The best shot you ever saw?

[Redfern]

I take a guy to the range, and he has a .32 Tomcat. After shooting the scoped .22 rifles , he says he can hit a soda can at 100 yards with his Tomcat.
So, I set up the soda can at the 100 yard berm, thinking that he has a snowballs chance in hell to make this shot.
He then steadies his arms on the wooden bench, and fires the first shot 2 feet low and left. The second shot is within a foot.
The third shot hits the base of the can and pops it skyward.

So, here is my contribution. Anybody else have one to share? And please, no 'rural legends'.

 

[Stickjockey]

The best shot I've seen was actually five shots. I think I was about seven, and I was on a hunting stand with my Grandfather in a slashpile. We were in a meadow about 50 yards from the treeline. Out of nowhere, I heard something crashing through the brush towards us. I looked for the source of the noise, and here came a bunch of deer running across the meadow on a course for our pile. Granddad stands up with the ol' savage model 99, and lets fly. Blam! Blam...blam! Blam, blam! Five shots, five bucks, all on the move. Filled everyone's tag. This occured many, many years ago on private property, but I'll always remember it. That old man could shoot!

 

[Dr.Who]

Luke's Shot, when he blew up the DeathStar.... HaHa

May the Force be with you...

Enjoy...

 

[swingset]

I saw a great one at my buddy's house a couple summers ago. Still can't believe it looking back.

He had a possum that kept getting under his shed that was his workshop stinking it all up, and he had a .22 mag lever action (Marlin something or other) loaded up to shoot it. We were inside the shed messing around with something, and he heard something under the shed. When he opened the door, the possum scurried out and started walking up a foot path that led to a crest then into a field.

My buddy gets the gun and chambers one, but realizes his glasses are inside the shed and he's got terrible eyes without them, says he can't even see the possum so he goes to get the glasses. When he gets back out that slow thing has made it almost to the top of the hill, about 100 yards away. I'm thinking he'll never get the shot off. So, buddy raises up and as he aims (quickly) he says "I'll shoot you right in the a**!". So he shoots at it and we see it keep walking, but kinda funny to the left.

So, we go up to the hill to find it just off the path, laying dead. We kicked it to see where the wound was, and didn't see anything anywhere, no entry wound. So, you guessed it, my buddy gets a stick and flips it over and sees blood all round it's butt. He shot it right in it's bunghole, right in the pucker point.

We had a great laugh about that. He named that gun "buttkisser" after the feat. Funny thing is he's not much of a shot, but whenever we hunt, he's deadly when it counts.

 

[jsalcedo]

I set up an old soda bottle at a place we were plinking then we set off back to the house.

It was a long narrow piece of poperty about 1 1/2 miles ling and about 75 yars wide. We walk back about 250 yards and I see the glint of the soda bottle I set up.

I unsling my 1899 mosin nagant set the ladder sight for 300 anshwars(or whatever) and fire.

Poof the glint dissapears. a nearly 100 year old rifle (at the time) with 70 year old ammo and a standing offhand shot (wow I thought it could never get better than this.

 

[telewinz]

Shooting a fly that landed on my target 100 yards away with a 220 Swift.

 

[Leatherneck]

My ole' bud Will Gresham spots a tree rat about fifty yards away in shady woods, 30 or so feet up on the side of a poplar. Will grabbed the 1911 from the pickup, took aim single-handed, squeezed one .45 round off. The rat died instantly from a head shot. Wow.

TC
TFL Survivor

 

[Tamara]

The owner of the last gunshop I worked at was a real blowhard, nattering on constantly about his imaginary experiences as a sniper in "the 'Nam", and how some general asked him to be on the U.S. Olympic shooting team but he turned him down because he "wasn't gonna wear no corporate logos", and all manner of other active fantasies.

Anyhow... He had this thing for .22 target rifles, went so far as to order stuff from Champion's Choice (such as a shooting jacket and sling that he hadn't a clue how to use ). One day he scored a nice 'Schutz and decided to drag it along to the local indoor range when we went to test-fire some repair jobs.

I wind up doing all the test firing as he goes and piddles with his new toy using the bench on the far end of the range. When I get done, I wander over and he offers to let me shoot the Anschutz. As he's reeling his target (which looks like it's been hit with a blast of #4 from a cylinder bore) in from the 25-yd mark he says "This Remington match ammo is crap, it's not grouping worth a darn, and that Lapua stuff your buddy gave me ain't much better". He sticks three Shoot-N-See bullseyes on a piece of cardboard and trundles 'em out to 25 yards and, in his most patronizing voice, tells me to have fun.

