Hot Range

It seems that when most get to be about my age they start thinking about moving south to a warmer climate. The Boss and I are exceptions in that as we age our tolerance for heat is decreasing, and for cold increasing. Here in my part of Ohio we've seen high temperatures in the 90s for the last 8 days, with a few in the high 90s, and continuing heat index over 100.

Despite the heat I ventured out in the cruel world today and spent a few hours melting in the shade at the range with my eldest son. I started out shooting at clay birds 200 yards away with the SMLE, one of the sweetest shooting rifles I own. I had troubles hitting those little orange specks standing, even with a sling. Once I sat down and rested my elbow on the bench, they started disappearing with regularity.

Then I switched to my old Ruger Security Six 357 Mag. Again I blew dirt around the orange clays, but this time at 100 yards. No rest for steadiness this time though, as I definitely need to get my long range revolver work back on track.

Finally I practiced drawing and firing the trusty 1911. I'm relatively new to this kind of shooting and have been struggling with grip and clicking off the safety. I think I finally found a way that works for me.

Whenever the range officer announced "the range is hot" he wasn't kidding. It was scorching.

By then I was so sweaty that my shoes squished when I walked. By 3PM we were heading back to the comfort of air conditioning. Although we did stop on the way to check out a new paintball field. If things ever cool off again, we'll be back there to play.