Tag: recreational shooting

Choices, Choices . . .

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Choices, Choices . . .

OK, now that the Mustang is sold and I have some cash in hand, I can get a pretty serious piece of ordnance.

For me, that means a 7.62×51 gas gun.

As I mentioned previously, I was giving serious consideration to a Fulton Armory Peerless M14, but delivery on those is running 12-18 months. Through my previously mentioned awesome readers, I found out about Ted Brown Rifles and LRB Arms forged M14 receivers.

I contacted Ted and told him what I wanted. He replied that it would run about $3,800 and six months.

Hmm . . .

Punt?

So I thought about something not quite so. . . precise. A DSA SA58 seems like a good idea. But what model, and what options?

Start with the Bull Barrel model, add a muzzle brake (yes, even though I hate muzzle brakes, it’s semi-auto and I want fast follow-up capability), go for the Extreme Duty scope mount, Match trigger option, pan & tilt bipod, replace the buttstock with the Precision version, get ten extra Steyr 20-round magazines, and have everything finished in Desert MirageFlage DuraCoat:

$3,300 and about five months.

Both options still need optics. The M14 would get a NightForce 5.5-20X50. The SA58 would get an ACOG 6X TA648-308.

The M14 should be capable of hitting clay pigeons reliably at 500 meters. The SA58 should be capable of reliably keeping a magazine on a silhouette at 600 meters. The M14 cost more, and doesn’t include 10 magazines. (M1A/M14 magazines are about $35-40 each.)

I can’t afford (nor do I want) both.

Any comments or suggestions (well, most comments or suggestions, anyway) would be appreciated.

UPDATE: I just ordered 11 20-round magazines from 44mag.com, and I have an email in to Ted Brown.

Thanks, y’all. An M14 it is.

Range Report: the Para Gun Blog .45

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Range Report: the Para Gun Blog .45

I went to today’s Tucson Action Shooter’s Club steel match, and got to shoot the Gun Blog .45 for real. I put a couple of magazines through it in Reno, but it was freaking COLD and I was having fun shooting other people’s guns, so I didn’t give it a workout.

I did today.

My last TASC outing left me in last place shooting my Kimber Classic Stainless, but that was because only the fast shooters showed up for that one. I guess I missed the memo. Today everybody showed up, so I was firmly in the (lower) middle of the pack again.

The only bobble I had was on the very first target of the match for me. I’m so used to the trigger pull of the Kimber that when the buzzer sounded, I drew, aimed, squeezed the trigger. . . and nothing happened.

Because I’d drawn the hammer back to full-cock, but not through to sear release, while thinking “why didn’t it go ‘BANG!’?”

Oops! (Or more appropriately: D’OH!)

Oh, yeah. Weapon familiarization!

There was no more of that for the rest of the match. The gun ran flawlessly. The fiber optic front sight is VERY easy to acquire, the gun fed and functioned perfectly using CCI Blazer aluminum case hardball ammo, there were zero magazine issues (even after they were dropped repeatedly in the dirt) and the Blackhawk SERPA holster worked as advertised. (And I didn’t give myself a wedgie even once.)

The pistol is great! I just need a lot of practice.

If you check the scores, you’ll see I came in eighth out of twelve on the individual stages, but dead last (by a far-away and distant margin) in the team stages.

Not my fault I swear!

On both stages there was a 4″ wide by 24″ tall plate set at about 25 yards that my teammate simply could not hit.

As in, it took him three magazines before he finally managed to put a round on target. He ran dry on the last stage, so I ended up handing him a spare magazine so he could finish.

Oh well. There’s always next month. And I’ll be using the Para again. I can’t wait for next year’s night matches, where I’ll be able to use the Crimson Trace Laser Grips!

I Think I’ve Sold the Mustang. . .

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I Think I’ve Sold the Mustang. . .

And to celebrate, I thought long and hard about buying a Fulton Armory Peerless M-14 Match/Target rifle. VERY spendy, but everything I’ve read about it says it’s the finest of its type available, and capable of excellent accuracy. I’m going to Boomershoot in April, and they recommend that you bring a spare rifle (just in case). I thought this might be just the ticket.

