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General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Gamo Gate => : Lord_Jereth June 29, 2008, 02:27:48 PM

: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: Lord_Jereth June 29, 2008, 02:27:48 PM

So, after putting in the GRT-III and mounting a new scope, I finally took my BC1200 and my wife out to the local range for some plinking. I'd like to share the story with all of you, here.

The day started out as a leisurely Sunday morning which, for my wife and I, is a rather new experience. Usually Sunday is reserved for wash, shopping and various and sundry other things we just can't seem to get to during the week since Saturday is usually our rest/recreation day. But, this week's round of wash was already done since my wife took a "mental health" day off from work on Friday and did it then. I'm a computer geek by trade and a buddy of mine and I usually reserve Saturday for gaming and shooting the breeze, no pun intended, and yesterday was no exception. We were doing lots of shooting, just not in RL, so to speak. So, needless to say, if I was going to get any shooting done this week, it would be today.

As I said, the day started out comfy and looked to be a day of me and the wife hangin' out and generally having an extra day to rest and recoup before the new week of seemingly endless grind. Over the past few weeks, my wife has seen me researching and working on my new Cat and longing for time to get some lead down-range somewhere. Being the wonderful and attentive woman that she is, she saw me lounging aimlessly this morning on the computer and made the suggestion of going to the open public range I'd found out about from a friend that's within a 15 minute drive from home. Do I have a winner of a wife or what?

Originally the idea was that since neither of us had ever seen the place, we'd just go up and take a look at it. I figured, since it was a Sunday and open to the public, we'd be there with a bunch of other folks or waiting in line to get in. I wasn't real keen on the idea since it's been about 20 years since my last real bout of shooting and I knew I'd be rusty, especially with a new rifle that hadn't even been sighted in yet. Actually, I was, truth tell, a little nervous about looking like a total beginner all over again. So, we went with the idea of not really shooting, just scoping the place out. But, knowing that being prepared is always a good thing, I packed the rifle with my case, safety glasses and a brand new box of Crosman Premier hollow-points and off we went.

 The last few weeks have been either rainy or hot and unbearably muggy here in northern Wisconsin, but today was comfy, sunny and with just a slight breeze. The range was easy to find having gotten excellent directions from my buddy and is actually attached to a camp grounds. We scaled the hill with our soccer mom van and hit the parking lot to find it empty. Yup, that's right, we had the entire range all to ourselves. Wonderful! We walked around the range a bit, getting the feel of the well demarcated zones with individual pavilions with firing benches and open fields of fire surrounded by trees and berms. With such a perfect opportunity, I knew we were definitely going to get some shooting in today if it killed us!
 

Upon sitting down at my selected bench I immediately realized that I wasn't quite as prepared as i had hoped. I had packed no targets, no sandbags and no tools. Well, crap! We scouted around and found a shack that had an abandoned cardboard box lying in it with target stickers still stuck to it that hadn't been fully shot to pieces yet. Ok, one problem down, two to go. So, I took a few shots at the box which we set up approximately 20 yards down range and soon found what I knew going in, I just wasn't going to be able to sight this thing in with just my bare arms and hands resting on the bench. Being a mistress of improvisation as she is, my darling wife again came to my rescue, lending me her purse as a sandbag. We propped it up on the case to have a decent amount of elevation and off I went. I began taking shots and, of course, my scope wasn't anywhere near sighted in and I had no screwdriver to tick the scope windage and elevation with. This time, I did the improvising and pulled my pocket knife out, using the blade to tick off the settings. Not an elegant solution but I was careful and began walking in my shots relatively easily after that.

Within about 20 minutes I had gotten my groups in close enough that I could really start having some fun. At this point my wife and I had to start improvising yet again as the target box had, by this time, quite a few more holes than when we started. We scouted the area again and found some half shot up skeets lying around and began plinking the shards from the box. By this time, my old military training was taking over and I was settling in to the 19 year old, but still familiar groove. I began putting lead on target pretty consistently as did my wife. The GRT-III worked flawlessly and made the whole experience so much more enjoyable. Before we new it, hours had gone by and we'd had the most fun afternoon together since ages.

Towards the end, we found some old spent shotgun shells to shoot at. By the end of the day, I was center-punching them at 20 yards and brought home my "trophies" to prove it. We've decided we're definitely going to be getting my wife a rifle of her own so we can shoot together at the same time and I'm pretty positive we'll become regulars at our new chosen venue. I'm a stout 5'11" and I stand a head taller than my wife. She just doesn't have the strength of arm to hold the Cat or cock it so we're going to try to find her something a little smaller. Should be easy and we can't wait to go out again!

Patrick D. - June 29, 2008.
Born-again backyard sniper.

8) LJ

: Re: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: Lord_Jereth June 29, 2008, 03:01:13 PM

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/Lord_Jereth/P6290053.jpg)
Me with the Big Cat

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/Lord_Jereth/P6290064.jpg)
My darling wife with the Big Cat

He he he

8) LJ

: Re: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: davee1 June 29, 2008, 04:08:28 PM

Lj....if I may ask...what airgun do you want to get your wife? So far, my wife has remained uninterested in any of my guns because she cant cock any of them. The only way she'll shoot is if I cock it for her. My wife is a stout girl, she used to lift weights with me, so she's got the will but she just can't do it...and niether can any of the womankind who have come over. I'm interested to see what you choose for her. I figure its gonna be PCP for my wife...but thats down the road a ways when we hit the big times.(http://../jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif)

: RE: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: Big_Bill June 29, 2008, 04:42:15 PM

Great account of your day Jereth,

It's realy great that your wife enjoys airgunning along with you.

I don't know how much you intend on spending for her air rifle, but I would recomend the HW-30, my daughter handles and cocks it very well, it is very well made, and oh so accurate ! I love to shoot it myself.

