Rimfire Silhouette Match

The club's first silhouette match at the new range occurred this Sunday. I was disappointed that only six showed up, but I notice that new events tend to attract only a few shooter at first, with more becoming interested as word spreads. There was a considerable spread in rifles, with bolts, semis and even a lever action:

This was the first time I've shot one of these, and it was much more challenging than I expected. I wasn't aware that it's all standing unsupported, with no jackets, gloves, slings, etc. Very dependent on the shooter's fitness and the quality of the rifle's trigger. I was shooting my '30s era Winchester 52B with the scope set to 10x for most of the match. It's damn hard to steady a rifle intended for prone (lots of weight) in the unsupported standing. I won the match, with the incredibly impressive score of 11 out of 40. Out of six competitors. Yes, I'm impressed too.

Given the number of shots where the trigger broke as I was sweeping through the target so that the shot was nowhere near the target, I'm seriously in need of standing practice before the winter four-position season. Then again, a shooting jacket and glove make a world of difference. Anyway, I'm hoping the guys running the match continue doing these. It's difficult, but enjoyable and casual.

Following the match, I got a little recreational time in. First, twenty rounds of Romanian 7.9 x 57mm through a '20s vintage Brno Gewehr 1898. Basically, fun to shoot, but don't expect too much for accuracy. Some Turk went to town on the muzzle with a cleaning rod after the Czechs sold them off. Still, it's always a good time playing with a vintage rifle.

Following that, a Spanish M43 in 7.9 x 57mm. This one was shooting groups of about eight inches at a hundred yards. Yes, not great, but three factors to consider: I was shooting prone unsupported (no sling, rest, etc.), the top of the front sight (if you know Mausers, you know how wonderful that front sight is at it's even at it's best) was a nice, bright silver, as the bluing had worn off. And I didn't bring my sharpie to darken it up, so it pretty much disappeared on the target; and I got a little flinch after a pierced primer on round three dispersed a lot of smoke and gas into my glasses. I'll be doing a little file work on this one later this week.

Now, a little elbow grease to get all the nice thirty year old mercuric salts out of the barrels. The joys of surplus ammo.

Reloading

Started assembling loads for the M1 last night. I shot my first Garand match this past winter, and would like to make another 2-3 matches this summer. My current load worked well for last summer's practice conditions, but didn't reliably cycle the bolt in the middle of winter (not fun to find out during a rapid fire match). I'll be evaluating the current load for actual velocity vs published expected velocity, then working up to a little higher pressure load for enhanced reliability in cold weather. I'm considering tracking temperature variations effects on my standard load across the summer season also. Which means relearning the operation of my chronograph I haven't run in 5+ years, along with getting more familiar with my computer's spreadsheet programs.

I'm also looking forward to the mini Palma matches scheduled for our range this year. I've never shot one, but the descriptions sound interesting, and gives me more excuses opportunities to play with my old Winchester 52B. I'd considered taking the 4x-24x scope off this summer, since 10x was the most I found useful during 50 ft four-position competition this winter; with shooting at 200 yards, I'm thinking that the higher settings will see more use. I'll at least be learning some lessons on reading the wind with the little 40 grain bullets practically coasting out to the targets, compared to my 22-250's velocities.

Off to the dungeon to organize for a practice session tomorrow.

Monday Night Small Bore

I was able to get away from work early enough to make it to my club's smallbore rifle league. Because of the volume of electrophysiology studies and pacemaker/ICD placements we do now, I'm lucky if I can get there every other week, and it shows. I'm shooting a bull-barrel Winchester 52B made in the late '30's mounting a BSA target scope in a modified stock. It's certainly able to do it's part, if I can live up to the rifle's capabilities. However, shooting an approximately 12 pound single shot .22 from the unsupported standing position accurately is a challenge for me. Tonight I shot a 354 out of 400 possible in four-position smallbore. It's not god-awful atrocious, but when the guys you shoot with score in at least the 370s or higher consistently, it's not a confidence builder. On the flip side, the heft of this rifle has made shooting CMP type rifles easier, as they feel light in comparison, and the number of .22 rounds expended contributes to better form in shooting positions.