The Shot You’ll Never Forget Giveaway - Enter To Win A Barrel From Rifle Barrel Blanks!

It was mid january, cold as hell, and i took this yote, offhand with a shoulder leaning against my house...in my underwear with no socks or shoes... at 238 yards.

Cheapo savage 6.5 with the scope it came with.... box stock hornady 140.

My first off hand kill, and the first time my boys got to see one up close.
Big female.

Shred

Most memorable shot... one I will never forget...? Well, it was many, many moons ago. (20+ years) Head shot, well actually I put one in the left eye... of a fucking stray cat. Here's why I won't forget it... The damn thing didn't die. Oh, I've killed before. I hunted everything from dove, to squirrel, to deer. I've deployed to war 4 times, and taken out our nation's enemies... but a stupid cat... that can take a 40gr .22 to the left eye and run away to hide under my front porch? I tried to get rid of that damn thing for weeks with zero success, finally resorting to using a bullet launcher. (10/22)

POP! Cat runs off to die. (or so I thought) Hrs later I can hear it crying and moaning from under the front porch. I crawled under there from the crawl space... and the flashlight shows the reflection of ONE eye. It hisses at me in defiance. It's WAY back in a corner were I can't get to it... Shit. So... out I go to get the 10/22 again for another shot. One more in the head, and one in the chest for good measure. Silence.

The cat that survived the head shot. That's the one I'll never forget.
I hate cats. Fucker was shitting in my kids' sandbox.

The first time I shot 1,000 yards, I was with some of my dad’s work buddies, totally out of my depth—no data, no idea if my rifle was even sighted in. But with their help walking it out, round by round, I eventually made solid contact, and in that moment, I was completely hooked. Since then, long-range shooting has become a passion, and now I do everything I can to get others behind the rifle, because with a little training and a whole lot of luck, anyone can hit that target.

A few years back my brother, a buddy, and his two sons were shooting on my parent's property in northern IN. I showed up about 30 minutes after they had already started. We had a 6x10 steel target about 400 yds out hanging on a fencepost and I'm not sure anyone had taken a shot at it yet. I pulled out my Armalite AR-10 chambered in 308Win., laid down prone, and cracked a cold-bore shot at that steel plate....DING!!!! I know I know...not a challenging shot but the moment was cool. My buddy said his sons still talk about that day.

Back in '84 I made a 50yd shot at a 'Stompers' replica German tiger tank with a Mini-14. The bullet ricocheted just in front of the tank and tiny fragments tore through the plastic, making a look like battle damage. So cool looking that I've kept the Stomper tank to this day.

Not a gun shot, but my most memorable shot:

As kids myself (7) and two older cousins (9,12) had the idea to throw rocks at a soda can from about 5 yards away, to make it explode, naturally. As the younger kid, I was always the underdog athletically.

So, one of my cousins shook up a coke can and laid it on its side. They each took a shot and missed miserably. Then, it was MY turn.

They were each standing a few feet to my left and right. I picked up a two-hands sized rock and gave it my best toss. The Rock landed right on the middle of the can, spraying two streams of fizzing coke directly on both of their pants. Epic.

I thought they were going to beat me up or something, but they couldn’t help but laugh. This was one of the proudest moments of my life, we still laugh about it to this day.

I was with a buddy shooting .22 LR at some 16 oz pop bottles filled with colored water at various yardages in light winds. I hit one at about 250 yards and drained it about 2/3 of the way but it was still standing. He said, "Impress me.", so I drained it with the next shot. That gun with CCI SV can't shoot THAT good.

Back when I was a young PFC Dumbass I was doing some PT with the 3rd Group Mentorship program and was invited to show up to the 2019 CAPEX at Bragg on range 37. Just show off the young hopefuls and make the program look good while giving us cool things to drool over. 18C's can talk about their explodey shit for far longer than I thought possible, as a Medic I was trying to talk to the 18D and see what he had in his aid bag, but here I am learning about breaching stuff I don't know the first thing about.

Part of this was some toys to shoot. First time I got to touch a big rifle like the 2010, we were given 5 rounds and had a couple silhouttes to shoot at. The silhouettes were only like 200 yards tops so I shot what I was told to shoot at and after hitting both silhouttes in front of me a time or three there was just this moving orange stick out about 250 yards maybe (I could be lying it's been a long time) it was pretty skinny but moved at a nice constant speed.

Having some rounds left I confirmed with the guy behind me I was good to shoot at that and picked a wind hold in whatever scope was mounted on top of this thing. It was moving left to right and bright orange, no wind so it was just getting lucky with the speed, fired my shot and whiffed just a little behind it. No big deal I'll get it with my last round. I had two left when I started so I had another shot. I wait for the target to go back all the way left and start the return trip to the right-hand side, and I'm tracking it all the way. My hold is good, I can feel it. This is the one. I slowly break the trigger; it's a perfect pull, and I follow through nice and smooth just like shooting skeet.

You know that feeling when it's just right? It's a hit and you know it right as you break that trigger? Yessir. She was a beauty.

*click*

The loudest sound in the world.