So I emailed Fulton Armory about availability (the web page does say “Call for Availability!”) Here’s the bad news:

Unfortunately we are running approx 12-18 months for FA M14 Peerless rifles.

We are very sorry.
Thank you for the interest.

You can’t be any more sorry than I am. Dammit.

We’re Either Dedicated or Crazy

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Well, we held the 3rd annual Gunblogger’s Rendezvous shoot at the Palomino Valley Gun Club range today, and it was FREAKING COLD! AND windy. It wasn’t so bad when the wind wasn’t blowing, but when it was. . .

I think I may still have toes.

I came back, unfortunately, with a lot more ammo than I expected to, but I was able to easily hit the 400 yard gong with the Remington 700, and I whacked one at a bit over 600 yards a couple of times, despite the wind. Still, I’m not up to the skill level of Phil of Random Nuclear Strikes who can consistently dust pool cue chalk cubes (about 7/8″ on a side) at 200 yards.

I’ve got to try that.

I hit the 400 yard gong (rather easily) with a .308 pistol too. More on that later, but I’m finding this idea very intriguing. I also hit the 55 gallon drum at over 950 yards with US Citizen’s Barrett M82A1. That thing is awe-inspiring and sinus-clearing at the same time.

We have only two more planned events – both involve stuffing our faces. Dinner tonight at 6:00 followed by a bull session into the wee hours, and then breakfast tomorrow morning before we break up and head our separate ways.

This Rendezvous, despite the lack of a couple of previous attendees, is still the best-attended one so far. I think next year will be even better, especially now that we’re getting more industry attention. Sponsors this year were Brownell’s (their top-of-the-line range bag, and a lot of other stuff – 3rd year), Hi-Point firearms (a pistol – 3rd year), Crimson Trace (T-shirts & hats -1st year) and Para-USA (another pistol – 1st year), FrontSite ($2000 worth of training – 1st year), Dillon Precision (Border-shift ammo bag – 2nd year), plus the NRA gave us a bunch of great swag. Cabela’s gave us a guided tour of their Reno store, and let us play in their arcades for free. It’s been a great weekend.

Excuse me, one of my ears just fell off. I have to go find some superglue and put it back on now. . .

Leaving for the Rendezvous Tomorrow

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Leaving for the Rendezvous Tomorrow

I’m going to work very early tomorrow so I can get out in the early afternoon, then my wife and I are headed out. We plan to stop in Laughlin, NV tomorrow evening, then head up to Reno bright & early. Apparently there’s a big to-do the gunbloggers have been invited to attend, so I have to do my best to get to the hotel by 5:00PM Thursday in order to make it.

Meanwhile, I need to load some .308. One of the guns I’m bringing this year is the 5R.

C’ya!

Back from the Match

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Back from the Match

Man, I need to practice. Still not getting the kung-fu grip properly out of the holster (my left index finger keeps finding the trigger guard), I’m not gripping hard enough, and I’m slow. Only seven shooters today, and I might not have come in last, but it will be close.

Had a lot of fun, though!

UPDATE: Not only was I last, I was a distant last!

Off to the Range

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Off to the Range

There’s a Tucson Action Shooter’s Club steel match this morning, so I need to saddle up and move out. Perhaps some posting later. There’s a lot that happened in the last week that I haven’t said word one about.

And may not.

Taking a newbie shooting tomorrow. Pictures and video to follow!

Interesting Observation

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Earlier this week my wife said, “I’m off Saturday. We need to go to the range. It’s been too long since I’ve shot that .38.” We have a S&W Model 60 2″ .38 Special that we keep in a quick-access safe (along with a 4″ Ruger GP-100). The .38 is “hers,” though she can shoot either in a pinch.

As I’ve noted here previously, my wife is not a “gunnie,” but she’s a decent shot, and I can hand her my Ruger MkII Target, a brick of 500 .22LR, and set up our swinging target stand, and she’ll happily blast away all day.

