Made it to the range today, and took my Model 39.
Conditions:
Low 70s temp, and slight overcast. It was a beautiful day for mid winter.
It rained this morning, so things were a bit muddy on the range.
The wind was terrible. Calm, with gusts to 35 MPH. One minute it would be perfect, and the next would be terrible.
The rifle: 2002 vintage Marlin 39AS with DNZ Game Reaper scope mount and Leupold 3-9X40 modified at the factory for rimfire parallax.
Ammo: CCI MiniMag 40gr Round nose.
Dot: 3/4" stick on.
Distance: 25 yards
Pictures:
Thoughts:
Shooting is a perishable skill. I have done almost zero practice in the last 12 months, and I could clearly see it on my 50 yard target.
Yes, the wind is a viable excuse, but let's face it folks... I sucked today.
There were a couple of 50 yard groups where I failed to touch the dot at all. It was so bad I couldn't force myself to shoot a pic.
And even though I was shooting embarrassingly bad... I still had fun. I'm kicking myself now for sitting on my ammo all year and not shooting at all.
After all, what good is it to have ammo if I can't hit anything with it?
I've changed my mind about my strategy. I will make range trips. No, I'm not going to just burn up all my ammo, but I need to shoot SOME of it to keep my skills to an acceptable level.
Today I fired 150 rounds and it was well worth doing.
And I encourage each and every 39 clubber to do the same. The benefits far outweigh the costs.