...and a good bout of satisfaction. The fun was just being at the outdoor range and shooting. I did not even bother to set up targets especially after seeing the unsafe actions of two of the yahoos who were also present at the range but truth be told I did not intend to shoot at targets anyway. When I got there, all points were occupied by shooters and a cease fire was just commencing. It also started raining as soon as I set foot on the range proper. So, I took a seat at a picnic table under the roof of the bench area. Four or five shooters walked downrange to check and set targets. As they were downrange one of two shooters who remained at the benches was fiddling with the scope on his rifle - with the rifle pointed downrange. The bolt was open but I have no idea if there was ammo in the magazine or chamber. It was fairly concerning since no one should be handling firearms in any manner while others are downrange.
What was even more concerning, even a bit scary, was the guy at the next bench to the scope adjuster. This other guy was sitting at his bench loading his magazine. The magazine was internal and he was loading the rounds from the top. I have seen lots of stupid & dangerous things done at various ranges across the country in at least 13 different states but have to say that the most unsafe shooters & some of the worst range safety transgressions I have ever seen have taken place in Arkansas. It's really like some shooters here were taught by Billy Bob BoDinkus (familiarly called Uncle Bubba).
The lack of range safety at the particular range, where I shot yesterday, is astounding and that is probably an understatement. That's why I went there yesterday, it was a weekday and weekdays when I've been there have almost always resulted me in being there alone or maybe with one other shooter. Since last year or maybe the year before, if I got there and found anyone else shooting, I'd watch that shooter for awhile to see if he or she was being safe. If so, I'd stay, if not then I'd get my butt back into my car and head back home. Yesterday only those two seemed to me to be idiots. Since the mag loader left shortly after I saw him loading when others folks were downrange and since I was not going to go downrange (as I said above, I did not bother to set up any targets), I decided to stay. The scope adjuster had not done anything else I saw that was unsafe and everyone else seemed to have good range etiquette.
Well, after waiting about 20 minutes two guys left the range and I took a seat at one of the shooters' benches. First off, I shot a 12 gauge Remington 870 Express. I got that gun from my favorite gun getting place - a Hessney.com auction. When I got it goes to show why I sometimes refer to myself as THE Great Procrastinator. I had the high bid on it in the Hessney online auction of December 11, 2021 so it was exactly one month short of a year when fired it yesterday for the first time ever. Even though I only shot 5 rounds through it, it was fun. It was also quite satisfying because it functioned flawlessly.
Normally, back when I was not an arthritic & aged arms aficionado - when I was an agile, ardent & adroit arms aficionado - I would have shot at least 50 rounds through a new shotgun to check it out, maybe even 100. That did not stop even after I was diagnosed, in the 90's, with a partially torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder, I liked shooting an 870 12 gauge that much. Well, at least it did not stop for many years of ever increasingly intimacy with Arthur I. Tis. After that got really bad I dropped the round count, that I'd shoot through 12 gauge shotguns, down to 20 or less per range visit. Then as Arthur I. Tis became an even worse pain in the neck, shoulders, back, hips, knees and just about every other joint the round count went down to ten or less.
The funny thing is that when my right shoulder is bothering me, as it was yesterday, shooting an 870 almost always makes it feel better as if the recoil pushes something back into its proper place in my anatomy. Has not bothered me since then which is nice. Of course, the fix is only temporary. If I shoot a 12 gauge too much though, it makes it worse but taking only a few shots with one has the opposite effect. Maybe I should shoot them more often but then again I truly believe that shooting shotguns as much as I did when I had collateral duties as a firearms instructor/range officer and free ammo was the cause of the rotator cuff issue. Anyway, it was fun and satisfying shooting it.
After the 870, I shot my newly acquired and second Beretta 92FS Compact L, Type M, pistol. Shooting that one yesterday showed that even THE Great Procrastinator can sometimes do things without putting them off for what usually seems like way too long. I picked up the Beretta at my local FFL the day before yesterday. Shooting it was also fun & quite satisfying. It came with two OEM magazines and I have another three of them and one aftermarket mag that I already had for my first Beretta 92FS Compact L, Type M. It too functioned flawlessly. I guess I put about 100 rounds through it.
There was one more gun to shoot. That was my Charter Arms Pathfinder revolver in .22 WMR (.22 magnum). I had shot that one before and while it is fun to shoot, it is only fun when it actually fires. The thing was it did not always fire when the hammer dropped. So, I bought a new mainspring for it a couple months or so back, a heavy duty one, and I installed it a few days ago. It wound up that shooting that one yesterday was a bit of a bummer because the new main spring did not change anything. Back to examining it again I will be sooner or later as in whenever I find the time and the initiative to do it. I suppose I should really take a good look at the firing pin and at the transfer bar. Hopefully I will figure out the problem and then be able to find the part that will be the solution whenever I decide to get it done. I really like that particular model revolver and would hate to have to sell it as a parts gun.
Fun and mostly satisfying day at the range and no targets were needed because I was just shooting them to see if they functioned as they should. What was it Meatloaf said: "Two outta three ain't bad..."
Maybe two out of three isn't bad but I sure wish it had been three out of three!
All the best,
Glenn B
