Yesterday I made my yearly pilgrimage to Martinsburg, WV. The second week of August is the time when freestone, yellow peaches are in season, and I wouldn't want to miss that. I stopped at Orr's Farm & Orchard and ordered seven bushels to go. After the attendant just about soiled himself, I told him to take his time, and I would be back in a couple of hours.
After a short drive up the highway, I visited the Tango Down range:
http://www.tangodownrange.com in Hedgeville, WV. This is another part of the yearly pilgrimage, and also the range where George taught the Crusader shotgun class in 2013.
The range was a bit disappointing. I have been there before, and know what to expect, so the fact that it was dead on a Saturday afternoon was disturbing. I was the only shooter for most of my visit. Also, the new range master is less attentive and less user-friendly than Abe (from DNA Guns) used to be. It also seems that when Abe left, so did their gun rental program.
Regardless, I accomplished what I came to do.
Shooting observations:
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Benelli M2: I couldn't very well pattern a shotgun on a hot range, but I did get to try out the new Mesa Tactical Urbino stock. It is a vast improvement over the factory stock, both in reduced LOP, and slightly reduced recoil due to the Limbsaver recoil pad. To be sure, being a Benelli, it still kicks like a sunofabich, but the shorter LOP allowed me to use better form while shooting and get back on target faster. All rounds fired were full-power buckshot, and while I was not going to waste my Federal Premium by testing it on non-pattern shooting, there were no malfunctions with what I did shoot.
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Romanian AK: I got it zeroed at 100. Not much to say there. While I was shooting at steel, and did not zero it on paper, I figured if I can get 20 rounds in a row (20rd mags) to ring the steel, it was dialed-in enough for me. Only 100 rounds total fired within a 15 minute period, (had to load mags in the middle) but the rifle got
hot. Not to the point where the wood handguards were in danger of igniting, but still...
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Glock 23: Boring. Average. I still get reasonably consistent hits on the 50 yard steel, but not enough that I am happy with for my carry gun. At least the sights are regulated POA/POI for my ammo, so I know that the inconsistency is me and my trigger squeeze, not anything with the gun.
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Beretta 92: Niiice.
First time out with this weapon. I was doing 'okay' with 147gr rounds, and thought 'fine, whatever, just another gun.' Then I switched to 115's. Damn. This Italian beauty prefers light food to heavy pasta. With 115gr ammo, the only shots that
didn't hit the steel were ones that I knew would miss when the shot broke. I was impressed. That was in S/A mode. In D/A, I was getting about 75% on steel with either bullet weight. Not great, but still the first time out with that gun. We have a future together, but I can see where extra time needs to be invested in trigger familiarization and transitioning.
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Kareen BHP: I was not doing well with it. I know it was 'me,' but it was still disappointing. Opposite of the Beretta, the Kareen did better with 147's. As in, aim with a 6'oclock hold at the bottom of the 50 yard steel, (where all of the pistol shooting was taking place) and I could be semi-consistent with getting hits. I hate 6'oclock holds, btw...
With 115's... Aim way low, for where the knees of the steel silhouette should be, and I could get a few on target. A few. I have yet to have good luck with the way Novak rear sights are regulated.
As an aside, since the purpose of the trip was to determine which ammo the guns liked, I brought some five-year-old 124gr factory reloads. Uh, no. Just no. Neither gun was hitting the target, no matter what I tried, so I am inclined to blame 'this' on the ammo being crap.
All in all, a fun day. The range trip does break up the monotony of the two four-hour drives to the orchard and back. The peaches are awesome.
Kaso
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