Inaugural Outing - Chinese Type 53
I finally received my Type 53, got it cleaned up, and checked out by the gunsmith. Took it for its inaugural outing today.
I've been shooting for about 40 years (22LR, shotguns, handguns), but somehow I've managed to never shoot a high-powered rifle. Add to that that this is an old military surplus, and you can imagine I was a little nervous pulling the trigger for the first time, even though the gunsmith gave it a clean bill-of-health.
My daughter and her boyfriend came with me to the outdoor range. There was 4" of fresh snow on the ground and we had the place to ourselves. On the first shot, there was enough concussion to knock some snow off the roof of the shelter and it threw what seemed like a 12" fireball out the front (as advertised by some write-ups I've read). They started laughing. It was awesome!
I wasn't focused on accuracy today, just getting a feel for it and verifying that it operated okay. I will tell you though, a 9" paper plate at 100 yards with iron sights is TINY!
