Fullbore
The first rifle I shot was a 7.62 number four action in a nice bespoke rifle with a scope. Sorry can't be more specific than that as I was listening to the safety brief and instructions. It had a bi-pod and the first thing I noticed was that I didn't like the eye relief on the scope as it was getting between me and shooting the rifle. I shot five rounds on a five cross target, hitting up and to the left each time with four out of five consistent positions i.e.: same pattern, which is good I was told. The kick was short and sharp and for me felt a bit like sneezing spasm.
Next I got to shoot a WW1 303 Lee-Enfield off a sandbag at a half-round target over iron-sights, which were a joy to use. I fired five shots and got a good consistent grouping all in the black, which made up for my disappointment from being off target when shooting the previous rifle. I was told by my instructor that they would be pleased if they had shot that grouping. So all good then. My impression of the recoil of the Lee Enfield was that as long as it was properly shouldered it was okay, but if you didn't shoulder it properly then it would kick you hard.
Finally, I got to shoot a straight-pull M4 clone with an ACOG sight on a bi-pod. Ten rounds fired this time and again I got a good group, who am I kidding, it was announced I got eight bulls over the radio. Well chuffed, as you can imagine. Having shot a lot of airsoft M4s over the years it was interesting to compare the weight and feel of the real steel versus the airsoft toys. Real M4s are a lot heavier as they have a lot of steel components, and the magazine when loaded is a non-trivial addition to the overall weight.
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| Little Red Riding Hood. |
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| Changed grip as my wrist was starting to hurt. |
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| Re-acquired target. |
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| This is a lot of fun to shoot. |
After an ample lunch we went to do some gallery rifle shooting in 357 and 22. The first rifle I shot was a Winchester action carbine. Five rounds fired and while low, I was told it was not a bad group.
Then I got to shoot ten rounds on a knock down the targets rig and hit eight out of ten targets. Again using a scope that was causing me problems from the eye relief and losing the sight window.
Finally shot a 22 M4 clone that was semi-auto that was a joy to fire, but I wish it had been fitted with an ACOG, or my EoTech Holo sight though.
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| On the left five rounds with a 357 from a Winchester action carbine. On the right ten rounds 22 from a semi-auto M4. |
Addendum
Slings are things of joy, as I missed my three-point sling when not firing off a bi-pod, or rest. I preferred iron sights over scopes, but admit that this is down to lack of training and having the scopes set-up for me.
Observations on recoil and this rifle kicks like a mule comments. I suspect most of these are down to men's tendency to rely on their muscle strength to counter poor shouldering technique, and up their bragging rights. Pistols are another matter entirely though, as I can see that there is a culture of size matters from having using larger calibers to show how strong one is.
