I want a Distinguished badge. What do I have to do?

[dzelenka]

Bowser?? Distinguished??

Dang...if that's the case....I think I'll turn the one I earned years ago in!!

I checked around and I am certain he is not. So, who are you, hiding behind the alias. Do you shoot in MS or LA?

[Sharpsman]

I've won the La. and Miss. HP Championship twice. Last registered match I fired was in Texas; won the Texas State HP Long Range Championship that year!

When the 'Rat Gun' came into being....I quit! I hate that damn thing with a dying passion!!

[PhillipM]

Sharpsman, I was mistaken about Doug, my apologies. It would be fun to shoot with you informally one day if you are around.

Anyway back to topic I have a former Marine friend with an AR that has been hitting me up to shoot so I took him and his son to the range yesterday to play/practice. While inspecting his AR, a Colt post ban HB, he said he always wanted to get into shooting matches and that's why he bought it. He's originally from Bourg, Louisiana so shooting in the canefields will be like a homecoming to him.

[dzelenka]

I've won the La. and Miss. HP Championship twice. Last registered match I fired was in Texas; won the Texas State HP Long Range Championship that year!

When the 'Rat Gun' came into being....I quit! I hate that damn thing with a dying passion!!

Like it or not, the "Rat Gun' will shoot rings around the big .30s. If you quit before the AR became popular, you probably haven't competed since the late 90s. That is before my time.

[Maury Krupp]

Like it or not, the "Rat Gun' will shoot rings around the big .30s.,,

Ahem,

That should be "The ratgun will often alllow the shooter to shoot rings around another shooter with a .30"

A ten is still a ten and an X is still an X. Both a ratgun and a .30 can put holes in the middle if the shooter points it there.

It's just normally easier and always cheaper with a ratgun.

And usually not as much fun either

Maury

[dzelenka]

Maury,

Because I have accomplished pretty much what I set out to do with a Service Rifle, I no longer feel compelled to bring my AR to every match. Regular monthly matches see me with a variety of "antiques". Last month, an M1A was calling to me so I shot it for the first time in quite a while. Even without zeros I managed a 481-12X with it, including a 193-7X slow prone (I just couldn't see the target well enough with the big rear aperture to get a score that the rifle is capable of). It was good for 2nd overall out of 31 shooters. The winner shot a 198-8X slow prone with an AR SR to knock me out.

Once, I went to the local 200 yd match with a stock K-31 just to show that it could be done. I managed a solid EX score with it. That was a lot of fun.

Oh, I think that the average rat gun is more accurate than all but the very very best .30s. The best of the ARs are really difficult to beat in the accuracy dept.

[Collector497]

And usually not as much fun either

Winning is always fun. And in service rifle, there's a better chance to do that with an AR than the .30 cal guns we started shooting with. It all depends on your personal reasons for shooting.

[John Kepler]

Lik If you quit before the AR became popular, you probably haven't competed since the late 90s. That is before my time.

More like mid-90's...which is one hell of a long time ago as far as Highpower is concerned. By 1996 80% of all Service Rifles at the Nationals were AR's, by 1998, it was over 95%. How can anyone go so far as to say they "hate" (with a "passion") an inanimate object???? It's in the same logical universe as "hating" a hoe or a Crescent wrench...a non sequitur.

[Bill D]

Having used them both, I don't have any trouble hateing either a hoe or a crescent wrench.

Not real wild about the "plastic fantastic" either.

[John Kepler]

.

Not real wild about the "plastic fantastic" either.

In over 45 years of shooting, most of it in some flavor of competition, I have YET to see a target that was the least bit impressed by the appearance or pedigree of the firearm shooting at it....what shoots best, IS best. AR's shoot better than any of the other alternatives. BTW, "hating" inanimate objects is a pathology that can be treated.