Took my new Enfield and another rifle up to my buddy's place near Gatesville. Took the lead sled and laser sight thingy to see if it would work. Had mixed results.
That's the laser thingy stickin' out of the barrel. The sled allows me to see if the gun can shoot strait, and not if I can, if you know what I mean. I'm really not much of a marksman. Too much moving around and shit to be able to hold the rifle on the center of the target for long. I didn't grow up with guns, as my buddy here did, and just really started learning how to relax and calm down with a rifle in my hands. I need to shoot much more and get better. Schedule doesn't really lend itself to a lot of plinking though.
Nice group from the bench (target is tacked on the board upside down, and we're roughly 50 yards away). The one wild shot up on the left was the first bench shot, while I was figuring out how to align the thing. First time I ever used it. The rifle shot very smoothly. Love it.
My buddy David is a much better shot than I am. Been shooting all his life. I let him take the first three off hand shots. He'd be a much better judge of the accuracy of the thing.
If you click on this and look close, you'll see that his second and third shots, below and left of the X, were almost in the same holes. Not bad. We tried to get the bolt out of the rifle, so that we could align the target through the barrel from the sled, but we couldn't figure out how to get it off. I'll work on that and try again next time.
Then Dave pulled out his 1917 Springfield, with the same action as my WW2 Enfield, but shooting .30-06 rather than .303. It was a nice shooter. Original leather sling, I think.
Old Red kept her distance as we were blasting away, especially when I busted out the Kalashnikov. I tried to use the sled to sight it in too, with mixed results. Shot pretty well from the sled, but again, when I shoved the clip in it and shot from a standing pose, with the sling around my arm, it looked like I was using a 12 gage.
Check out the middle and right side targets. Hell, these things are supposed to be used on full auto to spray lead, not take out individual targets, so I don't get too upset. Just figure it's my fault, not being steady enough. Love to shoot them anyway. I figure the pattern is tight enough to ether take the bastards out or scare the piss out of them, one way or the other. I'll get better in time.
It was hot. Africa hot. I was sweatin' like a pig out there. It's not as hot as it would normally be at this time of the year, thank God, but the humidity is ridiculous. It rained here again last night, about an inch and a half. Not enough to stop us from being able to get out to the back 40 to shoot, but my back yard turned into a swamp again.
All this rain has turned David's pasture into an African savanna. Driving out there through weeds and scrub, Brush Weed as tall or taller than the cab of the truck, was a hilarious experience. Normally its dry and dying by now, and everyone is in a panic over possible grass fires. I don't think you could get a good grass fire goin' these days.
Before we quit, Dave broke out his old Soviet SKS. Much more accurate shooter than the Kalashnikov, but also not half as cool to shoot, for me anyway. He gives me advise on the Enfield, and other older rifles, and I give him info on this old Soviet stuff. These are my babies. Love the hell out of them.
After driving back to his house, we went to town to eat some Mexican food and check out a new gun store. Turned out not to be much of a draw. They had a few nice pistols though, and their prices were reasonable. I'm seriously thinking about picking up a new pistol before I hit the road on this upcoming trip in a few weeks. Mom has my Makarov, for home protection, and I don't want to leave her hangin'. I guess I could give her a short course on the AKM, but I don't think she'd go for that.
Anyway, hope you liked the pics. Drivin' up to Ft. Worth Sunday to pick up a GPS unit from a buddy, so I'll know where the hell I am when I do this road trip in a few. Have a great weekend, or the rest of it. Cheers.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Went shootin' today.
Posted by FHB at 11:50 PM
Labels: shooting the enfield
17 comments:
Good shooting FHB, looks like a lot of fun had by all.
http://dudleysdiary.blogspot.com/
Great shots...except for the one of you!
I love the smell of gun powder in the morning!
Poor ol' Red...can't seem to join in the fun...just like my dog.
Enjoyed talking to ya last night...made my porch beer much more enjoyable!
JDP - Hey, thanks for comin by. Enjoyed goin' through your stuff the other day. We've got a lot in common.
Mushy - Yep, don't get to do it as often as I want or need to. And Red's better, not hidin' in the car and slobberin' all over the shifter any more, but she's been shot before, before my buddy got her, so she's got reason to be nervous. And yea, I loved that too. Surprised the hell out of me and made my day. We'll do it again.
Oh, and I still had the flash turned off from Friday night and didn't realize it, which is why I look so imposing in that shot. Nice blue sky though. Hell, you've seen enough pictures of me.
