Kristi and I spent some time on the rifle range today. I think this represented my third time shooting since I left the rifle team in high school. It was Kristi’s first or second time shooting.
It was a short session; each of us ran 10 rounds through a .22 rimfire rifle, and then 3 through a .223 centerfire rifle.
I can’t speak to Kristi’s experience directly, although she had a pretty good shot pattern, and claimed “I like the scope better”. So, here’s my experience of the day.
The .22 had iron sights, although of a style I hadn’t used before, circular peep sights both front and back. I was able to figure the sights out enough to get a 10-shot pattern about the size of the bullseye (I’ll have to measure it, but I believe that it was a 3″ solid black circle at a range of 25yd). The rifle wasn’t sighted in for my eye placement, so all the shots ended up around 10 o’clock relative to the bull. Given the tight group, though, I’m confident that would have been fixed with some adjustment of the rear sight. I’ve fired .22 long rifles more than anything else; I think only one shooting session in my life has not included a .22. The rifle was pretty basic, not as nice as the heavy Winchester match rifles I used in high school, but it did the trick. This was also my first time shooting from a bench. I could fire a .22 all day.
The .223 had a scope. This is the first time I’d ever fired a .223, and it’s a much livelier round than the .22 LR. It’s also the first time I’d ever used a scope, but my experience with telescopes made that mostly a non-issue. My 3-shot group was under 1″ across. Slightly lower than center in the target, but again well within the adjustments of the scope. The trigger on the .223 had a lot of slack, which was interesting.
I’m going to need more time on the range, and in particular, I’m going to need some time with a big-game caliber rifle. I think that I was blinking when the rifle went off, and I worry that might affect my accuracy. Not that I wasn’t accurate enough with either rifle to take out a target at 25yd.
A good day on the range.