Do you think it is an odd thing to feel like shooting a gun? Gun rambling ....
This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by In_The_Wind (a host of the The DU Lounge forum).
I don't recall that I've shot a gun in at least three or four years. That said for a couple of weeks now I've felt like shooting a gun. To be more specific I've sort of felt an itch to go tape a target to a 5-gallon bucket, hang it on a fence post, and then step back about 50 feet or so and see if I can fire a pistol and hit the little black dot in the middle. I own a pistol to do it with and there are a couple of boxes of bullets around here somewhere, so the physical act of doing it most any time I want is not a problem. Also, I live way out in the country in a very hilly area that is about three-quarters forested. Houses hereabouts are generally separated by about a half mile and hearing gun shots is an every-day occurrence. Nobody is going to complain, in fact no body is likely to even take notice. I own the property where I would shoot the gun and I own the property where the bullets will land; I'd shoot from one side of a long valley with the impact area being on the far side. The valley is quite steep, about 300 yards wide and over 100 deep. No one other than myself has set foot down in that valley in 30 years and every bit of it is visible from where I'd shoot, so I won't be putting anyone else in any danger. My wife has gone to town to the grocery store and she's also going to stop and see some friends, so the noise isn't going to bother her. I could go out and blast away at will and not a soul in the universe should be in any way discomforted by my having done so. But still I don't do it.
How come? Well, my dogs are kind of gun shy and they'd hear the noise and it would scare the hell out of them. That's one thing. And then there's this other thing. Why would I want to do it? I know that sounds like sort of an odd question to ask one's self, but when I do I just can not come up with any good answer. Bullets are not cheap, I think a box of 50 cost about twelve bucks these days, and I have no real reason to either test or try to maintain my skills with a pistol. I'm old, I know my hand-eye coordination is going down hill, though I don't shake - yet.
But I feel like shooting a gun anyway. It has always amazed me how accurate guns are. Seriously, you put one in a vise and you can put bullet after bullet right where you want it at incredible distances. Some people are like human vises. They shoot all the time seeking greater and greater accuracy. I guess it takes a lot from both the shooter and the gun. West Virginia University has the best rifle team the world has ever seen. Its always been that way, no one disputes it. If you want to go to college and shoot a rifle WVU is the place for you. I am a graduate of WVU but I certainly was not on the rifle team. Nope, no human vise here; hell, I'm lucky to hit that 5-gallon bucket I mentioned. It wasn't that way back when I was a kid. I had a sling shot and later on a bow and arrow and even later yet a BB gun to shoot at targets. And always I wanted to be able to hit that little black dot in the middle. The quest for accuracy can be a compelling thing.
I was taught to shoot with a shotgun. Accuracy has a somewhat different meaning to shotgunners than it does to other gun enthusiasts. People tend to think of shotguns as spraying out a wide pattern and that should make it pretty easy to hit whatever you want. Any bird hunter can tell you it doesn't exactly work that way. Later on I owned rifles and for the uninitiated let me tell you that modern high-power rifles are simply awesome. When I say awesome I mean awe inspiring. When you shoot one the instant energy release seems like having the tree next to you be struck by lightening. And then there is the accuracy. Its addictive.
An old friend of mine taught me to reload bullets back in our younger days. It is the hobby of a marksman, which I am not. The thing is that he taught me how to get the very best out of a rifle by developing bullets exactly suited to it. You do that by much experimentation, mixing and matching bullet components with the end result of being able to consistently hit that little black dot in the middle. Shooting from a rest Joe could put two bullets through the same hole at 150 yards with his .243 and after a lot of help from him I could do the same with my .25-'06. But I didn't have the passion for it and didn't like the noise, the kick, the expense, or much else about "big game" hunting and haven't done it in decades. Besides, as I alluded to above, all of my big rifles were eventually stolen and I've never seen any good reason to replace them. I've still got my shotguns though. I can not stay on my feet long enough or hike through these hills the way you need to for Grouse hunting anymore so the shotguns aren't really doing me any good. None the less I keep them. Someday they will be my grandchildren's. They are fine guns and if anyone's got any sense they'll be sold to pay for college or something useful.
But that will be then and this is now and I still feel like seeing if I can hit that little black dot in the middle. Do you think that is an odd thing to want to do?
= new reply since forum marked as read
focusing, rewarding activity. Done safely and responsibly, it's a great (albeit sadly expensive) way to spend an afternoon. I say go for it, if and when you feel like it... 
