Thanks to our friend Landon (who can be seen prominently dissing the AK-47 in the comments of my previous posts), my dad and I had the opportunity to shoot the living daylights out of paper targets with a wide variety of weapons. I'm just going to run down the list and give my impressions of each one.
#1: 9mm Glock. Excellent, once I figured out how to hold it properly so that it doesn't jam after every shot. Fun to shoot.
#2: .357 Ruger revolver, 6-inch barrel. We tried this one with both .38 Special and .357 magnum rounds. Three words describe this thing: Simple and awesome. The magnum rounds just felt good to shoot, though the .38 Special rounds were extremely fun, as well.
#3: Mossberg tactical shotgun - not sure of the model: It's a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun. Do I really need to say anything else?
#4: Double-barrel shotgun: There's not really a lot to say about it, except that I managed to screw up loading it.
#5: Romanian WASR-10 AK-47: The performance was absolutely astounding - the rifle fired every shot accurately and without fail, despite the cheap, low-quality ammo and magazines we used. A perfect assault rifle if ever there was one.
Okay, so that was a lie. It literally jammed every second or third shot, in the end becoming a makeshift bolt-action rifle that ejected every other bullet. It consistently failed in a number of ways, despite being in apparently good condition for an AK-47. I was baffled. Landon, on the spot, disassembled the gun and found that there was a teeny-tiny piece of metal sticking out. Sorry for the poor terminology, but I don't remember the term that was used. Anyway, he filed it off with his knife, and the last 6 shots went perfectly. I am going to look for an opportunity to shoot a higher-quality AK, as the Romanian WASR-10s are not especially well-made, being some of the cheapest on the market. It was fun when it worked, though.
#6: Mosin-Nagant: Aaahh, the original Soviet weapon. It has a nasty kick, but it's fun as heck to shoot. Bolt-action. I somehow managed to jam it, as well as scraping my hand 5 times with the bolt before realizing that I was doing it the wrong way.
#7: K98 Mauser: Moving on from Commies to Nazis. The Mosin had a nasty kick - this was worse, sounded like a cannon, and was even more awesome. I somehow managed to jam this bolt rifle as well, but not as badly. Didn't scrape my hand, either. If I'm not mistaken, the specific rifle we fired was made in 1944, but it worked splendidly when we used it.
#8: AR-15: Along with the M-4, the current weapon of choice for the US armed forces. A fine weapon in its own right, this particular rifle was, for lack of a better term, very fancy, having enough add-ons and features that it is, in fact, superior to the ARs issued to the US Army. It looks cool as heck, and is pretty scary, though not quite to the level of terrifying as the AK-47. Sorry, Landon. Humorously nicknamed the EBR - Evil Black Rifle. Had a slightly odd grip, but it was actually rather nice once I got used to it. Having actually FIRED it, it's earned some more respect from me.
#9: Ruger 10/22: Yeah, I know. Anticlimactic. But it was fun to shoot, and a nice, light, low-recoil breather after the shoulder-breaking Mauser, the rather jumpy AR-15, and the AK-47, the barrel of which was nearly flying after the first shot. The 10/22 also provided relief for our ears, which had nearly been split by the Mosin and Mauser, which I assure you are extremely loud, despite earplugs.
Altogether, it was a pretty awesome day, and I now have a little experience in the guns most hated by liberals - semi-auto handguns, AR-15s, and AK-47s. So thanks, Landon, for giving me the opportunity to try some real power rifles!
