Chick and guns

[Pixie]

I have been shooting guns most of my life.

Grew up as an army brat and learnt a respect for these items and the rules in handling them.

What's the reason I like shooting?

Very hard to explain.

To me it is the skill of being able to do something as well as I can.

In the UK, darts are a very poular pub sport.

Shooting employs all the same skills but instead of muscle power to deliver the projectile I make use of the chemical reaction of burning gunpowder.

Dont tell me that my analogy is wrong as the game of darts has been derived from weapons of war also. From way back people have ben throwing things at each other.

I get a real thrill from accuracy and speed. not necessary together though.

I love it when I sit down with a rifle and look at a target that can be at distances so far away from me that they are just dots. I use all the skills I have learnt, I control my breathing, I settle my beating heart, I try to keep calm and collected. I look at the target, I check my sights, I gently squeeze the trigger and feel the recoil of the rifle in my arms. I check the target or have it checked for me. Elation if I have made a good shot, disappointment if not. Then i sit down and try and do it all over again, better if i can.

Most of the time I may be in competition but always I am going up against myself and my body's natural reactions.

Its a very hard thing to explain. Its not a sense of power, you can get that from a lot of different activities, its more a sense of personal achievment.

I've personally done military service and a few times I have been in the situation where I have had to use a fire arm on another human being. Its not a nice thing to do or remember. In all those cases I was doing a job and a firearm was just a tool of the job.

Nowadays I choose when I wish to shoot, what i wish to shoot and what I shoot at.

Trying hard to explain things here but dont really seem to be making much sense.

I'll post and bow out.

Merde

Many of the techniques required to shoot well,especially top level target,are akin to meditation and yoga,
Think of the olympic biathlon event,where competitors cross country ski between targets and then control their breathing and heart rate to get off a good shot

[Swoop]

Don't think the politicians would be stupid enough to take on the gentry landowners!!

I believe they did with fox hunting.

Glad you enjoyed your shooting! A challenging sport in many, and varied ways.

Think of the olympic biathlon event,where competitors cross country ski between targets and then control their breathing and heart rate to get off a good shot

That is a fabulous event! I found a brief thing on the Triangle TV the other day, with European winter in full swing and this competition is quite popular. The most stupid spectator can see what is happening...

I get disappointed when people say that "such and such" is a biathlon because it has two events (eg: run and cycle). They get confused when you ask them where the snow and guns are!!!

[jrandom]

We shall naturally limit ourselves to photographing the young fellow within the bounds of the law as he fires an automatic 30-calibre battle rifle.

As promised, here's number one son with Mr Merde's M1 carbine today.



He lined up his sight picture and squeezed the trigger like a pro. Probably would have happily plinked away all day if we'd kept loading magazines for him.

That's my boy!

[Bikernereid]

Yes most city folk are a little slow in regards to what goes on in the country and then tend to produce the kids that think milk comes from a supermarket!!

What would have been useful to know before hand from all you gun totting peeps is that for most shooting you have to be right-eyed I am left-eyed and found it incredibly difficult to focus right-eyes and found that I kep slipping into using my left eye. I think that if I am to continue with shooting and improve my capabilities I am going to have to find a means of re-training my visual processing.

If anyone has had he same experience and has overcome it please advise me as how best to do this.

Thanks for suppport guys, you rock.

Saw one of those types of show a week or so ago - you should have seen the looks on the faces of the city-slicker types when they realised what had to happend at the start of the process to convert a cute lamb into a piece of meat!!

Anyway, back on topic, glad you enjoyed the experience Bikern1mpho!!

[Mr Merde]

Yes most city folk are a little slow in regards to what goes on in the country and then tend to produce the kids that think milk comes from a supermarket!!

What would have been useful to know before hand from all you gun totting peeps is that for most shooting you have to be right-eyed I am left-eyed and found it incredibly difficult to focus right-eyes and found that I kep slipping into using my left eye. I think that if I am to continue with shooting and improve my capabilities I am going to have to find a means of re-training my visual processing.

If anyone has had he same experience and has overcome it please advise me as how best to do this.

Thanks for suppport guys, you rock.

If you are right handed and left eye dominant then this can be overcome quite easily.

Get yourself a pair of clear safety glasses and over the left lens tape a piece of plain white paper. This will allow light to enter both eyes but will block vision on the left. Thus you will be training your right eye to become dominant. Takes a little while but eventually you will not need the paper on the left lens as the right eye will have taken over.

[SixPackBack]

Yes most city folk are a little slow in regards to what goes on in the country and then tend to produce the kids that think milk comes from a supermarket!!

What would have been useful to know before hand from all you gun totting peeps is that for most shooting you have to be right-eyed I am left-eyed and found it incredibly difficult to focus right-eyes and found that I kep slipping into using my left eye. I think that if I am to continue with shooting and improve my capabilities I am going to have to find a means of re-training my visual processing.

If anyone has had he same experience and has overcome it please advise me as how best to do this.

Thanks for suppport guys, you rock.

