Range Day Yesterday

I always find myself with plenty of range work needed, so yesterday I took a few things over there. A Taurus PT1911 that was shooting left - I had to adjust the rear sight at home - put it in the vise and drifted it with a framing hammer and a piece of wood. I got lucky - it turned out I couldn't have placed the sight better if I knew what I was doing! Right down the center. And, it had been quite awhile since I fired a Carbine, so the Inland was dragged over there too for a little workout. I just took a box of 50 PMC that I've had for years and one mag. Naturally the Carbine was clean and oiled, as it always is. Function was perfect and a little fiddling with the rear sight had me on line at 100. You forget how great it is to shoot a Carbine. For those who have not fired one, get out and do it. I guarantee a big smile. After shooting mostly ARs and AKs lately, it just feels so simple and natural to fire the Carbine - no wonder the G.I.s loved it. I finished up with the big business of the day, sighting in a new EOTech red dot sight on my Colt 6721 AR15. I probably fired 150 rounds on that too, for a total of about 250 on the day. It was just one of those good range days when everything goes your way. Just don't add the ammo cost - it's chilling. Replacement value on the 150 U.S. LC M855 today is about $100. The Carbine ammo is about $25 and the .45ACP also about $25. That's $150, folks. But you have to do this if you maintain weapons in 'ready' condition, knowing you can count on function and accuracy.

Yea, Know what you mean on the price... going to the range is like going to a big name amusement park. It ain't the simple admission ticket (range fees) that will kill you, its the cost of the food, bottled water, rides and other consessions (in this case, bullets, targets and cleaning costs) that really run up the bill!!!

Its already a bit hot here to be at the range late in the day. It is going to be 104 on Saturday, so outdoor shooting will be uncomfortable.

Sounds like you had fun!

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Originally Posted by Tired Retired

Its already a bit hot here to be at the range late in the day. It is going to be 104 on Saturday, so outdoor shooting will be uncomfortable.

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I saw the forecast and couldn't believe it Ed. (Gotta love Texas weather!)
It's hard to imaging that we had a 12" snowstorm recently.

Sounds like a GREAT day Inland.

Amen on the carbine being great to shoot. I have an IO 7.62x39 AK, and it is a serious weapon (US made barrel by Mossberg and shoots 2 MOA with iron sight and Barnaul 125 grn SP Russian ammo), but I prefer shooting my Inland M1 carbine much more. I got lucky with my Rock Island 1911A1. It was dead on out of the box with less than a 3 lb trigger!

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Originally Posted by Tired Retired

Yea, Know what you mean on the price... going to the range is like going to a big name amusement park. It ain't the simple admission ticket (range fees) that will kill you, its the cost of the food, bottled water, rides and other consessions (in this case, bullets, targets and cleaning costs) that really run up the bill!!!

Its already a bit hot here to be at the range late in the day. It is going to be 104 on Saturday, so outdoor shooting will be uncomfortable.

Sounds like you had fun!

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Hi Ed,

if the weather is too hot for you, lets make a change! I´ll come over to Texas for the hot weather and you can go shooting over here. It is a bit colder and please dont forget a canoe. We had over 100litres rain per m² over night!

Regards

Gunner

Gunner, I love Germany. The weather is nice, the food is GREAT and the people are friendly (ok, the women are VERY friendly). Just like we have here in Texas. You are always welcome to come visit any time you want (you bring the beer!), but I will pass on exchanging places. Harlan and I may be complaining about the weather, but its only because we both have to get out in the heat and mow the grass around the oil wells and tennis courts in the back yard. Got to love Texas...


Seriously, the heat is a real killer here. Makes me want to go join an indoor range, but you can not shoot carbines in the in door ranges here. The outdoor ranges around here do not open up until 9 am. So by the time you get signed in, truck unloaded and set up on a spot, its already starting to get hot.

It would probably be a great business model to open an outdoor range at 6 am here during the summer months. Thinking about that, it would allow people to go shoot early then head to work (kinda like an early morning workout).

Sorry about the babbling... Doctor says its withdrawal symptoms due my condition... Seems he wants to diagnosis me as being addicted to smell of burning gunpowder....

It is located on a ranch in Marin County, some of the most valuable land on the planet. But it is remote and only about 5 miles from the Pacific. There is a lot of wind and it is oriented N/S so the lighting isn't great either, but $10 a day is a bargain. Our weather is like Southern France, not too cold, not too hot, moderate rain, usually dry summers. There are redwoods here, 300' tall trees. It is a wonderful place to live, but it is in California. I had the good fortune of anticipating this ammo situation and bought up quantities and reloading stuff when it was cheap. I can reload .45s for about $3-4 a box, same for .38, .223 for about 15 cents each and '06 for maybe 20 cents each. Carbine is much cheaper. So I usually shoot reloads for everything. When I get carried away with accuracy, the Sierras are 26 cents each plus powder so they are about 50 cents. The secret is to keep looking. I bought 800 hand cast, sized and lubed 45 bullets for $20 at the flea market.

Dave, sounds like Novato.

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Originally Posted by Tired Retired

It would probably be a great business model to open an outdoor range at 6 am here during the summer months. Thinking about that, it would allow people to go shoot early then head to work (kinda like an early morning workout).

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Actually, that sounds like a pretty good idea Ed!

To all of the above; I've been to Germany in the early 70's, And the people, food, and beer are great. As for the weather at the range, I'm lucky as it hasn't got real hot in Va. yet. As for going to the range [100 yds], It's in the back part of my woods, covered and surounded with trees. :cheers:

It is now closed. The only places I know of are the Circle S out in Two Rock, by the CC Station and Martinez. There is still an active skeet and trap club on Sundays at the CC Staion, but the tree huggers are closing in on it because of lead. We lost the great Cotati Gun Club years ago when the owner of the property canceled the lease and closed it. All over abatement issues. This place is beautiful country, but the environmentalists have just ruined it for everyone. I hate every fiber of these scumbags. A bunch of self centered fools who think that they are so important that everything they do hurts the earth. Their solution is to use our money to buy wilderness and then close it to any use. They fail to see that California is about 2/3 pristine wilderness with more timber than the rest of the country combined. We should load them all on barges, tow them out to sea, light them on fire and leave.

Dave,

I'm not far away. I go to United Sportsmen, Inc.

It is the closest place to my house in Antioch.

I hope I have moved away before they close all our shooting facilities.

Jim

I owned and lived on 20 acres surrounded by. Thounds of acres of BLM land in the Sierras in Kalifornia until I moved to the Midwest 3yrs ago. There were people that tried to get shooting firearms any where in the county ( most usfs and blm land) illegal. The sheriffs dept was given land to build a training and firearms facility by BLM but tree buggers got it blocked.