Range Trip 3.3.2011

This trip I focused on shooting Russian Bear ammunition. At first when I picked it up it caused all sorts of wierd malfunctions in my G19. However after changing the followers and modifying the mags a little bit, I ran 100 through it without issue. This trip I also took out the old AR, and tested out my 50 yard zero at a 25 yard range.


The Bear ammo....



Russian ammo is notoriously dirty, and this was no exception. I didn't get any pics of the "after", but trust me, it was alot dirtier than when I shoot my usual American Brass ammo. Bear ammo is laquer coated, and is known to jam up guns with tight tolerances, (1911, SIG, HK USP etc) however with the Glock I experienced no failures of any kind, and the glock had not been cleaned from the previous trip either.

Here are the results from the first 50 rounds or so, some shots fired in quick succession, some slow fired:




As you can see, the ammo isn't bad, and compared to the previous trip I took (see last blog post) I actually did a little better at keeping the shots centered. This is probably not due to the ammo, but me just working on my technique.

After 100 rounds you can see some flyers but all in all not too bad. The ones outside the orange were almost certainly caused when I started doing some double taps. Still have a positive effect on target though so its ok.


conclusion: for glock, the brown bear works fine, if you use 10 round magazines though you'll have to change the followers. The 2183 followers used by the 10 round mags are crap, and I have no idea why they switched to them. The 9mm6 followers are much better. (all my mags use these followers now)

The AR.....

I also brought the AR out. It is zero'd at 50 yards and this trip confirmed it. The bottom 3 shots were done at approx 12 yards. I was aiming at the "5" and as expected they shot low, due to Point of Aim and Point of Impact being offset by about 1.5-2 inches. However, aiming at the EXACT same spot at 25 yards gave me 6 shot group right under the "5". These shots were not done using a benchrest so you can see where I wavered a little bit. But, the shots were about where they should be for a 50 yard zero (1.0 to 1.2 inches below your POA)


These shots were done at about 7 yards, basically point blank range for a rifle. The 5 shots directly below the "5x" were done by aiming about 2 inches high. This is because my optic sits high up, and thus demonstrating that disparity between Point of Aim Point of Impact when using a rifle. The shots that look randomly splattered all over were my snap shots. These were shots made quickly after pulling the sights up on target. The one at the bottom right was just bad muzzle control.



Bottom line: shooting is not as easy as the media/hollywood makes it seem!! There are alot of adjustments that need to be made in your head before you can actually place shots where you want them.

Trip with the Glock 19

Today I went and shot my Glock 19. I've been trying to get better with pistols, I prefer long arms (shotgun/rifle) but I'm working on it!



Few things I tried to make sure of today:

#1 every time I fired, I reset the trigger properly, instead of just releasing the trigger between shots.

#2 Maintain proper grip with every shot.

#3 Wait for good sightpicture before breaking each shot. Here are some of the results!

This is the first 10 shots, using winchester 124gr

I was shooting slightly to the left., and you can see 2 distinct flyers. This is still a good group for a fighting/defensive handgun.

Twenty shots same ammo/target

I was still putting the shots in the same place. Still pulling slightly to the left. Probably due to my trigger control. Only a couple extra flyers outside the main group. Still shooting slightly to the left, but honestly I was just trying to place in the orange, not punch out the X.


50 shots...

This was after the full box of 50. The 4 flyers outside the orange are probably due to fatigue. Still, if you know me, then you'd know I'm not satisfied and am actually pretty upset by the flyers.


Double Taps



A double tap is when you fire 2 shots in quick succession. This was a different target than the first one. You can see distinct pairs of shots in this target, and you'll notice the shots are not as grouped nicely. However, when engaging a threat you will want to fire until the threat stops, thus learning to fire in 2s and even 3s can be very beneficial.


Overall this was a very good range trip, and I hope only to improve!

Aimpoint M4 VS Eotech 512

I purchased the Eotech in July of 2010. In January 2011 I picked up the Aimpoint M4. After shooting both, the Aimpoint is my choice, and here is why. Aimpoint is pictured top, Eotech below.



Durability


If you know me, then you know that I value tough products. I'll gladly pay a little more to make sure that what I got can handle some abuse. As you can hopefully tell from the pictures the Eotech 512 does have a strong aircraft aluminum hood which covers the main body. However, the battery compartment in the front is NOT covered. Doesn't mean its fragile by any means, but it is something that I look at.

The Aimpoint M4 is completely encased in an aircraft aluminum casing. Everything except the brightness control dial is metal. There was a demonstration where a rep from aimpoint threw the optic across a parking lot, threw it back, mounted it up and it still retained zero. Thats worse than anything that I would do to my optic so I feel pretty secure. The Aimpoint feels absolutely rock solid.

Battery Life

The Eotech 512, using good alkaline batteries gets about 1100 hours on 2 AA batteries. The Aimpoint M4 gets 80,000 with 1 AA battery. No contest aimpoint hands down. I can leave the sucker on for years and not have to think about it. I'll probably even change the battery every 1 year just to keep it fresh.

The aimpoint power system is so effective at drawing battery life. I took a battery from my remote control. This batter was "dead", the remote stopped working. Using that "dead" battery, I put it in the aimpoint and voila, it still worked. Why? Because the Aimpoint can use the tiniest amount of power to run. My remote didn't even register the battery as having any juice left, but the Aimpoint found some.

The Eotech 512 has an auto-shutoff feature. It automatically shuts off after 8 or 4 hours, depending on which button you use to turn it on. This is a negative for me, because honestly I'd like to control whether its on or off.

