The Journey of a Newbie

[stevebc]

One point about that cleaning kit- if it's got one of those aluminum sectional cleaning rods that you screw together- don't use it. They have a bad habit of breaking/jamming, and otherwise coming apart, leaving sections stuck in the barrel.

A one piece rod, such as a Dewey's, is the way to go.

[Muzikal]

One point about that cleaning kit- if it's got one of those aluminum sectional cleaning rods that you screw together- don't use it. They have a bad habit of breaking/jamming, and otherwise coming apart, leaving sections stuck in the barrel.

A one piece rod, such as a Dewey's, is the way to go.

I bought this one:

https://www.amazon.ca/BOOSTEADY-Clea...dDbGljaz10cnVl

What say you?

[stevebc]

I bought this one:

https://www.amazon.ca/BOOSTEADY-Clea...dDbGljaz10cnVl

What say you?

I've never used a bore snake, but you'll probably be fine with that.

[Swingerguy]

I find in my 9mm and .30 cal guns the bore snakes work well, I had an almost new .22 cal snake break in my .22 lr pistol, which doesn’t lend itself to a good time.
I will never use one in .22 or smaller again. I’m thankful it never broke in a rifle.

I’m sure lots of people have used them successfully with no issues.

[Swingerguy]

The snake I used was a Hoppes brand Bore Snake that has 2 sets of brass brush sections and the pull cord came out of the main part of the snake when the 2nd set of brushes entered the bore.
CC04D9AE-D7AD-45F4-8BC6-73A61E3BD2BD.jpg

I can’t comment on the one you have as a part of your kit as I have not used one.

[Big-Boss-Man]

mine are similar to your Swingerguy, so same I am not sure on the ones in the kit, but I am sure you can't go wrong with them.

[Muzikal]

Entry Three - First Range Day

Great! I now have everything that I need to start off (based on my humble opinion), so its time to take this thing on the road. A quick 25 minute trip on a nice clear afternoon took me to the local shooting range. Prior to making the trip I had stopped off at the local tactical store and gotten basic instructions from the veteran behind the counter about how the range worked. It was all gibberish to me at the time but once I drove up, it made perfect sense.

I got down to the line and joined the lone other shooter there (this was 3pm in the afternoon) - a rugged-looking but well-mannered kid who was easily half my age. I introduced myself and we exchanged pleasantries. He was there sighting in his girlfriend's 7mm-08 hunting rifle while getting the rust off his own technique with his 7mm.

He wasn't wearing the typical ear muffs and glasses that you see in the movies, so I thought that recommendation from my PAL instructor was just overkill. The first shot he took from his rifle had my ears ringing! Man!!! That thing was loud!!!

I quickly, but discretely slid those bad boys over my ears as I set up my pea shooter.

I alerted my fellow-shooter that I was heading down-range, stapled up my target at 50 yards and headed back to the bench. I read online that the 64F tends to jam when firing from a full mag so I chose to only load 6 in for the first go-round. Mag in, cartridge chambered, rifle raised, sights lines up, safety off.............Trigger pulled!!! The first shot I got off brought a smile to my face! I HAD FINALLY FIRED A GUN!!! I proceeded to proudly empty the mag before heading down range to confirm my hits.

I grinned as I headed to the target, just like a University graduate going to collect his diploma. When I got there, I saw that NOT ONE SINGLE BULLET HAD INTERACTED WITH THE TARGET!!!!

Myself and the young-un had a good laugh at my marksmanship while I reloaded. I will spare the step by step by saying that it took me 80 shells to produce what is pictured below:


20210716_135519.jpg

Point of the story: A rifle scope is needed.....ASAP!
Question for the group: How often would you suggest a rifle cleaning?

[ESnel]

First of welcome,

Not sure where you are but go to https://mapleseedrifleman.com/ and check for the closest event(shooting clinic) and sign up. Also in the files section there are downloadable targets.

Might I suggest printing and shooting at 25yd targets to start. Looking at your target, my first impression is lack of consistency in sight alignment. While a scope will simplify sighting

somewhat take the time to learn to shoot iron sights. There is more to shooting then simply lining up the cross hairs.

In the beginning you have to be careful not to ingrain bad habits which are tougher to unlearn. Keep things simple at first, for some reading/research look for "four marksmanship
principles". Also YouTube has some good video on basic shooting/marksmanship.

[Muzikal]

@Esnel:

I just checked out the rifleman site and the events are either in Ontario or alberta. I am in BC so that might take some doing. You made some good points though and I appreciate each one. I will sit at the feet of the youtube masters in the days to come.

[JustBen]

You should pick a closer target to start. Even with open sights you should hit the target every single time.