Range Report and Product Reviews

Today, I went to the Garland Public Range with my Handi-Rifle, some new targets and hearing protection. The range has added something new. They have placed hanging screens between the benches on the rifle range. This will protect shooters from other shooters flying brass. 🙂

Product Review 1: Caldwell ES85 electronic hearing protection – These worked great for me. I did not notice any loud noises and could hear the range officer and conversations easily. I paid $15 for these from MidwayUSA. I think they are well worth the money, even at double the price.

Product Review 2: Birchwood Casey Dirty Bird Targets – These I was not as happy with. I found them harder to see than the Shoot-N-C targets from the same company. The white background just doesn’t show up as well as the fluorescent green.

I found that the Handi-Rifle shoots 62 grain bullets almost as well as 55 grain bullets. Below are thumbnails with links to targets for comparison.

Both shot well within minute of deer kill (yes, it is legal to shoot our little bitty Texas deer with a 223). I still want to get some quality 70 grain factory loads and see how they perform. For now, I will be reloading Hornady 53 grain HPs. One of the interesting things I noticed was, after firing 10 rounds, I would get heat shimmers off of my barrel while looking through my scope. I would hate to see how bad this would be if I didn’t have a bull barrel.