Well, today I finally took my new (to me) 91/30 to the range. I have never before been to an outdoor range and knew this would be a learning experience. I drove up to the Los Altos Rod and Gun Club in the Santa Cruz Mountains all excited about finally getting to shoot my 91/30.
Now to be fair, they are called the Santa Cruz mountains but, having misspent my youth backpacking in the Sierras around
Yosemite, they are really the Santa Cruz hills. The Sierras are mountains. The Grand Tetons are mountains, what they have in Santa Cruz are hills. But I digress.
To say that the day didn't go well would be genorous. I didn't know that I would need to bring a staple gun so I had to rent one for $2.00 to staple the target to the post. I put 8 staples in the target and by the time I got back to the shooting station, it was flapping in the wind. You can't fix this during shoot on, so I had to wait till cease fire to fix it. So far I hav'nt put round 1 through my Mosin.
I have purchased and installed a long eye relief scope, purchased through e-bay. Do I know anything about scopes? No. So I bought a scope for about $65.00 cause I just don't see spending $1,500.00 on a scope for a rifle that cost me $73.00.
Cease fire happens and I go out and staple the shit out of the target. This is at the preliminary, 25 yard, sighting in range. Now I have never fired this rifle before so I am not comfortable with it and am moving slowly.
On the next "fire" I put a few rounds through the gun and it is shooting high and right. I go to adjust the scope and it has come loose from the brackets. I didn't think to bring locktight or a screwdriver so I am basically screwed. Can't sight the gun in, can't do much of anything.
O.K. I figure, I have still got 100 rounds of ammo for my Les Baer 1911 so maybe I can shoot that. Problem is, unlike the indoor range at Reeds where the targets come to you with a push of a button, where the maximum range is 25 yards, and where it is dark enough that you can see your hits with normal eyesight, this is a 50 yard course in broad daylight and you can barely see the target.
Bottom line is, I need to buy a spotting scope. My question is, how much do I have to spend for a decent one? I have seen them on sale for as little as the mid $70.00 and as much as several thousand dollars. Frankly, I am having a really hard time justifying expensive accouterments for a $73.00 rifle but maybe I am not thinking about this correctly. Maybe I should be thinking that I got a great rifle for a very good price and spend what it takes to shoot well.
So, tell me (us) about your spotting scopes. Is there something out there cheap and good?
Oh, by the way, my Walther P99 kicks harder than the 91/30
Sorry you had such a bad, but a bad day shooting is better than a good day at work! I have the luxury of a public range just outside of the town I live in and there is seldom other people there when I am there.
I recently bought a Alpen 15-45x80 spoting scope. I have been pretty pleased with it. you can read a road sign with it at a half a mile and is more than enough for any range I use. I spent $220 and that included purchasing a $20 tripod. It came with one but it was not adjustable. It also came with a vehicle window mount that I plan to use to scout hunting spots. I got the one I did because I set it next to a Luepold of simialr configuration and could not tell the differance. I would be careful going too cheap but I wouldn't spend a great deal either. I don't really know much about them but I think I made a pretty good choice with the one I got.
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"I don't go shooting without my guns and they don't go shooting without me!"
I have a 20 X 60, BSA spotting scope I paid about $80.00 for at a gun show a few years back. I can see .30 cal bukllet holes clearly at 500 yards with it. It is pretty good for the money.
You need to make up a tote bag with "Shootin' Range Stuff".
Mine has allen wrenches, screwdrivers, stapler & staples, push pins,(for hanging small baloons for targets) and scissiors. (for cutting .30 cal. patches "to size" for cleaning .22s)
I keep a small bottle of Hoppes #9, cleaning patches, brushes and jags for cleaning at the range. My spotting scope and tripod fit nicely between the carry straps on top when the bag is loaded up, and my ear protectors hang fromthe flexable straps.
I leave it loaded up and sitting atop my gun safe so I don't forget anything when leaving for the range.
Ditto on spend in the midrange. I looked through a Winchester and a Leupold and saw little difference out in the sun. I can't say though as I have a 1948 GI "Observation Telescope" that I liberated from an Army dumpster many years ago. Complete with leather case and tripod. Range bag is essential as well. Fill it with everything you can think of, and you'll slowly narrow it down to just the right stuff.
__________________ I keep tellin ya Doc, I'm in pretty good shape considerin the shape I'm in !!
I have a 25x Leupold spotting scope. The glass is so so but the lifetime warranty with them is LIFETIME. I rarely use it anymore since I no longer shoot competition rifle.
I have looked at spotting scopes at half the price and the glass was just as good...bushnell comes to mind. I'd say go somewhere they have a bunch on display and compare.
While it's great to have instant knowledge of where that last shot went, sooner or later your skill with that 91/30 will develop and you will know where the last one went.
Plus I looked at your profile tmfun and you and I are close in age and we SHOULD BE WALKING TO THE TARGET. Just got my rear end chewed out by the nurse at work due to my blood presssure and she says "WALK EVERYWHERE."
Lifetime waranty can't be beat for sure! But at this stage of the game, that's not saying much!!! Dr's told me at the age of 52 I have the heart of a 25 yo. Now if they would only let the rest of me know...
__________________ I keep tellin ya Doc, I'm in pretty good shape considerin the shape I'm in !!
Blow you up.