"mum has that one for home protection".. Are you kidding me? That sweet little lady looks as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. Crikey.
ps. Just read your review on David's blog - I couldn't agree more, except for the template thing.. you and I both know it's all fine and well talking about these things, but actioning it is on a whole other level!
looks to me like that Enfield is in pretty good shape..the last 303 I bought must have had 50,000 round shot thru it..the action was smooth but the barrel was shot..the best it would do from a bench rest was a 8" group and mu 7mm Mag would do a three shot group I could cover with a quarter
Looks like a great time. Thats some very pretty country. Enfields are a lot of fun to shoot, no?
Living in CA, I've never had the opportunity to shoot an AK... hafta visit one of the free states for that...
You don't look bad in your picture like Mushy said. You just look hot.
found you via authorblog...well done, sugar! good read on the art of shooting..what it's really all about...the skill, the outdooors and the companionship!
hello, again came from authorblog, I'm not an avid shooter but i think if you hold the trigger when the bolt is slide back, the bolt should slide out, thats how it works on some of my mates rifles, but there a little more modern. He did want to get a enfield though 30.06 I think, he may still. how do the older rifles shoot, compared to newer ones
shooting looks like a blast...LOL what a punster huh?
Offhand is just the hardest, the wobble is like a figure-eight and it's hard not to anticipate the shot and try and push it. With the rear aperture sight close to the eye it's easier than with a leaf-sight out on the receiver - you sorta let it "halo" around (some call it a "ghost ring") and then center the front post - keep your focus on the post and let the target blur - you can't focus on both at the same time - ya know why they call that training place Frontsight. ;-)
And then there's the follow-through and keeping your eye on the front post as the barrel rises. The instinct is almost to push the gun down fast and see the target - but you don't what to to that. Follow-through on the front-post and resist the urge to immediately see the target -it takes a few boxes of ammo (minimum) to practice sionce it's not what your instinct tells you, think you need, or want to do -- but not going eyeballs straight downrange to the target gets better results - but again, it's hard to resist.
Shrinkie - That sweet little Lady woke up one night and found two guys about to break into the house through that glass filled back door. Yelled at them and the bastards ran away, and the next morning she called me and has been sleeping next to my pistol ever since. Thing is, she won't let me show her how to really shoot it. Shot it once, and now every time I try to get her to go to the range with me she says "I know all I need to know!"... pig headed! Hope to God she never needs it! Two recent (last few years) home invasions in their neighborhood tell me that I'm glad she had the balls to ask me.
GuyK - Yep, it's a nice one, but the new guns shoot better than these old relics. But it could also be me. Very likely.
Kevin - Dude, you guys need to come to Texas! I've got about a dozen you can pick from.
Tall cool one - Yep, Africa hot, but at least it wasn't 107!
Savannah - Yep, it's really mostly about the friendship and fun. Well, it's also about "the smell of gunpowder in the morning", but gettin' outside with friends and doin' anything is better than bein' most other places.
Pope - To me, old ones are fun because of their history. New ones usually have much more science to their construction; glass bedding, free floating barrels and such, and they don't have the wooden forgrips that might hurt accuracy. But I love the old vets. It's the history for me, thinkin' that some dude may have used it in the war. Makes up for a lot of things. The ones in .30-06 are US models. Not sure if the Brits used any in that calibre or not.
Doggy - It is, but the crowd you shoot with matters too. As in most things, good friends make the experience much more complete.
Dirtcrasher - Wow, that's the sort of thing I need to hear. Thanks for the advise. I need too get out there and work on this more, but the scedule really doesn't lend itself to a lot of plinking. Wish I lived out in the country and could just go out in the back yard and blast away. One of these days.
Texas has a lot of high-power shooters (which is simply those not shooting rimfire), and a club that has Garand matches will likely get you up to speed real quick without undue time constraints on sighting-in and slinging-up with whatever old battle rifle you bring. Mostly it's old guys who appreciate what you bring to the table and are totally cool with it. Hell, if I can find it here in California it has to be even more easy where you're at, I'd expect - check the CMP Texas listings for some group local to you. You don't have to get all involved in everything, they'll love you for being you, and they'll talk a lot of useful information and gladly spend time.
Oh yeh, plinking is FUN, but practice is practice - and it's like as simple as saying, "Now I'm gonna (work on) do(ing) this" - which is a bit different. Practice doesn't make perfect, prefect practice makes perfect. ;-)
The first time I ever shot a rifle it was a 30. caliber something that fired little missles instead of bullits. My husband told me to point and shoot at a tin can. Like a newly wed I did, and couldn't hear anything for a week, nor move my shoulder for about as long. How they laughed.
Then I got my own gun, I Remington semi-automatic shotgun, when my boys and I went through hunter-safety courses. Did I shoot a "bird flying"? Not if you're talking about doves.
But, I do admire a good marksman. I'll never get the hang of it, but it takes tremendous skill. I think I would do much better with a club or ball bat.
Looks fun - that's a great dog, too. :)
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