Bad Day at The Range

The eldest son and I snuck out to the range for a few hours this afternoon. When we arrived all the spots were taken due to a rifle and .45 shoot that was winding down. The rifles were anything from an old Nagant to a tricked-out bolt gun. They were shooting large bullseye at 200 yards.

The pistol shoot was strictly .45 auto, and not a tricked-out race gun to be seen. The Boy said I should compete in that shoot some time, since comparatively speaking I’m better with a handgun than with a rifle. I said no, explaining that I’d just embarrass myself. He later walked me down to the shooting line so I could see they were shooting bullseye at 25 and 50 yards. The 25 yard was timed rapid fire and timed slow fire at 50 yards. After looking at a few targets I’m convinced there wouldn’t be anything embarrassing for me there. I know I’m better than half of those shooters, and the Boy thinks I’d place in the top third with ease. I had my Kimber Ultra Carry with me and a couple boxes of ammo so I could’ve joined the group but I had other things on my mind. Maybe some day I’ll join in that fun.

I brought 3 rifles and shot 2, as well as 4 handguns but only shot one. I left the 8mm Mauser in the case because I was having too much fun with the CETME and AR in the limited time we had to spend. My CETME has a scope and I shoot Mil ammo through it. The last time I managed a 3 shot 1” group at 100 yards off the bench, but not today. Today I was around 2”, but I still enjoyed ringing the steel plates at 200 yards from the standing position.

I brought the new AR to fine tune the sights and simply enjoy running a few more rounds through it. My AR has flip-up sights and a Bushnell HoloSite. Did you know that the Bushnell works a whole lot better if you turn it off before putting it away for a few weeks? Yep, dead batteries and no spares. With the aperture sight I was getting groups around 3-4 inches at 100 yards off the bench. I’m sure my son, with younger eyes, could do better but that’s about normal for me. It’s interesting that I had decent success at hitting a 12” target at 200 yards standing off hand. At one point I hit steel 4 shots in a row. Big surprise for me with iron sights.
:-) I guess rifle fit and shootability has a lot to do with it.

It’s been 4-6 months since I launched lead with the Ruger .454. The 24 rounds I fired today were proof that one just has to keep practicing to maintain any kind of proficiency with a big bore revolver shooting long range. Out of 24 shots at a 12”, 200 yard target I only came close a few times. Some misses could be measured in feet. I wasn’t using a rest as some do at that range, but that’s no excuse. I pretty well stunk it up.

A bad day at the range, if there is such a thing, is better than a good day at work.