Fuck. Guess I didn't have two rounds left after all.

That was my first experience with anything bigger than an M4.

Barbour Creek Long Range Hunting School, advanced class, day 2. Leading edge of a nasty storm. Went from a perfectly still morning to 25-35 mph swirling, fishtailing gusts in no time flat. Made a wind call and laid in position for over four minutes waiting for the conditions to replicate. Hit a 10x12" "kill zone" swinger at 1140 yards. Elevation correct, 2" left of dead center. Held 11 feet into the wind.

I've made plenty of longer shots, but that was my best result ever in uber-challenging conditions. All my spotter said was "Betcha can't do it again..."

During the 2017 Thunderbeast/Burris Team challenge I had to stand up for a shot in one of the field stages since a bush was in the ideal position. I had my LMT MWS with 16" barrel with an IOR 2.5-12 (I know, it is LONG gone). I managed to hit the 4" diamond gong at 200 yards standing & unsupported. It only took 3-4 shots but I made the impact! I asked the R.O. mark it as a standing shot, but he never did....

I also managed to lob a 9mm & make impact with a 2/3 IPSC plate at 300 yards and a Staccato. Only took half a magazine, though.

A few years ago I was at my local range, getting data and running a little practice with my kid (12 or so at the time) in preparation for a PRS Rimfire match. While we were hanging our steel on the 300 yard berm my kid found a chicken egg laying behind the target board post. He put it on top of the post, balanced by 2 protruding drywall screws.

We went back to the firing line, did our 50 yard zeroes (.22 LR), data confirmation at 100, 220, and 300, and some various different practice drills. When we were down to about 20 rounds each, he asked if I wanted to try for the egg.

Of course!

The plan was that we would alternate back and forth, and that I would take the first shot (spoiler, I did not hit it on the first shot).
I added about 0.3 right to my wind call for the first shot so the impact would be in clean sand for a good wind call.
His first shot was just off, as was my second.
On his second shot, the egg exploded.

It wasn't my shot, but it's my favorite shot.
12 year old kid, .22 Long Rifle, in real world conditions, connected with an egg at 300 yards.
I'll remember that shot with joy and pride like no other.

When I was a young teenager my dad and I were sitting on a creek bank deer hunting. A huge buck showed up about 60 yards away. My dad let me take the shot with my model 94 30-30 and he went down! My dad then started shooting, I guess so it wouldn’t get back up. He shot both antlers off. It had a nice rack and would have been trophy material otherwise, LOL. RIP dad, I sure do miss being able to hunt with you.

Took a prairie dog at 169y with a Savage MKII 22 LR. First shot, clean in the side of the head with Federal blue box super sonic lead round nose.

Entered the side of the head but did not exit. Shooting prone/bipod off an old grain silo concrete pad over grown with tall grass over looking a cornfield from an elevated position. Perfect hide spot.

It was the first time my sniper partner and I ever competed in the Winston P. Wilson sniper competition that the Army puts on every year.

We’d checked out an M2010 300WM sniper rifle from the armory, zeroed it and flown all the way to Arkansas with it. On the third day of the week long competition our first stage of the cold December morning was to remove our rifle scope, replace it, and take one shot at 100 yards to cold bore re-zero on an ace of spades playing card. Everyone on the line was moaning and groaning…and we were sweating, worried that we were about to lose our zero for the rest of the competition. Luckily, even as new shooters, we were diligent about torquing all of our screws to spec.

So we popped it back on, got behind the gun and BAM…completely missed, and our zero was off the rest of the competition…

Not really, I drilled the ace of spades dead center and completely surprised both myself and my teammate. Our excitement was so over the top you’d have thought we won the Super Bowl. It was a fun time for two new snipers and a great memory with a life long friend. And, I learned a valuable lesson, consistency in everything leads to peace of mind and a higher chance of success.

