Dan Galusha, Shoot N Plink, Going Low with a Buck Mark

GOING LOW WITH A BUCK MARK

This is sort of a follow up to the previous review of the Browning Buck Mark. In that article it was stated that the Buck Mark should fire lower velocity ammunition, but, although I did fire some and said it would work, it had not been tested as thoroughly as I wished. So, after readers and viewers responded with wanting to know more of how it would work I decided to give it a better test, along with seeing which lower velocity would do best on shooting and accuracy.

For testing I used three different velocities – Aguila Standard 1140 fps, CCI Standard 1070 fps and CCI Quiet 710 fps. All were shot at three similar targets printed on the same page, and at a distance of 10 meters. One 10 round magazine was fired with each different ammunition.

The first fired was the Aguila Standard. All rounds fired and cycled through just like the higher velocity. Accuracy wasn’t too bad, with all shots landing within the 4-inch target, and 4 hitting the 2-inch center area, but none in the ½-inch bullseye.

CCI Standard was next. It fired and cycled just like the Aguila, but was more accurate. All shots fell within a 3-inch area, with 7 of the 10 landing in the middle 2 inches, and two of those hitting the center ½-inch bullseye.

The final test went as I thought. The CCI Quiet, with a 710 velocity, did not cycle. Because of this I tested the accuracy by manually cycling it by pulling the slide back after every round. All rounds did fire. As for the accuracy part of the test, it was a little better than the Aguila, but not quite as good as the CCI Standard. All ten shots fell within the 4-inch target, with 5 hitting the 2-inch center, and 1 touching the edge of the ½-inch bullseye.

Bottom line on what was tested shows the CCI Standard 1070 fps to be the best choice. However, there are a few others on the market. A couple that I think will do well will be Eley’s Contact and Action models both of which have an advertised velocity of 1090 fps.

While the Buck Mark will shoot the lower velocity, which is great, it is best to break it in with the higher velocities of 1200 fps and over. In fact, I’ve been having very good luck with this gun, and the 1911-22 Grey, using Federal HV Match and Hunter Match ammo that have velocities of 1200 fps, Remington Thunderbolt with a velocity of 1255 fps, and CCI Mini Mag with a velocity of 1260 fps.

The Buck Mark is a great target pistol, and I’m anxious to some day try out its bigger brother, the Buck Mark Rifle in the Sporter model. I’m guessing from the performance of the pistol, that it will be a super target rifle.

Next up for the Buck Mark pistol will be a Buck Mark Reflex Sight that I have recently mounted and sighted in. I’ll be testing it with the Eley ammo, and be able to fill you all in on the results from both products.

If interested in seeing a video on testing in this article go to the Dan’s Fish ‘N’ Tales® You Tube channel at www.youtube.com/ dansfishntales, or the Shoot ‘N’ Plink™ Facebook page at www.facebook.com/shootnplink.

Remember, most semi-auto guns want higher velocity ammo. Fortunately, the Browning Buck Mark is one of those “rare animals” that will go lower similar to the Ruger 10/22 Compact. However, that will be yet another article.

If there are any questions stop by the Dan’s Fish ‘N’ Tales® website where there is a Shoot ‘N’ Plink™ page, at www. dansfishntales.com/shootnplink, as well as the above-mentioned Facebook page.

Until next time, shoot safe and have a great day of plinking.

The Browning Buck Mark Practical fired with 3 lower velocity ammunitions of Aguila 1140 fps, CCI 1070 fps and CCI 710 fps.