Showing posts with label .308. Show all posts
Showing posts with label .308. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Shoot!

Get a haircut, hippy


We'd been planning a shoot for some time but things kept getting in the way, broken femurs, a boy graduating Basic, climate change, a deadly Chinese plague, you name it, all conspired to keep us off the range. Until today.



RHT drove over from the DFW connurb and we headed off to J's place to try out some weaponry. All well and good, and then disaster! My rig sank into the sand of an ancient seabed on the way to our objective and had to be pulled out by a handy tractor. Obstacle overcome, we set up at 200 yards and shot.


J knows how to shoot


I went first with an Aero Precision AR10 firing 168 grain .308. Would it work and more to the point, would I remember how to shoot? 

Watch out kids, don't bet the monkey, but I did, just, and ended up with a decent group in the 10 ring, which should've been in the X. RHT followed up with a Hogue stocked .308 Howa and a Redfield scoped M1A. They shot well, very well.


Good Call


Now, all of the above were great to shoot and made considerably more accurate by RHT and J's hand loads. I don't reload or cast bullets, unlike these two very friendly competition shooters, and was struck by the difference. Wow. Speaking of which, RHT and J's Howas were X-Ring on the money for a ridiculously low price. I want one.


Do Not Scorn This


Then, after a quick remedial bout with .45s it was time for lunch at Los Verdes, which always serves excellent Mexican food. Did we discuss the satanic evil of Marxism, the wickedness of banksters and the importance of wine? Possibly. You be the judge.



Back at the range it was time for RHT to roll out an 1872 Remington .50-70 and an 1873 Trapdoor Springfield .45-70. For me, this was the high point of the shoot. There's something about firing these now exotic and antique firearms which appeals. Is it the history of the thing, their provenance, or the nature of the guns themselves? There they are, muskets turned into rifles.




Regardless, the Remington wasn't too keen to get on paper but the Springfield noisily got on a gong, in the appx. 10 ring in my hands and in J's it was hitting the bull. With iron sights. At 200 yards. All 1873 of it. We were amazed. This old rifle was outshooting... ahem. What a lot of fun.


RHT on his awesome M1A


We finished off with some AR action, J stealing the show with a series of X-Ring excellence. 3 shots, left to right touching on the X. A testament to Geissele, the barrel, Nightforce optics, the loads and the shooter himself. Seriously, a lot of people would've been pleased with that group at 50 yards with a .17 HMR. Good shooting.


Random LSP guns


And that was that. Huge enjoyment out in the clean air and big skies of Texas. And about time that this shooter actually got out and shot. Big thanks to RHT for getting the wheels rolling and thanks too to J for such warm hospitality, and a great range which goes out to 1000 yards.


Bullets


Hmmm, can I shoot that far? Good question, perhaps it's time to learn. We'll see about that and calling the shot as this mission progresses.

In the meanwhile, thanks guys for a great day out, what a perfect result.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Let's Go For A Shoot!



"Can we go for a shoot, please?" asked an eager cadet. "Sure, it's about time. We have new weapons in the armory and it's the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Let's go." Before you could say principles of marksmanship we were on our way to the range.




Would the  new guns, an Aero build .308 AR and a ChiCom SKS perform? Only one way to find out, shoot the beasts and that's what we did.




To be fair, I didn't know what kind of ammo the .308 had been zero'd in on and came with a random pack of 150 grain bullets. Would the weapon even be on paper? It was, straight out of the gate. Excellent result and that can be improved. Big fun to shoot, explosive sound and fury with the recoil of a 20 gauge.


That'll do for now

After the mighty ballistics hi-power of the .308 battle rifle, the SKS came in as a fun gun, easy to shoot and light as you like. It performed pretty much flawlessly, sending its chunky rounds down range with workmanlike, ComBloc effect.





So what's better, an SKS or a Mini 14? Good question and I hesitate to answer but I will say this. The SKS seems simpler and a bit easier to shoot. 

Still, it's factory basic, thanks, Commies and doesn't have a detachable magazine, unless you mess with it. But and it's a big but for shooters on a budget, it does cost a whole lot less. Whatever, your call, both are neat. For what it's worth, I see the SKS as a ranch rifle/fun gun on a budget.




After filling up the center mass of the Green Enemy we fell back to the small shooting house and some nice and easy plinking with a Ruger American .22.



The plates met their match.




Then it was time to head back to the Compound for Mass, a good day had by all. Moral of the story? Get out in the country and shoot, it's good for mind, body and soul.

Gun rights,

LSP

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

On The Road On The Gun



The rig hummed along, thank you very much after a fortune spent at the aptly named "shop," and all was well with rural Texas as I drove to visit a sick cowboy. We talked about liturgy and society at the ranch as well as the Holy Cross Fathers.




