range report - finally shot my g19 (thanks Ala Dan)

A

Amelia

New member
woo hoo! Finally got to go to the range about an hour away and try out my new (new to me...) Glock 19. It's a police range only open to the public once per month and I met Ala Dan up there this morning. It was too cool. Dan told me about it and invited to meet him there today. ANother TFLer was there but I don't know his nick...

The Lieutenant who runs the place put me through a short safety and operation of my handgun demonstration sort of thing, which was informative. Now, I know how to take the thing apart, for example, which I never knew before and know more ways to do a tac reload sort of thing than I did before. He also gave me some dummy rounds in case I want to practice some manipulations with them later and some ear plugs. Very nice folks there!

Apparently, the Lieutenant was quite entertained by me...
a female [Aren't all those liberal gun haters?],
university professor [aren't all those liberal gun haters]...
single professional woman [didn't all those vote for Gore and read the Ms Forums?]
who not only owns a gun, but has taken the time to get a bit of training before and showed up with multiple 15 round mags and a lot of ammo... and a Jesus Loves You decal on her gun bag. I think the amount of ammo in my bag was the clincher. He laughed and said... "you are destroying a bunch of stereotypes..."

Of course, they say you default to your level of training and I did find myself automatically doing practically everything the way I was taught back in November in the ladies only handgun course, which is good... I haven't forgot quite as much as I thought! [Thanks Randy!]

Anyhow, shot about 50 rounds at 15 yards (which was where everyone was at... nothing like shooting with some LEOs who practically hit the same spot every time to remind me that my shooting needs a ton of work). It wasn't too pretty, but could have been worse.

Here's the target. Yes, we were using paper plates. :) Some nice guy had those out there and put them up on our target stands for us.
15yards.jpg

The results are not great, but it was worse in November as I recall. I still tend to be a bit left and low. Anticipating... :( I did get better as the day went on, though.

At first, I was thinking I'd need to get a grip reduction done as the trigger felt so far away to me... but that feeling got better in the later shooting. The jury is still out on that. I bought a used 19 because I didn't want the finger groove thingies in the grip which make it seem even bigger to me.

Then, we went to 7 yards and changed to a Q target (they were out of B-28s or somesuch, whatever those are...) and did another 50 rounds or so.
7yards.jpg

That turned out a little better. A few of those grouped near the Q were from when the Lieutenant was trying out my pistol. He shot it there and a few times on another target and determined it sights just a bit to the left. Gotta find someone to adjust that.

Only one malfunction was experienced. Once the spent brass failed to clear the gun as the slide cycled and it got stuck in the opening. Ala Dan talked to me about rack-tap-bang then. I don't know if that was caused by me, or the ammo, or the mag.

I have 3 mags. All 15 rounders and of various ages and wear, etc. One of them just doesn't feel right to me (not that I have a clue!) and it was the one in use when the above happened. I have trouble getting some individual rounds pushed all the way to the back on it as I load it up. This is the oldest of the mags, i bought it online, used.

Another interesting detail, the brass flies almost straight over my head and slightly to the right. I mean ever so SLIGHTLY. One round hit me in the forehead. Once I sorta got in a groove and was shooting fairly rapidly and a bit more accurately near the end, I noticed several rounds in a row went right over my head THROUGH my hair like they were running down the part in my hair from front to back. That was a funky feeling!

All in all, a good morning. Too bad it will be eons before I can go shoot again!

Have a wonderful day!

:D

Amelia-the-happy-camper
 
Hi! Welcome and I like the G19 a lot. I am retired, but still do thesis advisement. best regards.
 
Cool!

If you can find a Glock Armorer in your area, they can replace the ejector/extractor to correct the ejection angle on the spent brass.

If you can wait for a GSSF match in your area, there will be Glock Armorers present that will do the work (including adjusting the rear sight) for FREE, as a courtesy of Glock, Inc. The GSSF matches are also another GREAT and FUN thing to do with your Glock and do not demand that only the best shooters show up. EVERYONE has a good time, even novice shooters.

For more infor on GSSF, try http://www.sportshooter.com/GSSF/
and keep checking at www.sportshooter.com/GSSF/gssf_schedule.htm for the 2001 schedule of matches.

Oh yeah, what subject(s) do you teach?
 
9x19, that's good advice,

only I can't seem to find any matches listed in my state, much less my area. I can't even find a range in my county. I might have to try to plan a weekend away sometime to coincide with a match.

In answer to your question, I teach accounting/information systems.

Have a wonderful day!

:)
 
Depends on your definition of "too far"

I think that's about 3.5 hours or so? But that's probably the closest one, so I might have to make a spot on the calendar to check it out.

:)
 
Amelia,

Sounds like you enjoyed your range time with the G19. My wife wants one of those pretty badly. We rented one at the local range and she fell in love with it.

Depending on what part of Alabama you are in, there are two Glock shoots in Georgia this year. The one at Ft. Benning would be better if you are in the southern part of the state and the South River Gun Club meet might be better if you're in the northern part.

Too bad the range is so far away from you and only open once a month. If you're anywhere near the Georgia state line around I-20 I can recommend a good place 19 miles east of the Georgia line that's open every weekend. That's where I go (it's only 2 miles from me:)) and I really like it.

Joe
 
Tuskegee National forest near Auburn has a nice range. $20. per year. Open sunrise to sunset each day.
 
Joe, I live in West Alabama, nearly to Mississippi... seems I'm on the wrong side of the state! I'm probably at least 2.5 hours or more from you, down i20.

Tom, I heard there's a range in the national forest down around Centerville. That would be closer to me. I'm going to check it out.

Thanks for all your suggestions and info!

:)
 
Any Gun Shop should be able to tweak your rear sight for you. Sight pushers are cheap enough that many Range Rats have them, might be worth asking around? Also if your local PD carries Glocks I'd bet their armorer would be willing? If you aren't able to get to a range often try getting into a Dry-Firing regimen, daily if possible. The returns are well worth it. Good Luck and nice post!
 
pretty good groups for your first time shooting your Glock. you'll get much better when you get used to the trigger; dry firing it a lot will help you improve your accuracy. also if you practice trigger reset then you'll become more accurate.

that type of jam you had in your G19 (brass gets stuck halfway out ejection port) is called a stovepipe. it more than likely was from your limpwristing the pistol which a lot of people do at first. just lock your wrists more next time you go shooting, you don't need to have a death grip on the gun but like a firm handshake. the brass flying back over your head also could have to do with your limpwristing or if the G19 has been used a lot before you bought it then the recoil spring might be worn out and need to be replaced. you might also want to replace the mag springs if they don't feel strong enough.
 
You're probably right!

Russell, no doubt the stovepipe was caused by me! I start to get tired and my wrist hurts. The ejection problems might be me, too, as the glock, while used, isn't very used.

skevlar, I was at a police range and I bet the Lt. there could probably adjust my sights. I'll ask next time.

I've found another range near that one that isn't a police range (the police range is only open once a month to the public) but rather a private range and I'm going to go up there to try an IDPA match this weekend. I won't be any good, but at least it will be more practice!

Thanks for your advice.

:)
 
Amelia,

Sorry, I don't know any good shooting places in west Alabama. I lived in that area (a little town called Tuscumbia) once a LONG time ago but I was only shooting BB guns back then.:)

Joe
 
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