Getting into a good firing position
There are plenty of times that I have wondered why certain people even bothered to spend so much money on firearms when they were afraid to get them dirty or wet. There is nothing wrong with being a bench rest shooter because that in itself is a skill of it’s own. Some people don’t realize how much talent it takes to make a bullet, and the hard thing to do is make multiple bullets hit the same impact point. I have moved away from bench rest shooting because I’ve found my accurate loads for most of the 45acp, .308, .303 and 30/06 loads I shoot. If you really want to become proficient, you really have think about getting off the bench. Using a rifle sling is important, but it’s not the only option.
Serious tactical shooting skills will require you to get off a bench rest, but learn how to make your own in the field. I have a few good shooting mats that work as rifle cases and they can unzip and fold out to be shooting mats. I suggest getting a good backpack that can act as a shooting rest and if you learn to get yourself into good physical condition and be able to move your body, you should be able to stay in the position and shoot accurately. The US Peace keeper shooting mat is 72″ long and 36″ wide and will give you something to lay on other than mud and dirt.
When getting asked the question how many guns we own, the question should be asked “what do I not own?” After several years of dealing with the high speed, low drag weapon systems, and after watching the 2008 election results, there was huge jumps in ammo prices. I thought to myself when 5.56 ammo was hitting close to the $700 per 1000rds range, that maybe ammo was going to be worth more than gold soon. After putting a little thought into why the ammo prices were going up, I pretty much guessed that they won’t stay up that long in a bad economy, because nobody in their right mind would spend money on something that was 200-300% over inflated. I decided that if It was reloaded ammo, I wasn’t going to touch any factory ammo, and it was now time for a 22lr bolt action rifle.
Most of us alreayd know that when we buy a new gun we usually get some sort of factory gun case. These gun cases are nice for transporting the gun it is intended for and possible can hold a few magazines. I’ve got a pile of them in my storage room, but I never use them for range trips. I own a few range bags since I tend to actually use them for more than just packing up guns. After having several experiences with forgeting to bring ammo, magazines, targets or staplers, I’ve learned to pack up my stuff and leave it in a bag that always comes to the range with me.
Not everyone needs to think about long deployments in Afghanistan when getting their shooting gear together, but knowing where your guns and gear are can prevent you from making silly mistakes. I’ve heard plenty of stories that sound funny at first, but I know it wasn’t funny when it occurred. The stories are about people getting a day off from the family and driving an hour or more to a gun range and finding out they didn’t pack any rifle magazines, forgot the ammo, forgot to put a gun in a bag ect.
With the advent of the accessorized rifle or carbine, people are putting so many things on rifles these days that need to be screwed on, locked in, and battery operated that Murphys law has some really cold things to say about this. Every screw on your carbine is going to come loose at some point and every battery operated device will fail at some point. I’ve seen a lot of accessories that fit in the pistol grip, buttstock or other areas and this is nice for some purposes, but any of those operators were spending more than a day with their setup, they find that they aren’t carrying enough tools sand gear on their guns to get through 48hrs of hard use.
Do you own a rifle that could use a nice scratch up the barrel? Well, I thought so, so why do people not think about buying a rifle case for every gun they own? One thing I’ve found is it’s really a good idea to buy atleast, one soft case for each semi-auto you own and then put a tag or label on it so you know that gun will fit in it. How many times have you gone to the range and had to figure out which rifle goes where?