For the Love of Plinking

[tankpondman]

I suppose "plinking" is with .22 or less??

9mm and .38spl is considered "shooting" ???

[lwt16]

One of my earliest memories of any sort of handgun shooting was mid 1970s....I had to be at least 6 or 7 years old....and my three uncles all bought H&R .22 revolvers in double action and they resembled Colt single actions. They all bought themselves leather cowboy rig holsters/belts and the four of us all took off down a dirt road near my Grandpa's house in Dale county. There was a creek down there where we could shoot and be miles away from other houses.

We got down there and they started blasting away at tin cans and other debris....digging into those 100 round plastic containers nine rounds at a time to freshen up their cylinders. One of them explained sight pic and alignment to me, handed me the loaded wheelgun, and off I went.

We weren't far from the can but I either busted a hole in it or made it dance......all 9 times. They were pretty impressed and started making the targets smaller and smaller for me. I had a bb rifle my parents had bought me but this was my first handgun experience. I was SUPER hooked on pistols now and begged for more of the little rounds to which they obliged.

My uncle David was a chain smoker of Salems so he took a cigarette and propped it up in a crack in the little, wooden bridge we were on and said "Here ya go, Deadeye........betcha can't hit that!" I don't remember if it was 2 or 3 shots but after that, he was one smoke short as it flew off into the water. Finally, they were setting up matches and I managed to hit one or two of those. It was only the width of the bridge......one wide lane......but they were not able to do as well.

They sent me home full of fire wanting my own revolver but that wasn't going to happen for some time.

Few years later, Uncle David managed to shoot himself in the leg quick drawing that same H&R 9 shot rimfire. "THAT GUN JUST WENT OFF AND SHOT ME IN THE LEG!!!" Uncle David drove himself to the hospital and got patched up. David was too proud of a man to admit it but I think Grandpa took his cowboy gun away from him and it laid in a draw for many years........until my Aunt Janice got divorced and needed something for "protection."

Now flashback to about mid to late 1980s......Aunt Janice, my mother and me went shooting after my mother bought us a Smith 686 six inch .357. Aunt Janice somehow managed to shoot her Monte Carlo "unloading" the H&R.

"THAT GUN JUST GOES OFF ON IT'S OWN!!!! THIS IS THE SECOND TIME!!"

I was 16 years old and convinced them to give it to me. My mother agreed and I drove straight to town and bought all the bricks of .22 I could afford.

I don't know how many bricks, boxes, and cases I ran through that little cowboy gun but it was a METRIC TON of .22 cartridges. Thousands and thousands of rounds plinking at pretty much everything in sight on my Grandpa's farm that he bought. Snakes, birds, cans, rats, etc........many fell to it's song. I even took it to shop/AG class one week to strip and re-finish the wooden grips and the AG teacher let us all dry fire it out back of the shop. Try that in high school nowadays.

Finally one day, I was firing it double action and something broke inside. I looked down at the worn gun.......heartbroken. I'm not sure what became of that little gun but I miss it to this dang day. Lots of good memories with that little H&R.

I've got a bunch of rimfires. Got 5000 rounds of cartridges too. May take a week off soon and just shoot rimfires every single day. Re-live my youthful, carefree times and just relax for a spell.

Regards.

[farscott]

One of my earliest memories of any sort of handgun shooting was mid 1970s....I had to be at least 6 or 7 years old....and my three uncles all bought H&R .22 revolvers in double action and they resembled Colt single actions. They all bought themselves leather cowboy rig holsters/belts and the four of us all took off down a dirt road near my Grandpa's house in Dale county. There was a creek down there where we could shoot and be miles away from other houses.

We got down there and they started blasting away at tin cans and other debris....digging into those 100 round plastic containers nine rounds at a time to freshen up their cylinders. One of them explained sight pic and alignment to me, handed me the loaded wheelgun, and off I went.

We weren't far from the can but I either busted a hole in it or made it dance......all 9 times. They were pretty impressed and started making the targets smaller and smaller for me. I had a bb rifle my parents had bought me but this was my first handgun experience. I was SUPER hooked on pistols now and begged for more of the little rounds to which they obliged.

My uncle David was a chain smoker of Salems so he took a cigarette and propped it up in a crack in the little, wooden bridge we were on and said "Here ya go, Deadeye........betcha can't hit that!" I don't remember if it was 2 or 3 shots but after that, he was one smoke short as it flew off into the water. Finally, they were setting up matches and I managed to hit one or two of those. It was only the width of the bridge......one wide lane......but they were not able to do as well.

They sent me home full of fire wanting my own revolver but that wasn't going to happen for some time.

Few years later, Uncle David managed to shoot himself in the leg quick drawing that same H&R 9 shot rimfire. "THAT GUN JUST WENT OFF AND SHOT ME IN THE LEG!!!" Uncle David drove himself to the hospital and got patched up. David was too proud of a man to admit it but I think Grandpa took his cowboy gun away from him and it laid in a draw for many years........until my Aunt Janice got divorced and needed something for "protection."

Now flashback to about mid to late 1980s......Aunt Janice, my mother and me went shooting after my mother bought us a Smith 686 six inch .357. Aunt Janice somehow managed to shoot her Monte Carlo "unloading" the H&R.

"THAT GUN JUST GOES OFF ON IT'S OWN!!!! THIS IS THE SECOND TIME!!"

I was 16 years old and convinced them to give it to me. My mother agreed and I drove straight to town and bought all the bricks of .22 I could afford.

