What challenged you to learn to shoot accurately and...

[Memberberries]

I started shooting with my father in law and we bought some tannerite at the store for fun. the fun stopped when he mixed it up and divided it between pill bottles and put them 300 yds out.

that was the moment that I learned that I in fact did not know how to shoot well...

I thought I was ok until he had 4 hits with 4 rounds. we were using one of his rifles, a remington 700 varmint stainless fluted hs precision etc etc etc.... nicer than any rifle I had shot at that time.

 

[RetiredSniper]

I ran into a long range hunter who was a former sniper. We were at the range, I was zeroing my rifle, and he was sitting there with a skeptical look on his face. He asked if I was happy with 2 MOA groups, I replied that it was good enough for what I was doing, with a factory rifle and factory ammo. He asked if I minded if he shot a group. He shot 5 rounds and got a 1.25" group at the 100 yard line. The thing was, his group was tight, and symmetrical and his POI was different from mine. I said "Well, I reckon my shooting sucks." He said "No, you've just never been shown how." When I left 2 hours later I was not as ignorant, and that's when I really started studying up on this.

That is a great story. I made expert with the M-14 in U.S. Army basic training in 1969. I loved the 308/7.62X51 M-14. Went from there to A.I.T. (Advanced Infantry Training) and was strapped with an M-16. Did not like it at all. Did well with it but missed my M-14. Went to Vietnam and they asked for volunteers for the Army Sniper Core who had made expert with the M-14 in basic training. I jumped on that because they were going to outfit me with a Springfield M-14 National match. A moth of sniper training with 30 men including myself up at Cu Chi in Vietnam 25th. Divisions base and back into the jungle. After that training I got even better. I/we could shoot 900 meters all so accurately. Actually 900 meters equals 984.252 yards. 3-9 x 40 mm sniper scope and a Starlight scope. Day or night, 900 meters, bulls eye 99% of the time.

If you ever run into that veteran sniper again, thank him for his service and his guidance!!!!!!!! AND ANY OTHER VETERAN YOU RUN INTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mram10us]

Mine was about 20 years ago, hiking all over in steep hell holes and missing deer at 400 yds with my 3x9 scope and no rangefinder, thinking they were 200 yards away. I also thought 3" high at 100 was standard for snipers

 

[RetiredSniper]

Mine was about 20 years ago, hiking all over in steep hell holes and missing deer at 400 yds with my 3x9 scope and no rangefinder, thinking they were 200 yards away. I also thought 3" high at 100 was standard for snipers

Well back in 69/70 we were issued a 3-9 X 40 mm scope with two extra horizontal lines in it. One below and one above the cross hairs. When you would adjust the power of the scope from 3 to 9 power the two extra lines would spread apart from the cross hairs and you would adjust untill the top line was on the head of the target and the bottom line was on the waist of the target. This put your hit center of mass. Those scopes, if you can find them today will cost you 2 to 3 thousand dollars and they are hard to find. I have since learned how to adjust for elevation with a civilian offered scope.

 

[bubbaonpc]

My Uncle was a Sniper in Vietnam. In 1979 I became interested in guns and hunting. I spent many days at his hip in pursuit of Crows, Squirrels and groundhogs. Helping him measure his 200-300 yard varmint kills. In the Winter he taught me how to walk quietly through the woods stalking deer. He often offered me the chance to practice with him at his range, but I refused most times. Setting out in the hot sun, running back and forth checking targets wasnt my idea of fun... When he shot an animal, he would say, " popped that one between the eyes...in his ear,,,in the right eye", Ect... I would scamper to find his shot was dead on target. The day came when he handed me the rifle on a groundhog bout 200 yards away...I pulled the trigger, only to watch the hog limp off. Uncle took the rifle and placed a perfect between the eyes head shot to end the animals suffering. He then asked me how I felt, injuring an animal and causing it to suffer,,,, He really poured it on me. From that day on, I looked forward to sitting with my Uncle and learning his reload techniques, trajectory, Ballistics of bullets, squeezing vs pulling a trigger and to always "shoot small". I still have my first "Bullet Hole" target. I rushed to his house and proudly showed him. He smiled, went to his safe, and pulled out a .257 Roberts, built on a Mauser action by "some guy" named P.O.Ackley...handed it to me and said "I want you to have this. Now go put us up a target at 200 yards and I'll show ya how it shoots"... He did just that, placing 5 touching shots in the 1" ring. Years passed and I always looked forward to coming home and discussing shooting with him. Every time I shoot nowadays, I wonder, "what would Uncle Jerry think of that"? Agent Orange took my Uncle a few years back, but I know he'd be proud to see me popping crows at 200+ with my .17HH and the deer that ole .257 has put down. Long Range Hunting members would have really like him !

