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Stopped in a local gun shop I hadn't visited before today. They didn't have a used Hi Power and they weren''t busy, so we just shot the shjt about guns in general.
I forget how we ended up there, but the fellow behind the counter mentioned that "today's .357 magnum ammo is nowhere near as powerful as it was originally." This got my interest because I'd sort of noticed that subconsciously already without doing any research at all.
My theory was that I was a lean, mean 160 lb beanpole when I shot a S&W 686 in 1982. I'd been shooting for years already, but that was my first big pistol so it was a real attention-getter with magnum rounds. Lots of recoil and noticeably loud even with earplugs.
Fast forward 35+ years, and magnum rounds seem nowhere near as awe-inspiring as they once were. I guess I had rationalized all of it thusly:
- Hearing loss and tinnitus sort of dull everything.
- I use earplugs and deadphones now.
- I've shot bigger pistols over the decades - some that I never care to try again.
- I've added 40-50 pounds of studly/marbled mass.
- I know how to shoot now.
But the more I think about what the gun shop owner told me, the more I'm thinking maybe it's the ammo.
I forget how we ended up there, but the fellow behind the counter mentioned that "today's .357 magnum ammo is nowhere near as powerful as it was originally." This got my interest because I'd sort of noticed that subconsciously already without doing any research at all.
My theory was that I was a lean, mean 160 lb beanpole when I shot a S&W 686 in 1982. I'd been shooting for years already, but that was my first big pistol so it was a real attention-getter with magnum rounds. Lots of recoil and noticeably loud even with earplugs.
Fast forward 35+ years, and magnum rounds seem nowhere near as awe-inspiring as they once were. I guess I had rationalized all of it thusly:
- Hearing loss and tinnitus sort of dull everything.
- I use earplugs and deadphones now.
- I've shot bigger pistols over the decades - some that I never care to try again.
- I've added 40-50 pounds of studly/marbled mass.
- I know how to shoot now.
But the more I think about what the gun shop owner told me, the more I'm thinking maybe it's the ammo.
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