I don't know how many bricks, boxes, and cases I ran through that little cowboy gun but it was a METRIC TON of .22 cartridges. Thousands and thousands of rounds plinking at pretty much everything in sight on my Grandpa's farm that he bought. Snakes, birds, cans, rats, etc........many fell to it's song. I even took it to shop/AG class one week to strip and re-finish the wooden grips and the AG teacher let us all dry fire it out back of the shop. Try that in high school nowadays.

Finally one day, I was firing it double action and something broke inside. I looked down at the worn gun.......heartbroken. I'm not sure what became of that little gun but I miss it to this dang day. Lots of good memories with that little H&R.

I've got a bunch of rimfires. Got 5000 rounds of cartridges too. May take a week off soon and just shoot rimfires every single day. Re-live my youthful, carefree times and just relax for a spell.

Regards.

That is a great story -- at least until your revolver had a part failure. When we have staycations or long weekends, I spend tons of time shooting rimfires in the backyard, so I get the idea of a week off for shooting rimfires.

Like you, I no longer have that first rimfire handgun. But I was able to get one just like it. I bet you could find one of those H&R revolvers and be transported back to a simpler time. That is what happens to me when I am shooting one of my Ruger Standards. And right now, old .22 guns are not selling. So deals can be found. And the hunt is fun.

[deputyG23]

My only .22 handgun at this time is a High Standard Double Nine that my wife's uncle won off of a punchboard game in the early '60s. It is going to my son as soon as he gets his MD HQL card.
I have over two .50 ammo cans full of .22 LR ammo and a few .22 rifles including a Henry I got for Christmas which I enjoy greatly.
Looking to get either a Buckmark or a G44. Can't decide on which yet. And some steel/reactive targets to set up at the outdoor pistol bay I shoot at.

[BillSWPA]

My only .22 handgun at this time is a High Standard Double Nine that my wife's uncle won off of a punchboard game in the early '60s. It is going to my son as soon as he gets his MD HQL card.
I have over two .50 ammo cans full of .22 LR ammo and a few .22 rifles including a Henry I got for Christmas which I enjoy greatly.
Looking to get either a Buckmark or a G44. Can't decide on which yet. And some steel/reactive targets to set up at the outdoor pistol bay I shoot at.

I have a Buckmark, and you cannot go wrong with one. I also have a G44 on the way, so hopefully once the local shooting range is allowed to re-open I will be able to comment on how they compare.


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[gato naranja]

H&R .22 revolvers in double action

I have nothing but fond memories of the H&R .22 revolvers I used to plink and woodswalk with, all of which belonged to someone else- maybe part of this rosy tint was because I never had to personally watch them break a part or wear themselves into senility. I still don't think there was any better fun/plinking gun made than a .22 revolver that is sized proportionally to the cartridge (IOW, not a heavy full size revolver), though I haven't owned one in many years.

[Baldanders]

I suppose "plinking" is with .22 or less??

9mm and .38spl is considered "shooting" ???

My personal definition of plinking: when you are shooting casually, for no particular point beyond pleasure, at non-living, non-scorable targets.

So it's a subset of "shooting."

Caliber is irrelevant. The one time I got to play with a .50AE DE, that was plinking. I sure wasn't shooting for score. Dug some nice furrows in the backyard.

[ECVMatt]

I love to plink with my friends and especailly my kids. We just relax and have fun. My kids love it so much that my daughter reported in the "Wellness" portion of her school day, "I love shooting my rifle in the desert; it relaxes me!". Of course I got a call, but I am a principal so I turned it around on them and shut it down pretty hard.

When I am with my kids, like others have stated it is all about fun. As soon as they are bored or wanted to move on to another activity we stop. Becuase the kids know that I won't make them stay longer than they have interest, they want to go all the time. It has worked out well.

Here is a picture of my daughter with her pink CZ Scout. My dad and I painted the stock for her and she loves it...or should I say loved it. I let her try the 10/22 and she quickly fell in love. After a couple of magazines she asked, "Do they make this one in pink daddy?". Little does she know that I already have one made for her....

Plinking = Good Times

[farscott]

I did the pink 10/22 for my wife and went whole hog. I pieced it together from two rifles. I found a pink Tactical Solutions X-Ring rifle (barreled action and extended magazine release are anodized pink) in a black Hogue stock. That anodized color is no longer offered by Tactical Solutions. I had already had bought a pair of the Ruger 10/22 VLEH pink rifles with the 16.25-inch blued cold hammer forged bull barrels that came with pink Hogue stocks on closeout from CDNN. That combination did not sell as the barrel, while short, is heavy with the rifle at just two ounces under seven pounds without rings, scope, or ammo. As I am frugal, cosmetics do not bother me, and I like the heavy, short barrel gun for work from the bench once I added a Kidd trigger kit. When I found the Tactical Solutions rifle, swapping the stocks made sense.

Then I found a Leupold M8-8X with an AO from the late 1980s whose anodizing has started to turn plum. The package is a fun, handy rifle that is easy to carry. It excels in the field due to the very light weight combined with enough scope to make hits easy. I have been known to shoot it myself as it both stands out and looks harmless while delivering tiny groups with that scope. My shooting buddies give me a hard time about the pink color, but I just laugh The only negative is that I have to remember to check the thread protector as it loosens under recoil.

Here it is before scoping.

[mtnbkr]

My personal definition of plinking: when you are shooting casually, for no particular point beyond pleasure, at non-living, non-scorable targets.

So it's a subset of "shooting."

Caliber is irrelevant. The one time I got to play with a .50AE DE, that was plinking. I sure wasn't shooting for score. Dug some nice furrows in the backyard.

That is exactly my definition as well. However, I would add that the targets must be reactive.

Chris