Shooting for fun?

[GrouseWhisperer]

I am getting flamed for shooting for fun to see what my guns can do, have we lost the enjoyment of seeing what our guns can do? I remember as a kid we would shoot hundreds and hundreds of rounds just to shoot and we would learn what we could do. I would shoot tin cans at 100 yards with an old 22LR Cooey 82 trainer and iron sights. We would shoot saplings down at close range just to see them fall. We would shoot center fire rifles for hours and until our shoulders were blue and figure out what we actually had.

I just picked up an SKS, so much fun, not accurate as of yet but a riot. Bringing out the 410 has made me enjoy testing things again and reloading once again has brought back my joy of learning about shooting, the history behind it and brought back the respect of a "baby" gun.

I am waiting on a shipment from Cabelas of a new scope for my 22LR, going to setup some targets at 100,200 and 300 yards to see what I can do prone off a bipod, why? Just because I can.

Does anyone else play with their guns at the range or do we all just punch enough paper to know we will hit a deer at 100 yards and be done with it.

Well, for starters...I'm not sure who "flamed" you or why, but having read this entire thread..I think I've sorted it out. If you're wondering whether or not shooters like ME are in your corner? H*LL yes! Listen~I flew across Canada last spring to spend 7 full days shooting gophers is Southern Alberta. The amount of time and $ I spent on that trip and preparing for it? I'm sure your garden-variety Ontario big-game hunter would scoff at it. lol If THAT'S not shooting for shooting's sake, I'm not sure what is. We did such a good job on those properties that we've been invited back. Not sure the 2017 budget will allow for it unfortunately (airfare/car rental) but we'll see. Anyhow, 99.9% of the shooting I do really is for the heck of it and yes...allot of it is owed to a child-like obsession I have with seeing things rearranged from a distance. Started with slingshots as a young kid, borrowed air pistol, cheap/powerful spring piston Chinese air rifle, 22 LR, inherited 12ga...then I turned 17. lol It's only really grown from then to more of the same, only with better guns that have more reach. I love guns themselves, the heft, the smell, cleaning them, shooting them, teaching others to shoot them, etc. etc. They play a big role in my life, yet I've never been deer/bear/moose hunting...nor do I have plans to. (deer maybe )

Calibers matter less, but, when it comes to prolonged shooting sessions (which I prefer) I've always loved rimfires for a host of reasons. Cost, low-noise, low-recoil, challenge, great for teaching new shooters, etc. I have and use .22s most, but also play with 17M2 and 17HMR from time to time. Had a 22WMR for a couple of years, sold it off when the .223 took over for groundhog duty. Speaking of groundhogs...yes...another thing I love to shoot and because of that pastime.. have forged great relationships with several farmers. In fact, spoke to one at lunch time today, he's asked me to head out there on the weekend to rid his barn of pigeons. In the truck will be my air rifle, 12ga, sling shot and an ammo can full of 1/2" ball bearings. Not the first time I've had this request.


Varmint stuff aside, I've had almost as much fun shooting clays (12ga), frozen vegetables/pop cans / balloons / paper targets with the rimfires and in the last year or so, my "new" 1954 Russian SKS. Fought the temptation to buy one for a decade or so then one day last spring, I suddenly wondered why I kept putting it off. I only shoot non-corrosive ammo through it, and the only upgrade (beside a significant cleaning/de-cosmoline process) was an upgraded front sight post. (steel, finer "target" post) I sure wouldn't describe it as "minute of barn door" either. Off an improvised rest, I watched my buddy put 5 rounds in a 1-1/2" circle at 60 yards with mine last spring shortly after I got it. Is it my .223 shooting lovingly-prepared hand loads into 1 ragged hole @ 100 yards? No, but a ton of fun just the same. I know I've turned at least one shooter into an SKS fan after letting him run mine one afternoon. He now has one of his own!


So yes...add me to the list of shooters who like shooting for the SAKE of shooting. Only thing holding me back from other rifles/calibers is my budget, or lack of it. I was fortunate enough to try a friend's Marlin 1895G in 45/70 last year and while I have ZERO need for a 45/70, I've thought about that gun nearly every day since. Talk about rearranging things from a distance. Pull the trigger on that rifle, in that caliber...wow. Talk about a feast for the senses. Hefty recoil, slick lever action, a cigar-tube-sized brass case ejecting from the side of this compact little beauty..the "want" factor is a huge!

[Fox]

So yes...add me to the list of shooters who like shooting for the SAKE of shooting. Only thing holding me back from other rifles/calibers is my budget, or lack of it. I was fortunate enough to try a friend's Marlin 1895G in 45/70 last year and while I have ZERO need for a 45/70, I've thought about that gun nearly every day since. Talk about rearranging things from a distance. Pull the trigger on that rifle, in that caliber...wow. Talk about a feast for the senses. Hefty recoil, slick lever action, a cigar-tube-sized brass case ejecting from the side of this compact little beauty..the "want" factor is a huge!

I wish my shoulder was in better shape, heavy recoil was what I loved, shooting the 30-06 at 12 was awesome. The 45-70 does not really have all that much sharp recoil, it is more of a push, I had the chance to shoot one at the gun club, the worst recoil is the turkey loads by far, makes slugs feel like a joke.

[GrouseWhisperer]

I wish my shoulder was in better shape, heavy recoil was what I loved, shooting the 30-06 at 12 was awesome. The 45-70 does not really have all that much sharp recoil, it is more of a push, I had the chance to shoot one at the gun club, the worst recoil is the turkey loads by far, makes slugs feel like a joke.

