Holy smokes

The Eotech riser I was waiting on arrived today (used via Arfcom) and I popped it on MrsZ's rifle. Eotech on top, and off to the range. Unfortunately, the range bag I had with me only had a few boxes of TulAmmo 55gr ... not known for precision.

Not one to be deterred, I put a piece of paper out at 25yd and put three rounds in a magazine. From a front rest, they were 6" left and a hair low. Dialed around the knobs and shot three more. A hair left and good elevation. A few more clicks to the right, and I was knocking the center out of the target (final five shots were into a space the size of my thumbnail).

My range has a steel plate out at 150yd. I put the center dot right on it - and the shot went just over. A little hold-under rewarded me with a solid THWACK on the second shot.

Just for giggles, I put the dot on the 250yd plate and shot the remaining eight rounds in the magazine... Seven good THWACKs.

I loaded up one more magazine of ten (the last ten I had), set up the camera to record, and shot all ten at the 250yd plate. Nine for ten, and the miss was a called miss - my shoulder twitched as I broke the shot. I did film it, but the truth is ... it's boring. It's a fuzzy/grainy shot (max digital zoom) of a white square, interspersed with BOOM(dust)THWACK.

Maybe next time I'll put the camera out near the plate to see what it looks like.

I'll just reiterate, though: crappy ammo, 16" M4-profile chrome-lined barrel, non-floated handguards, unmagnified Eotech 512, front rest only: 9/10 on an 18" steel at 250yd. I am not displeased with these results AT ALL.

Unforunately, this sight is on the DF rifle ... I have to find the scratch to put one on my own!

In all seriousness, I've never really spent time behind decent glass - the Nikons I have are my best scopes (until now). It's worth it.

Snow camo: done!

I scrubbed the whole thing with green Scotchbrite, then hit it with Brakleen (including the wood) and laid down a base coat: 6cc of white with a few drops of tactical grey to take the edge off. Once that had dried for a day I sprayed on the "brush" using the grey; just barely opened the needle on the brush and nearly 30psi working pressure.

Initially I was going to cut stencils for the camo, but decided that'd be WAY too much cutting and detail work, so I tried freehanding it. It's not real pretty - definitely a learning curve to that - but I think it'll work fine. I do wish I had a bit of dark green and even some red or orange, but the rabbits don't care.

You can see the vague guidelines I was using for pattern in the background here. I took a picture I had of some berry bushes under the snow and highlighted the branches and printed that out to get the basic shapes. A few evergreen branches to add some depth, and most of the white areas got a very thin overspray of gray.

 Assembled final product. I intentionally didn't coat the hinge and buttplate; no particular reason beyond "I didn't want to".

I can absolutely understand why pros go to double-action airbrushes now. The level of control that allows is needed for the detail work.

Ever see Spaceballs?

Well, this is kinda like that. Roberta, I thought of you.

Next Project

I've got a fair bit of DuraCoat left over from doing MrsZ's rifle. My intention is to put a snow camo pattern on a single-shot 20ga I've had kicking around, but I'm trying to decide how best to do it:
- white base coat and then stencil on twigs
- grey base coat and then paint around twigs

I'll keep you posted.

The "want" list...

Interesting to see how my taste in guns has evolved over time. Initially it was purely function and price, but now it's become a question of not only aesthetics, but niche roles, and desires.

The very first gun I got was a Remington 597 - their answer to the 10/22. It was cheap and I tortured a whole lot of tin cans with it.

I started hunting and bought a Remington 870, because it could do essentially everything I needed - and was relatively inexpensive.

Now I've got bolts and semis, pumps and autos, round-guns and bottom-feeders... My definition of "affordable" has moved up quite a bit but I still make the buffalo squeal.

And the corollary to that is this: what I want in a gun - in fact, what I will spend my money on - has become far more particular. I've filled most of the "function" holes in the safe. I just put a good optic on MrsZ's rifle - even used, twice as much as I've ever spent on glass.

There's not a whole lot left that I feel a burning urge to get. I'd like a bolt-action .223, and a bolt-action .308. Another auto shotgun (the Remington VersaMax has my attention). And something ... bigger. A .338LapMag or similar. Why? Because FUCK YOU, that's why.

There aren't any handguns screaming my name, although the Ithaca 1911 remains the grail. I've got a vague desire for an SP101 snub in .327FM, but ... vague.

Edit to add: While I was banging this out, Oleg went and put up some amazing photos (duh) of a Barrett 98B... MSRP? $6300.