Now, THAT'S a Happy Thanksgiving...

Our niece and her husband came into town for the Thanksgiving weekend and brought some firearms.

• .380 Walther (his James Bond gun)
• Glock 27 (her gun)
• Ruger 10-22
• 12 gauge pump-action shotgun
• .44 lever-action rifle

We also rented a 9mm CZ-75 and a Glock 19 from the range.

My wife had never shot a rifle or shotgun. I had never shot a lever-action rifle or a pump-action shotgun. The .44 with target rounds was easy to handle but when the magnum cartridges were put in there--that was fun! (And left my shoulder a bit sore the next day).

My wife liked the Walther and the CZ. I didn't like the CZ just because of how light the trigger was in single action. I guess I'd gotten used to the safe-action of the Glocks I had been shooting recently because I let off at least two rounds early on the CZ. I would NOT want to use the CZ as a home defense weapon.

On the rifle side my wife liked the Ruger 10-22 (what's not to like?) but one magnum round through the .44 was enough for her. She did well with the shotgun.

After a hiatus...

My wife and I got back to the range for the first time in over a month. We shot two 9mm pistols: a Glock 26 and a Springfield Armory XD(m).  Since I had not really liked shooting the Glock 17 a while back, I wasn't sure how I'd like the subcompact version--but I really liked it. It performed very well for me at 3 and 7 yards. I didn't do so well at 15. I was really surprised that I didn't miss my little finger on the grip--it felt completely comfortable with just my middle and ring fingers holding it.

The XD(m) performed OK. Not appreciably better than the Glock 26.

I'm going to also try a Glock 19 soon. Several of the podcasters I listen to seem to think pretty highly of that model.