Night shoot

We took an evening and went to the range. Mostly, this was familiarization for a couple of guys, and a chance to field test some new gear. Nothing sited in, and only pop bottles for targets.
We got to our shooting spot about 7:30. Getting targets up, rifles loaded, and everyone organized ate up another half hour. Sunset was at 8:12. The moon is in its last quarter, rising at 12:07 A.M. so things got dark fairly fast. Just what I wanted.
Most people, especially urban dwellers do not realize how much you can see on even the darkest of nights. arm kids know, late night summer games are the norm, hide and seek in a pasture where skunks and coyotes roam as well as the familiar herd of cows.
Some of the guys had their own ARs. A DPMS heavy barrel, a Colt hybrid, and an Essential Arms in 7.62x39.
I had my Tromix, the Rapid Rifle, LMT, all .223s, the Camp 9, LR-243 and a Ruger 10-22, a formidable arsenal. One of the guys brought some Russian 223 stuff, steel case, bad shit. We had more jams and misfires from that then even I expected. One or two out of a hundred would have fit my expectation. Instead we had ten jams in fifty rounds, two misfires, and one failure to feed. Bad bad indeed. The ammo I brought was stuff from an auction. It was a bulk lot I got for a twenty dollar bill, and it was where I was expecting problems five mags, 150 rounds, zero jams, zero FTF, no misfires.
The 7.62 was another one I expected problems with. This was the one I built for my son, and we had some 30 round mags from C-Products LLC, now known as LCJ wholesale. The mags performed flawlessly. Fifty rounds of Winchester white box no problems.
We expended 300 rounds of the big stuff in just under two hours. The guys learned the essentials of how to acquire their sites in pitch darkness, and how to get them on target. they also learned how to look for signs of where they were hitting at night. Since this area was an old quarry, the floor was gravel, and bullets make sparks when they hit. There was a lot of grass though, and spotting those streaks was a task.
Once we were about ready to wrap up, I pulled out the Ruger. This is my regular practice rifle, the one I put a hundred through every month prior to the divorce, I knew the sites were on. I lined up one one of our liter bottles, and snapped off a quick ten. Results? Seven hits, three misses. not bad when you consider the bottle was spinning with each shot.
We got everyone excited about shooting again. Plans are set for Saturday weather permitting.