Got a chance to head out to a local range today, after several weeks of being to busy to get some range time in. It was as full as I'd ever seen it, with a diverse group of people--fathers and sons, families, husbands and wives, young and old. No terrorists or criminals were seen, and only paper targets and a few plastic jugs were harmed.
Got to get a bit of trigger time in; was reminded again of how iffy rimfire ammo can be. We had 4 rimfire guns--.22lr and an .17HMR--all cleaned and relatively well maintained, and previously tested to be fully functional. By the end of the range trip, all had experienced some fairly serious problems with jams, stuck cases, etc. We were all using different kinds of ammo, so not a bad lot of ammo--just the nature of cheap rimfire. I was running a scoped 10/22, and was having problems with an older Butler Creek Hot Lips (plastic) magazine. Also had a jam or two in about 200 rounds (fairly typical, shooting cheap Federal or Winchester Bulk). Two of the guns were lever-actions--generally perceived to be more reliable than an auto--and they both had the more serious problems. One may need to spend some time with a gunsmith.
In comparison, the center-fire guns that we had all ran like champs. Pretty stark comparison to me--but then again, 9mm, .38spl, and .45 ACP are 10 times more expensive than cheap .22lr, so I would hope they ran more cleanly and reliably. It's always good to practice clearing jams, too, and plinking at a range is a good time to practice that.
All-in-all, a good way to spend an afternoon at the range. Get out there before the winter sets in.
