One good thing about gettin' older is that you have more time to make a few shots that memories are made of. I mainly shoot handguns, and for some reason I'm really good with 'em. including for deer hunting, so most of my fond memories are with my trusty .44mag S&W, including these:
MY .44 w/Holosight red dot sight
1. THE 200 YARD SHOT OF THE MILK JUG WITH THE .44
Our company has taken some management and executive staff on some trophy whitetail trips before, and always to the same place. On my first trip out there I discovered that a lot of guys weren't really much of a hunter . . . arriving in new Wal-mart camo and sighting in borrowed deer rifles at 50 yards. Since the field used to sight in was nearly 300 yards across, I decided to pull their chain the next year.
Studying ballistic tables I discovered my 300 grain Federal Castcore bullet, fired from my 6" S&W .44 mag should fall exactly 34" at 200 yards. I can always shoot sub 2" groups from the sandbagged bench at 50 yards . . . which equals an 8" group at 200 yards if I do my part, so I knew it was possible if the gun was perfectly sighted in. An eight inch group . . . that's the width of a milk jug, so that's what I practiced with.
Going to our local range before the trip, verified that the bullet did drop 34" and learned how high to hold my Holosight's red dot to get my 34" drop.
ON THE NEXT YEAR'S JANUARY TROPHY HUNT . . . all the guys walked out about 50 yards and put up targets on the sides of cardboard boxes, but I kept going . . . carefully pacing exactly 200 yards off. When I got there, I set a milk jug down and by the time I returned EVERYONE was waiting for me.
Then, a Vice President (not really a shooter or hunter) asked me in front of everyone, "Do you think you can hit that MILKJUG, that far away?"
"Sure," I declared.
Noticing I didn't have a rifle with me he asked,"Where's your rifle?"
"I don't need it," I replied, pulling my .44 from the holster, "I've got THIS!"
There eyes got real big, then he said, "Do you really think you are gonna shoot that milk jug with that HANDGUN?"
I remember these exact words, which spoke a truth they couldn't know was practiced, "Well . . . the bullet is gonna go where it's gonna go, so I'll hit it if I do MY part."
With no where to sit, I went prone and used the ground to steady the .44 and really concentrated on my breathing. I KNEW I'd hit it, but the wind was a factor, so I was a little concerned though and I corrected a little for the wind direction.
BAM! The milk jug launced violently into the air . . . and my "legend" around our 5-state company was born. .
Then, with flare, I blew the smoke from the end of the barrel like Roy Rogers might have done, holstered the gun and walked away like it was nothing . . . waiting to laugh after I was out of sight. I never did tell them how I was totally prepared to take that shot!!!
2. KILLING THREE DEER IN SECONDS . . . ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS
Actually, I've been blessed to do this twice. The first time was in the center of a huge clear cut and I was in a stand of the only tree for 200-400 yards in any direction.
It was a "doe day," and a big doe came across the clear cut with a smaller one. The big one "made" me and took off running. She was broadside, at top speed as I swung the wheelgun with the dot sight leading her perfectly. BAM!
When the barrel came down from recoil, she was nowhere to be seen. She'd fallen instantly and never moved . . . a perfect heart shot at, I paced off later, sixty-five yards.
I was going to let the smaller one go, but she came right to me and so I dropped her at about 30 yards. While reloading, I looked up and a buck was nudging the little one to get up so I busted him too. Heck, I don't know where he came from. He must have been bedded right there all along. It was HELL dragging three deer out of that fresh clear cut!!!
The other three were taken almost as fast as I could pull the trigger in a thick hardwood bottom. More hell getting them out. I won't drop three again!
3. WINNING A SPECIAL, "ANY GUN" PRACTICAL PISTOL MATCH OF 18 TARGETS . . . WITH A WHEELGUN VS. 30 PEOPLE USING AUTOS
This ain't supposed to happen, but I was feeling my oats that day and decided to be a smart azzz and see if I could do it.
At the conclusion of an IPSC-type 3-stage match, a special match for fun was held. The rules were:
1. Seated at a table w/ an UNLOADED handgun inside a Doscocil plastic pistol box that was shut. They called it the "Bill C______" match, after the President at the time who was so into gun control, since the gun had to be unloaded.
