Went shootin'

[Doc Hoy]

Guys,

I have said several times on this forum that I don't like shooting with people and so my options for shooting are limited. I found this spot late last year. It is a piece of property belonging to one of my students. IT is located on Knotts Island North Carolina. No part of Knotts Island is higher than eight feet above sea level. I included a couple of photos of the trip and the location. It is about an hour drive but it is through some very nice country.

First photo is the bridge connecting the Island with the mainland. Photo 2 is the view of Currituck Sound which is about a thousand yards east of the property. Third photo is the shooting table.

[Doc Hoy]

It is easy to get 25 yards between the target and the table. The bhill was there before I came onto the property. The top of that hill is one of the highest elevations on the entire island.

Today I took along three pistols. I always take the Ruger. It never fails to fire. It doesn't jam. It is accurate. It is just a good shooting experience. It likes Remington number 10 caps. I also took along an 1851 pattern .44 which I had never shot before. Bought it a couple of months ago on the Gunbroker and am just having a chance to shoot it. Unfortuantely it likes .451 balls and I did not take anything that small. I force two rounds into it just to get it dirty but then gave up.

Also took along the 1861 Colt Sig Series. That pistol is very tight. I am going to have to take some abrasive to it to loosen it up. It really is no fun to shoot as it is. Everything is too hard.

[CajunPowder]

NICE pictures Doc, very nice.

That's some beautiful tranquility.

In the field that Ruger really just screams MODERN when it's laying beside the Remmies.

Looks like big fun and thanks for sharing that with us.

[Doc Hoy]

There is a Ruger for sale on the Gonbroker and in the ad the seller claims it can be used for CAS. I am not a CAS participant and am not interested in becoming one but I thought that at most events the Ruger was not original enough to satisfy the requirements. Do I have that wrong?

Tnx,

[Wobble]

Geat photos Doc. I wish I could find a private range to shoot.

Looking at your gun rest and the burn marks reminded me of one of the lessons I learned when I first started shooting BP revolvers -- keep your hands and other body parts BEHIND the front of the cylinder.

[kwhi43]

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

[Doc Hoy]

It is an excellent point you make and it came home last season. I got into a situation with one of my 58s. I had fired three leaving three hot rounds in a jammed pistol. I had to take it apart to get it to cycle. Simple enough in a Remington. You better believe I was careful getting it apart.

Of course taking the cylinder out cleared the jam instantly and putting it back, the pistol cycled properly. So now I have three loaded chambers, and I am sliding the cylinder pin back into the pistol with my hand in front of these loaded and capped chambers. "Why in the name of God did I leave those caps on the chambers!?" So easy to just take them off and render the pistol relatively safe.

Safety rules are generally written in blood but thankfully this time I did not have to pay with my fingers. That was a learning experience. Now I treat the opening of the chamber with the same respect as I treat the muzzle of the revolver. It is, afterall, the same thing.

Thanks a lot for your post giving me the opportunity to talk about safety.

I think a person's safety posture can come from two different sources. The first is fear. To me this is not a good source. We fear what we don't know. I think it is far better to build one's safety behaviors on respect rather than fear. In order to truly respect something or someone, you must know that thing or person.

I did not have a good appreciation for the danger I was putting myself in until I stopped to consider that putting my hand in front of the chamber is exactly like putting my hand in front of the muzzle. I did a lot of shooting while on active duty in the Navy and when a shooter had a jam or misfire, immediately we made the range cold. Everyone on the firing line laid down their weapon until the problem had been resolved. (Most often a wack on the hammer end of the slide to get the round to chamber.) I also did a lot of shooting black powder in the seventies. But I am now thankful as I reflect on my attitude toward safety that I did not hurt myself or someone else.

There ought to be a chat room in this forum for safety.

[Hawg]

There is a Ruger for sale on the Gonbroker and in the ad the seller claims it can be used for CAS. I am not a CAS participant and am not interested in becoming one but I thought that at most events the Ruger was not original enough to satisfy the requirements. Do I have that wrong?

The ROA is SASS legal because when SASS was started they were the most easily available along with the Ruger Blackhawk for a SA cartridge gun.

