Last night I was able to take the Kriss out for her first spin. My goal was simple – hit the range, buy a box of ammo (oh Lord, $23 for a box of 50 is asinine. That’ll learn me to not drop by Wally World to grab a Winchester White Box of 100), and just hit some paper targets. No photography, no recording each shot in detail, just get a feel for the weapon and how it handles.
Wow. Just like I imagined. The RO had to drop by a few times to ask if I could keep it down because my constant squeeing was causing the guy sighting in his .416 Barrett to flinch. I have sore cheek muscles from smiling so much.
I shot in the pistol lanes as the Kriss is .45 ACP so there was little danger of me punching holes through the backstop. Unlike most full sized rifles, you hold the Kriss in a bit tighter, but this was pretty darned stable. Shooting at 15 yards, the accuracy was of the “Am I missing or hitting in the giant hole where the center used to be?” type. This was the first target I shot, complete with non-adjusted sights (all targets were shot offhand)
A few clicks later and a bit of Kentucky windage and I got pretty close to where I was aiming
Then to 25 yards, slow and controlled.
The neat thing about shooting the Kriss comes from the downward bolt (not a Yoga move, by the way) and very, very little muzzle rise. Getting back on target was amazingly fast. I did a few double tap tests at 25 yards to see how that worked, and I was impressed. Note to self, load 4 or 6 rounds for double tap tests. Even with all the progress we’ve had over the past 20 years of redefining language and New Math, 5 is still not a round number.
Ok, you can laugh that I was shooting a rifle at 15 and 25 yards, but I don’t see the Kriss as a long range, reach out and touch someone weapon anyway. CQC fits the bill a bit better than trying to be a sniper. I mean, can you imagine the spotter of someone trying to snipe with a .45?
“Major, target at 800 yards. Wind is at 8mph, humidity at 75%. Two clicks to the right, 8 clicks up, and…ummm… just aim for the clouds, gravity is still a problem here.”
I had a lot of looks from various other shooters and people in the showroom. The Kriss is a neat looking gun and of course people were interested. Part of my goal here is to let as many people shoot this thing as possible to gauge their reactions and I was glad to have that chance last night. An older gentleman, his wife, and his wife’s sister were shooting in the lane next to me. He and his wife had brought her sister in for her first time shooting guns and were burning through a brick or two of .22lr. As I was packing up, he approached me to ask about the Kriss and was surprised to find out it was .45ACP, of which he had a large quantity of.
I of course offered to let him shoot it.
The Kriss Grin. It’s real.
He went through a few magazines and then let his wife shoot it. She simply took out the center of the target at 15 yards. His sister-in-law was intrigued and said she’d not mind trying it out. How did that work? You tell me
The flyer was her first shot as she was learning how to use irons. Once she realized the rifle wasn’t going to bite her, it was nothing but black.
Watching people shoot the rifle was interesting. The combination of the .45 ACP cartridge and the Kriss’ unique bolt system really makes for such a pleasant, low recoil experience. Each shot brought a wider and wider grin which made me think “How ridiculous did I look while shooting it?”
This is going to be such fun for the next few months.