Lady Jaye, Teach, Ninja Mary and I went out to the shooting range yesterday. I hadn’t been in a few months, and it was at least six months since Lady Jaye had been to the range. When I took Teach and Ninja Mary out in January we fired my shotgun, my .22 rifle, and my Glock 27. This time they wanted to try out some revolvers. I took my G27 and my Marlin 60 rifle again. I needed to practice with my daily carry handgun and I always enjoy shooting the Marlin, the first firearm that was ever “mine.”

I am fairly certain Teach and Ninja Mary rented a Smith & Wesson Model 36 and a S&W Model 64. They are both chambered for .38 Special, which was what I recommended. I was hoping that the range had some heavier, .357-capable revolvers for them to shoot .38s through, but in the end everything turned out okay. The important lesson learned for the day was that when it comes to firearms, one size fits none.

First up was the Model 36. It had a smaller, thinner grip than the Model 64. It had a slightly longer barrel but overall was lighter. Ninja Mary liked this revolver the best, as her hands were better suited to the smaller grip. Teach preferred the Model 64. His man-paws felt more comfortable around the thicker, rubberized grips. He also liked the additional weight of the M64. I expected both of them to remark that the heavier barrel and more robust frame of the 64 helped them better manage recoil. I was somewhat surprised to hear that Ninja Mary did not find this to be the case. From my mental notes I believe Ninja Mary shot better with the M36, especially when she shot “pistolero” style: sideways with the revolver in her dominant hand, off-hand on her hip. I was disappointed in the double-action trigger pull of the M36, it was very very long and took a lot of pressure to get the hammer going.

The first thing I noticed was that both revolvers we rented had very poor rear sights — just a notch in the frame. The front sight was a typical blade-style. The shooting range is dimly lit to begin with, and even though the targets were only seven yards away I was afraid it would be difficult for Ninja Mary and Jeremy to properly obtain a sight picture. In contrast, my Glock 27 has aftermarket tritium combat sights for easier snap target acquisition. I am not sure if it was second-time jitters, the biomechanics of their hands and the revolvers they rented, or difficulty using the sights, but they both shot less accurately and less precisely than they did with my Glock 27. It was probably a combination of everything.

Regardless of what they want to shoot, I am just glad that they still want to shoot. I’ve taken quite a few new shooters out, and it makes me especially happy when they come back for repeats. Teach and Ninja Mary were both shooting better by the end of the day, and that they both had a great time. Both shooters replied that they enjoyed shooting the revolvers more than my G27, which also did not surprise me. The G27 is a carry pistol, much lighter, shoots a more potent cartridge, and is 100% business. I don’t think very many people “enjoy” shooting carry guns (and lightweight carry revolvers are no exception). When comparing carry guns to their full size and weight counterparts, people tend to gravitate towards the heavier, smoother shooting end of the spectrum.

One person who loves my G27 is Lady Jaye. She put well over 100 rounds through my Glock yesterday, and had an epiphany: by adjusting her grip on the pistol from the web of her hand (betwixt thumb and index finger) to more in the “meat” of the area between, she was able to shoot much more accurately. Apparently she was squeezing her entire hand right before making a shot, and as such her rounds were striking to the three o’clock of her aim. After adjusting her grip, she was much more on center. I need her to teach me the same technique the next time we go shooting to see if that will help my bad habit, which is squeezing more than just my index finger when I work the trigger.