There's a first time for everything...

...and yesterday was my very first rifle match... ever!
It was a .22LR precision/tactical rifle match and 16 guys showed up for it - $25 a head.
I showed up with my Savage boltie, decked out with a wee Barska 3-9x32 scope and a bipod. My friend and I got there early and took a few minutes siting our rifles in @ 25, 50, 75 and 100 yards. Once the rest of the guys showed up, my little $120 Savage was looking pretty outmatched by all the custom 10/22s, Anschutz rifles and what-have-you on the rack. It was pretty intimidating. I turned to my friend and said "OK, I guess I just have to beat you" - he had brought a rig not much more decked out than mine - tube fed, no less...
The competition was in 9 stages, several prone at varying ranges - 75 yards, 100, 150 and one at a "mystery range" which some dude measured with his laser rangefinder at about 115 yards. The 4" target at 150 yards was so small I couldn't make out the numbers on them, and had to ask my friend which one was mine...
We then had a stage where you put your rifle in the rangemaster's shed and stepped back about 10 yards. You had 60 seconds to dash in, load 3 rounds into your rifle and aim out the window at a 4" steel plate at 115 yards. First shot was worth 100pts, 2nd was 50 and the third was 25. I nailed it on my third shot, which I think was a complete fluke. That was a damn small target.
Next up was "the jungle", 5 posts setup along a dirt path with clay pigeons set up on them at varying ranges. We had 7 shots to take them down. A hit was not enough - you had to knock them off the posts. I got 4 with 6 and then when I lined up on number 5, my last round jammed in my action. The rangemaster called time as I was frantically trying to get it out...
The last few stages were prone at 25 yards (hit the fuse on the dynamite - a line about 1/4" wide), 50 yards (hit the bad guy behind the hostage - maybe 1X1.5") and then hit a 4" target with 5 rounds off hand.
At the end of the day, I came out in 11th place out of 16 - and I was stoked! I fully expected to come last, given my inexperience and lack of practice with this rifle/scope combo (about an hour at dusk on Wednesday) - my buddy came in at 9th place - he's very good at shooting offhand - that's pretty much the only way he shoots.
I had an excellent time, it was a nice group of guys and I'll definitely do it again - though next time I'll remember to bring a sling to steady myself with the offhand shooting. I'll need a fair bit more practice too I think. I'll probably get a better scope - one that I can at least see my targets with!
Oh yeah, my friend and I were using bulk ammo, too...
Savage .22LR boltie rifle - $120
Barska 3-9x32 scope - $40
Walmart 9-13 inch adjustable bipod - $40

Not coming in last - priceless!

Good times...

On a side note...

...I saw that my Rams got absolutely destroyed by the Eagles, 38-3. I mean, really! That's like a frikken college score! Sigh. Looks like its going to be another tough year for us Rams fans...

Panthers!

We just got back from the Chargers-Panthers game in San Diego, and I'm beat. We got out there by 8am this morning for the tailgating - something I've never done before, and that was a lot of fun, although Number One Son and I took a little ribbing for our Panthers attire.
Good food all around, plenty of beers and great company. Couldn't have asked for more.
The game itself was close - the Chargers defense kept the Panthers offense from scoring anything but field goals for all but the last play. If you didn't catch the game on TV or the highlights, let me just tell you it was a dramatic ending. The Panthers had led most of the game but the Chargers came back in the 4th with a TD that gave them a 5 point lead, with a little over 2 minutes on the clock. The Panthers had 1 time out (as well as the 2 minute warning).
The Panthers drove down the field, pass play after pass play and got inside the Chargers 20 with 6 seconds left. Delhomme (Panthers QB) tossed a pass - it was completed, but not close enough for the score. They frantically called a timeout - 2 seconds left. One more play - pass again, straight down the middle into the end zone for the TD. The entire stadium went silent - except for Number One Son and me, who were screaming our heads off...
I have pictures to upload, but I'll have to do that tomorrow, since, like a bonehead, I left my camera (and a bunch of other stuff) in my buddies car.

First "gun" purchase this year....

Funds have been pretty tight this year since we moved into the new house, so I haven't been going too crazy on the gun front lately - to be honest, I pretty much have all the guns I want for the foreseeable future anyways (gasp!)... with the exception of maybe an M1A, which isn't going to happen anytime soon...
What I did get a few days ago was the first air rifle I've owned since I was a kid - a scoped Gamo Big Cat, something I can legally plink away with in my back yard. Man, I'd forgotten how much fun these things are! Packs enough punch to take out small game too, supposedly, although I haven't tried it out in that regard yet.

Home-brewed bench rest

A buddy of mine at work is an avid shooter - he's quite the rim fire fanatic - and the last time I went shooting with him, he whipped out a bench rest that he'd put together (he's pretty handy with a welder, which is a huge deficiency in my own skill-set).
I liked it so much, I asked him if he would make me one too, and he very kindly did - just charged me for the materials.
So, a couple of weeks and $45 later, I got to take this home:



I still need to buy the padding for the rests, but I think he did a great job putting this together - real clean welds, everything moves as it should, heck even the paint color is nice...

Game On!

Woohoo! NFL season starts tonight! The Giants are currently beating on the Redskins... Can't wait until this Sunday, because I'll be taking Number One Son to San Diego to see his Panthers take on the Chargers. Ahhh, football season!