[Hardcase]

Doc, those pictures look like a very relaxing day of shooting. Gorgeous! Sometimes I wish that there was an alternative to our sagebrush and dirt, but, like fishing, it's tough to have a bad day at the range ('course, nobody ever shot himself in the foot with a fish, but I digress.)

[Doc Hoy]

Hawg,

Thanks for the info on SASS and the ROA.

In your opinion or observation...how many shooters opt for the ROA ofver other pistols?

[Pahoo]

I think a person's safety posture can come from two different sources. The first is fear. To me this is not a good source. We fear what we don't know. I think it is far better to build one's safety behaviors on respect rather than fear. In order to truly respect something or someone, you must know that thing or person.

Some excellent points you have made here and while teaching M/L's during our Hunter Safety Course, I walk a fine line on this matter. I know I can scare the heck out of them with horror stories but just provide knowledge and instill respect for what we are doing. Most of the students are very apprehensive then they come to the M/L station and we just try to De-Horn the Devil. My personal measure is how many refuse to shoot toward the end of our class. Also appreciate your private range and to date, have not been able to find one of my own. Thank you for your post


Be Safe !!!

[arcticap]

Originally Posted by Doc Hoy

In your opinion or observation...how many shooters opt for the ROA ofver other pistols?

Here's a couple of recent polls:


http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=403111

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=512571

[ClemBert]

Great pics Doc! I fully appreciate your desire to shoot in solitude. It is fun to shoot with a couple of fellow soot lords at times yet it is very enjoyable to shoot and be the only one breaking the peace and quiet.

My distaste of public shooting ranges runs high. The experience is much more enjoyable at my own private shooting range.

[hickstick_10]

There is a Ruger for sale on the Gonbroker and in the ad the seller claims it can be used for CAS. I am not a CAS participant and am not interested in becoming one but I thought that at most events the Ruger was not original enough to satisfy the requirements. Do I have that wrong?

Tnx,

I beleive your talking about the fixed sight OA ruger cooked up a few years ago.

I have one with 5.5 BBL in SS and honestly I'd rather have a good remmie if I had to do a shoot. But I always wanted a ROA and this was the only new one I could find in the province when I found out the ROA was being discontinued.

Still like it but I'd rather have the 7 inch barrel adjustable sights, nice pistol you have there mister

[Fingers McGee]

Ruger Old Armies with adjustable sights are SASS legal in all age based categories and B-Western. Ruger Old Armies with fixed sights are SASS legal in all categories.

Ruger Old Armies are not legal for NCOWS matches regardless of whether they have adjustable or fixed sights.

FM

[bedbugbilly]

Hey Doc - thanks for posting the photos - they were great! I always wondered where "Heaven" was . . . . after looking at your photos, I at least know where a little chunk of it is! Don't blame you for the solitude of shootin' alone either . . . . shooting alone in a place like that probably does wonders for the soul . . . . enjoy!

[Wobble]

I don't have a private range I can go to but I have been fortunate enough to find an open public range (U.S. Gov'mt WMA) without a RO. Shooters there are courteous, mature, safety-minded, friendly, and cooperative. I contrast this with other ranges that have power-hungry ROs and such strict safety rules that it makes shooting there absolutely no fun at all.

If I were to see someone at the range acting carelessly or being stupid, I would simply leave (but I've never had to do so). I'm not going to stay and try to teach stupid people a lesson on how not to be stupid. It rarely works.

Safety is important, but most of the rules are for stupid people, the lowest common demominator of the people they expect to use the range. I not only object to being treated as an idiot, but dislike being forced to spend most of my range time being managed by excessive (even obsessive) ROs.

[Hawg]

Hawg,

Thanks for the info on SASS and the ROA.

In your opinion or observation...how many shooters opt for the ROA ofver other pistols?

I'm guessing more do than don't but they don't interest me at all.

[Doc Hoy]

Yes....I know and understand how you feel. To me it is an opinion not unrelated to the fact that an ROA would not be a welcome sight in a Civil War re-enactment. It is a valid point.

Tnx,