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

[memilanuk]

A while back (2008) I went to my second FCNC match, in Lodi WI. Back then, FCNC was 600 & 1000yds, but Lodi had a firing line back @ 1200yds, so they had an extra 'side' match for those who wanted to (pretty much everyone). Keep in mind... this was back in the days of 155gn bullets @ 3000 fps for F/TR, the old NF 12-42x BR scopes, Harris bipods / squeeze bags and the hey-day of Savage target rifles.

I'd done some last minute fiddling with my scope zero before leaving home in central WA, with a mind towards the extra elevation I'd need for 1200 yds (best guess 41-42 moa). Whatever calculations I'd done, didn't translate to how I zeroed the scope. When my relay laid down to shoot @ 1200, I turned the knob from ~30 moa... and my stomach dropped when it stopped suddenly at about 37. Crap, crap CRAP. I looked down range, and there were these big honkin' number boards in the impact area behind the targets. Lots of holes and other stuff in them. I did some quick mental math... from the center of the target to the edge of the frame... about 3-ish moa... looks like about the same amount from there to the bottom of the number boards... then about that amount combined from the bottom of the number board to the middle of the big number '21' (10 ft tall number boards). So I put the gun back to my 1k zero, aimed in the middle of the number board, and asked my scorer to watch for impact - I honestly wasn't sure where I was going to hit - and sent it.

Target promptly went down, and came back up marked a '10'. Hot damn. I had 'unlimited' sighters, so I poked a few more down there, 10, X, 9, 10... and realized that by aiming at the number board, I never actually lost my aiming point like when usual when the target was pulled and marked. I could literally see the target coming up, shift my aim point, and send it before it got all the way up - shortcutting the time loop a fair bit (took something like 3 seconds for the shot to get to the target). I looked at my scorer, told him I was going for record, and to try to keep up

I proceeded to just send the rounds as fast as the target puller could keep up. 10, X, 8, 10, 9, 6 (whoops, missed the wind shift), 10, X, 9, 10... then the target went down, and stayed down. And stayed down. In my head, I'm cursing a blue streak. I'm *sure* that my brilliant tactic just backfired, and I missed a wind shift - and the target. Then, finally... the target comes back up - another 10. Suspiciously close to the last one. Huh. I counted my blessings, and proceeded to rip out the rest of the string (15 for record). I was definitely the first one done, by quite a margin, courtesy of the 'belt-fed Savage'

After our relays were done, we got ready to go down and take our turn pulling and marking targets for the other groups. Lodi had this old school bus they used to haul the shooters back and forth. The other group got off, we got on, and were waiting to head out, when someone comes back on the bus and calls out "Who was on target 21, relay #2?" Uh-oh. I figured someone wasn't happy about me running their a$$ off shooting that fast, but oh well.

Instead... the guy hands me a perfect cherry-condition spotter disk... with a bullet hole right through the dead center where the spindle should be. Turns out that was what the delay on that one shot was - I literally punched the shot right through the spindle that was in the bullet hole from the previous shot. Which, as it turns out, is pretty rough on the target face and it took them a bit to patch/repair and get it back up in the air.

I still have the award plaque for '1st Place FTR @ 1200yds' somewhere in the shop - and much more valuable to me, that perfect spotter with one .30 cal hole punched right through the spot for the spindle. One of those shots I couldn't do it again on a bet... but I did it *once*, with witnesses

 

[Hotcoffee4all]

