What challenged you to learn to shoot accurately and...

[RetiredSniper]

Mine really started with my first modern bolt rifle, a win 670 in 30 06 from Otasco in the little town I grew up around. I expected the rifle to shoot exactly where I aimed, I was 14. When I could barely keep 5 shots on a paper plate at 100 off a bench, I was devastated. I didnt even feel comfortable shooting at deer beyond 50 yards, and this was with a REAL rifle, 4x weaver scope and all. I blamed the gun and started researching how to make the gun shoot like I expected. I glass bedded the stock, floated the barrel , polished the working parts of the trigger. Bought another box of remington 180 coreloks and bebopped down to my neighbors range with every expectation of bullets in a ragged hole.i shot groups in the 6-7" range ! I finally took my junk rifle to my local gunsmith to see what was wrong with my equipment . Mr Turner calmly took me out back of his shop and set up a target at 25 yards. He had me shoot a 3 shot group. As I remember, it was about 2 inches. He sat down behind the gun and shot less than 1/2" group. He then explained that the nut on the handle was loose. He spent a while explaining the ins and outs of shooting.....breathing, trigger management, sight picture, focus, and not being afraid of the recoil . He did the old unloaded gun trick on me and I came unwound as I snatched the trigger on that empty chamber. I spent the better part of the afternoon practicing on that abbreviated range, till i could put them all under an inch.
I never got that rifle to shoot better than 2" at 100 yards. I traded it for a remington 788 carbine in 308 with a bushnell 3-9 scope. I could shoot sub moa with that rifle once I had done the bedding on it. I guess I've been on a quest for that one hole group every since mr Turner took the time to teach me the fundamentals all those years ago.
I still havent stretched out like you guys have. Just dont have the place to try it. Hopefully, I will get around to it one day.
Oh, and it turned out that the old weaver scope on that 30 06 was to blame for the less than average accuracy. The shop I traded at for the 308, sold the old 670 and the new owner put better glass on it. Gun shot way under moa with federal premiums with the new glass.
And the one hole groups, I've shot too many to count in little ragged holes at 100 with several rifles I've owned. I can still hear Mr Turner in my head when I settle into the gun....burn a hole through that bullseye, be patient, and let the gun do its job.

First off, Go with a 3-9 power scope. That would give you the option of using 3 to 9 power. A tad more expensive but better.

 

[5.56×250]

First off, Go with a 3-9 power scope. That would give you the option of using 3 to 9 power. A tad more expensive but better.

All that happened 40 years ago. My scopes are a little better now day than the old weaver k4 with the fine crosshair on my first scoped rifle. I dont even own a scope below 4.5-14 now. The worse my eyes get , the higher magnification I go to, lol.

 

[wv270wsm]

When I was a kid we had the " flood of 85" which in turn meant since we lived on high ground and was raising hogs we wound up with a lot of rats . We lived outside of an old mining town and we ended up with rats the size of opossums. Granted with any live stock you will have some but after that flood we had them by the wheel borrows full. That's when I learned to shoot dad would come home take me and the 22 to the hog lot and set till dark. I was almost 4 and we killed a pile of rats. The following year I got my first BB gun and the chipmunks were on the hit list close or long range after a summer of chasing them . If I could get within 30 yards of them they were in trouble. 30 yards with a pump BB gun is a long poke for a 5-6 old kid . I'd burn through a carton of bbs in bout 3 or 4 days soda cans pie plates birds chipmunks it didn't matter I was shooting at it.
One fall a grouse started showing up at moms bird feeder me and dad had explicit instructions to NOT shoot this grouse . One day I ask mom if I could shoot at it with my BB gun she never really thought about it and said yeah never in a million years did she think I'd kill it . But we ended up eating him for sure.
I ended up getting a cross man 760 when I was about 9 maybe 10 I couldn't tell you how many rabbits I killed with that thing and even a few bird feeder squirrels. The squirrels is where you had to be supper precise they were tougher than other game I'd pursued with my trusty BB gun . I found a well placed pointed pellet in the head would generally get them though
Now I've got 2 young men of my own and they themselves bout wore me out buying bbs . I know now how dad and mom must have felt lol

 

[5.56×250]

I cant help but feel a little envious of all the father/son/grandpa, etc memories most of you seem to have.
For some reason, I was born alone in my desires to hunt and fish in my family. As a youngin in the suburbs of Atlanta , I would rake leaves to get money to buy fishing gear and didnt even have anywhere close to fish or anyone to take me. I would use a jigsaw to cut gun shapes out of plywood so I could imagine hunts for exotic animals in the woods around the house. At 9 years old , we moved to 60 acres in the country in central ga . I was in heaven ! I cut grass to buy my first rifle. Nope, not a 22......at 12 years old I bought an old mauser in 8mm ! You could still get surplus ammo for the 8 mauser back then and I spent many a day shooting 5 gallon buckets with the military sights from odd positions, even shot while walking. Anything I could do to get ready to hunt deer that fall. My parents would just let me take off into the woods and shoot.
I traded that mauser for a Steven's single shot 12 ga because the shotgun would allow me to hunt everything at the same time. I would carry slugs, buckshot, 4 shot, and 8 shot when I'd go for hikes in the woods.
I could carry on for the equivalent of a short novel about my adventures. I just wanted to say I'm jealous of the lessons and comrodery you all seem to have shared with firearms and family during your young years. My lessons were harder learned I guess, but I dont think id change much anyway...........carry on.

