Target shooting with a Model 60 with Crimson Trace laser grips. A wasp landed on the target and at 7 yards, double action, I shot the wasp in two. The two witnesses loved it. I still have the "other half".

The best group I ever shot....I was not responsible for. It just happened....because of somebody else.

I was at my gun club years ago and a member that is a recognized bench rest competitor and a "gunscribe" on one of the "accuracy" gun rags was shooting one of his latest creations.

I didn't know anything about formal bench rest and started asking him some questions.

He asked if I would like to try it to which my answer was affirmative.

I sat down to his gun, his rest, his ammo at a 100 yard range. Once I figured out that the trigger was lighter than anything I had ever touch, I squeezed off a five round group that left just one, slightly larger than caliber sized hole in the target. The cartridge was some 6mm bench rest cartridge.

I did nothing but line it up and "pull" the trigger correctly. The rifle and ammo did the rest.

That was my first and last venture into formal bench rest. You might as well quit while you are a winner....right?

__________________
G.P. Charlie

Shotgun - Same as Rugskipper, only with a BPS 10 Ga. After about a 10 to 15 second freefall that goose was over a half mile from our blind.

Handgun - Last year while at my dads house we heard a death scream from one of his kittens. He had already lost two kittens to the raccoons and had had enough of it. The coon was about fifty feet up a big oak tree about to have himself another kitty dinner. Dad handed me the only gun he had in the house that he had ammo for, a nickel plated Rossi 22 revolver with 4" Bbl and fixed sights. Dad shined the Q-Beam light and I pulled the trigger. Dead coon, shot in the neck. Kitten did not survive the attack.

Smoke Pole - 196 yards, as lazered after the shot, with a TC White Mountain Carbine 50 cal shooting 105 gr. Pyrodex, Dynamite Nobel musket caps and 240 gr 44 cal Hornady XTP bullets in a sabot. First day of muzzle loader deer season after we bought our farm (1998). I'm sitting in a ladder stand and see a HUGE bodied deer walk out of the woods on the edge of the field. Put the sights on the top of his back, pop POP. Saw the bullet hit about twenty yards short. He is still standing there so I reload and put the sights about 2 feet over his back, pop POP. This one was close but over him and he walked off back into the woods. Reload and wait a few minutes. He walks back out to the same spot. I put the sights about a foot above his back, pop POP, heart lung shot, DRT. Field dressed him and it took two of us to put him on the 4-wheeler. Took him to the check in station and the GW and biology students from UT Martin are ageing, weighing and green scoring the deer being checked in. My deer weighed in at 198.5 Lbs dressed (estimated 245-255 Lbs. live weight) When they asked to age my deer I told them it was fine and to go ahead and cut out the lower jaw bone. One of the students came over to me and said "That deer only has four teeth!". GW estimated the age at 7.5 years. Green score was 43-7/8.

Rifle - Three weeks ago yesterday. Last day of the first segment of the TN deer rifle season. A buddy of mine had asked me to pull his 4-wheeler trailer up to the barn as he had gotten his truck stuck trying to pull it off the down side of a hill on wet grass. I'm hitching up his trailer and making all kinds of noise slamming the tounge onto the ball. Get it hooked up and decide to go pull the memory card from one of my trail cams about fifty yards down the hill. I grabbed my rifle "Just In Case". Pull the card out of the camera and look down the trail. Walking towards me are three deer, a doe in front followed by a nice 8 pt buck and a unicorn (4 x 0). Doe sees me at about 10 yards and runs right. 8 pt sees me and runs left. Unicorn sees me and charged at me. I shot him, from the hip, at about THREE FEET with a Wby MkV in 300 Wby loaded with 180gr Nosler Partition bullets. He was dead but still running. He made it about 10 feet past me before balling up on the ground. If any of you watch CSI you have heard them use the term "Blood Spatter Pattern". I can attest that it does happen. I would post a picture of the white T-shirt I was wearing, but some might find it a little graphic.

