Re: OT :I find myself agreeing with Conor. What should I do?

I visited a friend in Canada last year, and he took me along to a pistol-range, in the local shopping mall(!) In the attached shop, there were cowboy types trying on holsters and checking in the mirror that they matched their boots, which amused me. Anyway, I had never shot a gun before, but after a few rounds, I could quite happily draw a recognisable smily face on the piece of card at

20m, so I'm sure you could reliably hit something the size of a person at several times that distance - you might not get them in the left eye, but my experience of being shot in the arse by a farmer with a shotgun and salt-pellets is that you really wouldn't need to.

In the range there was a chap trying out his new Desert Eagle - even with the ear-protectors on it was deafening, and the kick-back from each shot was pushing the bloke, who must have weighed close to 20 stone, a couple of steps backwards. I tried holding it, and you needed both hands to lift the bastard thing and aim it. There was also a chap buying an anti-tank gun; he was slightly miffed that he had to arrange to test it at the local military test range, but that was apparently 'cos it would go straight through the walls of the indoor range, and then through those of quite a few of the neighbouring shops...

What sort of shooting do you do? I shoot IPSC with a HK USP but want to upgrade to an STI in the not too distant future.

Fraser

10 gauge? You mean a 410 surely. A 10 gauge is a bigger gun than a 12 gauge.

Fraser

I shoot in inter-club: 25 m Pistol .22 / 25 m Revolver /25m Pistol. Fixed target, page 12

My competition guns: .22 DS, .357 Mgn Ruger GP100, 9mm Tangfoglio

I like HK a lot but am a bit uncertain about the polymer frames of them, a gun to me is made of steel or stainless. However both HK and Glock shoot very nicely indeed.

My top of the bill stays the Sig P210. Strangely enough I shoot the same points (182-185 /200) at 50m in open air (which is the Swiss competition) as with the other guns at 25 m in closed stand. Using the Tangfoglio at 50 m outdoors my points drop 10 units.

The P210 isn't mine and the owner refuses to sell it. The newly made P210 seems not to be as good as the 1975-1990 batches. Even Sig has problems finding craftsmen who know the exact tolerances to build the guns to. It stays possible that it's just a feeling.

Tom De Moor