Kid in a Candy Store

I recently had a chance to sample a fellow’s gun collection on a beautiful bit of private land. The fall colors were at their peak, and the air was cool with a slight mist. We had several guns to try out and more than enough ammo. The milk jugs never had a chance.

Here are the guns and some brief impressions:

Beretta Storm CX4, .45ACP—A light, polymer, semi-auto carbine with a futuristic look. Though initially skeptical of such an “attention-seeking” gun, I found it to be very accurate, quick-handling and comfortable to shoot. Its squared post front sight and large aperture rear sight made double-tapping four milk jugs in quick succession easy. The only downside is that the factory magazines take only 8 rounds, but it is a .45. The 9mm or .40S&W variants would have a larger capacity.

Bushmaster AR-15 type, .223/5.56mm—There are almost unlimited variations on the AR-15 platform. This model featured a full stock, fixed handle, iron sights only and a 20 inch heavy barrel. I did not shoot from a bench but found this to be very accurate. Because of its heavy barrel, though, it was a little front-heavy. I would’ve preferred this with a traditional rifle scope or red dot scope to maximize the benefits of the barrel. Recoil was negligible, and it felt a bit like shooting an air gun—partly because of the lightweight plastic construction and partly because of the springy sound of the recoil buffer that is heard through the stock with every shot. Overall a fun gun.

Ruger GP100 .357Mag. revolver—Very handsome gun with a stainless frame and nice rubber grips with wood inlays. I didn’t spend a great deal of time with this one, because I’d tried a .357 revolver before. It was interesting to see the great difference in point of impact between .357s and .38s fired through the same gun. The muzzle blast was not a problem as I was shooting outdoors. Good thing to note—a gun that’s intimidating indoors may be quite manageable in open.

Smith & Wesson .40S&W Scandium autoloader—Smith & Wesson makes a number of Scandium alloy guns. They’re generally much lighter than their steel counterparts and more expensive. As light as a Glock, I suspect, this slim gun shot quite well. Once I got a feel for it, I was able to do respectable groups, even shooting one-handed. Though recoil's supposed to be worse than a 9mm, the fact that I was shooting Magnums the rest of the time made this one seem quite tame, even in the lightweight frame.

Smith & Wesson Mountain Gun .41Mag. revolver—Ba-boom! This unusual cartridge was designed to fill the gap between the .357 Magnum and the .44 Magnum. Though the recoil would be less than a .44Mag. (which was part of the aim), it still generates twice the recoil of a .357Mag. in guns of equivalent weight and is adequate for hunting many large game animals. This gun was a pleasure to shoot. Big but comfortable, it had nice rubber grips. You have to hang on to it but, with a firm grip, it simply flips up a few inches and is easy to get back on target. Makes me curious to try the .44Mag. now—just not indoors.

Thankfully, I didn't embarass myself. (Or so I believe. I may well be the butt of jokes for weeks to come for some gaff that escaped me.) I have a standing offer to continue exploring this gun collection and enjoying this park-like space and look forward to taking advantage of it. I wish you’d been there! I truly mean it.