Plinking During the Shut Ins

Well, my first executive order after Montana called for a statewide shut-in was to order up a .22 caliber bullet trap.  The trap arrived in only a couple of days and already my son and I were on the deck plinking with our favorite .22’s.  The sound of the report, followed by the gong of the trap catching our lead, followed occasionally by the distant gobble of a tom signaling to me that in a couple of weeks, whether or not things are better in the world, at least we will be turkey hunting.

My first grab for plinking is my old reliable Ruger 10/22 from 1984.  This particular rifle is one of those “never sell” rifles that has always been just too “valuable” to part with.  Even through the tough financial times of college, young family, new business start-ups, etc., that caused me to “sell down” on occasion the 10/22 has always been mine.

In 1984 I saved all of my summer money to buy my dream gun, a shiny Browning BAR 22.  I went to a local gun auction and bought one new in the box for $180, which represented nearly all of my summer wages.  To my chagrin, the shiny gun wasn’t reliable enough for hunting, trapping and plinking in farm country.  It was just too finicky for the dirty, dusty conditions; jamming up about every second or third shot.  Frustrated, I went to my local gunsmith for help.  He tried to fix it but to no avail, so after the second try, I looked up in the rafters of the detached garage that he used as his shop, reloading station and gun and scope retail space.  There hanging was the ugliest gun I ever saw.  It was mounted up with a Redfield tracker 4x.  He told me it would shoot the eye out of a squirrel and that I could go out and test it myself at his range.  I shot, it fell in love with it, asked if he would trade me even up (because I was all out of cash) and he said yes.  He was happy, I was happy.  It was a good deal.

Now, 36 years later, I grab the .22 that accompanied me through thick and thin.  I have never touched the adjustments on the scope.  The screws in the rings were last torqued by Al, my gunsmith-long since gone- when he mounted it.  The turret caps haven’t been unscrewed and the turrets haven’t been touched since either.  I remember his statement, that it will shoot the eye out of a squirrel at 50 yards.  It has always been that accurate, even with no amount of care, which is exactly how much I have given it. 

My son grabbed a turkey head silhouette target, used for patterning our shotguns and clipped it to the trap.  My first shot took the eye out of the turkey.  Still dead on just like always.  Great guns are great guns and always will be.