka T3s have nice smooth actions.

For this torture my .243 Win. had been chosen, with 10-shot magazine no less. OK, on the ammo I did go lighter, moly-coated 65 grainers that had not shown great accuracy anyway, with a mild load of 25 grains of IMR 4227. With one in the chamber, eleven shots went fast! In part because of the T3 action, in part because by now I’d become just a little more practiced.

So what? What is this good for?? Well, in Norway they have matches where they shoot prone as many shots as possible in 25 seconds, at a target at least 200 meters away, using only 5-shot magazines! The good shooters get over 25 shots off in those 25 seconds!! And I have seen guys practice rapid firing with their African bolt rifles chambered in cigar-sized calibers, apparently simulating a situation where something quite capable of killing you is coming at you fast, with just that in mind. No, I have no intentions to compete in Scandinavia or hunt on the dark continent. But this way of shooting still continued to intrigue me.

So I did smear the Ruger bolt with polishing compound and cycled it many times; and did load some jacketed bullets for the .300 BLK. Turns out that the Tikka T1X bolt allowed faster cycling than the CZ 452. After some practicing with it and cheap(er) 22LR ammo, the ‘firing with middle finger’ became more natural. But I also wanted to hit a target. My final run at this, at least that morning, was with the Ruger .300 BLK and Vmax bullets. Target was this ugly 1/2” thick hardened and therefore indestructible plate at about 20 paces.

Turns out that aiming took a little more time than running the bolt. All 7 shots hit. For sure much faster than firing with the index finger. A different kind of fun. I’ll leave it at that. I think.

Ammo of the day: 9mm; 38 Special; 357Mag; 500 S&W; 300 BLK; .243 Win.