2023 in October 22th, i was on a wood grouse hunt with my son.
I had my Tikka T3 Varmint Stainless 24" barrel rifle, that was on a KRG Whiskey-3 Gen 6 chassis and spiced with Total Hunter OIC-1 forend.
Scope was Zero Compromise Optic ZC420 on Audere Adversus mount.
I do handload all of my ammo, like everyone who want´s the best for them guns.
So i was on the hunt, and i did spotted a black grouse on top of the pine tree, the distance was on Leica Rangemaster CRF-2400R rangefinder 490-meters, that is about 535-yards.
If you have not seen a black grouse, the leather area on this bird is about 4-5".
I did lay my rifle on a sand embankment, i did dialed to my scope 2.8 MRAD of elevation.
My handloaded 123gr Lapua Scenar leaves the barrel about 2,887 fps.
First round to the chamber, no wind at all, so i did take the bird straight to my ZComp reticle center, few gentle breath, then the lungs empty, light pull of the trigger and PEW!
Bird was looking in both side of it, that wtf was it!
So i took 0.1 MRAD more elevation, i thought that it might go under the bird.
Second Lapua Scenar to the barrel of Tikka.
I did took few relaxed, long breath, and same thing, one big breath, and lungs empty, you have that "action" that you know when to work.
So now it was that time, i did pull the trigger and i did saw that the bird did fall off of the top of the pine tree, YES!!!
I did it, it was and has been my record of taking out the black grouse.
But that was the easy part, then started the finding the bird, this meat on this black grouse is very delicious.
From the shooting place the way to the bird did looked easy, but the terrain was everything else than that.
There was a swamp on the area, like half away on the place, but it was very wide.
Lukily on this time in Finland, we have night frost, but i do weight about 260lbs, add the clothing, gun etc, it is easily 40lbs more.
So me and my son started to go over the swamp, we did add wood stick´s under our steps, it was like insaine mission imbosibble task
One wrong step, and you might be on a swamp, that has not bottom.
But the bird was must to find, i do not hunt, that i do kill the prey, but not get it, and in this situation, it is a food.
Always, always do respect the game!
It has given the life of it to you, same thing to other people, do treat another person as you would like to be treated.
But back to the hunt, after 2 hours looking, we did find the bird, because when looked the place, where to shot was taken, we did not
knew the swamp, and we did get off the place, where we did expected the bird to be.
But the end of the hunt was succes, we did find the bird, it was under the tree i did take the shot.
I did get a second bird at the same trip, this came about 180-meters, about 200-yards.
So this was, and is my best hunting memory.
You may look this picture, that male black grouse is not that big bird
Take the weathers off, the bird is not that big, but the meat is delisious.

At age 12…40 years ago, it was my first deer season to be able to carry a gun and walk/hunt by myself. With a pocket full of candy bars, gum and Band Aids from my Grandma…the hunt was on.

Even though I was a pretty big kid, the right of passage gun for a first season hunter in our hunting party, was a break action single shot .410 shotgun with slugs.

In the middle of a deer drive, I jumped up on a large rock pile, to get a better view. My dad said I could shoot at a coyote or rabbit for practice, if it was in a safe direction. Well, low and behold…a rabbit pops up around about 20-30 yards out. I take one shot…miss. Second shot miss. But when I’m done loading the fresh .410 slug, and snap my wrist upward to close the break action, I slammed the end of the barrel up against a rock…and the rifle sight was broken off.

Sitting there, pondering the ass chewing I was going to get from my dad, for breaking the rifle sight off of the barrel on my first deer drive…I came up with a plan…I would use the gum in my mouth and put it on the end of the barrel and shape it into a triangle. Then I wrapped one of the Band Aids in my pocket around the chewed on piece of gum…and I was back in business, with a brand new front sight on the end of my barrel. By then, the rabbit was gone, as an unwilling target for my attempt to enter the “MacGyver Hall of Fame” with a chewed up piece of gum and a Band Aid, as a front sight. With one quick test shot on a dead tree, a smile was back on my face…

The next deer drive, as I’m walking up to a small thicket, a smaller 6 point buck jumps out about 40 yards out. With a clear shot all around, I put my lead on the small buck and pulled the trigger… Oh my god…I hit him!

My uncle hooks around and walks up to the buck, who is on the ground and barely alive…and he puts a 12 gauge slug, right into it’s head. There goes the tiny 6-point rack of the first buck I ever shot.

At the end of the deer drive everyone congratulates me on my first deer…and then I showed them the piece of chewed up gum, and band aid I have as a front sight…

…Then the laughing and back slapping went into overdrive…

I’ll never forget that day.

Was shooting across a valley at a 300 yard target, hit the target, also shot right through our power line mid flight. Lights were out for a couple hours.

Hitting steel at 647 yard with my bighorn origin 223

alexj-12 said:

We’re giving away a free rifle barrel to one lucky shooter—and all you need to do to enter is share a story.

We know there are a lot of different shooters out there, so the winner has their choice of barrel from https://riflebarrelblanks.com/

How to Enter:
Tell us about the best or most memorable shot you’ve ever taken.
Whether it was a perfect bullseye at 1,000 yards, a successful hunt after hours in the woods, or a lucky shot—we want to hear it! Bonus points if you’ve got a photo or video too

Reminder: Supporters get extra entries!
Everyone has the chance to win, but we want to give back to everyone supporting the Hide. If you’re a Supporter and enter the contest, you’ll get 10 extra entries. If you’d like a better chance of winning, subscribe here!

Contest runs from May 29th through June 13th and we’ll be announcing the winner live. Good luck everyone!

Click to expand...

Did load development on my first ever centerfire rifle (Winchester model 70 Coyote light in 22-250). Loads came out to a 40gr VMAX with 35.1gr of Varget and shot a little under .5 at 100 yards. The farthest my home range goes out to is 250 yards. Was doing some playing around and noticed a small grackle out at the end of my range and tried to hit it just for fun. As a little kid not being able to control recoil, I didn’t see the hit through my scope. I ran down range and found feathers and a foot.

Getting to spend a week with Jeff Cooper during the early years of Ginsite

My most memorable shot:

Late May of 2004, Al Anbar Province Iraq, just southeast of the dam on the Euphrates River near Fallujah. Outside of some village on the outskirts I never learned the name of and wouldn’t be able to spell properly at any rate.

