SA-35 first range trip

Just back from another trip to the range. I put another 150 flawless rounds through it:




I’m using cheap Magtech range ammo. I’ve now put well over 500 rounds through it without a hint of a malfunction. I have yet to so much as wipe it down, much less field strip and clean it. It seems to be rather like an AK-47, almost relentlessly reliable. It also boasts AK-47 levels of accuracy, meaning nowhere near as good as my various target 1911s, but certainly adequate for its intended purpose. (I have to wonder if it would respond to premium ammo?)

My Lyman trigger pull gauge says 4 lbs 15 oz, but it’s crisp and perfect, MUCH better than any original High Power I’ve ever seen. I’m very happy.

Just got back from another range trip with the SA-35.



I’ve now put well over 600 rounds through it without a single jam or malfunction of any kind. In fact, after my initial preparation (field stripping, cleaning and oiling) when I first got it, I haven’t done a thing to it. I haven’t cleaned it or lubricated it, because it’s been running fine. I’m going to clean it today, just for the fun of it.

The trigger pull is exceptional for a service gun, and accuracy is adequate (not great, not terrible). Typically I have a tendency to string my shots vertically, but today my best group featured a lot of horizontal deviation, all attributable to my own errors:



This was offhand, at 15 yards. I managed to get less hammer bite this time for some reason too.

I really like this thing. I just need to get better with it….

Voltaire said:

Thanks for that. From all the information we are feed it was like there is a shooting range on every street corner or any vacant paddock. So if one carries and wished to practice this is difficult, or just in some states?

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That sounds more like a cultural question than an SA-35 question but I’m happy to answer. Remember that the USA is massive, and very culturally diverse. In developed areas, sometimes people have to drive great distances to get to a shooting range. These are businesses which have to adhere to strict standards, for insurance purposes if nothing else. Safety is paramount and the shooters are very regulated. Any clowning around will see them ejected immediately.

There are also less-regulated ranges and shooting clubs in very rural areas. I lived in a small town in Oklahoma many years ago, and they had a shooting club north of town that had covered benches, target stands and metallic silhouettes at various ranges (during the heyday of that sport). In exchange for your (very modest) annual membership dues, you got the combination to the lock on the gate. You would drive ten miles out of town, much of it on dirt roads, before arriving at the gate which allowed access to the property. In the year that I lived there, I shot there almost every week and I only ever saw a single other person there, and only one time. The rest of the times I was there completely alone.

It must be remembered that there is plenty of open land once one leaves the built-up urban areas, and it’s common for people to drive out to the desert or the forest or the swamp or whatever remote geographical feature happens to be relatively close by, and then just blast away.

I have a friend who has a 30-acre ranch about 15 minutes away from me. We are working together to build a shooting range on his property, which is on county land, outside the city limits, and thus unregulated.

So to answer your question, one’s proximity to a shooting range is inversely proportional to one’s proximity to an urban center, and the more rural you get, the less restrictions you will encounter.

I am surprised. I live in Melbourne Australia and the city is some (approx) 5 million people. I live just out of the City some 10 miles and within 20-25 miles from my house there are some 15 pistol ranges and a few rifle ranges. Pistol ranges all allow holster shooting and practice. One can shoot on a range built for competitions and if not in use it is yours if you are a member or just someone with a license that's ok. Competitions, most ranges hold weekly or or Bi weekly and we all get many competitors. Or some when ranges not in use they ring a club and with friends shoot their own match.