172
by lurker
took poly to the range yesterday. for some reason i ALWAYS get lost on the way there or back, take a wrong turn, then have to figure out how to get where i need to be. this trip was no different except every time i'd take a wrong turn i'd say to myself "this doesn't look right" and turn around. i'm getting better, maybe another year or two...
having swapped both front and rear sights, i had to start over on sighting in. i've currently got a nice little group around the bull's eye at 50 yards, got tired, will take it out to 100 next time. since i took the rear sight apart entirely, that was a bit fiddly getting it to adjust properly; the garand-style sight is fussy like that, designed to be set once then left alone.
also took the model 1873 trapdoor single-shot. this is the gun that custer's men would have had, except in the carbine. the sights are awful, it being a struggle to even see the tiny rear notch. at 100 yards it's still easily 6" high, which is still minute-of-man, but the later sights on the krag and 1917 and likely the '03 (don't own one) are much, much better. frustrating as it is, i should probably take it out again and figure it out. this was metallic cartridge, but still black powder back in the day.
up at the pistol bench, the 1911 was predictably, even monotonously good. i suppose that means i've gotten good with it, 8 of 8 from 7 yards, rapid fire. either hand. anything further is questionable self-defense, anything closer and the target gets bigger and bigger... i think next i need to try snap-shots, unaimed at waist or chest-level. new challenges.
got home completely exhausted after 3 hours at the benches and an hour drive each way. life is good. need to buy more ammo, or get my reloading bench operational. slept the rest of the afternoon.
oh, yeah, and the leather cheek-piece? i hardly noticed it was on the rifle. it's been on there for about a week, maybe this weekend i'll pull it off, soap it up, and let it take a closer set again. i think it's going to work.
i think this rifle is almost done, and it's been worth the trouble/learning experience.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?