Shotguns, a look back

If I could do it all over again, knowing what I know now, I never would have looked at semi's or pump shotguns.

I mean they are nice and all.  And my Remington Model 11 are cool because of the designer and because of it's place in history.

But they just take up space in the safe.  And have extra fiddly bits that can break. 

To do it over again... I'd learn more about shotties and choose a double.

"Why a double, T-Bolt, the single has even fewer fiddly bits"

Because I am fumble-bum and need the mulligan of the second barrel!

Anyhoo.  A simple utilitarian double.  And I'd even now need more edumacation.  Choke tubes trying to maximize utility?  I have no idea how them work.  Or from the factory choke.  Or proper stock fit. 

I still know very little about shotfuns.

I do kinda know that over-under and plain Jane?  Those two don't seem to go together.  I could be wrong.  And side by side?  New?  Those are too plain Jane.  Hi-Points of new doubles.  I could also be wrong there.

Maybe after I learned about doubles I'd go back to the Model 11.

Isn't this double is fascinating, but not really what I am looking for.  I want common/rugged/utilitarian, not rare/interesting/wild-card.

Dream

Ugh!  Another crappy dream post.  Everyone looooooooves those...

In this one, MBtGE and I were hunting pigs for pest abatement on a relative of his' farm.  The piglets were easy.  The relative got them with a .22.  MBtGE and I were armed with unloaded shotguns and had to deal with an angry LARGE sow at close range in the woods.  I was thinking that this is REALLY dangerous.  We had a limited supply of double ought buck and slugs.  I was picturing, in the dream, what would happen if the buckshot didn't get to anything vital in the pig and just served to enrage it.  I was wondering if I should load buck/slug/buck/slug/buck in the Model 11.  Was not a happy stress-free gun dream.

No Sling Points? What Now?

One of the bad things about a Model 11 shotgun is there is no sling on it.  Boo!  Its one of the only things I dislike about it.  Getting it into a tree stand is a dog's breakfast at best, with paracord tied pull ups from the ground.

I don't like that.  There is an alternative that I do kinda like. H/T Uncle.

With this I can walk to a stand in the dark and have my extra stuff there in the pack part.  Of course, I'd not have a shell in the chamber.  Extra stuff?  Like the cleaning gear, and extra warm clothes and an energy bar.  Just need the camel back reservoir to be insulated so I can bring coffee.  With a headband mounted light my hands would be free to do anything.

Soft Case

NO MORE SOFT CASES

For my long guns. I think the wood of my Remington Model 11 shotgun got damaged in the car to or from the Northcoast Blogshoot. From contents shifting in transit. Or something. Anyway, never again. I had the one case my .308 rifles went in. But I want more case space.

Hey! Even Amazon has Pelican Cases for sale. That's the 2 rifle size. Or you can go a little bigger. Get 4 in that one. Or one and a lot of other stuff.

I use a carry-on size Pelican now for all my air travel needs. If my trip needs more stuff than one overhead baggage space allows then I am checking a handgun so I can lock up my cargo space luggage. With ammo if going to a CCW friendly area, without if otherwise. Or maybe with a starter pistol. Yeah, you can lock your hard sided luggage if there is a mere flare gun in there without any flares, fill out a form, and fly with it all. Cool huh?

12 Gauge

It's easy to buy a lot of #7 shot shotgun shells. You can go through a lot during skeet shooting. So they sell it in boxes of 25.

But try to get a lot 00 buckshot. The gunstore has it in boxes of 5, and then only a handful. You leave some for the next poor sap and that means you go home with 15 shells, total.

Not even during hunting season is 00 buck available in this state. I'd have to go to Virginia where buckshot deer hunting is permissible.

Ah, but the county recently lifted the restriction for mail order ammo purchases. They (our County Overlords) realized that UPS was delivering ammo to gunstores, I guess, so they might as well let us peasants get the same treatment. So now I can order shells in bulk. So now I did. And it arrived. Thanks Ammo Man.

I've gone from a paltry store the best home defense ammo loading available to plenty. Enough to give to neighbors to help them out in the event the Latin Kings and MS13 get their dander up and go all riotty. (I'm guessing with those 2 street gangs, as it is what is written in the graffiti round these parts. Including on my car that one time...)

I like Ammo Man because the prices listed are what it costs, delivered. You can comparison shop prices with Ammo Engine, but that doesn't tell you if store X will borehog on the shipping and handling fees. Since I started ordering ammo remotely I haven't had a problem with stuff being back-ordered or out of stock, but I didn't start doing this until AFTER the worst of the post election ammo shortage. Otherwise I think I'd use Lucky Gunner, as I like their interface and the fact they tell you what is in stock and by how much.

