Range Report: New Rifle and EDC Practice, 3/13/24

[BassCliff]

Good day to you,

I had a pretty good practice session earlier this week trying out my new rifle and getting reacquainted with my EDC. This was my first session with the new WASR-10 that I had won in a members-only raffle. It had been a while, a couple of months, since I'd spent any time with my 4" XD9 Service pistol. I've been busy with my "target" and "tactical" pistols.

I had this case of 7.62x39 delivered this week. I was wondering what this little note said. I'm assuming it is some kind of inspection slip from the factory in the Czech Republic. I'm guessing the top line says '440 rounds' and the bottom line is either date of manufacture or packing date. I haven't run it through the translator yet.

Here we are at the range. The rifle came with one US Palm magazine. I brought along one of the Bulgarian magazines from GunMagWarehouse.com. These are steel-lined polymer. Right away I was not enamored with the Bulgy mag because it is not ribbed at all. It's very smooth on all sides. These may not be the best for fast magazine changes.



I'm not too worried about the AK mags right now because this new rifle is relegated to 'range toy' status. Once I get more familiar with it, perhaps upgrade some bits, I may start seriously training with it. We'll see. I also brought along some of my older 9mm to practice with, some 2A Warehouse Capitol Cartridge and LAX Ammo house brands, 115 grain. The LAX Ammo ran great. The 2A Warehouse ammo had two faulty primers. One of them fired the second time I ran it through. The other one never did. I had one FTE using the 2A Warehouse, total of 146 rounds of 9mm today and 40 rounds of 7.62.

I thought I'd start the rifle out fairly close to see if I needed to zero the iron sights. I stuck on a couple of 4" reactive circle and sent it out to 10 yards.

Using my range backpack as a rest, I put three shots into the circle. Hey! Not bad!

I was feeling encouraged so I sent it out to 15 yards for another three hits.

Well, OK! I guess the sights are aligned pretty well. Let's go for broke and send the target out to 25 yards.

Hmm, these hits are a little high. I need to figure out if it's my eyesight or the sights. We'll try a few more. But first, this is where I discovered another glitch with this Bulgy magazine. It doesn't seem to fit nicely in to the magwell. I had to use a little more force than I wanted to and it was quite fiddly. The US Palm magazine fits nicely, no friction. The Bulgy magazine takes a little effort.

I'm not sure if I want to let this one wear down until it smoothly fits, sand it down, or just return these mags for a different make. Advice?

Anyway, let's try a few more hits at 25 yards. Drat. still high.

Let me patch this up and I'll take my time, try a little more of a 6 o'clock hold. There, that looks a little better.

OK, for my last 10 rifle rounds I'll use the 8" circle at 25 yards. I guess I'm starting to get the hang of this.

I know a lot of you guys can do this well, or better, with your pistol at 25 yards. But for me this was a good introduction to the platform.

Now it's time to practice with my EDC, the lovely XD9, the okay-est firearm from Springfield Armory. We'll use 10 yards as a good self-defense distance, not rapid fire but not slow fire precision accuracy either.

This one deserves a glam shot.

Now I did take my time for these head shots. I got all 10 hits inside the 4" circle. Not too bad for this old noob. Wouldn't you say?

OK, another glam shot. Why not?

I shot a few more targets with average results for me, not great, but decent "combat" accuracy. I also wanted to practice some single handed shooting. Here is 20 hits using strong hand only.

I also put ten hits on this using weak hand only.

I'll make it a point to practice a little more single handed shooting with my EDC. Because one of my boxes of 9mm was not full, I had 16 rounds left to finish up my session. So I loaded up a full magazine and sent the target out to 15 yards just for fun.

I think I'll start practicing more at this distance. I think I can tighten up this group. Otherwise, I think I would be pretty successful at defending myself. Still, I need to work harder at pressing the trigger straight back without upsetting the sight alignment. That's my next hurdle. I know my slow progress may pain some of you, but hang in there. Thanks for putting up with me. You guys are the best.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[KillerFord1977]

Good day to you,

I had a pretty good practice session earlier this week trying out my new rifle and getting reacquainted with my EDC. This was my first session with the new WASR-10 that I had won in a members-only raffle. It had been a while, a couple of months, since I'd spent any time with my 4" XD9 Service pistol. I've been busy with my "target" and "tactical" pistols.

