A solution in search of a problem...

That's how my friend Tom described the Smith and Wesson M&P 15-22 rifle when I told him that I was thinking about getting one.

That rifle, for those who aren't familiar with it, is a .22lr version of the AR-15.

I thought about what he said, and it didn't take long to realize that he was right. Sure, it's a fun shooter, but there's no real practical point to it. But after shooting Aaron's (and getting a special Smith and Wesson price deal on one), I bought one anyway.

There's still no point to it, but it's a darned fun shooter.

And it's great for The Spud, too. Here he is with it at the Lapeer gravel pit last week:

He wore it out. He's got more rounds through it now that I do.
And unlike so many of the Bubbas at the range that day, (Accurately described in detail here at The Shekel) he was both responsible and safe.

I'm thinking that that range is going to get shut down sooner or later, just because of the large number of blatantly unsafe shooters that I keep seeing there. It's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt or killed, and when that happens...bye, bye, free, unsupervised range.

And here's the Spud with my Mini-14.

Again--he's safe and he takes the time to actually aim, unlike so many of the "Hey, watch me bump-fire this like an asshole..." crowd.

And here's Aaron with his Saiga shotgun, with detachable magazine and Eotech optic.

He was making the Bubbas jealous all up and down the line with it. (Plus he actually hits what he aims at, unlike the majority of idiots out there who were simply spraying rounds in the general direction of the berm as fast as they could jerk their triggers.)

We couldn't stay there too long because we were expected back for a joint-family dinner with his clan and mine that evening, but we got some shooting in so it was good, Bubbas notwithstanding.