The best, and they know it (NCAA Riflery)

Anchorage Daily News ^ | May 5, 2003 | Mary Pemperton

[FreeRadical]

Fairbanks, Alaska -- Matt Emmons slowly lifted a bullet from the box and inserted it into the chamber of his .22-caliber rifle.

He let out a deep sigh, and his torso settled into his hip joints, visibly shrinking him. His eyelids sank over dark blue eyes as if he was about to fall asleep. His eyes widened, he peered at the target 50 feet away, blinked fast three times, and squeezed the trigger.

[FreeRadical]

Thought this would be of interest to some.

I believe the more kids shoot, the fewer kids get shot. I know these aren't "kids", but they are students. And, that is my point: I wish more students, from early ages, had a chance to learn about guns. Guns are a tremendous learning tool: Physics, Optics, Engineering, History, Politics, Chemistry, Biology, Self-Discipline and more...

[Maigrey]

Awesome Post!

I did this in college, for 3 years, for the local U. I was a nobody 'cept someone with a hypercompetive streak.

I earned my letter within 12 months due to a great coach, 'cause after learning the mechanics, the rest was between the ears. (Mind over matter.)
The folks on my team were also leaders, and smart people. I'd have it no other way....

As an aside, I wish WVU would realize that Sport Shooting is the ONLY sport where guys and girls compete at the same time, with the same equiptment. It's the perfect Title 9 sport! ('cept to the femnazis and gun control freaks!)

[Atlas Sneezed]

Bang

[MoralSense]

Talk about dating yourself! I remember guys carrying fancy .22 target rifles around Ferris Booth Hall at Columbia University, right in the middle of New York City -- and nobody thought anything about it!

[FreeRadical]

... Sport Shooting is the ONLY sport where guys and girls compete at the same time, with the same equipment. It's the perfect Title 9 sport! ...

Thanks for that thought. I'll pass it along by incorporating it in my talking points, so to speak.

I want to create a nationwide chain of learning centers with firing ranges and encourage parents to bring their kids. One might call them Cultural Recreation Centers.

[Contra]

Interesting that the championship team is in Alaska. I wonder if they actively recruit the best in the world to come there or if they just kind of develop into the best? I would imagine that it's a good place to practice, kind of block out everything else and do nothing but concentrate on shooting, seeing as it's in a remote place compared to the rest of the USA. I would have figured the championship team might be in a southern state like Kentucky or Tennessee.

[Maigrey]

IIRC, (and this is from roughly 8 years ago) my coach said that the better short shooters were the ones who were brighter (read: smarter) and who were better students and athletes (he also said that he couldn't teach a student athlete who didn't want to learn.)

He and I still talk, and it helps that I went to school with one of his kids.

I loved the comraderie, the required mental discipline to exceed, and the demands physically.

See, I have an inherited condition, called familial tremors. Basically, my hands shake (more than most people) and you can imagine the struggle to hit bullseyes (with shaking hands.) My mom, who went to a couple of matches (which is quite funny, since she is pretty much anti-gun anything) said it was amazing to watch me online during a competition. The barrel of the gun would oscilate in a figure 8, slowing compacting to nothing (sitting still) when I would fire. If I didn't, it would pick back up again, and I'd have to reset.
This doesn't count having rigor mortis set in to make you a better standing shooter (as opposed to knealing or prone.)

Doing this at 10m with .177 pellets on targets was quite challenging.

Probably the best I'd say was my first trip to the Walsh Invitational, at Xavier U (the rifle range was in the second story of the basketball gym.)
I was shooting great that week, but my coach went with the experience over me (at the time) 'cause it was a big match. Lo and behold, The guy who started slightly melted below his normal scores (about +2 deviation) and I was +3 on mine. (~20 pt. difference) My coach was estatic, and was also p_____ that he didn't start me. (and the fact that he didn't tell me until afterwards, which p____ me off! He didn't realize I was a stress junkie, and also a showoff!)

[Maigrey]

When I was sport shooting, it was either UA or West Virgina, which has fallen under the ax of Title 9.

(I wish the femnazis would realize that Olympic Sport Shooting is the ONLY sport where guys and gals can and do compete at the same time with the same equiptment, shooting at the same targets, with the same match conditions (you don't get that in golf or tennis, much less the other team sports.)

[joesnuffy]

Nice catch

[Wilhelm Tell]

(I wish the femnazis would realize that Olympic Sport Shooting is the ONLY sport where guys and gals can and docompete at the same time with the same equiptment, shooting at the same targets, with the same match conditions (you don't get that in golf or tennis, much less the other team sports.) That is an excellent point and should be repeated over and over again until some school administrations "get it." It would be great to see more shooting teams. It would also help people understand the true motivations of the socialists when they see them frantically try to stop what is the one ideal Title 9 sport. This would create a "fault line" among the left that we could exploit. Can you imagine the socialists saying on the one hand that women should have combat roles in the military, but on the other hand, women "can't" for whatever reason, shoot in a competitive sport?

[hoot2]

"... Sport Shooting is the ONLY sport where guys and girls compete at the same time, with the same equipment. It's the perfect Title 9 sport! ... "

not in kalifornica...
one of the top female shooters had to leave the state,
her gun was declared "assualt..."

[Newbomb Turk]

Arguably, I'm the best all-around rifle shooter in the world right now

Outside the ones deployed inside Iraq.

[Travis McGee]

At this level of skill, .22LR is plenty of power for defense.

These guys will not hit your eye, they will hit your pupil.

[Squantos]

Anschutz ........BTTT !!!!

[xm177e2]

Outside the ones deployed inside Iraq.

Being an accurate shooter is only a part of being a good soldier... and it's not even the better part of being a good sniper.

[Travis McGee]

For true.

[TEXASPROUD]

I'm still getting used to the 100 gram trigger(3.5 oz.) on my Anschutz 54.18. It is the most incredibly accurate rimfire I have ever shot. It will literally shave the hair off a gnat's ass at 50 meters and leave the gnat with a smile on its face.

[Squantos]

Gnat tickler ? Great name for a rifle !! How'd yer shoot go this weekend ??

Stay Safe

[Tijeras_Slim]

I shot a Anchutz 64 in the 70's at a high school range in Maryland, and competed at the indoor range at the NRA building when it was in DC.

I believe that there has never been a case of competitor or parental violence in junior shooting competition... unlike soccer and sundry.

Shooting now, I miss the way my eyes worked when I was 15.

[AnAmericanMother]

We have an old, old Anschutz (circa 1969) with the feather-light trigger. It is still head and shoulders above any other rimfire. . . shoots better than I can hold! Makes the Ruger 10/22 look sick, even after the trigger job (almost a necessity for the 10/22). Although you can't be in a hurry to get a second shot off . . . :-D