My father-in-law is a gunsmith and competitive benchrest shooter. I just bought two new handguns and we decided to go to the range to shoot today. His plan was to fire form some brass. My plan was to hit the pistol side of the range and shot my new pistols. As he is 'very-experienced-in-life' it feel it's my duty to lug the guns and gear from the truck to the work bench and shooting bench. Well his brought his current competition gun and his older backup gun. After he let 10 rounds go, he said I should shoot his older gun to see how it shoots for me. First five rounds, 1 long hole, 6 power scope, 10 lb gun, at 100 yds. Even a blind pig right? I repeated this performance five more times. Let me say I do not, nor have I ever, considered my self a 'marksman'. My training is rudimentary Army basic rifle stuff. My first experience reloading was today, and rounds I shot, of course, with the guidance of Vince. I am of the opinion, that the firearm I was using has a HUGE part of this feat. Other benchrest shooters at the range were even impressed. It seems it could not possibly be just a good gun to shoot well, and you hear it all the time. So is this just something I understand naturally, or is it possible a National Champion quality gun in the hands of an idiot can still shoot well?
Don't be so hard on yourself. Even if you had the best benchrest rifle ever made, handed down by Odin himself, you would still have to be the one doing the work. There is no question that a built up benchrest rifle is going to be much more accurate than your average, run of the mill, off the shelf, hunter/sporter model - but sight picture, trigger control, reading the wind and all that "other stuff" went into those groups as well. It sounds like you have a bit of a skill set, either developing, or it has been laying dormant. If I were you, I would book my next range day with your Father in Law for the upcoming long weekend. JD
Thank you everyone for the kind words. I can not wait to shoot his stuff again. He was almost as excited as I was, laughing with the other benchreseters about, "No worries about wind, mirages, or anything else..." Best part for me was making him proud. He's great guy, been sick and recovered, still shoots in competition nearly every weekend.
