Old Guys, Old Guns, and X Rings

FWIW when I started shooting bullseye in mid '78 I was 25.   Bullseye was still an iron sighted young man's game.   Old men with scopes/red dots and  brass nets we saw were mostly quacks.   By the time I quit in '96 Joe Pascarella had come and gone.  Red dots/scopes had taken over. Fast forward to June of 2014, I'm 61,  and I start back.  Seniors and Grand Seniors rule! Everybody is old with a brass net and an optical sighting device of some sort.   Those of us using age as an excuse for our performance need to pull up the records.  Steve Reiter has snatched the rug from under our feet.   Stand next to Grand Senior Charlie Alexander at a match. Dang, he makes a lot of us look bad!  For the record Charlie was an old man when I met him at the Wilson Matches in the early 80s.  Phillip Hemphill will be a grand Senior soon too..   Better get busy!

Got you by 3 years Axe. Started in 73 and came back same time you did. Shot my first match back with steel sights. Shot my next match with dots. I don't want to think about how bad first score back was. The way things work out at our local matches I usually end up shooting beside Mel Makin. That is always fun and easy to score. Only have a little time left to be Grand Senior myself then I get to shoot in same bracket as Mel. Oh Joy. But I am looking forward to it. I think I have a few X's left.

Len   (another old guy)

Well, at least you guys have years of Bullseye experience behind you.  I'm an old guy just entering the sport.  I wont be a threat to existing records but I do enjoy the challenge and practice.
All the best!
Doug

Yeah, you guys ARE lucky.  At 27 I bought a used early 60's Ruger Mk 1 .22LR but never shot at targets, just squirrels and chipmunks at the bird feeder.  It still shoots good and still kills the little varmints.   I got my first center-fire pistol when I was 74 and wouldn't dare try competitive shooting, but I'm not too bad shooting off a benchrest only because I've mounted red dots and my long distance sight is still decent.  I still consider myself very lucky considering what I see going on around me.   Gotta keep the upper lip stiff 'cuz nothing else is.

I was raised on rifle shooting.  But in 1969 at age 20, retired USA LtC Miller hooked me on BE with his HS.  I soon got my own HS and spent hours, daily almost, training at the range with Coach Miller.  I spent nearly all of the time with the HS under a well coached eye.  LtC Miller had many years shooting experience including alongside Joe Benner and even was a SAFS Instructor.   I was a Marksman for a long time because Coach did not want me to fire much 45.  I was being groomed for international. But I did shoot a lot of 38 OMM.  By 1976, health issues curtailed Coach, and family curtailed me.  I raised two daughters through college and finally came back to shooting BE in the late 90s.  For my first come back match, which I was not even expecting when I got to the range one day and found Roddy running an Approved 2700, I shot low Expert (very low) with my HS and a 52.  Hooked again.   One of my fondest memories is from a match in Medford OR about 1971 where as a Marksman I won the class across the board.  I even topped the Expert field in 22 SF and 22 RF.  Just before CF started, some old Medford pharts came and accused me of sandbagging, and stood behind me for the CF SF.  Well I showed them with my lousy CF 45 shooting why I was a Marksman.  On the 22 I think I heard I even beat Mel Makin in one of the individuals.  Mel was the hot shot even in the early 70s.   Oh and another Mel story.  I was RO at a Roddy match where Mel had an alibi in timed or rapid.  Turns out your gun goes bang more often when you actually put bullets in your magazine.

wife and I were shooting in the mid to late 70s here in Ga... ended up quitting in the early 80s.. Think 80 was the last year I attended Perry. guess we got burnt out,  as you could( and we did) shoot somewhere every weekend in Ga or AL.  Shot with a couple of greats. Alan Fulford and John "Red" Farley. Retired in 2014 and started back shooting.. Oh boy it's tough getting old.....  Based on Len's signature I have one year on him and soon to be two..

At least I'm having fun

Last year was my first year to shoot BE. Axe handle kept on at me to come give it a try over the club silhouette match I always shoot. I was hooked. Shot 22 only for 3 months and then came to the state match. Got placed between Mr Alexander and Hemphill, had no idea who either on of them were. Talk about a lesson in shooting....

Bought a used RRA wadgun from one of there friend that day, Hemphill gave me 2 boxes of ammo for the match, shoot an 801. 
Still hooked and since added a few custom 22's now.
BTW, I will be the big 50 this year.

Geez Mize, I hope you are able to struggle to the line for a few more yrs! A couple more yrs and I thnk I'll petition NRA to make the upper cutoff for juniors about 50!

What really scares me is a young whippersnapper like John Bickar considers himsel a veteran!?

Ron Habegger

Yea, I might be able to drag my stuff to the line for a few more years.

trying to get my nephew interested in BE so he can help drag my stuff to the line.....

Colt711 wrote:young whippersnapper like John Bickar

You should see all my grey hair!

john bickar wrote:

Colt711 wrote:young whippersnapper like John Bickar

You should see all my grey hair!

I weep for you John!

I got my first classification card (Marksman) in 1971. I started with a Ruger MKI and couldn't afford anything else for years. I was married, with one child and going to college on the GI Bill. I learned on my own from books, which isn't something I'd recommend. It makes the process longer and harder. I had to give it up, now and then for different periods of time due to work, etc. I eventually made my way into the Master class, after getting distinguished. I had to give up serious competition due to chronic shoulder and side pain. What I like most is the great people I have met along the way. I remember shooting a match at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio and coming home and telling my wife what a great sport this is. I said, I got to shoot with some of the greats. Can you imagine getting to play golf with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nickolas? I had been shooting with Ken Buster and Dr. Darius Young. I still remember them as two of the nicest guys I've ever met. I'll never regret the time I put into bullseye shooting, as it gave me a great foundation in handgun marksmanship which has served me well when I branched out in other shooting sports, self-defense and even putting food on the table (hunting).