Thought I had the .22 challenge tied up…Both divisions.
I came in third in the Iron Sights portion.
Next time. (Maybe….If I have as good a day as I had a few weeks ago)
I still had a good day with the scoped 10-22.
Now if I could only do it when there are, you know, monetary prizes….
Pickdog and YOF: those are some nice targets….
Am dealing with the aftermath of a windstorm we had here. 120+MPH winds. Lots of storm damage.
Cleanup of broken/uprooted trees will likely take weeks. Took a half day off work and cleaned trees away from houses for 6 hours so that the power company folks can work their magic to return the flow of electrons to the homes for fridges and freezers and AC devices…and lights and phone chargers and well pumps and entertainment boxes and such. But mostly AC. Chainsaws and a tractor to haul broken trees. I’d rather be running the tractor, but Midwest Chick drove and I handled the chains and saws and tree tongs.
And it had to be the hottest day of the year (so far). I drank a little over 1.5 gallons of assorted fluids in 6 hours and moved about 5 tons of wood. Literally. Gatorade is your friend in this heat and humidity, friends.
Dinner, bed and more tomorrow. If I can get out of bed.
Was D-Day.
You either understand, and know what to do, or you don’t.
Simple as that. If you don’t understand, then I feel sorry for you.
Over 400 people drive up to a VERY well signed and coned barricade on a closed road (due to storm damage), and enquire to the personnel manning it if they could make an exception just for them.
I mean, seriously. There is a lighted sign informing them that the road is closed 1/4 mile before the actual barricade, then 2 large yellow power company trucks (with flashing yellow lights), about 40 square feet of signage in yellow and red, then about 40 cones.
Yet people persist in driving up to the barricades just to see it the roadblock is really for everybody.
Makes one wonder.
Straight line winds damaged a LOT of homes and trees. Cleanup will likely take several days. I’d bet the affected area got 5 inches of rain in 30 minutes.
My business was damaged, and is running on a generator so we have limited power. Likely be a day or two before everyone (me included) gets power back.
But all in all, while some folks have some damage, there is at least something to be rebuilt, unlike other areas in the country. We were actually lucky that the damage was as small as it was.
It took 2 hours to go what is normally a 17 mile trip. Dodging trees and power lines and telephone wires and their associated poles which were blocking the roadways. And I nearly ran out of fuel for my truck..I was gonna fill it tomorrow. ..I almost had to break into my emergency 5 gallon can. Once again, I relearn the lesson that Murphy is always waiting to stick it to you. Don’t give the SOB the chance. Always prepare, always plan for him.
Who are women (and/or pussy-whipped/girly men) and who were so terribly offended by the (apparently) cute “ammo waitresses“….
If yer that offended that you have to whine talk about it online, then why did you continue to shoot free ammo and demo firearms instead of leaving? You could have made a point, you could have left in protest. But ya didn’t….Why not?
Thought so. Free is good isn’t it? Good enough to keep you there.
Now, respectfully, shut up about this.
(this post was approved by Midwest Chick, so stop thinking misogyny, OK?)
Here is a target from the range day with Og and friends.
This rifle, that I bought at the Nappannee gun show:
Savage 112 with a Weaver Classic scope.
Notice the two distinct groups: It seems that after 5 shots, things move a bit and the point of impact changes (I’ll take credit for the flyers). This was observed over several targets, so I find it hard to believe that the change in point of impact is all mine….I’m gonna remove the action from the stock and see if there is a place where it binds on the barrel somewhere. There is no other reason for that much POI change with that heavy of a barrel.
Having said that, I believe most of the group(s) size is mine. EVERY group has at least one outlier.
Even with that, however, there is no reason that this rifle should shoot this large of a group. Even shooting Lake City ammo and not the load worked up for this rifle by the previous owner, the 4″ groups are terrible. Should be half that, or less.
However, I am happy with the performance of this rifle on our first outing together. I was shooting from a rest, but not a lead sled, nor was I shooting from a sandbag. And yes, I had had WAY too much coffee with breakfast. I was chasing my heartbeat taking these shots. So that likely accounts for half the group size. Bad operator on the bang switch. This rifle deserves a better person.
But, I’d bet that with a bit of work, I could cut the grouping of the first 5 down to 1.5 inch. Maybe with a bit of work at the reloading bench I could get down to 3/4 inch. Gee, what a bummer….More range time.
This makes 2 in a row. Likely a new record for the year, as lately the days where it doesn’t suck have been few and far between.
But I have been blessed with 2 in a row. Both different, yet both calming to the soul.
The first was yesterday, a morning at the range. While a bad day at the range beats a good day at work anytime, yesterday was excellent.
Today, I go to get up early and road trip with my father and brother to pick up my Dads newly painted and restored Cadillac. A ’26.
But picking up the car was only a part of the trip. The best part was the journey. My brother drove my truck, pulling my Dads trailer. And for 3 hours we had time to enjoy each others presence, and discuss things as equals and friends…And that made the trip worthwhile.
The car is work of art. Still work to be done, and a lot of parts to be found but as you can see in the pictures below, it is a thing of beauty already.
Still, picking up the car was only an added bonus to spending the day with my brother and father.
Og invited me and my friend Mike to his range for a few hours of long distance paper punching at a Super Secret Location.
First breakfast, then recoil therapy. How can that ever be bad?
I learned that Og can solder a sight onto a barrel without damaging the heat treating (but he used a sandbag just to be sure so that if he had overheated it the shrapnel would only damage us a little). And that he can really shoot.
I learned that his friend Partner is a dead shot with his WWII era .22. And that I have a serious case of 1903 envy.
I learned that Mike can keep 30 rounds of 5.56 inside of 10 inches in rapid fire (like in 12 seconds) out of his AR.
And I learned that I need to relieve the stock of my rifle ’cause the groups open up greatly after 5 shots or so when the barrel gets hot. or I need to shoot slower… But I still shot 4.5″ groups at 100 yds. Need a bit of work and a bit more practice. But I think I got a good deal last March. Only spent 80 rounds, but hey, It was fun.
All in all, it was an excellent morning, even if it was hot and humid and my glasses kept fogging up.
I am sure that I wouldn’t let any of them shoot at me.
A bad Day At The Range is better than a good day at work. We had the range to ourselves. No pressure, nothing but safe fun.
Trust me, you really wish you had been there.