Qualifying Again

Today was the day for the annual weapons qualification for the RRR's volunteer job as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff. As almost every year it was on a week end when I am working my regular job. So I had been up all night working in the hospital, then rushed home and packed my stuff and drove to the shooting range. We began the pistol shooting and my gun would not fire! When I had cleaned it, I had reassembled it incorrectly. The other officers were making fun of me. I went to the car and got out my back up gun, a Smith and Wesson 25-5.

A bit of history. When the U.S. didn't have enough .45 automatics beginning in WWI, the military contracted with Colt and Smith and Wesson to make revolvers that would shoot the same ammunition. The wonderful model 1917 was born. It was the anscestor of the famed S&W .44 magnum... Dirty Harry's "most powerful handgun in the world". But the .44 mag is actually .429 inch in diameter, the venerable old .45 is .454, so it is actually 1/4" bigger! In the 1950's Smith and Wesson updated the Model 1917 and called it the 25-5. I have one. They are beautiful revolvers with 5" barrels. I am teased about it because it is so big. "Don't you have wheels for that cannon?"

So I approached the firing line with what the tester called my "hog leg". First we had to throw ourselves prone and shoot six rounds and kneel behind a post and shoot three with one hand, then three with other, then six standing behind the post. Then run forward and draw and shoot again on command, etc. With the old gun I hit the target 46 of 50 shots, or 92%! My only four misses were firing with my left hand in a hurry after a "border shift"... drawing and firing rapid fire six rounds with right hand, then reloading and doing same with left. Then we fired combat shotgun, rapid loading and firing of 12 gauge slugs from 50 yards, 25 yards, 17 yards. I did not have one miss. 100%. So my total qualification score was 96%. Very respectable.

I came home and bragged to Mrs. RRR, then called my father who taught me to shoot and told him. Mrs. RRR gave me a big lunch of ham and asparagus and I went to bed.