Shoot!

Get a haircut, hippy

We'd been planning a shoot for some time but things kept getting in the way, broken femurs, a boy graduating Basic, climate change, a deadly Chinese plague, you name it, all conspired to keep us off the range. Until today.

RHT drove over from the DFW connurb and we headed off to J's place to try out some weaponry. All well and good, and then disaster! My rig sank into the sand of an ancient seabed on the way to our objective and had to be pulled out by a handy tractor. Obstacle overcome, we set up at 200 yards and shot.

J knows how to shoot

I went first with an Aero Precision AR10 firing 168 grain .308. Would it work and more to the point, would I remember how to shoot? 

Watch out kids, don't bet the monkey, but I did, just, and ended up with a decent group in the 10 ring, which should've been in the X. RHT followed up with a Hogue stocked .308 Howa and a Redfield scoped M1A. They shot well, very well.

Good Call

Now, all of the above were great to shoot and made considerably more accurate by RHT and J's hand loads. I don't reload or cast bullets, unlike these two very friendly competition shooters, and was struck by the difference. Wow. Speaking of which, RHT and J's Howas were X-Ring on the money for a ridiculously low price. I want one.

Do Not Scorn This

Then, after a quick remedial bout with .45s it was time for lunch at Los Verdes, which always serves excellent Mexican food. Did we discuss the satanic evil of Marxism, the wickedness of banksters and the importance of wine? Possibly. You be the judge.

Back at the range it was time for RHT to roll out an 1872 Remington .50-70 and an 1873 Trapdoor Springfield .45-70. For me, this was the high point of the shoot. There's something about firing these now exotic and antique firearms which appeals. Is it the history of the thing, their provenance, or the nature of the guns themselves? There they are, muskets turned into rifles.

Regardless, the Remington wasn't too keen to get on paper but the Springfield noisily got on a gong, in the appx. 10 ring in my hands and in J's it was hitting the bull. With iron sights. At 200 yards. All 1873 of it. We were amazed. This old rifle was outshooting... ahem. What a lot of fun.

RHT on his awesome M1A

We finished off with some AR action, J stealing the show with a series of X-Ring excellence. 3 shots, left to right touching on the X. A testament to Geissele, the barrel, Nightforce optics, the loads and the shooter himself. Seriously, a lot of people would've been pleased with that group at 50 yards with a .17 HMR. Good shooting.

Random LSP guns

And that was that. Huge enjoyment out in the clean air and big skies of Texas. And about time that this shooter actually got out and shot. Big thanks to RHT for getting the wheels rolling and thanks too to J for such warm hospitality, and a great range which goes out to 1000 yards.

Bullets

Hmmm, can I shoot that far? Good question, perhaps it's time to learn. We'll see about that and calling the shot as this mission progresses.

In the meanwhile, thanks guys for a great day out, what a perfect result.

Shoot straight,

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

Very, Very Scary

Two friends came over from Dallas yesterday and stayed over. One of them brought along a SOCOM 16, which is a short barreled variant of the M1A, and we wanted to test that out and see if it worked. So, undaunted by rain, we headed out to a ranch where there's a good area to blast away in the wilderness. 

You can even access this range via rocky roads, in your pal's new Tundra. No danger of getting stuck in the mud, right?

Well Done, Team

Wrong. We got stuck in thick sandy clay. An hour later, and lots of rocks under the tires, we were out of the mess and shooting. The SOCOM worked just fine, a right little beast of a 7.62 barker.

Proper Little Barker

On the way home, one the crew had to ask, "How many soldiers, former and serving, does it take to get stuck in the mud?" That would be three, apparently.

Moral of the story? Get a SOCOM, and a winch, and a 4x4.

Happy Halloween,

LSP