I have been chasing accurate DOPE since I began my PRS journey in February of this year. Finally at a match at Alabama Precision I found it. I RO'd the match and was a allowed a train-up day for free. I was shooting the remaining factory 144 Berger LRHT's I had left. I was able to get a pro to spot me on the 1000+ yard IPSC targets range. Got it centered up and MV calculated. Walked it back and out again. Perfection!
I go to finish off the rounds at the Alpha range at a prone platform position and shoot a diamond plate rack at 630 yards I believe. I joined another shooter that was already down on the platform to my right. He was an assuming guy. Real gent. We had talked with a vendor rep a few minutes before where I got to sound like an expert because she wanted to know out match process at stages. I get down on the platform. I peeled off a few shots on the largest target. Dead center! He took a couple too. He complimented my shooting. I got cocky and started to knock em' dead center of the smallest diamond on the rack. Maybe 3 inches. I can't be sure but it was tiny! Feeling it! I went in how great my ammo was, and how it defeats the wind, and so on and so on.
I decide to ping another shot on the smallest target and bam! Perfect again! I turn to my right and introduce myself to the young man like I was the senior guy. Mind you, I just got DOPE for the first time, never placed at a match and frankly still am a bonafide rookie! He kindly says his name was Ben. It clicked in my head at that moment that I was at a national 2-day match and this guy more than likely was a pro. Within a second or two, it hit me!
I had been "big-timing" Ben Gosset! It was a mix of surprise, embarrassment and humility all in one moment. He did not get offended and could not have been a cooler dude about it. That's the shot I remember...The one where I thought I was baddest,. most best out-shootenest hombre on the range! While popping off to a PRS, AG Cup, world champion!
The 630 yard, smallest diamond shot lesson on don't judge a book by it's cover...especially when you haven't written your first chapter on your own!

 

[vaguru]

While woodchuck hunting with 3 other guys one day this happened. One of the guys used a Ruger M77 in .220 Swift, another a .257 Weatherby, the third a Remington 40X in 6mm, all scoped rifles. I had brought my S&W Model 53 in .22 Jet, a revolver with standard iron sights. As we were going from field to field they took turns shooting at woodchucks from anywhere between 100-300+ yds. They were having trouble connecting with their shots, none connecting 100%, especially the owner of the 40X. I wasn't allowed to shoot anything over 50 yds, and we just didn't see any that close.

Driving to a place to check rifle zeros, I spotted one standing up on a rise in a field about what I guessed was 600 yds away. Driver stopped the car and 3 of us jumped out of the car. I ran across the road and laid down prone in the cut hay field and held the front sight high in the rear notch and fired. The woodchuck fell over! I walked out to pick him up and held him for the others to see. It was definitely close to 600 yds determined by my walk out and back.

Upon returning to the car, no one said a thing. We drove back to the house for lunch and the others decided it was too hot to hunt the afternoon.

The next day at the local gun shop news about my shot had beat me there. I was greeted with a new nickname, "Elmer Keith"!

 

[rm76]

This may not be impressive to most on here, but for my first long range (actually more like mid range) kill was taken with a newly built 6.5x284 using a 140 Berger. Took a large doe at 343 yards that was slowly feeding towards me. Placed the shot right on the X, a cross between eyes and ear base.

 

[Wonko_The_Sane]

It's not the most remarkable shot in the standard sense. It was only into a dirt pile about 20 yards away. But what made it such a monumental moment for me, was that it was the very first shot from a rifle I had designed from the ground up, and built fully by myself. It didn't blow up. About 150 shots later, it still hasn't blown up. I'm quite happy with the not blowing up part.

 

[acpchuck]

20+ years ago I bought a used Ruger VT M77 in 223 that had a 6-18x Burris scope. Wasn't reloading for that caliber yet so bought some white box Winchester 223 with a 40 grain bullet. Sighting it at the range with my oldest son and was impressed by how well it was shooting. Son had setup some 20 oz bottles at 100 yards. Told him I was going to shoot the lid off a bottle. Shot, the lid was gone and the bottle was laying with the opening facing me. Told him I was going to put a bullet through the opening and out the bottom. Shot and the bottle moved. We went down range and sure enough there was an exit hole in the bottom of the bottle.

With help from my 3 sons, we have put about 5k rounds through that gun, primarily shooting P-dog. Barrel is about shot out now and needs replaced so winning a new barrel would be terrific.

 

[LuvDog]

I bought a bunch of these battleship targets to shoot with my son

The last time we went to the range together, He had his CZ457 and I took my Vudoo. I grabbed some SK ammo.
I had never shot SK from my Vudoo before, but I didn't feel like using up my Lapua, and his CZ shoots everything.

That day my son out shot me... not only on the battle ship targets, but also on the KYL rack that I brought with us too.

That was the first time he ever beat me shooting. While, it was humbling, it was also a very proud day for me.

