plasticeagle
December 30, 2011, 05:10 PM
As part of Mississippi's requirement for the Enhanced concealed carry permit, I participated in an NRA basic pistol class yesterday. I used a Ruger SR9c that I plan to use as my primary carry gun. Prior to the class, I had only run between 75 to 100 rounds through this pistol without any issues. I chose the pistol for its size, its reputation online and its trigger. The shooting portion of the class consisted of 45 or so practice rounds and 50 qualification rounds. I couldn't be happier with the way it performed. No stoppages of any kind.
Out of 20 participants, I scored the fourth highest with a 248 out of 250. The qualification consisted of 20 shots at 3 yds, 20 shots as 7 yds and 10 shots at 15 yds, all on the same silhouette target. Shots inside or touching the 8 ring counted 5 pts, touching or between the 7 & 8 ring scored 4 pts, and so on.
Observations:
I was noticeably more accurate with the longer 17 round magazine that comes with the pistol than with the shorter 10 round magazine. I used the longer mag for the entire qualification.
The two perfect 250 scores in the class were two gentlemen beside me. Both shot Smith .357s with 38 special wadcutter ammo. A 249 was scored by another gentleman with a 1911.
Another revolver in the class experienced a malfunction. The problem turned out the be an aluminum cased Blaser round with a rim that was twice as thick as normal. Lesson....Always visually check carry ammo when you load it.
A few came to the class with Ruger .380 LCPs. These are great pocket carry guns, but these were a liability when trying to qualify at the longer ranges. Everyone passed, but they could have had higher scores with more appropriate guns.
One gentleman with a LCP had multiple stoppages. He admitted that he had only shot the gun a few times before the class. He may have also been limpwristing a bit, because the problems seemed to be more prevelant toward the end of the day and all of the LCP owners said it was a handful to hang on to.
Overall, I enjoyed the class and was impressed that I could keep up with the revolver guys using a compact auto. I never considered myself a great shot and have to give a lot of the credit to the pistol.
Now I have to scrape up the money for a good carry holster.
Out of 20 participants, I scored the fourth highest with a 248 out of 250. The qualification consisted of 20 shots at 3 yds, 20 shots as 7 yds and 10 shots at 15 yds, all on the same silhouette target. Shots inside or touching the 8 ring counted 5 pts, touching or between the 7 & 8 ring scored 4 pts, and so on.
Observations:
I was noticeably more accurate with the longer 17 round magazine that comes with the pistol than with the shorter 10 round magazine. I used the longer mag for the entire qualification.
The two perfect 250 scores in the class were two gentlemen beside me. Both shot Smith .357s with 38 special wadcutter ammo. A 249 was scored by another gentleman with a 1911.
Another revolver in the class experienced a malfunction. The problem turned out the be an aluminum cased Blaser round with a rim that was twice as thick as normal. Lesson....Always visually check carry ammo when you load it.
A few came to the class with Ruger .380 LCPs. These are great pocket carry guns, but these were a liability when trying to qualify at the longer ranges. Everyone passed, but they could have had higher scores with more appropriate guns.
One gentleman with a LCP had multiple stoppages. He admitted that he had only shot the gun a few times before the class. He may have also been limpwristing a bit, because the problems seemed to be more prevelant toward the end of the day and all of the LCP owners said it was a handful to hang on to.
Overall, I enjoyed the class and was impressed that I could keep up with the revolver guys using a compact auto. I never considered myself a great shot and have to give a lot of the credit to the pistol.
Now I have to scrape up the money for a good carry holster.