And I rolled over...

Went to the range yesterday morning, and as is often the case on the edge of the Palouse, things were pretty breezy out there..sustained 15-20's, gusts to 30.  I had packed both the carbine upper, and the 20-inch bull barrel upper for my AR, and instead of embracing this as an opportunity to get some long range practice and real world experience dealing with the wind, I took the easy way out, and worked mostly on my 'short game', as my golfing father would put it.

I must have looked quite as I unloaded my truck and lined up my long arms...it was a very mismatched set: My Rock River carbine, my Mossberg 500, my .50 Cal Traditions Muzzle Loader, and my Gamo Whisper.  Yeah...I brought my pellet rifle to the range...being in the apartment, it just seemed the cleanest way to get some practice.

I started practicing at 80 yards, with the carbine and the black powder rifle.  Very happy with the accuracy of the Traditions at 80 yards...but once again, not so happy with the reliability.  In the past, I have admitted to mistreating this gun, and after a thorough boiling, cleaning and oiling, it still requires two strikes to ignite the percussion cap, which is bad in a hunting situation.  Next step is either bolt disassembly and internal replacement, or puchasing a new bolt.  I'll have to price up the options...although the disassembly option has the potential to be a 'learning' opportunity.

The AR Carbine continues to frustrate me with it's consistancy.  It's just an old fashioned A1 site...and last time I had it ON at 100 yards, and I had to aim much lower than I thought I would to get it where I wanted at 80 and 50 yards.  For close in work(under 100 yards) my lever-action Marlin continues to be my favorite...with .38's and .357's, the bullet goes where I want it to every time. 

Tightening the heck out the scope mount proved to take care of whatever concerns I had about my Gamo Whisper.  At 30 yards, I was able to shoot a quarter sized group...and I think I will only get better.  If I take it out again, I might try it at 50 yards, just to see what it can do...but realistically, I think 30 yards is about the max range for this piece of equipment.  Having seen what it can do to a potato, I'm not going to volunteer to step in front of one of these pellets moving 1200 fps...

Finally, I did some playing with my Mossberg 500.  That's another one of those things that I bought because it was a great deal(under $300 for the 500 with a 28-inch and an 18.5-barrel).  I used it once to shoot trap with a some buddies, and then it has lived in the safe(although, I did clean/oil this one before forgetting about it for 5 years).  I've just never shot buck through it, and I really have no idea what kind of accuracy I can expect from that front bead, or what pattern I will get out of it.

Starting with it at 30-yards, I was not very impressed(but then since I had no real expectations, I'm not sure what would have impressed me).  At 30 yards, my first round got 2 pellets in a 10-inch circle, and only with the 2nd round.  That was with Fiocchi 00.  Sellier and Bellot did not give an better results.  Accuracy was hard to determine...so, not the first choice for use at 30 yards.  I'd be better off with my CZ...

Moving into 12 yards, things were more what I expected.  I was getting about 4 pellets per round into the 10 inch circle, which I more likely to catch someone attention.  Accuracy with the front bead was acceptable...but, I am moving customization of the Mossberg up my list...I want to get a Knoxx Recoil Reducing Stock on it, and at a minimum, a set of ghost ring sites(and maybe even investigate getting some reflex type optics for it). 

As soon as I get some slugs for it, I can see just how inadaquate the front bead really is...