Calamity Jane

[kgunz11]

Jane, did you know 2 of the most accomplished people in competitive long range shooting are women? They are actually a mother and daughter team. Nancy Thompkins and Michelle Gallagher. Google them, their accomplishments are nothing short of amazing, male or female.

There are some leaver action rifles in pistol calibers that make for awesome guns.

Have you shot a suppressed rifle yet? How about a full auto? When you guys come down for Area 6 2009 Susan and I will take a few extra days and we can all go to the range and we can show you what you've been missing!!!

[JakeMartens]

Here is a real nice shotgun for slugs and you can add an optic to it

http://www.remington.com/products/firearms..._cantilever.asp

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/189...rfire/1894C.asp

http://www.mossberg.com/products/default.a...ection=products

kind of pricey

http://www.lipseys.com/itemdetail.aspx?ite...Super+X3+Series

Good luck in your search

[hopalong]

Now that we're suggesting rifles in Pistol calibers, I'd have to let her try the Marlins. Both the 44 and the 357. The 44 also shoots the 44 special, a really nice soft load she can practice all she wants and then hunt with the 44 mag with tamed down loads if needed.

remember, pistol bullets don't perform like rifle bullets so bullet weight means a whole lot vs. speed.

Jane, If you and David can find a couple to try I would really suggest that before you buy.

Hop

Oh, and can I have your autograph ?

[Calamity Jane]

Now that we're suggesting rifles in Pistol calibers, I'd have to let her try the Marlins. Both the 44 and the 357. The 44 also shoots the 44 special, a really nice soft load she can practice all she wants and then hunt with the 44 mag with tamed down loads if needed.

remember, pistol bullets don't perform like rifle bullets so bullet weight means a whole lot vs. speed.

Jane, If you and David can find a couple to try I would really suggest that before you buy.

Hop

Oh, and can I have your autograph ?

Yes Hop...you can have my autograph...I'll put it on the picture of my dead deer

I like the sound of a level action rifle. It reminds me of the scene in the movie True Grit or Rooster Cogburn (I can't remember exactly)...where John Wayne puts the reins in his mouth and he has 2 level action rifles he shoots while riding his horse. Yeah...I like the sound of that. We ALL have a little cowboy in us.

My plan is to raid either my husband, brother, or Father's gun safe There are plenty of guns for me to use for this occasion. No need to run out and spend money yet. My husband is going to faint when he reads that last sentence

If I buy a rifle, it's going to be an AR15. I want the .22 coversion kit so I can practice cheap and shoot steel matches with it. If David won't buy me my own...I'm going to "borrow" his.

I had dry fire session #2 with the AR tonight. I was surprised at how much better I did tonight! I again did 10 reps of holding the gun on target until my arms shook. Then I took a 30 second rest and repeated. My total time tonight was 9:42. I over estimated my time last night. Last night's total time was 5:81. I held the rifle approximately 4 minutes LONGER tonight. Pretty cool. I'm going to keep it up. My technique and form I'm sure stink...but at least I'm building some muscles to hold the gun.

[Chris Conley]

Good job Jane. Throw some Crossfit in there and you'll be ready for some serious "outlaw" 3 gun! Alot of running. Matt Burkett has a good video on just the AR with some good dry fire and live fire drills.

I just got done with "Ralph" and can't hardly move now.

Chris C.

[Calamity Jane]

I did some deer hunting practice shooting with my brother today. He was supposed to come last week but was sick and couldn't make it.

We started out with the .22 to work on stance, accuracy, and different shooting positions....I passed that test pretty easy.

Next we moved on to the pistol caliber rifles. I shot a .357 Winchester rifle....LOVED IT What a cute little gun. It had a short barrel and a dot scope. Great fun to shoot. Then we moved on to the .45 long colt rifle.....LOVED IT TOO We shot 2 different loads out of that gun. One load was for cowboy shooting and the other for deer killing. I could handle either one just fine.

