Finally! I had time to go to the range last Sunday. This was my first outing with my "used" but apparently, like new NEF three barrel set. I came away with good news and a reason to go back.
I didn't have any proper targets so I just took some sheets of computer paper and stuck a Birchwood Casey stick-on bullseye targets (in dayglo orange) in the center of the paper. My first 10 shots were about 3 and one-half inches high; and about 2 inches to the right. After guessing how many clicks left and down (remember, no grid on the computer paper) I was ready to try again.
Unfortunately, We were plagued that day with extremely high winds, that were gusting to 20-25 mph. To make matters worse they were just about at a 45 degree angle for the first half of the session and then behind me for the remainder.
I neglected to say this was using a 6.5 - 20X Simmonds scope on a .223. The second string of 10 had three "flyers" that I called as I shot. The wind was slamming me throughout the session. If I ignore the three "flyers" I shot a 2 an 1/2 inch group with 7 shots being in the orange sticker and 1 shot cutting the 1/2 inch black square in the center. I know, I know, it is asking too much to ignore three "flyers." But, if you have never shot in Kansas on a windy day, just cut me some slack, ok? For what it is worth, I believe that all 10 are "minute of prairie dog."
So, all-in-all, I was well satisfied with the .223 barrel. You will be amused to know that I fired the first five of the last ten shots with the scope set on 6.5 and the parallex adjustment set all the way down. I shoot several scopes that have variable magnification and parallex adjustments. I have no idea why I forgot to set these. the last five were on the proper settings.
Now for the bad news: This was on a 100 yd range by the way. I put on my .357 mag. barrel and set up a new target. I fired five shots with open sights. I was actually quite confident that I was doing ok. I thought the sight picture looked good and a just had a good feeling about all five shots. When I examined the target, I was stunned to find not a single hole anywhere on the paper. The paper was pinned to a large (probably 2ft X 2ft) piece of foam rubber. Of course, it had so many holes in it, I had no idea where my shots went. High? Low? Left? Right? Anyone's guess.
So, I put on the .30-30 barrel, fired five, felt good, walked down and looked and not a hole in the paper.
Moral of the story: If you don't have "knowledge of results" you cannot make a valid correction. Next time, I will use a larger target at shorter range and find out where these bullets are heading off to.
