I'd been trying to get a buddy of mine to go shoot clays for over a year now and we can never quite get our schedules aligned.
I'm been suffering from some serious cabin fever later, and they were calling for above zero temps today so I took the day off work and went by myself.
First time ever, completely alone, and using a Champion clay thrower for the very first time. Let's just say it was quite the learning experience.
When I was 2 shots shy of finishing my 2nd box of target load, and not having hit a single clay up to that point, I realized I was using my extra full turkey choke. Ruffled through my bag and found an IC choke. Put that in there and was shocked and happy to see the first hit. It was actually pretty fun because it just clipped it enough to change its trajectory, and I shot a second time and got it again. Then I had to dip into my magnum turkey loads, but they are not so fun to shoot, especially when you are also trying to pull a string for the thrower. Only did a couple of shots with those before the shotgun got jammed up, then fiddling with that I ran out of time. At least I was hitting something by the end, would have been a bit demoralizing to finish the day without hitting a single one. I chock some of that up to not having a partner... already being the first time, the added challenge of lifting the shotgun and getting it in the right spot before the clay is out of sight adds to the complexity.
I was using a Turkish Hunt Group 12 gauge shotgun. This thing has given me trouble in the past, and continues to be a bit finicky. I had two misfires, or at least I thought they were misfires but looking at the cartridge afterwards I saw no signs of the pin hitting, so I think they were chambered crooked. It jammed a couple of times, but the last magnum round actually got stuck in the chamber and I could not open the action anymore. I had to remove the barrel and smack it a few times with my palm to get it open, then pry out the old shell with whatever I had laying around. Seems every time I take this out I encounter some issue... all in all it was fun though, but concerning about the reliability of it out in the field.
I ate lunch in my car, then took my spanking new Savage 64F semi-automatic to the rifle range and shot that for about an hour and a half.
This is a rifle I purchased online and when I got it the front sight was completely out of whack. No chance it moved in transit, it took a lot of heavy blows to move it to the center. I used a laser bore sight to align it as best I could at home, and was pleased to see it was shooting really straight. It shoots very high though, even with the adjustment fully pushed in, I had to adjust how I was aligning the sights in a strange way. Still, pretty accurate... considering I can barely see the target with my fuzzy eyes at 50 yards, I was grouping pretty well, maybe 3-5 inches most of the time.
By the time I left, sun was shining, was +4 degrees, absolutely beautiful day, considering the -30 degree days we've been having lately.
Sure breaks up the winter getting a chance to get out there and shoot some. Love the smell of gun powder.
Now to go clean 'em up...
I'm been suffering from some serious cabin fever later, and they were calling for above zero temps today so I took the day off work and went by myself.
First time ever, completely alone, and using a Champion clay thrower for the very first time. Let's just say it was quite the learning experience.
When I was 2 shots shy of finishing my 2nd box of target load, and not having hit a single clay up to that point, I realized I was using my extra full turkey choke. Ruffled through my bag and found an IC choke. Put that in there and was shocked and happy to see the first hit. It was actually pretty fun because it just clipped it enough to change its trajectory, and I shot a second time and got it again. Then I had to dip into my magnum turkey loads, but they are not so fun to shoot, especially when you are also trying to pull a string for the thrower. Only did a couple of shots with those before the shotgun got jammed up, then fiddling with that I ran out of time. At least I was hitting something by the end, would have been a bit demoralizing to finish the day without hitting a single one. I chock some of that up to not having a partner... already being the first time, the added challenge of lifting the shotgun and getting it in the right spot before the clay is out of sight adds to the complexity.
I was using a Turkish Hunt Group 12 gauge shotgun. This thing has given me trouble in the past, and continues to be a bit finicky. I had two misfires, or at least I thought they were misfires but looking at the cartridge afterwards I saw no signs of the pin hitting, so I think they were chambered crooked. It jammed a couple of times, but the last magnum round actually got stuck in the chamber and I could not open the action anymore. I had to remove the barrel and smack it a few times with my palm to get it open, then pry out the old shell with whatever I had laying around. Seems every time I take this out I encounter some issue... all in all it was fun though, but concerning about the reliability of it out in the field.
I ate lunch in my car, then took my spanking new Savage 64F semi-automatic to the rifle range and shot that for about an hour and a half.
This is a rifle I purchased online and when I got it the front sight was completely out of whack. No chance it moved in transit, it took a lot of heavy blows to move it to the center. I used a laser bore sight to align it as best I could at home, and was pleased to see it was shooting really straight. It shoots very high though, even with the adjustment fully pushed in, I had to adjust how I was aligning the sights in a strange way. Still, pretty accurate... considering I can barely see the target with my fuzzy eyes at 50 yards, I was grouping pretty well, maybe 3-5 inches most of the time.
By the time I left, sun was shining, was +4 degrees, absolutely beautiful day, considering the -30 degree days we've been having lately.
Sure breaks up the winter getting a chance to get out there and shoot some. Love the smell of gun powder.
Now to go clean 'em up...