Next I shot my brothers model 1100 12 gauge shot gun. My brother calls it his deer knocking down gun. I shot this gun last year and HATED IT It was big, loud, and the concussion literally slapped my brain against my skull.

HOWEVER my brother assured me that he had modified the gun to make it less concussive and insisted that I shoot it. My 82 year old Dad was sitting on a bench watching. I highly suspected that I was being set up for a big laugh but I chose to trust my brother and shot the gun. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! It's NOT the same gun! There is a loud boom, make no mistake about that, but there's no concussion. My brain didn't hurt after pulling the trigger AND it makes a BIG hole at 50 yards.

So now I'm conflicted. I like the pistol caliber rifles, but they don't make a very big hole at 50 yards. The 12 g shot gun is a big bad boy that can get the job done. I KNOW I can kill a deer with that gun. So what am I to do? I like both guns.

The next step....my Bro is coming back and we are going to set a deer stand up and practice shooting from that. I'll shoot both guns again and see what I like from a tree stand. It wouldn't be good form to shoot that 12 guage shot gun AND fall out of the tree stand! Always a good idea to practice and test conditions beforehand.

I have only one frustration with all these long guns.....the trigger! It's really irritating me greatly. The triggers are so heavy the gun won't go off when I want it to. I get on target, quiet the mind, exhale, squeeze the trigger and .......nothing...squeeze the trigger and nothing.....now I'm losing my exhale and my hold is starting to wobble and the dog gone gun still hasn't gone off yet....my mind is getting irritated and then BOOM it goes off. It's REALLY IRKING ME!!! What makes it even more special is my 82 year old Dad says....you're taking to long to squeeze the trigger....that deer will be long gone before you get your shot off. To which I say...IT'S NOT ME...it's the trigger....it won't go off when I want it to Clearly this is not IPSC shooting and these guns don't have 2 lb triggers.

Great day at the range today with two of my favorite people.

[Nik Habicht]

Jane,

clearly you're going to come up with this too --- but once you decide on a gun, dryfire it while doing those holding exercises....

Also accept that when actually hunting you may lose the awareness of trigger feel --- my 1100 and AR triggers are quite a bit different from Glock triggers, but I only notice the difference in dry fire and practice. I'm never aware of it during a match --- too busy focusing on sights or finding targets, or stuffing more shells into the 1100....

I just snatched the 1100 out of the safe and played with it for a minute. If I really use my left arm to pull the gun straight back into the shoulder, keeping my right arm more relaxed, and placing the right hand in such a position that my trigger finger can move freely by itself, I can keep the gun steady on a lightswitch across the room while yanking the trigger hard. The keys seem to be the lack of excess tension in the right arm and hand, and that the trigger finger can move by itself. My hand position needed to change from it was when I initially picked up the gun.....

[Chris Conley]

GO WITH WHAT EVER YOU HAVE THE MOST CONFIDENCE IN. They should all do the job. I have hunted alot over the years and I try and keep it a game. I've shot alot with a high power rifle, but anymore I'll use my tac shotgun I use in 3 gun and shoot slugs or my muzzle loader. I like the muzzle loader the best because you only have one shot. The way they make them now they are just as accurate as a rifle. Then again I have confidence in both. Make it fun no matter what you do.

Chris C.

[Calamity Jane]

Jane,

clearly you're going to come up with this too --- but once you decide on a gun, dryfire it while doing those holding exercises....

I can keep the gun steady on a lightswitch across the room while yanking the trigger hard.

Yep, you are right about the dry fire. It's true I don't have the gun in my gun safe that I will be shooting (using the Bro's guns), but I could pick something similar to work with to get a feel for trigger pull.

"Yanking the trigger hard" Oh my, that certainly goes against everything I know....it's sort of like at Nationals when I had to aim into the berm to knock down 30 yd poppers! .....it may not seem right....but it may get the job done. I'll know more once I start dry firing and actually start pulling the trigger. Right now all I'm doing in dry fire is holding the gun.

