This past Thursday I came home after work to find an empty house. A quick phone call verified that my wife and boys were out running some errands, and wouldn't be back until later in the evening.
What to do? What to do. . . .
I KNOW!
I quickly changed clothes, tossed my gear into the car and headed for the Promised Land (Brown County). My folks (lovemywoods) have been blessed with enough room out in the wilderness to build a private pistol range, as well as a medium-distance rifle lane. (many of you will experience this first hand at NFA Day in two weeks!)
Although I enjoy plinking just as much as the next guy, I had specific purposes for this particular range session.
First, I needed to get some pistol work in. With my black rifle disease taking a strong hold this year, my pistol work has been lacking.
Next, I needed to wring out a few recent add-ons to the M4. Specifically, I wanted to try both my VTAC 2-point sling and Wilderness single-point, and see where each one stacked up. I was also curious as to acceptable mounting points, as I recently added a TangoDown PR-4 mount and CTR buttstock, which allows me to switch between SEVERAL different mounting points with each sling.
And finally, I dragged my "amateur-going-professional" photographer Mother down with me to capture the action. I did this for a several reasons-- 1) as a self-diagnostic tool to study later, 2) as a way to answer INGOers when they ask "how do you grip your pistol? shoulder your rifle?, etc, and 3) because my Mom is always looking to practice photography in ways she's not yet familiar*.
I started working with the single-point sling by The Wilderness. (note the 2 pieces of brass in the air!)
Smoke! In the high-res picture you can plainly see fire at the muzzle tip and the bolt shoving in the new brass.
Next I tried the VTAC 2-poing sling, attaching it to the rear of the CTR.
I went through several "snap" drills.
Then I tried attaching the rear sling point to the PR-4, which sits just behind the rear of the receiver. This put the adjustment hardware somewhere behind me, making reaching it difficult. More smoke!
Did a few movement drills, and made an animated .gif out of all the pics.
Later I moved to some pistol work. It felt good to get some live-fire, from-the-holster practice. My results were even better than I had anticipated.
More brass.
RELOAD!! (j/k, slow is smooth, smooth is fast. . .)
Weapon side hand only.
Switching to support side hand only.
Ahh! Someone shot my support arm!!
Bye-bye magazine. . . .
I'm a dead man. . .
Thoughts:
*Photo credits go to Jennifer Rice of "His Kids Photography". All images are raw and have not been altered or touched up in any way.
What to do? What to do. . . .
I KNOW!
I quickly changed clothes, tossed my gear into the car and headed for the Promised Land (Brown County). My folks (lovemywoods) have been blessed with enough room out in the wilderness to build a private pistol range, as well as a medium-distance rifle lane. (many of you will experience this first hand at NFA Day in two weeks!)
Although I enjoy plinking just as much as the next guy, I had specific purposes for this particular range session.
First, I needed to get some pistol work in. With my black rifle disease taking a strong hold this year, my pistol work has been lacking.
Next, I needed to wring out a few recent add-ons to the M4. Specifically, I wanted to try both my VTAC 2-point sling and Wilderness single-point, and see where each one stacked up. I was also curious as to acceptable mounting points, as I recently added a TangoDown PR-4 mount and CTR buttstock, which allows me to switch between SEVERAL different mounting points with each sling.
And finally, I dragged my "amateur-going-professional" photographer Mother down with me to capture the action. I did this for a several reasons-- 1) as a self-diagnostic tool to study later, 2) as a way to answer INGOers when they ask "how do you grip your pistol? shoulder your rifle?, etc, and 3) because my Mom is always looking to practice photography in ways she's not yet familiar*.
Gun List
Nash'd Glock 19
Bushmaster Patrolman's M4 w/Aimpoint CompC3 2MOA
Load 'em up!Nash'd Glock 19
Bushmaster Patrolman's M4 w/Aimpoint CompC3 2MOA
I started working with the single-point sling by The Wilderness. (note the 2 pieces of brass in the air!)
Smoke! In the high-res picture you can plainly see fire at the muzzle tip and the bolt shoving in the new brass.
Next I tried the VTAC 2-poing sling, attaching it to the rear of the CTR.
I went through several "snap" drills.
Then I tried attaching the rear sling point to the PR-4, which sits just behind the rear of the receiver. This put the adjustment hardware somewhere behind me, making reaching it difficult. More smoke!
Did a few movement drills, and made an animated .gif out of all the pics.
Later I moved to some pistol work. It felt good to get some live-fire, from-the-holster practice. My results were even better than I had anticipated.
More brass.
RELOAD!! (j/k, slow is smooth, smooth is fast. . .)
Weapon side hand only.
Switching to support side hand only.
Ahh! Someone shot my support arm!!
Bye-bye magazine. . . .
I'm a dead man. . .
Thoughts:
- I love Fall weather.
- I find the 2-point sling very comfortable/stable for carrying the M4 around, but prefer the single-point in actual use, due to its simplicity. Someone needs to teach me how to properly deploy the VTAC.
- Red dot sights are the best thing since sliced bread.
- Its much easier to shoot a rifle well than it is a pistol.
- Mom took over 250 pictures in 2 hours time. They're been EXTREMELY valuable already, just by studying each one to see what I *actually* look like, opposed to what I *think* I look like.
- Spend good money on a quality RDS mount. I've really appreciated having the cheapie loaner that I do now, but it moves slightly back-and-forth, which isn't good. Mark LaRue will be getting some money from me shortly.
- Hitting your target while moving is difficult, even if you've got a rifle in your hands.
- I'm a little chubbier than I remember.
- I'm extremely happy to report that my M4 continues to run flawlessly, despite the fact that I've been running it very dry.
- Tossing 100 rounds of .223 and 100 rounds of 9mm into a lake dam in Brown County in 2 hours time is a great way to relax after work.
*Photo credits go to Jennifer Rice of "His Kids Photography". All images are raw and have not been altered or touched up in any way.
Especially when that involves skill drills and doing quite well at that!
The next best one. 
to your Mother on some great photos. It does look like you were having a great time.
