El Tejon
Member
This week I had the opportunity to attend General Purpose Rifle at Thunder Ranch from April 7 to April 9, 2003. The following is the usual travelogue and "review" of the course for those so interested. For those that already know everything, please save your e-mails telling me that education is a waste of time and that I am ugly. I know I am ugly and I know I do not know everything, thus I go to skul.
I flew out of Lafayette on the evening of April 4th. A terrible thunderstorm had delayed the flight and I got the opportunity to watch MSNBC and read the tributes to chemistry--analytical, organic, chemical engineering, biochem, etc, et al--and space/aviation that adorn the Lafayette terminal (gee, I wonder why?). Glad my lab partner in Chem 101 helped me out.
I had no problems whatsoever flying with my guns. In Lafayette a bored Purdue cop pulled herself away from the phone and looked at my cased guns, 2 rifles and 2 pistols, yawned and went back to the office. Flying back from Austin, a highly-trained federal employee from TSA asked me why my "gun was broken" (I took the bolt out of my M77) and poked and prodded the lining of my gun case and did not even bother to check to see if my M14 clone was loaded. I asked him if he wanted to check the chamber and he said "no"; I ran the bolt so he did not get fired--your taxmoney at work. No poking or wanding or shoe removal in either airport.
I took 2 rifles--a Ruger M77 RSI and a Springfield M1A, both in .308 the caliber of choice for most of the class. There was an AR, and 2 bolt guns in .223. On the right end of the line, someone was using a .270 BAR and my partner was using a Ruger No.1 in .30-'06. My pistols were 2 Les Baer 1911s, one to carry, one in reserve.
Carrying in Tejas has gotten better and better since I first went down in '95. I saw not a single .30-'06 sign in Austin. Even the stop and robs which used to have 51s up, not a single one. A gas station in Kerrville next to the McDonald's by I-10 has one door "posted" with a wierd sign (most likely not .30-'06 compliant) but the other door has nothing.
Ranger Brade and I stopped after lunch Saturday to get a 6 of Fat Tire at the stop and rob near him. Although the place was a liquor store, no 51 sign. I asked the clerk in both languages if there was a 51 posted. He gave me a blank look, shrugged, and "no se'd" me. I stayed outside and raised my blood pressure with the Austin newspaper (is that published in Tejas--maybe Cuber?).
I arrived in Austin at midnight. My reception committee met me and we proceeded to 6th Street to check out the scene. Later that same morning I did the touristy things to do in Austin, the tower, the state history museum (where they have an entire wing reserved for elf boots--no, really, they do), McBride's and Red's in Oak Hill. While I have been going to Tejas for years, I had never been outside the strip of highway on I-10 from Saint Tony's to Exit 41.
After meeting up with Doc SWAT and Dr. Jawbone at Red's in Oak Hill to ensure our rifles were on paper at 100, I was pleased that my zero was not disturbed (little did I know). Doc SWAT and Dr. Jawbone had a Bar-b-que to attend while I bought Ranger Brade lunch at El Mercado, the home of the best looking waitresses in Austin.
We went back to Brade's to clean guns. I then met up other friends, Dr. Lizard and the Perfesser, for sushi (mmmmm, raw fish) and an evening out on the town. That night at about 12 I drove to Kerrville.
If you ever take 46 from I-35 to I-10, be advised that you WILL encounter assault deer in the road (no, not along the road, on it). Even though they are smaller than my Yankee deer, they are big enough to kill you. Drive safely.
The class at Thunder Ranch started as all do with the morning first day lecture. Clint Smith's lectures are works of art. Direct and fast paced but interlaced with humor to keep one's attention. They are a product of a man who has been at the teaching business for a while. The lecture touched on terminology, ballistics, weapon mounting, manipulation, and, of course, safety. Rifles are not handguns. Muzzle contact injuries may not just poke a couple of new holes, but remove the limb or organs. No place to be a cowboy or moron.
Off to the 100 yard range to check zeros. My zero was seemingly on, 3 inches high at 100. O.K., fine. Boy, was I going to be proven wrong.
The first day we stayed on the 100 yard range. At no time did you shoot beyond 300 yards. While there, we worked on positions, kneeling, squat, sitting and prone. First dry, then live.
The instructors, Tim Wickert and Jack Furr, of API fame, and the television immortalized Steve R., of Albequirky PD fame, and Dreaded Darron of Saint Tony's SWAT fame, kept to a "rigidly flexible" plan. The students, who had no idea what the plan was or what was going on, often discussed THE PLAN and decided it was not working and that we were bogged down. Some retired students had the courage to question the plan, some wept openly.
