San Francisquito Bill
New member
Well, I went to the range today with a friend, and he brought along his AR-15. Talk about an eye-opening experience!
Some background:
I have been into handgun shooting my whole life, and until recently, my longarm experience was limited to boy scout .22's, and a couple of long guns that I used to tide me over until I reached 21 and could buy handguns. I am by no means an accomplished rifle shooter, and as evidence of this, I recently took my Rossi .44 Carbine and shot it at fifty yards. Well, I'm pretty shure that some of the rounds hit the target, but there were more "Bangs" than there were holes, and my groups looked like I was shooting buckshot out of a VERY poorly choked shotgun!
Well, I decided that I needed some practice, and I invested in a gun that I felt would be a good beginners tool, yet good enough that I wouldn't need to upgrade for a while. So I purchased a Savage 10FP and mounted a Tasco SS10x42 scope. Well, this is a great gun and I can indeed hit the target--Even at 100 yards! I took a couple pot shots at 300yd plates, and they went "ding", so I felt pretty good. However, turning back to the Rossi, It was another case of "Buckshot fever"!
Well, today I suprised myself! I met my friend at Angeles Shooting Range in southern California, and he brought his AR and a Mossberg 590, and I brought some of my handguns. We are both attending a tactical training seminar on Tuesday that involves rifle, pistol, and shotgun, so we figured that some practice was in order.
Well, we shot the rifle first, and I thought that I'd be really impatient to go shoot the pistoles, but my friend pointed out a steel silhouette (Sp?) at 250 yards. My first shot missed low, but I proceeded to make solid hits on my next ten rounds! (My eleventh round blew a primer and the case stuck in the chamber. My friend shot it a little more to make sure everything was OK, but I think it spooked him, so we didn't shoot it anymore.--AR's are not easy to replace here in CA!)
Anyway, I couldn't believe that I could hit consistently out that far with open sights! I'm sure that this is no big thing for many of you, but my eyes have been opened! I haven't had that much fun in a while, and I can't wait to get out there again! I'm even thinking of picking up a few more rifles!
Lastly, the sad moral to this story. I spent several years as a handgun enthusiast. Though I never swayed on the right of the people to own guns like AR's and AK's, etc. I never thought I needed one. Even knowing that the dreaded SB-23 law was going into effect on Jan. 1 2000, I thought to myself; "I don't need an AR-15--I'll shoot this (Insert handgun brand here) much more often. Well, guess what? Those handguns are still on the shelves, and if I want an AR type rifle, I have to break the law. (Not really an option) Heck, I was planning on buying a Saiga .308 and they pulled the guns off the shelves because our attorney general decided that they were part of the AK "series" and therefore banned as of August 17th. I have gone to the best thing available, and a Springfield Scout rifle has my name on it (literally), but now I feel like a fool for not thinking more seriously about that gun rights area.
I don't really know why I'm saying all of this except to give a little bit of legitimacy to those thoughts in the back of your head when you see a nice gun behind the counter and say "Gee, I like that, and it may not be around forever!" Well here I am. I saw. I waited. I lost out.
Not to be a total downer, as I did have a great time today, and who knows, maybe a move to a more idiocy impaired state is in my future.
So does anyone else have an interesting story of how they got into rifle shooting?
Some background:
I have been into handgun shooting my whole life, and until recently, my longarm experience was limited to boy scout .22's, and a couple of long guns that I used to tide me over until I reached 21 and could buy handguns. I am by no means an accomplished rifle shooter, and as evidence of this, I recently took my Rossi .44 Carbine and shot it at fifty yards. Well, I'm pretty shure that some of the rounds hit the target, but there were more "Bangs" than there were holes, and my groups looked like I was shooting buckshot out of a VERY poorly choked shotgun!
Well, I decided that I needed some practice, and I invested in a gun that I felt would be a good beginners tool, yet good enough that I wouldn't need to upgrade for a while. So I purchased a Savage 10FP and mounted a Tasco SS10x42 scope. Well, this is a great gun and I can indeed hit the target--Even at 100 yards! I took a couple pot shots at 300yd plates, and they went "ding", so I felt pretty good. However, turning back to the Rossi, It was another case of "Buckshot fever"!
Well, today I suprised myself! I met my friend at Angeles Shooting Range in southern California, and he brought his AR and a Mossberg 590, and I brought some of my handguns. We are both attending a tactical training seminar on Tuesday that involves rifle, pistol, and shotgun, so we figured that some practice was in order.
Well, we shot the rifle first, and I thought that I'd be really impatient to go shoot the pistoles, but my friend pointed out a steel silhouette (Sp?) at 250 yards. My first shot missed low, but I proceeded to make solid hits on my next ten rounds! (My eleventh round blew a primer and the case stuck in the chamber. My friend shot it a little more to make sure everything was OK, but I think it spooked him, so we didn't shoot it anymore.--AR's are not easy to replace here in CA!)
Anyway, I couldn't believe that I could hit consistently out that far with open sights! I'm sure that this is no big thing for many of you, but my eyes have been opened! I haven't had that much fun in a while, and I can't wait to get out there again! I'm even thinking of picking up a few more rifles!
Lastly, the sad moral to this story. I spent several years as a handgun enthusiast. Though I never swayed on the right of the people to own guns like AR's and AK's, etc. I never thought I needed one. Even knowing that the dreaded SB-23 law was going into effect on Jan. 1 2000, I thought to myself; "I don't need an AR-15--I'll shoot this (Insert handgun brand here) much more often. Well, guess what? Those handguns are still on the shelves, and if I want an AR type rifle, I have to break the law. (Not really an option) Heck, I was planning on buying a Saiga .308 and they pulled the guns off the shelves because our attorney general decided that they were part of the AK "series" and therefore banned as of August 17th. I have gone to the best thing available, and a Springfield Scout rifle has my name on it (literally), but now I feel like a fool for not thinking more seriously about that gun rights area.
I don't really know why I'm saying all of this except to give a little bit of legitimacy to those thoughts in the back of your head when you see a nice gun behind the counter and say "Gee, I like that, and it may not be around forever!" Well here I am. I saw. I waited. I lost out.
Not to be a total downer, as I did have a great time today, and who knows, maybe a move to a more idiocy impaired state is in my future.
So does anyone else have an interesting story of how they got into rifle shooting?
