Range report: Newbie with an LCR. How'd I do?

G

groverdill

New member
Newbie may even be an understatement. I was not raised around guns. My gun experience is this: Back in the mid 90's, a friend took me out to shoot his semi-auto pistol. I shot maybe 10 rounds. That's it. Flash forward to 2013. My brother-in-law, who is heavily into guns, took my wife and I to the range to try some of his guns after we expressed an interest in learning how to shoot. I shot maybe another 50 or 60 rounds of various calibers. All semi-auto's, rifles, and shotguns. And that's all the gun experience I have. Now flash forward to this month, and I now own a Ruger LCR in .357 after doing TONS of research, but no hands on firing. At all. Ever. I took it out yesterday to see how I'd do with it, and I'd say for some one who's never fired a revolver in his life, I did OK. The first pic is the LCR, the second pic is my very first shot at 7 yards with .38's, and the last pic is after emptying the first cylinder. I managed to at least keep all five rounds on the target. I think that's pretty good for a revolver virgin. :D What do you revolver guys say?

By the way, I was short on time, but I was dying to take it out and try it so I did what I could in about 20 minutes. I shot five rounds of .38, five rounds of .38+P, and five rounds of .357. Each increase in caliber became less accurate. I'd rather not talk about the .357's. :(







Mike
 
Fifteen rounds from seven yards and six hits on a large target, yes?
Not bad for a new shooter with a new gun.
But definitely room for improvement.
Well, you did ask.
You got two in the third circle, no reason they couldn't all be there, or even better.
But you have to know how, and the best way to know how is with instruction from a knowledgeable shooter.
It's difficult to get very good on one's own.
 
Oh no. Let me clarify. This was only the first 5 shots. I had a total of ten hits out of 15, only one of which was the .357. I didn't include those pics. Sorry for the confusion.

Mike
 
I'd rather not talk about .357 either.

Dial it back to .38 special, practice and get some lessons, then before too long your 25yd targets will look like the one you posted.

Welcome to the sport.
 
Really not bad at all for a new shooter. I find that most people new to handguns find revolvers much more difficult to shoot than auto's. Mainly I think, because a double action trigger reveals bad habits more than lighter single action type triggers.

Learn to shoot the heavier double action pull of your LCR well and I think you'll find it makes just about every other handgun easier to shoot as well, because It forces you to focus on trigger control.

I'd recommend that you pick up some snap caps and practice dry firing regularly, I'll will should aid in trigger control.

Also, the benefits of one on one instruction cannot be overestimated. See if you can't find a local instructional class.
 
Yes, it looks like you did some research and picked a winner. The LCR .357 is a great little revolver with a great trigger out of the box. i have never put anything through mine but magnums, hey, if you're going to be a bear, might as well be a grizzly.

You did great for a newbie with a new gun. Keep practicing and you'll get better and better.
 
Congrats on your first outing with a revolver, great shooting. No personal experience with the LCR but all I read says that with use the trigger gets even better, so as the saying goes The Best Is Yet To Come.
My first pistol shooting was a S&W Model 10 at a gallon paint can at about 7 yards, and to be true the can was the only safe place to be that day. Out of about 15 shots I think I had two hits, and the rest were sky-blasters. I can only offer the oldest (and best) advice ever offered to me, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.
Welcome to the wonderful world of shooting, you are off to a GREAT start with a quality weapon and a lot of talent, Enjoy The Ride.
 
I'd say you did just fine. I've shot an LCR with both .38s and .357s, and I'd rather not talk about my .357 targets either, OK? Those can just be our ugly little secrets. :o Seriously, the .38s are much easier to control, and much easier on the hands.
 
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Think you did just fine.

Especially with a revolver in the lightweight category. They can be a bit more difficult to shoot accurately then a heavier, longer bbl'd revolver.
 
OP, do yourself a favor and stay far and away from the .357 magnums in this gun until you have significantly improved.

Shooting magnum loads in a gun this small and light IS NOT CONDUCIVE to mastering the fundamentals for a new shooter. You may very well develop a nasty recoil-induced flinch that will spoil your accuracy significantly. Do your hands and pocketbook a favor and just stick to .38 special loads for now.

I assume you don't have a concealed carry permit yet, but if/when you get one you might want to look into several different .38 special +P choices as a carry load. They will still offer very nice terminal performance but will be MUCH easier to shoot and make follow up shots with. They also aren't going to produce the same level of muzzle blast and flash the magnum loads will.

I recommend you try Remington's Golden Saber 125 grain .38 special +P load. I think you will find that it is much more pleasant to shoot but this load still performs at the top of it's class. A close second is the Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 135 grain .38 special +P.

Happy shooting and please try and consider my advice.

PS: You shot very well for being new to firearms! :D
 
A hit with a regular .38 is going to be more effective than a miss with a .357 any way you look at it.

You will improve with practice, for an inexperienced shooter with a snub nose revolver I think you did fine for your first outing with it.
 
I assume you don't have a concealed carry permit yet, but if/when you get one you might want to look into several different .38 special +P choices as a carry load. They will still offer very nice terminal performance but will be MUCH easier to shoot and make follow up shots with. They also aren't going to produce the same level of muzzle blast and flash the magnum loads will.
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Actually, I do have my permit. I got it last April after discussing it with my wife, who got hers at the same time. Very simple to do here in PA. Just went to the courthouse, paid the man 20 bucks, he ran a background check, and we were on our way with permits in hand in under 30 minutes. I guess I put the cart before the horse by getting the permit first before owning a gun, but with the current political climate we didn't want to waste time in case things got even crazier than they already are.

Yes, I will be backing down to .38's. The .357's were more of a "let's see how bad it really is" kind of test. Definitely not ready for those just yet. Thanks for all the comments and advice. Much appreciated.

Mike
 
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