Range Time With Higgins
 

Living in the PNW has some positive features including access to Doc Higgins. He invited me to bring some firearms to his favorite shooting range and I knew the right answer to that question. We went there yesterday and had a ton of fun.

Doc Higgins adjusted the sights on my new Winchester Model 1892, using tools he apparently keeps in his shooting bag. Both for elevation and windage. It now shoots accurately. Or, I should say, as accurately as the shooter can manage. More on this in a moment.

Then we went to the pistol range where once again he adjusted the sights on my Ruger New Vaquero. Out of the box, these things shoot substantially low. The fix is to file material from the front sight. He used a file and, in keeping with tradition and his general tendency toward data and measurements, a dial caliper. IIRC we ended up taking a full 0.060" off the top of that front sight. As a result. that pistol now shoots accurately....

.....as accurately as the shooter can personally manage. I learned many things yesterday. One of them is that Jeff is a very much more highly skilled marksman than I am. No surprise there, but it was impressive to watch him make small groups with a .45 caliber revolver using a one-hand grip. Using two hands, my groups were pathetic by comparison. Really pathetic, but my accuracy improved throughout the day.

We used several firearms including Jeff's full-size Vaquero. As Jeff has reported here, that thing is nearly painful to fire. Ever watch the Dirty Harry films? This revolver behaves like that one. Both recoil and sound. Jeff has said this revolver can out-do the .44 Magnum for power, and my experience yesterday supports that.

But the most fun of the day was with his Colt .45 using black powder rounds. I couldn't stop laughing. Big booming report accompanied by a could of smoke. I'm chuckling right now just remembering that experience.

Unfortunately, we had so much fun that we ran out of time for cold beverages afterward. Honestly, sitting and chatting with Jeff is at least as much fun as range shooting. I'll be looking forward to the next time we can do that.

Thank you, Jeff.

Sounds like a great time.

Though I'm glad I escaped the continually grey skies and rain of the Puget Sound region, one of the few things I miss is the great people in the local Porsche club.
Track days, Autocross, John Walker's swap meets, all loaded with people well worth getting to know.

...and if you ever want to see a kid's eyes get as big as dinner plates, show them that you have Superman's phone number in your contact list.

Higgins owes me money.

Old Navy joke.:cool:

Best to you both. Outstanding.

check your shower...

Rika ;)

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What a fun day. Not only the shooting, but even more importantly, the company. A day spent with Superman is always a day well spent.

So, yeah, we got his brand new Winchester Model 92 zeroed. What a sweet little rifle. The fit and finish are what I've come to expect from modern Miroku built Winchesters, outstanding in every respect. It looks like a shooter, too.

His New Vaquero proved to be typical for the breed. Way more front sight than it needed. At 15 yards it was shooting over 10" low. Which is, with a fixed sight revolver, way easier to correct that if it were 10" high. A bit of careful work with the mill file on the front sight and we soon had it shooting to point of aim. And shoot it did - looks like another "keeper".

So, I promised to send Superman any ads I might see from stage coach companies looking for help. He's well qualified, and he has the tools...

.060" of what I assume is hard steel is not a simple process.

Did you guys get any pics of all this, you know, for us that live vicariously here?

Steels used in firearms are actually relatively "soft". We don't want hard and therefor brittle, we want soft and malleable. Those steels are "tougher" when it comes to containing the sharp pressure spikes inherent in firing them. That's where various forms of surface hardening became popular (my favorite being "color case hardened", like on the frames of Colts and other guns). This provides a scratch resistant hard outer shell, with a softer and tougher body underneath.

Sorry, no pics. Cameras are expressly forbidden on our range. I've wanted to film some video and put it up on YouTube, but we are not allowed. I guess there might be some "valid" reasons for that, although I kinda disagree. If someone is against, or afraid of being captured on film, I start wondering if he should be on a gun range in the first place. But that's just me.

