Haha, I won the military rifle silhouette on Saturday! Domination continues!
10 Pigs
7 Rams rang one
9 Turkeys
3 Chickens offhand in the wind

http://palominovalleygunclub.homeste...Sil-062108.jpg

I think you should work on your turkey to pig ratio. Really, you should be at least 1:1 if not favoring turkeys.

Also, I'm disappointed in your windy chicken performance.

(:lol: Nice work man!)

Well played Scott, and nice work Scott.

Heh, you and me both. Considering the Pigs are at 175m and the Turkeys are at 385m.

Stupid chickens. My squad got the Chickens the final relay, which means the wind was strongest for me shooting them offhand. Since I use a 29" Swede M96, that's like being under full sail for 40kts, Cap'n.

Wait, are you a pirate shooting at windy chickens now? :lol:

And what's the point of shooting offhand? Just to make it unrealistically difficult? Who would actually shoot offhand in an actual hunting situation? Sounds like running one lap of autocross in reverse just to bump the degree of difficulty.

Nah, it's our club handicap. If you shoot 20pts or more from the prone position, the next match you get to shoot Chickens offhand. If you still clear 20, next match you shoot Chickens and Pigs offhand. If you STILL clear 20, then on to the Turkeys. Etc.

It's really a matter of luck on the weather. On a still day, I could probably guarantee 20+ even with Chickens/Pigs offhand. Every time I've been there so far, the weather has been crappy. Next time I will have to do it, though.

doesnt a rifle have to be designed to shoot from an offhand stance? Wouldnt the cartridges be ejecting into/across your face if you are shooting a right handed rifle as a lefty?

All rifles in military configuration are designs to be shot off hand. Benchrest rifles, however are designed to be heavy and have a stock configuration more suitable to having some sort of mechanical support. You can shoot them offhand, but in the Heavy benchrest class the rifles can weight in around 25 pounds. Not exactly off hand material.

Yes, the spent cartridges would be flying in front of your face. However, there are tricks that you can do to prevent a burning hot shell from hitting you. There are sticky pads that can be placed in strategic locations to prevent / guide the shell in a more desirable direction. Current issue M16's in the Military have a trianglular shaped projection on the reciever that bounces the spent casing away from the shooter. As you can imagine, the Military would have both right handed and left handed shooters in their ranks. So, it typically isn't a problem.

got ya.

Won all the marbles again at Varmint Silhouette on Saturday - High Sitting, Offhand, and Overall. Had a shootoff for Offhand, but the wind stopped just as I went to shoot, so I took full advantage, heheh.

Used my new .22 Hornet, putting to shame the standard, more heavy configurations.

I may take over as Match Director for this event next year, still thinking about it.

Congrats Scotty, you got my vote for that!

BTW, I got my AR15 fixed. Pulled it out the other day, pulled the charging handle and the bolt opened up. Hmm. I guess it had to sit around for a while. LOL.

Was it significantly hotter or colder compared to when it was locked up?

If I recall, I got a live round stuck in the chamber back in May. I would think that it warmer when it happened. It has been sitting under my bed ever since then. A month ago, I tried and nothing happened. Temperature is set at 76 degrees.

The only thing I did differently this time, was I twisted the cleaning rod that was also stuck in the barrel. Long story, but I tried to back the live round out with a cleaning rod, and managed to get that jambed in also. It was not a good day. I thought I was going to have to send the upper receiver into a gunsmith and pay some big money to get the round taken out. I put some twisting force on the cleaning rod trying to get it to move. It wouldn't budge. As a last resort I pulled back on the charging handle, and it extracted the round. That is the only thing I can think of that may have dislodged the round and cleaning rod. I may have moved the cleaning rod just enough to break the jamb or releave whatever pressure was on the assembly.

Other then that, I don't know. I am just happy to have that LIVE round out of the chamber, dangerous situation.

I have that same problem with mine, except it is not a live round, just a shell stuck...

Note to future readers:
IF (liveroundstuckinchamber)
DO (slamforwardassist)
WHILE (boltnotseated)
THEN (pulltriggergobang)

I still would have shot that freakin' rod out......just for the experimentation....after tying it to a tyre with a trigger string of course.

NOOOO

The cleaning rod pushed the projectile back into the case and lodged in at a slight angle. I am pretty sure the it would have gone bang! But not in a good way.

I'll try to post a pic tomorrow.

Hmm, does the bolt operate? In other words, did the bolt cycle upon shooting? If so, it probably ripped the rim of the cartridge off. My preban I had way back when did the same thing. I fixed that by locking the bolt in the open position, then dropping my cleaning rod down to the barrel a couple times. My spent cartridge popped right out.

If the bolt won't cycle with the spent round in the chamber, it would sound as though you damn near have the same problem I had. Not sure what to tell you at this point, as it was obvious that I didn't really do the right thing.

This thread has taught me that if I want an AR, I should just get an AK. I hear they still work just fine even underwater and full of sand.

Ya, the bolt operates just fine. When it happened it cycled through and tried to put a live round in and couldn't due to the shell being stuck in there. I tried dropping the cleaning rod down, but haven't really forced it at all, just gave it some light taps trying to get it out.

Pretty valid, as long as you don't need accuracy. I have never had this issue with any of mine (yet). I also doubt these two issues are a function of the design, more likely the ammo.

Although, last year my sister did take a gazelle out with a single head shot with the rustiest, nastiest-looking AK ever...

Mine was caused by my own reloaded ammo. Now that I know that, I might have to get what is called a Small Base resizing die for my 223 reloads. At least until my gun gets broken in a little more.

Just get an AR with a 'new' short stroke piston instead of the gas tube. AR availability/accuracy with AK reliability!

I don't think you will break anything. I believe my cleaning rod failed because it was a sectional rod. If you have a one-piece cleaning rod made of steal, you might be able to apply more pressure on the spent round and get it out. Basically, if you take it into a Gunsmith, they are just going to do the same thing.

What type of Ammo was it? When my pre-ban rifle failed, I was using Wolf Ammo. It was the first shot, and last shot for the day. My brother and I happened to be out in the middle of nowhere. We packed up and had to drive some 60 miles back to his house to get my cleaning rod. Lesson learned right there, take your cleaning rod with you when you go shooting in the middle of the desert.

I got it out last night, just put a little oil in there and gave it a few stronger taps and it finally popped out.

I was using Wolf ammo also. It was about midway through the 2nd 30 round clip when mine failed.

Good to hear.

Needless to say, I don't / won't use wolf ammo anylonger.

Picture added of my rifle, and of the cleaning rod / stuck round.