Went again on Saturday.
Low points: Snows here, so I had to start shooting indoors. bang! bang! bang! wow. look. there's holes in the paper...*yawn*
my sons new Bearcat is not performing as I would have hoped. Continually shoots high. According to what I've read, I should try some higher velocity lighter weight bullets. (which doesn't make sense to me, but I read it a dozen times, and won't hurt to try) It's also suffering some pretty bad ignition problems with both brands of ammo I had on me. Checked the firing pin, and dry fired it on some brass last night....serious dents on those rims...be lotsa fun figuring that one out.
found three mags that have magically ceased working in the 1911, even though it fed empty brass out of 'em before. (they weren't stored loaded)
biggest downer....uhmmm....gee....this is hard to say.....my.....I have......well....my son.....errrr.....MY SON'S NOT A SHOOTER!! aggghh!! I finally said it!! and I'm not ashamed!! my son's not a shooter, but I still love him! He fired about thirty rounds through his Bearcat, and two mags through his 94-22, then sat and watched the rest of the time. He didn't particularly have fun, and also couldn't hit the broadside of a barn from inside, no matter how much I instructed him, let him relax, etc. the boy cain't shoot worth a hill of beans, no matter what I try. One could say I have too high of expectations for an eight year old kid, but hell...by the time I was that age I could outshoot 8 out of 10 adult men that came out to our property in Georgia. Anyhoo....the boy didn't have much fun, which was a real downer for me.
good things though...
#1 and most importantly...my son who cant' shoot straight CAN handle his gun safely. I was a bit concerned taking him to the indoor range, cause the fact is there's alot more people to poke a muzzle at if you get careless, but..all that concern was needless. He did spectacular. Loaded, unloaded, checked his weapons well, and the muzzle was either in the air, or pointed down range. I'm happy about this!
#2 I did alot better than I'd expected to with the 1911. my double taps were tight and very well centered, and headshots were dead on and in the ten ring up to 15 yds. Speed was slower than I would have liked, but still not half bad. Not bad considering how much time I've been spending with .22 rifles and shotguns lately. Also, the only pistols I've been shooting have been revolvers.
#3 I outshot the heck outta my shooting buddy. (he usually beats me by a fairly comfortable margin with shotguns, and makes me sweat a little with the rifles. With the handguns on paper though, it was a tremendous difference. (Not that I'm ever competitive or anything
)
#4 out of four .22 pistols we brought. (Walther P-22, Sig Trailmaster, and the Bearcat) the tightest, and best centered groups came from the archaic old fixed sight Ruger Mk I that's been passed through the family. It was kinda neat seeing the old ugly thing perform better than a new Sig.
Overall, a bit of a dry experience, as far as shooting goes. But...sometimes I think it's a good thing to go inside, and put it on paper. It's kinda knocks yer confidence down a few pegs, but It's good to see what you're really doing. Seems to me that when we go out plinkin' tin cans and what all the targets can sometimes lie and build false confidence.
Not a great time as far as shooting goes, but a darn good time overall.
The wood on them tends to be uglier, but even that's hard to tell anymore, as most type 53's I've seen have been sporterized. All in all, I really like it, and has one of slickest bolt actions of any Mosin I've ever used, fast and smooth as a baby's butt. That all being said, still prefer my Finn M39.