Cats, Guns, and more. What’s not to love?
The 150 and 200 yard Know Your Limits steel targets were harder. Who knew that a heavy downpour of rain would drop tiny little .22 bullets enough to miss the smallest target? But 7, 8, 6, and 7 still adds up to 28, for the win.
The best part was I was using my backup rifle, the Ruger Precision Rimfire, and Eley Tenex ammo that I hadn’t touched in at least two years.
And, the 10 year old kid from last month was not there.
Aspirin Shoots! In the rain! 39 degrees! North wind 13 gusting 29! But ya do what ya gotta do.
If you squint real hard, you can just barely see the Know Your Limits steel at 150, just to the right of the yellowish 200 yard target board.
Only 4 brave shooters today, but it does help the odds.
Of taking the W.
And 26 MOA rings steel at 200.
But it is a little embarrassing. Two years ago I took a first with 32 out of 40. Today, a 23. I’ll still take the win and the .50 BMG brass first prize.
And the range was busy today. A Tuesday. Some people airing out their .22s in preparation for Sunday’s match. A couple of guys with two guests were airing out their ARs. Probably went through 4-5 hundred bucks of ammo. I think the drought is officially over.
That’s right – the first one of the year is scheduled for April 27. The above pic is a reminder to aim small, miss small.
Well, then. We’d best get out our Aspirin Shoot Rifles. This is my #1 gun: Christensen Ranger. Lightweight, carbon fiber wrapped stainless steel barrel. Takes Ruger 10-22 magazines. 1/2 MOA gun, so misses are bad wind calls or screwing up elevation. Yes, it is possible to forget that step between stages.
Cleaned, boxed and ready to test fire. Vortex Crossfire 6×24 glass.
#2 gun is my Ruger Precision Rimfire. I swapped out the factory barrel for a Green Mountain barrel. I had to polish the chamber to get some brass to extract. Very tight. Also takes 10-22 magazines. How handy!
Arken 6×24 glass.
Well, d’oh. You get up early in the morning and scout those little rascals and blast the heck out of them . .
Really, though, you have to get up pretty early in the morning to claim your favorite shooting table at the club. The rock solid one that gives you the best angle on those little devils.
Here is the course of fire: Aspirin at 50 yards. Tums at 100. Know Your Limits steel at 150. Same at 200. .22 caliber only, but any rifle you want. Bipod and rear bag only.
10 aspirin on your individual cardboard target. One fluorescent sighter target. You may take up to 10 sighter shots, but once on the aspirin, you cannot go back. One shot per aspirin. If the round touches any part of the aspirin it is a hit. Yes, black wax streak on the side is a hit. Max score of 10.
Same thing at 100 yards with Tums. Word to the wise – this is the hardest stage.
At 150, the 5 hanging KYL targets start at 8” diameter and go down to 2.5”. You must hit each target before going on to the next. Once you hit the smallest one, you keep shooting at it.
200 yards is the same. So max score possible is 40 points. On a great day the winning score is 32-34 points. On a cold winter day in blowing snow, low 20s will win.
So what rifle do you use? At least at our club, everyone started out with Ruger 10-22s, and shot CCI Standard. But is wasn’t long before ammo changed to Eley, SK, Wolf, and rifles changed to CZ, Ruger
Precision Rimfire, and the like. My own upgrades were the Christiansen Ranger and the Ruger Precision Rimfire.
Let’s take a look:
This is the best I’ve shot. 9/10. Pretty sure won that day with a 34.
Tums are tuff. At 100, wind really kicks in.
An 8 will keep you in the running.
This is what you are shooting at.
And it looks like this:
Some people say that .22 at 200 yards is similar to large caliber at 1000. I tend to agree. The .22 LR is an anemic round; it gets pushed around by the wind a lot. But it’s been around for a hundred and fifty years and is arguably the most popular caliber. It is hard to shoot well at distance.
But would you stand there and offer to be a target? I don’t think so.
KatNap Fever! 