Bonus question... Guess how many 5 round boxes of 2.75" shotshells fit in a .50 cal ammo can?

Shotgun Woes

A minor woe. Remember my complaint that my semi-auto shotgun was not cycling and it failed to eject the spent case while hunting deer in the cold? Well I went skeet shooting on Memorial Day, and it was 90 degrees then, and it still fails, after extra lubrication.

So what is happening? The bolts sticks in the forward position. Clark Bros has a gunsmith on site, so after having to manually work the bolt for a string of 5 clays I trotted on back to the building. They flipped around a ring on the spring tube and sent me back. From that point on it only failed to cycle about half the time. But it still failed. MBtGE has his own Remington Model 11 and had no issues.

Now you know why I am reluctant to use this as a house gun.

So after a half frustrating skeet section I took that bad boy home to see what I could see on cleanup. When you close the bold with no shell in the chamber it still feels like it wants to stay stuck. You have to work that bold like you mean it to get it loose. The fact that it stick with no shell present probably means my chamber isn’t fouled or too tight and the shell is just standing pat and refusing to be removed in action.

The stickiness FEELS like it is by the extractor. This guy had a pretty robust extractor that fits into a groove on the barrel, AND there was shmutz on this area… So I brushed and cleaned that really well and put some grease on the area, as well as in the rails the bolt rides in… Still sticks.

Now, there is something else I can fiddle with. The Model 11/Auto-5 types are adjustable to shoot with lighter loads. I could back that down a bit.

Anyone have any other ideas before I get serious with the professional gunsmith?


[I’ve always said that a shotgun is a horrible anti-zombie weapon. You know what is a worse anti-zombie weapon? A shotgun that DOESN’T WORK RELIABLY!]

Buckshot

So I shot that deer at a pretty close distance. It was about maximum distance, from me, as it is possible to be in a house.

I hit it on the kinda high and forward part of the flank, pretty much on the upper part of the shoulder blade.

When we got the skin off of the deer we found 8 holes in the meat on the deer's left side, and two hole in the meet on the right side that went through.

We didn't find any pellets.

There were 9 pellets in the 2.75" Remington shot shell. 00 Buckshot is .33 inches in diameter. And it leaves the barrel going more than 1200 feet per second.

I don't know where the ninth pellet went, or if I just missed the ninth hole.

I could cover the pattern on the deer's shoulder with my hand. Range, less than 25 yards, remember. The tube of my shotgun has no choke, and it's 22" or 24" long.

Upon butchering, we found the ball joint of the deer's left shoulder to be cracked in half.

It was a pretty devastating hit, obviously. Note: It did NOT blow a fist sized hole in said critter like you see in some movies.

Now expand that for self defense. It's NOT bird shot. I am shooting the same model shotgun but with a 16.25" barrel [correction in comments: 18.25"]. The pattern will widen, but the range will lessen, in my house. There is no front sight, so I should point at the belly button since it will naturally guide a bit high. It's NOT BIRD SHOT. If I have the works properly lubed, I have 5 shells ready to go. No need for long or magnum loads. I might go as low as number 4 buckshot, which is .24 inches in diameter, but there are 27 pellets. If you want the effect of buckshot with a bajillion pellets, go with that. Number 4.

[I was thinking on this subject because to the deer I successfully shot with buckshot 2 weekends ago.]

Shoulder

A little serendipitous thought is occuring in the gun blogosphere and folks happen to be posting about shoulder holsters right when I was thinking about the topic myself. First Ride Fast, then Ahab... It's like they read my mind.

Sailor Curt brings up the minuses involved with carrying this way. You can end up sweeping the muzzle across some of your favorite body parts with the vertical style, and you WILL sweep against lots of folks if you get the horizontal rig.

Why have I been thinking on a shoulder holster? Butt hurt. An Inside the Waistband holster at 7 or 8 o'clock might give me Fat Wallet syndrome and aggravate my lumbago and sciatica. Also, I haven't figured out the best way to go to necessary room in public with a holster on my belt. Getting your pant back up after finishing your paperwork for that job can be problematic, I've found. I'm not going to hang the pistol on the coat hook through the trigger guard, now am I leave it on the sink outside the stall. Ideally, I want to leave it in the holster so as reduce the time in public monkeying with it. That's how negligence happens. But dangit! My waistband weighs 2 pounds more and it can be awkward. And if the gun fell in the terlet...

