Accuracy tall tales..,

I don't even expect people to make cold bore shots of their accuracy claims. I just expect them to be able to repeat it. I mean if it takes 2 or 3 shots to figure out the wind and temp, okay that's understandable. But if you can't hit it again after that, well then I guess it was luck then wasn't it.
 
I have a confession to make. Sometimes I just don't remember right. Some time back I posted that being taught the quick kill in the Army we finished by shooting a coin thrown in the air with a .22 rifle. I don't know why I got that in my head because it was wrong. I have heard others claim that. Maybe it's the meds I am on or the concussion. Actually, it was a coin sized slug and we shot it with an air rifle without sights not a .22. So sorry for that tall tale.
 
I used to shoot life savers with a BB gun I would shoot right thru the hole! All kidding aside I remember reading about the army teaching shooters to hit aspirins thrown in to the air using a bb gun with no sights
 
OK....another story. When I was a kid, my neighbor shot 1,000s of BBs through his lever action BB gun. He shot with both eyes open in a point-n-shoot fashion....rapidly.... cock-point-shoot, cock-point-shoot, cock-point-shoot...over and over and over. Many of us kids learned to shoot that way which paved the way for shotgun shooting. 'LL' (his initials) could hit an ant running across a hot sidewalk; not every time.,but often enough to know that it wasn't just dumb luck. No bird was safe from him and there was nothing we could toss up in the air that he couldn't hit most of the time. Don't think we every tried aspirin, but ping pong balls or black walnuts were rarely missed. He could have done his own trick shot show at the tender age of 13.
 
hk940 said:
I used to shoot life savers with a BB gun I would shoot right thru the hole! All kidding aside I remember reading about the army teaching shooters to hit aspirins thrown in to the air using a bb gun with no sights
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Yes that is the quick kill that I was taught. I did not shoot aspirins but some could have.
 
Sniper66 said:
OK....another story. When I was a kid, my neighbor shot 1,000s of BBs through his lever action BB gun. He shot with both eyes open in a point-n-shoot fashion....rapidly.... cock-point-shoot, cock-point-shoot, cock-point-shoot...over and over and over. Many of us kids learned to shoot that way which paved the way for shotgun shooting. 'LL' (his initials) could hit an ant running across a hot sidewalk; not every time.,but often enough to know that it wasn't just dumb luck. No bird was safe from him and there was nothing we could toss up in the air that he couldn't hit most of the time. Don't think we every tried aspirin, but ping pong balls or black walnuts were rarely missed. He could have done his own trick shot show at the tender age of 13.
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That is what the Army quick kill taught. There is a science behind it so it can be taught. It is how famous trick shooters can do the amazing shots they make. I saw Tom Knapp throw 7 clay pigeons at once and shoot them all before they hit the ground. Also he tossed clay pigeons behind his back and shot them. Truely amazing. Should be videos someplace.
 
Since we're onto tall tales, I once lost to Tom Knapp in an Annie Oakley shoot. Almost beat him! Right before Game Fair where he did a show, our home club, which was also the FC home club had regular trap league. Tom and some of the other Fed/Benelli sponsored shooters came out to take a few warm up shots and pal around a bit. At the end of the night there was always an Annie Oakley shoot, and Tom of course joined it. Got down to just me and him, and we traded clays at 27 for awhile. Dark was coming, so we stepped off another 10 yards. He missed one, and I bumped it but didn't break. I missed and he broke off a chip with his shot and won. He tipped the pullers with his winnings, and gave me a case of Factory second Gold Medals marked 1991 Grand American. I still have a few of the empties in rotation. A picure of he and 1 other Benelli shooter (I was bracketed by wolves!) and I shooting on the line showed up in a Benelli Magazine ad for the Nova I was shooting at the time. I used to have a copy and sadly it has been lost to the years.
 
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I remember watching Tom Knapp do an exhibition shoot in Dalton MN. I remember him shooting aspirin tablets out of the air with a 10/22 and shooting clays from the hip.
 
I've heard guys say how accurate they were with a rifle. At the range, I've seen these folk exhibit some deeply remarkable shooting.

I've watched Willy Mosconi shoot pool. Been right there -- not a video, not on TV, been right there watching him. The man was magic with a cue!
 
