On The Stick

Got me some much needed trigger time last weekend. The weather sucked for riding, so I bagged the MS150 training and headed to the range. Took the PTR-91 and my RRA AR-15. Haven't shot the AR up 'til now, and have been looking for an excuse. An absolute blast!

Sighted in right away at 50 yards and was about 4 clicks left on the sights. A simple adjustment and fresh target confirmed sights were good. I saved the target to show Swede. Out of two mags, only three fliers on the target. Everything else was X-ring bull's eye. I also brought it out to 100 yards. It shot a bit looser at range, but that had to do a bit with me. I was feeling good and hot doggin' on some blank targets a previous shooter left up there. Three shot rapid fire (1 second per shot per the Range Officer) on three targets. If the target was a rough approximation of a man's chest, I'd say I was making mortal hits every time. My shot placement is off when rushing through, but considering I was shooting iron sights in the rain, I did okay. More practice is needed.

If I'm to try and shoot some 3-gun matches, I have to get a bit better with the carbines. The PTR handled up well. Smooth recoil as always, but for some reason I did feel the recoil in the shoulder. Probably because it was warmer and I was wearing thinner layers. I guess I have to wait and see about these matches to see which rifle I will use. I really want to put some glass on the PTR-91 as soon as possible to firm up my accuracy at distance. An Aimpoint should definitely go on top as soon as possible.

I brought out the Lusa for some runnin' & gunnin' on Sunday. That was League day at the Range of Choice and I know they don't have too much trouble with me shooting that handy dandy 9mm carbine on the pistol stages. Well, they're all pistol stages, and I'm the only one brave enough to bring a different gun to change it up some. It held up pretty well considering. The course designer for the evening gave us some pretty challenging stages to complete and I was about 2/3 down in the standings overall. Even pulled off a couple of tactical reloads and a decent transition to pistol when a round jammed sideways in the receiver. I tried to clear it from cover and on the second 'Tap Rack' I saw how the round was placed, yelled "F*&% IT!" and grabbed Roscoe from the holster and went to work. I shot the last six targets strong hand while trying to tame the Lusa dangling from the one-point sling. Time only!

It felt good to get back on the range last weekend. It was much needed stress relief. End of month kept us pretty busy at work, and being the end of quarter, we wanted to go out with a bang. I met all my sales goals, and our branch really held up well by getting the branch goals, too. I think people are impressed with what they are seeing. The stress is wearing me out, however, and shooting is the best medicine I can take sometimes. Cycling is my other fix, but the weekend weather has been crap lately.

Hopefully, April and May will see a couple more trips to the range and a couple of gun show visits. I really want school to be over for this semester so I can get a couple of Tuesday nights in with the Tac Tuesday crowd. I miss shooting with those guys. I have been paying attention to the classes on their forum and been wringing my hands with anticipation for my next time there.

ugh! Almost done. Just have to keep plugging away.