I'm also always looking for a way to carry something full size in the hot summer months. You'd need a cover shirt but you could wear gym shorts again. Just an option. You need a cover shirt if you wear belted cargo shorts and an IWB. But a shoulder rig might be perfect for open carry in the summer.

You'll almost need a belted pant of some sort because many shoulder style holsters attach to your belt keep if from flopping around. It gives you some suspenders-action.

They are certainly NOT in fashion right now, but could make a comeback.

But to test, I doubled up with 2 CCW rigs simultaneously while visiting MBtGE. My regular IWB in for the P229, and his .44 magnum in the shoulder holster he loaned me. I was extra strapped. I didn't go out in public with it, but putzed around his house for a few hours. With a light jacket on, he made my IWB before he could make the MASSIVE hog leg under my arm, which was interesting. And I wouldn't wear a .44 if I wore it for real. I'd go with the 1911 sized gun in that case. I didn't notice any shoulder strain, and if the gun was a little less bulky I wouldn't notice it at all. But I am also forgetting the hip gun is there, too. Which is good.

[as and aside: We went scouting for spots for deer hunting blinds and while talking at full volume for a half hour a nice deer went by. Totally oblivious to us. It had a smallish rack too. It crossed close enough I could have hit it with my Sig, easy. Whatcha bet he won't come around when I am sitting in that spot all quiet and armed with a Remington Model 11? If a deer like that was my FIRST deer I'd probably do Blackfork's head boiling trick for a trophy. And eat it. Of course. Not the head, the venison.]

Skeet Report

Or is it trap? The innernetz can be cloudy on which is which. I think it's trap shooting, properly, what we were doing. Single thrower, no flight pattern changes.

Anyway, MBtGE, his missus, Trollop, and I went to Clark Brothers to shoot pistol and shotgus.

You have to buy their ammo, but the range fee is $0. The trouble is, they have the ammo shortage problem everyone is having. There was no .45 ACP to be had in anything other than $40 a box self-defense ammo. So the .45's stayed in the bag. Shooting the .40 and .22 worked fine. MBtGE put a red-dot scope on his suppressed .22, so it is even more better!

The good news is, the proprietor of Clark Bros. (Mr. Clark?) said he is starting to see a turn around on the dearth of ammo, and it will start to be more available soon. You heard it here first, folks. If he is wrong, forget I said anything...

Anyway, on the clay breaking. It's just the one thrower next to you, and it throws the pidgeon straight out. I'm happy to say, I went 5 for 5 on the first set out of my Remington Model 11 wih the new barrel. Yay.

Beginners luck.

After that I went all to pieces. 1 for 5, 3 for 5, 2 for 5, maybe. So, there is something wrong with my technique, but you'd expect that with rank beginner at the clays. Still, not shabby. That first 5 made me happy with my shotgun purchase.

It did FTF a few times, but the action was bone dry. I learned not to put my right thumb up to clear it. OW! Like M1 thumb, but with a shotgun. Ow! Blood everywhere. The REAL fix is just a pull back on the 'bolt' handle and it all falls into place. The shell was hanging just a bit on the lower lip of the chamber, like the little doohicky that raises the shell into position before the bolt slams it into battery isn't quite fast enough on the uptake. I'm hoping the thin film of Break Free fixes it in the future.

While cleaning the barrel after I slammed my uninjured left thumb into a sharp arris on the barrel and there was blood everywhere again. Plus solvent to make the pain really fun. Don't let anyone ever tell you that the shooting sports is injury free.

And I managed to get the friction ring and bronze piece off the tube, and don't know the order it goes back on. Luckily, there is a manual for this model, online, to guide me on proper re-assembly. Plus Remington sent me a paper copy of their manual in the mail, and I have it around here somewhere. It's for the Browning Auto-5, but it's the same as Remington Model 11. You know who designed this model, right?

Trollop love recoil, and maybe got one clay in a dozen. She did like the noise making, and preferred MBtGE pump action to my semi-auto Remington. Pump action doesn't waist the recoil on working the works, so she got the full treatment of the boom on her shoulder. As she prefers. She is an odd one, that way. I'm not discouraging this, though.

MBtGE missus just shot the heck out of .22, but tried the .40 because she hadn't before. Both Trollop's XD and my Sig.

Goin Skeet/Trap

Shooting with Trollop. Let's see if I can get 12 out of 25 like the Boy Scouts have to do for merit badge. More later.

