First NRA Highpower Service Rifle match

I’ve been shooting CMP games matches for some time now and I finally worked up the courage to shoot a NRA Highpower match with my White Oak AR15A2

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It was a great day for shooting mid-60s and sunny, a little windy but the berms kept that from being an issue at 100 yards.

It was a 4 stage 60 round 100 yard reduced walk and paste match with 2 sighters in each position.

1. Slow fire off hand 2 minutes for 2 sighters in the “lower” target 20 minutes for 10 in the right and 10 in the left targets

Walk… Score… Paste

2. Rapid sitting 2 minutes for 2 sighters single feed then 60 seconds for 10 rounds loaded 2 and 83

3. Rapid Prone 2 minutes for 2 sighters single feed then 60 seconds for 10 rounds loaded 2 and 83

Walk… Score… Paste

4. Slow fire prone 2 minutes for 2 sighters in the “lower” target 20 minutes for 10 in the right and 10 in the left targets.

I did “ok” for a first match, 71% but most importantly, I learned a few important things. Having preloaded magazines was very helpful next time I will be more constant with where I place them so when I grab one the bullets are froward when I try to change mags.

I really struggle with single loading prone, I am going to try on of those “bob sled” mags next time. I got in a nice rhythm after the first 10 rounds by keeping the rifle in my shoulder and just rocking to the left to drop the round in the chamber. I also reached through the carry handle instead of trying to reach over it per the advice of another shooter.

For off hand I had dry fire practiced, with the mag resting in the palm of my support hand. This turned out to be horrible, because it messed with the bolt locking to the rear and I had to charge it every time. After awhile I switched to my hand to on the D-ring which tool some shift in position but worked better in the long run. Also my 30 cal shell holder for my shooting jacket is a pain for .223 it’s hard for my fat fingers to fish the little rounds out.

I will definitely be back again, at least as long I can scrounge up ammo!

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NRA National Firearms Museum

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A month or two ago, before my trip to Springfield Armory museum, I drove down to NRA HQ and checked out the museum. It is a great museum with a wide variety of firearms, old guns, new guns, rare guns common guns you name it it is there. It’s a free museum you will need to hit and intercom by the door and the security guard will buzz you In, I assume to keep the crazies out.

There are so many firearms its a little overwhelming. They break it up in too many sections for me to name, movie guns, 1911s, guns of all the major US wars, Camp Perry, other competitive shooting, law enforcement, and a shooting gallery.

I have way too many pictures to caption time all if you have any questions leave a comment ill try to remember what it was.

Check out their website for more details NRA museum

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All pictures are my property and may not be used without my permission.

Springfield Armory National Historic Site

A couple weeks ago I went to visit a friend in Connecticut we took a trip up to the Springfield Armory museum. It is a decent sized two story building on the campus of a (run down) community college that was once the grounds of the armory.

The first floor is half rifles and weapons the other half is about the production methods. We spent about an hour there including a bit driving around to see the building where Garands were produced. That building is now a warehouse and business of some sort.

The second floor is the archives and is only available to tour with special permission to do research. Maybe next time Garand Thumb Blog can get a press pass.

There wasn’t a lot of people there so we spent some time talking to the ranger. One thing he pointed out was back in the day SA was like NASA i.e. government funded research to spur private development. Hence why there are so many gun manufactures in the valley, Colt, S&W, Remington, and once upon a time HRA. At least, according to him.

Below are some pictures from the trip.

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Springfield Armory National Historic Site

A couple weeks ago I went to visit a friend in Connecticut we took a trip up to the Springfield Armory museum. It is a decent sized two story building on the campus of a (run down) community college that was once the grounds of the armory.

The first floor is half rifles and weapons the other half is about the production methods. We spent about an hour there including a bit driving around to see the building where Garands were produced. That building is now a warehouse and business of some sort.

The second floor is the archives and is only available to tour with special permission to do research. Maybe next time Garand Thumb Blog can get a press pass.

There wasn’t a lot of people there so we spent some time talking to the ranger. One thing he pointed out was back in the day SA was like NASA i.e. government funded research to spur private development. Hence why there are so many gun manufactures in the valley, Colt, S&W, Remington, and once upon a time HRA. At least, according to him.

Below are some pictures from the trip.

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20130511-214642.jpg

20130511-214607.jpg

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Two days of practice

It was a beautiful weekend for shooting and with my wife away I did a cut corner job of mowing the lawn and spent most of it at the range. I brought out the 1917, M1 and my new(ish) A2.

I spent some time working on the elevation for both my 1917 and Garand for both the conversion to 6 o’clock hold and to figure out why I was so low at the York match. I got that all worked out then spent some time working on my prone position, which I am now feeling much more confident in.

I practiced prone with my A2 and raised the elevation a bit so I could use 6:00 hold with this rifle too. I am very happy with it’s performance so far. I tried my hand at shooting sitting which I have literally never tried before. After trying to imitate the “crossed ankles position” I settled into some sloppy variation of it that seems to work OK for me. This has given me the courage up to sign up for the next NRA highpower match and bring my A2 in a few weeks!

Kimberton has a nice new slab for shooting prone.

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Think I have enough stuff?

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Don’t tell Bloomberg about my assault clips.

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