 

[Maggot]

My neighbor's pit bull went nuts and mauled his wife. He's a felon and cant have guns so he asked me to put the dog down. 45 ACP base of skull, it never quivered. Made me a bit sad when he just threw it into a ditch.

 

[Marine52]

F-Class (FTR) match, 1000 yd LR Regional Championships at Oak Ridge. 308 with SEB Joypod and SEB Bigfoot heavy rear bag with jewell trigger @ 4 oz. Six shots into match. I lay a round onto ramp of chamber, make wind call, close the bolt and finger brushes trigger. BANG! Waiting for my scorer to call MISS, seven on. He calls 10, seven on.

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

Shooting at the IHMSA South Central Regional Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. 2009

Competing with Mr. Philip Braud, my mentor and perhaps one of the best handgun shots who has ever lived. Second man to ever shoot a clean score with a handgun, loosing that race to become the first by 12 hours. Philip had shot a clean score in the 60 round match. I was there by myself when Philip came over to spot for me. (Spotting and coaching is legal in IHMSA). I was about to shoot the turkeys, tall narrow targets that are notorious for figuratively “ducking”

I was shooting my XP100 in 7TCU. The Money Gun. With Philip’s help, I was easily clean through the turkeys. Then the first bank of rams, five shots, five rams down. Then the second bank of five. First two rams down

As I was lining up for the 53 or 60 targets, I accidentally touch that 2oz trigger and the handgun went bang! I just knew my perfect day was no more. BUT, THE SHOT HIT THE BACK LEG OF THE RAM AND KNOCKED IT OFF THE STAND!

From that point on, the next 7 more rams including that always difficult last ram, all came down. A perfect score and I tied my mentor, 60 shots, 60 targets down. Thanks to that LUCKY shot.

 

[Bullfrog08]

Not my shot, but I once saw a guy shoot prone from a roof. He was shooting at one of those orange crush thingy-mo-bobbers, but missed his target by inches. I've never seen a shot miss its intended target like it did. Craziest shot I have even seen. Video below.....

 

[Pharmseller]

This will sound like bullshit but I’m an Eagle Scout and scouts honor this is 100% true. Multiple witnesses as well.

I had my sniper rifle and was watching the right side of the valley. One of my guys was 300m away on the left side of the valley. There was a silly terrorist running at him with an AK and my boys weapon was out of commission and I heard him scream for help on the comms. I pivoted swinging the rifle right to left. I only had one chance to save his life. Only the combatants head and neck was visible because of a wall and he was running from my left to right and I didn’t think I had a prayer but I led the target and sent it. I barely had time to put the reticle where I hoped it needed be and squeezed the trigger. Head shot dropped the combatant. I was shocked I made the shot. My boy still talks about me saving his life. I got a lot of compliments on the shot and it got me some recognition but what they all don’t know is I was just a dumb lucky mother. Well, my boy was the dumb lucky mother because he didn’t die

He was always wandering off by himself trying to be a hero. Young and dumb.

Please don’t ask me where this took place. I don’t want to have to say

I have a really good story about a snap shot on a 5x5 bull in Idaho but I’m not gonna tell it because I can’t compete with this story.





P

 

[Baron23]

This is actually at 437 yards...not 400 as said in the picture. Range is in meters so group size in MOA is even smaller. I was shooting 5 shot groups but after three I chickened out! haha

 

[turbobrick]

My Uncle Fred is a consummate hunter and outdoorsman, and when I was young he proudly showed me his custom hunting rifle, telling me someday it would be mine. It’s a 700 in 300wm that was custom built in the early 90s, heavier 24” barrel, unusual fiberglass stock, Sako extractor, trigger work, etc.

Earlier this year, he gave it to me while he was still alive to be sure I got it and not some other family member. It needed some work, so a good friend who is a gunsmith threaded the barrel, new scope base, new scope, cerakote, new Timney, pillar bed, and converted to a hinged floor plate with laser engraving of a design important to our family.

While he was doing that, I got busy reloading, hoping I could pull a tag and harvest something with it this summer/fall before he passed. Unfortunately, He took a turn for the worst, and the doctors gave him a few days to live. I shot a couple ladders with a couple projectiles, decided on a load, and went back to the range.

