Thread: Target Shooting

I got to take my Pastor's gun out to the range for a few rounds of clays...
Man, what a gun... I fell in love right off the bat
Its a 100% authentic 1887 Lever action 12 gauge
I have a picture somewhere online that i'll have to track down.

The thing is a monster, all that recoil on an iron buttplate. Its not that bad to me, i can take it all day. But im a big burley guy. Let one of my friends shoot it, and he didnt shoot another gun the rest of the day. Then i didnt get to hear the end of it when he noticed the bruising.
Its been in Pastor Dave's family since his great grandfather (hes 60 something)
All those years, and it still functioned flawlessly... It was dead on accurate as well

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Aaaahhhhh,,,Wullie,,I'm still on your Christmas List,,,right? ,,,, ole buddy Attachment 144793

Certainly! You just LOVE once fired, corrosive, berdan primed, brass right?

Don't send me any Wullie, I've got plenty left over from my Mosins.

I just got this girl and she is nice! Zero her at 200 yrds today and i am so happy with her savage 11-111 with a nikon 3x4x40 bdc
Those were the only 2 shots i took at 100 yards! Adjusted and went for 200

I had my first firearm competition this past Sunday, yes on Easter, an NRA sanctioned small bore standing competition. We joined the club 3 days before & that night they said there was a "Fun Rifle Shoot" on Easter. They said , "Why don't you guys come out & plink a few." So I said sure.

I have had weapons all my life. Like many people, I have been trained on several weapons in the military & on my job, but I have never competed with anyone. So,,,I grabbed 2 rifles from the house, a Ruger 10/22 Break-Down & a Nylon 66,,two simple rifles to have fun with. I was happy to show up 30 minutes early , with my D&D Ice Coffee in my hand for the "Fun Shoot". We stepped on the range to find out that we were the last to arrive, starts at 10:00a , we got there at 9:30a,,,everybody else got there at 8:00am. It took them that much time to get their shooting stations ready, rifles that were scoped & looked like somethings out of a da*m Star Wars movie, spotting scopes that cost more than my rifle, fancy shooting glasses, slings,,,,,I just stopped & stared as the director handed each of us a hand full of targets, forms, score cards. My son was as shocked as I was when he saw all the competition,,,there were 24 shooter including us.

My son, who shoots trap competitions, said "Dad, I don't have a good feeling about this.' I said,,,we will do the best we can. I had the Ruger, fixed sight on our weapons, he had the Nylon. The first relay,,,, my Ruger feed 6 rounds up into the top of the chamber, jamming & bending the lead bullets. Cleared them,,,it jammed again,,,,,,cleared the rifle & had to withdraw from the competition. My son continued with my assistance & finished 22 of 24,,,I finished last 24 of 24.

Some of the shooters have known me for years, outside of the club. They did not make it easy on me, I might be getting a plaque for the only shooter in club history to score all zero's. The club has been there since 1935. It appears my record could go unbeaten for a while.

Life can be cruel sometimes.

They should have had different classes in the shoot like a stock class. It is just as it sounds, a bone stock rifle. Even in this class, folks bed the barrels & have trigger work done...but you would have had a better chance. A wide open shoot is not fair, like going to the drag strip with your daily driver only to line up against a dragster. What happened to you takes a LOT of fun out of a competition & makes you not want to return...I've been there.

It's hard for me to blame them, I've known several of them for years & watch them practice at the Bass pro twice a week. They like to practice in the AC & do their competitions outside at the club. I've seen their setups at Bass Pro , to some degree. They have been bugging me to join & one of them has been taunting me for 4 years with his target results at Bass Pro. He actually used the old line, "You Marines really can't shoot worth a crap." He's an old WWII Navy Corpsman. He thinks I have been ducking him these last 4 years, but I have had so many irons in the fire with other activities, that he was way down the list.

So three months ago, I got a Ruger 10-22 breakdown survival rifle, that I've wanted for a few years. Attempted to scope it, did,,struggled for 3 weeks trying to sight it in. The slightest bit of pressure on the forehand grip moves the point of impact. So I put the scope on a Marlin XT-22 last week & have been tightening my groups , hoping to compete at a beginner's level. Tomorrow I will take it top the club & work on the groups.

The mistake I made at the club Sunday was not knowing what I was getting into. It was presented to me verbally & on paper as a "Fun Shoot", I assumed parents, kids just plunking away at targets, so I grabbed the simplest .22 rifle I dad. I learned a lesson. Their is another Fun Shoot next month, I'll be ready & won't be bringing home a zero score.

This is the rifle I'm working with now.

Nikon ProStaff 3x9x40

Is that much of a survival rifle if it keeps jamming?

Well,,,it's been the most finicky rifle I have ever had. I will give it the benefit of doubt & test it again at Bass Pro next week. With different brands of .22 ammo. I tend to think that Sunday's malfunction problem, could have been brought on by me. The "breakdown" version of the 10-22 has a tightening washer/lug on it. You snap the barrel in place and make sure it's snug. It may have been slightly loose causing the barrel hole not to line up with the first round sitting atop the magazine. Just enough to miss the hole & send the round to the top of the chamber. There's no ramp to slide the bullet into the barrel,,,like the Nylon 66.

I'm going to search the net for this problem.

What I have found is that you have to really watch the grain weight on the ammo you are buying. A LOT of the bulk is getting lighter and lighter. Heck, I bought a "brick" of 5 cci's the other day not paying attention, I was just excited I was getting some ammo. I go to take the grandson out to shoot and I grab a 100 round box & my browning 22 & his cricket single shot. We get to where we are going walking and I go to load up my two mags I have & notice the bullet is quite a bit smaller. I look at the box more closely & they are 29 grain bullets. Long story short, my little Browning wouldn't digest them at all & I resorted to single shooting it.