Dustin and I went out to Gist Ranch to use the shooting range, we found the range closed to the public for some Law Enforcement Officer training so we decided to go to another Missouri Conservation Department range at White Ranch located south of West Plains. We found the range and were the only ones there. We learned that the range only had a 50 yard range with paths at 25, 15, and 7 yard and a 100 yard range. The benches were out in the open without a cover so the sun was a factor as I didn’t even bring a hat.
I brought four rifles all having iron sights, and quickly learned that even at 50 yard my eye sight was not working well with the iron sights, really needed scopes on these rifles to get tight groups. Shooting my Henry Golden Boy was odd having to hold a hand above the the receiver to block the glare. The Marlin 1894 in 44 magnum ran out of adjustment for the sights, at full adjustment I was shooting about 10 to 12 inches high, some gunsmithing will be required to get the rear sight lower. The Marlin 1895 in 45-70 got a lot closer and would work alright if I could see better.
We both agreed that the range at Gist Ranch is much nicer and we lucked out finding it first. Still had a good time punching holes in targets…
Dustin shooting he's 22lr
Here you can see the paths between the bench and the targets, and the 100 yard range on the right hand side of the picture.
Another Great Day in the Ozarks...