Pump It

I overhear a bunch of people here and there talking about home defense. Some people that know guns and are contemplating ideal house defense, or people that might be thinking of getting a gun for protection. A first and only gun. I try to listen and not interject, "Hey! I'm a crazed gun-nut! I can help you select your perfect boomstick! Just ask me! Yeah!" Because that can freak people out and I don't need to be summoned up to Human Resources for a talk. Again.

A lot of them settle on a shotgun as the ideal home defense firearm.

Good. It is very effective in that role.

If you are gonna have only one gun to guard your castle, that's a good one to have.

It's not magic. It doesn't mow down a foyer full of trespasser with evil intent that are busting in at 3 AM. You still have to practice with it, and get used to it and how it functions. Carteach has a whole post about them, and how to deploy a shotgun for defense. And there is lots of other bits of info out there, including shotgun specific defensive training to Harry Homeowner types.

The thing that bugs me is the assume, FURTHER, talisman effect. They want to get a pump shotgun so that when they rack it, and get that distinctive 'shik-SHIK!' sound, it will scare that bad man away.

A HUGE, seven foot tall goblin, hopped up on goofballs, that is there in your house to rape you death, eat your flesh, and sew your skin into his clothing is gonna hear that shik-SHIK! sound, pee his pants, and run home crying for his momma. And so are all his bigger, meaner friends.

It's like a lot of people are relying on the shik-SHIK! to make it so they won't have to hurt anyone, and cause a happy ending to, uh... happen. Their mindset is on that path. And I don't think they've thought through the possibility of what happens after shik-SHIK!, when the sound doesn't work. Or the home invader is deaf. Or they call your bluff and rush you anyway. Or they are zombies and just can't be intimidated away.

Sure shik-SHIK! may work sometimes. But preparing yourself for Plan B is probably a good idea.

For colleagues that do ask for my gun advice, I mention the problem of counting on shik-SHIK! I don't know how many preconceived notions I can penetrate with that warning, though.

I personally don't have to worry about shik-SHIK! because I have a Remington Model 11 for my 12 gauge duties. It's design is the same as the Auto-5. You know who designed THAT semi-auto shotgun, right? Anyway... Semi-auto... so no shik-SHIK! Just:

"Boomboomboomboomboom! Stay offa ma porch! And, no! I don't want a copy of the Watchtower, daggummint!"