Class III

If I told ya, you'd call me a liar.... so I'll pass.

A mouse at about 50 feet with a SW Mod 15 I used to own loaded with +Ps JHPs. Mouse bits everywhere.

__________________
LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

I was discussing this thread with Forum member Allen-frame and he informed me that my 100 yard "Turkey Shot" was not my best shot. It was my best LUCKY shot. Allen (witnessed and) suggested that my off-hand 7 shots through one hole at 45 feet with a S&W 317 Airweight was my best shot(s). It is my smallest group at that distance.
Mark

Without a doubt it was the 3/8" five shot group at 200 yards with my .243 target rifle. I built the rifle on a WWI Kornbusch Mauser action and it was always accurate but this one stunned me. This was also the only time I'd forgotten to write down the loading data (of course) and have never been able to come close to that again over the last 20 years. I don't expect anyone to believe this as there were no witnesses. I still have the orange target dot but only one person has ever believed it was shot at that range.

I hit a 12 oz beer can (empty) at about 75 yards w/ my Model 65 loaded w/ a buddy's .38 hand loads...he was thrilled!! - he took all the credit saying it was his loads that did it!

(shot it single action, standing two handed)

This may not be the same, but In my bowling pin shooting days.

I shot 5 pins off a table with an SKB XL 100 3.8 secs. Best for me.

Some, same hole 45acp shots with IDPA

I have posted this before.

My greatest shot was qualifying with a Colt Mustang, 380 caliber, as a deep undercover off duty sidearm.

As an off duty sidearm, the qualification course was 25 rounds. It was a windy day.

When I came to the three (3) yard line, there was a sunflower swaying in the wind. The watch commander, who was the firearms instructor said, if you kill the sunflower, you will not need to complete the course.

Now remember, it was windy. I took careful aim, fired one round and clipped the stem. The flower fell but was still attached.

I looked at the WC and he said "It does not count, you did not kill the sunflower." So I stated "But it will never have children!"

I completed the course at that point.

Did I mention that it was windy?

__________________
I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Who you trying to kid with the mosquito shot huh?

I'm from the same area and that ain't no big deal! Our skeeters are the size of blackbirds, Man!

Almost the same thing for me. We were shooting clay targets with a manual thrower. I was carrying a Ruger Single Six .22LR in a field holster. On a dare, I drew and fired from the hip, busting the bird clean at about 15 yards. With that, I quit shooting for the day, nothing could top it.

This is one that stands out, I was at a gravel pit shooting with some relatives, and there were two guys off to the side with an old SMLE in .303 Brit trying to get the thing sighted in. They were all over the place, could hardly hit their targets, which were clay pigeons they had set up at about 80 yards. I walked over and started talking to them and they offered me a try. For some reason, I aimed the rifle about 6" low and 10" left, it just felt right. Squeezed the trigger and busted a bird. It surprised me, and you wouldn't believe the look on the guys faces. I opened the bolt, handed it back to them, said "Nice rifle", and walked away. No way on earth I could have repeated the shot.

Good Lord; This takes my back to youth. 1953 Second deer hunt I'd ever been on. Hiked up to a hill that over looked a valley,went down to a high rock. Thought I'd sit on the rock & glass [borrowed the binos] & look for a buck. Unhooked my canteen on an army pistol belt [borrowed from the National Guard] Scared up a little buck [3x2] & short him in the left shoulder with my 30-30 [borrowed from my dads bartenter]. Buck went down & I levered another shell in the chamber. Always heard about deer getting away & running off. This buck was dead as a hammer. I cut his throat with my Marine knife [returned from Guadacanal from a family friend] & yelled for help. Nobody could hear me so went back to camp, got Vern to help me. Vern was much more expierienced than I so he dressed the buck & carried it out to camp. I thought that was the biggest buck I ever saw in my life. But the horns are hanging in my barn in the Sierras now along side of some really nice racks. But that first buck you ever get will remain in your memories forever. The black tail buck probably didn't field dress out to 75 lbs. And I still have the 30-30 & the knife.

