Farm Shoot II AAR

[shooter521]

Today, troy_mp, -ski-, and his friend David S. went down to do some shooting at Troy's family's farm in southern Indiana. Also with us was ski's 10-year-old son, John, anxious for his first firearms outing (he'd only had dry-fire and airgun practice at home until today).

Weather: Perfect. Cool in the morning, sunny and low 70s all day, light breeze.

Guns: Yeah, we brought some.

Plan: Short-range basic rifle stuff in the morning, focusing on getting John up to speed with his Henry lever-action .22, -ski- sighting in his Savage .22, and Troy spending some quality time with his new Rifle Dynamics AK.

Handguns after lunch, to include introducing John to the Ruger 22/45 MkII on steel and paper targets, and the 4 grownups working on the drawstroke and running the love-to-hate-it Dot Torture drill.

After that, back up to 350 yards for some long-range riflery on steel, and finish out the day shooting some clays with the shotguns.

Highlights:
Today included a number of firsts for young John. First time out with his own rifle, first time shooting a handgun, first time shooting an AR-15, first time shooting at long range, and first time shooting aerial targets. He was a very safe shooter, had already learned some good fundamentals from his Dad, and took instruction well. As a result, he was making good hits right off the bat with the .22 rifle and pistol at close range, then floored us all by hitting his first two shots on steel (Bobcat Steel 66% IPSC target) at 350 yards with my Recon Carbine with 1-4x optic, and his first clay bird with the single-shot .410!

I was glad for the opportunity to get my Recon Carbine out to long range, and found making multiple hits on steel (66% IPSC and 5" knock-over plates) at 350 yards to be quite gratifying. Less so was making a single hit with the iron-sighted AK-74 at the same distance (only took me 29 rounds, LOL).

Other memorable moments included Troy busting 9 out of 10 birds in a row with the single-shot .410 and making hits on steel with his 7.62 AK equipped with XS Big Dot sights (you know, the ones that are "worthless" at anything but in-your-face distance?), and David shooting the washer off one side of the hanging steel target with his 8mm Mauser (the accompanying bolt and nut were left intact; I dare him to try and do it again on purpose!)

Much fun was had by all. Pics tomorrow; I'm beat.

 

[Cru]

I know you are posting tomorrow. I'm just impatient.

 

[shooter521]

Is it tomorrow yet? No? Oh well. Here are a few pics:

-ski- gets Dot Tortured

troy_mp on the AK

350 yards is a long damn way away. Bobcat Steel 66% IPSC target circled in red. If my math is right, this is the equivalent of shooting a full-size IPSC target at 469 yards.

-ski- gives the Recon Carbine a go. Red arrow indicates target. 4x magnification helps, but those targets are still awfully small!

David on the 8mm Mauser, -ski- on the Recon

Camo pattern needs a little more brown this year.

"Yeah, like I blend."

More later!

 

[IndyMonkey]

This is a great looking rifle.

 

[Cru]

That looks like a LOT of fun!

 

[Bigum1969]

Looks like a good time was had by all.

I can't hit the side of a barn from 50 yards with iron sights.

 

[troy_mp]

It was indeed a great day. As to "highlights" I would be remiss if I didn't note Mark's superlative instruction for each of the rest of us, especially young John.

Getting young folks off on the right foot re: the awesome responsibility related to firearms while still maintaining the fun is often a fine and difficult line to walk. The smile on John's face paired with his obvious improvement on the targets throughout the day told me that Mark worked that tightrope like a pro.

Equally impressive were Mark's results by his own hand on the Dot Torture drill. He quite obviously practices what he preaches. And as someone who really wants to develop that skill set myself I'm very appreciative of his patience, encouragement and instruction.

As Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper said in his "Principles of Personal Defense", "You are no more armed because you are wearing a pistol than you are a musician because you own a guitar." Point being we must all get quality instruction and recent, relevant and realistic practice if we hope to become genuine practitioners. Thanks to Mark for his hand in that.

I also want to note with abiding appreciation -ski-, David and -ski-'s son John. Getting the right mix of people for such an outing makes the difference between a so-so, at times even unsettling, experience and one of genuine camaraderie and learning. These two gatherings have definitely been of the 'genuine camaraderie and learning' variety.

Their enthusiasm, good-natured ribbing, attention to safety and effort to improve made this day one for the books. And one we hope to repeat in the coming months and years ahead.

 

[shooter521]

Moar pics:

John getting to work with the Recon Carbine

Getting the basics of the Kalashnikov from Troy

A family that AKs together, stays together.

John's Henry

Close range rifle work

And the resulting target

Hittin' that steel

Pistol basics

 

[lovemachine]

I'm jealous! With all that instructions, he's already a better shot than I am!

 

[fastwally]

This is a great looking rifle.

What rifle, I don't see anything.

 

[OEF5]

I'm jealous as well for an outing like this! Next time invite the rest of us Shooter!!

 

[-ski-]

First off, a big thank you to Mark and Troy for this day. It was amazing, thoroughly enjoyable. John had looked forward to this day for many weeks and was more excited about it than I can accurately describe. What a great first exposure to live fire for him. He was able to use more kinds of firearms in more kinds of drills than I would have imagined.

His favorite part of the day was the long-range rifle drills. He kept talking about how he hit the target on his first two attempts (much better than his father). I think he has rapidly fallen for firearms. Just wait till he starts bugging me to get an AR-15 or an AK.

I really appreciated Mark and Troy’s taking him under their wing and showing him pointers and giving recommendations. It was obvious both took a real interest in him. Mark’s instruction in particular was expert, firm, patient, and gentle – very well done. John responded really well to it. As a father, I am always looking for men who can teach my sons new things in new ways. I also appreciate how those guys (and David, too) modeled range safety and good spirit.

I had a particular blast with the dot-torture drills. Very informative. Every time I go on one of these farm shoots, I become less inexperienced. It was also amazing to see Troy nail nine of ten clays on the skeet with my Savage .410. Now I know that my (much lower) percentage is due to the shooter and not the shotgun. So there’s room for improvement for me.

I agree wholeheartedly with Troy that we are blessed to have a good mix in our group. I really recommend shooting like this. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day in many ways. The weather couldn't have been better (just ask Mark). Muchas gracias to Mark also for the after action report and the pics. Thanks again, Troy, Mark and David. I am looking forward to the next one.

-ski-