g.willikers
New member
Kit Carson?
It's not hard to find folks who don't know who Audie Murphy was.
It's not hard to find folks who don't know who Audie Murphy was.
Shooting skills, complete lack of!
- Thread starter wogpotter
- Start date
dabigguns357
New member
I'll show you how bad things have gotten around here.I took my wife shooting on the spur of the moment,trying to beat the rain(yes she forgot safety glasses).
They refurb our outdoor gun range every so often and after 1 season this is whats left of posts that hold up the roof.Almost every pole in each station is like this along with holes in the roof and tables.
When we do go i always make sure it's just the wife and I.
1 of the back posts
in this pick you can see the same thing.Btw way no one cleans up their brass either,you can see it laying all around the front of the stalls.
They refurb our outdoor gun range every so often and after 1 season this is whats left of posts that hold up the roof.Almost every pole in each station is like this along with holes in the roof and tables.
When we do go i always make sure it's just the wife and I.
1 of the back posts
in this pick you can see the same thing.Btw way no one cleans up their brass either,you can see it laying all around the front of the stalls.
At the top of my game I was looking forwards to my middle 30's now I am looking at 70 square in the face....but I have to get at just the right distance because it is a little out of focus.
Hill, what hill, I don't remember any dang fool hill so how can I be over it????
Hill, what hill, I don't remember any dang fool hill so how can I be over it????
As with many here, didn't really have a choice about growing up around guns or not.
They(guns) were all over the house. Seems we stayed on the road traveling from one match to another as dad shot competitively for many years. I learned very early in life, that as a whole, people involved in shooting sports are some of the best people on the planet. There were very few I ever met that wouldn't stop whatever they were doing to show a kid something or answer a shooting question.
When dad left the Fed. Marshall's office and completely retired from LE, our family got into archery and then BP shooting.
Today, I don't frequent local ranges so I can't comment on the shooting abilities/firearm knowledge of those frequenting them.
What I can say is that those non-shooting families that come here to the house that show an interest in shooting can shoot till they get tired. It gives me a special, great pleasure to see a kid that when they first pick up a firearm , cannot put a round on paper and in a short,coached shooting session are hitting the target. That look of their self confidence building is priceless. Too, a few of our friends dad/son relationships have been repaired right out back at the range.
Sometimes, just a little quality bonding time spent together works wanders.
They(guns) were all over the house. Seems we stayed on the road traveling from one match to another as dad shot competitively for many years. I learned very early in life, that as a whole, people involved in shooting sports are some of the best people on the planet. There were very few I ever met that wouldn't stop whatever they were doing to show a kid something or answer a shooting question.
When dad left the Fed. Marshall's office and completely retired from LE, our family got into archery and then BP shooting.
Today, I don't frequent local ranges so I can't comment on the shooting abilities/firearm knowledge of those frequenting them.
What I can say is that those non-shooting families that come here to the house that show an interest in shooting can shoot till they get tired. It gives me a special, great pleasure to see a kid that when they first pick up a firearm , cannot put a round on paper and in a short,coached shooting session are hitting the target. That look of their self confidence building is priceless. Too, a few of our friends dad/son relationships have been repaired right out back at the range.
Sometimes, just a little quality bonding time spent together works wanders.
When I went to the range to qualify to carry there was always a few people that had a hard time keeping there shots on the target . To my surprise there was that one guy/gal that could not even hit the paper ( WOW ,thank god they never passed the class when I was there ) . Im not sure what you mean by shooting off in to the ozone . I live in southern california and there is not alot of places to shoot . Mostly ranges are the only place you can shoot around here . For the most part they all have hills or large berms to shoot in to . Not many bullets going off in to the ozone . I went shooting with a friend and his daughter . He can't see worth a crap so it was hard to show him how to fix his grouping problems (His groups were not consistant) . His daughter had a bad triger flinch and pulled everthing to the right . After shooting her 38 sp for my self ( it shot fine ) I put four random rounds in the gun and had her shoot again . When she got to the empty chambers and tryed to fire she saw how she was jerking the gun around in anticipation of the gun firing . After a few lessons of relaxing and just letting the hamer fall and fixing her pulling everything to the right with a simple triger finger adjustment . The rest of the day she was not only on paper she was on target . I beleive we all can hit paper . The ? is , do they want to learn how to shoot and who is teaching them . Im no expert !! I find that the two things I showed her , How to stop triger flinch and triger finger adjustments help new shooters a lot . ( how to look down the sights and what to look at is good to know as well )
Sorry it's a popular phrase round here & I thought it was everywhere. It means you never see a bullet strike, nor does a spotter. The bullet just goes away, we know not where.
To re-clarify. I'm talking the bullet(s) miss the target, the target backer & the backstop. I've seen bullet strikes the shooter has missed such as the dirt in front of the 5' high pistol target frame at 7 1/2 yards, the bullets striking the overhead rubber baffles at 3~4" from the shooter & so on as well.
My own shooting dropped drastically after I turned 40. It's stabilized a bit since then.
I do have problems seeing where bullets hit till I get the target.
I do get a bit upset when I see one foot sized groups at 3yds being shot by young people with presumably good eyes.
But on the other hand I've seen some young folks clean targets at 50yds.
Don't have a large enough sample to judge the over all quality of shooters in my area.
I would guess that an emphasis on SD instead of sport might lead to a decline in shooting skills. It would be an interesting experiment.
Visit a range and canvas the shooters about why they shoot and then record the results from their targets.
What would you use as a control group?
I do have problems seeing where bullets hit till I get the target.
I do get a bit upset when I see one foot sized groups at 3yds being shot by young people with presumably good eyes.
But on the other hand I've seen some young folks clean targets at 50yds.
Don't have a large enough sample to judge the over all quality of shooters in my area.
I would guess that an emphasis on SD instead of sport might lead to a decline in shooting skills. It would be an interesting experiment.
Visit a range and canvas the shooters about why they shoot and then record the results from their targets.
What would you use as a control group?
Baba Louie
New member
Back in the day...
Rural society could shoot. Had a need to shoot well, so they did. They had space to shoot as well.
Urban society... less so perhaps.
With the influx of newbies who bought things they feared would be banned, I wonder how much training they have received? I expect minimal, if any.
Also, where do urban dwellers go to shoot easily or frequently in order to improve (or just have fun)?
Some types of Hunters tend to shoot their rifles just before deer season, to sight in, then put them away for another year. Always thought that odd.
Rural society could shoot. Had a need to shoot well, so they did. They had space to shoot as well.
Urban society... less so perhaps.
With the influx of newbies who bought things they feared would be banned, I wonder how much training they have received? I expect minimal, if any.
Also, where do urban dwellers go to shoot easily or frequently in order to improve (or just have fun)?
Some types of Hunters tend to shoot their rifles just before deer season, to sight in, then put them away for another year. Always thought that odd.
Not sure how you'd figure this out ...
Every time I go to the range, there are people I watch to see why they're so accurate and what they're shooting, and people who are so bad I want a couple of other folks between us so they get shot first ... If I can, I try to assist them; otherwise, I just make sure they aren't aiming at me ...
But most of us can't see a large enough sample of the shooting public to determine in which direction shooting skills are going.
Every time I go to the range, there are people I watch to see why they're so accurate and what they're shooting, and people who are so bad I want a couple of other folks between us so they get shot first ... If I can, I try to assist them; otherwise, I just make sure they aren't aiming at me ...
But most of us can't see a large enough sample of the shooting public to determine in which direction shooting skills are going.
My father taught me to shoot rifle and shotgun. He had no use for a pistol. I was fortunate to have outstanding coaches in ROTC and the Army. These men taught me many valuable lessons.
1. Weapons are tools. Yes they are fun but they are tools and need to be respected. Most new shooters tend to think guns are toys and don't respect them.
2. It takes patience and discipline to shoot.
3. Hollywood is fake and with few exceptions the things depicted in the movies aren't real.
4. Take time, relax and enjoy the time you have in life and on the range.
5. The only competition on the range is between the shooter and the target. Like golf (shudder) were the course (old man par) is the only thing you have to beat.
In the last 5 years of my Military Career I came to believe that my duty/mission was to pass on my knowledge to my subordinates. This realization has transferred to my shooting.
Now my major pleasure in shooting, is passing on the knowledge passed to me from SSG Schongert and SFC Reed (my military pistol coachs) to young shooters.
I actively seek out RESPONSIBLE young people to pass this knowledge and tradition to. I interview them like I would a young soldier volunteering for an EOD assignment. If they are not mature enough to handle the responsibility I will not train them.
1. Weapons are tools. Yes they are fun but they are tools and need to be respected. Most new shooters tend to think guns are toys and don't respect them.
2. It takes patience and discipline to shoot.
3. Hollywood is fake and with few exceptions the things depicted in the movies aren't real.
4. Take time, relax and enjoy the time you have in life and on the range.
5. The only competition on the range is between the shooter and the target. Like golf (shudder) were the course (old man par) is the only thing you have to beat.
In the last 5 years of my Military Career I came to believe that my duty/mission was to pass on my knowledge to my subordinates. This realization has transferred to my shooting.
Now my major pleasure in shooting, is passing on the knowledge passed to me from SSG Schongert and SFC Reed (my military pistol coachs) to young shooters.
I actively seek out RESPONSIBLE young people to pass this knowledge and tradition to. I interview them like I would a young soldier volunteering for an EOD assignment. If they are not mature enough to handle the responsibility I will not train them.
the problem is age and approachability i suppose.
When first went shooting at age 11 or 12, i turned up to the range with my parents and people approached ME and offered fortnightly instruction and taught me how to shoot.
As an adult, I've never been talked to when I just go to the range. People talk to me when I go to a military rifle club meet/shoot but not on an ordinary day.
Those lessons are still there but I now have to seek them out as noone seems to approach adults.
Approach this person and tell them about any lessons available. or just give them one yourself. You'll make someones day at the very least.
When first went shooting at age 11 or 12, i turned up to the range with my parents and people approached ME and offered fortnightly instruction and taught me how to shoot.
As an adult, I've never been talked to when I just go to the range. People talk to me when I go to a military rifle club meet/shoot but not on an ordinary day.
Those lessons are still there but I now have to seek them out as noone seems to approach adults.
Approach this person and tell them about any lessons available. or just give them one yourself. You'll make someones day at the very least.
Friar Whently
New member
About this...based on what I see from the surrounding stalls, I shoot a lot better than the vast majority of the people there, and I've only been shooting since January. I honestly think I could give meaningful tips to other shooters, but I don't because I feel a bit self-conscious about approaching someone and offering help lest I come off like a big-headed know-it-all, since I had the audacity to presume that I'm better than them. Not that I actually think that about myself...I guess I'm just afraid that I would come off that way simply by suggesting shooting tips. Perhaps it's just a self-image thing, I don't know.
As far as other peoples' shooting skills are concerned, it seems as though it may be apathy about how they shoot. They have no desire to get better, so they don't make an effort to learn fundamentals and try to put them into practice. The last time I went to the range, there was a guy and his teenage son, and it was obvious the kid was there for the first time. Dad was giving him informal lessons, but one thing that stuck out was when dad said "Don't worry about trying to hit the bullseye. I don't even hit the bullseye, and I've been shooting all my life!" Maybe it's just a difference in life philosophy, but I figure if you're going to take the time to do something, why not attempt to do it well? Why NOT try for the bullseye? Why NOT try to become good at something? The more I think about it, the more I think that statement was quite a damaging thing to say to his kid...
Master Blaster 2
Moderator
I started shooting when I was 8. AT YMCA camp I even shot a 22's. (Had a BB gun prior) I gained a lot of shooting skills from military service too.
X-Box does not increase ones shooting skills just mall ninjas mentality.
This is just my opinion.
X-Box does not increase ones shooting skills just mall ninjas mentality.
This is just my opinion.
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