Smith & Wesson Model 69 .44 Magnum

So I hit another car for the first time ever back in January & it was in bodyshop for like 3 weeks.... until yesterday.  Progressive Insurance took their sweet time & one week of the stay at the bodyshop was just waiting for insurance adjuster approval.  They also used Non-Ford aftermarket bumper on my 2022 truck to save couple of bucks.  Not impressed with Progressive, but anywho, I was happy to finally get my pickup back.  I've been dying to go to the woods & do some plinking.  I also wanted to test out my new .44 Magnum.  I'm into 9mm & .45ACP typically & this was my first "hand cannon" caliber.  Been wanting .357 Magnum for long time, but I was like why not go big?  😚

So Friday morning.  WTF.  I like snow, but not right now.  My favorite plinking spot is on the south side of the mountain range.  It's a lot more snow than I expected....

I didn't get the chance to take pics, but entrance into the service road had foot & half of snow, so I didn't even attempt to drive into it.  If there was that much snow at the bottom(and it's steep downhill into it), it was only going to get worse from there.  I turn around & try to cut thru to the northern side of the range:

Road closed. 😭

Finally I arrive at the Northern entrance of the mountain range after driving around for like 30 minutes.... It didn't look bad.  At first.  After getting stuck the first time, I was forced to put it in reverse to climb back down for I don't know tenth, eighth of a mile probably.  That's when I made a mistake of backing one side into a snowbank trying to turn it around.  This happened to be where there were three guys getting ready to do some shooting.  I tried to give them little space & I guess I went little too wide.  They actually helped me get unstuck & even offered to let me shoot next to them.  I saw another spot down the road, so I politely declined & thanked them for the help.

Finally my own spot:

Saw so many youtubers talking about how hard this gun recoils.  Smith & Wesson Model 69.  .44 Magnum on relatively lighter frame.  Slaps your hand so hard, etc., etc.  Honestly it wasn't that bad.  Yeah you feel it, but as long as you know what you are doing with high power pistols, you'll be fine.  I was relieved, because I was afraid I made a mistake of purchasing a gun that I'd be afraid to shoot. 😅 

Only bummer here was the snow.  It was so deep I could only take the target out to about 12 yards.  I didn't even bother with AR or P226 I had brought, but I got to shoot my first revolver & also my first .44 Magnum, so I was happy.  Out of ten rounds, I actually did miss one off the paper(8.5"x8.5").  Most of those were shot with double-action, so I'm not too worried about it.  I'll get better(probably lol).

Revolver reminds me of my childhood toy guns.  Very cool.  😍