One of the things I have learned in competitive shooting is to be flexible.

I had a conversation with a man that was at one time considered to be the best rifle shot in the entire Marine Corps.

I shoot round targets with a 6 O'clock hold which means I aim at the very bottom of the target. I put the pumpkin on the post so to speak and ajust my sights so the rifle shoots high and puts my shots into the X-ring (when I do my prt, which is seldom)

The Gunny shoots point of impact, meaning he splits the round target. Where he aims his rifle, it hits. It's called point of aim, point of impact. (POA/POI)He's said that it's an individual thing and a point of impact sight-in works for him. Six O'clock hold works for me.

Still, in competitive marksmanship there are a lot of factors that come into play. The Gunny and I both inderstand what a point of aim (sometimes called point of hold) is. It is the spot you carefully aim at. We also know that the point of impact is where the bullet hits.

Enter the world of obsolete military firearms.

A lot of military firearms were set up along what is called the 'point blank' concept. The term 'point blank range' has been horribly misused over the years. most people think it's something like under two or three feet. It's not. Military battle sights are set up so that if a soldier holds center of mass on a human being and fires he will score a hit somewhere between the throat and the groin which of course is a disabling shot. The soldier has just inflicted a casualty on the enemy. I have heard that the point blank range on some military rifles goes all the way out to nearly 400 yards.

For target shooters we don't have to worry about stopping an agressor. We have to hit a paper target that doesn't shoot back. It's a rather peaceful sport.

I generallly make friends with just about any rifle I get handed and can figure out how to make it hit a target, assuming the barrel is not shot out.

I was once handed a surplus obsolete bolt gun and the battle sight was set up for the point blank concept. At 200 yards the rifle shot high as was to be expected. I simply held my sights on the bottom of the target framse and it did shoot a bit low. I raised the battle sight and did rather well that day.

This post isn't about rifles and shooting. It's about being flexible and figuring out alternative ways about getting something done.

Sometimes you have to look at something other than established practices to get something done.

  

To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY