Karma Book give-a-way... We have a winner.

[MidKnight]

I just got done reading the book "Shooter" (paperback) about a Marine Sniper's experience in Iraq and his efforts to prove that in modern, urban warfare, snipers can still be relevant if they change their tactics.

It's a decent read that goes smoothly, but could have done better with a decent editor. However, still recommended to anyone that wants to learn about the modern sniper's place on the battlefield.

Anyways, there's no point to it sitting on my shelf. Reply to this thread and make sure your email is in your profile. Give me the story of your "best" shot. Maybe it'll drop my jaw, make me laugh, or something else, but I'll pick one later this week and mail the book out.

Thanks to editor7 for the inspiration!

EDIT: The winner is CHRIS for a story that emphasized gun safety. Very nice!

 

[jhrosier]

Never shot a handgun past 25 yards & I was out at the range one day with my .44 Ruger and the cheapest lead bullet loads that money could buy.
A fellow sez "Betcha couldn't hit that 18 inch gong at 200."
"Don't know," I sez, "til I try it."
Held about 1-1/2 Indians high and let one fly.
Darned if I didn't whack it just about in the middle!
Acting as if nothing special had happened, I allowed that it was past time to go home for supper.
I sure wasn't going to wait for someone to request a replay of that one.

 

[Cross-X]

In a contest against an esteemed NES-member, I once drew, fired, and hit an 8-inch steel plate at 40 yards in 1.7 seconds. I was shooting my S&W 1911.

That was, of course, my last shot for the day.

 

[Mike508]

I just got done reading the book "Shooter" (paperback) about a Marine Sniper's experience in Iraq and his efforts to prove that in modern, urban warfare, snipers can still be relevant if they change their tactics.

It's a decent read that goes smoothly, but could have done better with a decent editor. However, still recommended to anyone that wants to learn about the modern sniper's place on the battlefield.

Anyways, there's no point to it sitting on my shelf. Reply to this thread and make sure your email is in your profile. Give me the story of your "best" shot. Maybe it'll drop my jaw, make me laugh, or something else, but I'll pick one later this week and mail the book out.

Thanks to editor7 for the inspiration!

Good review MidKnight; I'm reading it now and it's just as you mentioned. I saw the writer interviewed on one of news shows a few weeks ago prompting me to give it a read. I thought I'd better before I need to get an ALP Readers License in this poor excuse of a state.

 

[Patriot]

Anyways, there's no point to it sitting on my shelf. Reply to this thread and make sure your email is in your profile. Give me the story of your "best" shot. Maybe it'll drop my jaw, make me laugh, or something else, but I'll pick one later this week and mail the book out.

I once had a shot of 150 year old Rye Whiskey!

TBP

 

[editor7]

It might not have been my best shot, but it was certainly my most memorable. I was 9 years old and it was the first time my father had taken me shooting. We were at the town dump, and he set a quart jar on the ground, about 50 feet away. He showed me how to load his single shot, .22 Winchester rifle, rest the gun on my knee, and fire. When I did fire, I must have just knicked the metal lid, as it unscrewed off the jar, and flew 30 feet away. The jar never broke, however. I don't remember how many more shots it took, but it was several.

 

[Twigg]

Hmmm, Let's go back to when I was about eight (1963) I'd had my Daisy Red Rider for about a year and I remember I was shooting at some cardboard cereal boxes when this squirrl waltzed out onto a branch of a tree in the backyard about 20 feet up and perhaps the same distance away. I cocked the lever, held my breath, aimed carefully and squeezed the trigger. POP! Mr. Squirrl jumped straight up hit the branch running. I jacked another BB into my Red Rider, took quick aim and POP ! I got him again ! He jumped straight up and reversed direction before setting back down on the branch. The squirrl took off running again as I worked the lever once more. POP ! I couldn't believe it, I'd hit him again ! That squirrl went up in the air once more and turned around again and hit the branch running. I managed to pop him twice more before missing and he ran off. I nearly split my sides laughing at the vision of that squirrl jumping straight up and turning around in mid air and hitting the branch running in the opposite direction. I was like being in one of those old carnival shooting galleries where the ducks (or whatever) would reverse direction whenever they got hit.

My little sister saw the whole thing and she told my Mom, who told my Dad. He had a good laugh and then took the Red Rider away from me for a month for shooting at the dang squirrl.

 

[BillK]

My dad got pissed when I took the .308 to a chipmunk when I was 13......"damn kids!"

 

[MidKnight]

I'm bumping this back to the top so other people that didn't see it before can get a chance....

 

[Chris]

Myself and the neighbor's kid were out walking in the woods with his new .22 shooting at stuff. The action was a break action similar to what you see on double barrel shotguns. I commented at some point that I was surprised to see such an action on a rimfire as it seemed unsafe.

Later that afternoon, he loaded a round and closed the action.

The gun discharged and the bullet embedded itself harmlessly in the dirt a few yards from his and my feet.

Why is this my most memorable shot? Because here we had two teens with a rifle who were so drilled with gun safety that even when an accident occured, nobody was injured because the gun was ALWAYS pointed in a safe direction.

This was in Alton, NH circa 1983.

 

[MidKnight]

Last chance...

 

[dwarven1]

Some years ago, I was at Riverside teaching a friend how to shoot. We had my Ruger Mk 1 on the 25 yard range. Well, from the far end of the 100 yard range I hear BOOM... BOOM... after a while I got curious and strolled over to see what this guy & his friends were shooting.

"Lee Enfield; I have one round left - want to give it a try?"

Well, I'd never fired one, so I said sure. He went on to explain that he was flying a small plane up to Alaska and that state regs mandated a survival rifle on board and that this was what he was taking. It was pretty worn... looked like it had been through the wars. (come to think of it, I guess it had!)

He goes on to offer to "spot" for me to let me know if I hit the target - he was shooting at an old Prestone jug. I kind of looked at him for a second - is he kidding? Why does he think I need a spotter from 100 yards? and say "Uh... OK".

Well, I line up the sights and squeeze the trigger. A mule comes out of nowhere and kicks my right shoulder, and down range I see this Preston jug turning lazy circles in the air.

He's kind of looking at me like "WTF?" I just grin, say "Nice rifle! Thanks for letting me try it out." and go back to trying to teach Morgan to shoot.

 

[MidKnight]

Congrats CHRIS for posting the best shot story.

 

[Twigg]

Good going Chris !

 

[dwarven1]

I actually thought MrTwigg's squirrel tale or Jack's 200 yard gong shot would have won, but Chris' story has a better moral.

Congrats, Chris! Now you have something to read in your convalescence.

 

[MidKnight]

Yeah, it was all about the moral of the story. Although I'd like to say that I liked reading all of them. Thanks for playing!

 

[MrsWildweasel]

Congrats Chris.

 

[dreppucci007]

Congrats!

 

[Chris]

Thank you, thank you. I'd like to thank the Academy....

Seriously, I had no idea that was the kind of thing you were looking for. I just really like that story. Neither one of us ever gave the incident any thought at the time. The whole thing was just 'business as usual'. It was only MUCH later that I realized that it's very possible that one of us was saved that day because we listened to what we were taught, and drilled often enough that safety wasn't something we HAD to think about - We just did it.