Kragg - not dissimilar to the Lee in feel & action.
Extremely enjoyable day at the range thanks to Tom, of Boomers & BS, who kindly let me sample a portion of his significant arsenal. I enjoyed it all - Garand v. Lee Enfield shoot off, .458 Lott, .557 Snider, Encore, Contender and more besides.
Somewhat indifferent marksmanship on my part at 100 yrds, shooting low with the Lee (oddly) and to the right with a scoped Mauser 7mm - which Tom shot with deadly accuracy. Still, we were in it for the fun and, for me, a chance to try out new weaponry.
Enormous Huge Great Rifle!
Shot better with the pistols, in particular Tom's custom 1911 Dan Wesson; I'm a complete convert, not that I was unwilling... Seriously - what an excellent pistol. Go out and buy one if you can. Today.
Just a lot of pistols.
Then, just as we'd finished firing the larger hand guns and were about to settle into shooting some relaxing Ruger & assorted .22 pistols, the rain came down in sheets and it was back to the range office to take shelter from the storm.
Despite the last portion of the shoot getting rained off, a great day was had by all:
Huge respect to the authour of Boomers & BS for sharing part of his exciting and powerful collection of fire arms.
The 1911 is "right on" - certainly as customised by Tom.
"Astro" range near Florence, Texas, is friendly and was happily empty - on Friday.
Garand seems easier to shoot than the Lee - but a very different rifle.
Winchester 70 Featherweight (30-06) looks beautiful, kicks like fury.
Evil Nazi sporterised rifle can be dead on target.
Ancient Rhodie Cavalry Carbine (?) might not hit much these days but is mighty fun to shoot.
You can shoot EXTREMELY LARGE ROUNDS through pistols single handed and hit the target.
And just in case you were wondering, the .410 through a rifled pistol barrel is no use whatsoever as a self defense round at 15 yards - perhaps much less (thx. Tom for the demo). At least that's the way I see it.
Looking forward to the next shoot.
Cheers,
LSP
.577 Snider :-)
ReplyDeleteWas fun. Do it again no doubt.
Definitely.
ReplyDeleteLSP
If you're firing the .577 Snider, you really should be firing the Martin-Henry (Short chamber .45 Boxer).
ReplyDeleteThe Snider recoil is something to be experienced. I'm glad YOU were shooting it.
The .577 was quite a thing - a first for me. Would love to have a go on the .45 Boxer; whether I'd hit anything is another matter altogether...
ReplyDeleteOn another note, found the new 1911s strangely easy to shoot.
Keep pulling the trigger.
LSP
LSP:
ReplyDeleteSermon Today was 1:1-1:18 Colossians
I giggled to myself a bit around 1:15-18 that perhaps Somebody decided to remind us who ultimately reigns on Earth this last Friday.
:-)
Maybe next time on M-H rifles (or I have a Carbine that I got out of Rhodesia too, all matching numbers and cartouches too!).
I have a suspicion I might know somebody who had a hand in making his 1911s easy to shoot and accurate but the Dan Wesson you shot best with is very little changed from how it came from the factory compared to pretty much all other 1911s I have ever owned I didn't build up from frame kits. Wesson got some minor trigger oriented adjustments related to travel but the sear surfaces from the factory are original other than some wear from shooting it. Was no need to break out the wyoming stones and stoning jigs. It's nicely broken in at this point. Best out of the box trigger on any production 1911 on the market and the novak/trijicon night sights are great in low light. Youd have to spend at least 800 more and get a semi-custom to do better on a new 1911 in my not at all humble opinion.
7:41AM on a Sunday and approving internet posts. Y'all Episcopals must start later than us!
You could use that as a prosletyzing point, unlike the SBC Boomer Boy Goes to, if you come see us you can sleep in more. ;-)
LL:
I have a mileage car that's basically a 2 seater as the back seat is only useful for rifle cases and dwarves and such and the trunk isn't wide enough to take most of my larger double scoped rifle cases, which lean against the passenger seat and nest in the floorboard after what can be put in the back seat is in place.
I brought out Seven Rifles, Nine Pistols, FOUR additional T/C barrels, thousands of rounds much of it large bore, a large range bag full of a traveling gunsmith shop, a folding chair, and snacks plus a backup carry pistol in the glove box.
I'm good at jigsaw puzzling things together, but we only had so much time and we'll do it again so I didn't bring a Martini or any Mausers for that matter, or any "black rifles and other misnomered by the press "assault type stuff". It's not like we wont' go shooting again.
And, no offense, I don't like people telling me what I "should be shooting", most especially if I own some of them too but didn't choose to take one to the range that day, OK?
I know what it is, how to make brass for it, where to find brass for it commercially, and have dies for it. It'll make it on a different trip shooting with LSP.
I don't think the Snider is much of a kicker. Not in comparison to many other things I shoot. I actually find SMLEs less pleasant to shoot (they have a sharper kick as far as recoil velocity, which I find more uncomfortable than a big slow shove from a large bore) than my CARBINE Length Snider (WR did the rifle for a Rhodesian Cav officer, it's not an Enfield) and, NO, I don't shoot the reduced Cavalry Carbine loadings in the .577 because it doesn't kick much in my esteem. Makes a nice big fireball and a nice loud noise but recoil is negligible. I have a one-handable .458 Lott pistol as well as one in .375 H&H Mag.
The heaviest and sharpest recoiling beast LSP shot was my .458 Lott (500 grains going 2450 in the loads I brought along).
We don't all have the same recoil tolerances or lack their of...neither bragging nor complaining here, just glad I was born indifferent to recoil other than a bit of minor bruising now and again shooting some rifles.
At the range shooting a few rounds is a great way to spend a day.
ReplyDeleteTom - well done catching that sermon! My text was John 6:24-35 - don't put your trust in "food that perisheth... I am the bread of life." I gave a kinetic push on transcendent value versus useless leftist materialism, ending up with a sacramental call to action. But I won't preach twice...
ReplyDeleteDan Wesson strikes me as exceptional "out of the box" value - but I'm no expert.
Struck by friend's Mauser too - did you notice it was an FN build? Perhaps that added to its accuracy? Not sure of the vintage.
Thanks again for a great time.
LSP
Rick - couldn't agree with you more, especially with good company and an empty range!
ReplyDeleteLSP
I'd guess late 50s-mid 60s.
ReplyDeleteDan Wesson is my vote for best out of the box on the market, closely followed by a few, some which cost MORE.
I'm no expert, I've just worked on them and shot them and played with them for many many decades :-)
Forgot to add, if it's 50s or later commercial FN, if you remove the stock the production year is stamped on the lower portion of the receiver ring. It looked to me like it started life as a commercial post-war and the forward scoper mount obscured any crest that would have been on top of the receiver ring/Nazi stampings.
ReplyDelete