Do you think you are too old to shoot in competition, your not!
If you are over 60 you may do better then those 40 years younger, most all your record holders are over 50 and many over 60 like Bill Shehane comes to mind, but being 64 at the moment I can’t come up with other names right now , memory loss sometimes short term sometimes long but we all have it and its no big deal in shooting as long as you can find your way home, hee hee.
But what us older folks have that a young man may not is the ability to concentrate 100% on what we might be doing, I just started rifle comp about a year or so ago, I was shooting pistol USPSA where age sucks ( did win one state match in open) and do to some medical issues I have stopped and started rifle, I have not shot a rifle since late 60 in the military and was introduced to a M14, I did well being the only one in my squad to achieve a SAEMR ribbon, after military 1970 never shot again until last year.
After dropping USPSA I had to find some kind of rifle to shoot, I must shoot, if I can’t shoot then just go ahead and put me down, so I searched the internet to find what can I do, my local club I shot pistol at shoots CMP I think its called well I could never shoot military or all the positions as I did in my younger years, then I came across F- Class that was invented by a over 60 guy for over 60 guys, but didn’t want to spend $1000 for a gun, so I read about 100 and 200 yard Varmint where you sit on a bench and you can use any power scope, now you’re talking my language, so I found a club 30 miles away that shot that I called them, and found I could just go get a out of box varmint size barrel gun, I bought a Save 10FP in a .223 being a reloader for a million years and a lot of brass around, I then started shooting 200 yard varmint, I was always in the top four out of 20 shooters.
I told some folks I worked with who all have Master degrees and PHDs in mental health, about how I could out shoot a bunch of young men, how could that be, I have not shot in over 40 years and the young guys in USPSA I could not keep up with, well in USPSA there is a lot of physical movement and very fast thought process to shoot well, its all about FAST, in rifle you have 15 minutes for 5 shot target for score and any sighters you want, well that is a piece of cake after running and shooting 20 targets and 40 rounds some moving and flopping and doing that in 19 seconds, young guys in 12 and 10, and faster, hard to believe how fast some of those guys are , how about from a holster draw two steel targets 10 yards 3 shots in .92 of a second, not even one second I saw guys do that, my best 1.76 of a second, anyway they said as you get older you are more relaxed, good point, and you can concentrate at a much higher level then a young man, WHY? Simple your house may be paid for your kids are grown , you don’t have to go to work tomorrow and your stress level is low, you are relaxed and laid back the only thing on your mind is that target, and all of that is what it takes to shoot rifle, concentration and being relaxed is a good start.
And the people will help you to get the right equipment, good rest front and rear and you may want to move up to a better gun if you like it, I guarantee you will be hooked like me, shooting since I retired in 2001 is my hobby it is also a social event, I have known many of guys I worked with who sat around doing nothing , there all dead, so go get a gun and rear bag and cheap Caldwell junior rest 50bucks and go shoot and meet some good folks and have a blast.
Frank
If you are over 60 you may do better then those 40 years younger, most all your record holders are over 50 and many over 60 like Bill Shehane comes to mind, but being 64 at the moment I can’t come up with other names right now , memory loss sometimes short term sometimes long but we all have it and its no big deal in shooting as long as you can find your way home, hee hee.
But what us older folks have that a young man may not is the ability to concentrate 100% on what we might be doing, I just started rifle comp about a year or so ago, I was shooting pistol USPSA where age sucks ( did win one state match in open) and do to some medical issues I have stopped and started rifle, I have not shot a rifle since late 60 in the military and was introduced to a M14, I did well being the only one in my squad to achieve a SAEMR ribbon, after military 1970 never shot again until last year.
After dropping USPSA I had to find some kind of rifle to shoot, I must shoot, if I can’t shoot then just go ahead and put me down, so I searched the internet to find what can I do, my local club I shot pistol at shoots CMP I think its called well I could never shoot military or all the positions as I did in my younger years, then I came across F- Class that was invented by a over 60 guy for over 60 guys, but didn’t want to spend $1000 for a gun, so I read about 100 and 200 yard Varmint where you sit on a bench and you can use any power scope, now you’re talking my language, so I found a club 30 miles away that shot that I called them, and found I could just go get a out of box varmint size barrel gun, I bought a Save 10FP in a .223 being a reloader for a million years and a lot of brass around, I then started shooting 200 yard varmint, I was always in the top four out of 20 shooters.
I told some folks I worked with who all have Master degrees and PHDs in mental health, about how I could out shoot a bunch of young men, how could that be, I have not shot in over 40 years and the young guys in USPSA I could not keep up with, well in USPSA there is a lot of physical movement and very fast thought process to shoot well, its all about FAST, in rifle you have 15 minutes for 5 shot target for score and any sighters you want, well that is a piece of cake after running and shooting 20 targets and 40 rounds some moving and flopping and doing that in 19 seconds, young guys in 12 and 10, and faster, hard to believe how fast some of those guys are , how about from a holster draw two steel targets 10 yards 3 shots in .92 of a second, not even one second I saw guys do that, my best 1.76 of a second, anyway they said as you get older you are more relaxed, good point, and you can concentrate at a much higher level then a young man, WHY? Simple your house may be paid for your kids are grown , you don’t have to go to work tomorrow and your stress level is low, you are relaxed and laid back the only thing on your mind is that target, and all of that is what it takes to shoot rifle, concentration and being relaxed is a good start.
And the people will help you to get the right equipment, good rest front and rear and you may want to move up to a better gun if you like it, I guarantee you will be hooked like me, shooting since I retired in 2001 is my hobby it is also a social event, I have known many of guys I worked with who sat around doing nothing , there all dead, so go get a gun and rear bag and cheap Caldwell junior rest 50bucks and go shoot and meet some good folks and have a blast.
Frank