The instructors ran a great program. While I could tell they had worked to together many times, they must be commended upon their hard work and zeal towards riflery. My thanks to them.
The second day bought a wind that was horrible to this office squirrel but very instructive. After a range lecture on wind by Steve, we shot again at 100 and then moved to 200. By this time the wind had moved to directly "face on". I was happy to see that it had little impact upon my shooting. However, it was here that I first noticed that my rifle was shooting high. Shots to the center of the chest at 200 began to creep toward the collar.
After coming down a minute, it still persisted. When we went back to the 100 yard range after lunch the second day, Dreaded Darron and I discovered that my controls for my optics were reversed. Yes, that's right, up was down and down was up. Back to Leupold with you!
I dropped my sights "up" and continued on with that rifle. We then did the wall drills--learning to use the rifle around representations of cover (barricades) from standing, kneeling, sitting, prone, and rollover prone. We then shot the wobblers (targets that move back and forth) and position shots from 25, 50 and 75.
We all discovered which positions we liked and which we did not. As long as my feet are set wide I have no trouble with squat or "rice paddy" prone and prefer it to kneeling (I cannot sit on my back heel for some reason) for quick shots. As Clint stressed, like tactics, the position is dictated by environment. Prone is more stable, but may not be available. Become the water and flow over the rock. Ummmm.
On the third day, we started out at the 100 yard range to check zeros, work on snap shots, speed reloads and bolt manipulation drills (we did these on the second day as well). On the 200 yard range, my frustration was evident again. My chest shots at 200 became head shots, centered but about 8 inches high. At least I knew it was the gear and not me. Usually (O.K. about 99.9% of the time) it is me.
As we moved back to 300, I ditched my little Ruger M77 RSI and shot my M1A from Springfield. After I dialed in the correct number of clicks (I miscounted while everyone was shooting, got excited, I like one off as I like to see the target, I know, I know), the M1A shot just fine. Finally, geez.
At 300 we called shots for our partners, did a rolling thunder drill, did a cte drill (shooting at the same time) and volley fired on a Pepper popper--lots of fun and learned a great deal.
What I learned most was what I want in a "general purpose" rifle. Not only a scope that works but what tools/parameters I am looking for. To me a "general purpose" rifle depends upon what you generally do as what the tool is depends on the job--grass rats, cowboy shooting, etc.
If I learn one thing from a class, I consider it worth my time. I learned a bunch those 3 days at Thunder Ranch. However, as always, I learned how much I have to learn.
I flew out of Lafayette on the evening of April 4th. A terrible thunderstorm had delayed the flight and I got the opportunity to watch MSNBC and read the tributes to chemistry--analytical, organic, chemical engineering, biochem, etc, et al--and space/aviation that adorn the Lafayette terminal (gee, I wonder why?). Glad my lab partner in Chem 101 helped me out.
I had no problems whatsoever flying with my guns. In Lafayette a bored Purdue cop pulled herself away from the phone and looked at my cased guns, 2 rifles and 2 pistols, yawned and went back to the office. Flying back from Austin, a highly-trained federal employee from TSA asked me why my "gun was broken" (I took the bolt out of my M77) and poked and prodded the lining of my gun case and did not even bother to check to see if my M14 clone was loaded. I asked him if he wanted to check the chamber and he said "no"; I ran the bolt so he did not get fired--your taxmoney at work. No poking or wanding or shoe removal in either airport.
I took 2 rifles--a Ruger M77 RSI and a Springfield M1A, both in .308 the caliber of choice for most of the class. There was an AR, and 2 bolt guns in .223. On the right end of the line, someone was using a .270 BAR and my partner was using a Ruger No.1 in .30-'06. My pistols were 2 Les Baer 1911s, one to carry, one in reserve.
Carrying in Tejas has gotten better and better since I first went down in '95. I saw not a single .30-'06 sign in Austin. Even the stop and robs which used to have 51s up, not a single one. A gas station in Kerrville next to the McDonald's by I-10 has one door "posted" with a wierd sign (most likely not .30-'06 compliant) but the other door has nothing.
Ranger Brade and I stopped after lunch Saturday to get a 6 of Fat Tire at the stop and rob near him. Although the place was a liquor store, no 51 sign. I asked the clerk in both languages if there was a 51 posted. He gave me a blank look, shrugged, and "no se'd" me. I stayed outside and raised my blood pressure with the Austin newspaper (is that published in Tejas--maybe Cuber?).