So we got up bright and early this morning, loaded up the truck with the .38, the .357, the MkII and the Single-Six, my Kimber Classic and M1 Carbine, the swinger stand and the rest of the paraphernalia, and we headed out to the Tucson Rifle Club – a 45 minute drive. The TRC is a nice facility, with a 500 meter rifle silhouette range, two 100-yard “public” rifle/pistol ranges, a 100-yard .22 rifle range, a 100-yard range dedicated to law-enforcement (members can use it when law-enforcement isn’t), a 200 yard handgun silhouette range, an action shooting range with three bays for cowboy and IDPA/IPSC shooters, and a 1,000 yard range with shooting positions also at 200, 300, and 600 yards. There is some interference. For example, if there is a match on the 1,000 yard range at anything over 200 yards, then the action bays are closed since they can be observed from the shooting positions on the 1,000 yard range.

Today, everything was busy. There was a match on the 500 meter range, the two 100 yard public ranges don’t really suit themselves to close-range pistol shooting aside from the fact that they were nearly full, the .22 range and the police range were occupied by a Hunter Safety class, the pistol silhouette range was running a Cowboy Lever Gun silhouette match (pistol caliber lever guns), and there was a 600 yard match going on.

The place was hopping.

So I asked my wife if she was game to go to the Elsy Pearson public range in Casa Grande, which is quite a hike North of town, and she said “Fine!” (No, the actual, heartfelt “Fine!” Not the “Whatever the hell you want” “Fine!” which doesn’t really mean “Whatever the hell you want.”) On the way back towards town I had an idea. There is a 100 yard range operated by the County in Tucson Mountain Park, and it was not far off the track. I have never shot there, but I’ve driven up to it to check it out before. I thought we’d give that a shot (so to speak.)

It was packed. And it wasn’t packed with deer hunters sighting in for the fall hunt, either. More on this in a bit.

So, we decided to go ahead with the original fallback plan, stopped and got some breakfast, continued home so I could pick up my home-made target stand (the Casa Grande range is unattended and has no target frames or targets. Bring your own, and take ’em home when you’re finished with ’em.) Then we hit the road again.

It’s about an hour from my house to the range, mostly on I-10 and a short stint on I-8. Unfortunately the I-8 exit was closed due to an accident, so I had to take the long way around to get to the range. It wasn’t packed, but it was pretty busy. Recently the City of Casa Grande got some grant money from the department of Game and Fish and have done a very nice job in expanding and improving the range. There are now four bays; a 100 yard, a 250 yard, and two 25 yard bays, all with concrete shooting benches under sunshades. The 25-yard bays have three shooting positions each, and the 100 yard has six or eight, I believe. We took one of the 25 yard pistol bays for ourselves, but the main 250 yard bay (some 20 shooting positions, I think) was damned near full. Again, not filled with Bambi hunters. One thing I noticed at TRC, the Tucson Mountain Park and again at Casa Grande, it appeared that at least half the shooters were there for purely recreational purposes, and at least 10% of the guns on the firing line were EBRs (you know, the guns that Barack If it Looks Like a Machine Gun it Must Be a Machine Gun Obama believes are fully automatic and not used by “sportsmen and hunters,” but which are, in fact semi-automatic and of a “kind in common use at (this) time.”

Moreover, at least 10% of the shooters on the line were of the female persuasion as well. And some were shooting those EBRs.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable morning, even though I put some 240 miles on my truck. I got to spend several hours with my favorite person in the world in the pursuit (and capture!) of my (second!) favorite recreational activity. 😉 Can’t beat that even with a big stick.

Lasergrips

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As noted, the pistols we shot over the weekend were equipped with Crimson Trace Lasergrips that, if I understood correctly, were sighted in personally by Todd Jarrett for about 12 yards. The laser emitter is located on the right side grip, about half an inch below the centerline of the bore, so the point of aim and the point of impact are not necessarily the same. As a training aid, the laser allows you to see just how much movement you have while aiming. Todd demonstrated this in the classroom by putting the dot from his pistol on the wall about 10 yards from where he was standing.

I didn’t think a human being could be that still. I know I can’t.

