But first, a range report.
Miss Tacticute was grumpy and strongwilled today, so she had to miss out. We'll get back to her when we've fitted her AR-15/22 with a suppressor.
So, in the mean time, I decided to have a long range day with the M-14. I have some concerns about my scope sight in at 200 yards however, so I'm going to employ a sled for my sight in activities.
Sight picture:
So, that shooting went on for a while, until a guy came along to do some range clean-up work. He said he only needed a few minutes, so why not. I was done with my sight-in work:
(I worked from left to right until my cluster was more centered on the bullseye.)
So, here I am with a bit of time on my hands.... and a shortage of targets. Yes, I forget to get the extra package of targets from the garage before I left. So, adapt and overcomes.
Paper plus Pen plus Target Stand equals Field Expedient Zombies.
200 yards:
100 yards:
25 yards with M&P 45:
On that last one, I had a steep learning curve. I kept plowing the earth with 230gr 45ACP until I figure out I had to keep the front sight up above the rear sight. There was a lot of bullet drop over 75 feet from that 4" barrel.
So, now, as advertised, the power of teh interwebs.
As I finish up shooting my 100 yard zombie and come up empty, a young fellow approaches. And he asked, "Sir, do you know anything about M-14s?"
Well, I might know a little, seeing as I am shooting one, so I follow the young gent over to see what the problem was. The problem seems to be Live Round In The Chamber, Hammer Has Been Dropped, Action Won't Open.
Well, that's a puzzler, and an immanent safety hazard. The rifle can't be transported like this. Out comes the iPhone, which has an IRC app, and connects to the Gunblogger's Conspiracy.
So, to the conspirators I pose the question, and Wally (who has no blog) comes to the rescue, going to his safe to get a representative M1A. We try a couple things, checking the safety operation, hammer position, etc. Finally it is determined that a vigorous thump on the operating handle is warranted, and the action extracts the round. A light primer strike is noted.
So we try again with another round, and the same thing happens. Thump, and it is extracted.
Meanwhile, the young gentlemen are astounded that I could find someone with experience on their matter over my iPhone. I read one of the gentlemen's t-shirts, and deduce that he is a USAF Academy cadet. I introduce myself as a Captain. Bonding is had all around. Solidarity, zoomie!
Finally, we discover that the problem is their ammo. It's marked on the case with "P G 308 WIN" and it doesn't even work in my M-14 (which has never failed to fire, extract or feed, ever). Fortunately, they had some ammo marked with "R G 93" and a cross in a circle, which I identified as Radway Green British military surplus of 1993. The stuff they were firing appeared to be slightly out of normal in the shoulder. The Radway Green works fine, as does a single round of my own Lithuanian milsurp.
Ultimately, I had to wonder at this new fantastic future that we're living in. When faced with a problem, if I can't find it with a Google search, I can engage a live pool of experts that are familiar with my issue (at least one of them), and use this expertise to come to a satisfactory resolution. Could I have done this 5 years ago? Probably not.
I love living in the future.
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