heymatthew

We went shooting instead.

Headed out this morning with a great friend of mine to check out a local gun show. There wasn't much to be had and the prices were pretty far up there so we left pretty quickly and empty handed. On the way back to my house to grab some toys to take to the farm, we passed a local church that was selling pumpkins to support their upcoming missions. I figured there wasn't really anything better to shoot at than a pumpkin so I loaded up a few grocery bags with some of the little ones and grabbed a couple of volley-ball sized pumpkins for some 50-yard targets with the open-sights Mini-14.

This is what happens when a .223 hits a pumpkin. Entry on the left, exit on the right. (Caution: The following image is graphic and may be unsuitable for viewing by some members of the squash family.)



Ended up being an excellent day at the farm. I got my UltraDot sighted in on my 10/22, my FastFire III sighted in on my 22/45 and ran some rounds through my Mini 14 and CZ75 SP01. A great afternoon despite the slow start to our morning. And with the money I saved from not blowing my wad at the gun show went to purchase a Nikon M223 1-4x scope and some Warne QD rings for the Mini. So I'll have a range report on that one next weekend (hopefully).

Hope you all had a great weekend. Any other range reports to speak of?

Jtiv19

Nice! You need to put a candle in it and set it on your porch.

Rosie

Next time cut a small hole in the top of them and fill them with water!

BearcatShack

I took my GP100, SP101 and LCR to the range today. I love love love 357.

No pumpkins, just paper. I am impressed with what a 223 does to one though!

Mayor Al

Hey Matt
I posted the listing for my Mini-14 here and on Armslist and it sold for $750 within a few hours of the posting. '14's seem to be in demand !!
AL

heymatthew

Wow! I saw a couple for sale at the gun show today. One guy had a 180-series mini that he was walking around with trying to sell. Looked nice. I also saw one in .222 on a dealer's table. Didn't know they made it in that caliber. I actually had to look it up to see what it was. Seems there's an interesting bit of history as to why they offered it in the .222 variant as opposed to the .223/5.56.

Congrats on the sale! Do you miss it yet?

heymatthew

Sounds like you had a good day as well!

heymatthew

Well guys, I would have put a candle in it, but after that first shot, I got a little carried away and pretty much annihilated it. So yeah... No shot up pumpkins for my porch this year. At least not until I get some more and shoot them, too!

And I'm helping out a church! How can you go wrong with that?

bwinters

Shooting ripe fruit or vegetables is always fun.

BearcatShack

I hope you left the seeds behind. You'll have a whole punkin patch to shoot next year!

heymatthew

Yep. Tossed em in the uncut portion of the field next to my shooting lane.

TMB

Cool what bullet were you using?

heymatthew

Believe it or not it was just the el-cheapo Tula stuff from Walmart. Steel case, 55 gr. if I recall correctly.

Mayor Al

Matt

Of the two...
The Mini-30 with the thumbhole stock
OR
The Mini-14 with the Choate folding stock,

I'll take the Mini-30 any day. I really like those Tundra laminated thumbholes, and I do NOT much care for the folding stock. Plus I'd like to see what a 7.62x39 HP or SP round does to your Squash ?

heymatthew

Ah... I didn't realize you had the Mini 30. I suppose if I had the 30, I'd not have much need for the 14. Choosing between the two, I guess I'd have stuck with the 30 as well.

I currently have the Hogue rubber stock on mine. I don't know how much I'd actually like a folding stock of any kind. I've never seen one in person so I can't say for sure, but I'm fine with the Hogue. I had a Revolution Yukon stock on my 10/22 for a while and I really liked that, although it was a bit heavy for a 10/22. Probably does well on the 30, though.