Maybe not my best shooting but one incident really stands out...

My buddy wanted to deer hunt and studied all the professional magazines he could get his hands on. He bought himself a 300 Win Mag for our little whitetails. He lectured me on the foolishness of my hunting with a .243 I just bought for my daughter.

Fast forward to us in the woods, he with new clothes and every known scent blocker and attractant know to deer. We are walking to a promising spot when I notice two shapes ahead on a tree line. Sure enough, two deer walking between two woods!

He says to me 'Let's go after them!' I said why not shoot them from here? Yo take the rear, I'll take the front one. On the count of three..... Bang! My gun fired, his did not. Jammed safety somehow. My deer collapsed, so I said I'm taking the other if you can't shoot.... I gave him about 15 seconds and pulled the trigger. Deer number two crumpled.

We both paced off the distance and agreed it was between 430 and 440 yards. Not the best shots, but at least the deer were killed immediately.

The priceless part was his reaction to the shots from my inadequate .243 and the fact that I could drop two deer with two shots at distance.... I'll never forget that day.

in the mid 70s-1980 i used a 6mm rem. 700 bdl with 4x bushnell. we would shoot 1 gal water jugs as far as the eye could see them, or so it seemed. around 4-5 hundred yards, we got real good at it. i had my rifle zeroed so that i could hold about 5 in. over the jug and bust it almost every time. we have a lot of soy bean fields here in sc we hunt, one afternoon in 1980 me and my dad went hunting in cut bean fields. we were on the ground in two different fields, he in one and me in another. he was shooting a 22 hornet, (it's a redneck southern thing) a lot of folks hunt every thing with them here still. a hornet is very deadly but that is another subject, anyway just before dark i heard him shoot. the ground reflected light off the dried cut beans, i looked through my scope around the field and at the back and in the middle of the field i saw movement in my scope. i knew it was a deer and i knew it was a long way across that field and i knew i had to have a rest to try to make the shot. so i took a step back to the tree line and braced on a tree, i had to find the deer in the scope again. when i did it was so late i could not tell the head from the tail of the animal. i saw him move then i knew what end was what, i held over the top of his back just like a water jug and fired. i lost the deer in the flash and knew i most likley missed. i walked to the other end of the field and there was a very dead spike buck. the bullet hit at the bottom of his chest and went through and out the other side. my load i used was 100 gr. sierra sp with 45.5 gr. imr 4350 i went and got my dad and he also had a spike buck, only a 50yd or so shot. i went back the next day and steped it off at 488 long steps. in the 90s i killed a deer with a 7mm mag 350 steps. i always loved a 6mm, mine went away about 1981. in late 2010, i got a 660 rem. in that caliber and in nov. i kill a 10 point buck with it, it's good to have a old friend back.

I also have to stretch my memory banks...let's see, about 30 years ago I finally got the Winchester M70 XTR I'd always wanted, in .270 Win. caliber. I took it to a local range and hung up a target, with a fairly large black tack in the center. I stepped back to the 100-yd station and carefully aimed..."boom" said the weapon! I didn't see any hole till I walked over--it had gone directly through the tack!
Once, while fly fishing an Oregon river for rainbows, which I kept putting back in, I saw a mink strutting along the other side of the creek. I was carrying my 6 1/2" M29 Smith in a shoulder holster, drew it and drilled that little buzzard from 75-80 feet across the water. Trot, hop, DEAD.
Last one comes to mind was hunting ducks with my best buddy. There had been some mallards flying over us, circling and circling, as that duck will so often do, and not gtting any lower than about 80-odd yards. I asked my pal Dave if he'd mind me taking a crack at them with my 3 1/2" magnum Mossberg pump. (I had #4 Hevi-shot shells.) I led the lead bird, loosed off, and TWO of them came tumbling down at our feet--both drakes! We killed a mess of other ducks that day, but none stood out like that (pure luck) two-for-one!
Well, I've bragged myself into tiredness--off to bed!

