I nearly blew-off going to the range today because it was so windy but I'm glad that I didn't. I needed to test the new 10 and 5 round mags I just ordered from Beretta plus, I got some new glasses that I also wanted to test.
The vision in my right eye is beginning to suck. My left eye, though, is as good as it was when I was 18 and I suspect that the cloudiness and fuzziness that has developed in my right eye during the last year or so is, most likely, a cataract in its early stages. With readers I still see out of it pretty good and today I stepped-down the magnification from 1.5x to 1.25x to shoot with an optic. Seemed to help. I was able to focus while aiming with somewhat less distortion but, an eye doctor appointment is definitely in the near future because I don't shoot lefthanded worth a darn. Except pool, I shoot pool lefthanded for some reason. Come to think it, I also brush my teeth lefthanded. Weird, huh?
So today was pretty nice. Sunny, 72 degrees, 48% humidity but, a pesky 10-15mph wind coming from the West threatened to make shooting groups more of a challenge than it usually is for me. I'll be the first to admit that I have a long way to go when it comes to rifle accuracy, especially compared to many of you whippersnappers with perfect vision and steady hands.
All shots taken at 50 yards, 16x magnification.
(Ran out of time before I had a chance to try the Eley/Remington Club Extra I just received from Tru Shot Gun Club.)
I bought a 500 round brick of Eley Team back in December of last year right before .22 ammo prices really went bonkers. Unfortunately, my Ruger American LRT didn't care for it at all and my Steyr Zephyr II only shoots it OK. I grabbed a box, along with a box of SK Rifle Match and a box of Eley/Remington Club Extra and headed to the range.
Eley Team - First 10 shots on a cold bore @ 50 yards. I was not expecting it to shoot quite as well as it did but, now I'm glad I didn't trade the remaining 400 rounds I had for something else.
Eley Team, 5 shots each target @ 50 yards. Usually a swirling and unpredictable breeze gets on my nerves pretty fast but it was so mild today, I didn't really care. Considering that this stuff didn't shoot all that great in my other .22's, I was pleasantly surprised to see it shoot as well as it did.
So, the one thing I left at the house this time (it's always something) were 1" target stickers. I thought I had plenty in my range bag but, of course, I didn't. I had five rounds of Eley Team remaining after 45 rounds so I just tried to group them in the middle of the paper as best I could.
SK Rifle Match - this is the ammo that seems to shoot the best in all my .22 rifles so no surprise that it does for the Sako Quad Varmint, too. I tore-off a divider/border between target dot stickers just for a point of aim and tried to obliterate it with 10 shots in the middle. I came pretty close.
One thing I do know is that I've never owned any rifle I enjoy shooting as much as this one. The Quad Varmint just feels like a precision tool even in my hands.
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