I went to the range today. What a circus!

From the top:

Me and Mr. Blanch went to the 50 yard line today. HE allowed it would be okay to take the Swamp Thing too, but politely suggested the 'young pup' wander down to the 100 line to frolic with the other riff raff. As we were about to go out the door the 94/22M started to whine. Mr. B fluttered his folding leaf sights and muttered, "Blimey! Can we please get this show underway?"

Well, just to show the subtle power of age and experience I left the brass drift at home so the scope wouldn't mount on the 94/22M due to leaf sight interference. Mr. B giggle quietly, the Winnie pouted when I put it back in the case.

Now this range is new turf to me. Lots of pot bellied shooters of things made in Roosha, Czechalvannia, and mebbe a few other places once RED. These lads are not beyond redemption however, for when I pulled Mr. Blanch from the case and rested it on the bags just before the line went cold, there was a marked quieting of the crowd. The morning air grew fetid and stagnant as a small mass of humanity gathered to gawk. Questions flowed too fast, advice on loads ranged from the sublime to the absurd. One fella leaned close and said "Whut inell's a .297-250?", after looking at the barrel closely. There was a muted chuckle from the benched beauty, I said, "Ya got me by the short hairs buddy!"

The line went hot, a few lingered to watch as I loaded and took a rest. I naturally take a coarse bead when using irons, and though the rest was rock solid the trigger pull is a bit firm, maybe 5-6#. Finally there came a soft crack, an almost imperceptable nudge on my shoulder, and to my pleasured eye, a nice round hole about 3" high and a couple right of POA. I knew a couple of things right off. First off, I shoulda used a fine bead, and secondly, something was askew. A brief look at the sights revealed the front post was about 1/32" left of the index mark, something I'd not noticed before. I examined the case, small bit of soot on the neck, primer round with a very large firing pin mark, centered and deep. Won't be any misfires here I thought. As I loaded another round Mr. Blanch seemed to sigh, then "Right-o, let's do that again!" Somebody in the background said "'Tain't very loud huh?" Number 2 went "ker-rack!", a hole appeared about 1-1/2" left of the first. He said "More!" And so it went thru the next three rounds, each progressively charged .2 grains heavier than the previous. A nifty little "L" was formed on the target, 2"X2.5", and when I shifted back and forth between fine and coarse bead it became apparent that the first or second load will be the one it wants, once the front sight is drifted back to its index, and staked if necessary. I cleaned the Old Man, wiped him down with a fine silicon cloth and put him to sleep next to Junior. He said a muffled "Thank you kind sir!" as I zippered up the case. Only God knows how long the old man has slept. It's been a long time since 1885 and the .297-250 was commonly known.

Well, the crowd was sadly disappointed when the Swamp Thing came out of the bag. They turned back to suffing their AK's with Wolfe fodder and such, talking their country psychobabble etc. I put him on the bags and was immediately questioned, "Where's the pussy Dan?" "No pussy today my friend." "I may not be your friend...Dan." "Shut up and shoot ya cheeky little twit!"


The one on the left is the first trio with 85 gr NBTs, the one on the right is first effort with 100 gr NPTs, the loads on the targets, OAL of 2.6", Fed. 210 Primers. All fed from the magazine, albeit one at a time was loaded. There were two shots for sighters, a two inch spread at 10 o'clock and 3". Not bad for an old fella eyeballing a bore sight. I adjusted 12 clicks down and right on the Weaver K2.5, then fired group #1. # 2 went 1.4", mostly due the fact I had difficulty seeing the smaller target square I think.

The first group with the NPTs was the crowd quieter. It is the right hand target. A couple of guys had checked the target with their spotter scopes and began to murmur to their buddys. I think too that one of more of the Rambo Wannabes had purused my first target as it lay on the bench. The next group went 1.3", again because it was difficult to resolve the smaller target...and well, it was 100 meters anyway. I know, lame excuse, I'll do better next time. So, all was said and done, the fellas handing out advice...stopped. The Swamp Thing got cleaned and put to rest, the kit was packed and off I went.

Well, not quite that quick. You notice that funny little bullet silhouette to the right of the right group? That's what happens when you load a 150 gr FB spitzer in your AK so's you can "make a mess" out of your target. That fellas target was 12' right of mine and he couldn't believe it was his shot. I explained that I'd been looking at the target when it happened, and that it wasn't a problem. See, he had at least another 3.5" before he really pissed me off with that tom foolery. He said "I seen that before, the bullets are spinning too fast!" There be fools, and then there be damn fools....the latter being the guy with the AR on a bipod who opined that it was caused by too much pressure, and that the guy needed to shorten his barrel. My quick reflexes saved the day, and I said, "Absolutely, you oughta chop about 8" off'n it." That was when I finally saddled up and skedaddled.

And I think there's some crats round about that are in deep doo-doo.

Dan

Pres., TYHC

http://www.AndHereComesAnother.HurricaneBTW

By golly Dan thats not bad shootin thar!

Yea it's gettin near deer season an all the local hilljacks are comin out from under the rocks to site in their deer guns.
Amazing the kind of folks you can see this time of year right on up through deer season.
Some of these twits will buy a cheap gun 2 weeks before season and shoot it to make sure it's dead on ( which consists of being able to hit a washing machine at 125 yards ) and hunt the season with it and then pawn it off and do it all over again next year.
I do all my load developement and practice at a friends personal range ( backyard ) or in a local field that not everyone is allowed in just to stay away from some of the idiots that come out this time of year.

Nice shooting Dan!,I'm on your side!!!!You oughta see the montgomery co. cmp match [100 yd.]some time,,,There's pops,,termed in respect to the war he once was thrown into,,,,paitently waiting on the bench,,while he should be shooting the prone rapid fire,,realises it a second into it,,and dumps his 10 rounds into the target to the left.At least without a doubt,,he has learned and never forotten how to load and shoot a garand,,If a kraut had been standing anywhere remotely close to the targets,,that man would have mowed him down.Now down on lane 15,,there's the "dudes",,with thier sks,,picked up at the gunshow last week,,Sort of keep it on target,,,but where's all the holes!!!!They know they fired 10 rounds,,,,,,,,,but only 6 holes! Now down on lane 11,,The high master is getting pissed at the mouse gun shooter on lane 10,,'cause all of his brass went down the back of his shooting jacket,,And the mouse shooter knows it,and exactly where his brass lands,,so he sprawls out just ahead of the shooter on the right,,but behind his muzzle.Cheaper and more entertaining,,just to roll on down and watch than it is to actually compete.The iwla ladies serve great ham sammywitches,,and cold sodas!

That reminds me of a time about 20 years ago.

My wife had expressed intrest in going deer hunting. I had coached her shooting a .22 to get the marksmanship fundamentals. Then got her a 700 Remington .243 and put a B&L 3-9 X 50 on it.
I had worked the kinks out of the rifle and knew it shot well.

We went to the range on a saturday about 6 weeks before deer season. Her first 5 shots were in the 1" bull at 100 yds.

As we walked to the target line after the range master called cease fire I could tell that her group was less than an inch and said as much. The shooters on either side were astounded that thier SKSs were barely on paper while some gal was threading the needle.

As an aside, they were shooting off of the hard plastic Delta rests that were popular at the time. I suggested they put a sand bag or rolled up cloth on the hard plastic rest. This helped but didn't cure all of the problems.