On Sunday in the shoot house he had us, three at a time, doing drills on targets while the rest watched. One of the things he wanted us to notice was how high the dot went when a pistol was fired – regardless of whether that pistol was chambered in .45 or 9mm. As you can see in this photo, my .45 comes up quite a bit at full buck. The other thing he wanted us to notice was how far down it comes during recovery. When the pistol is held properly, the dot simply returns to the original point of aim. (He showed us that with a couple of full mags, rapid fire.) Held improperly the dot is all over the target, moving in big loops. This is something you can’t really notice with iron sights only.

Going through the shoot house, a couple of the targets were so close that using the sights was practically redundant, but on the second trip through there were two “long shots” – bad guys behind no-shoots – at about 12 yards. I decided to use the laser, rather than the front sight. I deliberately put the red dot on the left shoulder of a target and touched off a round. A hole appeared where the dot had been.

And I did that three more times in quick succession.

Crimson Trace gave us t-shirts with their logo on it, and this un-PC marketing blurb:

Helping Bad-Guys Make Informed Decisions
To that I would like to add: Helping Put Rounds On Target, FAST.

“Green” Ammunition

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I’ve posted once before on the subject of “green” ammunition. It seems the U.S. Army wanted to switch to a non-lead projectile due to the incredibly high volume of ammunition fired during training contaminating their ranges, so they chose a tungsten/nickel/cobalt alloy – lead free! Unfortunately in laboratory tests where tiny grains of the alloy were surgically placed into rats, this produced a fast-moving cancer in 100% of the rats in pretty short order.

Oops.

As I understand it, the Pentagon has dropped that idea for the moment.

The ammunition we shot this weekend at Blackwater is also “green” but it contains no tungsten, nickel or cobalt. It is sintered copper and tin. Sintering is a process by which powdered metals are bonded together under carefully controlled heat and pressure conditions. By controlling the process, the final physical characteristics of the sintered metal can be manipulated. Sintering is being used in industry for everything from piston engine connecting rods to decorative gee-gaws. Now they’re using it in projectiles.

And they work.

I shot several hundred rounds of International Cartridge Corporation’s 155 grain .45ACP Green Elite TR non-toxic frangible flatpoint (loaded to 1,150fps) through my Para Tac-S this weekend without a single failure of any kind. I popped 8″ steel plates with it from 35 yards, and I did full magazine dumps on a steel plate from a distance of about three feet without anything splashing back on me but some dust. I didn’t have to worry about pieces of jacket coming back and sticking me (which has happened at distances considerably farther than three feet), nor did I need to worry about lead exposure.

In addition to their training ammunition, ICC also makes a line of Duty ammunition. It’s still frangible, but by controlling the sintering process it is not as delicate as the training ammo (which, as far as Robb Allen and I could tell, blew up on impact with the plywood interior walls of the shoot house without penetrating.) The duty ammo is the same weight and velocity as their training ammo, but it performs entirely differently. The bullet design is a hollow point, and the forward section of the bullet is designed to fragment, much like the “prefragmented” ammo we’ve all heard of. The base of the bullet remains intact for deep penetration but if the bullet strikes a hard surface it disintegrates like an frangible should, reducing the possibility of hitting a bystander. They even manufacture pistol ammo capable of defeating a Level II vest, that still performs as though it never hit the vest at all. (But not in .45 ACP. Not enough velocity, I’d imagine.)

This is all very tacticool, and I appreciate the need for such ammunition, especially at places like indoor ranges and Blackwater where so many rounds are fired in a very short period of time. However, I’m more than a little disturbed by the fact that California has outlawed lead projectiles for hunting, that the Violence Policy Center is going hard after lead as a pollutant on public shooting ranges, and, according to the rep, California’s law is going to migrate to Arizona.

This stuff is not (at present) available as a component. The bullets are, as you might imagine, brittle. If improperly crimped, the bullet can break just as if it were ceramic, so they don’t sell anything but loaded ammunition. I would imagine the same is true for other manufacturers of similar technology – the physics of sintered metal technology makes the bullets rather fragile (though they stand up to being dropped on concrete with no evidence of damage.)

If “Green” ammunition gets a good running start at the legislatures, then handloading is in trouble. I don’t have a problem with new and better technologies, but I do have a problem with legislatures destroying old ones.