Range Report - Beretta Cx4 Storm

I used to shoot a bit when I was a kid - nothing unusual about this, growing up in central Maine in the 1960s/70s. Then I kind of dropped it for years. A few years ago, I found Kim du Toit on Al Gore's Intarwebz, and it started coming back. Kim was even nice enough to post a new shooter report featuring #2 son. So this Range Report is a thanks to Kim for getting me back into the swing of things.

Kim, I'm sorry to say that today, I sucked.

#2 son came with me, and took a hankering to the Beretta Cx4 Storm, a fine-looking Evil Black Rifle (EBR). While I had lever gun action in mind (mmmmm ... Lever Gun!), I thought that shooting an EBR would be a fine Heller celebration. Besides, this one was chambered in 9mm, so it would be cheap shooty goodness.
Let's start with the good. It's handy, short, light. OK, so it's a carbine. Buttons are easily workable - mag release, safety, etc. Easy, easy, easy to use. While I was a bit surprised at the recoil (9mm euro-pellet in a carbine form, I was expecting none to speak of), it was really easy to shoot. Good gun for new shooters when they move up from a .22 rifle.

Now the bad. The trigger is really heavy, with no good break. I don't know if Beretta has a reputation for good triggers, but they didn't enhance it with this. However, the worst thing was the sights. I just couldn't keep this on target worth a darn.Five groups of 10 rounds, at 25 yards, off hand. First is shown in orange - only 4 shots hit the paper (at 25 yards!). I suck. #2 son is grinning at this point. Second group shown in blue. I'm really concentrating, and in my head I hear Col. Jeff Cooper whispering "the FRONT sight!" Better, actually got one in the ten ring, but still missed the dang paper with 2 shots. I'm really starting to hate the trigger, but I keep getting distracted because I can't decide if I hate the trigger more than the sights. And what the HECK was with that flyer? I suck. #2 son is really paying attention now, as he's kicking my butt, and his grin is from ear to ear.

I really take my time on the third group, in green. Not so bad, but I should be better than this at 25 yards. And this is s-l-o-w fire. Fourth group is yellow. WTF? It's way off again, except a couple "flyers" that make me look good. The fifth group is a mystery, as at this point I'm so flummoxed that we forget to swap targets, and I shoot at #2 son's. On, bother.As you can see, his grouping is kind of spread out, but he's giving Mr. Target a bad day - 15 out of 50 in the 9 ring or better. Even if you count my extra 10, that's 15 out of 60, but the way I was shooting, those X-Ring babies were all his.

So, what did we learn?

1. Ted didn't make friends with the Beretta Storm.
   
2. If the Terrorists attack, they'd better hope that this is all I have, as they'll be entirely safe.
   
3. Of course, if I have #2 son with me, I'll just hand it to him, and let him give them a bad day, center mass-wise.
4. I have GOT to do better than this next time, or Jay will laugh at me at the New England Meet, Greet, and Skeet gun blogger meet up. And Weer'd Beard will kick sand in my face. Oh, bother.

UPDATE 16 August 2008 13:25: Since Google is still leading people to this post, you might want to check out an updated post that discusses Beretta triggers. And take a look around while you're here.

UPDATE 26 November 2008 14:05: I went back to the range and tried again, with very different results. Updated Range Report is posted here.