Rifle Proficiency

[tatters]

I am a dork!
I was out tonight in a buddy's field stalking a nervous groundhog with my new Marlin 25 mn .22 Mag. Well, I was within about 80 yards and took a knee, got the critter in the crosshairs, flipped off the safety, and pulled the trigger.
Well..... at least I tried to pull the trigger. I pulled the safety toward me and as we all know, the safety on this Marlin flips off by pushing FOREWARD! Needless to say, I missed my shot, and the little punk never came out again.
So later I am going to take a
sighting in/plinking shot, and pulled the trigger and... CLICK! I never had a round in the chamber in the first place, the bolt never picked one up, I probably short stroked.
The moral of this long winded story is: PRACTICE,PRACTICE,PRACTICE!
Anyone else have dork stories? I don't want to feel alone.

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Knock twice. Rap with your cane. Feels nice. You're out of the rain. We got your skinny girls. Here at the Western World
from Steely Dan's "Western World"

 

[Rex Feral]

I once stood 10' behind my uncle, watching him have a wrestling match with the safety on his Mauser, while a big old doe stood 20' in front of him. He got that gun up to his shoulder twice and couldn't get a shot off, then the doe decided she'd had enough and disappeared into the woods. Longest (and funniest) 10 or 12 seconds of my life, to this day I don't let him forget about this!

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Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war.

 

[Art Eatman]

Well, lotsa deer have been spooked by "Click!" instead of being killed by "Bang". This happened to a fella hunting the ranch just north of my house, and the deer was the largest he'd seen in a number of years.

Lotsa deer have been spooked by the "click" of a rifle being taken off-safety, too. Which is why I like a round in the chamber and the bolt handle "up". As long as the bolt handle is not down, my rifle can't fire; and it's quiet on closing...

I probably did that sort of stuff, once upon a time.

The advantage of age is that you have an excuse not to remember...

, Art

"Old is when she suggests going upstairs and making love--and he replies that he can't do both."

 

[Harley Nolden]

tatters:
Back where I come from we call that "Buck Fever." and almost all who hunt have experienced it. The story Rex tells reminds me of my "Buck Fever"

I was about 15yrs old, sitting on a stump in a tamrack swamp, my dad had told me, "Don't you move from this spot." After setting for about an hour a 6 pointer came out of the swamp and stopped about 10Yds away.

I had a Win 30-30, and raised it slowly, just like my dad said, if you see one, no sudden moves, and took aim. I swear I fired that gun 5 times, and the buck just looked an me and finally turned and went back the way it had come..

I later told this story to my dad shortly after the incident and he said he never heard the shots. Are you sure you actually did shoot. Of couse I said, I felt the recoil, heard the bang etc. We went to the area I had been sitting, and on the ground was 5 live 30-30 rounds.

HJN