Range Report Re: .41 Mag Night Guard

[madbadger]

I had some exceptional luck with an online auction bid last week, and picked it up at my FFL last night. No range results yet, but it did go with me on my evening walk. A quick bore-swab, four Tuff-strips of 210 JHP's and we were on our way at dusk.

Half of my route is on our pasture and just happens to have a high creek bank, so I squared up and squeezed. Now I'm no hardcore superthumper shooter, but the stuff I've read about these (and the other Scandium framed lightweights) had me anxious to see for myself. Uhmm.....what's the big deal? Last thing I read in the press about the Night Guard the writer said it was like being whacked in the palm with a baseball bat. I don't want to question his manhood, but c'mon..... a baseball bat?!?! I can't imagine what Elmer would have to say about a comment like that. It was easily manageable one handed SA and/or DA.

I dunno, maybe the PD series with titanium cylinders is a completely different story, but the Night Guards IMO are being over-hyped as hard to manage.

I'll do a range report and - contrary to what I thought - will have no hesitance to put 250's or see what wood stocks are like. Granted, those may be different results, but from the press I've read I thought doing so would result in whimpers of pain.....I'll let you know.

This NG runs 10 ounces less (empty) than my M58. And while I haven't - yet - shoot them side by side, my recollection is that the recoil is different but in no way objectionable.

[brettov]

Thats a very nice revolver . I think recoil gets blown out of proportion alot . I can shoot a 300WM with 180grn all day long and most people I know think they kick to hard . But Two shots of 7mm mag and I start to flinch . I guess different types of recoil are precieved differently . I think that Night Gaurd would be a splendid piece to carry .

[steveb]

Pretty is, as pretty does. That gal looks like she's all business ! steve b

[maxcactus]

If we're thinking of the same article (a letter from Randy Garrett in this month's Amer. Hadgunner ) the writer was referring to the .44 Mag NG loaded with Garrett Ctg's Max loads - a 310gr lead @ 1300+ fps. Perhaps that accounts for some of the difference in recoil although I know the .41 Mag is nothing to sneeze at recoil-wise. Either way, that .44 Mag load sounds like all the fun I want to have, even in a full-weight steel gun. I think Garrett's point was that control and velocity can suffer with such lightweight, short bbl guns loaded with full power heavyweight loads. I personally wouldn't feed undergunned with that piece you have. But you're certainly right about recoil perception - it sure is subjective.


By the way, what are those pieces of metal the NG resting on? Portions of a giant drill?

Max.

[madbadger]

Those are a couple screw components out of a twin-screw extruder. We sell extrusion systems to the food & pet food producers. These are the small ones for R&D, and they get stacked along on an 8 foot shaft and slid inside a barrel. The production size machines are the size of a couple Chevy Suburbans - one on all four & the other standing on a bumper. Fun stuff.

The photos turned out pretty good I thought! Not bad for using the camera feature on my BlackBerry in my office.

Your recollection of the article is no doubt better than mine, and, well, yes, frankly, I'd rather not shoot Garrett heavies out of a NG either. Corrected comments like this - frequent for me - make me appreciate the amount of back-checking that authors like Mr. Taffin must do before they commit words to paper and ether.

[Fowler]

I have picked these up at the pushers a few times, they feel pretty good, although I HATE the grips on them. I think the 44mag running nothing but 44 specials, or the 45 acp would be just the ticket for a double action self defense gun.

How did it shoot to the sights? With them being fixed I think the sights will dictate the load..

[robl]

Bill, those old compacs handle recoil VERY WELL. I like those Night Guards won't buy until they do away with the scratch.

[madbadger]

Finally getting a chance to upload a range report.

These were fired a couple weeks ago - when our Heat Index was only in the high 90's (115 today...).

Targets shown were shot at 15 yards BoGEoK (Butt on Ground, Elbows on Knees). PoA was 6 o'clock on the dot in all cases. Sun was strong over my right shoulder at 5 p.m.

Top target, Winchester factory 210 JHP
Bottom target, 215 SWC, 8.5 grain Unique


12 rounds, 250 Cast Perf WFNGC, 18 grains Lil' Gun
Both the highest and lowest shots were shots 10 & 12 and I was getting twitchy.......

[ezekiel38]

That lightweight NG shoots better than I would have expected from such a light gun and the heavy loads.

No problem with bullet jump?

[madbadger]

No problem. On the first cylinder I checked and noticed no jump. Haven't checked since then.

[ezekiel38]

Frankly I'm surprised that a lightweight weapon will hold that well with a healthy magnum load going off. Good shooting, I will have to reassess my need for a Nightguard.

Zeke