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So a long long time ago I was up at Camp Perry for the National Shooting Competition. I wasn't in it...I was assigned to drive folks around to the ranges. Lots of old boys could shoot, and they scored well above most folks. They didn't have all the fancy gear, scopes, balancing pods, etc...just their rifles (or pistols) and a steady hand, good eye, and would shoot in between heartbeats.
The Cold War was on, so they invited some Russians to do some demonstration shooting.
So we are gathered in a tent, and the Russians are talking to a bunch of Shooters. Outside a squirrel was about fifty meters away running along a thick branch of a tree. A guy says to the Russians:
"Think you could hit that squirrel, from here, while it is moving?"
The Russians all turn and look at the squirrel scampering up the limb.
They all grunt.
"Right eye or left eye?"
WTF?
All the Americans laugh. The Russians join in. Later the guy running the Ranges is having a beer when the Americans tell that story: "...right eye or left eye?"
But he doesn't laugh. He tells us a story.
"You thought they were joking?"
"Well...yeah. A moving target at fifty meters, the size of a squirrel? No way."
"Well, what do you know about Sable hunting."
"Never heard of it."
In Siberia, they hunt sable, in the snow, and they have to shoot the darn thing in the eye or they ruin the pelt. Sable are like Mink, and other Weasels- they move in a sort of glide, run, wiggle and slide.
So those guys were all Sable hunters. "
Dead silence.
Turns out...they meant: "Left eye, or Right eye."
The Cold War was on, so they invited some Russians to do some demonstration shooting.
So we are gathered in a tent, and the Russians are talking to a bunch of Shooters. Outside a squirrel was about fifty meters away running along a thick branch of a tree. A guy says to the Russians:
"Think you could hit that squirrel, from here, while it is moving?"
The Russians all turn and look at the squirrel scampering up the limb.
They all grunt.
"Right eye or left eye?"
WTF?
All the Americans laugh. The Russians join in. Later the guy running the Ranges is having a beer when the Americans tell that story: "...right eye or left eye?"
But he doesn't laugh. He tells us a story.
"You thought they were joking?"
"Well...yeah. A moving target at fifty meters, the size of a squirrel? No way."
"Well, what do you know about Sable hunting."
"Never heard of it."
In Siberia, they hunt sable, in the snow, and they have to shoot the darn thing in the eye or they ruin the pelt. Sable are like Mink, and other Weasels- they move in a sort of glide, run, wiggle and slide.
So those guys were all Sable hunters. "
Dead silence.
Turns out...they meant: "Left eye, or Right eye."
Rifle Shooting
Marksmanship
Sniper
Competitive Shooting
Posted 30 d ago
Responses: 5
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And they would've done so using their father's/grandfather's/great-grandfather's Mosin.
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SGT Aaron Atwood
SGT Kevin Hughes I've got a 1929 ex-dragoon. Got it with the usual accessories back in the early 2010s. Paid $125 for the total package which wasn't exactly a good deal at the time. Average at best. However...
When that thing sounded off: you knew it had spoken. I shot at a wood bowling pin at a local outdoor range one time. Wasn't one of my targets; just something left there by someone else. I shot at the bowling pin just for hoots and giggles. When I took my eye off the rear sight: pieces of that bowling pin were still flying through the air.
Then there's the mechanical nerd in me that appreciates how simple the bolt action of the Mosin actually is. I've got a K31 as well which is as well-made as any Rolex; being Swiss-made and all, and I've taken that bolt apart to understand how it works like I did the Mosin, and I wholly appreciate the engineering that went into both designs.
When that thing sounded off: you knew it had spoken. I shot at a wood bowling pin at a local outdoor range one time. Wasn't one of my targets; just something left there by someone else. I shot at the bowling pin just for hoots and giggles. When I took my eye off the rear sight: pieces of that bowling pin were still flying through the air.
Then there's the mechanical nerd in me that appreciates how simple the bolt action of the Mosin actually is. I've got a K31 as well which is as well-made as any Rolex; being Swiss-made and all, and I've taken that bolt apart to understand how it works like I did the Mosin, and I wholly appreciate the engineering that went into both designs.
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SGT Kevin Hughes
SGT Aaron Atwood - Hey Sarge, sounds like you could have been one of the competitors ! Most of those guys were gun mechanics too. My Uncle trusted his M1 Rifle, and he used to say: "If you aimed right, you hit it. And it ain't hitting you back."
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SGT Aaron Atwood
SGT Kevin Hughes I never fully committed to the likes of gunsmithing although I've thought about it multiple times. I did go after various armorer certifications as a side to being an NRA handgun instructor which I did as a side to babysitting a factory while getting my college degree. Before Connecticut got uber-stupid with its anti-gun laws in 2013 I was making as much as an armorer as I was as an NRA instructor with only a fraction of the time. Came down to a normal case of supply vs demand. NRA instructors were a dime a dozen. If you threw a rock in any particular direction you had a decent chance of hitting one. An armorer on the other hand...
But then Malloy and his Marxists came in full swing after Sandy Hook and my armorer gigs suddenly made me feel more like a shady drug dealer. Basically the way to connect to me was through a guy who knows this other guy who knew this guy one time and so on and so forth.
However, I am less than ten years to retiring from the military so going full on into gunsmithing may very well make for an enjoyable retirement gig. Sell good coffee during the day, maintain boom boom sticks at night. Heh, we'll see.
I definitely enjoy target shooting as much as those guys mentioned. My shooting was so steady and consistent that the last time I shot in the Marines one of the coaches/range personnel openly asked what shooting team was I part of. We were on the ISMT when that question came up. My consistency was such that, strictly by numbers, a machine could not have done a better job.
But then Malloy and his Marxists came in full swing after Sandy Hook and my armorer gigs suddenly made me feel more like a shady drug dealer. Basically the way to connect to me was through a guy who knows this other guy who knew this guy one time and so on and so forth.
However, I am less than ten years to retiring from the military so going full on into gunsmithing may very well make for an enjoyable retirement gig. Sell good coffee during the day, maintain boom boom sticks at night. Heh, we'll see.
I definitely enjoy target shooting as much as those guys mentioned. My shooting was so steady and consistent that the last time I shot in the Marines one of the coaches/range personnel openly asked what shooting team was I part of. We were on the ISMT when that question came up. My consistency was such that, strictly by numbers, a machine could not have done a better job.
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SGT Kevin Hughes
SGT Aaron Atwood - I hope you don't mind I shared one of your sentences with a bunch of my buddies...it was this one: " "Sell good coffee during the day, maintain boom boom sticks at night." I rolled. In fact, I hope you don't mind I am posting that sentence on RallyPoint...you know how many RP folks will think that is the perfect retirement!
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It sounds like you have had some interesting experiences, if this one tells the story.
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SGT Kevin Hughes
Yes, like most of us ...I got to travel and be places where I had no business being. I can't hit the ground with a pistol, and here I am hanging around some of the best shooters in the world.. .just because they needed a driver!
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