Range Report: Glock Test Fire, Burris MTAC, Tula .223 and Commie Guns

The Glock 19 with steel guide rod and 3.5lb trigger connector was great. The lighter trigger connector really makes for a great shooting package. I do not think it's unsafe or anything, just a cleaner more crisp trigger. Wouldn't want to get some 1 pound gamer trigger or whatever but this setup is just fine IMO. I would guesstimate the increase in accuracy based on this modification is 30%. The PMC 115gr FMJ's I was shooting were great. The only sad point in this area is I only had 1x 50 round box to shoot. Along these lines I noticed Lucky Gunner has Glock 19 mags for $31 which is a good deal these days.

Brought the .22 Browning Buckmark along for the ride. I have no legitimate reason it has not been coming along more frequently. Anyway I brought it along today. The gun has been sitting well lubricated for probably 4 years, I just took it out, loaded a mag, started shooting. It was great, the odd dud but that is .22lr for ya. Being able to shoot a pistol until I get bored without consideration of the cost was big fun. I know .22 ammo is hard to come by these days though it is out there. I've stashed about 1,500 rounds of .22 during this whole mess without paying silly prices so it is out there.

The pistol shooting went better today than last time, pretty good for my current skill set/ level of practice. I credit the 3.5# connector and a half dozen mags of .22 to warm up.

I was updating some inventories yesterday. Glancing through them I found out we have a bit more than 2x the .22 ammo I thought put back. For whatever reason the number in my head was really wrong. Glad it was wrong short not long. Now I feel better about having the 3 inflation adjusted 333rd bricks of .22 ammo I got recently be range meat.

Speaking of range meat I shot that Tula 223. It functioned fine, no misfires or jams. At the risk of speaking without even semi scientific evidence I will give some impressions. It seemed to be slightly less accurate than Lake City or PMC. Sufficient for putting lead into targets but not what I would want to have loaded for the stereotypical movie shoot the guy behind the hostage scenario. If the price difference between Tula or Wolf steel cased .223 vs brass cased stuff was sufficient I would not hesitate to purchase it again.

As usual the MTAC was great. Have found it works better during the day with the illum turned off. The large heavy circle that surrounds the reticle lets you get onto target really fast, sort of like an Eotech. The only downside is I shot half the .223 I brought along at 200-400m without realizing I had the scope set at 1 power. Obviously I do better at distance with 4x magnification.

Since I was with some people the opportunity to shoot their guns came up. Played with an SKS a bit. We briefly touched on them in the Basic Guns series. The SKS is a classic import case of studs and duds. Some are awesome and others completely suck. The sucky ones could probably be fixed by a competent gunsmith familiar with the platform but it destroys the economic benefit of the SKS. Sort of like putting $ 5k into a car that once it is running will be worth $5,500 it probably isn't a great plan. The one I shot was great and had a pretty nice finish to boot. At the right price they are a decent rifle to have as an all around gun or a backup/ giveaway gun. This makes even more sense if you already have an AK and a bunch of ammo put back. Sort of like I said before my evaluation of the SKS as a rifle for $200ish is very different than for $500+.

Also got to shoot a Mosin Nagant carbine, think the guy said it was a Chinese Type 53. That gun was a hoot! Solid potential for accuracy despite very mediocre sights and reasonable scoping options are available if one wants to go that way. Best of all it's in a centerfire .30cal rifle cartridge that normal folks can afford to go shoot a hundred rounds on a semi regular basis. Aside from being a useful backup/ trade type gun it's a range toy at a reasonable range toy price. I really want one; maybe for my birthday.

Well that is what happened this morning at the range.

What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?

 

Earlier this week I went shooting testing a variety of things and working on the zero on my rifle. At Good Will I picked up a pair of line new USGI desert boots with the rippled vibram sole. They are a half size too big but you can never have too many boots and the price of $15 was right. An AR-15 stripped lower receiver came to live with us. Picked up a hundred rounds of American Eagle 9mm FMJ and 100 rounds of excellent CCI Velocitor .22lr that has been totally unavailable for a couple of weeks. Also grabbed a few little things, some OTC meds and packets of instant coffee for my BOB.

All in all a darn good week here. Pretty 2A oriented but that is to be expected these days.

What did you do to prepare this week?

Range Report- Project AR, New Night Sights and Other Fun

Went to the range today. The way things came together today was the day to go and pleasantly the weather cooperated. It has been quite cold for the last several days with daytime highs in the low 30's or so. Sure I would have gone shooting in colder temps but today was nice enough that I ended up in just a t shirt. As this is Arizona of course it was clear and sunny.

Had a bit of anxiety about taking out the new lower since a complete buffoon I put it together. Project AR has been shot before but on a different lower.  Pleased to report that the new lower receiver works just fine. So Project AR is now a complete rifle which is good. Still want to free float the barrel and put an IR laser on it but those things will wait indefinitely on funds.