Buddy was popping at a coke can at 25 yards with his 6" 629... kicking up dirt all around it.
I popped it on my 1st shot with my fixed sight Taurus 445 .44 special.
He called me a name I wont repeat here...
I winked at him and hit a cinder block at 150 yards with my 3rd shot.
I immediately put the .44 away and brought out the .300 WM before I used up all my luck.


Jim

__________________
Big bullets leave big holes

20+ years ago I was driving pickup with couple of buddy's down a isolated forest service road, we had been popping of rounds out of the truck windows at an occasional chipmunk. About 25-30 yards out a chipmunk starts running along a downed tree, I hit the brakes , pull out the Ruger 22 pistol, pop off a round and drop the critter, while on the run! My friends just set in silence for about a minute.

Bruce #662

I made a million yard shot with a 758,000 caliber sniper rifle with a 20x6000 scope.

__________________
Dyin ain't much of a livin

I had a 25-.06 with a bipod on it that I used to shoot almost daily. One day I walked to a field and took a prone position on a hill. I spotted a rabbit pretty far out. My dad was with me, but couldn't see the rabbit with the naked eye. His head was just above the grass. I shot the rabbit in the head and walked down to get him with my dad. We walked off 274 yards. My dad said "your fooling with me, you shot that rabbit earlier and laid it there didn't you?" I laughed at him, found a coke can, set it up and went back to my spot and did it again.

Some great stories here!

Sako 75 bolt action 30-06, 3 deer in about 3 seconds in three different directions - all running, clean kills all. I love that rifle.

I was about 10 years old when I pinned a fly to a stump with my CO2 BB gun from 5 yds.

All my modern experiences are "things I should be able to do," so shots I make don't impress me, but only aggravate me when I miss.

__________________
This...is my BOOMSTICK

My b-i-l built a *deer stand* (actually a tree house) overlooking 2 fields each of which have tree lines 300 yards from the stand in 2 directions. We see a lot of deer crossing and eating at either tree line.
So I asked him if he could even hit a deer at that distance, let alone kill it. "Sure" was the answer.
Next day I brought a gallon milk jug filled with water and red food coloring and put it 300 yards from the stand.
Jim, shooting from a very sturdy rest, missed with 5 shots.
When I laughed he said I guess you could do better.

So - I pulled out my Model 10-3 with a 4" barrel and shot. I hit the jug dead center!

True story & I even have a witness.

The bad news:
He still hunted those tree lines from the tree house.

__________________
In dog years I'm dead.

The gun - a pump up pellet gun of indeterminate heritage.

The quarry - a turtle sunning itself on a branch over a pond.

The distance - 40 yards

The witness - my oldest son, then about 9 years old.

The incentive - "Gee, Dad, can you hit that turtle waaay out there?"

At the shot the pellet whanged off the surprised turtle's shell with just enough energy to plop him into the water.

My kid still talks about it.

__________________
“What you got, ain’t new.”

While visiting a lake, in an area not to be named, and having a rock-skipping contest with my young son.

Mr. Beaver comes a'swimmin' along some 30-40 yds out in the lake. I have a thought, and then confirm, that my young son has never had the experience of seeing a startled beaver slap the water with that big old flat tail.

I choose a skipping rock near as big as the palm of my hand and maybe half as thick. Now, not to brag, but I have always been that guy you hate to play catch with, 'cause I can throw hard. I launch the rock.

Flying straight as a guided missile, the rock kisses the water's surface once, twice, three times-flying low and hard.

Following that third skip, that ol' rock connects with Mr. Beaver's cranium, with a sound such as if you clapped two pieces of dry 2 X 4 lumber together. A momentary thrashing, and Mr. Beaver goes down - never to be seen again.

I am absolutely horrified, but young son thinks that is the coolest thing he has ever seen. We have a short discussion about why we won't tell such a cool story to anyone else. I felt purely bad, as it was strictly unintentional - my now grown son can still remember every detail...