Yeah, I forgot about that brittle part.
I guess that's why Dad always warned us to be careful when setting the old octagon barrel 22 we had down such that the sight wasn't damaged.

No cameras would make me wonder too. What would anyone want to hide that is legit?

Dunno, but cameras are not allowed at my gym, either. That one is even harder to figure.

We lost something valuable when you left. Very glad to have met you Dan. Class act in every way.

Professor Higgins shared an amusing factoid with me about this. Apparently, case hardening involves heat and carbon. In the olden days, they got the carbon from chicken bones. In other words, they basically put those gun parts in a bag with chicken bones and threw it in the fire. Or something like that. It explains the randomly mottled grey/black finish on those guns.

That one's easy for me to figure out.

Did you guys go to Kenmore?

He still needs the coach gun!

so you're telling me

that you and higgins argue on the interwebs

but you're friends in real life?

what in the world?



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Yep, fact is stranger than fiction.

come to expect from modern Miroku built Winchesters I think that's the one I handled and was amazed at how smooth and well built it was.

Higgins: Here KC ... try shooting this round.

KC: Aw HELL naw!

Sounds like fun tho :D!

Y'all suck! There .... I said it and I ain't takin' it back ;)...

All my levers are Marlins (one Henry) ...but I've been nosing around and find myself looking at a new 1892 ... in .357 with a beautimous walnut stock, case hardened, octogonal bbl ..... she's a beaut!

Yeah .... y'all really do suck :D

edited: My Marlin .357 sucked outta the box fwiw.... I couldn't hit the side of a barn .... not even on the target at less than 50 yds. off to the left about 7" at 40. My uncle "fixed" it for me :)

Well, we did have the rifle range to ourselves, and I was kinda coveting that purty Model 92... I sent Supe downrange to "change targets" a few times, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. At the end of the day, he is a really nice guy. Besides, the ditch behind our 100 yard berm is getting kinda full... ;)

Seriously, though, it's amazing (but not really...) just how well most of us get along in real life, away from this thing we call "the internet". Imagine that.

LOL!
Yes, real life is so much more fun with people and not keyboards.

It's been a proverbial snowy-day up down-yonder.

Cheers. And more power to ya'll.
Imagine that. Human.

makes me feel old that I get this.


Love the human connection here. Great post, great job, just all around great stuff!

Jeff is great to talk with and we agree on almost everything but it's at least as fun (and respectful) when we don't. Our relationship is special, but not entirely unique. I have a wide range of friends (I'm proud of my collection) who are intelligent and thoughtful. The important elements are "intelligent" and "thoughtful," and it is always fun to chat with them. Even and especially when we disagree.

The Internet sometimes changes peoples' personalities. Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Which I find creepy.

Yup.

Some of the most interesting moments, besides the black powder .45 Colt revolver (which was just a hoot!), there was the full-size Vaquero with hot loads (I think Jeff said 300gr at 1300fps, or something like that) that was not super fun to shoot and he also brought a 45-70 lever gun and a special leather shoulder protector. That was a shoulder cannon. Very cool. For, you know, local elephant hunts.

I miss that Kenmore range.

I miss a lot, at that Kenmore range...

Sounds like a great time!

Life is short, you guys did what you should, enjoy company and learn from others. Wicked.

Cheers

I haven't seen an elephant around here in quite some time .... my wimpy choiches and shoulder are just fine ;)!

My .44 mag is no fun (for me) to shoot ... neither is my .357 (out of S&Ws)... had 'em for decades ... still almost like new :D

Did you "dress" for the range visit :)?

It sounds like you guys had a great time! I love learning from both of you. Rock on sirs, David

Arizona style is to get some Tannerite and some old microwaves.
Set those microwaves up in the Arroyo and make a course.
Gear up with full ammo and try to survive a 100 degrees + while scooting through the Arroyo.
Trying to shoot accurately with sweat pouring down your face and your heart pounding is no easy feat. Off to the Bunker Bar to review the videos.