They go for $215.00 at Pyramid Air, : http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/model.pl?model_id=573 (http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/model.pl?model_id=573)

It should last a lifetime, and is OH SO SWEET ! You'll probably find that you will love it too.

Thanks for sharing your day with us :)

Bill

: Re: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: Brod_Man June 30, 2008, 02:53:20 AM

I agree with Bill, on the HW-30, or you could try the GAMO Recon. Also i find it that people say you dont rest an airgun on a surface other than your hand, because of the recoiling piston? But it seems you did just fine. Huh. I May have to try it with My Storm XT.

: RE: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: rojoshb June 30, 2008, 09:46:03 AM

Well dude welcome to da gamo club. I have a bc as well with a barska 3-12x40 ao mil dot and it will shoot really tite at 25 yds. Dime groups with no wind. Tree rats at 50 yds. no sweat if necessary. So ya thought you were gonna look bad!!! Don't forget ya never forget how to ride or shoot. I gave up on several things after I started wearing bi-focals; like shooting pool and handguns and frisbee, but decided that it would not prevent me from shooting guns anymore, so went to work, and found that I can still shoot rifles with scopes. Do F- class long range stuff 300 to 1000 yds. and am competitive. Shoot airguns as a keeper of the faith for many many years.

LUV  BEATLE 8)

: Re: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: Lord_Jereth June 30, 2008, 10:35:43 AM

Yup, methinks we're going to go with the Gamo Recon. We checked it out at Ace and she likes how small and light it is.  Still gotta wait for our returns and stimulus check to arrive (don't ask - long story) but I think I know where at least a small chunk of it is going ... he he he

Thanks for all the well wishing, guys. Man, we had a blast. I put some of the pics she and I took at the range on my computers at work and every time I looked at them I just wanted to clock out and go shooting again. Yup, methinks I've caught the bug bad. Well, there's much worse and much more expensive addictions out there. :D

8) LJ

: Re: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: gamo2hammerli July 01, 2008, 10:47:29 AM

Looks like you guys had a wonderful fun time shooting that kitty.  I got one also...and it shoots accurate and powerful.  Abit louder than my other air rifles though....and just abit on the light side.  I find the cocking of the barrel to be quite easy and smooth....

: Re: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: Lord_Jereth July 08, 2008, 10:29:53 AM

Sho'nuff, we went with the Recon. She loves it.

She was all smiles as we left the store and was even bragging to the one clerk she knows, "Yup, my husband bought me a GUN!"

His reply, "Just don't use it on HIM!"

HAHAHAHA!

She has no problem cocking it and once I taught her to stance correctly (she was always holding it straight on and wondering why she couldn't get close enough to the scope to sight through it well enough) she feels very comfy with it. We'll be going out to sight her in this weekend. Can't wait ...

8) LJ

: Re: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: Lord_Jereth July 11, 2008, 12:35:42 PM

Follow-up:

The wife's Recon.  

The girls:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/Lord_Jereth/P7110010.jpg)

I ended up giving my wife the Daisy PowerLine 3-9x32 scope that I had originally gotten for the Kitty along with the rings and my home made scope-stop. I got it lined up so she could sight down it and she's just happy as a clam. We're off to sight them in and kill some paper, tomorrow. Can't wait!  

8) LJ

: Re: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: July 11, 2008, 01:53:39 PM

I noticed the scope you got is the same as mine...you probably took the covers off because they suck, right? Not so much the back one but the front one is pretty useless. HOWEVER, there is a fix for that, and it's simple as hell. Put a rubber band over the lens barrel and then slip the cover over that. The rubberband should be concealed and it holds the cover in place perfectly.

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/2660164574_a7014ff888.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3278/2660163756_4ea787ba42.jpg)

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/2660166232_82eef4678e_b.jpg)

: Re: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: Lord_Jereth July 12, 2008, 01:50:03 AM

Hey bean,

That's a great idea. Thanks for the tip. I don't actually have that problem with mine, though. The caps seem to go on pretty tightly and stay there. They'll probably loosen up over time though, so I will definitely keep your solution in mind.

I love that your solution stays within the realm of the K*I*S*S*, rule. Keep It Simple, Stupid. It's simple, improvisational, reusable and easily replaceable. Well done!

Thanks again,

8) LJ

: RE: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: Lord_Jereth July 22, 2008, 02:38:57 PM

UPDATE:

We took "the girls" up to the range this evening for me to be able to rezero my Kitty with her new bipod mounted and for my wife to get more accustomed to her new Recon. Well, let's just say I started to get a little jealous when she started center punching the target consistently with a scope that's wrong for her eyes and very little experience with rifles. She just loves it and I can't wait to see what she does with a better scope! She's a natural!

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/Lord_Jereth/P7220009.jpg)

Might see if I can't get her a range rest here soon, too. Would be much better than the purse, don'tcha think? (http://../jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif)

8) LJ

: RE: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: gamo2hammerli July 22, 2008, 03:32:13 PM

At least the purse can carry things...while you carry the gun rest heh heh.

: RE: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: rojoshb July 25, 2008, 10:33:48 AM

I love the fact she's still usun the purse, dude. Inovation is always the mother of technology.  NAVAL TERM.  :p

: RE: Big Cat 1200 - a wonderful first day at the range.
: Lord_Jereth July 27, 2008, 02:58:24 AM

Yup, "Adapt and Overcome", old Army motto. Beauty and brains, that's my lady!

Still gonna get her a bench rest, though. The purse works and was good as a quick, innovative solution on the spur of the moment but it's a little too "make-do" to use over and over, in my opinion. My girl deserves better and now that our tax returns FINALLY got here, it's off to the sports store to get her rigged up right.

8) LJ