Show your targets...

[MossRoad]

Show off some of your targets, and remember, we're marksmen, not fishermen, so tell the truth (sort of, if you have to).


I haven't been shooting much in the past few years. I used to enjoy it quite a bit when I was a kid. One of my children has expressed an interest, so I took her out a couple times in the past few weeks and showed her the guns, all .22 for now.

We started with a single shot Remington 580 .22LR rifle with peep sights. Then a Hi Standard 9 shot double action .22LR revolver with 6" barrel. Then a Hi Standard 9 shot .22WMR revolver with 2" barrel... her eyes popped as its just a wee bit louder than the LR. :laughing: And we finished with the Ruger 10/22 with a couple 10 shot magazines at targets and a couple 50 shot magazines into a pile of cans.

Anyhow, I only shot each one a couple times just for demonstration for her, but I realized I never shot a target for myself.

So the next day, I went out to cut firewood, and load up a trailer with a cord of freshly cut wood in 85 degree heat and humidity. So my arms were a little tired... and I took the Remington 580 out and shot one target. 10 shots. .22LR CCI Blazers. I missed the target completely with the first shot, so, only 9 holes....



100 yards from the prone position.

 

[k0ua]

That is not bad for the old Remington, and especially for "older" eyes and iron sights... I doubt if I could do as well. I hope you are using proper eye and ear protection for that youngster, especially with handguns.

 

[MossRoad]

Yep, safety glasses and ear plugs. And always treat a firearm like its loaded, even when you know its not, because you could be mistaken, I could be mistaken, and someone else could be mistaken. And no fingers in the trigger guard until you'r ready to shoot. And she caught me not putting the safety on after a shot! Guess the teacher becomes the student. I'm glad she said something. Shows she's paying attention.

When we talked about eye protection, I explained that sometimes, something may come back at you from the backstop. It happened to me many times when I shot indoors as a youth. And she noticed a couple times something flicked the weeds coming back in our direction off to our sides, but out in front. Probably sand grains or bullet fragments. So she got to witness why we wear those glasses. And the crack of the .22WMR was impressive to her. :laughing:

 

[square1]

10 Left hand, 10 right hand from 20 YDs with a SW 357 686+ 3" barrel.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

Muzzleloader. 100 yds

 

[Gunny]

I took the Remington 580 out and shot one target. 10 shots. .22LR CCI Blazers. I missed the target completely with the first shot, so, only 9 holes.

I've never been fond of the CCI Blazers for an accuracy round. To me, they're perfectly fine for plinking, and great for the smaller kids, since as long as they hit the target anywhere, they're excited. Since introducing your daughter to shooting was your initial intent, you got done what you wanted to do!

I started my grandsons out with medium sized balloons and they each had a set of cheap red dot sights to start with. That got their interest peaked and we worked our way down to standard sized targets and open sights. The oldest boy now shoots through a set of Williams peep sights on 10/22. The youngest has a real dominant eye conflict, so he's using a set of reflex sights. It's all great stuff.

Now I guess I'll have to go out and do some paper punching to see what I can post.

 

[MossRoad]

I started shooting at Boy Scout camp when I was 14. Had a pretty good knack for it. Got Pro-Marksman, Marksman and almost Marksman First Class that week. The instructor had my dad bring me back the following weekend to finish up the first class award. And he put my dad in touch with a shooting instructor at the local YMCA in town. I joined that rifle club and after about a year, we decided to get my own gun, since the club guns were old and too heavy for me (I was a very tiny kid). So after consulting with several instructors, we went to a local sport goods store and picked up the Remington 580. Its a good gun for a smaller person. It was about $69.00. :laughing: The store clerk asked me if I wanted it wrapped or did I want to carry it out? So I carried it out, in downtown, down the city sidewalk to our car. People looked and smiled and were thinking to themselves, "That boy got a new gun!" Don't try that today.

Anyhow, we took it to some old gunsmith, and he put the peeps on it and did some trigger work, and it shot great on the indoor 50' range. I was working on who knows what bar when I turned 18 and had to quit the club because it was a 17 and under club. I've only shot it about 10 times in the last 35 years.

 

[k0ua]

My first .22 rifle was a Remington 514br. It had the shortened length of pull on the stock hence the "br" for boys rifle. It cost $22. I was 12 years old.. I guess that makes it 50 years ago... hmmm.. doesn't seem that long ago. My dad also bought 3 boxes of .22 short hollow points to go with it. I was told to make every one count. I did. It was a couple of months or longer before I was allowed into the family stash of .22 Long Rifle cartridges. Many a squirrel, rabbit and bullfrog met their end with one of those .22 short hollow points.

 

[MossRoad]

One of the touted virtues of the Remington 580 was it could shoot short, long and long rifle. They also made a boy's rifle version with a 1" shorter stock. And a smooth bore version. And the 581 with a box magazine and a 582 with a tubular magazine. And a left handed version of the 581. Apparently there's something desirable about the bolt on these rifles. Its a two piece rear locking bolt with 6 lugs, which apparently makes it pretty strong for a .22 and lots of people like to convert them to large cartridges because they can handle the pressure. Wish I knew more about it than that, but I don't build my own.

 

[r porter]

centerfire, 200 yds shot with a moving backer to ensure there are 5 shots in each target.