Gun-a-Day 30: TO3-78, .22LR, Bolt Action, Simmons 4×32 scope, prone at 50 yards

Today’s Mission? Prone shooting, part II (just when I thought it was safe to enjoy another perfectly mild, breezy, and sunny day).

The potential for redundant self-indulgence was pretty serious, since the plan for iron-sight shooting turned, at the last minute, into another practice round with the scope. But it turns out that I learned some very good things that I might not have otherwise. I also found from the pictures that I had some very tight shot pairs in the process (interested parties may refer to shots 12 & 13 and 14 & 15 in the time-lapse– the first two touch over another hole, and the second pair are almost single-holers at 3 o’clock on the target edge).  No doubt there’s a bit of good fortune involved in those shots, but they did happen, and this gun is taking on legendary and heroic proportions in my mind …

Today’s Documentation? The “gallery “picture” is the time-lapse video (in part ’cause I just found out that my Flickr account is getting overloaded … I’m running out of free storage space) which includes the rifle on the shooting mat at the end.

Today’s Recognition? Did I say shooting mat? Actually, in classic, Gun-a-Day cheapskate style, that black throw is a barbecue grill pad that I got on clearance. It works great, with its plasticized pad, as both a ground cloth and as an indoor gun-cleaning catch-all-base. No stains on carpets or tables …

But enough about a stupid piece of black synthetic fabric! What a hoot today’s shoot was! The rimfires were poppin’ and flyin’ with wild, blustery, ballistic abandon. How great is it to be able to post another 50 for 50 round? Pretty great.

Today’s Lesson? I do much better with smaller targets! Counter-intuitive but true. This is the tightest total group I’ve ever shot at 50 yards (or any other distance to the best of my knowledge), and I’m pretty sure I owe most of the credit to the pizza-box cardboard insert and the 2-inch Shoot-n-C target for helping me concentrate and center better than ever.

I may only use the 6-inchers for 100 yard-plus shooting from now on. This is definitely my new strategy for 50-yard targeting.

Shot o’the Day is the “one that almost got away” out where the target was held in place. I’m really happy with how compact this total group is, and the “flier” is the exception that proves the point.

Today’s Observation? Not so significant, but genuinely interesting to me: these cheapo, bent-aluminum/steel (?) yard sign holders are tough. The shot that turned the target and tore a big chunk out of it actually hit the pressure-pinch circle, and the wiry, stubborn, little widget didn’t do much more than turn in place.

In fact, it seems to have dropped the bullet dead in its path. I think I found it after the session (seen on the right in the target close-up). Sure does fit like a glove in the cardboard indentation and tear. The major deformation leaves it as a kind of “smear” of lead. It got the worst end of that confrontation.

I probably shouldn’t have been surprised to find that my collarbone was still tender from a couple of days ago. Now it’s even more so, but I just look at the target grouping, and the pain fades into the background … The wooden butt-plate may get a small recoil-reducing slip-cover sometime this year, though. Just for extra length of pull, of course!

Today’s Resolution? The scope issue is completely settled in my mind. This rifle deserves the best glass I can put it. It won’t be the best there is (can’t afford that, I’m sure), but I do intend to upgrade the optics on this pretty-doggone-near-to-a-tack-driving firearm. I feel like I’m obliged to ol’Tozzy …

Tomorrow: iron sights … no, really!

Gun-a-Day 27: TOZ-78, .22LR, Simmons 4×32 scope

Just in case my official, Gun-a-Day position has not been made clear, this declaration is announced:
My little Russian-born, almost-balsa-woody, small-bolt-y rifle is fanTOZtic!

Before getting home, I was planning to shoot with iron sights, but I had so much fun yesterday that I started developing new mission scenarios just to make sure I could string the practice sessions out for a few more days. So, today’s “job” (“Please, Sir, may I have some more?”) was to hit the 50-yard firing station again, employ the scope, and take a seated position, using an elbow-to-knee rest and support arrangement.

The scope doesn’t quite give me enough magnification to see target hits clearly, but I saw just enough yellow on the Shoot-n-C target to know that the first five rounds went alright. From there, I not only managed what I think is a decent group (all on the target once again) but also  shot the whole set at least twice as fast as I did yesterday.

I aimed faster and triggered quicker than my usual tendency to over-think, under-breathe, and over-wait on shooting (too often to the point of beginning to shake for lack of oxygen), and the results are very “acceptable.” For me, they’re downright fulfilling.

I picked out all Federal round-nosed cartridges (“lead-heads” in my book, ’cause they have no copper coloration– nothing but smooth, gray metal.

As I type, it occurs to me that I have rarely (if ever?) done a session of prone shooting. Perhaps tomorrow! Also, this rig is just begging for a time-lapse photography work-up, too.