I’m no expert marksman or reloader, but I somehow pulled it all together with serious dust in my eyes. Five shots at 100 with 182gn Hammer Hunter tipped at 3000fps.

My mom was able to show him pictures of the restored rifle and my groups. He is still hanging on, hopefully now at least until November since I got a great mule deer tag, but if he doesn’t, at least he got to see this.

 

[elwarpo]

We were on the range back in the late 80s, I was a smalls arms coach in the Canadian Infantry. We were using FALs (C1a1) back then and converting to the C7 (M16). We had both rifles on the range that day. There was this asshat Captain that was explaining how great the new rifle was and how the C1a1s sucked... So I said prove it. He went up and taped a quarter to the bullseye at 100 meters. He then went on to fire a full mag and miss the quarter. I grabbed my C1 and fired one shot and hit the quarter. Since most C1s were minute of barn accurate, it wasmoreluck than skill. The look on his face was priceless, not only was his new super rifle beaten, but a lowly corporal beat him. I still have that quarter somewhere.

 

[Taylorbok]

Whitetail Buck- 1153 yards

I didn't think I was going to get out whitetail hunting this year and it was our last day of the season. Decided to make a last minute trip out and take my son out for the first time. The plan was to shoot a doe for population control and buddy wanted meat. My freezers are full due to buying half a cow this spring and harvesting a moose a couple weeks ago.

It was cold, -28*C (-18*f). I normally have a hay bail blind I put a heater in but I never put it out since I didn't think I was going for whitetail this season. With the cold we had intended to sit in the truck while we waited for something to show up.

Pulled up to my spot and with in 5 minutes this guy stepped out of the bush on the next quarter, After a quick phone call to that land owner for permission. I got out and ranged 1054 meters (1153 Yards) using my Sig 10K bino's. I still wanted to shoot a doe and let the bucks go a year but the desire to check off the list "animal over 1000" won out. My farthest was a deer at 620 ish. I do shoot a ton of steel out to 2k with this rifle.

The Bino's came up with a solution of 9.8 Mils Elevation. There was very little wind I estimated about 3-4mph which gave me 1mil of wind hold. I spun the truck around and got prone in the box, first shot hit him a bit far back so I halved my wind call and dropped the second shot in the meat locker. He didn't go more than 10 yards from the first shot and went straight down after the second.

The boy was excited and very happy to be included.
If anyone is concerned I did have orange on him to be legal. It was my old sweater so it was a dress on him and he was upset about it and wanted it off. He was only out of the truck for the 30 seconds to take this picture, I thought we were safe. I'll have to keep an eye out for stuff that fits him for next year.

Rifle is a Tikka action in a MDT HNT 26 Chassis. 26" Fluted barrel with a Terminator brake.
Chambered in 284 Win-imp, Shooting 184gr Berger Hybrid at 2850 fps. Lapua brass. N560.
Optic is an Ares BTR Gen 2, 4.5-27x in a set of Talley Modern Sporting Rings.
Ckye-pod Lightweight single pull.

I'm fairly happy and excited to be able to check that one off the list. Maybe next year if I have more time I'll put my blind out and see how close we can get them.

Thanks for reading

 

[wesson357]

Thanks for the giveaway!!
Mine is my best groups to date shot at 656y
5x 5shots groups around 0.5 moa from my 6BR.

 

[Baron23]

It was my old sweater so it was a dress on him and he was upset about it and wanted it off.

Well hell yeah, Taylor. What did you expect....he's a real man, just a tad young! haha

I always give "love" like to posts with fathers taking their kids out shooting or hunting.

But -18 f....fuck that. You have to be born to it, I think! haha

And nice buck...bit hard to tell with his head turned but he looks thick thru the neck. Four year old, maybe????

Cheers

 

[Ankeny]

Episode One of three that come to mind.

I was elk hunting during late cow season in the fall of 1973 with a high school buddy. We were driving up a little two track road along North Fork Creek, in Snowy Range west of Laramie Wyoming, at first light in my dad's 1969 Bronco. There is a series of beautiful grass meadows along the stream. I remember telling Ernie (my hunting partner) that it would be nice if we could catch a herd of elk out in one of the meadows. You guessed it, we spotted a herd of about 50 elk, most were feeding but some were bedded down. We did a short sneak and got about 150 yards from the elk. The plan was for me to get first whack, then Ernie would fling some lead.