I arrived in Austin at midnight. My reception committee met me and we proceeded to 6th Street to check out the scene. Later that same morning I did the touristy things to do in Austin, the tower, the state history museum (where they have an entire wing reserved for elf boots--no, really, they do), McBride's and Red's in Oak Hill. While I have been going to Tejas for years, I had never been outside the strip of highway on I-10 from Saint Tony's to Exit 41.
After meeting up with Doc SWAT and Dr. Jawbone at Red's in Oak Hill to ensure our rifles were on paper at 100, I was pleased that my zero was not disturbed (little did I know). Doc SWAT and Dr. Jawbone had a Bar-b-que to attend while I bought Ranger Brade lunch at El Mercado, the home of the best looking waitresses in Austin.
We went back to Brade's to clean guns. I then met up other friends, Dr. Lizard and the Perfesser, for sushi (mmmmm, raw fish) and an evening out on the town. That night at about 12 I drove to Kerrville.
If you ever take 46 from I-35 to I-10, be advised that you WILL encounter assault deer in the road (no, not along the road, on it). Even though they are smaller than my Yankee deer, they are big enough to kill you. Drive safely.
The class at Thunder Ranch started as all do with the morning first day lecture. Clint Smith's lectures are works of art. Direct and fast paced but interlaced with humor to keep one's attention. They are a product of a man who has been at the teaching business for a while. The lecture touched on terminology, ballistics, weapon mounting, manipulation, and, of course, safety. Rifles are not handguns. Muzzle contact injuries may not just poke a couple of new holes, but remove the limb or organs. No place to be a cowboy or moron.
Off to the 100 yard range to check zeros. My zero was seemingly on, 3 inches high at 100. O.K., fine. Boy, was I going to be proven wrong.
The first day we stayed on the 100 yard range. At no time did you shoot beyond 300 yards. While there, we worked on positions, kneeling, squat, sitting and prone. First dry, then live.
The instructors, Tim Wickert and Jack Furr, of API fame, and the television immortalized Steve R., of Albequirky PD fame, and Dreaded Darron of Saint Tony's SWAT fame, kept to a "rigidly flexible" plan. The students, who had no idea what the plan was or what was going on, often discussed THE PLAN and decided it was not working and that we were bogged down. Some retired students had the courage to question the plan, some wept openly.
The instructors ran a great program. While I could tell they had worked to together many times, they must be commended upon their hard work and zeal towards riflery. My thanks to them.
The second day bought a wind that was horrible to this office squirrel but very instructive. After a range lecture on wind by Steve, we shot again at 100 and then moved to 200. By this time the wind had moved to directly "face on". I was happy to see that it had little impact upon my shooting. However, it was here that I first noticed that my rifle was shooting high. Shots to the center of the chest at 200 began to creep toward the collar.
After coming down a minute, it still persisted. When we went back to the 100 yard range after lunch the second day, Dreaded Darron and I discovered that my controls for my optics were reversed. Yes, that's right, up was down and down was up. Back to Leupold with you!
I dropped my sights "up" and continued on with that rifle. We then did the wall drills--learning to use the rifle around representations of cover (barricades) from standing, kneeling, sitting, prone, and rollover prone. We then shot the wobblers (targets that move back and forth) and position shots from 25, 50 and 75.
We all discovered which positions we liked and which we did not. As long as my feet are set wide I have no trouble with squat or "rice paddy" prone and prefer it to kneeling (I cannot sit on my back heel for some reason) for quick shots. As Clint stressed, like tactics, the position is dictated by environment. Prone is more stable, but may not be available. Become the water and flow over the rock. Ummmm.
On the third day, we started out at the 100 yard range to check zeros, work on snap shots, speed reloads and bolt manipulation drills (we did these on the second day as well). On the 200 yard range, my frustration was evident again. My chest shots at 200 became head shots, centered but about 8 inches high. At least I knew it was the gear and not me. Usually (O.K. about 99.9% of the time) it is me.
As we moved back to 300, I ditched my little Ruger M77 RSI and shot my M1A from Springfield. After I dialed in the correct number of clicks (I miscounted while everyone was shooting, got excited, I like one off as I like to see the target, I know, I know), the M1A shot just fine. Finally, geez.
At 300 we called shots for our partners, did a rolling thunder drill, did a cte drill (shooting at the same time) and volley fired on a Pepper popper--lots of fun and learned a great deal.
What I learned most was what I want in a "general purpose" rifle. Not only a scope that works but what tools/parameters I am looking for. To me a "general purpose" rifle depends upon what you generally do as what the tool is depends on the job--grass rats, cowboy shooting, etc.
If I learn one thing from a class, I consider it worth my time. I learned a bunch those 3 days at Thunder Ranch. However, as always, I learned how much I have to learn.
