MacTech
Member
I really wanted the title to be "A day with Dad at the range", but Dad admits that his shooting times are behind him, sad really, I really would love to take him to the range, I'd even buy him a membership, he used to love shooting....
anyway....
Unofficially, my firearms collection has just grown today, I was talking with my father last night, talking about target shooting and guns and such, I offered to take him up to the rod and gun club where I'm a member, whenever he'd like to go shooting, we'll go, my treat
Dad's in his early 80's and basically said that his shooting days were behind him, but he thanked me for the offer, we then got to talking about the guns in his display rack, I mentioned in passing that I'd like to take a couple out to the range to see how they shot, if he wouldn't mind
He said I was welcome to use any of them, just ask before I take them out, he basically gave me free-reign in his rifle cabinet
So, today, when I went to the range, I took my Ruger 10/22 to test some different ammo, and a couple of Dad's rifles....
the old Ithaca model 49 single-shot .22 that I had first learned to shoot on, and which carried some fond memories with it and;
a Winchester 1892 lever-action in 44-40, Dad's deer rifle
The 1892 was the first "big bore" rifle I have shot, and this thing was a sweet shooter, nice solid *crack* of the bullet firing and an audible *thwump* as the bullet hit the target stand at 50 yards out, the recoil was actually rather mild, a gentle push back, just like a .45 ACP (makes sense, as they're both forty-something calibers), ironically, I felt more recoil shooting from the sighting in stand than i did when i was free-holding it in a Weaver stance, the recoil was less noticeable with me shouldering the gun
boy does this rifle shoot flat, nice flat trajectory, and even though this was my first time shooting it, I was grouping at about 1 to 1.2 inches, not bad firing a rifle I had never shot before from a standing stance, I absolutely *love* this gun, I only ran 25 rounds out of the 50 round box this time, because I wanted to take it out again next week and finish up the box
I then went over to the short-distance pistol/.22 rifle range with the 10/22 and the Ithaca 49, I first sighted in some new rounds through the Ruger to see how accurate they were, I was grouping 1/4" groups as is my typical performance with the Ruger, I then set it aside and shouldered the Ithaca, some 25+ years later, the thing still shoots true, a little tack-driver this, I loved the lever-action, and it's tendency to eject empties in a graceful curve over my head, this little single-shot was just as fun as it was when I was growing up
After I was done shooting, I drove home, cleaned up both rifles, boresnaked the bore, ran some Hoppe's #9 over them, gave the actions a single drop of oil to smooth them out, dried them, and then gave them a good wipedown with a silicone cloth, they actually were cleaner than when I took them out of the rack, clean, polished, and looking good, they had been sitting in the display case, unused for at least 10 years, in fact, the Ithaca had some very light rust pitting on the outside of the barrel from the last time it was handled, I made sure to clean that up as best I could
I then returned them to the display case, and went to talk to Dad about how much I loved both guns, and that I was willing to buy them off him, seeing as he no longer used them
his response was "naah, why buy them when you can just use them whenever you want, just let me know when you take them out"
So, my gun arsenal has "unofficially" grown by the following firearms;
Ithaca 49 single-shot .22
Winchester 1892 lever-action 44-40
Stevens .22 Short falling block single-shot Target model, this is an amazing old gun, it has the thickest, heaviest barrel I have *EVER* seen, it makes the competition bull-barrels for 10/22's seem thin by comparison, i'd imagine this gun must be almost silent when fired, especially if CCI CB Shorts work in it, if they did, the gun would be whisper quiet, heck, CCI CB rounds are dead-silent in my NEF .22 Single, all you hear is the click of the hammer dropping and the sound of the bullet smacking the target, a sort of "Click-Thump", and it's barrel isn't even half as thick as the Stevens
NEF 12-gauge single shot
I've always wanted a good hunting rifle, but never knew what caliber to get, now my problem is solved, boy are those .44-40's one hefty cartridge, they dwarf the .45 ACP
From Left to Right;
.22 Short, Aprilla Colibri primer round, CB Long, .22LR, 9mm, .45ACP, .44-40
anyway....
