Preacherman
Member
A Memorial Day to remember...
I went down to the local shooting range this afternoon, to visit with friends and enjoy the scenery (I can't shoot myself, thanks to an injured back and my :banghead:
doctor's orders). All was going well until a well-known and much-unloved know-it-all arrived with his new girlfriend. He was going to "teach her to shoot". We sat back to enjoy the fun.
I should mention that this guy is well known for knowing everything possible about every firearm in existence, and quite a few that we've never heard of. His knowledge of ballistics is also extraordinary (as in "I can make hits at 1,000 yards with a .22 LR with no problem"). Needless to say, we were breathless with anticipation at the prospect of seeing this genius imparting his wisdom to the unlearned.
He started off by giving her a .22 revolver (good first step, anyway), but then ruined the effect by constantly yelling at her whenever she didn't do EXACTLY what he told her to do. After a few minutes, with a quaver in her voice and a tear in her eye, she handed him the gun (muzzle first) and told him that since he was so good at it, he should show her how it's done. We grinned, and sat back to enjoy the show.
Needless to say, his marksmanship sucked big-time. Two cylinders of ammo went into about a 20" group (at 10 yards), with nothing inside the 10-ring. By now, our (less than inaudible) comments were riling him a bit, I think, as the back of his neck was turning red and steam was coming out from under his (tactical black electronic SWAT) earmuffs.
He said to his GF "Give me a minute to catch my breath and settle down, and then I'll show you!" He proceeded to walk up and down, breathing deeply (and heavily), clenching and unclenching his hands, and generally trying to get into the Zen of the moment. Meanwhile, some of us put our heads together, agreed on a plan, and passed the word to the other shooters. We gathered in a line behind his shooting position, on either side of him (not directly behind him). As he stepped up to the line, one of us got hold of his GF and pulled her back to join us, whispering in her ear. Her face lit up, she grinned, and stood back.
He spent about 30 seconds lining up his shot. Meanwhile, behind him, each and every shooter present (27 in all) was lining up on his target with his or her gun of the moment (including rifles, shotguns and handguns). As he pulled the trigger, everyone let fly with one round of their own! His target sort of disintegrated (the plywood backing came clean off the uprights) and went bouncing merrily downrange. He jumped like a startled skunk, and spun around with his jaw drooping - to see his GF doubled over with laughter, and the rest of us grinning widely at him. The oldest among us - a retired police captain, now a well-preserved 87 years old - said to him "See, son? That's how it's done!"
Funny, he didn't stay long at the range after that...
I went down to the local shooting range this afternoon, to visit with friends and enjoy the scenery (I can't shoot myself, thanks to an injured back and my :banghead:
doctor's orders). All was going well until a well-known and much-unloved know-it-all arrived with his new girlfriend. He was going to "teach her to shoot". We sat back to enjoy the fun.I should mention that this guy is well known for knowing everything possible about every firearm in existence, and quite a few that we've never heard of. His knowledge of ballistics is also extraordinary (as in "I can make hits at 1,000 yards with a .22 LR with no problem"). Needless to say, we were breathless with anticipation at the prospect of seeing this genius imparting his wisdom to the unlearned.
He started off by giving her a .22 revolver (good first step, anyway), but then ruined the effect by constantly yelling at her whenever she didn't do EXACTLY what he told her to do. After a few minutes, with a quaver in her voice and a tear in her eye, she handed him the gun (muzzle first) and told him that since he was so good at it, he should show her how it's done. We grinned, and sat back to enjoy the show.
Needless to say, his marksmanship sucked big-time. Two cylinders of ammo went into about a 20" group (at 10 yards), with nothing inside the 10-ring. By now, our (less than inaudible) comments were riling him a bit, I think, as the back of his neck was turning red and steam was coming out from under his (tactical black electronic SWAT) earmuffs.
He said to his GF "Give me a minute to catch my breath and settle down, and then I'll show you!" He proceeded to walk up and down, breathing deeply (and heavily), clenching and unclenching his hands, and generally trying to get into the Zen of the moment. Meanwhile, some of us put our heads together, agreed on a plan, and passed the word to the other shooters. We gathered in a line behind his shooting position, on either side of him (not directly behind him). As he stepped up to the line, one of us got hold of his GF and pulled her back to join us, whispering in her ear. Her face lit up, she grinned, and stood back.
He spent about 30 seconds lining up his shot. Meanwhile, behind him, each and every shooter present (27 in all) was lining up on his target with his or her gun of the moment (including rifles, shotguns and handguns). As he pulled the trigger, everyone let fly with one round of their own! His target sort of disintegrated (the plywood backing came clean off the uprights) and went bouncing merrily downrange. He jumped like a startled skunk, and spun around with his jaw drooping - to see his GF doubled over with laughter, and the rest of us grinning widely at him. The oldest among us - a retired police captain, now a well-preserved 87 years old - said to him "See, son? That's how it's done!"
Funny, he didn't stay long at the range after that...
