Mossberg barrel report.

Posted on June 17th, 2007 in Blogging by Justin

A while ago I mentioned that I finally got a a new shotgun barrel and I took that out to the range today.

It’s a 18.5 cylinder choked barrel for the Remington 870 made by Mossberg.

I threw it on my 870 Wingmaster today, brought along 20 rounds of Federal’s “Tactical” 00 Buck and set out for some informal testing. Paper plates at 15 yards.

Well, it works! Pattern spread wasn’t entirely uniform but it was about the size of my hand nicely spread out. My aim, however, was a different matter.

The barrel in question comes with rifle sights, of sorts. The rear sight can be flipped up or down, and this isn’t a configuration I’ve ever even heard of. I shot the first half of the shots with the rear sight down and using just the front post like a bead sight.

Bad idea. All shots landed low. Figures.

So, I flipped up the rear sight, found that my aim was much better while using that, and screwed it down so that it wouldn’t flip down anymore.

It’s probably a great home defense weapon in that configuration, just not for me. At least, not yet. I’m going to have to run a lot more ammo throug it before I can really trust myself with it.

Until then I’ll stick with what I know I can shoot well. The ‘ole Marlin 1894C loaded up with lead round nosed .38 specials.

It’s not optimal, but I can’t seem to miss with the darned thing.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Posted on June 17th, 2007 in Guns, Personal Life by Justin

Took my CZ-75B, the first pistol I ever bought, out to the range today.

After firing 15 rounds at a paper plate 7 yards away it became rather apparent that skills have gone to shit.

Five holes in the target, all very very low.

Ugh.

The easy one to fix was my sight picture. I was taught to use a 6 o’clock hold with semi-auto pistols but that does NOT mean the bottom of a paper plate at 7 yards. Fixed that one after a while.

My flinch was horrible. I ended up dry firing a number of times at the range to try and get rid of it. I ended up blowing through around 150 rounds 9mm in this session. I didn’t intend to, but it took that much time just to get me back to shooting within the limits of what I consider respectable.

What I should have done is packed it up after that first 15 rounds, headed back home, and brought a .22LR pistol out there.

It’s amazing how many times I forget that I should always haul a .22LR pistol with me when I head to the range. I never learn.