The downside of Ranges

Lol…. Nice tight shot group!

Not really, but this is a video for my unit. I do the PMI every year but there are always those who weren’t there that day so this is for them. I find if I do too well they sort of sigh and give up, so I try to make it somewhat attainable. A lot of instructors let their egos get in the way of instruction, and little is learned from them. Which is why I keep getting saddled with extra work every year…
For example, I could have kept editing these until I got all in the five ring (that’s my goal with them since this is not competition shooting) but I chose to keep each initial take. Besides, the officers in my unit are pretty smart fellers - I think you can tell when people keep doing retakes…

24 out of 25 points in each iteration will get you expert every time.

Wow……If I remember correctly I think our furthest targets on the m16 pop up range was 350 meters in the Army, that was back in the late 90s.

It’s 300m, but what’s another 50m among friends?

The art of instructing. :+1:

So is it just me then who found it all friggin’ hard?!

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LOL, no … not at all … I have a lad here who seriously couldnt hit a barn door with a sawn off shotgun from 5 feet

Nothing to compare to all you ex and serving military (respect) but the nearest I got was back many years (1980’s) ago when as a Boy Scout I trained on the .22LR at 25yrd over open (iron) sights. I was entered into the competition at the end where I came top with 190 out of 200 - 10 targets, two rounds on each. Our troop came third overall.
Now the nearest I get is a bit of archery.

My son’s Cub Scout friends used to complain when he won the turkey shoot every year. I told them nothing was stopping their dad from getting a pellet rifle (which they used) and practicing with them. Of course by then he had a Ruger 10/22. At 8 years old that’s a little late by local standards. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Condolences Johnny

Nothing like a little CLP to spice up lunch.

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My best day on the range was while stationed at Aviano, Italy. The range official was Italian Army, and upon arrival he handed each of us USAF shooters a mini-bottle of Grappa. We thanked him and tucked them in our gear, believing they were a gift and saving them for later. He looked perplexed, and told us, in his broken English, the Grappa was to be consumed before shooting, “…to steady our nerves.” Who were we to disobey the range officer, insult the host country, and possibly cause an international incident? Yes, it is always bad juju to mix firearms and alcohol, but it was, really, a minuscule amount. I wish I could finish this anecdote by saying, “It was the best I ever shot.”, but I scored my usual - qualified, but no Marksmanship ribbon.

Yes blanks were the worst

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Back when I was young (and dinosaur roamed the Earth) our high school in New York had a rifle range in the basement (along with nuclear bomb shelter of course!) where we were sent on rainy days to shoot - archery! The ceiling was maybe 10ft off the ground, and the effect of arrows on flourescent light tubes was quite spectacular. The effect on the maintenance guy’s face (and language) was even better…

Sounds like a blast lol

Good enough for govt work lol

Haha, all my archery is outdoor once I had learned the basics years ago indoors. We normally shoot on a rugby pitch which has its down side, being that the pitch has another use so if during a shoot an arrow misses the target and boss we have to find it before we can leave. Now no matter the colours of your feathers (mine are pink and orange so they stand out) once it goes into the ground at a shallow angle it is almost impossible to find. On occasion we have had 20 people looking for 1 arrow for an hour, where was it? Not behind the boss as to be expected but in front of it! They have made little flashing leds that go on the end of the arrows but it adds weight just where you don’t want it.

That Italian guy was right about a small amount of alcohol.
The Swedish pistol champion (one Olympic gold and some other medals) Ragnar Skanåker used to drink on glass of light beer before contests.
Alcohol slows down the reaction speed of the nerves (makes driving dangerous).
A small amount of alcohol dampens the “jitter” in the nerves which causes small hand vibrations and makes aiming more difficult. Getting rid of the jitter improves precision.
Alcohol has now been banned as an illegal doping substance in competitions …

Brings to mind a fellow Airman of mine who had to have his usual gallon of coffee before we went to the pistol range to fire our 9mm. His hand was shaking and he was all over the place lol! He was right next to me And he was shooting my targets !!

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Cross lane firing always comes in handy if you need to restock your section tea / coffee and biscuit (cookie) fund…:grin:

As rare as it was. I got a expert ribbon for qualifying with a M-14 in the mid-late '70’s in, believe it or not, the Navy. I served on the USS Chicago CG-11 and it was nuclear capable which means we had a Marine Detachment and we squids were the backup alert force. The CO of MarDet wanted us swabbys to at least be capable of shooting the weapon and not just off the fantail of the ship to just hit the water. I am sure now post 9/11 that has all changed.

Cheers
:beer: :robot: :beer:

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Small world. My grandpa served on the Chicago in WWII, back when it was the CA-136

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