or something.

~~~~~~~~

Anyway.

Shik-SHIK! is not the ultimate weapon. Maybe people, including a lot of cops, shouldn't rely on it as such.

[pre-publish-update: Hey, I wrote this on Monday and I just noticed that Gunnuts Radio podcast has self-defense myths for Tuesday night. I wonder if they will mention the shik SHIK? I bet they go over the 'talisman' effect.]

[post-publish-post-podcast-update: Well, they dint.]

April's Fun Show AAR

I went to the Fun Show with Saucy Trollop. While there, she got a call from the gun store saying she could pick up new XD 40 anytime. So that was exciting.

I didn't get much. A handful of .40 ammo. And I DID find a barrel for my Model 11. Happy day. Now I have something non-butchered to go hunting a skeet shooting with, and my problem with a quasi rifled barrel is obviated. The barrel cost quite a bit less than I was willing to pay, so that's a plus. And it's in great shape. So now I have 3. One short, that I keep on the gun, and a good long one and a 'bad' long one. The short one has NO front sight. Bad form, I know. I have to aim at the upper leg of a deer size target to hit it in the thoracic cavity. Or the 'belt buckle' area of a target silhouette to hit the center mass area. It's fine for home defense, and that's why I leave the shot barrel on it. And by short, I mean 18.25 inches. It's not short by ATF standards.

Here is all 3:

The ammo tables were very sparse. Lots of empty bins. Plenty of ARs to be seen. Maybe a little less than usual. HK pistols are in full supply.

The one BIG thing I did was sign up for a Lifetime NRA membership. They had a deal offered, and it got me into the show for free. And a leather jacket is in the offing. There is a payment plan, so I am not a full member yet. I will pay a bit more than the required $25 a quarter to wrap up that issue. Why did I do it? Why, to stop all the bothersome calls to renew, or course. And to cancel out Michael Moore's vote. I'll be paid up in a year, I figure.

Trollop bought a gun rug to keep her new gun in. And a boresnake to clean it, and Break Free. She is buying a safe to store it in, in the house. I'll post about the first range report for the new gun later, I'm sure.

And it gave us the opportunity to return the S&W .44 Magnum MBtGE loaned us. He lives close by to the show.

Before the show, I asked Trollop what her expectations were. This being a new experience for her. She was sure there would be few hipster types or anyone darker than beige. Few women, too. She was a bit surprised at the racial variety, but it did lean heavily white. There was certainly no racial tension. "It's feels like a great, big craft show! But with men! And no beads. Oh, wait, there are some beads." she said when we got there. All the Nazi paraphernalia was mixed in with the general WWII history paraphernalia. So it was apropos. The people there looked middle aged, mostly male, a mix of suburban and country, but they all looked like they had disposable income.

Oddly, there was more than one chihuahua there.

After the show, Trollop said, "There were EXACTLY as many Fashionistas as I expected to see.

I asked, "You saw Fashionistas?!"

"Exactly!" she said.

Rifled Buckshot Barrel

Ok, I hadn't thought it THIS bad...

The previous owner of my long shotgun barrel did some amateur gunbutchery. He tried to make it rifled. He failed. Failed to do a good job. There is dents from the grooves visible on the outside of the barrel, and I wouldn't fire it if a real gunsmith didn't say it was ok.

And it worked ok. Slug rounds punch a hole where I am pointing. Well, I shot a few slugs.

I didn't think about the shot spread pattern that Carteach describes...

Hell, I've been HUNTING with this thing.

I better pattern it with a greater seriousness before next season. Crap.

It might not be all that bad. The 'twist' rate is 1:56 or so.

The way I will test it at Clark Brothers, where they allow this, is fire at a huge sheet of butcher paper 50 yards off, and compare them to MBtGE spread pattern on a regular, unaltered (nie fugged up) shottie.

Alternatively, I could hunt with slugs, where allowed.

What did YOU get at the Fun Show?

I ALMOST bought a $200 Remington model 11 shotgun as a parts gun. It'd be a hassle to wait for the approval and I can probably get a crappier $100 parts fun and steal the barrel off of it. Ah well. Use the rest of it in case stuff breaks on the primary. I HAVE a short and a long barrel for my current Model 11, but the long barrel has been monkeyed with by a home gunsmith, hammering in bad rifling. The other options is buy the parts shotgun, swapping off the barrel, and reselling the lesser for about what I paid for it.

No other guns called my name.

You know what I DID notice? Even with all my interest in guns and history, there is still so much I don't know. I noticed myself thinking "that looks like that blurfl that was supposed to be a competitor for the Tommy gun in WWII and didn't work so great. I'm not sure of the name, and I could be in wrong ballpark entirely." There is so much still to learn.

I did get some small ammo cans to help sort ammo and accessories.

A Serpa holster followed me home, thanks to the recommendation of the Blackwater Gun Blogger Jarrett Extravaganza people. What the heck, they're inexpensive. The holster I selected is a lefty version for the 1911.

I got some Bubinga grips for the self same 1911. Now the gun is more 'me' than Springfield.

Bought one of those fancy flashlights that are as bright as the sun.

And the Magtech box of 250 .45 rounds will be good for practice.

