Took my sister to the OPSO range this past weekend... it was cold, around 37 degrees, and the winds were 15-25mph and extremely gusty. We were warmly greeted with "I bet you don't stay very long!"
We did stay quite a while, though! She had recently purchased a CZ-75 (P-07 Duty) and had been looking forward to some more range time with me. I introduced her to shooting several weeks ago with my Buckmark and XD-9, and encouraged her to rent and try as many different models as she could before she bought, and I think she did great by getting the CZ. I love it, there's not a thing about it I don't like. It feels great and shoots very smoothly.
While I had brought about 5 stacks of different kinds of targets, as soon as I saw the range had plates, I screamed "PLATES!" and we pretty much just shot plates. Plates are awesome. They react, you get that satisfying "ding", and it amuses me to no end. It's either hit or miss, too; those 15-yard plates are like little bullseyes, and the 25-yard ones are like little teeny tiny bullseyes! After a few shots we were giving the plates hell.
On my first trip out with my 1911 I didn't shoot very well, but on this trip I was on FIRE with it. I ended up putting about 200 rounds through it on those plates, and it performed flawlessly. I recently got 2 of the Chip McCormick 10-rounders, and they performed flawlessly also. I was able to shoot the CZ well also, but when I tried my XD I was terribly inaccurate with it. I realized that the XD sights are set up for a 6 O'clock sighting, where the point of aim is right above the front sight, and the 1911 and CZ are set up for an "On Target" sighting, where the front sight covers the target. After running both I think I like the 1911 and CZ way better.
We also shot the Uberti 1873 .357, which continues to surprise me and make me happy every time I shoot it. Although it only delivers 6 single-action shots, I can count on those shots going where I want them to go. I think of Lethal Weapon - Danny Glover cracks his neck and focuses for that one perfect shot - this is that gun. It just doesn't miss, unless of course you're in 15-25 mph winds and it's gusting so hard that when you extend your arms you almost get blown over. (Hey, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)
The range also has a nice 50-yard rimfire station, and you can of course set targets up at varying distance up to the 50 yards. My sister popped off a few rounds here while I went over to the rifle area and started setting up the Remington 700. Normally I would have PLENTY of target pics - but we shot PLATES!! Fortunately on the rifle range I did get to put up some paper.
We were shooting .223 out of my Rem 700 (which I got here on BS!
) This is one sweet shooter - it's had a professional trigger job, and to me activating this trigger is less of a "pull" and more of a "decision". It's just wonderful. Anyway, this was my sister's first time shooting a rifle EVER, so that was fun, as I always enjoy helping a new shooter get into this great activity.
OK now remember those winds were horrible!! Here's my padiwan's best group of the day - not bad for a first time shooter at 100 yards with winds from a tornado movie:
She took about 3 minutes for each shot... I tried saying things like "the deer's gone now", etc., but it didn't help. Oh well, I am impressed with her focus!
Here's my best of the day. I'm not back where I was before my back surgery with either pistols OR rifles, but hey, it's not bad for an old man! DID I MENTION THE WIND???
Finished up the day by letting her run a mag through my Draco, which she just couldn't stop talking about the rest of the day. All in all I'd say this was an AWESOME day at the range! The range officers were fantastic, very personable, and the range was spotless and roomy. In addition to where we went, they also have a separate ARCHERY range, and a place for shooting skeet! I was really impressed with the place, had a great time, and will be back again.
Hope you enjoyed my range report!
Peace,
Swami
We did stay quite a while, though! She had recently purchased a CZ-75 (P-07 Duty) and had been looking forward to some more range time with me. I introduced her to shooting several weeks ago with my Buckmark and XD-9, and encouraged her to rent and try as many different models as she could before she bought, and I think she did great by getting the CZ. I love it, there's not a thing about it I don't like. It feels great and shoots very smoothly.
While I had brought about 5 stacks of different kinds of targets, as soon as I saw the range had plates, I screamed "PLATES!" and we pretty much just shot plates. Plates are awesome. They react, you get that satisfying "ding", and it amuses me to no end. It's either hit or miss, too; those 15-yard plates are like little bullseyes, and the 25-yard ones are like little teeny tiny bullseyes! After a few shots we were giving the plates hell.
On my first trip out with my 1911 I didn't shoot very well, but on this trip I was on FIRE with it. I ended up putting about 200 rounds through it on those plates, and it performed flawlessly. I recently got 2 of the Chip McCormick 10-rounders, and they performed flawlessly also. I was able to shoot the CZ well also, but when I tried my XD I was terribly inaccurate with it. I realized that the XD sights are set up for a 6 O'clock sighting, where the point of aim is right above the front sight, and the 1911 and CZ are set up for an "On Target" sighting, where the front sight covers the target. After running both I think I like the 1911 and CZ way better.
We also shot the Uberti 1873 .357, which continues to surprise me and make me happy every time I shoot it. Although it only delivers 6 single-action shots, I can count on those shots going where I want them to go. I think of Lethal Weapon - Danny Glover cracks his neck and focuses for that one perfect shot - this is that gun. It just doesn't miss, unless of course you're in 15-25 mph winds and it's gusting so hard that when you extend your arms you almost get blown over. (Hey, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)
The range also has a nice 50-yard rimfire station, and you can of course set targets up at varying distance up to the 50 yards. My sister popped off a few rounds here while I went over to the rifle area and started setting up the Remington 700. Normally I would have PLENTY of target pics - but we shot PLATES!! Fortunately on the rifle range I did get to put up some paper.
We were shooting .223 out of my Rem 700 (which I got here on BS!
) This is one sweet shooter - it's had a professional trigger job, and to me activating this trigger is less of a "pull" and more of a "decision". It's just wonderful. Anyway, this was my sister's first time shooting a rifle EVER, so that was fun, as I always enjoy helping a new shooter get into this great activity.OK now remember those winds were horrible!! Here's my padiwan's best group of the day - not bad for a first time shooter at 100 yards with winds from a tornado movie:
She took about 3 minutes for each shot... I tried saying things like "the deer's gone now", etc., but it didn't help. Oh well, I am impressed with her focus!
Here's my best of the day. I'm not back where I was before my back surgery with either pistols OR rifles, but hey, it's not bad for an old man! DID I MENTION THE WIND???
Finished up the day by letting her run a mag through my Draco, which she just couldn't stop talking about the rest of the day. All in all I'd say this was an AWESOME day at the range! The range officers were fantastic, very personable, and the range was spotless and roomy. In addition to where we went, they also have a separate ARCHERY range, and a place for shooting skeet! I was really impressed with the place, had a great time, and will be back again.
Hope you enjoyed my range report!
Peace,
Swami