You could of course buy a left eyed gun........left hand bullets are more difficult to source, but hey anything for the cause!

[Mr Merde]

As promised, here's number one son with Mr Merde's M1 carbine today.



He lined up his sight picture and squeezed the trigger like a pro. Probably would have happily plinked away all day if we'd kept loading magazines for him.

That's my boy!

It wa really good having you and your family out here today and the shooting was fun. loved your M14.

I'm glad you 4 year old son enjoyed shooting the rifle.

All you here who shoot target watch out I saw the beginings of a champion shot here, especially if enthusiasim is anything to go by.

Next time I will be much better prepared.

[Bikernereid]

Glad to see the wee nipper wearing them, one of the instructors fired the rifle on automatic and as someone who is not fond of loud noises I jumped out of my skin and felt like I was gonna have a heart attack. Got used to it eventually.

As promised, here's number one son with Mr Merde's M1 carbine today.



He lined up his sight picture and squeezed the trigger like a pro. Probably would have happily plinked away all day if we'd kept loading magazines for him.

That's my boy!

[FilthyLuka]

If you are right handed and left eye dominant then this can be overcome quite easily.

Get yourself a pair of clear safety glasses and over the left lens tape a piece of plain white paper. This will allow light to enter both eyes but will block vision on the left. Thus you will be training your right eye to become dominant. Takes a little while but eventually you will not need the paper on the left lens as the right eye will have taken over.

This trick works like a charm, used it for the first year of my target shooting, now it just comes natural. Just used some saftey glasses and some A4 sheet. Cut the paper, taped it on and just kept bringing the glasses to the range for training.

[Bikernereid]

Will give it a go. Does it not affect your driving/ riding etc?

This trick works like a charm, used it for the first year of my target shooting, now it just comes natural. Just used some saftey glasses and some A4 sheet. Cut the paper, taped it on and just kept bringing the glasses to the range for training.

[MVnut]

Yes most city folk are a little slow in regards to what goes on in the country and then tend to produce the kids that think milk comes from a supermarket!!

What would have been useful to know before hand from all you gun totting peeps is that for most shooting you have to be right-eyed I am left-eyed and found it incredibly difficult to focus right-eyes and found that I kep slipping into using my left eye. I think that if I am to continue with shooting and improve my capabilities I am going to have to find a means of re-training my visual processing.

If anyone has had he same experience and has overcome it please advise me as how best to do this.

Thanks for suppport guys, you rock.

I use both eyes to 'sight'

[Bikernereid]

Not too sure what you mean as I am new to all of this. I found that I was looking with both eyes and then trying to target with my right eye. Not natural at all and very wierd. I guess that practice will make better!!

I use both eyes to 'sight'

[MVnut]

That's only with 'open sights' ovbiously, not a scope.

[howdamnhard]

Very well put maxworldbiker.I guess bikernympho,the excitement is that a firearm gives the user a sense of power.The initial fear/excitement comes from the knowledge that a firearm has great potential for destruction and is primarily a tool of destruction be it a paper target or animal.The first time I handled a gun was similiar to the first time I handled a snake,I was nervous and got the hand tremour.It seems an inbuilt,inherited survival trait to respect that which can cause harm.I like facing my fears and thus now like guns and snakes.The nervousness will go but the respect should never go as that is when things become dangerous.When you kill something , something in you dies. I got into guns primary for self defence and survival but now only for recreation(hunting).

This is a really good question. The gun debate rages on, around the world, and probably always will. I've grown up with guns, so they don't intimidate me at all and I have a few myself. For some people (even myself to an extent) there's something about the power felt by being in control of such a tiny little machine, to create total devastation with it if they choose to, without much physical effort. Thankfully most of us choose not to, and our fascination with guns is more about their actual capabilities, more than what we will realistically do with them! For me and my family its always been about the confidence you have (when you know how to operate your gun efficiently) in your ability to protect yourself against threat, the challenge of being able to go out and kill something wild to feed yourself if you need or want to, and keep pests under control in your environment.

Having said that, I really did enjoy playing with some of the hardware in my friend's arsenal while staying with him last year in the US. He lives in the dense woods of New Hampshire, where we didn't even CONSIDER wandering away from the house unarmed, especially at night, where bears and mountain lions routinely appear from out of nowhere, usually looking for food, and not particular about whether or not its human!

The AK47s were pretty good fun to play with, I have to admit, but there wasn't much thought of shooting anyone with them, except for maybe one particular kiwi shipping agent, but that's a whole 'nother story...

Hope the ball was fun.

[howdamnhard]

Yes practice will help.My leading eye is my left but I'm right handed.You can close the left eye which will then force your brain to use your right eye. Or learn to shoot with your left hand ( most firearms are for righthanded use though).People say to keep both eyes open so that you can sight and see where you hit(more situational awareness).

Not too sure what you mean as I am new to all of this. I found that I was looking with both eyes and then trying to target with my right eye. Not natural at all and very wierd. I guess that practice will make better!!