Competitive Shooting

[Andrew Derhammer]

Seems like in the hobby thread that there's a good amount of shooters.
Name the discipline, equipment, experience, etc.

I'm starting out with bullseye shooting.
Grandfather was a Master Class shooter, my dad also getting back in after 18 years(Sister and I put an end to shooting for some time)(not sure of his highest class)

Shooting 1st match for score tomorrow at pistol league.
Youngest in our league at 15
Shooting a 1954 Ruger Mark1, Custom barrel (all my grandfather told me not sure of the smith)
Just got grips done for it.

[Roger Ronas]

Nice looking pistol.

Never shot competition but back in late 80's early 90's I owned a benchrest rifle.
It was a Savage 110 single shot receiver, 22-250 caliper with military match brass. Had a thumbhole stock, 18" stainless bull barrel, timken trigger set a 2 oz pull. You'd have to sandpaper your fingertip to feel the trigger pull. It had a Lymen scope that was converted to 30x.
I could put 10 rounds in a single hole at 100yds off a rest.
Did all my own reloading as well.
Gunsmith was a friend of mine locally, he is still in the business from what I understand, haven't talked to him in 10 years or so.
Also owned several other firearms. A Mark I or II Red Hawk with a 6" bull barrel, Ruger Model 77 in a Winchester 300 Mag. with a Leupold scope 3x9, and a Virginia Dragoon Single action 44 Mag with a 14" barrel and a 2x leupold scope, and last a Remington 1100 in a 12Ga.

Thanks for the memories,
Roger

Seems like in the hobby thread that there's a good amount of shooters.
Name the discipline, equipment, experience, etc.

I'm starting out with bullseye shooting.
Grandfather was a Master Class shooter, my dad also getting back in after 18 years(Sister and I put an end to shooting for some time)(not sure of his highest class)

Shooting 1st match for score tomorrow at pistol league.
Youngest in our league at 15
Shooting a 1954 Ruger Mark1, Custom barrel (all my grandfather told me not sure of the smith)
Just got grips done for it.

[David G Baker]

My neighbor was a major champion skeet shooter. Don't know much about the type of awards he has won. He is getting up there in years and has diabetes problems but the last time I talked to him he is still shooting in the high 80's out of 100.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Andrew,

I have shot pistol silhouette competition with a Ruger Mark II. I shot benchrest competition with a Ruger Model 77 6mm until the real benchrest shooters went to a Russian PPK cartridge. At that point my shooting a heavier bullet on windy days no longer existed and I couldn't compete with $3,000-$4,000 guns and I hung it up.

I also called an Idaho State Championship Pistol Silhoette match and scored 2 Idaho State Benchrest Rifle matches. I was nearly blind by the end of the 2 day benchrest events where I was the only scorer!

[Al Willits]

Shot trap back in the 60's and 70's then went to Bullseye and shot that with a series 70 Gold cup and Model 41 for many years.

I turned the 41 into a prarire dog gun with the addition of a pro point 5 and still shoot the .45 every so often, added a S&W 686 to deer hunt with and then sold that to buy a 625 in .45 acp to shoot USPSA with, add a series 80 gold cup to shoot the open class with and pins and plates, then a SVI in .38 super for more open and pins and plates and the occasional bowling pin match, then a LAR grizzly in .45 winmag, and colt revolver in .45 long colt. sold them two eventualy and added a Model 700 Reminton vs in .223, and ...

Aw heck I have a couple of guns I like to shoot, also my father passed away and left me a bunch of pistols and rifles also.

I have a couple of Dillon 650 loaders and a few single stage presses I do most of my loading with, other than personal defense rounds I pretty much load whatever I shoot.

I now still shoot USPSA, Steel, pins and plates and bowling pins when ever I can, took last year off to tournament fish a bit but the wife and I will start up again in spring.

Did a bit of parire doggin' but its getting harder to find people to drive for 8-10 hours to shoot them...

Al....who does like to pull the trigger a little..

[David DeCristoforo]

I used to shoot craps a lot when I lived in Nevada. And I have also spent a lot of time "shooting the bull". Some friends and I used to shoot beer cans full of sand out of an iron pipe with M80s for powder. I have another friend who shoots projectiles out of a cannon made from a Chevy driveshaft and powered by acetylene. When I was a kid, another kid in the neighborhood disintegrated a pigeon with a black powder "blunderbuss". Does any of that count?

[Bonnie Campbell]

When in Oregon I shot some IPSC regularly at our small club using a factory Springfield 1911 45 ACP. It end up a 'family thing'. Our daughter started shooting her 45 ACP when she was 10 and even brought home some awards of her own.

[David Drickhamer]

Wow. It's good to see so many shooters out there.

