Rifles at Dusk
July 20, 2005 at 10.31 pmThis evening, I went down to the rifle range. I usually shoot on a Monday, so I don’t see much of the Wednesday bunch at all. This was my first Wednesday shoot.
I got there to find Shiela and Dennis killing time - they’d forgotten to bring their mechanisms, so couldn’t shoot, and they didn’t fancy the hour-long round trip home to fetch them. The mechanisms are basically the bits that do the firing - on some rifles, it’s a trigger, loading lever and springy bit; on others, it’s just a bolt. Either way, you can’t shoot without it. Gun law means that rifles and their mechanisms must be locked away separately, and each mechanism will only work with its own gun.
Anyway, it was only the mighty Ken Ridley and I shooting. He’s the best shooter in the club, i.e. pretty damn good. On last season’s average, I ranked second…clearly rubbish - I had a very good season, but I’m just Not That Good. Turned out that we were shoulder to shoulder, both shooting cards for the first team, in round 7 of the Cheshire competition - beat that for pressure. I’ve been shooting really badly of late (hence the decision to go down on Wednesdays for extra practice), but managed to pull out a 97 (out of 100). I was reasonably chuffed. I try to be around the 95/6 mark, but have been closer to 93/4 of late.
Ken? He scored 98. His comment? “Below average.”
That’s the mark at which I’ve got to aim. Literally.