I had this case of 7.62x39 delivered this week. I was wondering what this little note said. I'm assuming it is some kind of inspection slip from the factory in the Czech Republic. I'm guessing the top line says '440 rounds' and the bottom line is either date of manufacture or packing date. I haven't run it through the translator yet.

Here we are at the range. The rifle came with one US Palm magazine. I brought along one of the Bulgarian magazines from GunMagWarehouse.com. These are steel-lined polymer. Right away I was not enamored with the Bulgy mag because it is not ribbed at all. It's very smooth on all sides. These may not be the best for fast magazine changes.



I'm not too worried about the AK mags right now because this new rifle is relegated to 'range toy' status. Once I get more familiar with it, perhaps upgrade some bits, I may start seriously training with it. We'll see. I also brought along some of my older 9mm to practice with, some 2A Warehouse Capitol Cartridge and LAX Ammo house brands, 115 grain. The LAX Ammo ran great. The 2A Warehouse ammo had two faulty primers. One of them fired the second time I ran it through. The other one never did. I had one FTE using the 2A Warehouse, total of 146 rounds of 9mm today and 40 rounds of 7.62.

I thought I'd start the rifle out fairly close to see if I needed to zero the iron sights. I stuck on a couple of 4" reactive circle and sent it out to 10 yards.

Using my range backpack as a rest, I put three shots into the circle. Hey! Not bad!

I was feeling encouraged so I sent it out to 15 yards for another three hits.

Well, OK! I guess the sights are aligned pretty well. Let's go for broke and send the target out to 25 yards.

Hmm, these hits are a little high. I need to figure out if it's my eyesight or the sights. We'll try a few more. But first, this is where I discovered another glitch with this Bulgy magazine. It doesn't seem to fit nicely in to the magwell. I had to use a little more force than I wanted to and it was quite fiddly. The US Palm magazine fits nicely, no friction. The Bulgy magazine takes a little effort.

I'm not sure if I want to let this one wear down until it smoothly fits, sand it down, or just return these mags for a different make. Advice?

Anyway, let's try a few more hits at 25 yards. Drat. still high.

Let me patch this up and I'll take my time, try a little more of a 6 o'clock hold. There, that looks a little better.

OK, for my last 10 rifle rounds I'll use the 8" circle at 25 yards. I guess I'm starting to get the hang of this.

I know a lot of you guys can do this well, or better, with your pistol at 25 yards. But for me this was a good introduction to the platform.

Now it's time to practice with my EDC, the lovely XD9, the okay-est firearm from Springfield Armory. We'll use 10 yards as a good self-defense distance, not rapid fire but not slow fire precision accuracy either.

This one deserves a glam shot.

Now I did take my time for these head shots. I got all 10 hits inside the 4" circle. Not too bad for this old noob. Wouldn't you say?

OK, another glam shot. Why not?

I shot a few more targets with average results for me, not great, but decent "combat" accuracy. I also wanted to practice some single handed shooting. Here is 20 hits using strong hand only.

I also put ten hits on this using weak hand only.

I'll make it a point to practice a little more single handed shooting with my EDC. Because one of my boxes of 9mm was not full, I had 16 rounds left to finish up my session. So I loaded up a full magazine and sent the target out to 15 yards just for fun.

I think I'll start practicing more at this distance. I think I can tighten up this group. Otherwise, I think I would be pretty successful at defending myself. Still, I need to work harder at pressing the trigger straight back without upsetting the sight alignment. That's my next hurdle. I know my slow progress may pain some of you, but hang in there. Thanks for putting up with me. You guys are the best.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

A hundred yard zero will be 1-3” high at 25 yards. Your rifle is prob zeroed for 100 yrds. So you’ll be high at 25

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

A hundred yard zero will be 1-3” high at 25 yards. Your rifle is prob zeroed for 100 yrds. So you’ll be high at 25

I think you are correct! I'll have to book some time outdoors now that the weather is warming up. I appreciate you.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Recusant]

All targets show good groups. You'll have the bury the front sight post at 25 yrds to stay on the target.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

All targets show good groups. You'll have the bury the front sight post at 25 yrds to stay on the target.

