Range Session – June 12, 2010
I decided to go out and shoot rimfires. Why? They’re loads of fun, recoil is practically nonexistant, and ammunition is cheap. Weapons used were a Marlin Model 60, and a Walther P22. I sent approximately 300 rounds downrange in a little over 90 minutes.
I did fire 7 rounds from my carry gun — Kel-Tec PF-9 — at the phone book, but the remainder of the shots were in the .22LR category. So it wasn’t a complete rimfire day, but pretty close. I like to put a few rounds through my carry gun every time I am at the range.
I did not employ any optics, just simple iron sights. The Marlin is outfitted with Tech Sights, but the Walther and Kel-Tec still maintain the original factory sights. In fact, the Marlin is the only firearm not in original factory condition, with the sights and the addition of a sling.
Distances from shooter to target were at 28 feet, 46 feet, and 70 feet — measured after the fact, at the end of the range session. I bounced back and forth between the three zones. The first set of shots at the two of diamonds, apple, and zucchini were at the 70 feet distance. The majority of the shooting was at the 28 and 46 feet distances. Wet phone book testing was performed at the 28 feet distance.
The broken Compaq made another appearance. Its final, as it has been put out to pasture.
An old iron cooking skillet proved to be a fun target. We no longer cooked with it because part of the coating started flaking away. Plus, it had begun to rust. Neither of those are something we want in our food. I did not realize it right away — only when inspecting targets — that the angle was just right to ricochet fragments at the playing card above. Pretty neat.
The metal piping — left over from fence repairs — really turned out much more enjoyable than my initial expectations. It had a distinctive ping when hit, and spun a bit as it was set over a stake firmly planted in the ground. None of the shots fired penetrated the piping, or even came close. But two bullets did get lodged enough to stick.
Top Shot (Episode Two) aired the following evening. I found it in interesting that for the competitive shooting event for the episode involved shooting, from a distance of 25 feet, through tubes ranging from 4″ to 1.5″ in diameter. The metal piping that I shot at measured 1 5/8″ (just 0.0625″ wider in diameter than the smallest of the tubes in the competitive shooting event). At distances of 28 and 46 feet, I fired at them with both the Marlin and the Walther. The Marlin was definitely easier to consistently hit the piping — I may have had one miss. The Walther was a bit more of a challenge, but I did have an above 80% hit rate. Not too bad in my book.
Ammunition utilized was the Winchester 555 bulk pack, a 36 grain copper plated hollow point with 1,280 fps muzzle velocity. I am really pleased with this offering from Winchester. Typically, .22LR ammunition is known to be dirty, and prone to duds. I did not find this to be the case. The Winchester 555 bulk pack fired cleanly, accurately, and reliably. I only had one round out of approximately 300 that did not function. To be specific, it did not want to feed properly in the Marlin. Other than that issue, the ammunition was flawless and went right where I aimed it.
Next time, I’ll do a better job at noting the distances for each set of shots fired in the future. Perhaps a note card visible in the video frame to list the distance from shooter to target? The difference in report between the firearms is enough to tell them apart. I generally fired 15 rounds from the Marlin, then two 10 round magazines through the Walther before going back to the Marlin again. There was no editing or post-processing to the range session video. I did try to stop while reloading, but did not do it every time — so there are some gaps where there isn’t really much going on. I’m open to suggestions…
Since I joined ranks of the retired this year……..trying to get some of mine before they take it all. I go almost every weekday to the indoor range I belong too. Always a good outing and keeps me in practice. lots of 22 LR daily and some carry gun also.
Nice Larry. Wish I had the luxury of getting out to the range more often. I’d like to have enough land to go shooting in my backyard anytime I want.