Well, I spent 3+ hours at the range this afternoon; didn't get done everything I wanted to, but I had a great time nonetheless. Went to my local sportsman's association range and got an end position on the 100-yard benchrest range; one other shooter there, who was deeply engrossed in something involving precision ballistics, judging by his equipment and activities - he made about one shot every 8 - 10 minutes.
The disappointment bit was:
a) starting to set up the chronograph, only to find I'd left the tripod at home, and
b) becoming fed up with the cheesy plastic "multi-mount" tripod which came with an otherwise quite nice spotting scope.
However, I put those obstacles aside and got to the business at hand - preliminary sighting-in of a receiver peep sight on a Winchester Model 94 and the scope on my Henry single-shot in .357 Maximum (recently returned from Henry with a new trigger design).
The '94 peep sight tells me that I need a new eyeglass prescription... (I'm going to get a extra pair made for distance only next time around, I think.) It's a sweet rifle - smooth action, nice trigger, and feels & handles just right. With a .096" peep aperture I can get a good field of view - not quite "ghost ring" size, but very useful. I'm now considering a fiber-optic front sight to go with the peep rear, as trying to line up a fuzzy bead/post with the target is inexact at best. Overall, though, I was reminded that lever guns are FUN!!!
The .357 Maximum Henry single-shot didn't get as much use as I'd intended, due to the lack of the chronograph; I did have 50 rounds of a "known-safe default" load (a specific amount of 4227 that I can put under any 158 - 180 grain bullet) which I made up for initial sighting-in purposes. I got the scope pretty well sighted in; it's a vintage Bushnell which is continuously adjustable - no click stops - and I still don't know how far the distance between hashmarks translates to @ 100 yards! With this (definitely) non-optimized load, I was still able to get inside 4" consistently. Once I find a good load, I'll fine-tune the point of aim to suit; I'll be starting from scratch, as the heavy trigger made finding an inherently accurate load almost impossible.
The new trigger on the Henry is nothing short of astounding! The old design was heavy (8+ pounds), and not exactly smooth - a common reaction of trying to shoot was "is the safety on?" (it doesn't have one...) The new redesigned trigger is a joy to use - I can now focus on other things which need improvement.
Overall, it was a nice relaxing afternoon of "settle in, even breathing, hold, squeeze" - repeat as desired, with occasional 200-yard strolls. Even had a big jug of iced tea and peanut butter cookies to snack on... (I think I'll be taking some weekday range days soon - have a lot of "use it or lose it" vacation days coming due! )
Range report
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