Sunday, April 26, 2015

Saturday Range Day

After a long winter, I finally got to the range yesterday, and took the kids with me.

They each wore the identical shirts I had bought them at the NRAAM, even though it was cold enough they had to wear them under their sweatshirts and jackets on the range. The shirts are pretty large on them considering the smallest size available was adult small, but they'll grow into them.


And shoot like a girl they both did. 

Leah was ok with the M&P 15-22 though it is still too large for her to shoulder comfortably, and she really enjoyed shooting the Ruger Mark II more than the M&P rifle. The Ruger though is still a bit too heavy and fatiguing for her with its bull barrel. She did get both the Dad barrel rest and arm support as necessary.

I'm thinking an M&P 22 compact will be my next purchase, and soon.


Using the Caldwell Orange Peel Targets, it made it easy for both kids to quickly spot their hits. That kind of quick feedback is happy-making for young shooters. Next time I think I'll bring along some balloons as well.

Abby liked the Ruger ok, but she really came into her own with the M&P 15-22 rifle.


She really enjoyed knocking the plates down, and the M&P 15-22 delivered just enough energy to knock them down most of the time.
The kids both were safe, had fun, and truly enjoyed themselves and want to come back which  makes it a great day in my book.

The M&P 15-22 ran like a champ this outing, mainly because I had first cleaned and then lubricated the bolt very well with Slip2000 EWL as I noticed it was pretty dry before taking it out.  Don't run your M&P 15-22 dry and you'll be a lot happier. Properly lubricated it had no stoppages whatsoever and ran very nicely indeed, noticeably more reliable than with the pittance of lubrication I had used previously.

As for me, I got a bit of shooting in between supervising them shooting, typically I got to shoot while they were behind the line reloading their magazines.

I shot my M&P 40c. On beginning to shoot it and starting with a round of Dot Torture, I noticed that the rear sight had drifted almost fully rightward, throwing precision shots off to the right by a noticeable amount. Noticeable enough to have a great group perfectly centered but just outside of the circle #1 on the right side. With other guns I was dead center so this really was due to the sights. On getting it home, I undid the set-screw which took quite a bit of force to remove with its red Loctite coating from the factory still visible.  The sight even with the set screw removed would still not be drifted back leftward to center up for love, money nor banging on it with a brass punch. I now need to buy a new punch. 

I finally got it to move after some advice from Murphy's Law and some further lubrication and hammering.  Sheesh.

The other two guns I brought along to shoot will each get and deserve their own post as I was very happy with their performance today indeed.  In short, it was a great day at the range.  Also suffice to say, I need to get to the range more.

4 comments:

Scott said...

My girls have hats like that t-shirt. I think they got them at an Appleseed.

I've always liked them, and I like the shirt too!

B said...

if the Ruger is too heavy for her, check out Tactical solutions uppers. All aluminum and much lighter. Good accuracy.

I own 2.

It is a serial numbered item, so you gotta go through an FFL, but it is worth it.

Aaron said...

Scott: Thanks, they like them a lot. I'm contemplating signing them up for an Appleseed soon.

B: Thanks, I'll check that out.

Scott said...

Re: Appleseed - it is worthwhile to get them some instruction on shooting with a sling, in the military manner, before going to Appleseed. It gives them a leg up, and they spend their time refining their technique instead of learning it.

CCRC teaches the positions in their Junior program, but they don't start out with slings. I know it's a schlep, but you are welcome to come up on Tuesdays starting in June and shoot with us.