^I would agree with that statement! lol 45/70 is more than a push, but nowhere near what a 3-1/2" turkey load is. Even the 3" turkey loads aren't much fun. In fact, my buddy's Remington 11-87 SuperMag didn't even survive the 3-1/2" turkey loads he fed it while patterning early last spring.

A few years ago, I was at a range beside a guy sighting in the scope on his slug gun, shooting 3". Cheap scope too, not enough eye relief...small-framed/light guy~you know the rest. I suspect he drove right to the hospital after he left the range to get his eyebrow put back together. He seemed more disappointed that he wouldn't have the gun set-up so I offered to take-over while he spotted. We got it sorted out.

[Fox]

^I would agree with that statement! lol 45/70 is more than a push, but nowhere near what a 3-1/2" turkey load is. Even the 3" turkey loads aren't much fun. In fact, my buddy's Remington 11-87 SuperMag didn't even survive the 3-1/2" turkey loads he fed it while patterning early last spring.

A few years ago, I was at a range beside a guy sighting in the scope on his slug gun, shooting 3". Cheap scope too, not enough eye relief...small-framed/light guy~you know the rest. I suspect he drove right to the hospital after he left the range to get his eyebrow put back together. He seemed more disappointed that he wouldn't have the gun set-up so I offered to take-over while he spotted. We got it sorted out.

I sighted in my 870 prone for deer season, scope just tapped my shooting glasses :O.

If it could not handle the 3 1/2" it was not made right, I have been shooting my 870 for 16 years, really shooting it, target loads, 3 1/2" waterfowl loads, slugs, up to heavy turkey loads, I have had 1 ejector rail (locks in the barrels) crack and need to be replaced in all that time, that and one barrel I bought used had a sticky chamber and needed a steel wool polish but that is all. That ejector rail thing he suspected was because the barrels may not have been really tight, this is a known problem on the 870.

30-06 with a hard plastic butt plate, 180gr, no problem at all, fun to shoot and better as an express with open sights, I still love the open sights.

[GW11]

^I would agree with that statement! lol 45/70 is more than a push, but nowhere near what a 3-1/2" turkey load is. Even the 3" turkey loads aren't much fun. In fact, my buddy's Remington 11-87 SuperMag didn't even survive the 3-1/2" turkey loads he fed it while patterning early last spring.

A few years ago, I was at a range beside a guy sighting in the scope on his slug gun, shooting 3". Cheap scope too, not enough eye relief...small-framed/light guy~you know the rest. I suspect he drove right to the hospital after he left the range to get his eyebrow put back together. He seemed more disappointed that he wouldn't have the gun set-up so I offered to take-over while he spotted. We got it sorted out.

That's part of the fun with a .45-70. Some loads will seriously rattle your fillings and others are very mild mannered. The 405 grain Remington CoreLokts don't seem to have any more recoil than a .30-30. Like you, I didn't have any real need for a .45-70 either, but I bought an 1895G a little less than 2 years ago because I just had to scratch the big-bore itch. Aside from being fun on the range it's the nicest "carrying" rifle I have. Especially with just a set of peep sights.

If you've been thinking about one that much you need one more than you think....

[Fox]

That's part of the fun with a .45-70. Some loads will seriously rattle your fillings and others are very mild mannered. The 405 grain Remington CoreLokts don't seem to have any more recoil than a .30-30. Like you, I didn't have any real need for a .45-70 either, but I bought an 1895G a little less than 2 years ago because I just had to scratch the big-bore itch. Aside from being fun on the range it's the nicest "carrying" rifle I have. Especially with just a set of peep sights.

If you've been thinking about one that much you need one more than you think....

Most companies load the 45-70 down for older guns, I know a few people who hot load them in the newer lever guns, those hurt.

[patvetzal]

And some of us older fellas used to legally do this with handguns, even ones with 3" barrels or 32 and 25 caliber.....

[duckslayer]

Lets get things straight here, read the threads over again, not one person "flamed" you for shooting for fun, they flamed you for the way you posted your trolling threads. Had you posted things in a different manner your threads would have turned out much better for you and you would even be able to show your face on CGN again without the shame that you obviously have now.


Not one person on THIS site or CGN is going to flame anyone for shooting for fun!! Posting up trolling threads on the other hand, you had better wear a flame retardant suit and have a backbone to back it up instead of tucking tail and running...........


Then you come into a different section and twist things around again.......no one flamed you for "shooting for fun".

[NoBush]

I shoot for fun its called warming up for hunt seasons . I showed a friend my full wood Enfield 2A in 762 and he said what in the H%ll are you going to do with that ?? I said go out in the bush and have fun

[GrouseWhisperer]

That's part of the fun with a .45-70. Some loads will seriously rattle your fillings and others are very mild mannered. The 405 grain Remington CoreLokts don't seem to have any more recoil than a .30-30. Like you, I didn't have any real need for a .45-70 either, but I bought an 1895G a little less than 2 years ago because I just had to scratch the big-bore itch. Aside from being fun on the range it's the nicest "carrying" rifle I have. Especially with just a set of peep sights.

If you've been thinking about one that much you need one more than you think....

^I'll let my wife know. I suspect she'll notice the $1,000 on the credit card statement. lol The Marlin 1895G has given me a reason to start visiting Bass Pro again...to give that rifle a hug. I used one to shoot gophers in Alberta last spring. Not for long, ammo is too $$$ but it was fun when I did connect. Agreed, just handling one brings a smile to your face. Great size/weight/balance.