Home... Home on the Range

Shootin' range that is....

But first a disclaimer:

  With my (Paul) having been through the things you've read far too much about already, since 2015, I've found that things have changed regarding my photography, which in turn trickles down to the pictures posted in this blog. My hands have gotten shakey, not enough to interfere with day to day stuff, but enough to affect holding a camera. I'm having to rely on a tripod for all but shots using very fast shutter  speeds, which I rarely use. Also, using a tripod increases setup time for shots, and requires more physical space. If you recall from our Yellowstone posts, using a tripod around people is not fun. I'm having to relearn my craft all over again, 3-Legged Photography, as it were. 

 From an artistic standpoint it's a good thing because it will force me to slooooooowwwwww dooooowwwwwnnn and think more about the shot. However, in a blog such as this, where we're sharing things we do and places we see, it becomes difficult to grab those spontaneous shots of our surroundings.  

 That being said please forgive the pics taken with our cheap phones that, when enlarged by clicking on them, are, ... frankly, not up to the level you, our readers, are accustomed to.

On to the range!

As alluded to in the last post, we've been doing some shooting. Penny is a total natural, (of course she comes from a family full of shooters,). Right now we're limited to shooting paper, but perhaps in our travels, we'll be places where we can enjoy some real plinkin', cans, jugs, metal targets, that sort of thing. 

Back in North-Central Illinois, the ranges available to the public are indoor, crowded and kind of expensive. The only outdoor ones, with the exception of shotgun related sport ranges, are privately held and owned by clubs that are invitation only. I prefer outdoor, because it's quieter and there is little to no gunpowder smoke. This is really important for Penny. If you've ever been indoors, next to someone shooting a .50 cal, you know what I mean. Hearing protection or not, it's loud.

Here in Mission, Texas, we have the Mission Skeet and Trap Club. 

It is a beautiful facility that's open to the public three days a week, and has a 25 yard pistol range.

I love this range. It's totally old-school, has 10 stations without partitions, and target hangers at 3, 7, 15 and 25 yards. It's corrugated steel, with a roof over the shooters, and utilizes a dirt berm bullet-stop. 

Like I said; Old School

Guy below-left was sightin' in his new Sig Sauer pistol

Busy day at the range

With the exception of classes around noon on Saturday's it's usually deserted, or close to it. I wish there were a rifle range for shooting longer distances, but I ain't complainin'.

The old farmhouse we rented (curtesy Google Maps)

Back in the early 80's we rented a dilapidated old farmhouse on two acres in a rural area. We used to shoot Penny's dad's 1948 Stevens Model 87A .22 cal rifle at all kinds of stuff. He bought it to shoot crows, squirrels and rabbits in the family garden. We still have that gun. We also shot .177 cal pellet guns, BB guns and anything else that anybody brought over. I even shot a WWII German Luger pistol that a friend's dad brought home after the war. It was a hoot! 

Like I said, we still have that old venerable .22, and it's still a gas to shoot, but it needs some help. It has a unique design that allows shooting .22 short, and .22 long in single-shot mode only, and .22LR in semi-auto or single-shot. For semi-auto the gun uses a 17-round tube magazine. Right now, when the magazine is loaded, it won't chamber a round. That means it's singe-shot only until I can fix it. Problem with single-shot goes back to that unique design. Savage Arms, who manufactured this rifle, utilized a knob as a charging handle/ cocking device instead of a carbine style or lever style handle. To use the rifle in single-shot mode, you pull the knob outward, away from the chamber, pull it back towards the butt, against the spring, and push it into a hole at the very rear of the chamber. Then you load a round into the barrel, pull the charging handle back to the outward position and let it return forward. You can then push the knob back inwards to lock the chamber, or leave it out to eject the empty shell automatically when you fire.

Penny with her Dad's old .22 rifle

 It's not as difficult as it sounds, but it does take longer to load and fire the next round, and after a few minutes of pulling and pushing the knob my fingers were gettin' kinda sore. 

The solution? 

A Ruger 10/22 Carbine. Arguably, the most popular rifle in America. Accurate, reliable, rugged, light, cheap and fun right out the box.

The new toy: A Ruger 10/22 Carbine

Penny tryin' out that new toy

Our nephew Shawn had put a red-dot reflex sight on the old Stevens while he owned it, and my senior, cloudy, floater-filled, tri-focal wearing eyes really liked it. So when I brought the new toy home, I transferred the sight to it. I think I got it reasonably close to zeroed at 25 yards. I'm sure I'll have to make adjustments in the future.

Sightin' her in

Got to hit some bulls-eyes after 3 hours and 70 rounds (ish)

 "   ... they cling to guns or religion ...   " Barack Obama

I had gotten a .357 snub-nosed revolver, and a Makarov 9mm semi-auto pistol from Penny's late brother Ken. I had a LOT of trouble shooting those as they both had non-adjustable iron sights, that I just couldn't focus on. Penny would likely not have enjoyed shooting those either, especially with the increased recoil, (even when using .38 Special rounds in the snub-nose).

I swapped the .357 and the 9mm with another family member in exchange for this:

Ruger Mark II

This beauty is a 1988 or 89 Ruger Mark II. This is one of those guns that, nobody who has one, ever gets rid of. If they do, they regret it later. It too has fixed iron sights, but they are large enough, and the pistol is long enough overall to be able to focus on them. A little day-glow acrylic paint helps too.

Penny took to this gun like a duck to water. First time shooting it and at 7 yards, she never missed the target. After a clip or two, she was hittin' throat and head shots like she'd been doin' it all her life.

Penny at 7 yards

A word of advice: DON'T PISS PENNY OFF!

Next year we'll take advantage of the range's "Winter Texan" membership. That will make the already cheap fun of shootin' n plinkin' with .22lr's even cheaper.

Until next time....