Went to see my 97-yr old uncle yesterday. He's been in hospital with pneumonia and heart problems, was discharged (a bit prematurely I thought) since he seemed so listless there and hardly recovered. Another story altogether when we visited him at home though...in his familiar surroundings it was hard to keep him in bed; the old guy is still so enthusiastic and sharp as a tack.
He recently found out I'd got into shooting, so there was much excited talk about the war etc, and how he accidentally blew a hole in his parents' kitchen wall with an Enfield when he was a cadet in the 1920s lol. Also dragged out his old slightly rusty (and highly illegal, I might add) air rifle which he still occasionally uses to pop off the birds eating his fruit trees (also illegal).
I'd like to see how the cops fare in the media if they arrested a harmless 97-yr old for potshotting a few birds, ha...
Also hunted around for a target-plotting sheet from the last time he shot a rifle (used to be a sharpshooter in the Army). Dated 1992 - before our stupid current laws - he was 80 years old at the time. Strangely enough it was done at my range...and *cough* 500m no less! And with a SMLE, open sights, standing! Damn that's impressive in anyone's language.
He said he couldn't go on any longer as the rifle was getting hard to hold up, lol. That generation was certainly one of a kind
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