Category: Shooting

I’ve never had the opportunity to shoot at a military base before, so I wasn’t about the pass up the opportunity when Bitter’s work invited me along for their range trip.  I didn’t know much about what was going on other than to bring lots of guns and ammo, so I did.  They had some instructors there for us which brought along a lot of their own guns, so it didn’t turn out we needed mine a whole lot.  They even brought an AK-74, which was good, because for some reason mine was jamming (bad magazine I think).

Bitter was grateful I was willing to come out.  I mean, it’s just so difficult to go out to a range on a beautiful summer day to teach a bunch of abundantly cute young chicks, many of whom have never shot a gun before, how to shoot.  Sacrifices we must all make in order to grow the shooting sports, I know.  I had a few people, even a few of the women, shoot the PSL.   I think they were a bit beyond 100 meters though, because the round was dropping a bit with the scope dialed into 100 meters, but the little reactive steel silhouette targets got hit just fine if you put the caret on the scope on top of the target’s “head” as a little hat.  Bent it right over when it hit.

It was mostly plinking, but I was enjoying shooting the steel targets with rifle and pistol.  I might have to get into silhouette shooting on a more regular basis!

Anyway, the Marines have some really nice facilities that are open to civilians.  You have to be invited by the Quantico Shooting Club, however.  But if you ever have a chance to go, I would highly recommend it.  Sadly, they don’t turn on the pop up targets for civilians so you can see how you would qualify as a military rifleman, but it’s a nice place to shoot, nonetheless.

Dave Hardy talks about the problem of finding a place to shoot.  We have this problem here in Pennsylvania too, at least if you’re new to shooting and are looking for a place to shoot outdoors.  The Pennsylvania Game Commissions has, in the past few years, closed down most of the rifle ranges in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and a few more in other parts of the state.  I expect they will never reopen.

It makes me wonder what’s happened to all that Pittman-Robertson money we pay every time we buy a rifle or ammo.

After some recommendations from my readers, I ordered some CCI Standard Velocity .22LR to try out in my Ruger 10/22.  I took it to the range today, and after zeroing the scope in for this round (it drops a bit lower than high velocity), I managed to do some better shooting than I did with the cheaper stuff.

NRA standard 100 yard large bore target, at 100 yards, bench position.  Two targets, string of ten in each.  First target 97/100.  Landed three in the 9.  Second target, 94/100, landed four in the 9, and 1 in the 8.   The difference between this and last time isn’t really that much, but when I missed, I knew I missed before I even saw where the shot went in the scope.  Last time, I was missing shots that my gut told me should have gone into the ten rings.  With the better ammo, when I missed, I felt the miss.  So I’m happy about that at least.   To me that says I’m working within the limitations of me rather than my ammo.  Now I just need to work on getting that perfect 100.

I have to admit that I chuckled reading Robb’s post here, because it’s true.  I think it’s because we all go through that awkward phase when we first start shooting, where we’re trying out a lot different things and figuring out what works and what doesn’t.   Perhaps some people never really get beyond that awkward phase.

I myself have a tricked out HiPoint 9mm Carbine that I never shoot anymore.  I’ts from the awkward phase, complete with all the things Robb mentions, except that it doesn’t have particularly good optics.  I quickly figured out all the gadgety crap didn’t really help with the fundamentals of shooting, so I shed it.  I couldn’t shoot for shit then, and sometimes I can’t shoot for shit now.  But I’m better than I was.  I have a few guns I shoot regularly with optics, but I generally stay with iron sights.

This past Friday I took the PSL out to the range to shoot some 7.62×54 goodness at 100 yards.  The target was a standard 100 yard large bore rifle target.  I landed 3 in the 10 ring, 3 in the 9, two in the 8 and 2 in the 7, for a total of 87/100.  I’m not one to be satisfied with a B when I’m shooting a rifle with optics!  I’ve never been able to shoot the PSL all that well.  I do much better with small bore shooting, which means I need to learn to be better at managing recoil.  The PSL dishes out recoil in spades.  It’s also difficult to shoot if you wear glasses, because of the rubber eyepiece on the Soviet era optics doesn’t fit nicely over glasses.   I have a tendency to wince or flinch when shooting the PSL.  The flash from the mighty 7.62x54R fills the entire scope if you shoot it right.  Good rule of thumb is, if you see flash, you probably didn’t flinch.  I’m getting better at shooting this rather large rifle, but I won’t be happy until I can get all my shots in the nine and ten ring.

