So I Went To the Gun Show the Other Day...

...Saturday, May 17, to be exact, which is always fun and highly entertaining, what with all the shiny boomsticks and military surplus thingies and vast number of... unusual... people, from teenagers wearing the latest in tacti-cool fashion accessories to rabid conspiracy buffs squawking about RealID and black helicopters to grandmotherly types gleefully exchanging dessert recipes and .45 ACP ballistics data.

I went there in hopes of fondling a real, live Browning Hi-Power Mark III, which I think is a particularly attractive handgun, but no such luck. Picked up some G3 magazines for my PTR-91KF SHTF carbine, three inexpensive 20-rounders and one steel 30-rounder, piddled with the various and near-ubiquitous AK-47-like variants (does anyone know how to attach a forward sight without canting it? Even the Arsenal offerings, which for those who don't know, are hugely overpriced custom jobbies totally out of keeping with the AK philosophy of "fast, cheap, and capable of being handled with devastating effect by half-starving, illiterate peasants with long-term grudges," seemed a little funky), chowed down on some really awful (and really overpriced) Hot Dogs o' Doom at the concession stand, sampled venison jerky and buffalo jerky and elk jerky and homemade fudge, then made a single major purchase:

This.

A Sig P220 SAO in .45 ACP with three magazines for a really, really good price.

Sigs have a reputation for incredible accuracy right out of the box, something that's always sounded like a hyper-inflated manufacturer's claim to me, but what the hell--it's a cool-looking handgun anyway. I took it home, gave it a quick cleaning, then took it to my local shooting range to see what it could do.

I think I'm in love.

Now, keep in mind that, at best, I'm a mediocre marksman. I don't shoot anywhere near as often as I'd like, my practice sessions tend to be brief and sporadic, and, sadly, it's been about a year since the last time I went to the range for anything besides a basic handgun safety course.

First target, 7 yards, two-handed, first time firing the P220 ever:


That was about an 80-round warm-up just to get used to the gun. Not great by hardcore shooters' standards, but for me, that's damned good, especially with a new gun!

Second target, still 7 yards, still two-handed (I use the Weaver Stance, not that anyone cares):


Even better, especially since I don't normally get to talk about bullet groupings; I talk about bullet splatter.

Oh, yeah. I love the Sig!


This is the first in a long series of catch-up posts.