April 19th desert shoot!

I scheduled the day off so I could celebrate the the battles of Lexington and Concord (the first of the American revolutionary war) the only way I knew how; shooting. I thought I'd be on my own, but lucked out twice, and my brother-in-law and dad were able to join me.

Since I've been so damn busy, and unable to shoot for so long, I had a short list of things I needed to do. I was a little worried that shooting with a "to do" list would take some of the fun out of it, but I barely noticed. Besides, the worst day shooting is still better than the best day working.

We drove out to the sooper seekrit location, and were greeted with the thing I love most about the desert; silence. Nothing but the lizards and the scrub.

The new steel target was set at 50 yards, and we started breaking it in. Since we brought a lot of pistols, we started with those, and worked our way up. Then we switched to shooting soda cans and little 1"x2" hot sauce bottles. We moved the steel target back to 100 yards, and continued more earnestly.

A few things stick out;

Hitting at 10" gong at 100 yards with my 1911 was awesome. I hit 2 times out of 10, I called the 8 misses though. Dad shoots his duty pistol so much, he nailed it almost every time. Practice practice practice...

Hitting a 2" wide salsa bottle off the top of the gong at 50 yards on my first try was even more awesome. The gong actually rang when I hit it, so I thought I hit the gong and knocked it off, I walked up to reset it for the next person, and saw I hit it! I thought it might have broken from the fall, but there was salsa splattered on the back of the gong. Nailed it! I love that 45.

My rifle hit every target at which it was aimed with monotonous regularity. I wish I could get more excited about it, but I guess that comes when using your rifle becomes natural. You don't get excited when you catch some keys tossed to you, or drive your car successfully, you already know you can do it.

My Garand was the belle of the ball. It was the first time I had shot it, and was amazed at how slight the recoil was, and how it seemed to be right back on target after each shot. I know it's a heavy gun, but the balance is so good, it's hard to notice. The 30-06 also pounded the hell out of the steel, and made for some fun for the spectators. The sights were easy to use, and the two stage trigger made hitting the targets a breeze. When we were done, I wished I had bought more ammo for it, because I loved shooting it. (The day after, I picked up another box of ammo just so I could have something for it)

The Enfield (AKA The Joker), was a close second to the Garand as a favorite. My brother, having now reconciled with the gun that tried to take his eye, finished up his third magazine and said, "It's like cheating! I'm not even trying, and it hits anything I aim at!" I thought we'd have a little more trouble with the long single stage trigger, but it wasn't a problem at all. Since we had more 303 than 30-06, the Enfield got a lot of attention.

The 91/59 was shooting high, but not too high, so I was able to correct on the rear sight. I seemed to miss more than I expected with it, but I'll know for sure once I get it on a bench. The surplus steel core ammo was actually fine against the steel gong, lucky me. I'm not one to complain about recoil, but I could definitely feel it after 50 or so rounds. After the tuneup I gave it, there was no more sticky bolt or rimlock.

I caught a few flinches on unexpectedly empty chambers, but I hit everything before it, so I feel like I'm beating the flinch or something.

Making a can dance never gets old. Ever.