Thanks! I'll take this AK outside as soon as I can to put it through its paces.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Jfal]

I can't speak for Century AK's, but Zastavas are all factory-zeroed at 25Meters. Mine was dead-nuts on on the first 3 shots with cheap ammo. Make sure you know if the 7.62x39 ammo you buy is corrosive or not (many still are). If so, no big deal...just make sure you clean after every use, and wash out the gas tube in the sink with hot water (then oil as best you can and wipe as you can.) It felt weird running hot tap water down the gas tube & barrel, draining into the sink the first time. I now try NOT to buy corrosive ammo...

I don't think you have to worry about your gas tube with non-corrosive rounds (as much.)

 

[Onewolf426]

That is some fine marksmanship.

 

[belladonna]

Nice shooting Cliff!

 

[Bassbob]

Nice report Cliff and nice shooting.

 

[mikep]

Good day to you,

I had a pretty good practice session earlier this week trying out my new rifle and getting reacquainted with my EDC. This was my first session with the new WASR-10 that I had won in a members-only raffle. It had been a while, a couple of months, since I'd spent any time with my 4" XD9 Service pistol. I've been busy with my "target" and "tactical" pistols.

I had this case of 7.62x39 delivered this week. I was wondering what this little note said. I'm assuming it is some kind of inspection slip from the factory in the Czech Republic. I'm guessing the top line says '440 rounds' and the bottom line is either date of manufacture or packing date. I haven't run it through the translator yet.

Here we are at the range. The rifle came with one US Palm magazine. I brought along one of the Bulgarian magazines from GunMagWarehouse.com. These are steel-lined polymer. Right away I was not enamored with the Bulgy mag because it is not ribbed at all. It's very smooth on all sides. These may not be the best for fast magazine changes.



I'm not too worried about the AK mags right now because this new rifle is relegated to 'range toy' status. Once I get more familiar with it, perhaps upgrade some bits, I may start seriously training with it. We'll see. I also brought along some of my older 9mm to practice with, some 2A Warehouse Capitol Cartridge and LAX Ammo house brands, 115 grain. The LAX Ammo ran great. The 2A Warehouse ammo had two faulty primers. One of them fired the second time I ran it through. The other one never did. I had one FTE using the 2A Warehouse, total of 146 rounds of 9mm today and 40 rounds of 7.62.

I thought I'd start the rifle out fairly close to see if I needed to zero the iron sights. I stuck on a couple of 4" reactive circle and sent it out to 10 yards.

Using my range backpack as a rest, I put three shots into the circle. Hey! Not bad!

I was feeling encouraged so I sent it out to 15 yards for another three hits.

Well, OK! I guess the sights are aligned pretty well. Let's go for broke and send the target out to 25 yards.

Hmm, these hits are a little high. I need to figure out if it's my eyesight or the sights. We'll try a few more. But first, this is where I discovered another glitch with this Bulgy magazine. It doesn't seem to fit nicely in to the magwell. I had to use a little more force than I wanted to and it was quite fiddly. The US Palm magazine fits nicely, no friction. The Bulgy magazine takes a little effort.

I'm not sure if I want to let this one wear down until it smoothly fits, sand it down, or just return these mags for a different make. Advice?

Anyway, let's try a few more hits at 25 yards. Drat. still high.

Let me patch this up and I'll take my time, try a little more of a 6 o'clock hold. There, that looks a little better.

OK, for my last 10 rifle rounds I'll use the 8" circle at 25 yards. I guess I'm starting to get the hang of this.

I know a lot of you guys can do this well, or better, with your pistol at 25 yards. But for me this was a good introduction to the platform.

Now it's time to practice with my EDC, the lovely XD9, the okay-est firearm from Springfield Armory. We'll use 10 yards as a good self-defense distance, not rapid fire but not slow fire precision accuracy either.

This one deserves a glam shot.

Now I did take my time for these head shots. I got all 10 hits inside the 4" circle. Not too bad for this old noob. Wouldn't you say?

OK, another glam shot. Why not?

I shot a few more targets with average results for me, not great, but decent "combat" accuracy. I also wanted to practice some single handed shooting. Here is 20 hits using strong hand only.

I also put ten hits on this using weak hand only.

