After talking guns with my brothers-in-law last night, I got the itch to go out and do some shooting.  A quick check with Irish Woman confirmed that we had no real plans for this afternoon, so off to range I went.

Knob Creek is still doing a brisk business in selling range time, ammunition, and firearms.  There was no wait for a shooting position on the main firing line today, but there weren’t any tables that were empty for long.  As I signed into the range, I noticed that they had brass cased 5.56 FMJ from several manufacturers priced at anywhere from $1.00 to $1.50 a round, and brass case 7.62×39 FMJ for about $1.50 a round*.  They also had a lot of .22 LR and other calibers available, but are still limiting purchases to 100 rounds of each caliber per customer per day.  (They won’t fall for the “I’ll have 100 rounds of .223 and 100 rounds of 5.56, please” trick.)

Conditions were pretty close to perfect.  Warm, but not hot enough to sweat, with a slight breeze going from right to left on the range.  The range wasn’t dry as a bone, but neither was it a swamp from all the rain has hit us over the past few days.

I started off zero-ing the Mojo MicroClick sights put on the Mosin-Nagant, and practicing with the Timney trigger.  Yes, I put $200 worth of sights and trigger into a rifle that I paid $76 for, but until Savage starts putting out a rifle that fires the 7.62x54r bullet, I’m going to make the 91/30 the best rifle I can.

I chased zero for a while, but got decent groups at 100 yards.  The shots that are at the center of the target are from my last couple of three round groups.

1934 Mosin Nagant 1891/30, Mojo MicroClick Sights, Timney Trigger, 147 grain Bulgarian Light Ball FMJ, 100 yards

Next I zeroed the AR-15 carbine.  I recently purchased a used Trijicon reflex, and this was my first experience shooting a reflex-type sight.  I must say, I’m hooked.  The ease of shooting with it is amazing.  One thought, though:  The 4.5 MOA dot on the reflex sight was pretty much as big as the center of the target at 100 yards.  I started out adjusting the sight so that the dot was just over the top of the front sight blade on the iron sights, which got me on paper (I need to put a riser under the rear sight on the iron sights.  I have the front sight cranked up all the way, and I still have to use a six o’clock sight picture with them).  Adjusting the reflex sight was pretty easy once I fired a few familiarization rounds.  Point of aim was point of impact at 100 yards.

Federal 55 grain FMJ, York Arms lower with PSA lower parts kit, CMMG 18 inch upper, Trijicon Reflex sight, 100 yards

I finished up putting a few magazines of TulAmmo FMJ through my CZ-82.  I didn’t put up a pistol target this time, so I was just plinking at some soda bottles someone else had left on the 25 yard berm.  I was connecting with the aimed-at bottle about half the time, but I was close enough to move it with kicked-up dirt on the other shots.  I love that little pistol.

I’m still not Dead Eye Dick with either the Mosin or the AR, but I’m improving, at least in the “sit on the firing line and punch holes in paper” type of shooting.  Either one is shooting minute of varmint or deer at 100 yards, and now that ammunition isn’t rare and outrageously expensive, I can justify more trips to the range.  Hopefully with practice I’ll be punching out center target every time.

And let’s be honest, when your view looks like this, it’s never a bad day.

Knob Creek main firing line, also known as “My Happy Place”

*edited to correct price.  After reading the original text, which had a much lower cost per round, I realized that KCR was selling 20 round boxes, not 50 round boxes, which of course brought up the cost per round.