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Handgun of the Decade

Posted on by Caleb

I continue to be puzzled by the popularity of the Taurus Judge.  This is not to say that I don’t see a value in the gun – if I lived out in the Antelope Valley and was still undertaking regular excursions into the Mojave desert, I would own one for no other reason than it would be a great against Mojave Greens, Diamondbacks, and the aggressive sidewinders that populate my native desert.  That I get.

Beyond that, I just don’t “get” the Judge.

And yet, Taurus can’t make them fast enough, because they literally fly off the shelves.  In fact, they’re so popular that Taurus is making a polymer framed Judge as well as a rifle version of the gun.  The Judge has been truly successful; I have to eat some crow and admit that when it first came out my very first though is “who is going to buy that silly-ass thing”?  Clearly, I was wrong in that a lot of people bought said gun; ultimately that’s why I want to award the Taurus Judge the prestigious and never before awarded “Gun Nuts Media Handgun of the Decade” award.  Not because I think it’s a great gun, but mostly because Taurus did something that I love: found a product that sells and sold the snot out of it.

You see, regardless of how I may feel about the utility or usefulness of a gun, I love capitalism.  I love the free market.  That’s why the Judge is my Handgun of the Decade, it has captured in essence to the beauty and glory of a free market and a capitalist society.  The fact that we exist in a world where product like the Taurus Judge can sell as well as it does is a truly shining beacon of the greatness of our consumer system.

So here’s to you, Taurus Judge.  May you and all your weird, impractical offspring continue to thrive and sell like hotcakes into the next decade.  Well played, Taurus.  Well played.

revolvers/shooting

Why hello there, front sight

Posted on by Caleb

I shot the Dot Torture drill this weekend with the Smith & Wesson Model 60 Pro; the conditions weren’t exactly what I’d call “ideal” for the test.  I actually shot it at an outdoor range, my usual facility Atlanta Conservation Club.  ACC is an outdoor range…in Indiana…in January.  To say that it was cold doesn’t really do justice to cold, as the temperature didn’t get above 20 degrees while I was out there.  However, the sun was shining, and in the bays the wind wasn’t too bad, so I stayed relatively warm under the 32 layers I had on.

To set the drill up, I shot Dot Torture from five yards, and did all my shooting double action.  The DA trigger pull on the little Pro gun is pretty smooth; the gun scores high in the “shootability” department.  In fact, I would have cleaned the drill at 5 yards if I hadn’t gotten stupid on the strong hand only dot and yanked two shots into low earth orbit.

Click the image for full size – you can see clear as day that dot number 5 has three bullet holes in it, and then there are two fliers…and bad ones at that.  Shooting the little j-frame strong hand only double action reminded why we get out and practice, especially after a long layoff over the winter.

Shooting is a perishable skill, and it’s one of those things that if you don’t put the time and the work in to getting better, if you don’t put the time on the range in, you won’t see any progress.

But just as important is “practice” itself is to make sure you’ve having “good practice”.  What skill set are you working on?  With Dot Torture, you’re focusing on sight picture and trigger control.  It’s not a timed drill, but rather an extreme accuracy drill.  Take your time and get your hits.  When I started rushing on the trigger instead of slowing down and presssssssing while watching the front sight, groups would open up and as you can see, I’d end up pulling shots.

So when you get out to the range to practice, remember to pick a skill set to practice that day.  Whether it’s accuracy, speed, or something else, focus on that to insure that your practice time and money is time well spent.

shooting/sports

Reader questions

Posted on by Caleb

A reader emails:

“Caleb, I’ve taken the holidays and a good chunk of the winter off from shooter (so have I – ed) and I’m looking for a good way to refresh the fundamental skills before I start working back into the regular IDPA/USPSA practice.  Are there any drills you recommend?”

As a matter of fact, I do.  I’m actually headed to the range tomorrow to start breaking off the rust, as well as get some rounds downrange through a couple of guns from S&W.  I’m taking the Pistol-Training.Com Dot Torture targets with me for that.  Dot Torture is a great way to wake up your skills, especially if you’re shooting a DA revolver, as it requires a ton of focus and concentration on the trigger to hit those stupid little circles.

If you’ve taken some time off during the winter or holidays, you’re going to be rusty.  Don’t worry about it.  Do the dot torture test to the tune of 100/150 rounds or so, and you’ll start to get re-acquainted with your front sight real fast when you miss a 2 inch dot at 3 yards.