Finally... A Day At The Range

Ah yes, a range day on a beautiful sunny Friday that I am off and no one else is at the range. As usual, I carry a firearm that I will not shoot, but for protection of myself and my firearms. I call it my "fuck around and find out" gun. For Friday's outing, I chose my Ruger GP-161 openly carried in my "*Wyoming Deputy Sheriff rig." Ammo was Hornady Critical Defense 125 grain .357 Magnum and included a pair of HKS speedloaders. I will describe the firearms in vague descriptions so no one has access to an actual "list" of what I may or may not own, or perhaps I just borrowed for the day.

A semi-auto .22:LR

This particular rifle was the first real gun I bought over 40 years ago at age 18 from KMart (remember those days when stores like KMart had an entire gun department in Sporting Goods?) I think I paid $59.95 for it. It has consumed thousands of rounds and the only problem was a broken extractor. The manufacturer (back when they were a stand-alone manufacturer not a subsidiary) sent me a new extractor AND and new style bolt. That was at least 25 years ago and the gun has been fine ever since, just not shot as much as it used to. I had put a Fiberforce skeleton stock on it, but wanted to go back to original. The eye relief on the scope changed, so I wanted to re-zero it. I sight in all my .22's for 50 yards which IMHO is practical. Sure, I can lob rounds out to 100 yards, but I normally don't.

My best effort. Minute of squirrel, minus the 6 o'clock flyer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since this is a forty one year old rifle, it has the original magazine capacity of 18. But for my purposes on this outing I only loaded 10 each time. The trigger pull is more than I remember, and with a little work on trigger control I could really tighten up that group. Also, I need to go for an eye exam and new glasses as you'll see on the next evolution.

A bolt-action .22LR

This was a 1947 vintage single shot bolt action rifle fitted with a Williams peep sight. It has a 25" long barrel and has a split in the stock. The gun was a mess the first time I saw it but it cleaned up really well. The split is minor in the butt stock on the right side, but does not affect the way it shoots. And it shoots way better than I can make it until I get new glasses. This would be a fun gun for silhouette shooting.

 

 

Since the Williams sight is kind of a pain to adjust, I will wait until I get new glasses before fine tuning it. The stringing across once again is trigger control on my part.

 

A semi-auto U.S. mil-surp

Oh yeah! A 30 caliber WWII battle rifle that now is properly sighted for 200 yards. The basic procedure is to shoot a group at 25 yards to "get on paper at 200." Pictured below is at 25 yards.  Once zeroed at 200 I whacked the 12" steel gong consistently.

The low one was the first shot. One click up and I was in the red.

 

I have spent more time at my new club since December, shooting, pulling work details, and working events than I did in the last five years of my previous club. Of course, the main reason is the facility is only a few miles from home, not 20.

*My "Wyoming Deputy Sheriff Rig" consists of a Bianchi thumb-break holster, a Bianchi dual speedloader carrier, a carabiner for my keys, all carried on a Wilderness Tactical 1.75" belt. I think it is pretty bad-ass, is very comfortable, and works really well for such a large handgun.

This is what I normally wear hiking in the woods or out walking the dog. I use a different ammo, Federal 158 grain JFP for bear or other creatures. It will certainly fuck up the two-legged kind as well.