The first order of business was getting the zero on Project AR up to standard. It was almost perfect at 25 meters but when I went back to 50 to confirm things needed work for sure. Was shooting way high (which is why a zero that is level at 50 and 200 is far better than 25/250) and a bit to the left but pretty much got it figured out. Eventually I ran out of ammo and motivation/ energy at about the same time. Probably went from a 70% solution to a 90% solution which is meaningful progress.

Pistol shooting pretty much sucked. My grouping was like an 8 inch shotgun blast at 10 meters which leaves something to desire. Sort of expected as my consistency in pistol shooting over the last 4 years has seriously left something to be desired. Over the course of a hundred rounds or so things improved noticeably to a tight shotgun blast which is something. In any case it was a reminder that I need to make consistent bi weekly or at least monthly range trips and be better about dry fire practice.

Not sure exactly how I feel about the new night sights on my EDC Glock 19. Will stick with them for a few range sessions and try them at night if I can do so conveniently. In awhile I may switch back to the 3 dot ones that I am used to.

The 'if I have time' piece of this trip was my Christmas present which was a CMMG .22 conversion kit for the AR. I had some time waiting for the range to go cold to check my targets and figured why not. Loaded up the mag, replaced the standard BCG with the CMMG bolt and gave it a shot. It fed the bulk pack (Remington IIRC) ammo without a hitch. Once I figured out the hold over it was quite accurate. Definitely not sufficient for competitive marksmanship but it seems just fine for training, plinking or putting a rabbit into the pot. I will fiddle with it some more and get back to you with a review down the road aways.

I realized while trying to stuff guns into a cheap plastic case that came with a rifle that I can really use a nice double rifle case. Also some sort of a legit range bag (vs the random duffel I have) with little useful compartments and mag pouches would be very helpful.

So aside from my mediocre pistol marksmanship everything was good. As always shooting is fun.

Range Report: BCM Middy and ACOG Plus Battle Comp Discussion

Today the stars aligned and I was able to take Project AR Upgrade my mostly new rifle out to the range.

Getting zeroed was sort of interesting. The range was very well run but busy and thus not conducive to the fire 3 rounds, look, adjust, repeat method I am used to. The ACOG was not powerful enough to see holes in the plain targets I had brought and waiting 15-20 minutes to go check my shot group wasn't going to work. Several folks there had high powered bino's or spotting scopes. Thankfully there were some barely shot targets that are the ones which show yellow after being shot lying around. Those combined with my scope were a workable combo to make rough adjustments and get pretty close. Pretty quickly things got going. A crosswind did not help matters any. After the ACOG was as good as it was getting today my attention turned to the Magpul BUIS. Thankfully that was pretty easy and it is definitely good enough for a backup.

So today the rifle ended up with a redneck zero aka probably good enough at about 3 MOA. Realistically that fills any needs I have for the gun. Got to figure out the logistics but I will finish zeroing and reconfirm at 100 meters at a later date. I think the rifle is capable of at least 2 MOA.

The rifle was great to shoot. What people say about the mid length gas system being less harsh than the carbine length is in my totally unscientific opinion true. This thing was just great to shoot. Though the .223 cartridge is not known for recoil this rifle is particularly mild.

Commander Zero was curious about my thoughts on the Battle Comp. I've got to say this is sort of hard as I do not have a control sample. I've shot all sorts of AR's but do not have a 14.5 in BCM middy with a standard A2 flash hider to shoot alongside my gun. That being said I like it a lot. Zero muzzle rise, just the slight backwards movement of recoil. This made for the rifle very fast to get back onto target. The difference in sound seems negligible for the firer. It might be loud nearby but there were too many folks shooting rifles at once to really tell.

[It is important to remember what I am doing here. A totally functional 14.5in flat top AR-15 was already in the gun safe. I am building the nice, very durable rifle that I want. Money is a consideration but not the primary driving factor. This project was in unfunded limbo for a long time and some saving plus a couple recent gun sales (M1 Garand, 1911, Coach gun) made it possible. A significant consideration in building this rifle is that I do not want to be changing it in 2-3 years. Buy once, cry once if you will.]

I went with a Battle Comp for a couple reasons. First everybody who has one or has used one seemed to like it. Reading up on this stuff on the net I didn't hear a single bad thing about them which is almost unheard of. Second since it had to be permanently attached I wanted to do it right. Also there is the added bonus that they look cool. The battle comp wasn't cheap but was money well spent. I wouldn't spend the money to put one onto a budget gun but if I was building another nice AR it would get one.