2. Targets--EIGHTEEN steel, spread out in a 60 degree arc in front, at distances of 10-30 yards. Some were small steel poppers, plus a couple of larger ones, as well as many little steel plates. You had to knock all of 'em DOWN before the time stopped. Fastest time won the pot.
3. Manditory Reload--You had to reload at least once before the last plate of 18 fell . . . so many folks used Glock 17 9mm with Glock 18 33-round magazines. Others used hi-cap Paras, Caspian race guns, etc. in .45ACP.
To be a smart alec, I came to the line with this .45ACP, moon-clipped wheelgun, with a chopped barrel and a double-action trigger that's slicker 'n goose crap.
Someone took the bait and asked,"You're gonna shoot a six-shooter, starting unloaded at 18 steel targets and you think you can win."
"Sure," I replied, knowing that I was gonna get my butt kicked but have a good laugh. I continued, "I'm only at a slight disadvantage because I will have to reload TWICE!"
"Unless you MISS," he added.
"I'm not planning on missing, so you'd better shoot REAL GOOD," I chided him, good-naturedly.
Well, I can reload moonclips in that .45 wheelgun as fast as I can reload my 1911s, PLUS I've always torn up pin matches shooting double action with that gun so I felt pretty confident . . . BUT . . . I simply could NOT afford a single miss or I'd have to have an extra, 3rd reload to be able to finish.
UNBELIEVABLY, the more rounds the guys had in their bottom-feeders, the more they seemed to rush their shots and not get a perfect sight picture. One poor soul spent over 100 rounds of ammo before getting a DNF after he ran dry. A few though, shot fast and smooth, but every one of them had a couple of misses at least, so they lost a few seconds shooting at those targets a second time. That meant I had a chance if I shot perfect.
Me? I've never been as smooth as that day. I took my time . . . but in a real hurry . . . rolling the double action pull smoothly to the next cylinder as the barrel came back down to give me a perfect sight picture.
Bottom line . . . eighteen fast shots/eighteen targets down plus loading and two reloads in the best time of the day by over five seconds.
I did that match as a joke with the six-shooter . . . but I surely got lucky that day!!!
T.
MY .44 w/Holosight red dot sight
1. THE 200 YARD SHOT OF THE MILK JUG WITH THE .44
Our company has taken some management and executive staff on some trophy whitetail trips before, and always to the same place. On my first trip out there I discovered that a lot of guys weren't really much of a hunter . . . arriving in new Wal-mart camo and sighting in borrowed deer rifles at 50 yards. Since the field used to sight in was nearly 300 yards across, I decided to pull their chain the next year.
Studying ballistic tables I discovered my 300 grain Federal Castcore bullet, fired from my 6" S&W .44 mag should fall exactly 34" at 200 yards. I can always shoot sub 2" groups from the sandbagged bench at 50 yards . . . which equals an 8" group at 200 yards if I do my part, so I knew it was possible if the gun was perfectly sighted in. An eight inch group . . . that's the width of a milk jug, so that's what I practiced with.
Going to our local range before the trip, verified that the bullet did drop 34" and learned how high to hold my Holosight's red dot to get my 34" drop.
ON THE NEXT YEAR'S JANUARY TROPHY HUNT . . . all the guys walked out about 50 yards and put up targets on the sides of cardboard boxes, but I kept going . . . carefully pacing exactly 200 yards off. When I got there, I set a milk jug down and by the time I returned EVERYONE was waiting for me.
Then, a Vice President (not really a shooter or hunter) asked me in front of everyone, "Do you think you can hit that MILKJUG, that far away?"
"Sure," I declared.
Noticing I didn't have a rifle with me he asked,"Where's your rifle?"
"I don't need it," I replied, pulling my .44 from the holster, "I've got THIS!"
There eyes got real big, then he said, "Do you really think you are gonna shoot that milk jug with that HANDGUN?"
I remember these exact words, which spoke a truth they couldn't know was practiced, "Well . . . the bullet is gonna go where it's gonna go, so I'll hit it if I do MY part."