.Managed to shoot a clean "100-3x" on a Timed Fire stage at our local 50' Indoor Bullseye League a while back. Used a 7" S&W Model 41 with CCI SV ammo and plain ol' iron sights. Would sure like to do it again.

__________________
A closed mouth gathers no foot

...in mind. Both at our club.

I just purchased a Kimber 82G from the CMP store at Camp Perry, Ohio. I was very pleased with its accuracy, but with my 63-year-old eyes, I wanted to put a nice scope on it and shoot it off the bench @ 50 yards.

I bought, and mounted a Weaver T36 scope on it and the first time out, got a group which measured .09", center-to-center. However, the real shot came when I killed a fly. Admittedly, I trapped it with the shot, but he's still dead. (I used Wolf Match ammo.)

The second came at our 100 yard range, when I had just mounted a scope on my National Match M1A. I was testing some handloads made from GI brass, 150gr FMJBT, and IMR 4895. I put five shots in the same hole. I then decided to quit and go home. No sense in testing fate.

Both shots were witnessed by others.

in 2000 at registered benchrest match fired 20, five shot groups (10 at 100 and 10 at 200) that agged .190 " (plus a couple thousandths). Hell of it was I came in fifth ! Top five places all scored 19 aggs.

One of them...end of this season.

On the wing snow fallin'..

Mid 1700's French Fusil de Chasse flintllock.

__________________
Non gratum anus rodentum

A long time ago I hit a party balloon with my Browning High Power at 150 yards on a police range in Valdez, Alaska. We were taking turns firing standing two handed. I went first and hit the balloon on the first shot. I holstered the gun and declared myself the winner and I bet I couldn't do that shot shot again if my life depended on it.

Shooting a playing card in half, edge ways, at 15 feet with my Glock 30.

Swallows over a small pond on the farm. They fly low to the water, scoop up a beak full and are off like a shot. I had a scope-sighted 10-22 and a friend who dared me to hit one.

To his astonishment, I hit two in a row. Not my skill but the worst possible luck for the two swallows.

I was hunting elk on Afognak Island, near Kodiak. Stayed in a little forest service cabin. Rain and fog kept me in the cabin for days reading and re-reading old magazines some past tenent left there.

Then one damp foggy afternoon I spotted a nice 6 X 6, about 150 yards from the cabin door down by the beach.

I took two shots, but by the time I got the cap back on the bottle he was gone.

My "absolute" best shots, were ten shots, off the bench in a 6mm bench rest rifle of unknown caliber, just handed to me by a friend.......ten shot, at 100 yds, that could be covered by a dime.

__________________
G.P. Charlie

Way back in the 1980s I was on my club range and some "large NE Ohio City LEOs" had their new S&W 9mms. They were trying to figure out pin shooting. I offered my assistance, showed them the steel plate, the marks for the pins, how to rest the pistol on the fence rail and how to shoot.
I went 5-4-5! Something I had only occasionally done in real competition.
I then pointed out the 9mm 9-pin marks near the back of the plate, and they proceeded to expend large quantities of taxpayer ammo, they had 2K rounds with them!
I told some wise-*** up at the Club barn about it and he later sent his cute little daughter down with her .22 Ruger. She was a competitive shooter. Went 9-4-9 with a Ruger target pistol.
Geoff
Who notes he needs more practice as he gets older...new club has evening hours this week...my posties may be limited.

laying on my back asleep in the duck boat on Ted Turners dyke. Heard the wings of a low flying duck, sprang up and dropped it on the dyke, my cousin woke up in time to see it fall, man we laughed about that. I once killed a deer at 400 yards, probably wounldn't try it again, but I do hand load and spend a lot of time with my rifle. That afternoon it was wide open on a plantation without much wind.

Gotta say at an indoor range with my 1950's K22, 25 yards, 6 shots ALL double action with a very small group to the point where they were all nearly in one hole, and they were my first 6 shots for the day too!