Equipment: M16A4 made by FN, wearing a privately purchased Aimpoint Comp M3 in an A.R.M.S. mount. Like any M16 it had a 20” chrome lined barrel, slinging an unknown lot of M855 green tip. Fun fact this was the only brand spanking new M16 I was ever issued a few months before my unit deployed to Iraq.

We were enjoying a nice day of providing security for an intel team with their interpreters, basking in the sun and enjoying the humidity right near the river during the early part of the day. The locals of course were overjoyed by our presence and stared at us in silence wherever we went. I guess this is how they show hospitality in that area.

After this nice stop to chat with the locals we mounted back up to move on to a new and exciting village, so our intel guys could win some hearts and minds, and our docs could hand out candy and bottled water to kids. Evidently the residents of our next stop had been informed about our imminent arrival, and decided to celebrate with fireworks: setting off a very large firework near the last 7 ton in our little unit and taking some pot shots with poorly aimed RPG’s and AK’s. Fortunately their timing for the roadside firework was off and no Marines were injured.

We can’t say the same for our hosts, who decided to try to un-ass the area by hopping in their little cab over pickup truck. Pretty much everyone in our reinforced platoon and heavy guns section…. thoroughly ventilated them and their truck.

Now that we had much to discuss with the locals we decided to stop and dismount. A fine time to get down off the elevated road and make oneself a smaller target for pot shots coming from the nearest structures in town. Being in the lead 7 ton we were kind of left with not much to do aside from holding what was now our left flank, as the lead gun truck had circled back to provide .50 cal fire to the rear of the element more actively engaged.

Enter my most memorable shot. A white 60 Series Toyota Land Cruiser comes driving down the road towards us maybe 450 to 500 yards away. We had the plenty of time to see it and pass on that a vehicle was coming. We are told to keep an eye on it, most of the time Iraqi’s would take a hint and not drive to the sound of gunfire.

This particular joker didn’t take the hint. So at around 300-250 yards I decide to give him some warning shots in the radiator and my fire team follows suit. I know for a fact we were getting hits because we could hear bullets whacking steel. Not much time to let it sink in because this guy is moving fast enough to really compress our decision making.

Inside of 200 yards I decide to try to engage the driver, I probably couldn’t replicate this shot in 1000 attempts. Vehicle is now slightly quartering negotiating a slight bend in the road, closing at an angle left to right. Sun on the windshield glaring enough I can’t make out a distinct target. Our First Sergeant in the civilian world was an Arkansas State Trooper on a SWAT team, he had made it a point to instruct all of us on techniques for shooting into auto glass. Fun fact ladies and gents when shooting into auto glass aim higher than you normally would because the angled windshield will deflect the bullet down after it penetrates. I actually remembered to tell myself to do this. I fired one round at where I thought the driver would be, trying to lead the truck a bit, and then tried to shoot the front seat passenger if there was one.

After my second shot the vehicle came to an halting stop rolled forward a bit, stopped again, then slowly started backing up. Three individuals then exited and ran directly away from us. The truck rolled backwards off the elevated road and out of sight.

After we got done exchanging further pleasantries and waited for EOD to link up and dispose of some naughty toys we subsequently found, the EOD guys checked out the Land Cruiser once declared safe, we tossed it for anything of intel value (none to be had). I managed to put a round right in the driver’s face. Missed the front seat passenger, who I assume got on the brakes and put the rig in reverse before bailing out. There were two exit holes out of the rear glass maybe 6” apart on n the passenger side; one a nice clean round hole the other an oblong hole. The bullet was tumbling after hitting its mark.

To this day I question my decision to take those shots, but vehicle borne IED’s were a constant threat. Over 20 years have passed and I still contemplate this. Another fun fact, this was my last fight and occurred about 2 days after my enlistment would have otherwise expired.

I did not grow up around hunting or guns really. I knew somewhat about them (like how you pull the trigger and it goes off). I am 48 years old now and have only been shooting for about 2 years. My most memorable shot was when my husband and his buddy took me on my first deer hunt. I was using his buddies AR-10. After waiting and watching a beautiful doe appears and I picked up his buddies AR-10 and aimed right where I had been instructed to aim if I saw a deer. I was so nervous, but knew I had to pull that trigger. When I did....time stopped. They told me I hit her, but I didn't believe them. I got to track her down snd sure enough a little ways off there she was. I couldn't believe I hit my first deer, on my first hunt....dead on. That rifle was first love in my hands and a .308 in an AR platform will always be my favorite because of that day. Pulling that trigger is still something I can remember. Now I am getting into PRS competitions and I am using an AR-10. All because of my most memorable shot.

My most memorable shot had to have been my first nice buck. I was in the stand with my pops and his friend and they’re drinking and holding back their laughs as I’m shaking like a leaf trying to find the deer in the scope. Once I finally find the deer in my pov, he walks behind a doe. I was breathing so hard that i couldn’t even keep the cross hairs on em. Finally, the deer stepped out and I got back on em when he started fighting a younger buck. I knew with how shaky I was I had to wait for em to quit moving or I’d have a better chance of hitting the feeder. Watching them two brawl on the plot was like a movie. After he chased the young buck off the plot, I finally got back on em. I remember circling around him until I got steady enough to be in the kill zone. I held my breath and pulled the trigger. DROPPED HIM in his tracks but scoped the hell out of my eye. After getting the deers blood on my face I’m not sure who came out on top with more blood but most memorable for sure!

I was shooting a local PRS match and was neck and neck with another shooter on my squad. He shot a 8" round plate at around 550 yards and twisted the target to almost 90 degrees. Then it was my turn to shoot. Luckily I had my wind figured pretty solid from the previous stage at 6-9mph. I hit it both times in the COF with the target still twisted. Those extra 2 impacts helped me secure 1st place at the match. Every time I see him I like to remind him of it

First shot at 490 yards with Geissele 12.3 URGI EoTech XPS 3, RC-2 can, 5.56 77 gr. IMI IPSC steel, first shot.
Asked to do again, by spotter, nope not going to happen.
Did do it again though.

Standing off hand shot 4 inch plate 400 yards savage 110 fcp-k in a bell and carlson stock glass bed with american eagle 168 gr . Was a great shot and a great day at the range with family.

Just before the regular whitetail season started I received a notification from one of my game cams on the back of my property. I was in the ER at my local VA with a cellulitis to my foot from a possible thorn I had stepped on. While I waited for the IV antibiotic to finish infusing, I checked my cam and saw a fallow deer had wandered onto my property. We don’t have any high fences in my area that I am aware of. As soon as I left the ER I rushed home and grabbed my trusty Bergara .308 with a vortex viper HST. I had it zeroed to 200 yds. After I hobbled to the back of my property, that fallow was still there and I was about 75 yd out. I had some Hornady 178 gr ELD-X loaded. I pulled the trigger and it literally dropped in its tracks. First time eating fallow, I’d say it’s really close in flavor to axis. Hoping another one wanders this way again.

I have had some good long range shots and good shots on game, but the most memorable shot I hold in my heart happened when I was an 8 year old boy.
A family friend had a 2400 acre farm in Eastern Pennsylvania. He was not of the greatest health, and had asked us to help him clean up some of the cottages on the farm, in exchange for a small piece of property adjacent to it.
We had slept in one of the cottages on our final night there and my father had thrown his back out( bending over to one hand a piece of firewood of all things!)
Now, as a young man I wanted to hunt all the time, and the next morning, with my father limping along, we walked to a nearby hay field where he agreed I could try to shoot a groundhog. I was wearing a blue T-shirt and bright purple sweat pants for some damn reason, and was walking along the middle of the field without a care in the world, an old single shot Winchester .22 in hand. My dad yelled out from the field edge "your never going to get a shot at anything standing out in the open like that"
The words had no sooner left his lips, when a groundhog popped it's head up at nearly 50 yards. It hit the deck and started running as fast as it could. Without a thought I shouldered that little single shot Winchester and it's iron sights and proceeded to shoot this groundhog in the head on a full run.
I got a hug and a pat on the back, and we drove home, with me feeling quite proud of myself.

Luckiest shot was a red wing blackbird on the wing with a $25 Burgo .22 revolver.


Most memorable was the shot that filled a lifelong dream of Hunting Brown Bear on Kodiak Island. Thanks to my Coat Guard Son qualifying as a Alaska resident he was my guide. 193 yards with a semi custom Remington 700 in 35 Whelen wearing a Vortex Razor lht shooting a load I worked up using a 225 grain Barnes over Varget.

My second time on a deer hunt with my pops, grabbed three 7.62x54r’s and pocketed them for the woods. At sunup saw two good size does wandering towards us at about a 45 degree track, and I nudged dad on the other side of the tree since we had one antlerless tag a piece. He managed to lean around the tree just in time to hear me click the bolt into place ( to stop the deer walking ), aim right at the front doe’s heart, and drop her with what I believed was a well placed soft point.

Only it turned out not to be a soft point, and for some reason I noticed the deer behind it had also gone down, although this one was moving around and was obviously suffering. After I ran up to finish her off I saw why the second doe had dropped. What I had grabbed from the top of my ammo box were three silver tipped steel core Mosin rounds and I hadn’t noticed because that was my soft point box. The steel core had snipped the spinal cord of the first doe as intended and continued into the second one after completely ruining a significant amount of meat. Dad thought it was a show off shot and I had nudged him just to make him watch me use his tag as some sort of power move, and I still haven’t told him it was due to my negligence.

If I win the rifle barrel I think I’ll tell him.

alexj-12 said:

We’re giving away a free rifle barrel to one lucky shooter—and all you need to do to enter is share a story.

We know there are a lot of different shooters out there, so the winner has their choice of barrel from https://riflebarrelblanks.com/

How to Enter:
Tell us about the best or most memorable shot you’ve ever taken.
Whether it was a perfect bullseye at 1,000 yards, a successful hunt after hours in the woods, or a lucky shot—we want to hear it! Bonus points if you’ve got a photo or video too

Reminder: Supporters get extra entries!
Everyone has the chance to win, but we want to give back to everyone supporting the Hide. If you’re a Supporter and enter the contest, you’ll get 10 extra entries. If you’d like a better chance of winning, subscribe here!