As mentioned, the aimpoint has so much battery life it doesn't need an auto shutoff.

Mount



I call mounting options a draw, because I have a LaRue Quick Detach for both my eotech and my aimpoint. I like LaRue because their mounts are solid, guaranteed to retain zero, and are very simple to use. The Quick Detach is a great feature of LaRue mounts, you can take optics on and off very quickly, while still maintaining a solid zero. Also, LaRue will sell you an optic at the standard price and include their mount instead of the standard QRP2 (in the case of the AP).

The Eotech mounts to the weapon system directly whereas the AP requires a mount. However since I use a LaRue on both of them the Eotech's benefit of integrated mount is lost on me. Again have to call this one a draw.

Controls



Here's where it starts to really swing in AP's favor. The Eotech 512 controls as you can see are two rubber buttons, one for lowering brightness one for increasing brightness. The controls on the eotech 512 are not that bad until: #1 you have to lower brightness quickly, #2 you have a Backup Iron Sight sitting right behind it. #3 in my case, the buttons sometimes get stuck, they're rubber and sometimes they deform a little bit and turn sideways slightly, causing them to stick.

The Aimpoint uses a control knob. Clock wise for brighter, counter for dimmer. There is an audible "click" everytime. The control knob as you can see is away from the iron sight/magnifier,thus you can easily reach the controls with one hand without taking moving away from fire control.

When you're adrenaline is pumping, or you're getting fatigued, your fine motor skills become somewhat lost. Pressing little buttons is fine for many folks, but I prefer simply turning a knob, or because the battery life is so good in the case of the Aimpoint M4, not having to hit the knob at all.

Field of View

Field of View. This is where the Eotech is supposed to shine. With its window like display, it offers a wider view of things. The AP, being a tube design, is supposedly not as good, because of"tunnel vision". Let me tell you, tunnel vision is entirely possible with an eotech as well.

If you're shooting close up, then you should have both eyes open. I found that using the AP, I had just as much view of multiple targets/surroundings as with the Eotech. When not looking through the tube, I look over the optic anyway, so I know how not to get sucked into the tube.

Reticle (refer to pics above)

The targeting recticle on the Aimpoint is a simple 2 MOA red dot. The Eotech 512 is a 1 MOA dot with a 65 MOA dot circle around it. For me the simple dot was much easier to keep track of and see. When the Eotech recticle would bounce during multiple snap shots, it would look like a huge blur and it got a bit distracting. The AP's dot, although it did bounce as well, was less distracting. Some people like the big targeting recticle of the Eotech, but for me I can do without it.

All of this is strictly my opinion, there are many people on both sides of the fence, and people who really like both. Eotech makes a great product and I am happy to recommend it for people who like the way it handles. I chose my AP (just like everything else) because it works better for me, and my shooting style/preferences.

VTAC Light Mount

I guess its kinda fitting that my first entry in the blog is my newest acquisition. I'll go back and review alot of the other stuff I've picked up over the past 7 months but I wanted to start small.
A flashlight may not seem like a big deal at the range, but in a home defense situation the ability to control light can make or break you. I recently picked up a VTAC (Viking Tactical) light mount. Its polymer, its light, its 24.99. Seems to good to be true right? Wrong.

This mount is everything advertised and more. I like to mount my lights on the reaction side (Thats left for me because I'm right handed). I can access the push button with my thumb and maintain a positive grip on the weapon. The mount gives flexibility in that you can put it at any position you like. I prefer mounting it on the top rail because it produces the least amount of barrel shadow (thats when you turn on the light and you see the shadow of the barrel, in this instance the shadow is cast at 4-5 o clock and is out of my field of view.

The Light

The light I'm using is a surefire 6P. Not as fancy as my E2D but a great sturdy light putting out an average of 90 lumens.90 lumens is perfectly bright enough to illuminate a room and identify targets/non targets. This is not a long range gun, this is a defensive weapon so I'm not concerned about lighting up the block.




Material/Weight
Back to the mount! Its lightweight polymer may seem like its fragile but think about how much Magpul uses polymers in their products, from magazines to Back up Iron Sights. Glocks, M&Ps, XDs, all use polymer frames. This is not some run of the mill crapperware. Folks have tested these mounts and even with a hot barrell and shooting hundreds of rounds these things last. VTAC doesn't make crap products and this is no exception. This moutn is extremely lightweight thanks to the polymer, and my gun can use all the lightening up it can!



Low Profile
The mount is extremely low profile, meaning that it stays close to the gun. This is great for several reasons. One, it is less likely to snag, get in the way etc. Two the gun will point easier, because you don't have the light dangling far away from the barrel. Think of when your sleeves are a bit too big, and when you try and move around how it gets in the way. Now imagine your sleeves hugging your arms more. Big difference right?

Different light sizes
A great feature of the VTAC mount is the shim, which can be added or taken out with ease. It allows lights from .80" to 1" circumference to be mounted. An example of a .80 would be the E2D defender series. 1" would be the 6P series. This allows you to use a whole range of flashlights instead of having to buy a new mount just because the one you have doesn't accommodate your new light.

Overall
You cannot go wrong with this product. At 25 dollars, its a great investment. There are other mounts (daniel defense, LaRue etc) that are made of metal if that matters to you, but they will cost more. Not to say LaRue/DD aren't GREAT manufacturers. In fact all my scope mounts are from LaRue, and Daniel Defense made my rail system. I'm simply saying that if you're in the market for a light weight low profile light mount, VTAC is something you should look into.