Before getting too far ahead of myself, I’ll make the call on shot o’the day. It’s another cumulative pattern on a target affixed to an otherwise un-holed piece of cardboard which was “painted” with lead “markers” as the red-orange sun sunk into the gray-green fields under cloudless, ice-blue skies full of chilling, puffing breezes which were being scraped clean of farm smells by abrasive, lively pine needles and dead-dry (and yet stubbornly still branch-bound) oak leaves. A faint trace of bonfire-spiced ash and coal was floating as one of the thermal layers of near-earth atmosphere– nothing is better as a stress-relieving aroma on a deep-darkening, shadow-lengthening, temperature-plummeting mid-winter’s night.

All that and the smell of rimfired gunpowder residue and the sight of thoroughly-plugged target paper? What a great way to let go of daylight and start soaking up moonlight.

=== +++ ===

What It TOZ?

It was designed practically. It was produced economically. It was made sturdily. It was priced reasonably.
It was fitted capably. It was finished unpretentiously. It was distributed effectively.
It was marketed straightforwardly. It was reviewed favorably.

It was purchased confidently.

It functions reliably. It handles comfortably. It rests steadily. It aims easily. It presents handsomely.
It performs notably. It triggers consistently. It fires satisfyingly. It kicks almost-imperceptibly.
It reports pleasantly. It prints impressively. It travels lightly.
It cleans quickly. It stores conveniently.

It is valued affectionately.

=== +++ ===

Gun-a-Day 26: TOZ-78 Bolt Action .22LR, Simmons scope and iron sights (25, 50, and 100 yard settings)

I might never have expected to find out that I not only wanted to own a Russian-made rifle, but that I would also like it so much and find it so easy to use and accurate to shoot that it would become a go-to favorite. But after getting the Remington/Baikal and finding it such a solid, reliable rifle/shotgun combination and after reading a September 2008 American Rifleman article about the Winchester Wildcat version of this rifle coming to the U.S. market, I decided that I’d like to try one on for size.

Turns out it’s a great fit for me. All the better that a visit to my local gunshop revealed that not only had the owner heard of the model, he actually had one of them on the rack over his shoulder. Not only that, it was the actual TOZ version, not the adapted/imported version Winchester has licensed, so the original (better, in my opinion) bolt-shape, the hood/ring front sight, standard forearm shape and tri-flip sight were all in place (all of which I like much better than the Winchester-nuanced model).

Incredible. I took that as a sign that my plan/goal to find a decent Remington Nylon 12 at a decent price (good luck, right?) needed to change. A bit of haggling and negotiating for a Beta C-Mag swap later, and I was loading this unit into my truck for the short ride home to begin what I hope will be a life-long association with this handy little tool. A spare set of see-through scope rings were dug out of the gear bins, and spare Simmons scope was set in place. The sight-in process was quick and simple, and it was all set up in almost no time at all.

I have never had a moment’s regret about that change of plans.

Simply put, it’s fun to shoot this thing! I found a three-foot square of salvage formica and pressboard counter-top, slapped a Shoot-n-C in the middle of it, propped it up in the target pit, and returned to the 50-yard firing position. Using an improvised, y-yoked monopod (and the left front fender of my truck), I took an easy, still stance and starting sending bullets downrange. With aim held throughout at center-red, the cluster-pattern was very consistent– up and right. On the target between the center and two o’clock.

Wow! I think I achieved one of my main Gun-a-Day goals today. Unless there was a stray shot off by more than about two feet in any direction, I managed to put all 50 shots on the target today with my inexpensive, bare basics, post-Soviet-era, Russian-made bolt action rifle. There’s no let-down of any kind, though. It’s not like that goal is met and now I’m off to something else. No, the opposite is the case. I am eager to see if I can match, meet, or exceed this impromptu result day after day after day after day.

I looked the counter-top scrap over very carefully when I got done, and I could not find any off-target holes. Afraid I was missing something obvious, I looked the whole thing over very carefully from both sides. There are no other holes than those made on and through the target.

And these results don’t surprise me in the least. This is a sweet, simple, solid, straight-shooting gun, and it’s a personal favorite for all those reasons and more. Even the scope is a no-nonsense, nothing-fancy, little loss-leader of a bargain basement optic, but it lined up easily and has kept pretty close to zero in spite of a major move and multiple gun-storage relocations.

The reverse-side photo is shot o’the day. I love seeing all of the chunks out of that one area and no holes– nothing— anywhere else.

This is exactly my idea of Gun-Fun!

Though I did not use them today (soon!), I know from past experience that the iron sights flip-adjust distance graduations are accurate (dead on) and intuitive, too. And I may be putting them to work tomorrow or soon thereafter. I’ll also be re-zeroing it with one or more sessions before it goes back into the cabinet. Every session with this will be enjoyable, and the confidence I feel in the platform seems to translate directly to my expectations for effectiveness and accuracy in my results.

There’s no fine craftsmanship or mil-spec tolerances or custom detail to this rifle. No, it’s a proletariat peasant of a gun, but it’s a workhorse that knows its work and gets it done with a minimum of complaint and hesitation.

If only I were that industrious and focused and hard-working and quiet about my challenges and frustrations …