.38 Special
Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2006
- Messages
- 7,394
Lots of "Man, you should have seen that fool at the range today!" stories floating around. Thought I'd lighten the mood with a 180.
I'm practicing for Bullseye at our local indoor range today. Kind of inconsistent, but shooting some mid 90s, so not feeling too bad about myself. Guy next to me runs out a blank sheet of paper to about 30 feet away. I hear a little pop and see a hand with an obviously high quality target air pistol. A little hole appears on the target.
A minute or so later I hear another pop and see that the guy has missed his target entirely. Not unusual for this neck of the woods, but it does seem a bit strange that a guy would be missing with a $2000 air pistol.
Another minute, another pop, another clean miss. Until I look closely: you guessed it, the hole is now slightly oblong. Another minute, another pop, and now he's missed the original hole... by about 2 millimeters. And another one, this time bridging the gap. Five .177 pellets, one oblong hole in the target. I've literally never seen anyone shoot that well.
Another target goes out; same results. And another, and another. By now I'm looking at his targets more than mine and am considering taking up golf.
After finishing up my practice match, I check out up front and ask if anyone knows that guy with the air gun. "Oh yeah, that's Bill Demarest."
So at least I don't feel so bad now -- and I guess it's one heck of a lot better than all the bump-firing goofballs you poor folks all seem to have to put up with.
Oh, and the postscript: until you've seen a truly good shooter first-hand, you really have no idea what good shooting looks like. I mean, I've seen pictures of tight little groups and said to myself "Self, that's good shooting" but until you actually watch a fellow like this pile them all into the same hole on demand, you don't really, viscerally, understand. Or at least I didn't -- and now I know exactly how much work I have to do!
I'm practicing for Bullseye at our local indoor range today. Kind of inconsistent, but shooting some mid 90s, so not feeling too bad about myself. Guy next to me runs out a blank sheet of paper to about 30 feet away. I hear a little pop and see a hand with an obviously high quality target air pistol. A little hole appears on the target.
A minute or so later I hear another pop and see that the guy has missed his target entirely. Not unusual for this neck of the woods, but it does seem a bit strange that a guy would be missing with a $2000 air pistol.
Another minute, another pop, another clean miss. Until I look closely: you guessed it, the hole is now slightly oblong. Another minute, another pop, and now he's missed the original hole... by about 2 millimeters. And another one, this time bridging the gap. Five .177 pellets, one oblong hole in the target. I've literally never seen anyone shoot that well.
Another target goes out; same results. And another, and another. By now I'm looking at his targets more than mine and am considering taking up golf.
After finishing up my practice match, I check out up front and ask if anyone knows that guy with the air gun. "Oh yeah, that's Bill Demarest."
So at least I don't feel so bad now -- and I guess it's one heck of a lot better than all the bump-firing goofballs you poor folks all seem to have to put up with.
Oh, and the postscript: until you've seen a truly good shooter first-hand, you really have no idea what good shooting looks like. I mean, I've seen pictures of tight little groups and said to myself "Self, that's good shooting" but until you actually watch a fellow like this pile them all into the same hole on demand, you don't really, viscerally, understand. Or at least I didn't -- and now I know exactly how much work I have to do!