Contest runs from May 29th through June 13th and we’ll be announcing the winner live. Good luck everyone!

Click to expand...

I’ve owned firearms more than half of my life, but I didn’t REALLY get into then until a few years back. Developed a strong urge to learn to hunt and defend my family during these strange times we are living in, so I went to a gun show in Jacksonville. At this point I was (and still am) recovering from a spinal injury so I didn’t have a lot of money, but I came across a booth that was selling AR build kits. Looked over a few and after consideration, I bought my first AR. I got a stripped lower a couple weeks later, got it assembled with a quickness and went to the range with a friend of mine to test it out. I bought a cheap (but decent) red dot with the kit, and started working on my groupings. Had the paper all the way out, and all of my shots were on target. I decided to really focus in on accuracy, as opposed to just hitting the target, and placed a shot at the lower left corner about 6” from the bottom and 6” from the left of the paper. Then aimed at the exact same spot for the next shot. I hit the exact hole that I was aiming for and it was only a fraction of a millimeter difference, creating an oval from the circle I just made from the previous shot. May not be that great to everyone else, but it was a proud moment for me. I still have the paper at my parents house in Florida but unfortunately, no photo at the moment.

I recently bought a used Remington 700 PSS in .308 to get back into precision shooting. USPS lost the rifle for about two weeks and then UPS lost my case of 175 grain FGMM... We were off to a good start. When I finally received everything, I installed a Nightforce base, Arken 4-16x50, MDT XRS Chassis and bipod, Triggertech Special, gave it a rattle can camo Job, and started hitting the range.

I have access to a 300yd high power range and can squeak out 338 yards max with a target on the back berm so I spent a few days gathering dope at 100, 150, 200, 300, and 338 yards. My goal was to take this rifle out west for long range shooting with a buddy in Montana later in the year so I really wanted to gather dope at 500yds+ but I was having trouble finding a range. A friend suggested signing up for a 600yd F-Class match, and using the match as practice for Montana. Fantastic Idea!

When I arrived at the match and registered I encountered quite a few guys who snickered at my setup, informed me that factory ammo wasn't worth bringing to an F-Class match, and offered to help by giving me all kinds of tips on shooting and dope that was... wildly different than what the Marine Corps had taught me and varied greatly from the dope I had already collected. None of them even asked if I had any experience. I decided to shrug it all off, clear my head, and just do what I'm familiar with. It's been over 15 years since I shot past 338 yards though, so I did start to wonder how well this was going to go.

My relay came up and I noticed a group of 4 guys standing together, watching me. One of them chuckled and made a comment about the old boot sock full of craft beads I intended to use as a rear shooting bag. When I finally lied down behind the rifle, I heard my spotter/scorer say "Ok, I'm on glass. I'll try to look for your impacts in the dirt and walk you in to the target." If I didn't shoot well, this might be a frustrating day...

I chambered my first round, flipped the safety off, started breath control and then heard my scorer again. "Remember, you can shoot as many spotting rounds as you need and we'll get you on target. Let me know when you're ready to shoot for score."

I'm really not sure how this didn't annoy me at the time. I reminded myself that I wasn't here to compete, just to gather dope for Montana. I convinced myself that I had good dope from the shorter ranges and would do my best here at 600yds. "Trust 4DOF and your wind calls and do your friggin part." I thought as I started to press the trigger.

The rifle recoiled. The target backer dropped. "Hmmm... That's a good sign" I thought.

The target backer came back up. I cracked a smile. I heard the reports from other shooters' rifles and then finally, my scorer said louldly "FIRST ROUND... X!"

I wiped the smile off my face, looked back over my shoulder at my scorer, and casually said "I'm ready to shoot for score."
My friend, who I think won the match that day, let out a loud laugh.

That, by far, is my favorite shot I've ever taken.

Impact with my 6BR @ 1,952 yards on an IPSC target at Arena in south GA, shooting from the top of the conex boxes on the UKD range... 33 Mils elevation and 3 Mils windage - the little cartridge that could.

It was 1982. I was 17yo and had just joined the Marine Corps. Well there was about 20-30 people at my friends house. Someone was messing around with a Crossman 760 BB gun. Well some loud mouth came up to me with the BB gun and asked me since I joined the Corps if I could hit a bird atop of this huge tree. Well not one to backdown I said yes. To make this interesting this asshole said we would bet $5. Well I took the BB gun got a real good sight picture squeezed the trigger and the poor bird dropped to the ground DOA. Well everyone got real quiet except the load mouth. So tells me and the rest of the people there that it was beginner’s luck and there was no way that I could repeat that. So he upped the bet to $50 and stated that there was no way I was going to make into the Marines. Well I couldn’t back down so I took the bet. There was a bird a lot higher on the tree and the wind started kicking some. So I did the same approach as I did the 1st time took aim and dropped that poor bird. Well everyone went nuts calling the kid a big mouth amongst other names. Well he gave me the cash, then walked home. Little did he know that my dad was in the Corps and had me shooting since I was 5. Even though it was BB gun those were the best shots I’ve ever made.

