Girlie Bear and I got up and out early this morning, and arrived at Knob Creek just as the first round of shooting was beginning at 9.  We put a pistol target out at about 20 yards and a rifle target out at about 75.  The gentleman next to us was testing out a Mossberg MVP, and had a case of store brand soda  for plinking.  He saw that I was teaching Girlie Bear, and gave us a six-pack to shoot up.  Mental note – next time bring cans of cheap soda to the range.

A few minutes after we started shooting, the front desk announced to the range that a representative from Taurus was signing people up for the “Taurus Fan Club”.  Soon thereafter, a plethora of Taurus Judge tee shirts were seen on the firing line.  I abstained.

Girlie Bear continued her practice with the 10/22.  She’s still getting used to the new stock and sights on it, but was able to hit soda cans at 25 yards with some regularity.  She tried shooting the CZ-82, but didn’t care for it.  I think it’s more the recoil than anything else, but with practice she’ll learn to control it.

I put a few clips of M-2 ball through the Garand, and I’m still getting light strikes.  Last night I did a detail strip of the gun and paid a lot of attention to making sure there wasn’t cosmoline or any other gunk in the firing pin channel, but it apparently didn’t do any good.  I was still getting one or two light strikes per clip.  I’ll have to buy a new firing pin for her and see if that helps.

However, that gave me even more ammunition for the 03-A3.  It’s still sporterized, but I thought I’d see how it shot.  The action was smooth as butter, and the kick wasn’t as bad as I expected.  It kicked more than the Garand, but nothing near as bad as the Mosin.  I’m going to have to put a new scope on it so I can shoot with accuracy until I get the parts necessary to restore it to something approaching military configuration.  The scope that’s on it now wouldn’t give me a clear image of anything more than 25 yards away.

I also put a few shots down the barrel of the muzzleloader.  I still shoot my most accurately at 100 yards with that cheap little TC Omega, even better than I shoot with the Savage or the Garand.  I shot a 2 inch, 4 shot group at 100 yards with it, and that’s not too shabby for me.

After a couple of hours, the range started getting crowded and the temperature was north of 90 degrees, so we packed up and headed out.  After putting everything in the car, we took a turn through the gunshop.  It was wall to wall people.  The only time I’ve ever seen it more crowded was during the bi-yearly machine gun shoots.  If you’re looking for an AR-15 or Taurus pistol in the Louisville area, they’re all out at Knob Creek.  I also saw a KSG in the wild for the first time.  A bare bones KSG is going for about 8/10 of a house payment, so as much as I would like to have one, I’ll have to wait until they start showing up in the used market.  They also had another sporterized 03-A3, but in much better condition than mine, not drilled and tapped, and still with the original sights.  Of course, they wanted almost $600 for it.  Next to it was  an exquisite sporterized Enfield in .303, with a gorgeous carved hardwood stock and engraving on the gun itself, which was tagged “Do Not Rent” and priced at almost $1000.

The problem with the bridge out to Knob Creek seems to have been fixed.  A new concrete bridge is up and in full use.  Work continues, but you can use it to get across the creek without getting your tires wet.  Hopefully that means that this fall’s machine gun shoot and gun show will happen. The spring iteration was cancelled.

Overall, it was a great time.  Girlie Bear knows that if she wants to carry a gun during the deer season this fall, she’s going to have to practice a lot and get through the recoil barrier a bit.  I’m going to try to get good enough with the Garand that I can reliably hit targets out to 300 yards with open sights, assuming that I can still see a target that far out by the time I get that good.  We’re already making plans for the next trip.