I did get to handle the compact SIG P239 and confirmed my concerns. The handle is too small. My pinkie half dangles off the grip. With a magazine in the well I'd have a bit more support, but you know... the gun isn't THAT much more compact than the 229. And neither are much bigger than the 1903 Colt Pocket Hammerless. But the SIGs have the much more capable .40, and I shoot the 229 much better than the .380. Plus, If I could conceal carry, there are more compact .380s out there for summer use in a pocket. With bulkier clothes I could carry a 1911 or P229. Probably the P229, but I haven't decided. Open carry would, hands down, be the 1911.

Not having any money, but wanting to get a pistol has got me thinking... Maybe I could trade the Colt 1903 for a Sig P229? Will I regret that? I only have a few boxes of .380 ammo, and I could trade THEM off to MBtGE for boxes of .40 cal... I need advice. Don't all talk at once. The Colt is a good gun that I got on wait of Tenring's Denise and Tam's reviews, but so is the Sig a good gun.

[By the way, if you ever decide to get a lifetime NRA membership, do it at the table outside the gun show. It's $250 cheaper...]

Sub 100

Tam brings up a good point:

I think a red dot is darn near mandatory for sub-hundred yard work on fast moving targets that don't want to git shot. Slinging up and playing DCM marksman is a necessary skill, and great on stationary targets. But suppose the zombies are the fast kind?

Sub 100 yard zombie shots. What do I have for that? A pistol isn't for that kind of work. The shotgun is a perhaps good enough, though, but... A full size rifle like the M1A will do the job well if you have quick acquistion holographic sights like the mentioned red dot. You better have batteries, too. I demoted the Camp Carbine .45 on my list, but it'd be a gun I'd immediately fit a red-dot type scope to, if I got one. Maybe I need to promote something like a Mini-14 on the list and get it the EOTech specialL:

For those that don't know (and I didn't, 10 years ago, maybe less.) a red dot sighting system Give you a little window to look through, in lieu of iron sights. When on a little glowing crosshair or dot is visible to you. When zeroed, that dot is where the bullets will hit. At 100 yards that dot seems kind of big, compared to the target, but it's small enough to get the job done on center mass shots. Remember the movies in the 80s and 90s when someone had a laser mounted on their gun? It looked cool and the laser got smaller and smaller over time from the one on the Terminator's .45 long slide as BIG as the slide, to pen-cap size today. Well, the military doesn't use visible lights like that, but the red-dot LOOKS like that little red laser dot from the movies to just the shooter looking through the window. If the red-dot optic is turned off, it's just a little window, and often the idea is you can see and use your iron sights if you have to with the scope mounted. There are other scope types out that illuminate the reticle or cross hairs as well. Ain't technology grand? Our grandfathers in WWII, sniping with long and narrow telescopes with 6x power would either laugh at us or say "gee whiz! lookit that!" Probably both.

The sub-100 yard role is well addressed by Kim Du Toit's preparations for Grab N Go SHTF situations. He is an even MORE a crotchety conservative than me, and it looks like he is sticking to iron sights. Come to think of it, I've never seen Kim talk about these new fangled sights at all. And I know Jeff Cooper jokingly talked about needing battery bearers as much as ammo bearers and water bearers in today's modern operationgs.

But... I'm a gonna have to lean toward's Tam's way of thinking. Tam is no slouch when it comes to conservative firearm preferences and philosophies, but the advantages the red-dot stuff offers is not something to ignore. (I've shot MBtGE rifles with those scope types. And, you should all know, I play a lot of video games and that is exactly same thing as real world practice. What? What?)

There are some options if you are worried you are gonna run out of battery juice. Take the sight off when it is dead, and use iron sights instead, duh. There are some scopes like Trijicon ACOG that let in ambient light through fiber optic receivers and perhaps on board Tritium (gonna have to confirm how that to works... ) to light the reticle, or the Leupold CQ/T scope has a reticle you can see when no power is on. But those scopes offer magnification to go with their little light. And magnification can slow down acquisition, even with a long eye-relief Scout rig. And those scopes, while intriguing for me, cost only a bit shy $1000. The Red-Dot style from EOTech is $400 or so. Here is an ACOG:

And for comparison, the Leupold CQ/T:

And since some of the Red-Dot scopes have a 10,000+ hour battery life, I don't know what I am worrying about considering the above 2. I'm fine for 2+ years if I have a spare set of batteries. I don't think I have 2 years worth of ammo yet, and 2 years worth of ammo is much heavier than 2 years worth of red-dot batteries.

So where does this leave me? Nowhere. Maybe I need to rethink carbine priority again, but I haven't changed my mind that way yet. Too poor to go off all willy nilly. More considering to do. I know its going to cost me money when all is said and done. Snap shots with iron sights or the Garand and it's Scout scope, for me, now.

Ooo, I forgot anothe style of red-dot scope. EOTech is sort of the ultimate for 'little window' style 0x magnification red-dot optics, but there big competing style is Aimpoint, which look like 'shot tube' 0x magnification (generally) red-dot optics:

My only experience with ACOG stuff is those video games. And they are/were HATED, pretty much, by me and my buddies. Perhaps because there are gimped so as not TOO powerful in game. Goodness knows, I want to base all my major real world purchases by what I experienced in a video game 2 years ago...

