Just Shooting The Breeze

One of the best things about shooting is how awesome it is and the other day's outing with my brother was no exception. Just a lot of fun, shooting the breeze with an AR and a Glock. 

A Typical Aberystwyth Pub

Rumour has it that the Dallas Light Cavalry (DLC irreg) is open to overseas recruits, as long as they have a solid Texan connection and can shoot. 

That might knock Prince Cider (Charles) into touch, but perhaps Aberystwyth is in the running?

One Flyer But Good Work

100 yard head shots with a red dot and pretty much totally fresh to the weapon. Not shabby at all, I'd say.

Well done, bro. Big fun to get out in the field and welcome to the Mess, irregular as it is.

Gun Rights,

LSP

Go Shooting, in Texas

It's all very well to have firearms and some say that CHL holders have a duty to carry, but what's the use of that if you can't hit the side of a barn door with your weapon? With this in mind, I headed out to a friend's farm for some target practice.

First off, I wanted to see if a Glock 21 was effective against a cow skull. Guess what, it was. A small green paper eco-terrorist didn't do much better, either. Take that, green terr, and idolatrous heathen cow skull.

Then I clambered up on top of a derelict piece of agricultural machinery with an AR, and shot eco-terr #2. My groups, such as they were, were falling low right, which I blame on sloppy trigger pull and the sight's zero.

Don't Use This as a Helmet, Jackass

I shot better against an old metal bucket, curiously, but obviously need to put in some more range time to tighten things up.

Word to the wise. Don't use a zinc bucket as a helmet, it's not going to protect you, and the same goes for cow skulls. Sure, strap one on in the hope of terrifying your enemy, but don't be surprised when it fails to stop a bullet.

I love getting out in the clean country air and shooting.

Gun rights,

LSP

I Love Guns - Pistol Long Shot

PX4 Storm .45

I love guns and I love shooting. I like the look and feel of the firearms themselves and the challenge of the shot, I like the satisfaction of getting well on the target as well as the concentration and calm in the midst of explosion. There's a strange mixture of stillness and adrenaline to it that appeals, at least to me. Then there's the benefit of getting out in the countryside; it's a fine thing to be out there in the fields and brush with the guns, at a distance from the rush of the world. Still, with all that and more in mind, I won't pretend that I'm some sort of great shot. More like a decent priestly average.

filthy little beast

So after an hour or so of banging away at my old enemy, the steel plate ram and its lesser ally, the steel plate turkey, offhand iron sights at 50 and 100 yards with an AR (CMMG), I didn't expect to hit the ram with my .45 at 100 yards. After all, I'd never shot out to that range with a pistol before and the adversary was little more than a grayish blur of rust against the brush backstop of the berm.

somewhere, to the right of the 'silhouette' is a steel ram...

A round in the chamber later I lined up the sights slightly high on the metallic beast and squeezed off a shot, by instinct more than anything else. Lo and Behold! A satisfying plink of bullet on metal. Somewhat amazed, I fired off two magazines and was rewarded with 4 hits, the last shots being wasted due to lack of concentration and shooting high. 

make safe and for goodness sake, LSP, don't shoot the fridge

People mostly shoot their pistols, I think, at anywhere from 5 - 25 yards, something like 18 being the average. Fair enough, they're probably practicing at the range they think they'll use the weapon  at and it makes sense to get good at those distances. Still, I discovered there's a whole lot of enjoyment in going for the ridiculously unfeasible long shot and, unless I'm mistaken, the .45 shoots oddly flat.

At the nearest opportunity I plan to load up on Walmart's cheapest (TulAmmo... look, I apologise) and do it all over again.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Shoot The Carbine!

I've learned something new and it's this; ARs seem to get really dirty when you shoot them but, and this isn't new to me, they're fun to blast off, which is why I stopped being gun indecisive and bought one. It isn't fancy, just a 5.56 flat top carbine and I can always trick it out later with optics, different handguards etc., if the desire's there. It might be handy against wild dogs, coyotes and revisionist clergypersons, if they present themselves, but first things first - zero it in, which I did.

I found it worked better with a Magpul flip-up iron sight than it did with the supplied carry handle. Perhaps the latter was defective as it wouldn't sight in till the windage was dialed all the way to the left. The flip-up didn't have that problem and soon came to rest not far off mechanical zero - elevation at the front sight post didn't seem to need adjusting.

So I advanced to contact against the paper adversary and its Green Bucket and Ice Tea Can allies. I won the firefight, fortunately, doubtless helped by the opposition's inability to shoot back. Ice Tea Can went down spectacularly, exploding into the air in several parts - huge fun.

As the sun began to set the 'value packs' ran out and it was back to the parsonage for meditative weapons cleaning and reflection on tomorrow's homily; water into wine. I'm all in favour of that, preferably in great, or 'industrial strength' quantities.

Self-verdict on latest gun? Worth every penny, for sheer enjoyment. Next stop - get sinister black Deathstar battle rifle in .308 - more stopping power you see.

Good shooting,

LSP