Been shopping around for some more .22LR, as I’ve been going through it like gangbusters lately.  Normally I shoot high velocity out of the 10/22, but I want to switch to standard velocity.  Main reason is accuracy.  With high velocity, shooting at 100 yards, you can get some buffeting on the bullet as it crosses the sound barrier on its way to sub-sonic velocities.  I don’t want to shoot match ammo, because it’s more expensive, and my shooting skills aren’t really worth match ammo.

But here’s a question.  Why, almost universally, is high velocity ammo copper plated, but standard velocity is just lead round nose.  Even the match ammo is just lead round nose.   I have no idea why this is.  Do any of you?

Conservative UAW Guy has the results. Came in third out of eight in class. Ahab beat my ass with his EAA Bounty Hunter by being a much better single handed shooter than I am. Billl only notched him by two. Denise shows that she’s quite the bullseye shooter, beating everyone by a hefty margin one handed shooting in the rimfire optics class. But it wasn’t enough to overcome Mr. Completely and his High Standard, who took the class overall.

Good shooting everyone! I anxiously await the next e-postal match. Remember, anyone can participate, and everyone should (even Macca).

SayUncle posted yesterday that ammo makers are preparing for the inevitable downturn.  It’s a good read, but the main thing that caught my eye is this:

In 1978, there were 318 plants in the United States involved in ammunition production. By 1995, six years after the Berlin Wall fell, there were fewer than 100, according to Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.

U.S. spending for ammunition dropped 78 percent.

“Anytime the industry shrinks, you lose expertise and skill,” said Thompson, who more than a dozen years ago co-authored a study of the ammunition industry.

That’s absolutely true.  The United States currently doesn’t actually need more nuclear submarines, but we’re still building them in large part because once you stop, we lose the expertise that goes into that.  Those people find employment in other sectors, and suddenly, as a nation you no longer know how to make submarines.  Anti-gun folks, who claim to support the military and police being well armed, don’t appreciate the roll that civilian shooters have in keeping these industries alive in times when the military isn’t spending so much.

Alliant also can sell its bullets to the law enforcement and sporting communities, an option not available for companies manufacturing tank rounds and artillery shells.

I can guarantee that the civilian shooter market is much bitter than the law enforcement market.   The value the “unorganized militia” provides in not only keeping people well trained in marksmanship, but in keeping the domestic firearms and ammunition markets afloat and innovating, even during peace, shouldn’t be readily discounted by people who claim to be in favor of military and police having arms, and no one else.

… these guys are professional idiots.   But I do have to say, friggin cool!

We had some really beautiful weather this weekend in the Philadelphia area. Rightwingprof picked a great time to come. Bitter and I went canoing in New Jersey on Saturday. She had to go back to Virginia after we met up with Wyatt and Rightwingprof, so I decided to spend the rest of the daylight today at the range with the Ruger 10/22. I was shooting an NRA large bore 100yd target at that distance w/optics in bench rest position. Ammo was Remington “Golden Bullet”, those cheap brass plated .22LR rounds they make. I scored 189 out of 200 and 178 out of 200. I noticed most of my hits into the 8 and 9 ring were vertically oriented, rather than horizontally oriented, so I’m wondering if maybe powder charge consistency in the cheap ammo is an issue? I think I should be able to hit 200 out of 200 with optics at that distance. At least that’s my goal!

The 10/22 needs a cleaning now though. It was jamming up on me toward the end, and starting to make weak strikes on the rim.

The horror! The NRA is encouraging children to use guns. Not only that, they are training them to be highly effective snipers. Clearly the gun pushing lobby has gone too far this time:

Soon-to-be Marysville High School senior Katie Bush is making the most of her time off from school this summer.

Bush is in Port Clinton, Ohio, competing in the 100th anniversary competition of the National Rifle and Pistol Championships.

The championships began July 18 and will run through the weekend. Up to 6,000 competitors were expected.”This is a big competition,” Bush said. “I’m usually in the middle of the pack, but it’s pretty tough competition here.”

Bush is competing in the Camp Perry Smallbore 3-Position competition.

This is the second year Bush has made the trip to the national championships.

I’ll bet she’s even learned safe gun handling practice too! The treachery of the NRA knows no bounds! The students at Marysville High School had better watch out, because clearly she will snap any minute and shoot you, very precisely.

In all seriousness, we wish Miss Bush the best of luck.  Maybe we can convince her to take part in one of Mr. Completely’s e-postal matches.   Of course, then we’d all get beat by a sixteen year old girl :)