Shooting….at last.

July 19th, 2008 Paul

So, after applying for membership in April, it finally came through and I got to go along to the club and start shooting. My previous experience of shooting has been in the TA shooting the SLR. This was a totally different experience.

I turned up and asked for the Range Officer. Explained my situation and asked to borrow a gun. The only club guns with telescopic sights were Ruger 10/22′s which fire supersonic ammunition to operate the breach. As they were only shooting on an indoor 25 yard range this was not possible. In the end I plumbed for a .22 prone rifle with iron sights. Much fancier iron sighs than I had ever seen before though. The rear sight was a small peep hole and the front sight consisted of a ring within a ring (like this) that was just bigger than the target image.

After the rifle came the equipment. I was expecting just a rifle and ammunition so this part was a big shock. First came the jacket. This was a cloth jacket with a non-slip padded shoulder patch and elbow patches. Apparently leather jackets are a lot better for support but I am a long way from the choice of jacket making a difference. Next was the glove, a thick leather glove for my left hand that had a non-slip palm. The main purpose of this is to prevent the rifle moving after shooting and also, as my hand was right up against the front sling loop, to prevent bruising after prolonged periods of shooting.

Next was a sling. Not a sling that goes from the front loop to the rear loop of the rifle but a sling that was strapped to my left upper arm. This would then clip to the front loop of the rifle when shooting. Then came a spotting scope on a stand so I could see how I did while waiting for others to finish. Finally came the ear defenders and a mat to lie on as this was prone shooting.

Now I was all set and ready to go. I will talk about the actual rifle later, but it was similar to this. After a instruction on how to hold the rifle I loaded the first round, took rough aim, touched the trigger and…ooopppsss…the trigger was so light I barely felt it and the shot was fired. Try again. A bit more care in touch ing the trigger and things turned out not so bad for a first go, so I’m told. Here are the first 5 rounds fired:

I think the one that isn’t in the black was the rogue first shot but it is probably the one closest to the bull.

The problem with this first group of five turns out to be the way I was using the sling. For this it came from my left upper arm down the outside and under my hand to the sling loop on the rifle. The error of my ways was pointed out and the sling was soon coming down over the top of my forearm and then back around the right side of it and under.

I only fired five groups of 5 rounds but the difference in the last group is fairly obvious as can be seen here in the photo to the right.

The penny in the left hand corner is there to show the scale of the target. It doesn’t seem to be a bad group. Granted, it was only 25 yards but the target isn’t exactly huge.

Next visit will be to use a rifle with telescopic lens as I have never shot with one of those before.

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The Boots

July 5th, 2008 Paul

So, we were up in Glasgow last weekend and we managed to buy me a pair of boots for the hunting trip. We didn’t mean to, at least I didn’t but the guy in Tiso was very helpful and I got a pair. We started off just going in and having a look for camping equipment and clothes. It started of that way at least, it took Sarah about 10 minutes to be in the changing room trying on fleeces and buying one. I think she then felt guilty so I was hustled upstairs to look at boots. We had a quick look round and I homed in on a pair of Hi-Tec’s that were fully waterproof and looked good. Unfortunately the salesman didn’t seem too impressed with them.  As he got them out and started to check that they fit it was obvious that he know what he was talking about.  The Hi-Tec’s were very comfortable but the tread on the sole wasn’t particularly good. As the guy was asking what kind of walking we would be doing it dawned on us that no-one knew what the terrain in Northern Canada would be like other than it wouldn’t have many trails, if any at all. What we ended up with were a pair of Brasher Towa GTX boots that are waterproof, have a good deep sole, proper heal to dig in when walking down hill and were more than we were going to spend. That is what happens though when the sales person is nice, friendly and knows what they are talking about. If only shops in London could understand the impact good customer service has.

Here are the boots:

Posted in Clothing, Glasgow, Hunting, Uncategorized | No Comments »