Making Mistakes With Guns
BY Herschel Smith
7 years, 12 months ago
I love brutal honesty, and anyone who says they don’t make mistakes is lying. We all learn when we discuss our errors. I went shooting with good friends and neighbors Saturday, a beautiful Carolina morning, breezy and cool.
The AR I happened to take with me is outfitted with an EOTech and a flip-to-side magnifier. I would have embedded the picture below of my target at 100 yards, embarrassing though it is, but I didn’t think to take a picture. Bad. Very, very bad. Surprisingly bad. I can shoot better than that with iron sights.
I kept adjusting the dot rightward and down. Magazine after magazine … after magazine. It was very frustrating and confusing to me. I just couldn’t understand it. Then I thought to reach down and check the screw on the EOTech. Loose. It was flopping around on the rail. 250 wasted rounds of 5.56 mm. Lesson learned. Good day with friends, but wasted effort. Check your dope before you start.
I still think I’m going to dump the flip-to-side magnifier. Some folks do well with it, my oldest son, for instance, sees very well with it and shoots accurately. There’s something about looking through the double adjustment that my brain doesn’t like. Actually, since I wear corrective lenses, my eyesight (focal point) is adjusted twice (once through glasses, once through the magnifier), and then sent through a Holographic sight. There’s too much going on.
I think I’m going to put a 1×6 3-gun scope on it, and use the EOTech for a pistol-caliber AR pistol for in-home self defense. But I have to get rid of the magnifier. It doesn’t work for me.
In the same vein as this admission of error, I enjoy watching videos by The Late Boy Scout. I’ve talked over the phone with the Mossberg legal counsel and his explanation is the same one as in the video concerning why this isn’t an NFA item. Regardless, I’m not particularly interested in the firearm, but more interesting to me is his thoughtful review of his error. Keep up the good work, Boy Scout.
On November 23, 2016 at 1:03 pm, Duke Norfolk said:
Indeed it’s good to see humility in people. Especially people in positions of influence. Of course it has to be sincere, not manipulative for effect.