This post is a little longer than usual. Its something completely different and I hope you enjoy it. My pride almost kept me from having a great experience. Or more correctly fear of having that pride get bruised. Several months ago I signed up for a long range rifle class (LR-1) at Storm Mountain Training Center in WV. As the time got closer I started wondering at age 62 what sort of fool would I make of myself? My local shooting range only extends out to 200 yards and generally I was content punching holes in paper at 100 yards. Now here I was signed up for a class to shoot out to 800 yards, literally from one hillside to another. I could not back out because I was teamed to shoot with my daughter.
We showed up at the range (along with my daughter’s fiancé and his friend) at nine o-clock Friday morning for the classroom portion of the course. There were a total of 16+ students in attendance. I was packing a 35 pound backpack full of gear, including 120 rounds of ammo, and a 14 pound, scoped rifle. Everyone else was similarly geared-up. The morning session was very informative and almost overwhelming at times as we listened to lectures on the mentality of shooting, the technical and physical aspects, gear choices, ballistics, and much more. It was a no-BS presentation spiced with real world experience and a healthy amount of humor. After lunch we gathered at one of the 100 yard ranges to shoot a cold-bore shot and check the zero on our rifles. I was having problems with my zero even though I had checked it a week before. Danny, one of the instructors, took over my gun and discovered a nut had come off one of the bi-pod legs and was causing the inconsistency. Once we were finished at the 100 yard range we moved on to 200 yards. By the time I got there the instructors had run back to the admin. building and brought me a “loaner” bipod. You can imagine how grateful I was. We worked our way back to the five hundred yard line by the Friday’s end.
Saturday’s shooting was a near repeat of Friday’s except we started shooting at nine o-clock in the morning and moved all the way back to the 800 yard line, one hundred yards at a time. By now we were very grateful for the elevation and windage “Cheat-Sheets” provided by Rod and Danny. These generic sheets allowed us to get on target and then we could dial the scopes in for our individual rifles. By the time we reached 800 yards I wished I was 40 pounds lighter and 20 years younger. The weather was high 80s and humid, winds variable in direction and magnitude. The good news was that I was already beginning to feel more confident with my gear and my skills. My rifle was bought used and it came with a trigger set well under one pound pull, which made it very touchy. I was beginning to learn how to cope with that as well. One of the things that amazed me most was the ability of either instructor to see where your shot hit and immediately give you accurate scope corrections for your rifle. I cannot imagine how many rounds they have both sent down range into targets and under combat conditions. It was an honor to be in the company of men who had been there and done what was required of them.
Sunday we repeated the course with the exception of having a set number of qualifying shots at each range. There were a total of 20 shots for qualifying. Passing was a 70%. I shot an 85% and Gwynne shot a 95%. What can I say, the kid is good! What did I learn besides how to shoot better? I learned a lot about reading wind, how to adjust my scope to correct for errors, proper breathing, and how to “lay down on the gun.” The most important thing I learned was how important your spotter is and how tough that job can be. The spotter calculates wind and elevation and tells you where to set your scope. They make sure that you fed a round into the chamber, adjusted the scope the correct direction and amount, and if you miss give you a quick correction for a rapid follow-up shot. As Rod said, the shooter is just “a monkey on a string.” I also learned there is good and bad gear but it’s never the rifle’s fault when you miss. I was more than pleased with the ability of my rifle. The last shots of the day were at 800 yards in gusting wind conditions and I had 224 inches of elevation and about 68 inches of windage cranked on. I was holding a half “mil” off the left edge of the target and was happy to get one hit and one near miss. Sound like fun and a real challenge? Contact Storm Mountain Training and sign up for a course, you might just see me there. If you do your part you can expect to get more than your monies worth. Thanks again Rod and Danny, thanks a lot!
http://www.stormmountain.com
We showed up at the range (along with my daughter’s fiancé and his friend) at nine o-clock Friday morning for the classroom portion of the course. There were a total of 16+ students in attendance. I was packing a 35 pound backpack full of gear, including 120 rounds of ammo, and a 14 pound, scoped rifle. Everyone else was similarly geared-up. The morning session was very informative and almost overwhelming at times as we listened to lectures on the mentality of shooting, the technical and physical aspects, gear choices, ballistics, and much more. It was a no-BS presentation spiced with real world experience and a healthy amount of humor. After lunch we gathered at one of the 100 yard ranges to shoot a cold-bore shot and check the zero on our rifles. I was having problems with my zero even though I had checked it a week before. Danny, one of the instructors, took over my gun and discovered a nut had come off one of the bi-pod legs and was causing the inconsistency. Once we were finished at the 100 yard range we moved on to 200 yards. By the time I got there the instructors had run back to the admin. building and brought me a “loaner” bipod. You can imagine how grateful I was. We worked our way back to the five hundred yard line by the Friday’s end.
Saturday’s shooting was a near repeat of Friday’s except we started shooting at nine o-clock in the morning and moved all the way back to the 800 yard line, one hundred yards at a time. By now we were very grateful for the elevation and windage “Cheat-Sheets” provided by Rod and Danny. These generic sheets allowed us to get on target and then we could dial the scopes in for our individual rifles. By the time we reached 800 yards I wished I was 40 pounds lighter and 20 years younger. The weather was high 80s and humid, winds variable in direction and magnitude. The good news was that I was already beginning to feel more confident with my gear and my skills. My rifle was bought used and it came with a trigger set well under one pound pull, which made it very touchy. I was beginning to learn how to cope with that as well. One of the things that amazed me most was the ability of either instructor to see where your shot hit and immediately give you accurate scope corrections for your rifle. I cannot imagine how many rounds they have both sent down range into targets and under combat conditions. It was an honor to be in the company of men who had been there and done what was required of them.Sunday we repeated the course with the exception of having a set number of qualifying shots at each range. There were a total of 20 shots for qualifying. Passing was a 70%. I shot an 85% and Gwynne shot a 95%. What can I say, the kid is good! What did I learn besides how to shoot better? I learned a lot about reading wind, how to adjust my scope to correct for errors, proper breathing, and how to “lay down on the gun.” The most important thing I learned was how important your spotter is and how tough that job can be. The spotter calculates wind and elevation and tells you where to set your scope. They make sure that you fed a round into the chamber, adjusted the scope the correct direction and amount, and if you miss give you a quick correction for a rapid follow-up shot. As Rod said, the shooter is just “a monkey on a string.” I also learned there is good and bad gear but it’s never the rifle’s fault when you miss. I was more than pleased with the ability of my rifle. The last shots of the day were at 800 yards in gusting wind conditions and I had 224 inches of elevation and about 68 inches of windage cranked on. I was holding a half “mil” off the left edge of the target and was happy to get one hit and one near miss. Sound like fun and a real challenge? Contact Storm Mountain Training and sign up for a course, you might just see me there. If you do your part you can expect to get more than your monies worth. Thanks again Rod and Danny, thanks a lot!
http://www.stormmountain.com
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3 comments:
Awesome writeup Dave. I remember you telling me about this trip and the pictures and story bring it to life. Looks like some beautiful country up there and hitting a target at 800 yards is no joke. Thanks for sharing.
Dave,
Sounds like a ton of fun. Your story makes me wish I was thirty years younger and still had the eyes for it.
Go down there and do it again once for me.:))
Gary B
Thanks gary. Twist my arm and I may go do it all over, just for you bud.
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