Shoot The Guns

 

A new day, a new opportunity to shoot, so off we went to the range with a few guns, a 20 SxS, a 12 OU and a Marlin .22 WMR. Idea being to get some remedial shotgunnery in, and then a little plinking with the Marlin.

The range was overgrown and semi-flooded but we made it through, get a 4x4, LSP, and set up on dry ground next to a field, baking under a big Texan sky. The erstwhile Cadet went first, on the 12, and started smoking clays like a good 'un.

I followed up on the 20 and was more or less on, unlike the Specialist who specially smoked the clays with the same gun. Hmmm, improve your game, so-called "LSP." I did, and got in the zone, shooting far better to the right than left, curiously. Perhaps there's a moral in that.

A box of  orange "White Flyer" over, we moved on to the little magnum, shooting off the bed of the truck. Take that, fifty yard adversary, and the kid's offhand was impressive, right in the zone. Nice work. Then it was time to head back to the Compound, a good morning well spent.

I love shooting and file this tale under guns and country life in Texas.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Just Get Out And Shoot

Sunday afternoon being as good a time as any, I loaded some guns in the truck and went for a shoot. Part of that meant taking down White Flyers which were placed at various ranges in these cunning brackets that stick into the ground on a spike.

It was neat shooting the clays down with a Ruger American .17 HMR and I told myself that the targets simulated small game, like rabbits. These notoriously glow bright orange. My ancient enemy, the green silhouette, took a beating too, with a CMMG AR15. Lots of fun to shoot and I worked on breathing, which affects accuracy.

Some Ancient Old Guy With A Gun

Sometimes I'm tempted to hold my breath when I squeeze the trigger. Don't do that. Here's an excerpt from Art of the Rifle on how to breathe:

"Say you’re in the prone position. You’ve slung up, gotten your position just right, found your NPA and you’re ready to fire. Inhale. You’re reticle should drop. Now relax and let your breath escape naturally until it stops on its own. The reticle should rise. If your NPA is truly on, your reticle should rise and stop exactly on your target. You should now break the shot within 3-5 seconds. If you go longer than that, take another breath and start over. If you wait too long, you’re likely to have trouble focusing your vision, you’ll feel panicky and rushed, and your trigger finger may not perform its duty as well as you’d like.

"Now you know the proper method of breathing for optimum accuracy. What if you are in more of a hurry and the demand for accuracy is less pressing? Then just do what you need to do that will work to get the job done in the time allotted. This is rifle shooting, not dogma. One method may not apply to all situations. Just use your head."

Just use your head. I like that, good advice.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Zeroing in the Ruger American .17HMR

Don't get me wrong, I like open sights, especially the bright fiber optic front sight that comes with the Ruger American rimfire series. Still, I wanted to scope this beast up, on a budget, so I mounted a cheap but clear Hawke Optics 4x40 onto the ready-to-go grooves on top of the receiver.

By some strange quirk of providence, the act of mounting the scope seemed to count as boresighting too and the rifle wasn't too off from the get-go at 25 yards.

Using a tool box as a rest, for tip-top ultimate accuracy, I moved out to 50 yards and shot away at a silhouette until the little .17 HMR (Hornady, 17 grain) zingers were hitting pretty much where I wanted them to. Then I fell back to 100 yards and repeated the process. I used Chuck Hawks as a guide for zeroing at 145 yards. Here's what he has to say:

"A better way to zero a .17 HMR rifle is to put the 17 grain bullet 1.5" high at 100 yards, for a zero range of 145 yards. It would then hit about 0.9" high at 50 yards, 0.3" low at 150 yards, and 5.5" low at 200 yards. The maximum point blank range (+/- 1.5") of the cartridge would be about 165 yards, at which range the bullet retains about 90 ft. lbs.of energy, enough to remain effective on the smaller varmints."

I was impressed by the accuracy of the gun and the round and it obviously shot better than I do, but did it pass the Arizona Ice Tea test at 100 yards? Sure it did.

I enjoyed that so much that I think I'll have to do it all over again. Soon.

Shoot straight,

LSP