I started competitive shooting back in the late 60 - early 70's for the 9th Coast Guard District. That was only rimfire.

Years later while in the Army National Guard I shot pistol for the state of Wisconsin. Both bullseye and combat. I shot a custom 1911 and a S&W M-46 for bullseye and a rack (non-modified) gun in combat.

After leaving of the military I continued to shoot bullseye with my own 1911 I built myself and another M-46 and a Beretta M-76. I now just shoot for fun and only at local matchs. For years I enjoyed shooting IHMSA Silhouette using several Thompson Contenders and a Remington XP-100 and became a AAA shooters in each event. I also liked shooting bowling pins with my daughter. My best time in big bore is 2.3 seconds. Her best time at 12 years old was 4.1 seconds.

I do shoot some shotgun, trap, skeet and sporting clays.

Most of my shooting this last year was teaching my grand daughter the sport. She loves it. Pistol, rifle and shotgun

Shooting is a great sport that I hope we'll be able to continue to enjoy for a long time.

[Lee DeRaud]

I've done enough steel plate matches with my Glocks to know that there is a big difference between "shooting in competition" and "shooting competitively".

[Jim Sears]

I shot IHMSA for many years. It's been a lot of years since I've done it though. I couldn't keep pace with the high dollar guns. Classes have probably changed by now, but when I was shooting, I shot several classes. In Big Bore, I shot in the unlimited class with a modified Remington XP in 7mm International, and a Dan Wesson .357 Super Mag in the Revoler and production classes. In the small bore, I shot a High Standard Victor that I made a barrel for, in the unlimited class and a Dan Wesson Silhouette model in the Production and Revoler classes. I don't think I could ever get back into it. My eyes are not what they used to be. But it's a great game. "BANG....CLANG"..

Now I just punch holes in paper. When I was with the Sheriff's Office, I was one of the sniper's. When I retired, I bought the rifle. A Remington 700 SPS in .308 cal. It's a tack driver. Only used Federal Gold Medal Match ammo w/168 gr BTHP. I'll Chronograph this and reload my own when I run out of the factory stuff. I also have a customized Rem 700 in .22-250. It has a 26" stainless, fluted barrel, and is a groundhog killing machine. The other rifle that sees a lot of action is my son's Rem 700 SPS in .223. All the rfles are topped with Leopold scopes of various powers. Oh to have a Night Force

As for handguns, I've got a little bit of everything. I don't do much of that anymore. I get tired of picking up brass. But when I shoot them, I like the .40's and .45's best. I reload all of my handgun stuff with a Dillon 650. The rifle fodder is loaded one at a time with lots of care using a Forester co-axial press. And people thought woodworking is an expensive hobby.

[Rod Sheridan]

I made a potato canon once........Rod.

[Jerry Bruette]

I shot IHMSA and NRA silhouette for a while with a S&W 686 then switched to a Contender in 357 Mag., all open sights. Haven't shot much silhouette lately though closest club that shoots it is over an hour drive.

I like to tinker with load development for my 6.5 Swedes. I have three of them, one Rem. 700, the oter two are ones that I sporterized myself. Hinged floor plates, turned barrels, peep sights, that sort of stuff.

Finding a place to shoot for me is no problem, I have a 100 yd. range at my cabin, and use it at every chance.

Your right Jim shooting and reloading can be costly, but it sure is satisfying to know that the game I've harvested was done with something I've built and reloaded myself.

Andrew, good luck at your match and keep'em in the X ring

Jerry

[Al Willits]

I used to shoot craps a lot when I lived in Nevada. And I have also spent a lot of time "shooting the bull". Some friends and I used to shoot beer cans full of sand out of an iron pipe with M80s for powder. I have another friend who shoots projectiles out of a cannon made from a Chevy driveshaft and powered by acetylene. When I was a kid, another kid in the neighborhood disintegrated a pigeon with a black powder "blunderbuss". Does any of that count?

Definitely counts in the fun factor dept....

Al

[John Downey]

I don't shoot competitively, its about 100 miles to the nearest range! The local gravel pit is more my style. I really like .22's, and I'm very slowly buying a really nice 1970's vintage S&W 41, trying to keep it off the credit card (them things are awfully dangerous in a gun store!).

One of my next projects (that means within a few years ) is to make a new stock for the Mauser my dad built in gunsmiths school in the 1950's. I've got two claro blanks waiting and found a reprint of Al Linden's book.

[Karl Brogger]

I built a Volquartsen 10/22, and bought a S&W Model 41, with the intention of getting into something competitive.

The rifle has a mickey mouse scope on it, I need to remedy that but the Luepold scope I'm looking at will push the rifle over $2k. Toys are expensive!