I got a good solid rest over a downed tree, and gently squeezed the trigger on my Remington 721 30-06 as I peered through my old Weaver K4 scope. The rifle shot shattered the quietness of the brisk morning air, followed by a thunderous thump as splinters flew in every direction from a tree stump about three yards in front of me. The entire herd hauled ass in the opposite direction, which is really strange because they typically would exhibit enough confusion for me to get another shot.

Meanwhile Ernie is poised to launch a round offhand at the running elk from his old Montgomery Wards Western Field rifle as the elk ran into the timber on the far side of the meadow hundreds of yards away. He (Ernie) proudly announced, "I got the bitch". I recall replying something to the effect of, "Bullshit, the lens caps are still on your fucking scope". We then trudged across the meadow and there laid a portly dry cow elk, with a bullet hole right behind the ear.

 

[Ankeny]

Episode two:

Back in the day, I used to hunt prime winter time jack rabbits at night to sell to a local mink farm in Laramie, Wyoming. They fed the carcasses to the mink, and sold the hides to an outfit that made fluffy rabbit mittens, ear warmers, etc. I would spend the proceeds on fuel and ammo. The guy I used to shoot competition with told me he had a couple of boxes of old .410 shotgun shells he wanted to shoot up, but he didn't have a .410 shotgun. I told him he could borrow my father's old bolt action single shot (Winchester 41).

We headed down a county road that went by the Monolith Cement Plant towards Boulder Ridge. I was driving along about 20 mph when a jackrabbit decided it wanted to race. The rabbit was loping along parallel to us, lit up nicely by the fringe of my head lights. Horace (my friend) rolled down the window and told me to pull over and get the spot light on the rabbit. I asked him, "Why you have a shotgun don't you"? He replied, "It's not legal to shoot from the road", as he let it rip. The jack rabbit rolled along in a cloud of fur. We stopped and turned around to get the rabbit. That's when Horace said, "Check these out." He handed me the box of .410 shot shells. He was shooting slugs.

 

[ArmedGinger]

So I shot someone's dog by curving my bullet around the entire planet. Let me explain.

Some friends and I were doing some precision shooting in an old gravel pit. All of a sudden this guy comes flying into the gravel pit ranting and raving and screaming that we were making too much noise and that he's called the cops on us because we shot his dog. So the police show up to question us and I ask the guy where he was when his dog was shot. He says he was at home. I ask for the address. I pull his address up on Google Earth on my cellphone and realize that his home is 3km (1.87 miles) BEHIND us from where we were shooting from. We were shooting in the opposite direction.

First off he says we were shooting towards him and "those snipers make those kinds of shots all the time" (to point out that this was long before that max record was even 2/3 that distance).

I pointed this out to the police since our gear was still set up and showed the officers where are gongs were. The guy then tried saying it was a ricochet off our gong. Our gongs were pointed down to deflect everything downwards and a .308 bullet isn't going to ricochet off the gong then off a rock and fly that distance to kill his dog.

The officers listened and then asked if they could look at the guy's dead dog to make sure it was shot. The guy started stuttering and said something about "already burying it" and "not wanting to dig it back up".

Officers wished us a nice day and left.

 

[rolin808]

Long ago when I was learning how to shoot from my uncle, he threw a snail on the back of my neck. I totally missed my shot and he had a huge laugh. Now I have a great memory of him now that he gone to met with our maker.

 

[ggmanning]

It was 1974 I was 6, my buddy was 7. He just got his first .22 rimfire, a Browning SA22. I was a few months from getting a Remington 552 Speedmaster for Christmas and understandably very jealous as I was still rocking a Daisy Powerline BB gun on our daily hunting walks. We were tired from covering the back cow pasture edges and sat down on a hill to rest. I took a shot at a crow flying by and it fell dead out of the sky like the it was struck by lightning. On inspection I had hit it in the head. Don't think I will ever top that one. Still have that 552 and had I got it sooner I would have never made the shot because we were at least safe enough not to wing shoot with any rifle more than BB gun.