[Calamity Jane]

GO WITH WHAT EVER YOU HAVE THE MOST CONFIDENCE IN.

Make it fun no matter what you do.

Chris C.

I think the tree stand exercise will be the determining factor. Whatever gun feels the best shooting out of the tree will be the winner.

It's always fun! I'm trying to think of a time when I didn't have fun shooting. I've been hot, wet, and cold and it doesn't seem to matter...I always love it. I feel more fully alive when I shoot. I don't understand why or how that happens....it just is.

[kgunz11]

Jane, sorry for the hi-jack, but this is the 7mm-08 I just had built. Pics are crappy but the digicam was acting up on me and died after these 2 pics.

[Calamity Jane]

Nice Gun...I particularly like the paint job.

We had a USPSA match on Sunday (results still pending). It felt really good to shoot even though I had a few mikes. My lack of practice is starting to show in my shooting. The good news is...I punched another "A" card classifier. Nailed El Prez with what I believe will be an 80%. I don't think that's enough to get me to the A card yet...but I'm starting to show a trend of shooting A classifiers without much difficulty.

I plan to shoot one more USPSA match. One more shot at an A classifier. If I get another one in the bank next month...that might be enough to get me the A card by the end of the year. It sure would be sweet if I could mark that off my list.

[kgunz11]

Congrats on the classifier!

The paint job was done in my garage with Krylon. My buddy calls it Camillaflauge (the town I live in is called Camilla).

My wife Susan recently attended the "Babes with Bullets" class in Phenix and is hooked. She has already booked the Louisiana class now in hopes of it being a little more advanced. She's thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread and wanted me to thank you for being an inspiration to women shooters, I personally wanted to thank you for being an inspiration to all of us as shooters. Your hard work is paying off and it is nice to be able to read about it.

[rupie]

Nice Gun...I particularly like the paint job.

We had a USPSA match on Sunday (results still pending). It felt really good to shoot even though I had a few mikes. My lack of practice is starting to show in my shooting. The good news is...I punched another "A" card classifier. Nailed El Prez with what I believe will be an 80%. I don't think that's enough to get me to the A card yet...but I'm starting to show a trend of shooting A classifiers without much difficulty.

I plan to shoot one more USPSA match. One more shot at an A classifier. If I get another one in the bank next month...that might be enough to get me the A card by the end of the year. It sure would be sweet if I could mark that off my list.

Do you remember how fast you shot the el prez? I shot one for a classifier with decent hits Sunday in 8 seconds, which didn't seem bad but a master shooter did it in 5.

[hopalong]

Hey Jane,

Congrats on beihg able to "Run" even after a lay-off. Nothing to it once you get your head out of the way Huh?

On your pistol caliber rifles.

See if you can find a friend who loads .45 colt. It can be loaded up to .44mag capabilities if done by a competent reloader. THAT is what I would take with me.

Hop

[Calamity Jane]

Nice Gun...I particularly like the paint job.

We had a USPSA match on Sunday (results still pending). It felt really good to shoot even though I had a few mikes. My lack of practice is starting to show in my shooting. The good news is...I punched another "A" card classifier. Nailed El Prez with what I believe will be an 80%. I don't think that's enough to get me to the A card yet...but I'm starting to show a trend of shooting A classifiers without much difficulty.

I plan to shoot one more USPSA match. One more shot at an A classifier. If I get another one in the bank next month...that might be enough to get me the A card by the end of the year. It sure would be sweet if I could mark that off my list.

Do you remember how fast you shot the el prez? I shot one for a classifier with decent hits Sunday in 8 seconds, which didn't seem bad but a master shooter did it in 5.

I'm STILL WAITING for the results of the match to be posted so that I can confirm my score.

What I believe I did....6.19 sec with 59 points.

The points might have been 58...that's what I need to confirm. I also need to confirm the 6.19.... that's what the hubby told me I ran it in. I wasn't really paying attention.

