So, we decided to spend a day at the range. My arsenal included my new Savage bolt rifle 30.06, my AR-15 LMT CQB .556, my Springfield XD(M) .40, my Springfield XD Subcompact .40 with Crimson Trace laser grips, and my wife's Taurus 709 Slim 9mm.
Jeremy brought his new Mossberg bolt rifles 30.06, his Hi-Point .40, his conceal carry (I forget what he has and what caliber), and a rifle .22 for plinking.
This was my first time shooting at an outdoor range. The range had specific rules that were strictly enforced. The staff were polite and we had a good time. We first shot our bolt rifles at 100 yards. Now, it's important that you understand that I have never sighted a bolt rifle with a scope. So my ignorance left me unprepared. We set up our targets. I was told by the people who sold me the rifle that it was bore sighted at the factory. Well, something must have happened between there and here, because it was not even coming close to hitting the paper. We walked down to look at our targets and I didn't have a single hole in my sheet. So, I went and rented a spotting scope (next on my list to purchase). Jeremy watched using the scope to see where my bullets were going. They were way off. After a few adjustments I was hitting the paper. I had close groupings, but I was off the mark. Jeremy's did rather well with his groupings. I spotted while Jeremy shot and he had his adjustments.
Here you can see my target. I was shooting way right and low. Eventually, we got the groups closer to center of the target, however, still short of what I wanted. The scope was actually weak. I thought the scope could have been efficient at 100 yards. But, this was my first time shooting a scoped rifle, so I have a lot to learn.
Next, we headed over to the 50 yard range to shoot my AR-15. I had a red dot sight that I have not yet sighted in. I had to purchase bullets at the range store because they did not allow customers to shoot Full Metal Jackets (FMJ) with rifles. However, FMJ's were allowed for handguns. So I purchased 20 soft point bullets. I couldn't afford more than that. I had not sighted my red dot, but my first shot was very close to center. I looked through the spotting scope and saw that it had hit in the inner circle where the X was. I was impressed. So I shot a couple more rounds. All shots had tight groupings. I let Jeremy plink with it using the last 10 rounds. It's a fun gun to shoot and it has very low recoil. This is an awesome weapon. Anything at 50 yards with the red dot alone will go be hit. I am pretty sure it will do fine at 100 yards with the red dot as well. Next time I go to the range I will be more prepared.
After the 50 yard range we headed over to the 25 yard range to shoot our pistols. This is something I am very familiar with. Pistol shooting is something that I have done more of. We got our pistols set up and Jeremy challenges me to a duel. The man who gets the most points (we were using a numbered human silhouette target) buys the other a beer after we were done. So, we loaded up and shot 10 rounds. I hit my first four shots center mass. My other shots went into the 9 and one went into the 8. So, I did pretty good. I won that bout and it was a good thing because I didn't have much cash after purchasing the ammo and renting the spotting scope.
After we left the range we headed to Joe's Pasta Pizza Subs for some dinner. Jeremy bought the pizza and beer. My debit cards numbers were stolen off the Internet, so I shut down our account and canceled our cards. I am not used to having cash on me, so I didn't have as much as I thought I needed. Anyway, Jeremy covered me this time and next time it will be my treat. We had a great time and I can't wait to go back, but it may be a while.
