When I lived in Nevada I did a lot of handgun shooting, mostly with the 357 Mag. at first then the .44 Mag. My hunting partner and I would shoot jackrabbits all year round with our handguns, trying for head shots only on the ones that would stand still. We got so a running jack, even as far out as 100 or so yards was in serious trouble. One night as we were spotlighting jacks, we caught one in the headlights standing broadside, his eye glowing like a diamond. I told my buddy I was gonna hit him right i the eye. My buddy say $20 says you don't. I squeezed the sho of and the rabbit did the classic flip flopping of a head shot jack so we went over and sure and God made little green apples, my bullet had hit that rabbit right in the eye. Pure luck? You tell me.
A few years back my bud and I were invited to do an elk hunt in Washington state that would be based in the little town of Humptulips. One of the people involved with the hunt was a retired judge who aboslutely hated handguns. I mean thos dude was rabidly against them. We were standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Humptulips River and that judge started in on me again. He said you can't hit anything farther out than ten feet. I was tempted to ask him if he felt safe as 11 feet if I were to shoot at him. Anyway, looking down on the river, I'll bet I can hit that log sticking out into the water. ait had branch that stuck out very nicely so I said $100 says I can hit that branch with one of the six shots in my gun or at least come close enough to prove a hit is potentially possible. He said my would not shoot that far so no bet. I said put up or shut up. If you're right and my gun won't shoot that far, it's just an easy Benjamin in your pocket. He says OK so I take aim and hold where I think I'll come close to the branch and shoot. I wish I could have seen the look on that old judge's face when sure as hell, I'd clipped the branch. I turn and face him and ask, "Do you want to try double or nothing?" He declined. At least he didn't welch out on the bet.
One other incident educating scoffers. I was at the range trying out a new snub nosed revolver, an S&W M49 to be exact. There was a guy shooting one of those very expensive single shot pistols used in .22 cal. silhouette games. He made a snide comment about "Saturday Night Specials" so I waited for the cease fire.I then put up a silhouette target that has the shape of a man and an it out to 100 yards. He said something to the effect that I wasn't thinking about shoot at that target with the M49 was I? I said I was and $100 says I can hit it at least once with one of the five rounds in the cylinder. He thought I was joking. I wasn't. Taking a good solid rest on a nearby pole I slowly let off five rounds. One hit the paper and four were in the torso of the target. It wasn't the first time I shut sown some would be expert.
I haven't done much handgun shooting since my knees went out and honestly, haven't shot anything, rifle, pistol or shotgun in almost four years. It's all health related and doctor's orders. I'll be making some changes regarding that situation in about 8 weeks, the Good Lord awillin'. Probably shoot .22 LR and .38 Spl. for a wile Might try the .357 Mag. next and finally the .44 Mag. Biggest problem is casting up a supply of bullets and getting them loaded up. Should be interesting.
Paul B.
. Even a pig target to start things out
