I am happy to say I had a good day at the range today. I was very surprised with my shooting today with pistol and rifle (rifle especially).

 

1) I got to shoot my S&W 686+ I picked up a few weeks ago. Sweet shooter. I really like it.

 

2) Finally shooting my AR after more than a year.   I was making some great shots at 100 yards. Then we moved over to the 200 yard range that had an 8" plate hanging. First time I ever shot at steel. I love the sound of the bullet leaving the rifle and then hitting the steel. I did it with my friend's scoped .223 bolt action and my AR-15 with Aimpoint Pro. I loved "ringing the gong" and hearing the "ting" and seeing the steel plate swing back and forth. It put a smile on my face. I did not think I was going to hit the 8" plate with my AR and Aimpoint as I could barely see it at 200 yards. At one point I hit 4 out of 5 in a row (no bullshit. lol).

 

I tell you what, shooting at long distances and making constant hits gives me a whole another appreciation for what our American Snipers do.

 

I am also amazed at what hand loads can do vs. factory ammunition. My friend had his own hand loaded .223 for his bolt-action. His groups were tight. He did have some FTF's though; he wasn't able to fully close the bolt on a couple of rounds. I was shooting 55 grain 5.56x45 out of my AR and the groups were not too bad either.

 

3) Getting to shoot my friends' cousin's 1884 Springfield .45-70 (trap-door I think he called it) rifle. What a fun rifle to shoot.

 

So that was my day.

 

S.

I shot my AR for the first time yesterday also.    Did better than I expected to with the standard iron sights.

Our snipers shoot quite a bit further than 200 yds.  For what its worth, 200 yds is considered short range or zero distance in the black rifle platform ;-)

 

I love shooting steel too...

 

Eric

Yeah, we qualified out to 300 meters and were scored to 500 meters with iron sights. Once a month.