Rifle shooting is no longer like golf.

[Hand Skills]

A golf course is really just a waste of a perfectly good shooting range

 

[George Dean]

Rifle shooting used to be kind of like golf. Get a feel for the clubs and the ball and the turf, groove your swing, and hit it. Long range shooting is not like golf at all. All this long range stuff going around today makes shooting more like data science, more like a video game. Its more about turning the dials instead of swinging the club. I am not sure it is for the better. I guess it must be a cultural change. I can't say that I like it, but who am I to judge because I am 66 years old.

What do my fellow bloggers think?

I'm 80 yoa, served on active duty for nine years and 26 years as a LEO. I strive to be the very best at whatever I participate in. I don't necessarily achieve that end, but as I told my troops and superiors, if you don't strive for excellence, you're shortchanging your paymaster.

 

[del2les]

Golf? While I may not be able to hit a golf ball to 300 yds, I have several rifles that can hit a golf ball AT 300 yds.

 

[jimisbell]

I should probably keep my mouth shut because I havent been doing it very long. I am currently at 1K and chomping at the bit to get to 2 miles. So I dont yet have the experience for my opinion to be valuable.

BUT. It is NOT just buying an expensive gun and winning championships. I am 84 years old and I have been target shooting for 70 years. It takes skill!!! I have just started ELRS and it is a NEW skill over my past shooting. It isnt too dificult to learn ON TOP OF 70 years of shooting experience that lays the foundation. But thats like saying "so and so was an overnight success.....after 20 years of trying" I wont go to "The King of Two Miles" tomorrow, and maybe never, but I aspire to it.

Saying the equipment makes the champion is insulting to those that work hard and long to get there.

 

[JD284win]

I shot a few PRS matches. When it was a game of speed and minimal equipment. These guys carry so much crap now I don't know there is any speed left. Any way. Im a hunter first. This is my whole issue with the 6.5 Creedmoor. I dont believe it to be a junk caliber. It obviously is not. Its the fan base that gets me. Like said already. "I have a 6.5 CM" "I'm a 1000 yard shooter" um no you're not!

The big changes you are seeing is market driven. The LR game is popular right now. The market will take advantage of that. I love my ballistic app and I'm always learning new things with it. If you are going to attempt a shot on a living animal by all means please use the best of the tech to accomplish that shot ethically. However no matter what you invest your money in it all comes down to two things. Thats the gun and guy behind the trigger. There is no technology or substitute for trigger/shot control. That has to be tought and practiced.

 

[JD284win]

A golf course is a knowingly misuse of a good shooting range!

 

[pig ranch deadeye]

I golf better with more beer!!. I don't shoot while drinking beer so can't compare the 2.

Your on the wrong web site if your asking these questions

Maybe I am NOT on the wrong web site because my posts generate a lot of comments.

 

[yobuck]

When you really look hard, there are similarities to be found in many sports.
And it usually comes down to one very important thing.
Dont take yourself out of the game.
Its not always about being the best and having the best.
But it is always about staying in the game till its over.
We have become somewhat obsessed with equipment, how we load, etc. etc.
Fact is a one inch group at 100 yds correlates to ten inches at 1000, all things being equal.
Fact also is that most animals shot at long range are far less than 1000 yds.
Fact also is that a very large percentage of the deer killed long range in our camp over many years have been shot by young kids, ditto for many other camps in the area.
Now does that also mean they could go someplace and win a rifle match?
No it dosent, but then it isnt a rifle match, which is important to remember.
And those guys dont always win either, just like the golfers.
Find ways to stay in the game so you at least have a chance of winning.

 

[skipglo]

Just curious - what hi-tech gear is needed beyond rifle, scope, ammo, practise, maybe drop chart or dope card, eyes and ears? Wind speed - estimate trees, shrubs and grass. Distance - estimate with scope. Bullet drop - estimate with drop chart or dope card.

Lol.....that about covers it for

Just curious - what hi-tech gear is needed beyond rifle, scope, ammo, practise, maybe drop chart or dope card, eyes and ears? Wind speed - estimate trees, shrubs and grass. Distance - estimate with scope. Bullet drop - estimate with drop chart or dope card.

Lol....I didn't say it's nee

Just curious - what hi-tech gear is needed beyond rifle, scope, ammo, practise, maybe drop chart or dope card, eyes and ears? Wind speed - estimate trees, shrubs and grass. Distance - estimate with scope. Bullet drop - estimate with drop chart or dope card.

Like it says....the gear is available now to take the Rough estimates out of the game if a person doesn't want to just burn shells. The best shooters can hit a 1000 yard target with a ten -12 power scope all day long.....we aren't talking the best here!

