Range Report

Well, yesterday morning, along with being my beloved Irish Woman's birthday, was also the first time I've been to Knob Creek in months.  I got out there about half an hour before they opened the range, and that gave me enough time to get set up and meet my buddies for a group shoot.  The range was eventually packed to the gills, so I'm glad I got there early.  You couldn't have asked for better conditions.  It was cool, with a slight breeze directly to my back as I shot. 

I took along the 91/30, the Garand, the 10/22, and a couple of pistols.  One of my friends brought along his new-to-him Garand, and we each shot a few clips of ammo through each other's rifles. 

I spent some time shooting the 91/30 now that I've extended the front sight post.  For the non-Mosin crowd, that rifle was designed to be shot accurately only with the weight of the very long bayonet sticking off the end of the barrel. It was probably the last infantry rifle designed around the "Fire off a few rounds, then charge the enemy with bayonets fixed" tactic.  Without the hog sticker on the muzzle, the force of the round going going off kicks the muzzle too far up, and it shoots very high.  To compensate, a narrow tube of some kind can be put in the end of the front sight post to make it longer.  A longer front sight forces the shooter to point the muzzle a touch lower, bringing point of impact down with it.  A few degrees down at the muzzle equates to several inches or more at 100 yards. 

My shots seemed to be low enough, but now I'm shooting about a foot to the right.  That's either lack of practice, or the extension to the sight may be off center.  I'll keep practicing and see if it improves.  If it doesn't, I can re-do the extension and make sure it's plumb to the existing sight post.

So, I put 24 rounds through the Garand, about 60 rounds through my Mosin, and another 25 or 30 rounds through my 1911 and .38.  The 10/22 only got fired for 20 rounds.  I'm going to have to do a range trip where all I take is the 91/30 and 10/22 so I can concentrate on things I need to improve on and not just on the things I really really enjoy.  Of course, any day at the range is fun, and the dull ache from my right shoulder still makes me smile.

Before you ask, yes I got back home before noon so I could spoil Irish Woman.  BooBoo and I got her some things, and we had really really good Italian food for dinner.