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Today's range visit (12/26/12): lessons learned.

mwlabel

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Had insane amounts of fun today at the range. We were the only people there, except for a guy doing mag dumps through his m16 for like 30 minutes. I also had my own bay, as everybody else was doing other bullsh** together.

Lessons learned:
-Herter's ammo is 100% crap ammo. Less than half of them went bang.
-Shooting in sub-zero weather is tough. All my layers and how cold I was for the first hour made getting to my gun and mags incredibly slow. Also, the range was totally iced over... so maintaining a decent stance was tough. I was really tired by the time I left.
-All of my rifle manipulations need lots of work.
-The PPQ is fu**ing awesome. LOVE LOVE LOVE the gun. I also spent 30 mins at home afterwards messing with it in a Shaggy. I was putting my shirt in there and whatnot, trying to get it to "fire" while holstering (empty gun). Never succeeded. The only way I could do it is if I fire the gun myself while holstering.
-Not shooting a shotgun in a long time showed. I couldn't keep a good cheekweld. Also, screw full power slugs. My face hurt for a while afterwards.
-The 930 JM Pro is all sorts of wonderful. But I definitely need to have the feedgate welded and related work. Damn near tore my thumbnail off twice.
-I'm perfectly content with my 50 yrd zero on my T-1. Was considering switching to 100, and don't feel any need for that at this point. Also don't feel any need for a variable optic on this upper. I was significantly faster with mine than my buddy's 1-4.
-The Shield performed extremely well, but I plan on adding more texture to the grip. I shot it much better with gloves on than without them due to my hands locking on it.
-Couldn't keep my left thumb on the frame while shooting the PPQ. Not sure if that was from the cold, or the gun's recoil. I will test it indoors and find out.
-All of my Dark Star Gear made the day better thanks to it fitting my needs perfectly. May trim a little off my AIWB holster, but I will keep testing before I decide on that. I wasn't sure if the soft loops would like being on my Brokos belt, but it was perfect.
-Not initially a fan of the kydex tunnel on the Shaggy. I'll need to ask Tom if his soft loops will work on there. The more time I spend with it, the more I appreciate how it holds the holster to my body.
-If you practice mostly outdoors and want a timer, go with the Pocket Pro II rather than Pact Club Timer. Both with fresh batteries, my pro was insanely louder than the club. Several times, people missed the beep from the club, but never once with my pro.
-My Ares belt did a fantastic job in conjunction with the Brokos belt. Still can't recommend this belt enough.
-PRO EARS muffs do not hold up in the cold. I broke the band, for the second time, today. They are replacing it at no charge, and acknowledged that they often break in weather ~35 and below. Kinda frustrating.
-I need much better shooting glasses. My cheapos kept fogging up and falling off my face, especially when shooting the shotgun.

That's about all I can think of. Good learning day.

This was about half of what I brought with me:
 
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mdwest

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shooting in extreme weather sucks... but is AWESOME for figuring out what works, doesnt work, kinda works, etc.. its amazing what you figure out while trying to do drills in super cold, hot, sandy, wet, etc.. environments..

kudos to you for not sticking to an airconditioned, indoor, 25 yard range... like so many "shooters" do when the cold of the winter or heat of the summer set in..

sounds like you had a great time!
 

mwlabel

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shooting in extreme weather sucks... but is AWESOME for figuring out what works, doesnt work, kinda works, etc.. its amazing what you figure out while trying to do drills in super cold, hot, sandy, wet, etc.. environments..
You certainly learn A LOT when things just aren't going your way. Most specifically, I grew even more appreciation for carrying a gun AIWB. It was slow getting to it under 3 layers of winter gear, but it was next to impossible trying to get to a concealed gun on my strongside under the same clothing.

kudos to you for not sticking to an airconditioned, indoor, 25 yard range... like so many "shooters" do when the cold of the winter or heat of the summer set in..
Thank you sir. I enjoy the challenge.
 
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Don't you guys know that guns are the devil?????!?!?!?!???!?!?!??!?!?!!?!?!?!?!??

:devil::rifleaim::bangbang::assaultri:headroll:
 
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Digging your setups. Very modest and realistic

Do you suspect unseated primers on the herters or just hard? Is your faith in the subject firearm shaken?
 
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Digging your setups. Very modest and realistic

Do you suspect unseated primers on the herters or just hard? Is your faith in the subject firearm shaken?
Herters isn't exactly known for consistency or reliability. It could be a number of issues, but I would be willing to bet my bottom dollar that the firearm was not to blame.

Awesome write up Alex, no clue how I missed this thread last week! A lot of great info in there! I'm a big fan of the 50 yard zero! That belt looks rock solid!
 

mwlabel

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Digging your setups. Very modest and realistic

Do you suspect unseated primers on the herters or just hard? Is your faith in the subject firearm shaken?
Thank you. It's designed to work, not win fashion points.
Also, not sure on the primers. I tried running some of the duds through the rifle a second time and some of them would fire upon the second strike. Others still would not.

I have not run enough rounds through the rifle to determine my faith in it yet. But, I did not attribute any of this to the rifle. Upon inspection, everything seemed to be working properly on the rifle's end.

Herters isn't exactly known for consistency or reliability. It could be a number of issues, but I would be willing to bet my bottom dollar that the firearm was not to blame.

Awesome write up Alex, no clue how I missed this thread last week! A lot of great info in there! I'm a big fan of the 50 yard zero! That belt looks rock solid!
The 50 is very well suited for me, as there are not many ranges or places outside of the range where I will be shooting at much distance. Most of it is sub-100 yards.
The BROKOS belt is brilliantly designed. I still have quite a bit of real estate left on mine, but that doesn't bother me. It holds everything I need it to in a proper way. It also does not require me to use stupid MOLLE attachments.
 
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