As a youth I read stories about Howard Hill shooting a long bow. He shot a running African animal broadside at 40 yards in a two foot gap between two trees. Shot flying pheasants

He would hold two 90# bows at the same time and pull both to full draw
 
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someguy2800 said:
I remember watching Tom Knapp do an exhibition shoot in Dalton MN. I remember him shooting aspirin tablets out of the air with a 10/22 and shooting clays from the hip.
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I know where Dalton is. Decades ago I shot Sporting Clays in a league at a course south of Pelican Rapids. It's not there anymore. Knapp was great.
 
d2wing said:
I have a confession to make. Sometimes I just don't remember right. Some time back I posted that being taught the quick kill in the Army we finished by shooting a coin thrown in the air with a .22 rifle. I don't know why I got that in my head because it was wrong. I have heard others claim that. Maybe it's the meds I am on or the concussion. Actually, it was a coin sized slug and we shot it with an air rifle without sights not a .22. So sorry for that tall tale.
Click to expand...
When I was a teen my closest friend bought a Quick Skill game that had 2 metal disc, BB gun with no sights, and safety goggles. The disc were about 2 1/2' and 3" in diameter. We got to the point that we could hit them consistently out to 20-25'. We also shot 5000 rounds of 22LR apiece each year for about 4 years. You get pretty good with that much trigger time.
 
At a range qualification, there was a 300 meter target that was in the shade of a tree. Green target in the shade, made it hard for most people to see let alone hit. So we hung a chemlight around its neck with 550 cord. At the end of the day, burning up "leftover" ammo I shot the chemlight on accident and was dared to do it again. I put on 2 fresh chemlights and shot both with a red dot sight. Went to SDM school after that where I learned to shoot even better.
 
Only time I’ve tried to do the instinctive shooting thing is with a pistol. A few years ago I loaded a batch of powder coated bullets in 9mm that I didn’t like. I had about 400 left and decided to just shoot them all up. I have always wanted to try shooting from chest height like James Bond so I shot them all through my LC9s (my most bond like gun) at a 16” plate hanging in front of my dirt berm. I started at about 5 yards and worked out to 10 and by the end I could hit it like 5 out of 7 shots. I’m sure that skill perished in about a week but it was fun. I wouldn’t be able to snap shoot any SMG toting bad guys off the roof of a building like bond though.
 
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someguy2800 said:
Only time I’ve tried to do the instinctive shooting thing is with a pistol. A few years ago I loaded a batch of powder coated bullets in 9mm that I didn’t like. I had about 400 left and decided to just shoot them all up. I have always wanted to try shooting from chest height like James Bond so I shot them all through my LC9s (my most bond like gun) at a 16” plate hanging in front of my dirt berm. I started at about 5 yards and worked out to 10 and by the end I could hit it like 5 out of 7 shots. I’m sure that skill perished in about a week but it was fun. I wouldn’t be able to snap shoot any SMG toting bad guys off the roof of a building like bond though.
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Sometimes we hit things that we can't even see, like the time I shot at a woodchuck that was about 600 yards away and about 200 feet lower than me. It was a gray day and I was shooting at a woodchuck standing on his mound. Yeah it was "pray" shot. Funny thing, though, when I fired, I saw a bright blue flash, just about where I was aiming with my 2.5X Weaver atop the .30-06 Savage. Then, I said to myself..."Hey SELF! Woodchucks don't flash when you hit them!!! Just then, the 60 cycle hum of a high-tension line caught up with me and a 33,000 volt power line parted and hit the ground. For a few brief moments, electricity arced across the wet ground, then the milking machines in the barn behind us became eerily silent. The farmer was very cordial about the whole thing, as we'd hunted chucks on his land often and never had a problem before.

The power company's foreman wasn't quite so jolly and he threatened to bill me for the act, but that never happened. Funny, but that line has been discontinued for many years...and the poles removed. However, I don't hunt/shoot woodchucks much anymore, just the ones that invade my house-lot.
 
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Picher said:
Sometimes we hit things that we can't even see, like the time I shot at a woodchuck that was about 600 yards away and about 200 feet lower than me. It was a gray day and I was shooting at a woodchuck standing on his mound. Yeah it was "pray" shot. Funny thing, though, when I fired, I saw a bright blue flash, just about where I was aiming with my 2.5X Weaver atop the .30-06 Savage. Then, I said to myself..."Hey SELF! Woodchuck don't flash when you hit them!!! Just then, the 60 cycle hum of a high-tension line caught up with me and a 33,000 volt power line parted and hit the ground. For a few brief moments, electricity arced across the wet ground, then the milking machines in the barn behind us became eerily became silent. The farmer was very cordial about the whole thing, as we'd hunted chucks on his land often and never had a problem before.

