Range Report: Sixteen INGOers help with a lovemywoods review! (pics/vids)

[esrice]

Several weeks ago INGOer VERT decided to organize an INGO Meet & Greet down in Nashville Indiana at Big Woods Pizza and Brewing Company. Since dinner wasn't until 8pm, and since folks would already be coming down to Brown County, lovemywoods and I decided to wrangle some INGOers into helping us with an upcoming product review.

(Meet & Greet details can be found here: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...85-meet_and_greet_nashville_in_2_11_12_a.html )

At the January Indy 1500 lovemywoods purchased a 6-paddle AR500 dueling tree from Bobcat Steel. He had wanted one for some time and was glad that ZbornacSVT was now producing them. He and I decided to put the tree to the test and provide a full review so that INGOers would know a bit more about this new offering. lovemywoods has documented everything from purchasing, to assembly, to painting, to transporting, to modifying, to positioning, to shooting. As a part of the "shooting" phase, we wanted to get impressions from other INGOers as well.

Everything just seemed to come together for a great day of shooting and eating.

(note: the full dueling tree review will be available soon)

Sixteen INGOers rose to the challenge of coming out and shooting the tree in the freezing cold temps. They were bwframe, DaKruiser, esrice, HotPocket, jblomengerg16, Kr_Treefog2, lovemywoods, OneBadV8, Que, Scutter01, shooter1054, shooter521, spasmo, Stschil, VERT, and VUPDblue.

Along with lovemywoods' dueling tree, OneBadV8 also brought his Bobcat Steel 6-paddle AR500 dueling tree, and VERT brought his Bobcat Steel full-size IPSC Chest Flapper target.

After hauling all the targets and gear down to the range, everyone realized just how cold it was going to be and welcomed the presence of a small fire pit.

lovemywoods kicked things off by giving everyone a basic rundown of the target system. Seen here is OneBadV8's tree.

lovemywoods opted for a "factory" enhancement and also made some modifications of his own on his tree. More on that in the full review.

We started by shooting some impromptu and informal head-to-head competitions with pistols.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv79tu1gt04

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bYoBLTGn7k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emuIz-63DBo

shooter521 momentarily channeled FPSRussia (or maybe FPSBorat?) after an exciting win.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONeDll_CijM

Then folks starting getting creative with the competitions. Here Que and VERT break out the pistol caliber lever guns!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gbSisr6Lts

Que also decided that the only way he'd have a chance against shooter521 was if he was using his pistol caliber AR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9iVTVOWeO4

Later in the afternoon we repositioned the targets and broke out the rifles! This certainly amped up the energy level. Or was it HotPocket's peanut butter brownies. . . . ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZBpCRg4d_8

jblomenberg16 brought out his CMMG in .300BLK. Only being my second time shooting .300BLK, I was amazed at how much more violently the paddles would swing when hit (when compared to 5.56). So hard, in fact, that many of them would simply bounce right back into their original position! It seems like some kind of voodoo is involved to get that kind of response with no perceptible increase in felt-recoil.

As the day wore on, the cold started sinking into my bones. Thank god for that fire. . . .

Moving up to the top of the dam, the long distance rifles came out for shooting some hanging Bobcat Steel IPSC targets.

When we couldn't take the cold any more, we packed up and headed back to the house where we were greeted with chips and homemade salsa, monkey squares, homemade hot chocolate, pigs-in-a-blanket, and strawberry cheesecake brownies.

An hour or so later, after we had all made the mistake of stuffing ourselves and then relaxing , we all headed south to Nashville to the Meet & Greet (which was excellent!).

I'm sure the others will chime in here with their thoughts, but I know I personally learned a few things:

• Shooting stuff is fun!
• Shooting in the cold sucks! My pistol performance was TERRIBLE.
• Having a fire was a lifesaver!
• Seeing white paddles against a snowy background was difficult. Once they got a few hits on them they looked JUST like the backstop. Bright blue or fluorescent green might work better in all seasons.
• I need (want ) a .300BLK upper.
• [STRIKE]Burl is a ninja.[/STRIKE] Already knew that.

My thanks goes out to all who answered the call and were able to help us out. I thoroughly enjoyed shooting with you, even in the cold.



Till next time!

 

[bullfrog4ever]

Wow! That looks like soooo much fun! Glad everyone had a great time! I'm so jealous right now....

 

[! twitty]

Man, wish I was there. That looked like an awesome time.

