A big THANK YOU to my buddy and his family for allowing us to use this beautiful rural property!!
The sons and I go out for a bit of well-deserved gun-play and tom-foolery.
First time out using the Harris bipod and Vortex Strikefire 2 AR15 optic.
Full-value constant wind from right to left all day.
Long-range shooting at 6" steel target at approx 300 yards.
We were lucky we hit anything, but I think we did OK all things considered.
We only once got the cops called on us! Sometimes you're golden, man. That's all I got to say.
Range day:
-S&W AR15 carbine-5.56/.223 NATO w/red dot optic
-AK47
-Remington 700 in 22.250 w/12 power scope
-Russian Mosin-Nagant 7.62X54R
-Ithaca 1911 .45ACP
-Glock23
The wind was kicking our ass during rifle fire. I couldn't hit anything using the AR15's red dot optic as I haven't zeroed it or done my homework on it. (It was first-time for optics use and I kinda needed to know where it was out-of-the-box.) It has no magnification and just puts a lighted dot on target thru the reticle. I switched to the iron sights and did much better.
The fancy Rem700 and scope has been dialed in for years by the previous owner (wife's uncle, RIP) and I have never dared to adjust it. It is straight shooting and hits hard. 22.250 is a "varmint round" similar to 5.56...a small .22 cal pill with a metric shit ton of powder behind it.
The Mosin-Nagant is a WW2 peasant rifle from Soviet Union. A .30 cal shoulder thumper. Primitive, cheap to own and shoot, but can be accurate if shooter does his part and doesn't mind recoil.
#2 son's AK47 I don't and have never really liked or enjoyed. He likes it, so that's all that matters. I prefer the AR's refinements and am more comfortable and experienced with the platform.
The GlockG23 (40S&W): We put several hundred 9mm rounds thru it using the Lone Wolf 9mm conversion barrel and Lone Wolf stainless guide rod/recoil spring as the only changes to the gun. Didn’t change the extractor and had no extracting problems. We even experimented loading 9mm pills into the 40sw mags. I had no hiccups, but my oldest son had one feeding failure using the 40sw Glock mags. 9mm Glock mags ran perfect.
The Harris bipod kicks ass. It's nice to be able to quickly move it from the AR15 to the Remington 700, but I'm thinking having more than one would be even more betterer.
It was a good day with my sons. I don't worry about them, and I couldn't be more proud of them. They are fine young men and handle themselves accordingly.
Never a waste. Your boys (men, now, I assume) will long remember that day, and the other like it. There is not a better way to spend a perfect day. And an imperfect day can be vastly improved by a trip to the range with family or friends or both.
ReplyDeleteOn the north side of 40, now, I can remember small details about many of the trips I took with my father. I was 7 the first time we went, still remember that trip. I was 22 the last time, and I recall that too. After that, I got busy with my life, more school and work, my wife and then kids, and my parents moved 12 hours away. Still other moves put him 7+ hours away. Damn shame as he 71 now, and mostly lost interest, esp. after mom died. I'd like to head out one more time with him, but have taken my oldest two daughters a few times. Younger son and daughter still growing up enough to make wife feel kinda safe (personally, I think 2 years old is a *fine* time to start!)
I know you already know all this stuff about how great shooting with kids is--and don't care about my sob story... but I am so excited to see a new Zoomie post! I could not help myself. Walter Zoomie's World - Still the Greatest Train Wreck on Earth!
Thanks, buddy.
DeleteMy dad was a good father, but he didn't spend a whole lot of his spare time with us. Although he had a gun cabinet full of guns, he certainly never took my brother and I out shooting like I take my sons. I wanted to change that, and I did.
My home has always been full of guns (most of them not locked away), and when the kids showed an interest, I took the mystery out of it early with the kids.
I started them out very young with BB guns in our suburban back yard...teaching firearms safety, handling, and some good old basic USMC marksmanship. I explained to them that if they fucked up with a gun, the guns get put up and then fun time with Dad was over.
They listened. They are great marksman, in some ways better than me.
My sons (and daughter) are in their early twenties now. I couldn't be more proud of them and they way they comport themselves.
Oh BTW...if you're old man is still able, take him out for some range time before it's too late. Make it easy for him and take care of every little mundane detail that might quickly make these outings a pain in the ass. If he's physically comfortable, he'll enjoy it and appreciate your efforts.
DeleteZoomie,
ReplyDeleteHere, almost four years later, I wanted to thank you for the encouragement to take my dad one last time. I lost him second (my mom passed five years earlier) just this last June. He went into the hospital the day after the 5 year “anniversary” of mom’s passing and died there just a few weeks later. As I was thinking back on my 44 years with him, one of the things that bubbled to the surface was memory of going to a local range in the spring of 2018. As you suggested, I took care of all the trivial details so he could just shoot. We went through maybe 150 rounds of .22lr pistol and rifle, some .30-30, and the scoped .22lr that his father used for his marksmanship competition shooting back in the 20’s through the 50’s.
Had you not encouraged that trip, I would not have bothered with it (sometimes older folks get a little demanding) and would not have that memory of doing something with pop when I was 41 that I so enjoyed doing with him when I was 14. It's actually meant a lot over the past few weeks as I process being an orphan. Maybe someday, my own son with choose to put up with me for a few hours so he’ll have such a memory, too.
-Just A Chemist (my google account is gone, so it’s anon now).
I'm sorry you lost your pops. I know first hand how much it hurts. I'm glad you were able to take him out shooting one last time. I'm sure he appreciated it.
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