Posted on 03/18/2012 5:42:10 AM PDT by marktwain
BOX SPRINGS — James Rutland, one-time hurdler at Georgia and later a successful high-school coach, handed me an air rifle — a Red Ryder Daisy model with no sights — and said that before the afternoon was over, he would have me hitting a penny with the BB gun.
At the outset, I had difficulty hitting golf-ball — and baseball-sized plastic balls that lay motionless on the ground. And he is going to have me shooting a penny out of the air! Even I didn’t believe that was possible. However, he had more confidence in me than I had in myself. This is a man who knows his business like no other.
As he worked with a smooth and encouraging voice and cogent teaching style, I had the thought that if he were a golf professional and taught with comparable success, he would become a very rich man.
In just over an hour, there was a marked improvement in shooting skill. “Hit that blue ball right behind the red one,” James instructed. I missed. “Now aim at the white one right behind the yellow one.” This time I shot straight and true, and the white ball jumped up a couple of inches and rolled away. Then he tossed a round medal medallion, about the size of a drink coaster, in the air, and the misses stretched past a dozen. Made you feel incompetent. “Find it and shoot it,” he coaxed gently. “You are shooting under the target. If that object were a quail, try to shoot the top of its head.” Suddenly there was a succession of pings, as the BBs bounced off the medallion. Then he threw up an aspirin about the size of a quarter. It took a few misses before my BB pellet smacked the aspirin
(Excerpt) Read more at onlineathens.com ...
You can use a lot of the techniques from marksmanship for shooting free throws in basketball.
I'm ashamed to say... I'm one of those guys. My wife is one of those girls... She is a natural at it. The woman can hit 12" gongs (consistently) at 250 yards on a beat up old Nagant with iron sights... I kid you not. I think she could likely do even better, but I don't have a place to shoot beyond 250. You should see what she can do with the 40x !
I can't even SEE 250 yards anymore; I'm helpless without optics these days.
The Army continued that instruction into the post-Viet Nam era. I experienced it as part of ROTC Advanced Camp at Fort Riley KS in 1976. We only got a short course and I wish I could have experienced the course described in the article.
I was at The Land that God Forgot, Fort Ord, 2/68. My memory isn’t that good any more, but I think we were using M14’s or carbines. Could be wrong.
That is why most target shooting handgunners will be at a disadvantage in a up close shoot out.
To point and shoot quickly without sighting is a most handy thing to learn. If practiced enough, will allow one to hit moving objects in darkness if can just catch a glimpse of target.
If you can swiftly point with your finger at an object and be on, just think of the barrel as your finger.
Practice, practice, practice, until it becomes a natural reaction without even thinking.
Sounds like very stupid friends to me, JMMHO.
My mother made me my first slingshot at about age 6 and showed me how to shoot it. That was about 67 years ago. I fast graduated to killing rabbits, squirrels and birds. I put meat on the table when it was a most scare commodity.
I still make and shoot slingshots to this day. To learn range estimation, keep eye on the target, to pull and release in one smooth motion without even thinking about it.
IMO, nothing is equal to becoming proficient with a slingshot and what learned will serve one well when it comes to firearms.
If you lived in Georgia, we coulda met and you coulda showed me. :(
I got my first BB gun at 6. When I was 9 I had co-opted my father’s model 67 Winchester .22 single shot, bolt action rifle that he paid $7.50 for new. To me it’s the most valuable firearm I own.
We could start a whole thread on legacy .22 rifles.
I have a Springfield 84-C that is just a wonderful gun.
I understand that a lot of women like to go shooting and to be instructed.
Very interesting. I love learning about the different methods of marksmanship. For anyone interested in learning marksmanship and a little American history, I highly recommend attending an Appleseed Project weekend in a town near you. You can search for an upcoming event at the site.
``It is unlawful to willfully discharge any firearm either in a public place, or in any place where there is any person to be endangered thereby.``
``Generally, it is unlawful for anyone under the age of 16 to possess any firearm; however, a rifle or shotgun may be possessed by a person between 12 and 16 who is engaged in target shooting on a range supervised by a military officer, certified instructor, or a parent, guardian or a person over the age of eighteen designated in writing by such parent or guardian provided the adult has a hunter safety certificate.``
http://www.nyfirearms.com/blog/nys-gun-laws/
[In 1957 you could buy a rifle when you were 14. So this is another restriction from what was practised. My mother, who is 93, was plinking rats behind the local grocery store when she was 12. She got paid a nickel per rat.
My cousin was firing his father`s .22 English sniper rifle when he was 8 years old plinking rats at the town dump with his father. Thus you can see the infringements upon the Second Amendment as it was practiced for 230 years here and has only changed since 1970(?). I do not know the dates of these laws.]
Our farm is 40 acres. We used to shoot apples, cans, offa logs etc for target practice here since 1950`s. But now [same farm] if you shoot a .22 on the same farm, if it is heard by someone who doesn`t like guns, they will report you to the NY State Troopers, coz the local police already know and they had guns doing this when they were kids, so they don`t enforce this illegal unconstitutional law at all. So we go in the woods at night and target practice to prevent such harrassment except during hunting season...
i thank you Sir... we shoot from the top of the barn loft and it's no 500' from the house
While my love cannot out shoot me...she can out ride me on the dirtbike and could prolly take me 8 out 10 wrasslin matches.
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