Gun-Day Monday: Carbines Gone Wild

Had a stupendous range session today at the new Silver Eagle Group in Ashburn, VA (near Old Dominion Brewery, a visit to which would have made for a great end to the outing, but for the fact that they closed the brewpub, curses on them). Also, it’s conveniently right off the Washington & Old Dominion trail, but I’m not sure the locals would appreciate me riding down the trail with the M&P15T slung over my shoulder. Anyway…

Having found the sight adjustment tool for the goofy HK-style sight on the M&P15T (and finally figured out what it was for, duhhh!), I proceeded to get a decent zero at 50m from an improvised rest. Not bad, but not up to my standards. I’ll need to come back with a better rest and a more visible target. And of course, I need to get the AR-style front sight.

But the star of the show was the Plainfield M1 carbine– what a delightful little gun, everything I thought it would be and more. Although ultimately I will zero it at 40m (based on advice from John Farnam), I did a temporary zero at 25 and got some very agreeable groups, needing only to make a two-click windage adjustment. Then I switched over for some single snapshots from the low ready, for a total of about 30 rounds. All but one were in the head, and I called the flyer. I like that gun, and it’ll need only a little tweaking to make it the daily truck gun it should be. In honor of LTC John B. George, author of Shots Fired In Anger, who extolled the carbine’s virtues during the Marauders’ campaign in Burma, I will name it “George The Marauder.”

The Silver Eagle facility is the best indoor shooting range I have ever seen, even better than the NRA HQ range, which is exceptional. When it opened recently, the marketing campaign made it look like it was for members only, and the memberships are waaaaay out of my league. However, they do offer daily passes, and that’s more in line with my needs. At $25 an hour, it’s a little steep, but I save on the time and driving to another place. And they have a well stocked shop, complete with a Steyr Scout for sale. My kind of place, strongly recommended.