 

[Sgt. grizz]

For me it started when I bought my first hand gun at 23. Then I joined the army and tried improving more, after getting injured overseas I became a gunsmith and worked for a guy that was all about Br shooting so he pressured me to become a better shoot and it was over from there. Now I'm into ELR and love the challenge.

 

[RetiredSniper]

My Uncle was a Sniper in Vietnam. In 1979 I became interested in guns and hunting. I spent many days at his hip in pursuit of Crows, Squirrels and groundhogs. Helping him measure his 200-300 yard varmint kills. In the Winter he taught me how to walk quietly through the woods stalking deer. He often offered me the chance to practice with him at his range, but I refused most times. Setting out in the hot sun, running back and forth checking targets wasnt my idea of fun... When he shot an animal, he would say, " popped that one between the eyes...in his ear,,,in the right eye", Ect... I would scamper to find his shot was dead on target. The day came when he handed me the rifle on a groundhog bout 200 yards away...I pulled the trigger, only to watch the hog limp off. Uncle took the rifle and placed a perfect between the eyes head shot to end the animals suffering. He then asked me how I felt, injuring an animal and causing it to suffer,,,, He really poured it on me. From that day on, I looked forward to sitting with my Uncle and learning his reload techniques, trajectory, Ballistics of bullets, squeezing vs pulling a trigger and to always "shoot small". I still have my first "Bullet Hole" target. I rushed to his house and proudly showed him. He smiled, went to his safe, and pulled out a .257 Roberts, built on a Mauser action by "some guy" named P.O.Ackley...handed it to me and said "I want you to have this. Now go put us up a target at 200 yards and I'll show ya how it shoots"... He did just that, placing 5 touching shots in the 1" ring. Years passed and I always looked forward to coming home and discussing shooting with him. Every time I shoot nowadays, I wonder, "what would Uncle Jerry think of that"? Agent Orange took my Uncle a few years back, but I know he'd be proud to see me popping crows at 200+ with my .17HH and the deer that ole .257 has put down. Long Range Hunting members would have really like him !

Another Great story of the master/Uncle teaching the young one! There are many men out there who have Mastered the task. Listen to them carefully and learn. That's right, we need to consider the prey as alive. We don't want to injure them we want to put them down as quickly as possible. You would never want to come up on a deer you have shot and see it in pain and have to put another round in it! It would be like putting your family dog down yourself! Not a good experience for the mind or heart!!!!!

 

[5.56×250]

Mine really started with my first modern bolt rifle, a win 670 in 30 06 from Otasco in the little town I grew up around. I expected the rifle to shoot exactly where I aimed, I was 14. When I could barely keep 5 shots on a paper plate at 100 off a bench, I was devastated. I didnt even feel comfortable shooting at deer beyond 50 yards, and this was with a REAL rifle, 4x weaver scope and all. I blamed the gun and started researching how to make the gun shoot like I expected. I glass bedded the stock, floated the barrel , polished the working parts of the trigger. Bought another box of remington 180 coreloks and bebopped down to my neighbors range with every expectation of bullets in a ragged hole.i shot groups in the 6-7" range ! I finally took my junk rifle to my local gunsmith to see what was wrong with my equipment . Mr Turner calmly took me out back of his shop and set up a target at 25 yards. He had me shoot a 3 shot group. As I remember, it was about 2 inches. He sat down behind the gun and shot less than 1/2" group. He then explained that the nut on the handle was loose. He spent a while explaining the ins and outs of shooting.....breathing, trigger management, sight picture, focus, and not being afraid of the recoil . He did the old unloaded gun trick on me and I came unwound as I snatched the trigger on that empty chamber. I spent the better part of the afternoon practicing on that abbreviated range, till i could put them all under an inch.
I never got that rifle to shoot better than 2" at 100 yards. I traded it for a remington 788 carbine in 308 with a bushnell 3-9 scope. I could shoot sub moa with that rifle once I had done the bedding on it. I guess I've been on a quest for that one hole group every since mr Turner took the time to teach me the fundamentals all those years ago.
I still havent stretched out like you guys have. Just dont have the place to try it. Hopefully, I will get around to it one day.
Oh, and it turned out that the old weaver scope on that 30 06 was to blame for the less than average accuracy. The shop I traded at for the 308, sold the old 670 and the new owner put better glass on it. Gun shot way under moa with federal premiums with the new glass.
And the one hole groups, I've shot too many to count in little ragged holes at 100 with several rifles I've owned. I can still hear Mr Turner in my head when I settle into the gun....burn a hole through that bullseye, be patient, and let the gun do its job.

