Sorry, no pics, but...
I've had three great days of shooting.
On Saturday, I went to my range (Shirley Rod and Gun Club - site of the only Official 2008 NortheastShooters.com Independence Day Shoot) to shoot a bit.
I was trying out my new range "bag" which has turned out to be about the best investment I've made in a while.
I was joined by The Goose, Tele-Mark, and PDM. I PMed Tele-Mark to ask him to come shooting, but Goose and PDM are members and happened to be there anyway.
I brought some 700gr .500 Mag loads which we all tried and agreed that they were all that. The Goose let us shoot his Winchester 1907 in .351 - I felt like a 1930's prison guard. I also had my S&W Model 1917 revolver, and chronoed a bunch of powder/load combinations through my new .38 Super to find the best one for the gun (9.0 grains of Blue Dot under a 130 gr FMJ looks like it's going to do it). A good time was had by all.
On Sunday, my son and I were at the range from noon until after 4:00 and we had the place to ourselves.
We shot some 700gr .500's out of my 4". My son shot one round, and then said, "Dad, you're going to have to help me put my thumb back in its socket." I said, "You want to shoot a few more?" He said, "Yeah, give me 5 of them." That's my boy!
After that, we went through almost an entire bulk pack of Federal .22's trying to get rid of his flinch. We played one of our favorite games: "Who can empty a 10-round mag of .22s the fastest while still hitting the 40yd steel but not with the first shot" game.
We also shot a few hundred .38 Wadcutters. My son is getting to be a pretty good shooter - he had a couple of one-hole 6-shot groups at 10 yards.
Then we moved over to the rifle range to shoot at 9mm cases at 100 yards with my Savage Model 12FP heavy barrel rifle in .223. The challenge was to hit 12 .223 cases at 100 yards in less than 50 shots. We did it in less than 25. We used the rest of the rounds to shoot at a specific type of rock that explodes when you hit it. I'm not a geologist, but I think they were marble - they were smooth and white. We spent about 20 minutes picking them up from around the range and setting them up on the 100 yard bunker, then shooting them.
Today I brought my M1 to the range and had the place to myself again. I was pleased to find out that my handloaded ammo far outperformed the surplus stuff that I've been shooting. I also found a 9mm load that would run flawlessly through both of my Lugers and Mauser Broomhandle.
All in all, it was three great days of shooting.
I've had three great days of shooting.
On Saturday, I went to my range (Shirley Rod and Gun Club - site of the only Official 2008 NortheastShooters.com Independence Day Shoot) to shoot a bit.
I was trying out my new range "bag" which has turned out to be about the best investment I've made in a while.
I was joined by The Goose, Tele-Mark, and PDM. I PMed Tele-Mark to ask him to come shooting, but Goose and PDM are members and happened to be there anyway.
I brought some 700gr .500 Mag loads which we all tried and agreed that they were all that. The Goose let us shoot his Winchester 1907 in .351 - I felt like a 1930's prison guard. I also had my S&W Model 1917 revolver, and chronoed a bunch of powder/load combinations through my new .38 Super to find the best one for the gun (9.0 grains of Blue Dot under a 130 gr FMJ looks like it's going to do it). A good time was had by all.
On Sunday, my son and I were at the range from noon until after 4:00 and we had the place to ourselves.
We shot some 700gr .500's out of my 4". My son shot one round, and then said, "Dad, you're going to have to help me put my thumb back in its socket." I said, "You want to shoot a few more?" He said, "Yeah, give me 5 of them." That's my boy!
After that, we went through almost an entire bulk pack of Federal .22's trying to get rid of his flinch. We played one of our favorite games: "Who can empty a 10-round mag of .22s the fastest while still hitting the 40yd steel but not with the first shot" game.
We also shot a few hundred .38 Wadcutters. My son is getting to be a pretty good shooter - he had a couple of one-hole 6-shot groups at 10 yards.
Then we moved over to the rifle range to shoot at 9mm cases at 100 yards with my Savage Model 12FP heavy barrel rifle in .223. The challenge was to hit 12 .223 cases at 100 yards in less than 50 shots. We did it in less than 25. We used the rest of the rounds to shoot at a specific type of rock that explodes when you hit it. I'm not a geologist, but I think they were marble - they were smooth and white. We spent about 20 minutes picking them up from around the range and setting them up on the 100 yard bunker, then shooting them.
Today I brought my M1 to the range and had the place to myself again. I was pleased to find out that my handloaded ammo far outperformed the surplus stuff that I've been shooting. I also found a 9mm load that would run flawlessly through both of my Lugers and Mauser Broomhandle.
All in all, it was three great days of shooting.