As to the inevitable question of whether a Battle Comp is worth the money. It really depends on your budget and goals. Somebody on a tight budget who picked up a $650 Smith and Wesson M&P and worked extra shifts to put an Aimpoint Pro on top should just stick with the standard flash hider. That guy would be better off with a few more PMAGs and a quarter case of good .223 ammo. On the other hand for a person putting some money into a nicer rifle I would say the Battle Comp is a good choice. If you can stomach the price I doubt you will be upset about a Battle Comp living on the end of your rifle.

Anyway that is today's range report. Shooting is fun.

Range Report- 25 September

Got some range time today which was pretty awesome. I have forgotten what a great stress reliever shooting is. The revolvers were fun as always. Decided to hold onto the one that I was looking at selling. It is a sweet shooter and would not bring a ton of money on resale. Forgot to bring the Browning Buckmark which was a bit of a bummer.

I have been working on being more intentional than I have in the past when it comes to shooting. Either starting from the low ready or holster and shooting controlled pairs at multiple targets. Reloads were often used. If I wasn't sold before the modern isosceles is definitely the ticket. The Glock 19 shot like a champ. There is a reason lots of really smart folks use them.

Practicing with the gear I carry with has been interesting. Like the gun, belt and leather. However my spare mag storage needs to be addressed. I have been tossing a spare mag in my off hand cargo pocket which sucks a lot for the reload. Might as well stop to get a drink of water, use the bathroom and wash my hands during a speed reload. The back pocket is better (at least it won't get turned around) but not by much. Granted carrying a 15 shot pistol a reload is unlikely but I like having one around. I've been meaning to get a spare mag pouch and start using it for CC but this really beats that point in.

All in all I was pretty happy with things especially considering pistol range time has been pretty light for a pretty long time. A pair of good ear muffs would make things a bit more pleasant and a shot timer would help me get serious about training.

The old 30-30 needed some love. It is one of those models that came with the infernal cross bolt safety. Hating said safety I promptly removed it. That left the rifle functioning how it should but with noticeable and unpleasant holes in the sides of the receiver.  Did not want the safety back but didn't want the holes either. the whole thing bothered me so it got stashed away in the safe. Recently I used some google fu to see if other people have had this same problem.

Stumbled into this article by a fellow who had the same problem. For less than a buck at the hardware store I got 2 1/4 in nylon hole inserts and gave it a shot. The gun looks like it should, well at least to a quick glance which is good enough for me. I had considered selling the gun and getting an older one (a 16" 30-30 trapper would be great but it is pretty low on the list) without the safety which is an infernal nod to our overly legalistic society but this solved the problem.

Look it is probably a bad idea to do any at home gunsmithing, let alone messing with safety features. As such I cannot recommend it to anybody and in fact suggest not doing it. As an adult with a decent understanding of firearm safety and the safe handling of this weapon I made a choice that may not be right for others.

Any day shooting is a good day. Most things went really well and there is some stuff to work on.  Planning to do some research and start incorporating dry fire practice into the mix. Hopefully there will be a lot more shooting happening (shooting for monthly as a goal) so this will be a more frequent feature.

Get out there and train!

Range Report Two

Took Bro In Law to the range today. It was also just kind of my 'do some training and break the cobwebs off some stuff because I am back home' day. Took the Glock 19, the AK, my Browning Buckmark and the Springfield 1903. The following events occured:

-Couldn't find any 7.62x39 ammo in the two places we drove by. No biggie, just took a few boxes from the stash and mentally allocated money to replace it on my next order.

-Picked up all the stuff and headed out. Realized we didn't have hearing protection and stopped at a hardware store. Ended up with a big box of the disposable ones instead of just enough for today. Realized we didn't have any targets so I got a case of cheap soda to shoot at the store. Realized I can use a dedicated range bag. Something to keep hearing protection, targets, a few mags, etc in all the time. Just add guns and ammo and I will be good to shoot. Since I won't be shooting again for awhile this isn't a hugely pressing issue but I will add it to the list.

-Got to the range and laid everything out. Put on hearing protection, loaded Springfield and pulled trigger, hit target and cycled bolt then pulled the trigger again, nothing happened so I cycled bolt to see if it hit the primer, nothing came out and the chamber was empty. Said a dirty word. Pull bolt back and try again, it doesn't seem to go back far enough to catch the round in the magazine. Said a dirty word. Fiddled with safety and took bolt out of gun. Put bolt back in and it then picked up a round, pulled trigger and hit target, repeat 2x including curse words. Decide the problem will not be immediately corrected and I will mess with it later. Curse more and move onwards. On the plus side it shoots but on the down side it won't feed. It looks like the mag portion is working fine and the bolt just won't go back the last fraction of an inch to grab the round. So that was kind of a big sad face. Any ideas?

-Get Bro In Law shooting. Help and coach as necessary.