I'll make it a point to practice a little more single handed shooting with my EDC. Because one of my boxes of 9mm was not full, I had 16 rounds left to finish up my session. So I loaded up a full magazine and sent the target out to 15 yards just for fun.

I think I'll start practicing more at this distance. I think I can tighten up this group. Otherwise, I think I would be pretty successful at defending myself. Still, I need to work harder at pressing the trigger straight back without upsetting the sight alignment. That's my next hurdle. I know my slow progress may pain some of you, but hang in there. Thanks for putting up with me. You guys are the best.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

The note in the box is a Czech fortune cookie.

 

[Shibadog]

A hundred yard zero will be 1-3” high at 25 yards. Your rifle is prob zeroed for 100 yrds. So you’ll be high at 25

This. 25 and less is Very short range for a rifle. Before I fiddled with the sights I’d take it to a rifle range and try some 100 and 200 yrs stuff.. An AK should do what, 4-5” at 100? The boy’s got an Arsenal AK and I’ve seen it should pretty decent at those ranges. It’s no match match rifle, but they’re not intended to be.

 

[Annihilator]

Another good range report....and great shooting, that XD groups nice.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I can't speak for Century AK's, but Zastavas are all factory-zeroed at 25Meters. Mine was dead-nuts on on the first 3 shots with cheap ammo. Make sure you know if the 7.62x39 ammo you buy is corrosive or not (many still are). If so, no big deal...just make sure you clean after every use, and wash out the gas tube in the sink with hot water (then oil as best you can and wipe as you can.) It felt weird running hot tap water down the gas tube & barrel, draining into the sink the first time. I now try NOT to buy corrosive ammo...

I don't think you have to worry about your gas tube with non-corrosive rounds (as much.)

I'm going to send another email to Century and ask about the factory zero. Thanks. I've been in contact with them already and they seem very responsive.

I made sure to order non-corrosive ammo. This stuff was a pretty good deal.

The box is labeled so I'm going to hope it's really non-corrosive.

I gave my WASR-10 a good cleaning before first use. I fired only 40 rounds so I have not cleaned it again yet. But maybe I will just because I need the practice.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[BassCliff]

Hi guys!

That is some fine marksmanship.

I think "fine" is too strong of a word. Maybe "adequate" would be better. But thank you!

Nice shooting Cliff!

I appreciate that. Have you been able to keep your schedule of twice a week? I should probably do the same.

Nice report Cliff and nice shooting.

Thank you. Again with the "nice". I'm not sure I deserve "nice". "OK" maybe, or "that didn't suck". I appreciate you, my bass brother.

Another good range report....and great shooting, that XD groups nice.

Thanks! Yes, when I do my part the XD9 will certainly take care of me. I'd like to put more of those SpeedSights on my other pistols but they were out of stock the last time I checked. I really like those sights on the XD9. There is no mistaking proper alignment.

I'm really grateful you guys stopped by to offer some words of encouragement. They really help.



Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

This. 25 and less is Very short range for a rifle. Before I fiddled with the sights I’d take it to a rifle range and try some 100 and 200 yrs stuff.. An AK should do what, 4-5” at 100? The boy’s got an Arsenal AK and I’ve seen it should pretty decent at those ranges. It’s no match match rifle, but they’re not intended to be.

Thanks! I know it's short, but it made me feel good to actually hit the target.

I've read a few articles about bullet trajectory. I'm thinking that my 10 yard target was getting hit before the bullet had a chance to rise up to the apex of its trajectory. Even at 25 yards the bullet path has probably not reached its highest point in the trajectory. But I have not looked into the trajectory for this particular rifle using this particular ammo.

I checked out a few Youtube channels that featured a review of this particular rifle. They all shot at 100 yards and pretty much got the 4"-5" groupings. I'll find out how well I do when I get the chance outdoors.

I did no adjustments on the sights at all. They seemed to be fine, at least for my skill level, and I could adjust my hold to get close to the bullseye. I'll be "dating" this rifle for a while. I'll let you know when we get serious.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Belt Fed]

Oops, missed this one, Good shooting as usual, all dead bad guys again.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Oops, missed this one, Good shooting as usual, all dead bad guys again.

That's what I'm going for!

I'm glad you stopped by.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[nmedge]

Excellent shooting! Keep it up