Today was a balmy 95 with a light breeze, so my shootin' buddy Denise and I headed for the range. I brought the entire arsenal, while she settled for her Norinco 213 9mm and Remington 788 .243 Win rifle. She got her .243 dialed in at 200 yds in no time, but couldn't hit squat at 15 yds with her 9mm. The same thing happened last time we were out - the 9mm wouldn't come close to the target. Knowing her to be a dead shot, I was inclined to blame the gun, but I'd already used a laser boresight on it and know it's right. So I fired a magazine through it and had no trouble making little round holes in paper out to about 25 yds. I passed on a few tips I was given by an instructor during an open house at another range, then let her go at it. By the end of the day, she was consistently hitting within a couple inches of the bull, so other than more practice, my job is done there.
For my part, I really wanted to get my .243 BLR sighted for 200 yds, but I ran into a snag. I was firing reloads I'd made last year, and had good results from them back then. But a large number of rounds didn't fire on the first try. All fired on the second, by manually cocking the hammer. Upon inspection of the fired cases I found nearly all had no dimple where the firing pin should have made a serious dent. There was a round shiny spot, but it was effectively flush with the rest of the primer surface. As a check, I fired a few rounds through Denise's .243 and all the cases looked normal, with a neat, perfectly round dent in the center. So I have to surmise that there's something wrong with my nearly new rifle.
I moved on a bit, and practiced with the Sig P938 for a while, holding 4" - 6" groups out to about 20 yds; the Hi-Power performed flawlessly as always, and I drug out my trusty S&W Model 10-5 4" 38 Special for some long overdue attention. I haven't fired that thing in 15 years, but Shep's video elsewhere on this site last week reminded me that it needs some playtime. It's still a pleasure to shoot, and more accurate and reliable than I am at 25 yds.
Lastly, I've had my stepfather's Beretta 950BS .25 Auto pistol since he died, but haven't fired it much. The ammo is hard to find, and ridiculously overpriced when it shows up. But I recently scored a couple of boxes, figuring it's a bit stupid to have a gun and no ammunition. I shout a couple of magazines at 10 - 15 yds and was very surprised to see how well it performed! I was aiming at the top edge of an 8" target and not seeing anything hit; the high aim point was because of my expectation of a lot of drop because of it being so under-powered. I was dead wrong, and my shots traced a short arc about 1 - 2 " above the top of the target. Impressive for such a tiny little mouse gun!
Back to the BLR problem, I mentioned it to the resident RSO while checking out, and he suggested trying one of the modern, pressurized cleaning sprays. He said that others have had the same problem, and it turned out to be gunk in the firing pin assembly. I don't have any problem believing that, since the BLR is nearly impossible to properly clean; articles I've read give dire warnings against attempting to disassemble the action because of the difficulty in reassembling it correctly. I know that I shy away from a full teardown beyond what's in the manual that came with it, but I may have to attempt it. First, though, I'll try this power washing technique he recommended, since I picked up a spray can of the stuff last time I was out shopping.
All in all, 'twas a great weekend out in the fresh air, letting daylight through small openings in sheets of paper.
For my part, I really wanted to get my .243 BLR sighted for 200 yds, but I ran into a snag. I was firing reloads I'd made last year, and had good results from them back then. But a large number of rounds didn't fire on the first try. All fired on the second, by manually cocking the hammer. Upon inspection of the fired cases I found nearly all had no dimple where the firing pin should have made a serious dent. There was a round shiny spot, but it was effectively flush with the rest of the primer surface. As a check, I fired a few rounds through Denise's .243 and all the cases looked normal, with a neat, perfectly round dent in the center. So I have to surmise that there's something wrong with my nearly new rifle.
I moved on a bit, and practiced with the Sig P938 for a while, holding 4" - 6" groups out to about 20 yds; the Hi-Power performed flawlessly as always, and I drug out my trusty S&W Model 10-5 4" 38 Special for some long overdue attention. I haven't fired that thing in 15 years, but Shep's video elsewhere on this site last week reminded me that it needs some playtime. It's still a pleasure to shoot, and more accurate and reliable than I am at 25 yds.
Lastly, I've had my stepfather's Beretta 950BS .25 Auto pistol since he died, but haven't fired it much. The ammo is hard to find, and ridiculously overpriced when it shows up. But I recently scored a couple of boxes, figuring it's a bit stupid to have a gun and no ammunition. I shout a couple of magazines at 10 - 15 yds and was very surprised to see how well it performed! I was aiming at the top edge of an 8" target and not seeing anything hit; the high aim point was because of my expectation of a lot of drop because of it being so under-powered. I was dead wrong, and my shots traced a short arc about 1 - 2 " above the top of the target. Impressive for such a tiny little mouse gun!
Back to the BLR problem, I mentioned it to the resident RSO while checking out, and he suggested trying one of the modern, pressurized cleaning sprays. He said that others have had the same problem, and it turned out to be gunk in the firing pin assembly. I don't have any problem believing that, since the BLR is nearly impossible to properly clean; articles I've read give dire warnings against attempting to disassemble the action because of the difficulty in reassembling it correctly. I know that I shy away from a full teardown beyond what's in the manual that came with it, but I may have to attempt it. First, though, I'll try this power washing technique he recommended, since I picked up a spray can of the stuff last time I was out shopping.
All in all, 'twas a great weekend out in the fresh air, letting daylight through small openings in sheets of paper.