Well, not the whole weekend, but a goodly portion of it at any rate.
As I mentioned earlier, Friday was a trip to the range with my Dad and a certain Mountain Man. I went lightly loaded with the M-1 Carbine (for my favorite veteran to shoot) and my SAR-8, both of which I’m working on sighting in. The Mountain Man brought several items, including his rather incredible AR-10 with the Leupold scope and his Eagle M4gery.
The M-1 most definitely needs some further work with the sights. Some questioning on The High Road led me to the information that M-1 Carbines were all made with over-tall front sights, and sighting in is accomplished by filing down the front sight. I’ve been a little leary about filing the sight, but after having my Dad shoot it for a while, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s going to have to happen. It isn’t me; it really does shoot consistantly low.
It seems that the same will need to happen to the SAR-8 (which is a clone of the HK-91, made by Springfield Armory). I finally invested in the proper rear sight adjustment tool, and have now discovered that there is “only” about 1′ of elevation adjustment at 100 yards. This isn’t enough, as it left me about 6″ low. Setting the rear to the 300 meter setting adjusted the POI to 1-2″ high. So I guess I’m going to have to center things back up, then take a file to the front sight of it as well.
Damn, this is a scary thought. I’m filing on my guns. E-E-E-K!
I guess I’ll take the gun vise with me to the range, and just plan on a really long day. Take a few swipes with the file, test fire. Repeat until correct.
Even with the sights a bit off and his eyes bothering him, Dad was pretty much on target. Still, it was frustrating to him, and after a while with the M-1, the Mountain Man let him try the M4gery, which is fitted with a red dot sight.
Warning to Bad Guys. My Dad will hit you, 20 of 20 at 100 yards. In the head. I have the target to prove it. I probably better keep him away from gun stores, or he may have a setup like this soon. Then again, if I can borrow it occasionally….
My Dad also brought two of his war trophies, a Walther 6.35 pistol (that’s .25 auto for us Americans) and a Beretta 7.65 (.32 auto), both of which he “obtained” during WWII. Further warning to Bad Guys: He sees just fine up close. They may be little pistols, but he doesn’t miss. I can state this categorically after watching him fire several magazines.
Sunday was a “Take the Kids to Shoot” day. This time it was a .22 kind of day, just one of those days to go out and relax with something that goes bang cheaply but often. We took a Marlin 10/22 with a 4x scope, the old Sears/Marlin 81 that’s fast becoming my favorite .22, and the venerable Remington Sportmaster 512.
You know, it’s strange. My children think it’s great fun to see how many holes you can poke in an innocent piece of paper. Of course, the lose interest when you can’t find much target to count the holes in, but then they just go on to shooting used shotshells at 50 and 100 yards. Daughter was doing this from a bag rest at 100 yards–with iron sights.
Me, I had to content myself with shooting spray paint can tops at 100 yards with the little 4x scoped Sears/Marlin, using a post for an improvised rest. I’m getting old–I can’t even see a shotshell at 100 yards, scope or not.