After that, we decided to move up to 7 yards and see how fast we could get it done. I'm typically the can master at most distances, but within 10 yards, Mik and I shoot at about the same skill level, if he isn't noticeably better, so I knew I had to kick it into high gear. We both drew our guns, though he got his out before I did. My shirt caused me to fumble for about a second...

http://i.imgur.com/SPJxu.jpg

...but I got back in the game and started taking cans out.

http://i.imgur.com/P8HHa.jpg

I took some shots, and I couldn't tell if I'd hit a few, since they didn't fall over, having been dug into the dirt, so I took a look.

http://i.imgur.com/7WLPo.jpg

After that, I popped an extra shot at can number 4 for safety's sake, and then hit number 5 dead. Again, Mik was still shooting at his cans, so I just reholstered my gun.

http://i.imgur.com/7hzRG.jpg

I fired 6 shots pretty quickly, and hit each time (2 hits on can number 4). Mik finished his mag off again, and he either finished or got 4 out of 5, not sure. All I know is I beat him by quite a bit, with 100 percent accuracy. I'll concede all day that he kicks my ass hard on paper with regard to grouping, but when it comes to games, and cans or reactionary targets, I summon something in me that gets me to put rounds where I want them to go. 7, 15, 20, 25, 30, even 50 yards, my Hi-Power (old and new) treats me very well, and treats reactionary targets very poorly.

Anyhow, while Mik and I were figuring out who was the Boss, Weasel and James went to the other end of the range to fire some slugs with his Benelli M4.

http://i.imgur.com/sheDB.jpg

James grabbed some Sprite cans, shook them up, set them up at the end, and shot them dead, no, "disintegrated" was the word he used. The pressure combined with the strike utterly destroyed them. I also got to watch Weasel snipe a gallon jug from 60+ yards, proving against every videogame or false logic on the internet that a shotgun is capable of fire outside 10 goddamn feet (Weasel was inspired to try slugging after watching Hickok45 on YouTube shoot slugs at 230 yards with open sights and HIT HIS TARGET EVERY TIME).

http://i.imgur.com/A1sFL.jpg

Not sure if Mik got a turn with the Benelli, but I did, but we'll talk about that later. After this bit, the fog got foggier, and a light rain started coming down, so we hastened to run the last drill of the day, the Collateral drill, named for it's basing on the nightclub shootout in the movie Collateral. I ran a dry run to show the guys how to do it, and after that, Mik went up first.

http://i.imgur.com/mP466.jpg

And frankly, his shooting made Tom Cruise look like a bitch.

http://i.imgur.com/LqJ03.jpg

In fact, I'm pretty sure he looked at his targets afterward and said "Tom Cruise is a bitch". I agreed.

We then taped up the targets and I put a serious run in. I completed the course without missing, thankfully, and though my groups were complete rubbish compared to Mik's, I got this SWEET MUZZLE FLASH IN MY FRAME SO YEAH!

http://i.imgur.com/cQISR.jpg

I then gave James the Hi-Power so he could put in a run without using his wheelgun. Aside from fumbling one of my magazines and having it hit the ground (it didn't get damaged luckily), he did pretty good.

http://i.imgur.com/y6b6K.jpg

And lastly, Weasel ran it with his P-01. Granted this was his first 9mm pistol, and his first try at some tactical type shooting, he didn't do too great, but he too GOT A MUZZLE FLASH!

http://i.imgur.com/u3y1A.jpg

Though we only ran it a couple times, I have a feeling that the Collateral will prove itself to be a very good drill in the future, for building upon, and just for practical practice.

James seems to put his support finger over trigger guard like me. Harder with those curved guards, thats why I like a hooked one.

BTW I think you are only the second member to show what you look like.

Yeah he does that, and you just started doing that, yet you talk like you've been doing it for years. I dunno, just sounded silly to me in my head when I read that. : D

And yeah, all my guns come from an era before serrated guards were in hgh demand, and I kind of like that.

It was getting dark, and the rain started coming down, so we decided to pack it in. Hours before this a group of three guys showed up at the range as us. As always we were skeptical, a bunch of strangers with guns out in the sticks, that's how it goes. We eventually found out that they were pretty cool dudes after they destroyed a TV with an M44 Carbine, which started conversation between our and their group. One turned out to be a Marine, one was a hipster with a hunting hat, and one was wearing a hoodie and had a pretty nice SLR camera with a large lens. They left after doing some plinking, and we continued to run drills.

When the rain and darkness came in though, they came back to the spot though, so we had a chance to say goodbye, but they had other plans. At some point, I saw a can of gasoline that they had taken out of the back of their Jeep, but thought nothing of it... until I was talking with the guys and a giant fire came out of nowhere down range. Turns out they used the gasoline to make molotov cocktails.

http://i.imgur.com/QkdID.jpg

Weasel greatly approved, and took a drag from his cigar.

http://i.imgur.com/kEKt6.jpg

And then... a thought occurred. They had to throw the cocktails, and we had an automatic shotgun, so naturally, it became one, no, two very dangerous rounds of skeet shooting. Weasel went first, and missed the target. They could only throw it so far, and Weasel could only shoot so fast and so well in the dark. They had one last cocktail, so I grabbed the shotgun and gave it a try while the hipster watched.

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/7647/ynhrange.png

Sadly, I also failed, but I wasn't bummed considering the difficulty of the shot, and that I was still rewarded with fire on the ground and a cool picture.

http://i.imgur.com/Zbt38.jpg

Now, I've said it once, and I'll say it again. I don't know if the Benelli M4 is worth it's hefty price tag, but regardless, it's a damn good shotgun, and I'm privileged to have been able to handle one on not one but two shooting trips.

http://i.imgur.com/n0LaZ.jpg

Many thanks Weasel.

The shoot was fun without a doubt, but now that we've tried some things out, the next one is going to be even better. I'm not going to give out much more detail than that, but I have some stuff planned and I'm also expecting some new additions to our collective collection, gun and gear wise. For now though, we have the memories of this trip, and they are certainly good ones.

Molotov Skeet! Sweet. As to the trigger guard thing I just started but I do it on any hangun, even revovlers. I have grip tape on my taurus. Doesnt help as much as on an auto though. I dont know anybody else who does this so Im glad to see im not alone on this one. I wish I had an open shooting area like that. Ranges you cant do the fun stuff like reactive targets, dual wielding, hip fire, etc.

Trust me, for nearly every modern handgun company to put a squared off trigger guard, serrated trigger guard, or both, on their gun, you and James certainly can'tbe the only people that do that.

And yes, it's a nice place we have to shoot, and I think I've done all of the above that you just mentioned there...

Looks like it was a really awesome time! I'm amazed you were out there so late, though...