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Which are you a better shot with??
montanajoe
Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 58,000 ******
Rifle
Pistol;
Revolver
or Semi auto
shotgun
??????
Pistol;
Revolver
or Semi auto
shotgun
??????
Comments
I not only possessed a natural ability with rifles (any long gun carbine short rifle or rifle) but I practiced that skill and honed it enough to be nationally ranked...
And instead of having a narrow focus and being elite with one platform I shot everything I could get my hands on...
I can shoot right and left handed with a rifle - even at one point shooting in match events with the weak non dominant hand.
It's unconscious muscle memory and burned behaviors - a zen state easily slipped into - where my body does a number of complicated tasks on its own...
With a pistol I have to work at it - I have to think about what I am doing and concentrate - I will never be a good natural shot with a handgun...
Mike
Hunting deer I am a very good rifle shot but I am ever so careful. I believe that the deer must go down as instantly as possible or you are not an ethical hunter. As a result I NEVER take a shot of more than 150 yards! I prefer under 100 yards. I NEVER shoot at a running deer! I always use some type of rest, a fence post, a tree limb what ever is handy. What ever rifle I take to the woods is accurate. I use quality scopes as the eyes ain't what they used to be. I know deer anatomy so I know where to place the bullet. Because I am so careful, 10 shots = 10 deer in the freezer. All this doesn't mean I am a great shot, most anyone on this Forum could make the shots I make but it does make me an ethical, humane deer hunter!!
Having said all that, with the damage to wildlife that coyotes and wild hogs do, I will take any shot I get, not worrying at all about wounding a 'yote or a hog. I wont intentionally wound them but if I do "Oh well."
I've only shot sporting clays once and that was a charity event. IIRC I finished with a 65/100. I've shot clays now and then but never on a steady schedule and the sporting clays event is the only actual shotgun range I've been to.
I've hunted successfully with rifle and pistol, both small game and deer. Hard to say which I shoot the best. But given a choice of only one I would take the rifle.
Same here.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Better than average with a rifle , fair hand with a pistol and ain’t worth a darn as a wing shooter .
You know what really frustrated me was sub machine guns...
I mean up until that point if you handed me a rifle or short rifle or carbine or anything bigger than a pistol I could hold me own or be a top competitor with anything you handed me...
In the gunshop days we had a customer - a state coroner / the guy I'm charge of the coroner's in the state who had a massive sub machine gun collection...
He had close to 100 pieces and examples of almost everything you could imagine from 1898 to the late 1950's...
He wanted his collection documented and cleaned and serviced and test fired and repaired or tuned...
He also wanted the guns researched and appraised - he wanted ammo for each one - he wanted spare mags and wanted his mags refurbished and repaired...
I had to learn trigger control and line of sight holds and two hand grips...
Pushing against forend hand grips or pulling back and down on short retention strips / webbing...
Muzzle flip and climb control - rate of fire estimates that effected point of aim and impact...
Cooling - not overheating the gun and getting the furniture to smoke or rounds to cook off as they chambered...
Firing from an open bolt - triggers that had multiple trip points for single shot or 3 rounds or full auto...
Adjustable movable weights on bolts and bolt bodies - move them forward or back and change the rate of fire...
Muzzle break and compensators and barrel weights...
Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the heck out of it and eventually became quite adept and skilled with most SMG's - but it took me the better part of 6 months to achieve a modicum of skill and control.
I spent close to 5 years on his collection working through maybe two guns each month - and he kept buying maybe a dozen guns each year...
I do have an SMG endorsement on my NRA instructors card now.
I would not trade the experience for anything - but I had to work hard and practice just to be safe in handling and get rounds on target at first.
Maybe some of you found it easy or had a natural talent or it was just one more type of gun or qual bar for your marksmanship rating badge..
For me it took awhile and an effort.
Mike
At one time I was decent with any firearm but I practiced a lot. Wing shooting and trap were my "specialties." Since my cataract surgery, not so much.
Me too Mark. I don't shoot much w/o an optic of some sort these days. That said, we shoot 22 pistols @ 100 yards which is quite a challenge to most anyone. I'm less steady as in the past so I just let the shots go as the dot flutters around the target. When you're my age, that line "aim small, miss small" is a thing of the past.
But my best is with a single action revolver.
I practice more with shotguns, trap shooting. I shoot most critters on the farm with a scoped rifle. Except I like the crossbow for deer.
I reload a lot more pistol ammo than I seem to shoot for some reason. Guess I’ll have to work on that when I retire.
But for iron sights, I have some older 22s, and they are probably more accurate than my eyes.
Bean flips
NRA Member