10/20/16 .357 Big Boy & SmokeWagon

[CT_Shooter]

In spite of having a very sore back today, I went to the range wearing a back brace and anxious to shoot since it's been so long. These are the targets from my Henry H006M Rifle and my Uberti SmokeWagon Revolver.

I feel as if I've finally gotten the front sight on the Henry Rifle adjusted properly. It has a stock front bead sight and a Skinner Express rear peep site with a .125 aperture. Looking down range through the aperture at the six inch target, the front bead pretty much covers the entire thing, so I pull the trigger when all I can see is a tiny bit of the target surrounding the front sight.

The front sight of the SmokeWagon Revolver has been treated to a bit of white nail polish and it shows up nicely against the black target and red bullseye.

I shot 50 handloads in each gun, 25 rounds per target. Again, I was standing and shooting off hand. I'm glad I decided to go. It was fun and I almost forgot about my backache.

Henry Big Boy - 25 rounds @ 75 feet

Henry Big Boy - 25 rounds @ 75 feet

Uberti SmokeWagon - 25 rounds @ 25 feet

Uberti SmokeWagon - 25 rounds @ 25 feet

[White Squirrel]

That's better shooting than I can do without a bad back! Glad it was good therapy for you.

I have the same problem with the Skinner sight on my Rossi 92. I can kind of see the target at 25 yards, but at 50 yards an 8 inch target just disappears.

[RetiredSeabee]

Gunpowder therapy is good for what ails you.

Back pain is something I have intimate knowledge of. And at the risk of sounding like a preacher, have you considered yoga as a practice of therapy. I began taking classes 6 years ago because of my back. I had been to the ER 3 times in the 5 years prior to then. I have not been out of commission because of my back since. Full disclosure, I teach now so I may be biased in thinking that yoga is good for everybody.

Back on subject with your targets. You seem to have a handle on what is currently working for you on the Henry.
Here is a suggestion, rather than covering the target with the front bead try sighting in so the top of the front bead is at the bottom of the target circle.
this way you can clearly see that the target is centered above the bead.
Fire three to five rounds then adjust the elevation of the rear sight to bring the point of impact of the bullet up to target center.
So in a nutshell if you do this and the first rounds are hitting low on the target near where the front bead is centered. You raise the rear sight so the next string of shots hit the target higher. And you adjust until the rounds are hitting closer to center.
This is the way I learned how to sight in an M16 at 200 yards.
Forgive me for slipping into teacher mode..

[PT7]

Glad you got out to the range. Never before thought of doing that as physical therapy to help forget about having a backache.
Plus you had fun! Yup, shooting is great therapy all around! What could be better?

Like how those black splash targets regularly turn so white when the smoke clears from your Big Boy and Smoke Wagon! Good consistent shooting, CT. And I also noticed how you imaged your firearms onto each target....pretty cool!

I liked RSb's wandering into the teaching mode, and agree with his suggestion. I think using the "six-o'clock" sight hold would be a good adjust to try out. It works pretty darn good at a known range and using one target size, which is the type of shooting you are doing. If you do try his suggestion, it would be cool to find out how you like it, and to see your target results. Good to see your range report today!

[RanchRoper]

Way to cowboy up and go have fun anyway. Nice job. Targets sure look good.

[CT_Shooter]

Back pain is something I have intimate knowledge of. And at the risk of sounding like a preacher, have you considered yoga as a practice of therapy. I began taking classes 6 years ago because of my back. I had been to the ER 3 times in the 5 years prior to then. I have not been out of commission because of my back since. Full disclosure, I teach now so I may be biased in thinking that yoga is good for everybody.

This particular backache was the result of bad posture while lifting and carrying a chair. However, my unrelenting chronic back pain is caused by severe spinal stenosis. I've had a surgical laminectomy and I've also had spinal fusion surgery (L2 - L4) to repair a slipped disc, so I have sacrificed a lot of spinal flexibility for that repair; but I can now walk a lot farther than a few hundred yards before I completely break down, which is what life was like before the surgery.

I'm not sure how yoga would benefit me given those conditions, though maybe there is some benefit regardless of my inability to bend or stretch my torso as I once did as a young man. I'm also not confident that it might reduce the effects of stenosis, but please let me know if you have some insight. I'd certainly be thankful.

Back on subject with your targets. You seem to have a handle on what is currently working for you on the Henry.
Here is a suggestion, rather than covering the target with the front bead try sighting in so the top of the front bead is at the bottom of the target circle.
this way you can clearly see that the target is centered above the bead.
Fire three to five rounds then adjust the elevation of the rear sight to bring the point of impact of the bullet up to target center.
So in a nutshell if you do this and the first rounds are hitting low on the target near where the front bead is centered. You raise the rear sight so the next string of shots hit the target higher. And you adjust until the rounds are hitting closer to center.
This is the way I learned how to sight in an M16 at 200 yards.

That is a good suggestion and I will try it next time out. Thanks. But, I wonder if another half turn at this short distance might be too much, though I will certainly give it a try and post my results. I may actually need to lower the level of the six o'clock position to make it work. Thanks again.

Forgive me for slipping into teacher mode..

I am most responsive to that mode having been an adult college student and a graduate degree instructor at a university, myself. Thanks for slipping into it. Slipping is good when it's into tutorial modes of instruction, but it's very bad for spinal discs.