Weekend Car Spotting and a little Gunlopnik

"Snuze: Needs another Swede" (markg)
07/20/2015 at 09:14 • Filed to: None

This weekend in the wild I saw a Shelby Cobra, NSX, C7 Z06, and blowing down the road together an F355 and a Testarossa. So much goodness.

I also took a small bore rifle coaching course. I’ve had the opportunity presented to me to start helping out with the junior team at my local shooting club, so this was a chance to get some formal training. I’ve never shot competitively nor have I ever done any coaching or mentoring so this was eye opening and very helpful. I also gained some familiarity with these bad boys:

Anschutz 1903 target rifle.

DISCUSSION (19)

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/20/2015 at 09:21

I love target guns. They look so alien. People would see my target pistol out for cleaning and go “...is that a gun ?”

OPPOsaurus WRX > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/20/2015 at 09:24

I saw quite a few Cobras over the past week. The seemed unusually common up in NH. I also saw a chameleon paint Toyota FR-S (dude actually had a Toyota badge)

pip bip - choose Corrour > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/20/2015 at 09:35

saw a Mazda Cosmo on my way out of Melbourne , Sunday.

that was a genuine surprise , white in colour , no pics as driving.

StingrayJake > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
07/20/2015 at 10:28

Clearly they’ve never seen a blaster rifle before.

DogonCrook > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/20/2015 at 10:46

Why do they always stain the wood vibrant colors? I don’t get it, I rarely ever see natural stains on target rifles and pistols in small calibers. It bugs me. I do not approve. Get off my lawn.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
07/20/2015 at 12:29

Yeah, I love the look of these things. EVERYTHING is adjustable. Its amazing.

Also, what kind of target pistol do you have?

Snuze: Needs another Swede > OPPOsaurus WRX
07/20/2015 at 12:30

That’s awesome, I love Cobras. There’s a guy who lives near me who has an original one - I’m sure it’s worth a gazillion dollars but he does drive it on weekends. The one I saw on the highway was probably a kit, but it still looked good and sounded great.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > pip bip - choose Corrour
07/20/2015 at 12:31

Nice, Cosmos are cool. I don’t think we ever got those in the states though :(

Snuze: Needs another Swede > DogonCrook
07/20/2015 at 12:52

I think there’s a few reasons - more than likely the biggest one is that these guns look so alien and futuristic, why not? Putting natural wood on it and blueing wouldn’t make it look a whole lot more normal, so go-for-broke crazy!

Also, I think that it helps sell guns - both to kids and parents. Obviously there’s a lot of adults that shoot in smallbore but guns will last 20+ years with care, so I think the big target market is youth entering the sport. Kids want stuff the looks cool and flashy, just like athletes in any other sport. Are there any beige NASCAR Camrys? At the course I was at this weekend a lot of the people were previous smallbore or air rifle competitors, so they brought their guns along for when we practices positioning and developing natural point of aim. Every one was customized with stickers, paint jobs, etc. Shooting is one of the sports where you’re allowed to be an individual, you don’t have to wear a uniform, so why not have fun with it.

And on the parent side, I think it helps when dealing with parents who aren’t “gun” people. I think somehow it becomes more acceptable when the gun doesn’t look like a gun. You’d be surprised the number of parents that, when I tell them I’m involved in youth shooting, freak out - like I’m out there teaching children how to shoot full auto M-16s with grenade launchers and laser target designators (in case the kids need to call in an airstrike). But you calm them down, show them some pictures or videos of Olympic 3P and suddenly they’re like “Oh, wow, this is what you do? This is a recognized Olympic sport? That’s not so bad then.”

DogonCrook > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/20/2015 at 14:21

Lol I was just being grumpy, in competitions I totally get it. But it would be an impulse buy for me, and at gun shows or shops I’ve never seen one that I would get. I’d never compete, I’m just Texan.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/20/2015 at 14:23

It was an old russian air pistol. Competitive air pistol is a thing in Kansas and I managed to get rather good at it. I was rubbish at skeet, though.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > DogonCrook
07/20/2015 at 14:27

Haha, it’s fine. I don’t compete either, never have, and probably won’t ever buy a fancy small bore gun. They are obscenely pricey and incredibly specialized. I’ll stick to my 10/22. Maybe I’m a Texan in spirit, because I just have a lot of guns and like to shoot stuff.

I actually wanted to start shooting Service Rifle this year but literally every match or clinic I’ve tried to go to this has been canceled due to weather. So I’m going to start coaching Junior smallbore and hopefully kick of my own “career” somewhere in there.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
07/20/2015 at 14:31

That’s really awesome! There are lots of schools that have competitive shooting teams... just not in Maryland where I grew up. I’m not sure about pistols, but a lot of colleges do air rifle and smallbore, it’s an NCAA sanctioned sport. My brother-in-law is the coach for the team I’m assisting and he shot competitively in college.

Shotguns are more my thing - I love love love sporting clays, and trap and skeet are both fun too. I’ve never done it on a league, though, just competing amongst friends.

DogonCrook > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/20/2015 at 14:52

Yeah my next gun will be with an eye towards 750 to 1,000yd. with a .308. It’s really the only caliber I don’t have. I really dig 6mm. It’s a fast and flat trajectory bullet, and it doesn’t bruise my shoulder if I shoot all day. Kinda light so past 6 or 700 you would have to be good or lucky,

Snuze: Needs another Swede > DogonCrook
07/20/2015 at 17:08

I still don’t have a .308 but I’m working on an AR10 build at the moment. Soon...