 

[yobuck]

I should probably keep my mouth shut because I havent been doing it very long. I am currently at 1K and chomping at the bit to get to 2 miles. So I dont yet have the experience for my opinion to be valuable.

BUT. It is NOT just buying an expensive gun and winning championships. I am 84 years old and I have been target shooting for 70 years. It takes skill!!! I have just started ELRS and it is a NEW skill over my past shooting. It isnt too dificult to learn ON TOP OF 70 years of shooting experience that lays the foundation. But thats like saying "so and so was an overnight success.....after 20 years of trying" I wont go to "The King of Two Miles" tomorrow, and maybe never, but I aspire to it.

Saying the equipment makes the champion is insulting to those that work hard and long to get there.

Jim, as you know, the guy who graduates last in a class of 400 from med school is still called Doctor.
Same as all the golfers and shooters.
In rifle matches, especially long range rifle matches, conditions during different relays of shooters can have a big influence on the final outcome of a particular match.
But by and large, the cream always rises to the top.
But are we talking here about what it takes to be a champion?
Because im only talking about what it takes to put some meat on the table.

Did you get the pics i sent?

 

[pig ranch deadeye]

Ive never swung a golf club either, but i have watched a few of the worlds best play in tournaments on t/v.
At 85 i remember well when players like Arnold Palmer were in their prime. Question is would they still be competitive today with modern day players if they were still using those old clubs?
So how far has that world progressed by way of clubs?
Today it seems the shooting world has discovered the 6.5 cartridges, including the relatively new 6.5x300 WBY.
Yet in the early 60s lots of guys were using 6.5x300 WBYs for long range hunting.
By the mid 70s very few still were however due to better bullets like the the 7 mm 162 gr BTHP match by Hornady. Quite a few were also using 30x378s in the early 70s with 200 or 220 gr SMKs.
In as i recall 1986, an old friend by name of Earl Chronister set a new 10 shot world record at Williamsport
using a (250) gr SMK in a 30x378 rifle built by Howard Wolfe and using a Unertle scope.
At that time most everybody used Unertle scopes because names like Nightforce didnt yet exist.
I think you might find the modern day 10 shot heavy gun record isnt much smaller than the one from over 30 years ago.
When you turned the dial on one of those Unertles it made a click click sound, much the same as the new scopes today. lol
As for rangefinders, we have had very good ones from as far back as WW one.
And unlike those holes on the golf coarses, all those things we ranged with them 40 years ago havent moved a bit in all that time.
Now im told that there are things you can hold in your hand that actually tells you when the wind is blowing.
And if you have enough time, it can even accurately figure out how many scope clicks it takes to hit something.
But i dont know what happens if the deer dont have enough time, or if just maybe the wind could be blowing a bit stronger or even from a different direction over yonder.
Maybe Arnold would know.

Thank you for your thoughtful comments.

 

[jimisbell]

No, I didnt get the pictures. As you know, I am not a hunter, I am about hitting a 10" plate at distance. I love the surge I get when I pull the trigger, the gun recoils, the spotter yells "HIT!" and seconds later I hear "PING" Its surrealistic. Like the spotter is predicting the future....LOL. I know that I have the skill to take a deer at 1000 yds, but will never do it....because I dont like venison.....Make one out of chocolate coffee and I may reconsider.....

 

[nmbarta]

Rifle shooting used to be kind of like golf. Get a feel for the clubs and the ball and the turf, groove your swing, and hit it. Long range shooting is not like golf at all. All this long range stuff going around today makes shooting more like data science, more like a video game. Its more about turning the dials instead of swinging the club. I am not sure it is for the better. I guess it must be a cultural change. I can't say that I like it, but who am I to judge because I am 66 years old.

What do my fellow bloggers think?

You still need all of the same skills, and then a few more.

Times change, I see traditional bow hunters with range finders now.

Every generation grows up with technology that the previous generation finds off putting...generally speaking.

Until they make heat seaking bullets, you still have to be able to swing your club or you ain't gonna hit sh.....the clubs are just nicer now

 

[jimisbell]

I will get some backlash on this, but here goes.
I like shooting and dont like golf.
I never played it so why do I not like it?

Simple answer. I got on this list and have had nothing but good vibes and no one has criticized what I say or how I went about it except in a very nice way.,

I was , many years ago a sailboat racer. 35 foot sloop. I often invited friends to join us for a race. In fact I was introduced to the sport when I was asked to join a friend. I had never been ON A SAILBOAT and told him so. He insisted I come along.

Many years ago I was asked to go with a group of friends to play golf. The date would be several weeks in the future. As the date approached I called my friend and asked where I could borrow some clubs. He asked why I didnt have any. I explained that I had never played golf in my life. The invitation was withdrawn!!!!

So I like shooting and I hate golf. They are NOT friendly!