Ringing the Steel

Older Daughter and I finally meshed our schedules, and we headed north to the Birchwood range. We hoped to get the 300 yard range, but it was already crowded at 8:00 am., so we took the 200 yard range next to it.

The collection o' shootin' irons we took along included a Mosin-Nagant, Savage Axis in .30-06, M-4 in 5.56, Weatherby Vanguard in .270 Win., and the Garand (also in .30-06, of course).

Our target was a 22"W x 19"H steel, in the traditional head-and-shoulders shape familiar to anyone who's ever seen an AQT.

Here was the set-up, looking west from the firing line:

Click to enlarge

In case you can't enlarge it, here's a bit closer view of the day-glo orange target:

Closer ...

And closer, for the older shooters (like me). And didja notice the snow on the Tordrillo Mtns, there to the west? It's a-comin'!

I decided it would be fun to start with the M1 Garand, because where's the challenge in using a scope when you can have iron sights? :)

With Daughter on the spotting scope, the first clip of eight rounds got me on the steel after making a few adjustments to the sights. Gotta love those military aperture sights! After that, I was able to get five out of eight on the steel, consistently.

One group of eight produced six hits - not expert, but respectable, I think.

I was fighting the sling a bit, as my shooting jacket is now too big, and the arm loop kept sliding toward my elbow. We'll get that worked out, next time.

The .270, with its 3x9 variable scope made things too easy, and I was five for five with that. So I went back to the Garand. (C'mon, you would have, too...)

I spotted for Daughter, and even fired one group of five shots through the Nagant. Didn't hit anything but the berm, but it's fun to shoot.

'Twas a good outing, and makes me wonder why I waited so long to do it. It's certainly not Daughter's fault: she's always ready for a range trip.

So now, this is all that remains:

A labor of love