Communist Bloc Party!!

Several members of Zombie Squad own Mosin-Nagant rifles. Most own them because they are cheap to purchase (around $100 a rifle) and cheap to shoot (about $0.20 a round). Someone suggested that we all get together and have a “Mosin Day” at a local rifle range. Several people were interested so planning commenced. One of the members said that while they didn’t own a Mosin, they did have an SKS which is also Russian and would that be acceptable. It was agreed that the event would be changed to a “Communist-Bloc Party” and that any Russian rifle was allowed to come along.

On Saturday, April 7th I made the drive to Wheeling IL and met up with a couple of friends and we car-pooled to show-up site. Once everyone got to the site we headed over to the Aurora Sportsman Club in Waterman, IL. There were two ZS people who were members at this club and played host to us. We got signed in and set up at one of the ranges.

I brought my 1943 Mosin-Nagant M91/30.



We got our targets placed, went over the range rules and started putting lead down range. It was really interesting to see all the variations people brought.



There were a couple of people who, in addition to “Russian” rifles, brought some other interesting guns. One of the guys brought a couple of AR-15’s he built. My previous experience with this rifle was not great because I kept getting hit in the face when I fired it. I said this to him and he picked one up, extended the stock, and handed to me. After some questions about the electronic gun sights or “optics" I loaded and fired. What a difference! It was easy and enjoyable shooting this gun after a simple “click and slide”. I also got to fire an AK-74.

After some free-for-all firing the group decided to have a shooting contest. Twenty Four “Clay Pigeons” were hung out in a line and six of us each took a shot. If we hit one we got to fire again otherwise it moved to the next shooter. The winner hit five while I only hit one. Hey, I’m a beginner, what did you expect?

After the contest, one of the members brought out a couple of special guns for us to check out. He brought a M1918 B.A.R. (Browning Automatic Rifle) and an Armalite AR-50 Which fires a round like this!



And I got to shoot them!! I apologize for the audio but it was windy that day.

The B.A.R.



The AR-50



When I fired the AR-50 I looked through the scope but didn’t see a mark on the Zombie head I was aiming for. However, as we went to clean up at the end of the day this is what I discovered.

Photo by Mystic_1


After we cleaned up we all headed to a local pub for burgers and conversation. It was a great day with some great people shooting some great guns.

The BAR next to the AK-74


Me with the AR-50
Photo by Firebreatha