No You Can’t!
You may say you can, but I doubt it.
You may say you can, but I doubt it.
In the BPCR Silhouette game (above) 25 percent of the targets — the chicken silhouettes at 200 meters — are fired at from the offhand position. Few can hold their 12-pound rifle steady enough to hit the majority of these targets, let alone clean the event. In fact, only once in the game’s history has anyone hit all 10 in a row.
In a recent conversation with a retired West Virginia State Policeman named J.J. Miller, he uttered one of the best pearls of wisdom I’ve ever heard. In fact I think it should be named the “Number One Natural Law of Shooting.”
What he said went something like this, “A man can be a pillar of the community, honest as the day is long; someone who never misses a payment and whose word is his bond. Then ask him how accurately his guns shoot or how well he can shoot and he becomes a pathological liar!”
I first became aware of this phenomenon about 25 years ago when I owned a small-town movie theater here in Montana. It was common for some of the local gun guys and hunters to come a bit early and visit with me before the movie got to running. During hunting season one year a young fellow came in to relate getting a nice mule deer buck that day. “Great,” I said, “What rifle and load did you use?” He replied the rifle was his 7mm Mauser. I’ve forgotten what make but he did say he fired factory loads. Then I asked, “How far?” And I was astonished when he said the shot had been offhand at the distance of at least 500 yards. “Wow! Where did you hold?” was my next question. Confidently he replied, “Right on the shoulder!” At that point I just tried to sell him some popcorn.
What he said went something like this, “A man can be a pillar of the community, honest as the day is long; someone who never misses a payment and whose word is his bond. Then ask him how accurately his guns shoot or how well he can shoot and he becomes a pathological liar!”
I first became aware of this phenomenon about 25 years ago when I owned a small-town movie theater here in Montana. It was common for some of the local gun guys and hunters to come a bit early and visit with me before the movie got to running. During hunting season one year a young fellow came in to relate getting a nice mule deer buck that day. “Great,” I said, “What rifle and load did you use?” He replied the rifle was his 7mm Mauser. I’ve forgotten what make but he did say he fired factory loads. Then I asked, “How far?” And I was astonished when he said the shot had been offhand at the distance of at least 500 yards. “Wow! Where did you hold?” was my next question. Confidently he replied, “Right on the shoulder!” At that point I just tried to sell him some popcorn.
There's More Montana Musings
in the January Issue...
• Yeah, Right
• How Good?
• Boatload Boasts
• Wobble Factor
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