Unofficially, my firearms collection has just grown today, I was talking with my father last night, talking about target shooting and guns and such, I offered to take him up to the rod and gun club where I'm a member, whenever he'd like to go shooting, we'll go, my treat
Dad's in his early 80's and basically said that his shooting days were behind him, but he thanked me for the offer, we then got to talking about the guns in his display rack, I mentioned in passing that I'd like to take a couple out to the range to see how they shot, if he wouldn't mind
He said I was welcome to use any of them, just ask before I take them out, he basically gave me free-reign in his rifle cabinet
So, today, when I went to the range, I took my Ruger 10/22 to test some different ammo, and a couple of Dad's rifles....
the old Ithaca model 49 single-shot .22 that I had first learned to shoot on, and which carried some fond memories with it and;
a Winchester 1892 lever-action in 44-40, Dad's deer rifle
The 1892 was the first "big bore" rifle I have shot, and this thing was a sweet shooter, nice solid *crack* of the bullet firing and an audible *thwump* as the bullet hit the target stand at 50 yards out, the recoil was actually rather mild, a gentle push back, just like a .45 ACP (makes sense, as they're both forty-something calibers), ironically, I felt more recoil shooting from the sighting in stand than i did when i was free-holding it in a Weaver stance, the recoil was less noticeable with me shouldering the gun
boy does this rifle shoot flat, nice flat trajectory, and even though this was my first time shooting it, I was grouping at about 1 to 1.2 inches, not bad firing a rifle I had never shot before from a standing stance, I absolutely *love* this gun, I only ran 25 rounds out of the 50 round box this time, because I wanted to take it out again next week and finish up the box
I then went over to the short-distance pistol/.22 rifle range with the 10/22 and the Ithaca 49, I first sighted in some new rounds through the Ruger to see how accurate they were, I was grouping 1/4" groups as is my typical performance with the Ruger, I then set it aside and shouldered the Ithaca, some 25+ years later, the thing still shoots true, a little tack-driver this, I loved the lever-action, and it's tendency to eject empties in a graceful curve over my head, this little single-shot was just as fun as it was when I was growing up
After I was done shooting, I drove home, cleaned up both rifles, boresnaked the bore, ran some Hoppe's #9 over them, gave the actions a single drop of oil to smooth them out, dried them, and then gave them a good wipedown with a silicone cloth, they actually were cleaner than when I took them out of the rack, clean, polished, and looking good, they had been sitting in the display case, unused for at least 10 years, in fact, the Ithaca had some very light rust pitting on the outside of the barrel from the last time it was handled, I made sure to clean that up as best I could
I then returned them to the display case, and went to talk to Dad about how much I loved both guns, and that I was willing to buy them off him, seeing as he no longer used them
his response was "naah, why buy them when you can just use them whenever you want, just let me know when you take them out"
So, my gun arsenal has "unofficially" grown by the following firearms;
Ithaca 49 single-shot .22
Winchester 1892 lever-action 44-40
Stevens .22 Short falling block single-shot Target model, this is an amazing old gun, it has the thickest, heaviest barrel I have *EVER* seen, it makes the competition bull-barrels for 10/22's seem thin by comparison, i'd imagine this gun must be almost silent when fired, especially if CCI CB Shorts work in it, if they did, the gun would be whisper quiet, heck, CCI CB rounds are dead-silent in my NEF .22 Single, all you hear is the click of the hammer dropping and the sound of the bullet smacking the target, a sort of "Click-Thump", and it's barrel isn't even half as thick as the Stevens
NEF 12-gauge single shot
I've always wanted a good hunting rifle, but never knew what caliber to get, now my problem is solved, boy are those .44-40's one hefty cartridge, they dwarf the .45 ACP
From Left to Right;
.22 Short, Aprilla Colibri primer round, CB Long, .22LR, 9mm, .45ACP, .44-40