Now, it's been a few years since I shot three-position smallbore in college, but I was fair to middlin' at it. I got slung up to the rifle, settled in, squinted through the sights... Gosh, it all felt just like those happy days of yesteryear when I spent so much time on the indoor range shooting up the school's ammo that my grades took a pounding and I had to drop out... I loaded up a round of that Remington "crap" and *pow!*... "Hey," I think to myself "That looks pretty centered!" Without pulling my cheek off the stock I chamber another one and repeat my performance on bullseye #2. Wow, this really is like riding a bicycle. One more round and target #3 gets a bright yellow splotch in the center. I un-sling myself from the rifle, run the target back in, hand three (I kid you not) perfect bullseyes to my boss and say, "Nothing's wrong with that Remington ammo..."


(We hung the targets on what later became known as "The Wall Of Shame" in the back of the shop; it was covered with targets where folks had outshot Mr. Blowhard using Mr. Blowhard's guns. )

 

[Ol' Badger]

My Grandfather with his little old Colt Woodsman .22 I saw him pop a Blue Jay right out of the air with it. The Blue Jay kept taking the dogs food and putting it in the bird bath to soften up. He ordered me out to dispatch the bird. I'd wait for the bird to settle on the bird bath, but everytime I opened the door the Jay few off.
Well this got my gramps hot and he took the pistol from me and walked out into the yard. The Jay was at the top of the large Oaks and when he flew from one to the other... POP! and blue feathers were falling down to the ground. My Grandfather then told me to clean up for supper.

 

[Soap]

Surprisingly, I haven't been witness to many extraordinary shots. One of my more memorable ones was on a groundhog. I was about 14 and shooting a Winchester 9422 at a groundhog. It was about a 15 downward angle, 100 or so yards, and the ground hog was running full speed. I just line up a lead and take my chances offhand, squeeze, and the 'chuck rolls forward and stays in one spot. I got it right in the vitals.

I've also shot more than a few flying birds (mostly blackbirds) with an air rifle. Luck? Skill? Sure!

 

[ialevy]

About 8 years ago, my Grandmother was complaining about a large crow that was picking the seeds out of her garden, and then "laughing at her." Could I get it? It wass sitting in a tree about 75 yards away, and about 50 feet up. I got my crummy crossman airgun with the little scope that came with it. Pumped it up about 15 times. took aim, bracing up against the porch while standing and shot. I didn't even think I would come close, but I saw black feathers and the bird fall like a stone! Shot right throught the heart. Pure dumb luck!

 

[KMKeller]

My dad, prairie dog at 350 yards, 22-250, right between the eyes.

 

[goalie]

Saw someone earn a "Gotcha at a grand" T-shirt at Quantico in '91. I didn't even hit paper. F'wind :banghead:

 

[Art Eatman]

Many witnesses over several decades commented on my father's ability to shoot offhand. He was seen to kill deer--both standing and running--out to 500 yards. One shot, one buck, one grin.

My uncle made the most impressive shot I've ever seen. We were jeeping along in the back pasture when he saw a running buck. He locked up the brakes, stalling the motor. He grabbed his rifle and shot as the deer jumped a fence. Broke the buck's neck at about 125 yards. Not bad for a guy who was 4F in WW II on account of poor eyesight.

Art

 

[Fed168]

Scoring a 50 yard target in a PPC match. Out of 24 rounds, there were 3 out of the ten ring.

 

[themic]

my dad is range shooting his 300 magnum rifle. 100 yd target, and a fly lands on it.

"see that?"

i look through the spotting scope...

WHAM. hole where the fly was.

really, though, i thought 300 magnum was a bit much for an insect.

 

[Steve Smith]

Tam...GOOD JOB!!!

 

[Keith]

That fly story reminds me of something that happened to me. I was shooting at an informal range with a .45. Actually I was just shooting the .45 while waiting for somebody else to finish some 100 yard shooting with a rifle, so I could sight in my own. There was only one place to hang a target out there.

Anyway, when these guys finished up they loaded up their equipment, and before they left began talking to me about my .45 - a Kimber. And I allowed that it was pretty nice piece, accurate, etc, and one thing leads to another and somehow I got talked into shooting at the 100 yard target.

There was one target stapled out there that they hadn't shot at. I just figured "what the hell", held about a foot high and let one fly. And sure enough, the guy on the spotting scope calls a hit, and we all look to see a hole close to the Bull - a little low and left, but darned close!

Well! They are very impressed - and so am I! They leave and I set up my own rifle, deciding to use the target already out there (since there is only one hole in it). I take a look through the spotting scope and discover that my .45 "hit" is now on a completely different part of the target, in fact it's moving across the target as I speak. It's a fly....