 

[singlesix]

You guys know how to have fun.

 

[esrice]

You guys know how to have fun.

We thought so too. . . . until we walked outside and were like "brrrrrrr...... we're crazy".

 

[OneBadV8]

Still need to try a long distance bolt gun with dueling trees. Although I'm curious at what distance they'd need to be for some calibers.... like .300 win mag. I think even at 200 yds the paddles may bounce back and forth.

My dueling tree took about 4 shots to the main stand in the middle, 3 where hit on angles and not directly, and one shot was a direct hit. There were no holes at all, but this is where the AR500 strips would help. I think if I plan on more rifle duels, the AR500 strips will be a definite upgrade.

Tons a fun, as always

 

[42769vette]

Still need to try a long distance bolt gun with dueling trees. Although I'm curious at what distance they'd need to be for some calibers.... like .300 win mag. I think even at 200 yds the paddles may bounce back and forth.

bring it out

 

[JohnP82]

awesome!!! Looks like a great time

Great pics and videos! Thanks for sharing

 

[Bane_FTW]

Looked like lots of fun

 

[HotPocket]

I had a great time my thanks to the whole Rice family.

 

[esrice]

Still need to try a long distance bolt gun with dueling trees.

bring it out

Chuck, heading out to Alan's some weekend might be just what we need. I know Dad and I have been trying to get out there for some bolt-gun action.

 

[OneBadV8]

Chuck, heading out to Alan's some weekend might be just what we need. I know Dad and I have been trying to get out there for some bolt-gun action.

I'm down.

 

[dailylc]

Now that looked like fun!

James

 

[Scutter01]

I never feel like it's a winter shoot unless I bring out at least one Mosin Nagant.

 

[jblomenberg16]

Thanks again to the Rices for an awesome time and for the hospitality. I enjoyed it so much that I've volunteered my .300BLK for future test sessions....until Esrice has one of his own that is.

I'll add a few take aways from the day.

1. Shooting stuff is fun, and even more fun with fellow INGOers!
2. Not only are INGOers good at shooting the, uh, "Breeze" in person and online, they are also some darn good shots when it comes to putting lead on target.
3. The Dueling trees were not only fun, but also great practice and a wonderful teaching tool. Several of us noticed that in pressure situations (like competing against another INGOer) that our fundamentals needed some work.
4. Semi auto pistols do offer a key advantage over revolvers....magazine capacity. That is the ONLY reason I was able to beat VERT in the first duel. He's a much better shot than I am, but ultimately the time to reload the revolver allowed me to get the win.
5. This was my first pistol shooting in a long time under these weather conditions. While I have shot my pistol a number times with gloves, it has never been after continuous exposure to sub freezing temperatures. I noticed my weapon manipulations were much more sloppy than normal, due in part to the gloves, and also to the loss of dexterity due to the cold. In one of the face-offs with VERT I had a malfuction (turned out to be a bad case on one of my reloads) I had to be very deliberate with my tap-rack-bang technique. I'm reminded once again that I need to train in some less than ideal weather conditions with appropriate apparel for the weather.
6. Hot Pocket really is the Brownie Master. Quite possibly the best peanut butter fudge brownies I've ever had. Those brownies alone were worth braving the elements for!

Unfortunately other plans back in Seymour that night meant I wasn't able to stay for the long range shooting, or for the get together later that night in town. I will echo some of the thoughts from the meet and eat thread though...we have some genuinely great people as members on this forum. Each time I get to meet new INGOers, or get re-acquainted with those I've already met before, I'm reminded again what an incredible bunch of folks we have here.

We had a fairly new shooter participating in the days activities, and to a person everyone was willing to work with him, let him drool over their toys, and include him in the fun.


If you are at all on the fence about going to an INGO event, DO IT! More than likely you'll leave with several new "Real World" friends in addition to the cyber-friendships you have already formed online.

 

[jblomenberg16]

I'm down.

I'd be game as well.

 

[.40caltrucker]

Awesome How much is that 6 paddle tree? I want one now.

 

[OneBadV8]

Awesome How much is that 6 paddle tree? I want one now.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/bobcat_steel/172487-new_products.html

 

[Hookeye]

Wow, looks like a GREAT day was had by all!

 

[42769vette]

ive hosted a ingo shoot every march since 2010. im sure i will do somthing again this year but have been slacking in the planning. if you guys dont make it out before mabye that would be a good time to do it