BJames said:

The shots I’m most proud of, 2055 yards, standing, tripod, ASR 300 Norma. After a day of shooting at our spot, a buddy wanted me to spot him for that. On the spotter, I saw the wind left to right 4-6, called 1.5 mil’s left. Shot broke, observed the impact needed another .3-.4, called the correction at 1.8 mil’s. He got a favoring right hit on the 36x36 plate, and declared success. I got on the gun, saw the wind pick up a bit, gave a 2 mil correction and sent it. Center punched that bitch. I’m proud of the entire sequence.

Our “range”

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Where is this epic place (roughly)?

xpshooter said:

Took this P.D. years ago with a XP-100 in 243AI, it was my few seconds of fame as it was in the Berger catalog later that year
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Which bullet and load? Cool setup.

jLorenzo said:

Where is this epic place (roughly)?

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Alaska

My hunting partner and myself had been shooting crows, from 100-300 yards with a Remington 700 HB in .223rem we shot several crows that day.
I began to unload my rifle to put it in my truck. Suddenly my partner said wait a minute there is a small bird further than we had been shooting.
I ranged it at 376yards.
I got in position, steadying my breathing, dialed my leupold Vx3 EFR to the correct elevation, There was a light breeze from my left to right. Shooting a nosler BT 55 grain bullet @ 3050fps. Scope on 20power, I held the target dot left approximately 1 1/2 inches. I slowly pressed the trigger, Boom, Center punched the bird. My partner was watching with binoculars. He said "I wouldn't have believed you made that shot if hadn't seen it in person"
I'm glad he was there to witness the longest shot I had made at the time. That was 30 years ago and I remember it as if it happened yesterday!!!

This was a tough contest for me. As a 47 year old avid firearms nut, ive had a literal lifetime of amazing and memorable shots. From sitting outside shooting flies off horse shit at 30-40 yards with my trusty Crossman 66 Powermaster at 6-7 years old up to making first shot impacts at 1000-1200 yards at a PRS match. Not to mention 40+ hunting seasons pushing the boundaries of what my bow could do, knocking down my first whitetail buck at 100 yards with a compound. Or my first squirrel at 200 yards with a .22. What this contest has done was made me remember a full lifetime of absolute bliss sitting outside with a firearm in my hands. The past week or so pondering my “most memorable” shot taken has made me realize my full love for the world of firearm sports and hunting. Thanks Frank and Alex and the rest of the Hide team for the opportunity to bring up a ton of forgotten memories!!

My most memorable shot was splitting a single human hair (1/1000 of an inch) with a single 22LR bullet at 250 yards. I used my Ruger Precision Rimfire with a Shaw Match Grade 20" barrel, 9 oz JARD trigger, a Discovery Optics ED Gen II 5-40x56 scope, bipod and a rear hand sock. SK Long Range Match Ammo. At that distance I could not actually see the human hair, so I drew marker arrows above and below the hair (the marker arrows were 20 mm width), which were 1000 times thicker than the human hair, but it gave me a good enough reference as to where the human hair was taped to a 3x5" note card. The weather cooperated it was clear, sunny and the wind was minimal less than 2 MPH. I waited until I saw all wind flags completely drop straight down. Aimed with my best estimate as to the human hair was on the note card, slowed my breathing, lowered my heart rate, took a breath in, slowly released it until my lungs were empty, felt that first heart beat, pulled the trigger before the next beat. Got confirmation of the split after the range went cold and drove out to the cardboard target holder where the note card was taped. Two witnesses confirmed the shot. All was submitted to Guiness Book of World Records. Still awaiting a response.

I have a .32 cal Pedersoli flintlock I use for squirrel hunting.

Was out one afternoon hunting squirrels and took a shot at one... Missed him. I figure I put it right over him. He ran further up this massive oak tree and I lost sight of him. I slowly circled that tree for 5 minutes and finally saw his tail twitch. I marked the spot mentally and cocked the rifle...

He was WAY up this massive oak. I was pointing that rifle almost straight up... I could see where his tail was, made an educated guess about where his head would be and let fly.

He falls out of the top of that tree and lands about 3 feet in front of me.

I pick him up and take a look... I put that round ball through the roof of his mouth and out the back of his head.

Luck. No way I could do that again.

Mike

A shot in the dark will be the one I remember most

Lives were changed forever. A decision that would live with me forever in both a good and bad way. Probably the biggest accomplishments and hardest failure in a 20 year career that boils down to one single event.

Well here I was going to post my best pistol shot… not just the second best.

And I ran out of time.

Sirhr

It wasn't my shot but one I won't ever forget. My dad was getting older and wanted to take some of his sons (he had 10) out to South Dakota pheasant hunting. So me and two of my brothers with my dad are walking a field when two roosters kick up right from under my dad's feet. This causes him to step back right into a rabbits hole start to fall. During his fall he shoots twice and both birds fall. We have to help him up and he says "what happened I had my eyes closed". Real old school swag moment and one I tell my kids about.

