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.

Well, I was going to work on the ramps for the trailer (making new ones to replace the set that were stolen) but instead, as the forecast for Sunday was scattered showers and windy, but today (Saturday) was overcast but calm, I decided instead to shoot (or at least practice) for the postal match, whose deadline was fast approaching, and likely Saturday was the only day I might have a chance to have the time to shoot.Plus the nerve in my wrist wasn’t acting up too much….

So I packed up 2 rifles and the range bag and made a range run. I live only 2.8 miles from a private range (of which I am, of course,  a member). This range allows rimfire rifles, as well as any pistol up to 44 magnum. They have a 50 yd and a 25 yd outdoor range, so I shot my targets there. (living that close to a range like that makes for an hellacious ammo budget, let me tell you….) Normally, I only shoot pistols there, killing bowling pins or paper at 12 or 25 yards (or 50 feet indoors).

Anyway, I went to the range after printing out 15 targets (so I could practice) and after about three practice targets, I realized that my offhand shooting skills were….let us be kind and say “rusty”. I was wobbly and shakey and kinda twitchy. My shoulder cramped up enough after 3 targets that I had to put the rifle down and rest, as my groups opened up a LOT.

So after a rest, I tried again. One thing that was a pain during practice was adjusting both the scoped rifle and the open sighted rifle to shoot at 25 yds. Normally, I shoot from a rest or kneeling or prone at 100 yds… not at 25! It took 25 rounds to walk the point of impact down far enough using the scoped 10-22. 34 clicks down.  1 entire target just to adjust for the short yardage.

Finally, having the scope adjusted enough I was able to actually sight ON the target rather than below, I rested for about 15 minutes and shot my target for score:

Not too bad, but Boy Howdy, my offhand shooting has greatly deteriorated in the past 6 months or so. This is from a 3×9 scoped rifle. A 10-22 that can put 5 in the size of a quarter at 50 yards, and a half dollar at 100 yds.

So I put that rifle away, and rested for a bit, and then took out my J.C. Higgins model 30. One of my favorite rifles, and one that I have a great deal of sentiment about, as it was the rifle that my dad and grandfather taught me to shoot with. Having laid broken in a guncase for many years, (the rifle, not me!) I finally, with the help of a friend, learned about Numrich, and got a new extractor for this rifle. With a bit of fitting and a great deal of help, I was able to make this fine rifle shoot again. And shoot it does. Not bad for a rifle 12 years older than I am.

Again, I had to adjust the sights WAY down, took 25 shots to find the target, and by then I was shakey again, so I rested, and walked a bit. 20 minutes later I walked up, loaded 5 rounds and began shooting for score. 25 rounds later, my shoulder sore from holding that rifle up, I had this target:

While I am not sure how he is gonna score them, (or even if I can enter 2 different times, one scoped and one unscoped) I present these for scoring.

Here is, perhaps, a better set of pics for scoring:

The 10-22…. Scoped: I score this as 23.

The JC Higgins….Open sights: I score this as a 10.

 I actually used to be able to shoot better. Either I am out of shape, or just getting older. Or maybe it’s the drinking.(or lack thereof?)…I really don’t know. But I can hit the paper at 25 yards, at least.

You still have time! If you want to enter, HERE are the rules. 

Hey, after seeing these, you know that you aren’t gonna come in dead last. I think that I have that spot covered.  ETA: Apparently I hold first place. I thought that this would be a poor showing. (You folks should see the guys I shoot with!…this wouldn’t even be a target that they’d let anyone see)

The sad part is that I could likely shoot this well with my .22 Bullseye pistol. It is all a matter of practice….And I am way out of practice with a rifle.

ETA: this was shot using Federal bulk ammo from Wal-Mart.