Their erstwhile supremo married a nun who'd got herself into trouble for witchcraft in Africa, Una Kroll. Una went on to champion womyn priests and died last year. I don't know if she remained married to the former monk. 




After anointing my friend I drove to Waco. "What you going there for?" he asked, hopefully recovering his spirits. "To get some things for my new gun," I replied, quick as you like and then some, "It's a 7.62 battle rifle."




Fun Guns on Franklin supplied the deficit along with the extra bonus of late '70s music on the store jukebox. Go ahead, shop for AR15 barrels, Magpul accessories and all things weaponry while listening to the Clash.




"I say," I asked a youthful shop assistant, "Are you the only deadly assault rifle store in town that plays Machine Gun Etiquette and God Save The Queen on some kind of loop?" The pleasant young man looked embarrassed, made a needless excuse and took all my money. Thanks a lot, Malcolm  so-called McLaren.




Wallet several pounds lighter I headed for home and a kid who wants to enlist. He's at the gym now working out and he'll have to if he's going to lift the new rifle. So will I.

Gun rights,

LSP

Sunday, November 19, 2017

All In A Day's Work



If you went to Mass, like a Christian, you might have noticed that the Gospel was all about servants being given Talents, vast sums of money which they have to give an account of at the Last Judgement. 

One miserable servant buries his Talent in the ground and gives it back to his returning master only to get roundly castigated, "You wicked and slothful servant!" 


Typical Brush Pile

It seems harsh until you compute the eternal cost of burying and ignoring your God-given ability, the Word of God and the indwelling presence of Christ in your life.

Imagine, when our Lord returns in clouds of glory and looks you straight in the eye and says, "What did you do with the skills I gave you, the Good News of salvation and Myself?" And you, looking shiftily at the ground reply, "Well, I buried all that in the ground, in a pit." It doesn't look good, does it.


Stand At Ease!


With that in mind, the Cadet and a Force Multiplier worked hard today after Mass, clearing brush behind the church. It's a significant job and they worked hard, using their God given abilities for the increase of the Kingdom.


Random Battle Rifle

And let the reader understand, it kept them off the streets and outta the bars. Well done, kids.

It's better outdoors,

LSP 

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Ice Creature (warning -- Muslims & Vegetarians won't like this)



A churchman kindly invited me to a hog hunt on his lease over the weekend, but I couldn't go because I had to say Mass on Sunday. I'm sure you understand, it goes with the territory.


Put it on Ice

However, I did get a pig as a consolation prize. The hog was gutted, iced, and fit neatly into a cooler in the back of the rig. 


Hang it up on The Porch Over a Tarp

Next step, take the cooler out of the bed of the truck, trying not to give yourself a hernia. Weightlifting over, lay out a tarp and hang the porker up on the front porch by its hind legs, out of the driving Texan rain.


Put on Some Gloves, Get a Knife

Put on some gloves and take up a sharp knife, I used a filet knife from Walmart ($2.00), and cut around the skin on the hoof end of the leg, then lengthwise down the front of the leg. Work the skin off and down the carcass until it hangs like a cape over the head of the pig.


Nearly There

Stop for a while and look at the pig that died so that you can live off its meat. Thanks for the sacrifice, creature of pork. 


Take The Meat Off The Back

You're now ready to get the meat; take out the tenderloins and the backstraps, then cut off the legs, slicing along the hips. You should be able to work your knife into the ball joints and pop them out, top and bottom.


Well Done, Now You've Got Some Pork

Two legs of ham later, it's time for the shoulders, cut as much meat off as you can. Clean up the mess, hose down your meat and put it in the freezer. Congratulate yourself on a job well done.


Meat in The Freezer

A friend or two threaten to visit for a feast, "honestly hunted meat is allowed during Lent," they tell me, "just not on Fridays." 

That has the ring of truth to it.

LSP


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Get a New Gun?

What Gun?

I'm thinking of getting a new gun, probably a bolt .308 or .30-06 but it's confusing because there's a lot of rifles out there in the right price range and they all seem good. Like the Ruger American or the new offering by Savage; very affordable. That said, I'd prefer something that wasn't black plastic. Maybe I should look for a used rifle, one with a wood stock?

Mighty Ballistics

Then there's pistols. I fired a friend's XD .45 the other day and really liked it, so now I want a new pistol. But it's like rifles -- which one? Something chambered for 9mm, perhaps a 4th Gen Glock, or the CZ SP-01 (steel frame)? Then there's SIGs and XDs. Tricky.

I think they're all good, and they are, but feel free to advise. I want to get several. 2014 will be the Year of the Gun.

Shoot straight,

LSP