What I need is input. Who has tried them all? And what did you think of each? (after that I need to try them all my own dang self.)

Range Report

When we tweren't scouting hunting grounds, we hit the Clark Brothers shooting range. I had some new weapons to test out.


First, that new, longer, shotgun barrel for my Remington Model 11. I showed it to the gunsmith and had him check out the home-rifling job some guy did on it. He was entertained, thought it amateurish, but it wouldn't hurt anything to try it out and see how it performed down range. He didn't have high hopes for accuracy, with slug or pellets. So I bought some slugs. I fired 2. Those 2 were close enough to the bullseye to make me happy enough, so the verdict is positive on the new-old barrel. Not bad for a freebie, but I wasn't there to test the shotgun. (Dang, that thing kicks when you shoot it from the bench.)

Next up is a redo of the Springfield 03. It's too nice to relegate to the safe without getting some performance out of it, so I decided to try re-zeroing it, with MBtGE spotting. At 25 yards it was shooting12-15 inches left of the bull, but with fine elevation. It just took some AGGRESSIVE sight adjustment to pull the point of aim around. For those not familiar with the sight on the older 03, it a flip up leaf spring with massive adjustments for elevation, out to 2500 yards +. Windage adjustment has no 'clicks' so you have to not where you are on the caliber scale on butt end of the sight. And Crom help you if the elevation adjustment loosen on you with the elevation leaf down, and when you have an aggressive windage adjustment. That little part is where the rear notch is, and if you are 9 degrees out to starbord side, but the notch slides forward... who knows what correction is dialed in. Not 9 degrees like I want, that's for sure. (I am guessing that they are degrees. It's about that. 9 marks on the little caliber scale. ) Well when everything was going right with the sight I switched from 25 yards to 50 and got some happier accuracy. Enough to make me happy with the 03. Not enough to pick it over the Garand in a hunting situation, but I didn't expect it to.

Thirdly, I got to try out my Dad’s old .22 bolt action rifle, a Mossberg 144 LR target model. What an absolute joy to shoot. It holds stead and just FEELS right. It’s not a top of the line target rifle, but it’s not some fly by night version of a .22 either. It just wants to put little holes in a piece of paper as close to the center as I can expect. Ok, not at first. I had to correct its sight quite a bit. It was also pulling to the left, lie the 03, and required some adjustment. Still, it shot very well for a rifle that probably hasn’t been fired for 50 years. I like the aperture sight on the rifle, but the hole is a little small. It’s fine for well lit ranges. Very easy to adjust, too. And MBtGE gave me 4 bricks of .22 LR rounds, so I have 2000 sitting in the home powder-magazine now.



I’m concerned that all the shooting and sight adjustment on both rifles are for naught. Clark Bros is a fine place to shoot a rifle, but you have to be seated at their little fixed in place shooting benches. There is no real way to establish a natural point of aim. What if the .22 and the 03 were just fine with their sights, but now I’ve shifted them all over and they won’t work properly in a non-Clark Brothers situation? And does this also mean that my Garand, which shoots well at Clark Brothers, will fail to hit the sides of Barns in the field? Pah! I need more range options. Private range options.

I am probably worrying over nothing. MBtGE has fired my guns a few times on Clark Bros benches after I zero them and gets good center groups. You’d think his point of aim would be different from mine and his groups would need vast adjustment to compensate for MY vast adjustments. Well, it’s a theory, at least. By the way, MBtGE get’s much tighter groups on the targets than I do. A function of his depth of shooting experience over mine, certainly.
MBtGE had his own issues to address at the range. He wanted to test out a new brand of .22LR in his Ruger semi-autos. He has found them to be quite particular in their diets. That effort was a bit of a bust for him and he is considering radical measures to address it and allow him to fire a broader array of ammo brands and types. Serious lapping and polishing inside the receivers by a good gunsmith may be on his short term list of Thing To Do.

He also got to try out his new Glock 21, .45 ACP. It needs breaking in. And those sights seem to be a bit clumsy, big, and unwieldy. It’s just not accurate yet. Hopefully a few hundred rounds will settle it down, and this circumstance was not unexpected. I would be a little wary for a carry weapon to not be ready for prime time yet before actually, you know, CARRYING it.

Manassas Gun Show

MBtGE invited me to a gun show near his house in Virginia.

This isn't the BIG ONE that is at the Dulles Expo Center. This was a Virginia Gun Collectors Association event. Lots of Military Surplus weapons, which is fine by me. I went to look for an extra barrel from my Remington Model 11 shotgun (they didn't have one), magazines for a Colt 1908 pocket hammerless (bupkis) and ammo (bought some South African .308 at a good price). Mainly the purpose was to walk around and drool.

What did I drool on? Well there were Rock Island Arsenal M1911 style .45s for about $400. Cheapest I've seen. I'm wondering what is wrong with them, actually. Sure it's a Phillipin made gun, and it is a bare bones .45, but still. It's $400. If I was lucky and got a decent one right out of the box I might never need another one. I better put this on the list for .45s. There is a review from a fan of RIA here.

