Showing posts with label JC Higgins .22LR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JC Higgins .22LR. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Rimfire Roustabout



You've got a brand new Ruger American Rimfire sitting at home and it looks good, no doubt about it, but does it shoot? I took mine to the range with two other rifles and a Blue Heeler, to find out.


I Love The Range!

Blue Plinker thought this was a pretty neat game and jumped for joy, literally, when he saw me laying out the rifles on the bench. He had to be relegated to the shooting house after that; he will try and catch bullets with his teeth.


Big Rectangle = 3 Rounds

I started out with iron sights at an easy 30 or so yards, prone, and the new Ruger went first. It was fun to shoot and performed flawlessly, producing one of the the best groups of the day, 3 rounds in pretty much the same hole.




The Higgins did well too, and is certainly capable of good accuracy, though its trigger's heavier than the Ruger, and the old gun doesn't always feed too smoothly from its 17 round tube magazine. It was fun to move up to the more powerful, and more expensive, .17 HMR, a hot little round. 




After proving to myself that I could still shoot with iron sights, I scoped up the new Ruger with a cheap fixed 4 power optic, which came off the .17 HMR, and dialed it in from 50 yards. I used my coat as a rest, being a ballistic scientist. When paper got boring, it was time to shift fire onto a different enemy, old Gatorade tops.




They didn't stand a chance! Breathe, squeeze, off flies the florescent plastic top. Big fun. A tin can got itself in trouble, too. Take that, can, and Gatorade tops.


Good Work, Gun

All this proved that the wood stocked Ruger American Rimfire .22 LR works just fine. I think I'll adjust the trigger pull downwards a bit to 3 1/2 pounds or so, and take it out again with a Lead Sled for a more scientific dial-in at 100 yards. I'll also have to get a new scope for the .17 HMR, but that's a different story.

And so is open carry. The more CHL holders I talk to, the more the song remains the same. I don't want anyone to know I'm carrying, that's what they say.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Rimfire Warrior


Some people use the Tracking Point aiming system, which unerringly guides your shot onto the target via technology that's well nigh indistinguishable from magic. Others use iron sights and a fixed 4 power scope. I went down the latter route today.

Note Mossberg Truck Gun

It rained this morning as I was walking the dog after Mattins. That's right, it rained, for a whole minute, maybe a few seconds more. Uplifted and refreshed, I loaded up the truck with a couple of rimfires, an old JC Higgins, 22 LR, and a Ruger American, 17 HMR. Blue Ballistics got to come along too.

No Libs On The Bench

I faced off against enemy plastic water containers and some old Marlboro Light boxes, opening up off-hand at 30, 50, 75 and 100 yards with the .22. Once I got the hold sorted out the opposition went down swiftly enough, and I won't pretend that I didn't enjoy watching the water targets exploding. Take that, water enemy.

The Ruger American .17 HMR Works

The .17 was more fun, but a greater challenge. Because of the optic, you're looking for greater accuracy and not happy unless you get it. Well maybe not. It's still awesome to see a gallon water jug sail into the air after being hit by the superfast, if supertiny, .17 HMR, regardless of shot placement.

Get In The Truck, You Savage.

But what about the dog? He loved the shooting, and barked, jumped, leaped and romped in midfield, then he found his way to the source of the joy, the shooting bench. He was relegated to the truck after that.

The Water Enemy

So what was learned? Shooting rimfire is a lot of fun, no doubt about it, and it's comparatively cheap, too. The Ruger American is also a great rifle for the price, accurate as you like and then some; I'll be getting their .22 LR wood stocked variant as soon as I've saved up the vast sum of $350.

And as always,  the song remains the same, get out and shoot.

LSP

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Squirrelly


Keen-eyed readers of this so-called blog will know that my pal's "squirrel rig" is a Ruger 10/22 with a fixed power 4x40 scope. My squirrel rig isn't so fancy, just an old JC Higgins bolt action .22, with open sights. It was old when I got it 5 years ago at the Gold Nugget Pawn & Gun and I'd like an upgrade. Probably another bolt action, a Ruger American? And a 10/22, for semi-auto fun? And a lever, too, just because they're neat. Anyway.

Out in the Field

Monday morning seemed like as good a time as any to test the rigs against the squirrels, so we set up in some woods and waited.

Woods

I like listening to the sound of the woods after getting into position and being still, senses tuned. Before long the trees come alive with birds and, hopefully, squirrels. After about 20 minutes we starting calling, or at least my buddy did; I'm not sure if my strangled sounding chirps qualified. 

Creek

The effort didn't go completely unrewarded. Outlying Squirrel Force scouts made an appearance, 4 of them, but they were fast and we didn't get a shot. Still, location confirmed, and we moved on, deeper into the woods till we got to a mighty oak (not the tree in the picture, obv.) that leaned over a creek.

It was good to be there, in silence, knowing that that tree had been there well before the land and Ralph's Creek was even mapped. I kept an eye out for the arboreal adversary and Indian artifacts, but didn't see either. Vultures swooped down on the tops of the trees, just visible through the canopy.

High Flyers

We made our way back to my truck, via a V of migrating Cranes, and I shot my friend's "rig" off the back of my rig. Proper little blaster. I like the Ruger 10/22; just a lot of fun to shoot.

Message to market? Get out in the woods and hunt more.

LSP