 

[Skimbleshanks]

Growing up my dad had lots of guns. He hunted some and read Shooting Times and had all the reloading manuals even though he didn't reload. I devoured them as a young boy and the P.O. Ackley books especially. Not exactly sure why but the bench rest and palma guns always looked so cool to me. The targets that I saw that came from those guns were a very far cry from the capabilities I had with my bb gun. Hitting cans across the yard was cool but I always knew that some people could stack bullet holes on each other, and I wanted that.

 

[zb338]

Shot on the Ft. Monmouth post pistol team U.S. Army. .45 Automatics
back then. Been shooting ever since.

 

[zb338]

Shot on the Ft. Monmouth post pistol team U.S. Army. .45 Automatics
back then. Been shooting ever since.

 

[del2les]

Shooting accurately? Well, I grew up very poor on a small farm, out house and hand-dug well poor, so at times, food was not always a stable item. Especially meat. Dad was a WWII vet, and he did own a 22 single shot and an old Stevens single 16 gauge. I cannot ever remember him having a full box of shot shells or 22 shorts in the drawer, so taking the rifle with 3-4 shorts was a serious lesson in making every shot count.

FOOD is a great motivator, so coming home with a rabbit or two, a squirrel here and there with maybe a quail, all mixed with some veggies from our large gardens, were the makings of a delicious pot of stew or soup for all of us. I can still smell mom's cooking on that old stove and see her face when I came in with a couple of rabbits. Dumplins!!

One winter at Christmas, mom splurged and purchased a full box of Federal 22 short HP's for my stocking. I was ELATED! My own box of bullets, and knowing what a luxury this was, I took only 2-3 rounds per day to hunt. Sadly, 50 rounds did not make it until mid January, but I honed my stalking and hunting patients.

Years later as a mid teen, I had after school and summer jobs that paid minimum wage, so I bought my own used 22 Rifle and could afford the occasional $5 "bricks" of ammo. With a good friend and his squirrel dogs, we became deadly shooters on small game, and on rare occasions, a deer would walk across our paths while still hunting. A PRIZE INDEED!

Those days and hard times put me on the path to serious shooting, and it has only grown. To mom, may she rest in peace.

 

[Muddyboots]

Just banging away at a range about 25+ years ago and fella next to me was taking very measured aim and shots downrange. He asked me I thought I was doing and I said OK. Basically keeping them in pie plate kill zone at 300 yards at best. I watched him do something I never saw done before. He then took another rifle out of a case, set up for a 300 yard shot, squeezed off a round and then oddly placed the rifle back into the case and put back into his truck. He never looked downrange with rifle or a spotting scope. That's really odd I thought. So couldn't just sit there and not ask the dumb question. "Why didn't you check you shot?" He said he was replicating hunting pressure and I will check it shortly. SO then I asked " So if it isn't a good shot why not shoot again to you get one?". His answer was "Animals don't stand there and ask you to shoot again." He explained that once he is sighted in, he takes the rifle to range and only takes one shot. It forces him to increase his focus to replicate one shot on an animal. And yes, the shot was **** near perfect on the intersection of the X. Then I started to ask more questions and got the bug bad to improve my accuracy and not just throw stuff downrange. I learned to reload better, better rifles, optics and so on.

I still do what he did that day. This year was no different. I drove 30 minutes to range. Placed target at 300 (max distance I have there) and took one shot. I felt ready to go when I went down to pick up target, little high but right at 12:00 on the 1" bull. A chance meeting at the range 25+ years ago changed everything in my shooting world. I never saw him again since I heard he moved to Alaska and wished I could have thanked him for setting me on a road to accuracy.

 

[Gater]

As a kid growing up we hunted pheasant rabbit and squirrel pheasant and rabbit with a .410 the ol man said if you can't kill with a .410 then don't hunt and that's that's what he also used squirrel was done With .22 finally after years of hunting with the .410 he broke down and bought a .20ga. A friend talked me in to trying the across the corse service rifle loved it so I bought a AR-15 and back then nobody was using an AR I caught more hell because they couldn't find the small holes during rapid fire so to get a dig in according to the rules then they had to plug all holes with a .30cal plug that got em riled now that's all you see at the service rifle matches but like a lot of us age and some work related injuries couldn't hold the gun up for off hand so we started shooting
F-class and bench rest still having fun shooting with most of the same guys unfortunately it seems every year some are missing. Many of the guys I shot the service rifle with are former Vietnam vets and still love the game. Keep sending em down range and enjoy