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Yesterday I was able to take the day off work to attend a small, private WWII Themed shooting activity from a local surplus rifle/firearms collector. The collector brought 30 battle rifles and about 8-10 handgun models produced/used during the WWII time period. He had several others that he wanted to bring, but decided not to in order for us to have enough time to shoot all of the ones he did bring. He also has several firearms that are too valuable to fire that he left home. I arrived early and set up the range/targets with steel plates hanging at distances from 100 yards out to 600 yards. I've included a photo below showing the 400 yard and 600 yard target locations.
I took a few pictures to try to show the variety of guns we used--but I'm not the best photographer and it might be hard to tell what is what. I was too busy shooting and forgot to take any pictures of the handguns that were brought. We took turns shooting about 5-10 rounds through most of the rifles and a couple of mags/full cylinders through the handguns. Before shooting each firearm, the collector gave us a brief history of the firearm design, who used it in WWII, and interesting or unique facts about it. Time well spent, this was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities that I couldn't pass up. I tell you one thing though, after shooting 30 metal butt plated, hard recoiling (most of them) battle rifles, my shoulder and cheek were done. Today I have a decent bruise on my shoulder and a tender chin/cheek, but I'm sure glad I wore a sweatshirt to help with some of that recoil. One of my friends wore only a t-shirt most of the time and broke skin/bruised much worse.
We shot some of the rifles standing & sitting, but mostly prone with a front bag. While prone, we mostly shot at the 400 and 600 yard targets. I was surprised by the accuracy of several of these firearms. We were able to make successful hits with several of the battle rifles at these distances using only iron sights. My favorite rifles of the bunch were the two Arisaka rifles (type 38 and 99) as well as the "jungle carbine" in .303. With the type 38 Arisaka, I made 4/5 hits @ 400 yards, and with the Arisaka type 99 & the "jungle carbine" I was able to make 3/5 hits @ 600 yards. The type 38 Arisaka shoots a 6.5 round and was a much needed break from the heavy hitters. I've also always wanted to shoot a k98, and was happy that he brought one. I didn't shoot quite as well with it, but it was still great fun. He brought some old British ammo to shoot through one of the .303's that had a noticeable delay in ignition--almost like shooting a flintlock--great for practicing trigger control, but not very accurate. Anyways, here are some pics below:
Posing with the type 99 with bayonet attached & the 400 and 600 yard targets circled
Posing with the k98--always wanted to shoot one and finally got the chance
It was so much fun, but after shooting iron sights at long distances for 9-10 hours, my eyes felt very tired. I slept very well last night.
I took a few pictures to try to show the variety of guns we used--but I'm not the best photographer and it might be hard to tell what is what. I was too busy shooting and forgot to take any pictures of the handguns that were brought. We took turns shooting about 5-10 rounds through most of the rifles and a couple of mags/full cylinders through the handguns. Before shooting each firearm, the collector gave us a brief history of the firearm design, who used it in WWII, and interesting or unique facts about it. Time well spent, this was one of those once in a lifetime opportunities that I couldn't pass up. I tell you one thing though, after shooting 30 metal butt plated, hard recoiling (most of them) battle rifles, my shoulder and cheek were done. Today I have a decent bruise on my shoulder and a tender chin/cheek, but I'm sure glad I wore a sweatshirt to help with some of that recoil. One of my friends wore only a t-shirt most of the time and broke skin/bruised much worse.
We shot some of the rifles standing & sitting, but mostly prone with a front bag. While prone, we mostly shot at the 400 and 600 yard targets. I was surprised by the accuracy of several of these firearms. We were able to make successful hits with several of the battle rifles at these distances using only iron sights. My favorite rifles of the bunch were the two Arisaka rifles (type 38 and 99) as well as the "jungle carbine" in .303. With the type 38 Arisaka, I made 4/5 hits @ 400 yards, and with the Arisaka type 99 & the "jungle carbine" I was able to make 3/5 hits @ 600 yards. The type 38 Arisaka shoots a 6.5 round and was a much needed break from the heavy hitters. I've also always wanted to shoot a k98, and was happy that he brought one. I didn't shoot quite as well with it, but it was still great fun. He brought some old British ammo to shoot through one of the .303's that had a noticeable delay in ignition--almost like shooting a flintlock--great for practicing trigger control, but not very accurate. Anyways, here are some pics below:
Posing with the type 99 with bayonet attached & the 400 and 600 yard targets circled
Posing with the k98--always wanted to shoot one and finally got the chance
It was so much fun, but after shooting iron sights at long distances for 9-10 hours, my eyes felt very tired. I slept very well last night.
