204 Ruger wins,And I scored a Garand

[Hawkeye Joe]

It took some practice and a lot of willpower to not have that morning cup of Jo. But I finally did it! Me and my trusty Savage Predator hunter in 204 won the off-hand match this morning. I scored 226 out of 250 in the first round,and a 220 in the second 10 shot string. As you can see my luck didn't end there. I also scored this extremely nice 100% Springfield Armory MI Garand in 30-06 with extra National Match sights,chamber cleaner and case. I picked it up for less than HALF of what it's worth. Gotta love that swap board at the range!! What a great way to start a 5 day vacation. Drag racing last night, and some good shootin today..... Life is good...

[WaltherP99]

Congrats! Nice Garand also!

[walleyeman]

What a shmuck I am....I thought your post said "204 Ruger and I score a Grand!" I'm thinkin great job on the shoot!

Still a great lookin rifle but it would look better with a $1000 bill beside it!

[jo191145]

Excellent job shooting Mike. And that is definately a lot purtier Garand than my old milsurp beaters.

Offhand shooting???? I have enough trouble with a bench

If we're all not careful Mike will beat his own "Top Dog" score. He's already set the bar real high although I don't recall his exact agg. It was unGodly low though.

[Hawkeye Joe]

The offhand match is a blast. It only took one match of sucking real bad (first time) and I was hooked. To my surprise, It's now one of my favorite matches. I should be a better shot in the woods this year also . The targets have a 1 3/4" bull worth 25 points. With 3/4 inch equally spaced rings outward. Each ring out from the bull drops a point down to 10. On my 226 point string, I shot one bull and 4 or 5 in the 24 ring. One bad shot and your score drops like a rock. It's a lot harder than it looks. I wanted to keep the targets after scoring but forgot with all the excitement of getting a new gun. I went to the range to shoot and came home with a M1 Hey ..Things happen ..... Ya know I'm gonna need some 30-06 FL dies and brass if anybody has some for sale.

[greystone]

Congrats on your shooting. That is one nice looking Garand!!. Dave

[OldTurtle]

Congratulations on the scores and being in the position to pick up that beauty...

I have a lot of deep felt respect for those Garands and those that know how to shoot them, especially off-hand...

A few years ago, I was in a rifle/pistol match in Titusville, FL and one of the other shooters (80 years old) showed up on the rifle portion with an old Garand, fired 5 rounds, one at each of 5 targets, with 5 Xs in half the time from the 'off-hand' position as those of us with ARs... to take the first place prize for the rifle portion.....

I told him if the stuff ever hit the fan, I wanted him next to me....

[broncsandwhiskey]

Good job and I am envious of the rifle. Ride Up!!!

[Rick in Oregon]

Mike: Wow, nice job there, bud. Any time you leave the house and come home with an unexpected rifle, it's a good day indeed. Congrats on the nice shooting also.

Now that you've got that nice Garand, don't neglect that sweet .308 you got from me!

Enjoy the rest of your well-deserved vacation.

[Hawkeye Joe]

Thanks guys, Now the question is??? Can I win again next weekend ........... Man... After going through the M1, I realized the smookin deal I got. Besides a few little dings in the wood, It's almost perfect . Speaking of dings in the wood . I was shooting the match with a handicap. My Bud to the left was bouncing 200 degree 30-06 cases off my head repeatedly . He shot a 10 round high score of 230 with his M1 Garand.... Get this.. The only brass I could find locally was once fired 1967 Lake city Match I'll take it

[Ray P]

Hawkeye Joe..........When my best friend and smith, left the marines, he said Lake City Match was the best ammo he found. When he was doing his tour...........He tried to get his hand on when ever he could do so. Way to go on bring such a nice prize home. Winning it the little 204 Ruger. Good luck and enjoy!
Later
Ray P

[jo191145]

Not familar myself but the word on the bench is,,,, snag up all of that brass you can find.

[Hawkeye Joe]

Well..I missed last weeks match, And couldn't get it done yesterday to put the 204 Ruger back on top. I scored a 217 and 229. A 217 and 230 took top honors with a 22LR rimfire. This weeks handicap was a muzzle brake on a AR 15 with 20 inch barrel four feet to the right. I'm not sure what's worse, Hot 30-06 brass to the left cranium or the Brake blast . We have 20 minutes for 10 shots, So on the second string I waited 90 seconds for the AR guy to shoot his 10. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

On the other hand, My new M1 Garand had me all smiles. I NEVER expected accuracy like this with open sights . I was doing the 6 o'clock hold just low enough to see some white. The Reloader 15 load looks like a keeper. All 15 shots were at the same target. The second picture is the back side of the first. I'm sure the other two groups stunk because of the shooter.Next year I'm putting my foot in the ring at Camp Perry with a few guys from my range. Gotta shoot something if ya don't live in a target/varmint rich environment .