Today felt like the right time to return to the range on the east slope. I got there earlier than usual, just after 8:30am, and issued a whispered apology to my neighbors down The Mountain.
Among the firearms that I still own are two that I hadn’t fired in years. I brought both out this morning. First to come to the line was a 1990s-vintage, made-in-USA Beretta 950BS Jetfire chambered in .25ACP.
Don’t laugh.
Yeah, it’s a tiny pistol. How tiny?
The .25ACP cartridge, designed by John Moses Browning in 1905, isn’t considered a useful defensive caliber these days. It’s barely better than nothing, with an effective range slightly greater than your typical ball-peen hammer (and less muscle when it strikes its target).
Col. Jeff Cooper wasn’t wrong when he famously said this about the caliber:
“As we used to teach in the spook business, carry a 25 if it makes you feel good, but do not ever load it. If you load it, you may shoot it.
“If you shoot it, you may hit somebody, and if you hit somebody –– and he finds out about it — he may be very angry with you.“
from Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries, Vol. 4, No. 14 (December 1996)
So no, the little Beretta isn’t serious business. But it is fun to shoot — I absolutely love plinking with this “mouse gun.”
The particulars: blowback single-action-only; manual safety; 8+1 capacity; unusual “tip-up” barrel allows chambering the first round without racking the slide; simple to field-strip for maintenance.
Not that it matters, but the sights are awful. Did I mention that it’s fun to shoot?
The other pistol getting a light workout was a Ruger Mark III 22/45 Target chambered in .22LR. Bought used from a colleague at the gun shop where we worked over a decade ago, it received a bit of an upgrade today.
I mounted (and bore-sighted) a Vortex Venom 3MOA reflex sight. I’d acquired the optic for a pistol I sold in 2022 (an IWI Masada 9mm). It was still sealed in the original packaging, in fact, so this morning’s exercise cost me nothing out-of-pocket.
This would be my first time running glass on a handgun, too, but I had no trouble whatsoever picking up the red dot. As you’d expect, it was a godsend to my aging eyes.
It also tickled my giggle reflex.
The .25/.22 session made for a great morning. Sure, I had a ball, but there’s more to it than mere entertainment. Any time I can work on fundamental skills, regardless of platform or caliber, is valuable to me.
. . .
Redbird, redbird, what do you see?
He says, “I see a lone wolf lookin’ at me,
“Head in the clouds but harmless as a tree,
“Good God, I guess he’s doin’ all right.”
. . .
. . .
. . .
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable