Bone to pick with new rifle owners - 100 yards out of the box

[marksman1941]

Multi dollar rig will not give any significant edge to a crappy shooter over a good shooter with a good rig. Put that good rig into the hands of an excellent shooter .....well that is where hunts become legendary memories ...like some one said around a campfire many moons ago...practice practice practice...

Yes and no. A 1/2 moa rifle is a 1/2 moa rifle regardless of what you spent on it. I've seen $400 ruger Americans reliably shoot 1/2 moa and $2,000 Christensens struggle to stay under 1 moa. Nearly every rifle made these days is sub moa, even the cheap ****. There's a higher chance for the more expensive rigs to be more accurate, and they come with more amenities, but overall a good shooter is a good shooter regardless of the money spent on it. Money spent on a good scope will be far more of a game changer than the rifle.

 

[Small Lady]

This rings true for me still.
I didn't grow up with guns or hunting but was involved in competitive archery, so at least understood what counts as a hit. I went through hunters ed and got my hunting license in my late teens and still think about how poorly most of the 30+ person class shot. We shot open sight 22s at paper targets placed at 25 and 50 yards. My buddy I went with got his shots on the piece of printer paper the target was on at each distance but failed to hit the actual target. He was better than half the class though which missed entire paper!
To my amazement, every single person passed that class!

I took a hunter education course through the PG Rod and Gun Club to get my PAL and hunting license. They had 3 courses, the basic course just to pass the test, and a longer course to learn more about it, and a longer yet course to really get into it.
I'm so glad that I took the longest course.
We had fake guns we carried through the bush just to get used to carrying them even, we would be told to all get in the standing shot or prone position or whatever the instructor told us and treat it like a real rifle, and squeeze off a fake shot.
He even pointed out the edible plants, and identified the wildlife we saw on our hikes.
My class was only 4 people including the instructor.
In my experience 9 days well spent, and not just for the range time. Really a range is a waste of time to me, I live in the bush, my nearest neighbor who doesn't live on the ranch is 7 kms away in a straight line.
Heck behind us there is nobody for 50 kms.
But the guy was a wealth of knowledge, and had been instructing for almost 30 years, and was a guide in the fall.

 

[Small Lady]

That is exactly what I was relaying. It's a near impossible feat even for most benchrest shooters. She would be setting herself up for defeat before she even got started. A more realistic goal should be set and then improved upon. Otherwise, it would just cause discouragement and despair. Not to mention the waste of a lot of ammo trying to do the near impossible 1 time. Something most people don't think about is the fact that the bullet is coming in at a relatively steep angle which now turns that 5" tall can into much less of a target to hit elevation wise. Now add a 1 or 2 mph puff of wind, or a little bit of mirage to the equation and try to do it 20 times in a row without missing. Even if you are dialed in perfect at the beginning, somewhere in that 20 shot string, the conditions will change. Whether it is environmentally, fouling in the bore or heat in the barrel.

Well if I can't I can't, but going to try.

 

[Small Lady]

I don't like to discuss my medical issues, but they're applicable to this issue; eight years ago I severely damaged my spine requiring fused discs in my lower neck, a plate and a couple more discs in my lower back. As a result I've been on nerve medication and pain meds daily. One unfortunate effect is the medication affects memory. I also couldn't shoot for 31/2 years. Now, getting back into reloading and shooting, there are things I should know and remember but can't. I've come to the forum many times asking asking for answers wondering if people think I'm some beginner when in fact I started reloading 45 plus years ago. I'd rather ask the "dumb" questions rather than screw up monumentally.

Sorry that you have been through so much.
It's wonderful that you still get out shooting.
Some people would have given up.
God Bless You!

 

[Small Lady]

I'm really sorry for your health issues. They suck, I know. I have a mirad of them myself. I have stopped and restarted reloading 3 times in my life. The last time for my back and the meds I was put on. Fast forward 20 years. I target shoot now but had to give up hunting. My body wont take it anymore. I think I understand your point. It's a real PITA! I will never out someone for asking the dumb question. No such thing. All the best!

Sorry!

And correct, no stupid questions.
If people don't want to answer them, skip over to the next thread.
I can guarantee that I will continue to ask questions that some people will call stupid, but that's okay.

 

[Small Lady]

Must be nice.

I'm required to be armed at work, so in a different situation than some people.
Soldiers don't pay for their own either, because they are required to go to work armed.
Spent 10 hours on my horse today alone, with my 30-30. Didn't have to use it thankfully, nothing went wrong today.
When I was 10 minutes away from the barn on the ride home, stopped and fired 6 rounds at a log, just because I could.

 

[Small Lady]

I can relate. I broke 4 vertebrae in a treestand accident in 2005. 4 years, 9 operations, 11 fused vertebra, and an enough titanium and stainless hardware to fill a tacklebox got me upright and walking again. The meds are certainly no fun. Without them things get even worse. They do make me forgetful as well. I don't hunt much anymore because sitting still comes with its own set of problems and I don't do treestands anymore. Shooting has been a great outlet for me as I'm sure it is for you. I enjoy the entire process. Reloading, teaching others, shooting, I've even built a few rifles. I wish you the best.

Amazing!
Love reading these stories.
Too many give up affer being injured.
Blessings

 

[Small Lady]

 

[comfisherman]

Thinking back I found rfc December of 05 after getting layed up with a broken arm from being dumb and 19. Had a nice ranch to hunt and had shot all the dumb coyotes and needed to learn long range. Back then the site was much smaller and forums seemed to have longer form almost short blog like content. Look at a current Kirby Allen post, it's paragraphs of content and pictures. He was one of several people putting out high quality free info.

Didn't join till 07, actually didn't really need to. Had easily a year or more of reading just leaning before first post.

It was a good time, scopes were just starting to dial consistently. And the lazzeroni/rum raw fps method was being replaced by long high bc bullets with long barrels.


Social media has changed, we've 140 character twiterized our brains. As such the info easily found just scrolling through old posts is lost in the fog of 100 short abstract posts. Some have good info, some have minimal or even none. Magnify it with 100 fold user increase and we have the dynamic at play we currently have.

Maybe not better or worse just a different dynamic. Takes a different approach to communicating salient points.

 

[James DeTorre]

I try to learn from long range shooters but avoid long range hunting shots. 300 yds for elk and 200 yds for mule deer. It's just me.
love banging a plate at 400 plus yds at a range but that's not hunting.

 

[Turpentine21]

Amazing!
Love reading these stories.
Too many give up affer being injured.
Blessings

Thank you! I had a 2 year old son at the time of my accident. I had to be a father and raise him no matter what was going on with me. There was no give up option. If there's a silver lining in my story it's that I got to stay home and raise and watch him grow up. That doesn't get to happen for everyone these days. He's a heck of a shot with anything you put in his hands. I started him at 3 with a BB gun and by 5 he was shooting 410s and 22 rifles. We shoot together a lot. He shoots regularly at 600 yards with an open sighted AR or Korean K2 and stays on the plate. I can't even see the target through the peep. He's also a consistent 85 and above sporting clays shooter and one hell of a pistol shot. That's the one good thing about shooting. Even in a wheelchair or having to use a walker or cane, young or old, it's still something you can do with the whole family.

 

[Turpentine21]

Thinking back I found rfc December of 05 after getting layed up with a broken arm from being dumb and 19. Had a nice ranch to hunt and had shot all the dumb coyotes and needed to learn long range. Back then the site was much smaller and forums seemed to have longer form almost short blog like content. Look at a current Kirby Allen post, it's paragraphs of content and pictures. He was one of several people putting out high quality free info.

Didn't join till 07, actually didn't really need to. Had easily a year or more of reading just leaning before first post.

It was a good time, scopes were just starting to dial consistently. And the lazzeroni/rum raw fps method was being replaced by long high bc bullets with long barrels.


Social media has changed, we've 140 character twiterized our brains. As such the info easily found just scrolling through old posts is lost in the fog of 100 short abstract posts. Some have good info, some have minimal or even none. Magnify it with 100 fold user increase and we have the dynamic at play we currently have.

Maybe not better or worse just a different dynamic. Takes a different approach to communicating salient points.

You certainly have to be adept at sifting through the BS and separating the wheat from the chaff these days. I do searches on topics quite a bit and some of those older posts are golden.

 

[XxaquadogxX]

I am a proponent of having to prove your proficiency with whatever tool that you choose to hunt with, whether bow or firearm. The weapon of choice should be demonstrated to a trained instructor and listed on your hunting permit by the instructor, by hand not put in the computer.
Too many wanna be hunters that make the rest of us look bad.

 

[Turkeytider]

You definitely are for sure. That's good shooting. Mighty good!

Thanks. It`s a challenge, though! Don`t hit it every time for sure!