I think I've got 5's in me However, I'll need to develop a little bit more to make that happen

[Calamity Jane]

Hey Jane,

Congrats on beihg able to "Run" even after a lay-off. Nothing to it once you get your head out of the way Huh?

On your pistol caliber rifles.

See if you can find a friend who loads .45 colt. It can be loaded up to .44mag capabilities if done by a competent reloader. THAT is what I would take with me.

Hop

Yep...you've got that right Hop. My biggest success this year has been that I've figured out my own head

My Bro can make that load

[Calamity Jane]

The scores are up from Wabash Valley Practical Pistol Shooter's match at Riley.

I did a 6.17 with 58 points...which is a 9.4003 HF...which is a 79.1271% classifier.

I also got another HOA in the bank.

[XRe]

I did a 6.17 with 58 points...which is a 9.4003 HF...which is a 79.1271% classifier.

I also got another HOA in the bank.

Excellent...

[Calamity Jane]

The Bro came by today and set a deer stand so I can practice from it.

I think I'll start with shooting the 10/22 out of it....then when I'm nice and comfy doing that....I'm going to move to the 20 g shot gun.

It's going to be great being able to practice getting in and out of the tree....practicing with the safety harness...practicing shooting from various positions. I can hardly wait.

Ok...it's time to answer the question...why I'm so focused on killing a deer.

Last year I saw something like 7 doe and one buck while hunting....ALL of them out of my kill zone. I got a really good look at the buck through my scope and the old man gave me a shot but I chose not to take it. He looked right at me as if to say...go ahead and try to take the shot....all the while knowing I wouldn't.

Now some people could let that go and move on with their lives, but not me. I'm not going to have the memory of some horny headed deer telling me I can't take the shot. Therefore, I must train to win, and kill the deer. It's that simple.

Right now I'm sipping on a Hot Toddy trying to shake the last few days of a sinus/sore throat cold I've had for a week.

I hope to get into that deer stand sometime this weekend for some practice.

[kgunz11]

I too am itching for a hunting trip I've been looking forward too all year. I've never been out of state deer hunting before but this year I am going to spend opening week of rifle season in Kentucky, hunting with my bow none the less!!!

Good luck in your pursuit Jane, and remember, "the journey is the reward".

[SharonAnne9x23]

Hi Jane

After using one for several years hunting deer, I can recommend the 6.5x55 in a light carbine. The best modern equivalent would be the .260 Remington in the Model 7. Put on a nice 1.5-6x scope and you are ready for any deer on the planet.

For the doubters, the 6.5x55 is VERY popular for elk in Finland. In Europe, what they call elk are what we call moose.

[Al Capizzo]

He looked right at me as if to say...go ahead and try to take the shot....all the while knowing I wouldn't.

Now some people could let that go and move on with their lives, but not me. I'm not going to have the memory of some horny headed deer telling me I can't take the shot. Therefore, I must train to win, and kill the deer. It's that simple.

No doubt you've seen this, maybe it applies here. That po' old buck's in for a surprise!

Edited October 31, 2008 by Al Capizzo

[AikiDale]

Last year I saw something like 7 doe and one buck while hunting....ALL of them out of my kill zone. I got a really good look at the buck through my scope and the old man gave me a shot but I chose not to take it. He looked right at me as if to say...go ahead and try to take the shot....all the while knowing I wouldn't.

Now some people could let that go and move on with their lives, but not me. I'm not going to have the memory of some horny headed deer telling me I can't take the shot. Therefore, I must train to win, and kill the deer. It's that simple.

?

[kgunz11]

Hi Jane

After using one for several years hunting deer, I can recommend the 6.5x55 in a light carbine. The best modern equivalent would be the .260 Remington in the Model 7. Put on a nice 1.5-6x scope and you are ready for any deer on the planet.

For the doubters, the 6.5x55 is VERY popular for elk in Finland. In Europe, what they call elk are what we call moose.

I don't think rifle calibers are allowed where she lives.

I sure hope she never picks up a bow, there ARE 3D tournaments up there...