What did you shoot today?

[Suvorov]

Not “today” but yesterday my brother in law took me to the range to shoot his Glock 17. Normally no big deal but I’m in Belgrade Serbia.

I’ve been making regular trips to the Balkans for the past 15 plus years but this was the first time I was able to coordinate a range trip. This was fascinating for me for a couple reasons. First it gave me some “bro time” with my BiL and his friends and second gave me a good opportunity to see what the shooting culture in a former communist European country was like.

The range he took me too is located south of Belgrade in the hills by a quarry. The name is Alpha Shooting Range, and based on Trip Advisor it seems that quite a few people from restricted countries enjoy coming out and shooting (firearm tourism if you will). It was a surprisingly good complex with multiple shooting bays for action pistol and rifle use, it seemed to be lacking on the rifle side however with only one 100 meter rifle position. We took one of the bays and there were several small groups practicing action pistol as well as what appeared to be a class being conducted.

Along with the G17 his buddies brought a PX4 (my first time shooting one since it is not on the Kalifornia roster and I WAS IMPRESSED), CZ Shadow, Colt Python .357, a S&W29 .44 Mag, and I even got to play with a Zastava M-21 (the standard Serbian 556 service rifle and the first time I have ever actually seen one in real life even if it was a semi-auto only PAP variant)!

One stupid peculiarity of Serbian gun laws is that you can only purchase ammo in the caliber of the guns you own and as silly as it sounds, if you own a .357 magnum, you can NOT buy .38 special ammunition. Thus my hands are a little sorer than they are used to after a range day.

The take away was that while the initial hurdles to purchase a firearm in Serbia are more onerous than in Kalifornia, once you are approved - you have far more freedom of choice than in Kalifornia and don’t have to screw around with bullet buttons and fin grips. It was also refreshing to see the shooting culture alive and well in a foreign land.

[BobM]

The “fade back” exercise at the beginning of the week long Handgun Combatives course. I shot my M&P CORE/ACRO with the Norma 124 grain ammo. Three rounds each at 5,10,15, 25 yards. I was pleasantly surprised to see the target after the 25 yard shooting.(the left one is mine)

[Irelander]

Newly acquired XD-E 3.8 9mm worked over by LTT. My first traditional double action pistol. I'm still getting used to the different trigger pills. Picture showing size compared to my P2000SK.

[BobM]

Friday morning fade back, 5-25 yards, along with a drill on the dot at 5 yards. I shot around 1000-1200 rounds of the Norma 124 without issue.

[TheNewbie]

Not “today” but yesterday my brother in law took me to the range to shoot his Glock 17. Normally no big deal but I’m in Belgrade Serbia.

I’ve been making regular trips to the Balkans for the past 15 plus years but this was the first time I was able to coordinate a range trip. This was fascinating for me for a couple reasons. First it gave me some “bro time” with my BiL and his friends and second gave me a good opportunity to see what the shooting culture in a former communist European country was like.

The range he took me too is located south of Belgrade in the hills by a quarry. The name is Alpha Shooting Range, and based on Trip Advisor it seems that quite a few people from restricted countries enjoy coming out and shooting (firearm tourism if you will). It was a surprisingly good complex with multiple shooting bays for action pistol and rifle use, it seemed to be lacking on the rifle side however with only one 100 meter rifle position. We took one of the bays and there were several small groups practicing action pistol as well as what appeared to be a class being conducted.

Along with the G17 his buddies brought a PX4 (my first time shooting one since it is not on the Kalifornia roster and I WAS IMPRESSED), CZ Shadow, Colt Python .357, a S&W29 .44 Mag, and I even got to play with a Zastava M-21 (the standard Serbian 556 service rifle and the first time I have ever actually seen one in real life even if it was a semi-auto only PAP variant)!

One stupid peculiarity of Serbian gun laws is that you can only purchase ammo in the caliber of the guns you own and as silly as it sounds, if you own a .357 magnum, you can NOT buy .38 special ammunition. Thus my hands are a little sorer than they are used to after a range day.