-Take out Browning Buckmark. Shoot it. Man I wish they made a mag for that thing which held more bullets. Bringing the .22 pistol was a great idea. They are really the only gun which an average guy can afford to take to the range and shoot until he is bored. Always coming from now on when I shoot pistols.

-Shoot Glock. Practice rapidly drawing from my concealed carry setup and shooting controlled pairs. Repeat at various distances and practice transitioning from one target to another. Shoot a couple rounds further out.

-Alternate between the Glock and the Browning. Fun times and good practice ensue.

-Shoot AK. The more I am shooting it the more I am enjoying that gun. Simple, reliable, pleasant to shoot and (reasonably) accurate. It doesn't jam and will shoot dirt cheap ammo all day long.

-See a guy with an AK that had one of those side folding wire type stocks. Decide I should ask how he likes it. I catch them as they are just about to leave and ask how he likes it. He said he really liked it. He then took it out of the bag and let me fiddle with it. I too liked it. Asked where he got it and he said one source tactical. It also had a grip they sell which he strongly suggested I get also. I know where my next $100 or so of gun  money is going.

- We shot some more. Bro In Law was a quick learner. Taught him to load and clear manfunctions and all that good stuff. He greatly improved at pistols over the course of the range day and just plain did well with the AK. Right before it was time to leave I did a couple mags of deliberate fire at 100 meters with the Glock. We used to always finish that way. I did it this time both for tradition and because it is a good idea to know how my carry piece shoots at distance. After a couple mags I have the answer. It would be generous to call my grouping minute of man but it was much tighter than minute of SUV. I will call it minute of fat man.

-It was time to leave. We picked up the last of the brass, did a quick inventory to make sure we had all the mags and stuff and left. We ran out of time before ammunition but that was OK. It is always one or the other.

I was disappointed with the Springfield and there is just no way around that. However this is why test fires are important. At the range this was lame but at the end of the day not a big deal. An issue like this while hunting could mean a missed opportunity or worse a wounded animal getting away. In a defensive situation the stakes would be far higher. On the bright side I have some redundancy and worst case this isn't a core weapon anyway.

All things considered it was a good range day.

Range Report

Today I went shooting. With the high price of ammo (down from a year or two ago but still not exactly cheap.) these days I do not go shooting without a task and purpose. However if you really want to go shooting it is easy enough to find a task and purpose. In any case thinking it through and having something worthwhile to accomplish is probably a sound idea.

I had 3 tasks to accomplish at the range. First I needed to test fire the Garand. Really just wanted to make sure the thing works. Second I wanted to check the zero on my AK. I had the secondary task of ensuring that it feeds hollow points. Third I wanted to confirm that the new hollow points I got feed in my Glock. 

We got to the range and laid our stuff down. I loaded an en bloc clip into the Garand, slapped the bolt home (it doesn't snap forward after the clip seats very reliably) then got a sight picture and pulled the trigger. There was an authoritative report and moderate recoil (more than an AK and less than a 12 gauge game load) which was enough to let you know you definitely fired a shot but not so much that it would get unpleasant if you shot it for awhile. The gun cycled perfectly and the clip sprung out with a nice ping when it ran dry.

I was pleased that it hit exactly what I was aiming at and blew the heck out of it. Considering it is a 30.06 second shot acquisition is suprisingly good. Shooting targets offhand at 100 meters was easy and fun. At some point if I find myself at a nice range with a rest to really dial in a good 50 meter zero then move out to a couple hundred meters to confirm I will. Until that time I am pretty happy with its accuracy. It was fun to shoot and I was bummed when all the ammo was gone.

Next up was the AK. I popped in a mag of Wolf JHP and let it rip. The AK hits where it is aimed at 100 meters and cycled flawlessly. From the way it was shooting I would say 200 meters would be just fine and, at least given my current skill with the rifle 300 would be pushing it to accurately engage a man sized target. If I practiced more with it and took the time to fine tune and confirm the zero it could bring it back inside a good minute of man. Going out to 400 meters would be minute of SUV. In any case that is all you really all you need out of a defensive rifle, especially as a civilian.

 Last was the Glock 19 with 115 grain Federal JHP's. Just put a mag through to make sure it fed and things were fine. I work under the assumption that a Glock will shoot a properly sized rock stuffed in a casing with a live primer with a fire cracker for a load. However it is always good to be sure. Wish I had brought some ball ammo to really practice with as the Glock 19 is sure a fun gun to shoot.

I went back and cleaned the Garand because old Pakistani machine gun (it came linked) ammo I shot was surely corrosive. Not a big deal, just a quick cleaning with emphasis on the bore. I will go back and do a good cleaning before putting it away.

It was a great range day. The weather was nice and we talked a little with some nice folks. The Garand got a lot of interest. Most importantly everything I brought cycled and hit what it was pointed at. Hard to have a better range day though more ammo would have helped;).