Finally A Good Day At The Range For Me Too

[quicksylver]

Well as you guys know it's been blizzard season for us here in the NE...almost back to back..(day and a half between)....then more snow ..then rain....

BUT...today by comparison was not bad...full sun, mid forties and only a 10 kit "breeze"...NICE....

Needless to say I had a few rounds of everything loaded...I was so excited that I got up early ( for all the good it did me)...and waited for the best earliest time to head for the range..(2.5 hours, might as well have been all day)..but I made use of the time by running a couple of errands...

What I was up to was to compare the same loads and bullets out of my Smith Corona 03a3 and my HRA Garand...and I did...

Conditions only improved as the day rolled on..the 1" of snow and clear skies reflected the light up on the target..yes !!!!!...really good sight picture...

So here's what happened ..the 03a3 did not like the load period ?...but in all fairness it has only had about 30 rounds of cast through it plus the bullets were set out way too far...that one I will try again..2" is all I could get..

Now the Garand was another story..my chosen load for that one is the 314299, cast of 4-4-92,sized .310, AOL 3.260, 29.5 grs H4895 and lit with WLRP...

She likes it and when I can see I get this results with either WLRP or CCI...the colored stickers are the 03a3, the target is 5.5" in dia... the group is 1 3/8" OA, 4 in 13/16"..I got two groups like that ..

The other surprise of the day was a NOE 155 grainer pushed along with 29.5 gas of H4895.. ( white peace of paper..those were single loaded but ejected and the bolt locked back...going to try those again..

Thought I would also send along pictures of the day..That's the Chatham Light and the rescue boat from.." Their Finest Day"

 

[freebullet]

Nice!!! Sometimes we strike out with one & win with another. The worst of yours is pretty decent though. You should see my strike out targets for a good time.

It's like 63 here, just beautiful.

Stacked a bunch of wood for my father. To tired to go enjoy the weather now. Easy to forget it's February round here lately...I'll take it!

 

[quicksylver]

Freeb...this weather is only a tease...we get our damaging storms in March...

And yes when one door closes another opens..... (but not necessarily right away)

It was nice to be relatively comfortable at the range...

 

[JWFilips]

Dan,
You may be onto something with those 155 NOE's Lots of potential! But those Garand 314299 are not shabby by any means
Good shooting!
Jim

 

[35 shooter]

Glad you got a good day in. Nice shooting. I hope to have a good range day tommorrow and some chronoing in with it.
It always feels good to FINALLY get out there with a few loads to try and especially if a couple or more hold up like you want them too.

 

[quicksylver]

One more try here is the boat...

 

[quicksylver]

Dan,
You may be onto something with those 155 NOE's Lots of potential!
Jim

Yes Jim ..I thought I would give it a try as it has a .304 nose tapering up to .305 at the driving band...couldn't get it to shoot in anything else I own..
might just work...going to up the charge and see what happens...Dan

 

[Intheshop]

Nice report,thanks for pics.Weather is a funny thing,enjoy the Sunshine.

 

[Reed]

..the 1" of snow and clear skies reflected the light up on the target..yes !!!!!...really good sight picture...

Glad you had a good day. I'd be tickled with groups like that. Few of mine are, but I'm working on it. I have several iron sighted military rifles, and at 100 yards my bulls eye just gets lost. We get to retirement age and it seems like a common theme is "my old eyes." Your mention of the snow reflecting light onto your target gave me an idea to try. I think I'm going to borrow an old white sheet from the wife and anchor it down beneath my target. I'll be happy if I can see the bulls eye better, even if my groups remain ho-hum!

 

[quicksylver]

Reed ....my range usually is very good about replacing the backers...they use 2'x2' pieces of white corrugated plastic...the light transmitting through them is fantastic....and it helps alot....that and the use of the "shoot n C" targets makes for a really well defined target...I use to use NRA targets but the tan back ground and not so black circle gets a little fuzzy....second choice is to use an 11"x17" piece of white paper to stick the shoot n c on...good definition there as well...battery powdered LED will be next...Dan

 

[Reed]

Dan, all good ideas. I'm ready to start taking advantage of everything I can to improve my chances. My range has a small membership. Target frames seem to usually be pretty shot up, so I usually bring my own--a real estate sign frame on a 2x4 stand. Breaks down easily to fit in my vehicle. I've seen that corrugated plastic somewhere for sale. Maybe Home Depot or Lowes? I'm going to check it out. Thanks for the ideas. Reed

 

[KHornet]

Nice Dan, just plain nice!

Paul

 

[Reed]

Dan, does the corrugated plastic self-heal up to a point, or does it get torn up like cardboard? I'm guessing choice A. Hope so, anyway. I was just looking at the stuff on Home Depot's website. It's $9.22 for a 2 x 3 ft. sheet. Nearest Home Depot is 50 miles away. Probably won't try a sheet anytime soon, but still interested depending on how it acts when being shot!

 

[fiver]

I collect up all the campaign signs I can get.
the corrugated plastic holds up fairly well, stuff like a 45 pokes a smaller hole like a 9mm would look.
a 22 or 30 cal rifle could easily shoot a couple hundred rounds on one if you use it and move the paper around a bit.