Friday - January 28, 2005

My Little Adventure At The Range

Well, it was with some apprehension that I took my SKS and CZ-52 to the range yesterday.  “Why the apprehension?” you may ask.  Concerns over mis-fires or non-fires and basic inexperience at using “relic” firearms.

I purchased the SKS some months ago and it was all full of cosmoline.  What a pain in the ass to clean.  All I read about was how tedious it was and how important it was to make sure the firing pin mechanism was ABSOLUTELY free of cosmoline or else the thing would go into “automatic” mode.  Then things like the gas chamber apparatus had to be free of gunk or the gun would only fire one shot at a time.  Hell, the full technical details I can not give you but suffice it to say I spent several hours cleaning the thing.  Then it sat for two months.

So I was concerned things would get gunked up again……… but I did not feel like cleaning it once more.  Since I heard the pin rattle when I shook the beast I bet on a come that it’d work but still.............that little voice was there

The CZ is another story.  Having gotten my FFL-03 license from the BATF, I can now order collectibles like the SKS, old Enfields, Mausers, and CZs direct from suppliers without having to do background checks or having them routed through an approved dealer and paying the dealer surcharges for the favor.

I ordered a CZ, supposedly in excellent condition, from AIM.  The pistol is known to have more stopping power than a 9MM but less than a 45.  Shoots a hot little bullet and all I’ve read about it indicates it is a lot of fun to shoot.

It gets to the house, I pick it up, look at it and go, “What the fuck?  How does this thing come apart?” So I dig around my bookmarks and pull up Military Surplus Rifle’s site. It showed me how to disassembled the SKS and it showed me how to take apart the CZ.  I opt not to take the CZ apart as it appears very clean.  But I can’t quite figure out why, when I pull the slide back it locks and I can’t make it go forward.  Something is not quite right and I suspect user error.  (I know, I can hear most of you now-"hey, come on!  That’s easy.  What a maroon!” )

Safety time: two things everyone needs to know about a CZ.  Never dry-fire it until you replace the firing pin.  NEVER, EVER use the de-cocking feature with a round in the chamber.  You WILL (most likely) discharge that round.  Heaven help you if you and the gun are not at the range and you do not have it pointed downrange!

So off I go.  I figure, it’s Thursday.  I’ll have the place to myself.  I get there at opening time (9 AM) and the place is packed already!

Show time!  Will my fears be founded?  Will I figure out what I am doing wrong with the CZ?  Is the SKS clean enough.

I needn’t have worried.

I decide to shoot the CZ-52 first.  Put one round in the mag, and the slide is still stuck in the “pulled back” mode.  Now, at home, I saw this little lever on the left side of the receiver area but could not get it to go down unless I used a blunt object and forced it down.  Then the slide would slam forward.  Hmmmmm.  Gotta be something going on here.

There I was, at the range, perplexed and about to be embarrassed if I did something stupid so I called the range officer over and explained how I did not want to screw the pooch by doing something wrong but I could not get the slide to go forward even after inserting a magazine.  Then it dawned on me!  “ASSHOLE, pull the slide back a bit and push that little left-hand side lever down.” Just like your 45!  Bingo. MORON!

That took care of that.  Well, too late, the Range guy was there and did just that.  I felt stupid.

I take it off safe, squeeze the trigger and BAM!!  Right on target.  Hot shit!  I am excited.  So I do it again with only one round.  BAM! again.

Now I shove 8 rounds in it and start shooting.  Rough trigger.  Couldn’t quite figure the point where pull equaled discharge. Much to my chagrin, over the course of the morning it did not fully chamber a round several times.  Why?  No clue.  One guy told me my elbows were bent so therefore I was absorbing the shock and the round would not chamber properly as I was taking away from the recoil it needed to load.  I thought, “hmmm, that’s bizarre.  Doesn’t sound right.” So I set it on a support and locked elbows.  It still happened.  That guy’s credibility is now seriously damaged.

I’m now thinking--possibly cheap ammo or bad ammo.

I also notice I am pulling to the left.  I aim for the right of the bull’s-eye and things improve.  Time to either make a site adjustment or maybe I should just put another 100 rounds through it to make sure it is not me anticipating the firing or not controlling my trigger pull correctly.

Any thoughts out there?

After 15-20 rounds I also notice my trigger finger is suffering from some sort of “strike back” coming from the trigger.  There’s a term for it but I do not know what it is.  The tip of my index finger still tingled 7 hours later.  But I kept shooting for another 40 or so rounds.  There should be a way to avoid it and I will be doing a bit of homework hunting this down on the message boards.

I set it aside and pull out the Ruger.  MY!  What a difference.  Smooth trigger pull.  Imagine, even a rookie like me could tell the difference!

It also seemed to be pulling to the left.  But didn’t the first time I shot it months ago. Hmmmmm.

Now it’s time to take out the SKS.

Visions of misfires, non-fires, etc. go through my mind.

I set up a target at 25 yards, put one round in it, pull the trigger and BAM!  I hit the target.  Hell, I better.  After all, it’s only 75 feet.  I try again.  No problem.  Obviously I did a good job cleaning the rifle. 

I feel better and more comfortable now.

I use the stripper clips and slam 10 rounds in it and start firing…. slowly at first.  One failure to chamber properly.  Another stripper clip’s worth and 1 jam.  Another stripper clip’s worth and BLAM BLAM BLAM, all 10 rounds.

Of course, I can’t see the target properly at this distance since they are not those fancy “day-glo yellow when you hit the black zone” type targets.  So I had no clue how well it shot.  The misfires I attribute to bad ammo.  Will buy better ammo and try again soon.  I had to wait for the all clear and upon getting the targets I see that almost all the shots were high of center.  Immediately I think, “HA!  I bet this baby is sighted for 100 yards and if I were to shoot at that distance, they’d be right in the zone.” I asked the R.O. and he confirmed. 

All in all a very good shooting day.

The cleaning took place soon as I got home and that’s a lot more fun to do on a cosmo-free gun.  Plus it’s good to know how to strip down a rifle and pistol.  Hell, I think I’ll clean them again today.  Then it will be off to the stores to buy targets and better ammo.  Oh, and a spotting scope.

I look forward to the next trip to the range.

Posted by Ranting Right Wing Howler     on 01/28/2005 at 10:38 AM   
Filed Under: • Personal •  
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