Battling handguns
By MARJ LAW
It’s not like we’re competitive or anything. Joe and I just like target practice. So, when I asked him what he planned to shoot on Wednesday morning at the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office range, Joe suggested we play a game of Battleship.
“Oh, so we’re going to shoot the ships on the target.” I’m game. Too bad I left my long-barreled handgun at home. That’s the bad news. The good news is that my Kimber R7 Mako with the green (red) dot reflex sight is in the back of the car.
“Yes. You get your target, and I’ll get mine. We are shooting 9mm handguns. We’ll each shoot 26 times on our targets. Then we’ll see who sank the most ships. I bet my Springfield Ronin will beat your Mako, even if you do have a green dot sight. We both know the sight will give you a tremendous advantage.”
“Wait a minute. You didn’t say this was a competition,” I complain.
“Afraid your striker-fired gun won’t compare with my hammer-fired Ronin?”
Yes, my Kimber Mako is indeed a striker-fired gun. In fact, it’s the first striker-fired gun made by Kimber. In the past, Kimber has long been known for its 1911-style handguns, and is fiercely venerated by handgun lovers everywhere. Just say the word “Kimber,” and ears will perk up and swivel immediately.
You’d think just the name Kimber would have this gun selling off the shelves like the proverbial hotcakes, and reports on this gun are very favorable.
“The R7 MAKO is Kimber’s first polymer-framed, striker-fired, high-capacity, subcompact handgun,” says Jay Langston on the Truth about Guns. He goes on to report that the “Kimber R7 Mako ran like a sewing machine.”
But, sadly you can’t teach old dawgs new tricks.
Gun misogynists.
And I’m chagrinned to say that Joe is one of them. “It’s a striker-fired gun?” he’ll scoff. “It will never have a trigger like the 1911-styled hammer guns.”
So, I’m planning on comparing my Kimber Mako with Joe’s Springfield Ronin.
Now, just a bit of history. Or herstory. I saw the Ronin first and immediately liked it because that barrel is thick thick thick. And it seats really well in the web of my hand because it’s rather heavy. Balance is perfect.
But somewhere in the past, I wanted a different handgun and traded with Joe: the other gun for Joe’s interest in the Ronin. Sometimes I rue the day…
Let’s make sure we have an accurate comparison. Yes, my Kimber has a green red dot reflex sight. I like it a lot. Placing a dot on the target is much easier than aligning two rear sights to a front sight. I will agree that’s an advantage.
No safety? To me, that’s an advantage. If Mr. Bad has just broken the door down, I don’t want to wonder if the safety is in the correct position.
The Mako fits well in my hand. With the red dot, it weighs 22 ounces. Barrel length is 3.37 inches. Very nice balance.
The Ronin has a red fiber optic front sight. It’s quite easy to see. It weighs 30 ounces: substantially more than my Mako. With its weight, it sure does seat well in my hand. Sits well in Joe’s hand, too. Like I said of the Mako: great balance.
Ronin has a beavertail grip safety. It’s large and deep and doesn’t get in the way of shooting. There’s a thumb safety too. In times of peril, you have to remember: is the safety engaged or not?
Barrel in the Ronin is 4.25 inches. Generally, the longer the barrel, the more accurate. Ronin’s barrel is almost an inch longer than the Mako’s.
Hm. Maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to agree to competition.
The Battleship targets have five ships. One ship has one spot to sink, another ship has two spots, the third has three spots, the fourth has four spots and the largest ship has six spots. You have to shoot a round into all these spots to “sink” ships. So, to get all ships, we have to shoot a total of 16 shots into those spots. We agree that we will shoot 26 shots altogether to try to sink the ships.
Simple, right?
We played this game about 10 years ago. We had no problems then. It’s different today. Why is that reflex sight dot wiggling so much? Was there too much caffeine in our coffee? Is the wind blowing too hard? Something just isn’t the same. I can’t believe these targets are 10 years old.
Anyway, Joe had the same coffee, and the wind is blowing the same for him too.
We shoot.
Dang.
I used to be so much better at this.
After the agreed-on 26 shots, I gaze at my target. It doesn’t look right. It appears that I haven’t sunk any of Joe’s ships. Time to call “cold!” so we can go downrange and inspect the targets up close. If we even touch one of the spots on a ship, it counts.
We walk downrange.
There’s something wrong with my target. Only six rounds have hit ships! Let’s go look at Joe’s target. One, two, three… He hit eight rounds into my ships! And he sank one of them. Drat.
I guess we’re not like fine wine. We have not improved with age. Drat again.
Next time, I’ll be shooting with a heavier handgun. One that has a longer barrel. One that has a huge beavertail. And I won’t have coffee first.
But I’ll keep the red dot sight.
However, remember that if you’re protecting your life, you’re not shooting at a one-inch spot. You shoot toward the center mass, and that’s good. You need to be able to stop the threat, if that threat wants to end your life or do you grievous harm.
Fine tuning is for competition.
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.