The take away was that while the initial hurdles to purchase a firearm in Serbia are more onerous than in Kalifornia, once you are approved - you have far more freedom of choice than in Kalifornia and don’t have to screw around with bullet buttons and fin grips. It was also refreshing to see the shooting culture alive and well in a foreign land.

What did you think of the M-21?


In Serbia, is there CCW? Accepted use of firearms for home defense?

[AzShooter]

Testing out some Norma Tac 22 in my S&W 617 and my Volquartsen Black Mamba. Both guns seem to like this ammo giving me 100% reliability and some very good groups.

My goal is to find alternate ammo that will shoot in my revolver and let me not have to clean my cylinders during an entire Steel Challenge Match. That's 39 reloads. Tac 22 lets me get 10 reloads before I take my electric drill with brush and clean up the gun. I think I can live with that when my current match ammo is gone.

I had no problems with the Mamba and after shooting it was easy to clean.

[Suvorov]

What did you think of the M-21?


In Serbia, is there CCW? Accepted use of firearms for home defense?

The M-21 was nice. Good basic AK based .223. Thought it was a Beryl at first. Basically very little recoil as the gun is pretty heavy like a Galil. Rear sight has been moved back but so has the front sight so sight radius is about the same. Didn't get enough time with it to make any real conclusion. I'm told that the rear sight is not as stable as you would like (but does connect to the receiver and not simply the dust cover like on the Valmet) and it didn't seem to me that the handguard rails would hold zero for use with lasers, but that is all speculation.

CCW is very rare and self defense laws I'm told are typical of Europe (not good). While there is a high rate of civilian gun ownership it seem the "sporting" attitude remains the default (at least until the Germans occupy them again).

[Exiledviking]

Shot the local match yesterday. It was a 6 plate rack match shot at 10, 15, 20, and 25 yards.
8" plates with only one round allowed per plate and a time limit of 6 seconds at 10 yards, 8 seconds at 15, 10 seconds at 20, and 12 seconds at 25 yards.

Shot my best with the pistol, using a 1911 with 508T, to date. 43 plates hit out of 48.

Then switched to the .22LR rifle with an Aimpoint and hit 44 out of 48 at 20 yards, 25, 30, and 35 yards. I've done better in the past at 46 out of 48, but considering that I hadn't fired anything for 7 weeks I was pleased.
Those 8" plates sure shrink once you get out beyond 20 yards.

[SecondsCount]

I started off Father's Day with a little early morning shooting. The wind was tough on the 223AI but I was able to get 5/5 headshots on the silhouette at 545 yards and 3/6 on the 14" square at 1000.

The guy I was shooting with has a new rifle in 30-338, basically a 338 Lapua necked down to .30, and the shoulder angle moved forward. Loaded with 230 grain Bergers at 3000FPS, it didn't seem to care about the wind. Here are 3 shots on the 545 steel circle, he shot the low middle, I shot the one closest to the middle, and another guy shot the 3rd.



Amazingly consistent. He continued on and rang the steel at 1000.

[Whiskey_Bravo]

Put a box of Speer Gold Dot 135gr +P rounds through my newly acquired S&W 342 Ti today. It was not the most pleasant of experiences. Especially with the Uncle Mike's boot grips that don't offer any backstrap coverage.

I switched to Federal Premium 148gr wadcutters after this. While the wadcutters were far more pleasant to shoot, I found that the Gold Dots actually grouped better for me. This was surprising given how much more uncomfortable they were to shoot. Makes me think that the Gold Dots will be the better option in this gun as it is a "buy time" gun for me primarily.


Also got some range time with this new addition. I've talked a lot of shit about SIG so it was tough buying into this gun. But man, it's a shooter. No question about it. Vetting this new P365XL. 100 rounds of Federal 115gr and another 50 rounds of Federal HST 147gr.