Keith

 

[spacemanspiff]

when i was qualifying for CCW last year the guy in the lane next to me was talking how the 1911 he was using was his fathers and its seen its fair share of use/abuse, and that it shot much poorer than a racegun his buddy has.
we were shooting from 7 yards and while i was pleased with my results (only 2 flyers in the 8 ring-yeah i know, i'm a poor shot) his target had holes all over the place, up down left right, and only a few in the ten ring. i figured he was right, that old 1911 must've had every part loose and unfitted.
he tells the instructor about it and the instructor takes the raggety old 1911, loads up, and shoots onehanded, putting 6 rounds in a hole you could cover with a quarter. the guy in the lane next to me turned a couple shades of red.

 

[grampster]

Dad used to split .22 shorts on a the edge of a butterknife in the little range we had set up in the basement in the 50's when I was a lad. He used a Remington bolt action, tube feed target rifle.

Old huntin buddy of mine popped a cottontail at full speed with a .22 wheel gun at about 50' right between the ears. I saw that one and as he is such a blowhard I'd never believe it unless I saw it. Too bad I saw it cause he keeps telling the story over and over. Happened 30 years ago. Sigh......

 

[TheMariner]

Here's one experience that told my family and I that marksmanship wasn't something lost from father to son.

In the fourth grade (On Maelstrom AFB), some friends and I had to make a commercial for a product (you make up teh product) that had to last for so long, blah blah blah. Well, we're getting to the end of our filming (thanx to dear old mom!) since we decided to do it on tape instead in front of class and we needed another couple seconds to finish up. SO we decided that I could just pin up teh product (a hardboiled egg) to one of our family's air targets in my basement, where all the filming had been done so far and pop it with an air rifle, make it splatter and I just say some catchy phrease a take abite of one of the little bits. Well, we pinned it up using a needle from my mom's sewing kit. Yo know, the ones with the little ball heads. Well, when I take aim, at 25 or so "grown up" paces (25 of my paces wouldn't have given me two feet from barrel to target anyway), my small scope (a little 4x7, used only because the sights on the crossman rifle wouldn't sit still) was centered on the head of the needle, a dot against white. When I pulled the trigger, the air gun sputtered and nothing happened. SO I played off the event as expected. When my mom stopped the camera, we discovered that the head fo the pin was missing but the pin and egg were intact.

Never did find the pin head.


On a side note, my uncle, an ex-army ranger (Vietnam-two purple hearts, Gulf War) passes his time by taking a pump up air pistol and whinnowing away the southern Georgia dragonfly population, one mid-flight shot at a time.

 

[Ed]

I was running a M203 range at Fort Carson and we had to shoot up some leftover grenades. I sent one into some brush and a rabbit ran out"marker rounds" it ran to a bush about 2 feet around 150 meters downrange. My ssg with me said "sir bet you cant hit it" Joking I said sure I can, off the hip" And low and behold perfect shot off the hip. Imposible to duplicate I'm sure but they didn't know that.

 

[Bonker]

Mine is pretty amazing...

One day in high school (I mean in those days, not actually IN the school) , we were shooting for a while at a Gayla bat kite flying on 3 spools of string (that's 300 yards!).
It was a GI Joe kite to be specific.
Anyway, it was barely a dot in the sky. We used every kind of gun you can imagine never dreaming it could be hit.
It was windy and the kite was bobbing and weaving pretty violently.

So my best friend walks out and takes one shot from an old 30-30 lever gun and down goes the kite.

He had hit it EXACTLY where the horizontal and vertical sticks cross and broken them both.

15 years later I'm still stunned.

 

[Double Maduro]

When I was 17 one of my highschool friends, yes they had schools back then, came over to go squirrel hunting. I had an Ithica X5 lightning, 22 semi auto rifle with a 4 power weaver scope and he was admiring it when a starling landed in the top of the elm tree. The tree was about 40-50 yards away and the bird was about 50 feet up. He asked if he could shoot it and I said sure. He took my rifle and put one shot through the starlings head offhand. He was also the first person I knew who had wildcat caliber rifles, 22-250, 25-06, 257 roberts all the hot stuff in the '60s.

The other best "shot" was when he and I were rabbit hunting along a powerline right of way and a pheasant got up. He pointed his finger at it and said "bang", the pheasant fell out of the air. When we got to it it had a broken neck. It must have been watching us and hit a guy wire.

Then there is the story of my dad shooting a popping bug loose from a stick at about 50 feet with an Iver Johnson Trailsman 66. Pretty nice shot.

 

[12-34hom]

Father shoots best.

My dad, pheasant hunting.

Watched him drop three roosters that got up at once...

Gun, Remington 1100 in 28 guage.

Mine, crow in a small tree at @ 335 yards in a 30 mph crosswind.

Gun, Remington model 700 in 243 Winchester.

12-34hom.