Shooting and a Shotgun

J and I went out to the range again this weekend. We went to Pasadena Gun Center, a mistake which will not be repeated soon. The range is amazingly poorly ventilated. The farther out you send a target, the harder it gets to see because of a haze of smoke. The lanes are also pretty narrow. About half the rounds you fire will come back off the wall and land on or near you, providing a lovely distraction and the ever present possibility of burnt flesh. The range itself has no material anywhere to muffle sound at all, so it’s goddamned loud. When you couple this with the fact that for some reason, J’s earmuffs weren’t sealing real well, and the whole experience just wasn’t working real well for us. Between the smoke, the noise, and the general filth level, we left after about 130 rounds. Given that I walked in with 300, I’d say we left early. The only reason I can see for going there is the machine gun rental. Other than that, I think I’ll stick with Marksman for indoor pistol ranges.

We did take care of the earmuff problem by the simple expedient of buying new ones. Both pairs I have are incredibly old, and will be relegated to yard work. We got 2 new pairs of Leight earmuffs with a NRR of 31db at Academy. As a bonus, they’re nice and shiny and in the only appropriate color.

I also spent some time trying to figure out the issues I’m having with the Winchester Model 12 my mother-in-law gave me. I still can’t get it apart, so I put some penetrating oil into some places to see if that helps. I am stuck at the point of removing the action slide from the receiver so I can get the bolt carrier out. Somebody suggested removing the barrel first. Hmm. If I could get a certain screw out, I would. More penetrating oil, I s’pose. We’ll see how it goes tonight.