On the range

Went shooting this morning with my sons, Michael and Casey. I didn’t carry anything. Michael had a Ruger 10-22 and a Ruger Single 6. Casey shot a couple of 9mm pistols, but I did not get the models. He also had a brand new, never fired outside the factory .22-caliber Taurus TX 22. 

I fired the Taurus first. After Michael showed me how to load the magazine. Modern magazines and I have difficulty. Raised in M14, M16 and M1911A1 magazines, I find modern bullet holders cumbersome and difficult to load. Even the ones with a spring pulldown.

Michael and I got two magazines loaded, and I began a round of firing, using the magazine Michael loaded. I had no problems, except for shooting a shotgun-type pattern with six rounds. Ten were in the center circle at 10 yards.

Then I went to the magazine I loaded. The first round would not feed. I got it removed and tried again. No go on round number two. And round number three. I asked Michael to inspect the magazine. In a nice way, he informed me I had not loaded the magazine correctly. He unloaded the magazine and reloaded it. I tried again, and had no problem, except one failure to feed and one double shot.

Second round of firing, there was a failure to feed and a double fire. Most hits were in the center ring, 90 percent.

With his Ruger Single six, Michael fired two two-inch groups at 10 yards. With the 10-22, he fired two 1.5-inch groups on a small circle at 25 yards. He and the rifle are good shooters.

With the Taurus, Casey shot out a two-inch piece of the target at 10 yards. On the two magazines he fired, he had one failure to feed and one double shot.

Casey said he had told himself he would never buy a Taurus auto pistol, but the TX 22 had good reviews and was relatively inexpensive. We all three agreed the pistol has a very good trigger pull.