 

[Gibbshooter43]

I cant help but feel a little envious of all the father/son/grandpa, etc memories most of you seem to have.
For some reason, I was born alone in my desires to hunt and fish in my family. As a youngin in the suburbs of Atlanta , I would rake leaves to get money to buy fishing gear and didnt even have anywhere close to fish or anyone to take me. I would use a jigsaw to cut gun shapes out of plywood so I could imagine hunts for exotic animals in the woods around the house. At 9 years old , we moved to 60 acres in the country in central ga . I was in heaven ! I cut grass to buy my first rifle. Nope, not a 22......at 12 years old I bought an old mauser in 8mm ! You could still get surplus ammo for the 8 mauser back then and I spent many a day shooting 5 gallon buckets with the military sights from odd positions, even shot while walking. Anything I could do to get ready to hunt deer that fall. My parents would just let me take off into the woods and shoot.
I traded that mauser for a Steven's single shot 12 ga because the shotgun would allow me to hunt everything at the same time. I would carry slugs, buckshot, 4 shot, and 8 shot when I'd go for hikes in the woods.
I could carry on for the equivalent of a short novel about my adventures. I just wanted to say I'm jealous of the lessons and comrodery you all seem to have shared with firearms and family during your young years. My lessons were harder learned I guess, but I dont think id change much anyway...........carry on.

I sure appreciate your post. Although you didn't have the shared experience with a mentoring adult, you had the desire, the parents who at least allowed you to pursue your interests (fantasies), and eventually the place to do what you'd fantasied about. Enjoy making memories with your kids.

 

[NorCalRiceGuy]

I cant help but feel a little envious of all the father/son/grandpa, etc memories most of you seem to have.
For some reason, I was born alone in my desires to hunt and fish in my family. As a youngin in the suburbs of Atlanta , I would rake leaves to get money to buy fishing gear and didnt even have anywhere close to fish or anyone to take me. I would use a jigsaw to cut gun shapes out of plywood so I could imagine hunts for exotic animals in the woods around the house. At 9 years old , we moved to 60 acres in the country in central ga . I was in heaven ! I cut grass to buy my first rifle. Nope, not a 22......at 12 years old I bought an old mauser in 8mm ! You could still get surplus ammo for the 8 mauser back then and I spent many a day shooting 5 gallon buckets with the military sights from odd positions, even shot while walking. Anything I could do to get ready to hunt deer that fall. My parents would just let me take off into the woods and shoot.
I traded that mauser for a Steven's single shot 12 ga because the shotgun would allow me to hunt everything at the same time. I would carry slugs, buckshot, 4 shot, and 8 shot when I'd go for hikes in the woods.
I could carry on for the equivalent of a short novel about my adventures. I just wanted to say I'm jealous of the lessons and comrodery you all seem to have shared with firearms and family during your young years. My lessons were harder learned I guess, but I dont think id change much anyway...........carry on.

Well done! I don't think it matters how any of us got here. The gift is that we did and are able to share in each other's journey and experiences.

 

[5.56×250]

I sure appreciate your post. Although you didn't have the shared experience with a mentoring adult, you had the desire, the parents who at least allowed you to pursue your interests (fantasies), and eventually the place to do what you'd fantasied about. Enjoy making memories with your kids.

Thanks for that.......I do spend time in the outdoors with my kids as much as I can . Its harder now that they are getting on with their lives. My son is 21 and is a workaholic and spends his down time chasing a different breed of whitetail. My daughter likes to hunt with me, and shoot. She is 13 and is involved with her school alot more now than in the past. She made the drumline this year and plays at all our football games . That takes alot of her time on the weekends. She is in advanced classes in all her studies too , so she has to study regularly. Whenever we can find a moment to go play with the 22s though, we do and have a blast playing card games and busting balloons, tic tac toe and any other shooting game we can think up. She is a solid shooter off the bench too, with the 6.5 grendel AR15 I built for her last Christmas , shooting sub MOA regularly. I think she got a bigger dose of my genes than my son did, lol.

 

[Gibbshooter43]

Thanks for that.......I do spend time in the outdoors with my kids as much as I can . Its harder now that they are getting on with their lives. My son is 21 and is a workaholic and spends his down time chasing a different breed of whitetail. My daughter likes to hunt with me, and shoot. She is 13 and is involved with her school alot more now than in the past. She made the drumline this year and plays at all our football games . That takes alot of her time on the weekends. She is in advanced classes in all her studies too , so she has to study regularly. Whenever we can find a moment to go play with the 22s though, we do and have a blast playing card games and busting balloons, tic tac toe and any other shooting game we can think up. She is a solid shooter off the bench too, with the 6.5 grendel AR15 I built for her last Christmas , shooting sub MOA regularly. I think she got a bigger dose of my genes than my son did, lol.

Awesome my friend; awesome!

 

[Guy M]

Dad and my grandfather were competitive shooters, they shot 22 smallbore matches and also High Power matches. With them as role models as a kid, I thought everyone learned how to sling up, and had a match rifle or two at home.

We also had a friend with a ranch, and a large population of ground squirrels... Perfect pop-up targets!

Dad built me a pellet-trap for my Benjamin 22 cal pellet rifle, so I could shoot indoors or out in the backyard, safely. I spent hours with that thing!

It's pretty much been a lifelong thing, and I still enjoy seeing if I can shoot well. Sure helps when hunting.

Regards, Guy

 

[LVJ76]

The gift is that we did and are able to share in each other's journey and experiences.

This I believe is what truly matters, what we do with the knowledge we have, whether we were taught or learned by ourselves, making sure we pass it on to the next generation(s).

 

[Chase723]

Frankly, it was all the misses that still haunt me! Haha. Seriously, though you put in all the time planning, scouting, practicing, stalking, etc and then the moment of opportunity arises...and maybe it's a little different than anything you've ever been in or practiced for, or maybe your range isn't absolutely perfect, or there's some wind that you didn't account for...and then you miss. Ugh. Heartbreaking. I can still see those animals and I can still remember every one of those misses. Valuable lessons for sure, but not ones I like repeating.