Speaking of .45s, MBtGE got his Glock 21 on this trip. He loves Glock, and nothing I say will ever dissuade him. Plus he already has a lot of the accoutrements that go with Glock and can fit on any model. The flashlight mount is his favorite. I think he paid $500? Maybe 6. Don't remember, and I'm too lazy to pick up the phone and call his big behind. They through in 2 extra mags with it, too.

But I drooled the most on the Springfield M1As. I always thought I'd want to get the SOCOM II, which is a M1A with a synthetic stock, short barrel, and extensive rail system to mount all sorts of accessroies. But the weight feels all wrong. The rails shift the center of gravity forward too much. And this with a rifle WITHOUT any accesories. Better to get the simpler SOCOM 16 or Scout Squad, the only difference being barrel lenth. Or the Super Scout from Fulton Armory.

I'd show pics of the Springfield offerings, but their site is all flash animations. But here is the Fulton one, and it has a nicer rail than the Springfield offering:

See? More than enough rails to hang stuff on, 2 extra inches of barrel is fine. I'd live to try some 3rd generation night vision on a platform like this.

Range Report

I went to the range this weekend with My Buddy the Gun Enthusiast (MBtGE) with several goals in mind. Results were mixed, but mostly good.

First of all, we wanted to convince me that .22LR fired from various semi-auto pistols were guanteed jam-o-matics. We got full metal jacket .22 and went to town, firing a suppressed Ruger Mk II, a standard Mk II with a bull barrel, and a Browning, all belonging to MBtGE. All worked flawlessly throughout except for one after market magazine. That one is clearly an odd-man out aftermarket mag that is not going in the trash. Don't buy budget after market mags is the answer here, and now I wouldn't hesitate to get a Ruger. My confidence in the concept is restored. I might even go for the suppressed one right out of the gate when I have the money saved. That one is probably number 3 in priority, with the Colt 1908 and 1911 .45 ahead of it. All three will probably cost a cool grand, so... it may be a while. Happy with the .22LR.

We also wanted to test the patterning of the 12 gauge Remington Model 11 (and MBtGE wanted to check his Mossburg with a longer barrel switchout.) At 50 yards the pattern is fine now that I know to aim a little low with the site less Model 11. After I figured that part out it was 100%. My Model 11 as a little groove I use to sight along and works and spreads fine. So I can go shotgun hunting no problem this deer season, I just have to have the hapless deer wander close enough to me. Happy with the 12 gauge.

MBtGE just got a lever action 30-30, so I got to test that out. It was his brother in law's and he wanted it out of the house. It hasn't been fired for 6 years, and has a scope on it. It fire beautifully and was zeroed in just fine. Not a bad little rifle. Happy with the 30-30.

I also wanted to zero the Garand with match grade ammo to be ready for hunting. I fired this cold with no practice and got all in the kill zone, a little hight at 50 yards, fine at 100 yards, as I would hope. If it was a deer instead of paper I would be eating venison. No ten-ring shooting, but good enough and consistent. I saved some ammo from that same box to use in case. Happy with the 180 grain .308.

Then I switched to plinking ammo for the Garand just for practice. Thats when the trouble happened.

It was hot and muggy in Virginia, with the temperature pushing 100. The 45 minute car ride had the AC blasting and I shot the Garand with out of the gate. There was condensation on the metal, and I probably had too much Break Free solvent/lube on the inner works from the previous cleaning session. So it was splattering a little bit. The reason for the extra lube is that I am hesitant to field strip the rifle every time I clean it to keep the tight fit I currently have from loosening up.

I had 5 clips lined up. There were 2 failures in the first 3 clips. One was a slam fire. The rifle went from semi-auto to automatic for 2 bullets. MBtGE was watching to see where my brass was flinging itself and he confirmed it. Not good. The next clip I had a "dud". A failure to fire. Just a click. I save that bullet and inspected it later. I had a small dimple in the primer, but not the standard dent of a spent case. Both symptons together makes me think there might me shmutz in the bolt that is either holding the pin back when firing, causing the dud, or holding the pin forward causing the slam fire. Other causes for the slam fire is a loose sear, where the vibration of the action caused it to release as soon as the next round was chambered. I tested a month ago to be sure the firing pin acted as expected, according to the literature, by dry firing, holding the trigger, and working the bolt manually without releasing the trigger to see if the pin was pushing up. It was working fine. I am really curious to see what the inside of the bolt looks like and have to probably buy a tool that helps me remove the firing pin from Fulton Armory or somesuch. The last 2 clips went down range without a hitch, and the rifle was good and warm then. The hunting ammo was Winchester Silver Tip in 180 grain, the plinking ammo was one I've used a lot of without issue until today, American Eagle 150 grain FMJ boat tail. So mixed reviews on the .308.

One thing. Shooting left handed shoots the hot brass right at my temple. I wore a boonie hat this time and didn't notice a thing, though MBtGE was watching cartridge after cartridge bounce off of my head. Boonie hats make me happy. And the one I have is reversible, so I can make the blaze orange side out for hunting season.