I took my new toy out the range today to give it a try. It rained yesterday, so the field was muddy, but the sun was out and the temperature was pleasant with a nice light breeze to keep me cool. I set up at 25 yards and commenced to firing.
But right off the bat something seemed amiss. When I pulled the trigger I heard the bolt clack, but I didn't hear any retort from the bullet going off. I was worried that I had a misfire until I saw the spent cartridge next to my gun. This rifle is just silent! No need for a suppressor with it. I even took off my ear muffs for a couple of shots and all I could hear was the metallic clacking of the bolt sliding back and forth. It made for quite a surreal experience because I've never shot such a quiet gun before.
Continuing on I could see that my shots were coming in very low. This didn't really surprise me because it wasn't clear to me how I was supposed to align the sights. The rear sight was very low profile and I started lining that up with the base of the front sight to get my shots into the area I was aiming. Then, after about 30 shots I realized what I was doing wrong: the rear sight was in it's folded down position! After putting up the rear sight things made much more sense.
I shot about 100 rounds into my first target to get used to the gun, and then set up a second one for a slightly more serious test. Here's the second target.
First I shot five rounds at the lower right small target with the rifle resting on my range bag. It was hard to see the front sight against the black target, so my aim was not consistent from shot to shot, but it still made a 1 inch group. Next time I'm out I'll get a light colored target for more contrast with the sights and see if I can do better. From reading online, this gun should be able to do 1.5-2 moa out of the box,
Next I shot another 5 rounds off hand into the lower left target. I feel quite happy that I got all shots in the black, because I've never fired a rifle off hand before. I've thought about trying it with my other rifles, but I never did because they are much heavier than the 10/22. This rifle is easy to hold.
Finally, I put 50 shots into the large target, off hand. I tend to come up low and left, but I don't know if the sights are off, or I just need to practice more. I'm sure I need more practice, so I won't be fiddling with the sights just yet.
All in all it was a pleasant day!
First shots with a Ruger 10/22
1106+ recreational uses of firearms
1 defensive use
0 people injured
0 people killed
1 defensive use
0 people injured
0 people killed