So after the buying...
And the ammo shopping...
I finally got around to going to Noel Paquet Shooting Range today near St-George, Quebec with my new M305. I had brought along my best friend to bring him into the fold and teach him how to shoot (and to split the ga$), my .22 Savage 64F rifle, my father's Parker&Hale .303 rifle and of course my M30, which i have named Mathilda.
I sat my buddy with my .22, told him the basic, the safety rules (which were already covered 3 times on the ride over), range rules and operating of the rifle. Within 10 minutes he was putting em all in the middle of the target at 125 yards. I sat the box of 525 rounds next to him and got to business.
I took out my father's .303 which i personally had not shot in around 20 years. Since this is was going my backup gun in case anything happened with my m305, i needed it to work.
It didn't.
After 4 rounds, the scope wiggled itself off the scope mount. That gun probably has less then 50 rounds shot since the 70s. I took the rifle in the main office and reattached the scope, fastening it tight on the scope mount. After going back to the range and 4 more rounds later, same thing.
The gun kicks like a mule and the scope rings look like they have rust so my guess is, it's going to need new scope rings and someway to make sure the mount is solid. I put the gun away in the case and moved on to Mathilda.
Once i took it out of the case, everyone looked at me like i was carrying a unicorn. A quick look around and i saw everyone had bolt action rifles, .308, 7mm, 260, 270...
Just me, Mathilda and my 4 boxes of ammo.
As soon as the first round went, i was surprised at how fast it actually cycled and how... fluid? I don't wanna say smooth because it still surprised me. After shooting just to get the feel, i started dialing in the iron sights and walking my shots.
Firing 2 rounds, going to check the spotting scope, adjusting, rinse/repeat.
95% of my shots were on paper at 125 yards. As i tweaked, i got the elevations just perfect but the windage was not budging. I brought the gun once again to get a screw driver and loosened up the bolt on the right side. The owner came over to help and... fiddle with the elevation. All my work was to be redone and i was down to 1 box of ammo.
I managed to get my shots within 4-5 inches of the middle but all of my shots were consistent enough as i fired every 2 rounds
So the precision is good, accuracy needs work.
Now, i am by no means a master marksman. I've always been an iron sights person and not a scope person. Lining up the back sight and the front sight, getting a nice picture and aligning everything with the target, thats how i like. I will get a scope for it, but i'm hoping to get one where the iron sights are still useable.
So far, i'm super happy with the rifle.
It functionned flawlessly.
Fed with no issues.
And that sound of releasing the bolt to chamber a round... i have not grinned that hard in a long time.
And the ammo shopping...
I finally got around to going to Noel Paquet Shooting Range today near St-George, Quebec with my new M305. I had brought along my best friend to bring him into the fold and teach him how to shoot (and to split the ga$), my .22 Savage 64F rifle, my father's Parker&Hale .303 rifle and of course my M30, which i have named Mathilda.
I sat my buddy with my .22, told him the basic, the safety rules (which were already covered 3 times on the ride over), range rules and operating of the rifle. Within 10 minutes he was putting em all in the middle of the target at 125 yards. I sat the box of 525 rounds next to him and got to business.
I took out my father's .303 which i personally had not shot in around 20 years. Since this is was going my backup gun in case anything happened with my m305, i needed it to work.
It didn't.
After 4 rounds, the scope wiggled itself off the scope mount. That gun probably has less then 50 rounds shot since the 70s. I took the rifle in the main office and reattached the scope, fastening it tight on the scope mount. After going back to the range and 4 more rounds later, same thing.
The gun kicks like a mule and the scope rings look like they have rust so my guess is, it's going to need new scope rings and someway to make sure the mount is solid. I put the gun away in the case and moved on to Mathilda.Once i took it out of the case, everyone looked at me like i was carrying a unicorn. A quick look around and i saw everyone had bolt action rifles, .308, 7mm, 260, 270...
Just me, Mathilda and my 4 boxes of ammo.
As soon as the first round went, i was surprised at how fast it actually cycled and how... fluid? I don't wanna say smooth because it still surprised me. After shooting just to get the feel, i started dialing in the iron sights and walking my shots.
Firing 2 rounds, going to check the spotting scope, adjusting, rinse/repeat.
95% of my shots were on paper at 125 yards. As i tweaked, i got the elevations just perfect but the windage was not budging. I brought the gun once again to get a screw driver and loosened up the bolt on the right side. The owner came over to help and... fiddle with the elevation. All my work was to be redone and i was down to 1 box of ammo.
I managed to get my shots within 4-5 inches of the middle but all of my shots were consistent enough as i fired every 2 rounds
So the precision is good, accuracy needs work.
Now, i am by no means a master marksman. I've always been an iron sights person and not a scope person. Lining up the back sight and the front sight, getting a nice picture and aligning everything with the target, thats how i like. I will get a scope for it, but i'm hoping to get one where the iron sights are still useable.
So far, i'm super happy with the rifle.
It functionned flawlessly.
Fed with no issues.
And that sound of releasing the bolt to chamber a round... i have not grinned that hard in a long time.