The power company's foreman wasn't quite so jolly and he threatened to bill me for the act, but that never happened. Funny, but that line has been discontinued for many years...and the poles removed. However, I don't hunt/shoot woodchucks much anymore, just the ones that invade my house-lot.
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I've been on the repair end of a couple similar miracle shots! The guy who hit a 25KV primary cable while shooting across a ravine at a whitetail couldn't believe it. "Couldn't have hit that cable in a hundred shots if I was trying!" It was partially obscured by vegetation, so kind of hard to make out. The other one was a rural gas service line buried 16"deep on a side hill. Guy had just moved into the house, and the steep side hill made a perfect shooting backstop. He was blisfully unaware of the gas line until a mag dump of Russian 7.62x39 located it for him! We had to drill in a new service, so we put it plenty deep in that location...unless he acquires a 20mm and DU ammunition.
 
redneck2 said:
Bob Munden did things with a pistol that seem physically impossible. Same with Jerry Miculek. Twelve shots in 2 seconds on target with a revolver including reloading
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The revolver shots seem impossible, but I believe it, unless you try to tell me that he took 3 clicks on the rear sight between cylinders. LOL!
 
redneck2 said:
Bob Munden did things with a pistol that seem physically impossible. Same with Jerry Miculek. Twelve shots in 2 seconds on target with a revolver including reloading
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I've had the good fortune to be around some very good shooters. Got to be a range officer at a USPSA match and run the timer for about 20 pros including the reigning world champ. I got to shoot a PRS style match having a guy that's ranked in the top 5 in the world doing my wind calls. Shot sporting clays with a state champion.
As such I've seen a lot of shots that seem impossible.
 
Picher said:
Sometimes we hit things that we can't even see, like the time I shot at a woodchuck that was about 600 yards away and about 200 feet lower than me. It was a gray day and I was shooting at a woodchuck standing on his mound. Yeah it was "pray" shot. Funny thing, though, when I fired, I saw a bright blue flash, just about where I was aiming with my 2.5X Weaver atop the .30-06 Savage. Then, I said to myself..."Hey SELF! Woodchuck don't flash when you hit them!!! Just then, the 60 cycle hum of a high-tension line caught up with me and a 33,000 volt power line parted and hit the ground. For a few brief moments, electricity arced across the wet ground, then the milking machines in the barn behind us became eerily became silent. The farmer was very cordial about the whole thing, as we'd hunted chucks on his land often and never had a problem before.

The power company's foreman wasn't quite so jolly and he threatened to bill me for the act, but that never happened. Funny, but that line has been discontinued for many years...and the poles removed. However, I don't hunt/shoot woodchucks much anymore, just the ones that invade my house-lot.
Click to expand...

When me and my brother were kids we walked up and down the gravel roads shooting black birds off the power lines with a 22. Looking back it was a pretty bad idea to be shooting up at a 30 degree angle even though we were in the middle of nowhere, but I also always wondered if someday someone was would be working on those lines and find all our misses embedded in the insulation.
 
mavracer said:
I've had the good fortune to be around some very good shooters. Got to be a range officer at a USPSA match and run the timer for about 20 pros including the reigning world champ. I got to shoot a PRS style match having a guy that's ranked in the top 5 in the world doing my wind calls. Shot sporting clays with a state champion.
As such I've seen a lot of shots that seem impossible.
Click to expand...

I used to shoot in a small local action pistol league that was kind of styled after IDPA type courses. I was leading the league and was taking 1st or 2nd every week so I was feeling pretty good about myself until a guy that shot IDPA competitively came in one night and shot with us. Where we were kind of fast walking to each position and shooting stationary, he ran through the whole course clearing all the targets without ever stopping. It was quite humbling.
 
We had a old guy at the range that used to make a bet as a joke. He had a old, beat M94 30-30 that on it,s best day shoot a 3-4" group at 50yds. He would bet his old rifle could put 5 shots through the same hole. Once he got a victim he would pull a target out of his range bag with the whole center cut out with only the outer ring. He would then shoot all 5 shots through that 10" hole. He never lost that bet.:rofl:
 
Those of us who grew up reading westerns were convinced that knocking the outlaw off his horse from 300yds with your Sharps while flat out on your own mount was a common skill.
 
someguy2800 said:
It was quite humbling.
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We had 3 Grand Masters that regularly shot our Friday night USPSA matches. I know humbling lol.
Had one show up with a stock Smith 39 and still just kick my butt like normal.
Had another that had to run his 38 super as a single shot, racking the slide for every shot, and still finish 3rd for the night.
 
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