With no where to sit, I went prone and used the ground to steady the .44 and really concentrated on my breathing. I KNEW I'd hit it, but the wind was a factor, so I was a little concerned though and I corrected a little for the wind direction.
BAM! The milk jug launced violently into the air . . . and my "legend" around our 5-state company was born. .
Then, with flare, I blew the smoke from the end of the barrel like Roy Rogers might have done, holstered the gun and walked away like it was nothing . . . waiting to laugh after I was out of sight. I never did tell them how I was totally prepared to take that shot!!!
2. KILLING THREE DEER IN SECONDS . . . ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS
Actually, I've been blessed to do this twice. The first time was in the center of a huge clear cut and I was in a stand of the only tree for 200-400 yards in any direction.
It was a "doe day," and a big doe came across the clear cut with a smaller one. The big one "made" me and took off running. She was broadside, at top speed as I swung the wheelgun with the dot sight leading her perfectly. BAM!
When the barrel came down from recoil, she was nowhere to be seen. She'd fallen instantly and never moved . . . a perfect heart shot at, I paced off later, sixty-five yards.
I was going to let the smaller one go, but she came right to me and so I dropped her at about 30 yards. While reloading, I looked up and a buck was nudging the little one to get up so I busted him too. Heck, I don't know where he came from. He must have been bedded right there all along. It was HELL dragging three deer out of that fresh clear cut!!!
The other three were taken almost as fast as I could pull the trigger in a thick hardwood bottom. More hell getting them out. I won't drop three again!
3. WINNING A SPECIAL, "ANY GUN" PRACTICAL PISTOL MATCH OF 18 TARGETS . . . WITH A WHEELGUN VS. 30 PEOPLE USING AUTOS
This ain't supposed to happen, but I was feeling my oats that day and decided to be a smart azzz and see if I could do it.
At the conclusion of an IPSC-type 3-stage match, a special match for fun was held. The rules were:
1. Seated at a table w/ an UNLOADED handgun inside a Doscocil plastic pistol box that was shut. They called it the "Bill C______" match, after the President at the time who was so into gun control, since the gun had to be unloaded.
2. Targets--EIGHTEEN steel, spread out in a 60 degree arc in front, at distances of 10-30 yards. Some were small steel poppers, plus a couple of larger ones, as well as many little steel plates. You had to knock all of 'em DOWN before the time stopped. Fastest time won the pot.
3. Manditory Reload--You had to reload at least once before the last plate of 18 fell . . . so many folks used Glock 17 9mm with Glock 18 33-round magazines. Others used hi-cap Paras, Caspian race guns, etc. in .45ACP.
To be a smart alec, I came to the line with this .45ACP, moon-clipped wheelgun, with a chopped barrel and a double-action trigger that's slicker 'n goose crap.
Someone took the bait and asked,"You're gonna shoot a six-shooter, starting unloaded at 18 steel targets and you think you can win."
"Sure," I replied, knowing that I was gonna get my butt kicked but have a good laugh. I continued, "I'm only at a slight disadvantage because I will have to reload TWICE!"
"Unless you MISS," he added.
"I'm not planning on missing, so you'd better shoot REAL GOOD," I chided him, good-naturedly.
Well, I can reload moonclips in that .45 wheelgun as fast as I can reload my 1911s, PLUS I've always torn up pin matches shooting double action with that gun so I felt pretty confident . . . BUT . . . I simply could NOT afford a single miss or I'd have to have an extra, 3rd reload to be able to finish.
UNBELIEVABLY, the more rounds the guys had in their bottom-feeders, the more they seemed to rush their shots and not get a perfect sight picture. One poor soul spent over 100 rounds of ammo before getting a DNF after he ran dry. A few though, shot fast and smooth, but every one of them had a couple of misses at least, so they lost a few seconds shooting at those targets a second time. That meant I had a chance if I shot perfect.
Me? I've never been as smooth as that day. I took my time . . . but in a real hurry . . . rolling the double action pull smoothly to the next cylinder as the barrel came back down to give me a perfect sight picture.
Bottom line . . . eighteen fast shots/eighteen targets down plus loading and two reloads in the best time of the day by over five seconds.
I did that match as a joke with the six-shooter . . . but I surely got lucky that day!!!
T.
