Tropical storm finally moved out, leaving the driveway rutted from floodwaters, and rocks in the yard from the intermittent stream that decided to become very bold, so I sidestepped the mud and rocks in the yard since I just had to put some rounds through the SOCOM today anyway. Herewith:
Took the M1A down to my short range too, and put the first three shot group through it just to check - all's well, three in X ring basically erased the X. It still shoots. Put that one away for the day.
Put three from SOCOM on the same target to see where it printed. Took awhile but got it hitting pretty good, but looks like it may have the front sight problem others have reported as it tends to shoot high (even at 50 yds) with stock sights cranked down all the way.
General impressions: the muzzle brake works as it hits my shoulder more squarely than the M1A; perception is a bit more recoil, but not objectionable. I had muffs on, but it seemed to make more of a BOOM sound whereas the M1A always sounds more like Ker-Whang to me. It's all good, though - and I like the handling on the SOCOM.
I didn't like the larger rear ring, as I don't get as good a sight picture as on the M1A. But it's functional and probably works better with the tritium front for low-light... I did think the SOCOM was chewing the brass a little around the head stamp area, but didn't put more through the M1A to compare differences.
Next, put on the Z-Point (Zeiss red-dot) and managed to get a zero in only three rounds! First was way high but just a little right, so I cranked about a full turn DOWN and it was in the black. Fine-tuned a few rounds, then went out as far as I could (just over fifty yards) and put a decent two inch group in the black from prone without much support.
Can't wait to get to a real range. But this much I can say for sure, the Z point is real winner. With my over fifty years old eyesight, target acquisition is just incredibly fast and I don't perceive much difference in how accurate I can be between it and the iron sights. If anything, the dot seems easier to shoot well.
I think I'm going to enjoy this combo very much.
Took the M1A down to my short range too, and put the first three shot group through it just to check - all's well, three in X ring basically erased the X. It still shoots. Put that one away for the day.
Put three from SOCOM on the same target to see where it printed. Took awhile but got it hitting pretty good, but looks like it may have the front sight problem others have reported as it tends to shoot high (even at 50 yds) with stock sights cranked down all the way.
General impressions: the muzzle brake works as it hits my shoulder more squarely than the M1A; perception is a bit more recoil, but not objectionable. I had muffs on, but it seemed to make more of a BOOM sound whereas the M1A always sounds more like Ker-Whang to me. It's all good, though - and I like the handling on the SOCOM.
I didn't like the larger rear ring, as I don't get as good a sight picture as on the M1A. But it's functional and probably works better with the tritium front for low-light... I did think the SOCOM was chewing the brass a little around the head stamp area, but didn't put more through the M1A to compare differences.
Next, put on the Z-Point (Zeiss red-dot) and managed to get a zero in only three rounds! First was way high but just a little right, so I cranked about a full turn DOWN and it was in the black. Fine-tuned a few rounds, then went out as far as I could (just over fifty yards) and put a decent two inch group in the black from prone without much support.
Can't wait to get to a real range. But this much I can say for sure, the Z point is real winner. With my over fifty years old eyesight, target acquisition is just incredibly fast and I don't perceive much difference in how accurate I can be between it and the iron sights. If anything, the dot seems easier to shoot well.
I think I'm going to enjoy this combo very much.