I was at a haley strategic course with another 20 students and we did a competition of who could take the fastest shot from a low ready with a rifle at 280 yards on a steel target while standing. I did the shot at .96 seconds to finish at the top .

My dog woke me up one morning barking at two coyotes in the back field, so I grabbed my rifle and opened up the back door to take my shot.

Noticed they were awfully close to lined up with one another, so I waited for a couple seconds to see if the one behind the first would step forwards before I pulled the trigger. Sure enough, it stepped forwards and the two were perfectly lined up when I took the shot.

First one dropped dead right there, second one took a couple steps before deciding to flop over. My dog was very happy, he’s held a grudge against coyotes ever since he first saw them trying to drag away his deer bone piles.

First photo link there is to the wide angle showing both of them in the same frame, which won’t let me insert it into the post for some reason.

This is a cool thread.

My gun story is about my dad. Dad was a kid in Italy during WWII. They lived near Monte Cassino and his mom died during the Battle of Monte Cassino. She heard the whistle of a bomb and threw dad under a stone bench. He survived but she died when the bomb leveled their house. Dad was raised by multiple people in the town. His formal education was only up to the 5th grade. He saved enough money for a boat ride to Venezuela. He worked there for 3 years and saved enough for another boat ride to NY. There he enlisted in the army and served in Korea. He did well for himself, using the skills he learned in the army to become a sought after operating engineer.

Dad always talked about his M1. He remembers miserably failing his rifle qualifications. Paraphrasing the drill sergeant, "You guinea dumbass--you're closing the wrong eye!" (LOL-I think he did that again in the photo below.) Dad never handled a rifle before enlisting. After getting chewed out (and corrected), he had the top qualifying score in the group and earned a weekend pass. I heard this story every Christmas dinner for decades.

It became a goal of mine to get an M1 in dad's hands again. I got my FFL03 and ordered a M1 Special from the CMP. (Side note--I lived in the people's republic of massachusetts at the time--I took special pleasure in getting the rifle delivered direct to my house). Dad came to visit and I put the rifle in his hands.



He was in his eighties and was getting forgetful. At first, he did not recognize it. Then he put it to his shoulder and gave a big grin. He was so happy. "It's my M1!!!" Then I heard his qualification story again. His stories would be like hitting the play button on the tape recorder. He wouldn't stop until he reached the end. I miss that now. The next day we went to the range. He shot until we were out of ammo.


I think about that weekend every time I go to the range myself. Dad had a stroke a year later and passed soon after that. After everything he has done for others all of his life, it is one of my life highlights to have given him that special moment.

Damn allergies....

Back in the 70'a as a kid I had a friend out to our ranch to do some plinking with the .22's. Had some swallows flying over the fresh cut hay field.
I told him " watch this" and proceeded to do a hip shot on one flying straight at us. It hit the ground right at my feet. Talk about being astounded!!

In my early years of hunting in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan along Lake Superior I found a little piece of heaven that everyone just drove past.

I was hunting during the rifle season and had the smallest caliber weapon I had ever used to date. A Browning BLR in .243 loaded with 100 gr. Nosler Partitions.

Michigan like a lot of the Midwest and Eastern States relied heavily on lever action guns to bring home their deer. Needless to say I had more than a few, a few bolt guns too and even a Remington pump action 35 Whelen.

The snow had been coming down all morning, I usually sat still for the first few hours while rattling the deer sheds I still use to this day. But I hadn’t seen any thing so I got up to still hunt in the falling snow.

After a while I decided to take a rest and have lunch, the snow was still coming down while I eat my lunch and it soon begun to taper off.

What happened next was hard to believe. A deer had crossed the path I was on only 200-250 yards from where I was sitting while having lunch. I thought well it’s a good track it can’t be too far away and went looking for it!

This is fairly mixed timber lands and can be dense with not much more visibility than a 100 yards or in some cases way less.

I slowly moved through the forest glassing up ahead hoping to catch a glimpse of the deer…. I got to a place where a bunch of deadfall was up ahead not more than 50 yards to the back side of it. I thought he’s probably bedding down behind this stuff and let out a grunt with my grunt call….. The buck jumped to his feet and swung his head around looking for the buck and I hit the ground to avoid being seen!!

I grabbed my grunt call again only it had snow in it! I tapped out the snow and called…… Sure enough he came racing in around the deadfall 20 feet from me! He was so close that I didn’t even bother getting my reticle plum. As a matter of fact it was held behind him shoulder in a X when I pulled the trigger!

I jumped to my feet after the shot and got a running shot into him! He caught a round to the head and that made him plow up into the snow! (I didn’t know it at the time, but that shot caught him in the muzzle). He was still on his back legs pushing his mightiest to run away so I shot him two more times behind the shoulder!

Mind you, in Michigan if you shoot a deer and it runs off there’s a chance that another hunter will see it and bring it down and claim it’s theirs! Hence why in the past I usually used a .444Marlin, 45/70, or a 35 Whelen.

It was a high speed adrenaline rush that I’ll never forget! Even though it was the biggest buck I’ve taken, it was one of the most memorable buck I’ve ever hunted in the Timber.