I saved the target but I cant find it right now

and about 3 years before that I couldnt even hit the broadside of a barn firing double action and to top it off that it was on the same range where I let a cop fire my gun, the same K22 6 months earlier and he couldnt hit anything with it saying it was a very hard gun to shoot and he was shooting a glock 17 too.

Several years ago I put myself through a reserve peace officer training class. The instructor for the firearms portion was a former Marine and, if I remember correctly, was a Korean War veteran. After everybody was done firing the final qualification test, the instructor checked everybody's target. He looked at mine, circled the grouping, and said, "Good enough for the Marines." Mine was the only one he said that about. Needless to say, it made me feel really good about my shooting that day.

Back in the mid 50's I was 12 years old on my first deer hunting trip in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. I was with my father and his friend. The friend had a 308 Remington (with scope) and set up a beer can at 200 yards. Firing off-hand, both my father and the friend fired several times, cleanly missing. I asked to try and they said if I hit it I could hunt on my own. Nailed it on the first try. The most important aspect of this shot was the fact that afterwards I had the confidence to try any firearm and went on to shoot many different types of weapons.

About 30 years ago, when I was still in school at OIT, we had a fall turkey shoot up in the canyon behind the school. All I had at the time was a pre-64 Winchester mod. 94, 30-30 with the open buckhorn sights. 4 or 5 of us started at 25 yds, each took a shot at the gong & then those of us who scored a hit moved back another 25 yds. I lasted out to 225 yards along with one other fellow shooting with a scoped bolt action. He missed, I didn't & I took the turkey home that day.

John

A New hampshire woodchuck in a horse pasture, about 30 years ago now. I was sitting in the back of a pickup, and using a Remington bolt action 30-06 with a 4X Weaver on it, the 'chuck was a tiny speck through the scope. The crosshair completely covered him, it was that small/far away. I held about a 'chuck's length above him and let her rip, and the faint "whap" a few moments later let us know I hit him dead center. It about vaporized his head, leaving only a rag of scalp and no skull at all left. We paced it off very carefully, twice, and came to 420 yards away. It was more luck than anything.
Shot a few dragonflies in half in my younger days with a Ruger standard auto. Those too, were luck.
Another NH woodchuck, 6 inch Colt .357, rested off a picnic table, 125 yards.
That about covers it. All these events occured years ago, I can't hardly see a woodchuck much past 125 yards these days.

__________________
Geoff. Since 1960.

When I was about 16 was duck hunting with my dad when three ducks came out of nowhere and buzzed the decoys on my side. Killed all three with two shots from my Sears bolt-action 12 Ga. Dad said both shots sounded almost like one and at first he thought my gun had blown up. He asked how I managed to work the action so fast. I told him I didn't know, it just happened. Was never able to duplicate it.

Years later managed to shoot a clean target (240-24X) in Match 1 of the 1978 Police PPC National Match. Was thrilled when informed that I had equalled the record for that stage. Then I discovered that over 100 shooters already shared the record. Oh, Well.

__________________
S&W Armorer
Lost in the 50s

With a sling shot when I was about 12, hit a dove on the ground, about 50 yds away with a stone. Several friends with me, they were impressed, I couldn't do it again in a hundred years.
Steve W.

I was sitting in a deer stand and it sort of foggy. I just happened to glance over my shoulder to the rear and there stood a buck maybe 5 yards away. I think it was just curious but it was eyeballing the stand pretty good. Without turning back I grabbed my rifle from the opposite corner, slipped it thru the opening and shot it all in one smooth motion. What surprised me is when my friends showed up and asked how I could tell it was a buck. Oh, we were in a buck only shooting area, and the deer was a Spike. It actually had one spike about 5 inches tall. My friends were confused, after all it was foggy and the spike was real narrow. I just told them the truth, "the sun bounceoff of the antler". Just seemed like God was giving me a chance that day. The buck weighed 85 lbs field dressed. I have shot and mounted many a big deer since, but I always wished I would of kept my unicorn deer to mount.

1/3 Vodka
1/3 Kahlua
1/3 Irish Cream

Yum....

__________________
Thirty characters. Exactly...