I had my first experience shooting rifles yesterday, and had a great time! My friend and I went to an outdoor range here in Wisconsin, and yep, it was a little cold. But we dressed warm and had no problems staying that way.
My only rifle is a Mosin Nagant 91/30 that I hadn't had a chance to shoot yet. My friend brought a pair of rifles, also, and we were good to go! I wanted to start light, so I began with my buddy's AR-15. The recoil wasn't too bad, and the shooting was fun. It also seemed pretty easy to clean when we were done. From there, I graduated to his .308 M1A. Talk about a gorgeous rifle! I loved it, with its walnut stock. More recoil, but still not too bad.
Then it was time to step up to the Mosin. Keep in mind I hadn't even shot a rifle until yesterday. And everything we shot was with iron sights. The recoil on the Mosin wasn't too bad, but it definitely had more kick than the .308. I found what ammo I could locally, given the short time I had, and found some Brown Bear 185gr FMJ, and I definitely needed some padding when shooting these rounds. The couple rounds I shot without padding definitely left some minor bruises. So I used a folded towel for a recoil pad.
Here's the ammo. Not too bad for $6.99 a box. But I've heard lacquered ammo is bad, as can be steel casings. So I'll try looking for brass rounds for my next outing. No FTE, FTF, etc. All rounds shot just fine. Although sometimes it didn't want to eject too well. (Bolt was hard to open up.) Is that due to the lacquered finish on the rounds..?
It definitely had some punch to it. Even had a cracked casing.
We only shot at 100 yards for a couple hours, and didn't have a spotting scope, so the "groupings" were pretty loose, and I didn't have much chance to adjust for windage or elevation, considering I only had 60 shots. Shots were up and to the right (Shots you see near the center bullseye were actually for the lower-left bullseye, I'm pretty sure.) But the rounds seemed to be fairly close together (especially shooting with iron sights). Here's how things went:
Overall, I enjoyed the experience, and I'd love to go shooting some more. I'm very interested in the M1. It's definitely a fine rifle. I can't wait to go again!
My only rifle is a Mosin Nagant 91/30 that I hadn't had a chance to shoot yet. My friend brought a pair of rifles, also, and we were good to go! I wanted to start light, so I began with my buddy's AR-15. The recoil wasn't too bad, and the shooting was fun. It also seemed pretty easy to clean when we were done. From there, I graduated to his .308 M1A. Talk about a gorgeous rifle! I loved it, with its walnut stock. More recoil, but still not too bad.
Then it was time to step up to the Mosin. Keep in mind I hadn't even shot a rifle until yesterday. And everything we shot was with iron sights. The recoil on the Mosin wasn't too bad, but it definitely had more kick than the .308. I found what ammo I could locally, given the short time I had, and found some Brown Bear 185gr FMJ, and I definitely needed some padding when shooting these rounds. The couple rounds I shot without padding definitely left some minor bruises. So I used a folded towel for a recoil pad.
Here's the ammo. Not too bad for $6.99 a box. But I've heard lacquered ammo is bad, as can be steel casings. So I'll try looking for brass rounds for my next outing. No FTE, FTF, etc. All rounds shot just fine. Although sometimes it didn't want to eject too well. (Bolt was hard to open up.) Is that due to the lacquered finish on the rounds..?
It definitely had some punch to it. Even had a cracked casing.
We only shot at 100 yards for a couple hours, and didn't have a spotting scope, so the "groupings" were pretty loose, and I didn't have much chance to adjust for windage or elevation, considering I only had 60 shots. Shots were up and to the right (Shots you see near the center bullseye were actually for the lower-left bullseye, I'm pretty sure.) But the rounds seemed to be fairly close together (especially shooting with iron sights). Here's how things went:
Overall, I enjoyed the experience, and I'd love to go shooting some more. I'm very interested in the M1. It's definitely a fine rifle. I can't wait to go again!