I picked up a Howa 1500 in 300 Win Mag. It’s a boss of a rifle but the Hogue stock is actually pretty good at absorbing recoil. I snatched it up on a GB auction for a steal ($440 with a scope and a box of ammo, NIB) with the intention of setting up a 1,000 yard gun. The next morning, when I was sober, I remembered that the nearest place to shoot that’s >100 yards is like 3 hours away. This is why you don’t browse GB when you’ve been drinking. The scope is a cheapie, Nikko-Sterling, but worked great the first few times I used it. But now the zero wanders and won’t hold. I’ll be moving up to something better soon. Still haven’t gotten it out past 1000 yards though.

A round I’m interested in, and you may be too, is 6.5mm Creedmoor. It’s basically a 308 case necked down to 6.5mm Howa just released a 1500 SA in it, and several other companies are chambering for it. You can get some really good, high BC bullets in 6.5mm, and supposedly it replicates the ballistics of the 300WM cartridge with a lot less recoil, and is a capable 1000 yard round. If I ever find some extra cash I may get one.

DogonCrook > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/20/2015 at 18:49

Yeah that 6.5 is on the list. Currently looking at going with the dpms Hunter 2 and getting a barrel made for it for the 1,000 yd AR. Everyone here uses Larue, but it’s a wait list and paying $2000 over is pretty common. If you ever see one that is standard price snatch it up.

Still undecided on optics but I’ll probably go budget first as well. I’m done hunting with a big scope and big caliber in Texas. It’s completely unnecessary and does way too much damage. 30-06 is a great round and very predictable and studied, but it’s not fun putting a box or two of shells through it when I’m target shooting or varmit hunting on a farm. Figure this time I’ll save for a good long range scope and stick to iron sights for hunting,should be accurate enough out to 150 which is about the furthest shot needed here. Took me a long way I me to convince me an AR 10 could hit at a thousand yards consistently. But I watched my buddy teach I guy in a day to hit with one consistently on a $1500 gun and I was sold lol.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > DogonCrook
07/21/2015 at 08:20

Wow! That DPMS/LaRue combo should do the trick, but that’s a steep price for entry. Have you looked at building one? If you look around, there’s a lot of AR stuff out there relatively cheap. I got my upper and lower for $240, picked up a fully adjustable Tacmod stock for $150. As far as barrels I’m looking at a BWS 20”, they are supposedly good quality and made on Green Mountain blanks. I need to do more research, but the barrel will probably be the last thing I buy.

I’m strongly considering the Primary Arms 4-14x44 FFP scope. It seems to have developed a reputation as a fantastic value. I also really like the idea of the matched reticle and turrets, although it’s Mil/Mil - I wish they offered an MOA/MOA but I’m sure I can learn mils. I think I’m going to throw that on my Howa in a DNZ 20 MOA mount and give it a shot. If it doesn’t perform I may move it down to one of my other rifles and step up to a Nikon Monarch.

DogonCrook > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/21/2015 at 12:50

Oh I’m not going larue, they a great guns but I can’t justify it. I’m gonna have a barrel made locally but the dpms can hit at a 1,000 stock. I haven’t actually decided but that’s what I’ll probably get. Their uppers are what I would go with anyways, and the only part that is complained about is the trigger but I know a couple of gunsmiths so I’m not sweating that. I think the record at a thousand yards was with 175 grain and the land size was increased in his barrel. I think it was a 1/14 twist, don’t remember the length. That seems overstabilized to me but I’m thinking it may be more predictable. With that in mind that’s why I’m leaning towards a stock gun, I want to shoot with it for awhile till I make decision. Plus if I’m not competing I can hunt with the stock barrel. I’m basically going for a cheap does everything build, and by everything I mean 1,000 yds and be rugged enough to hog and deer hunt. My family has a farm so small critters at distance is another must. I do have a gun for everything at this point, but I’m looking for everything in one now really. Definitely open to suggestions though, I’ve only recently decided I’m going to build an AR-10 style. I do like shooting them but had assumed they just weren’t as accurate without spending tons of money, and that’s definitely no longer the case.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > DogonCrook
07/21/2015 at 14:58

Oh, ok, I misunderstood your previous post about buying LaRue. But buying a DPMS and slowly upgrading sounds like a great way to go. As you said, you can use it for what it is while you decide on a barrel, optics etc. You mentioned hunting with iron sights earlier, so you could probably throw a set of BUIS on it and put your scope on a QD mount. Then you’ve got the glass for when you go target shooting, and take it off and flip up the irons for hunting.

The AR, both 10 and 15, are an amazing family of platforms that are so versatile and robust. There are a few caliber choices but I’d probably stick with the .308. It’s 1000 yard capable and has probably the best bullet selection of any round ever (you can get .30 bullets from 110 gr. up to I think 250 gr. now - it’s nuts!). I don’t know much about hog hunting, but I’ve heard they are tough critters, but I would think one or more 150-168 gr. hunting bullets (Sierra Gamekings, Hornady American Whitetails, etc.) would dump enough energy to do the trick. And being semi-auto, grab some 20rd PMags and you’ve got plenty for follow up shots. The gas op of the AR platform helps soak up some recoil compared to bolt guns so you’ve got that going for you. And it looks like the Hunter G2 comes with a Hogue grip and Magpul stock - Limbsaver makes a pad specific for Magpul stocks - throw that on and you’ll be good to shoot all day.

As I’ve read more and more, 1000 yard plus shooting is usually more dependent on the shooters abilities, and picking good glass and ammo. There’s an article out there where the writing goes to a long range school and they have him and the other students making 1000 yard shots on steel with S&W M&P-10’s after about a day of training, and those don’t even use free-floated barrels. So if you just want to “ring the gong” at 1k, the stock DPMS should be plenty capable.

Now if you want to print groups at 1,000 yards, we need to get some science all up in here. It’s still very doable but you are probably going to have to start loading you own ammo at this point and things get more complicated.