[SlowToady]

Pretty much completely agree with you. When I was shooting all the time, there were always older gentleman with Anschutz target rigs and other make target guns on the range, and everyone thought they were Carlos Hathcock or something. I was shooting my trusty Remington 597T and one of the guys started slak-jawin' and pointin' at me and my "cheap" gun. I offered to go a few rounds with him and he took me up on it. Shot an aspirin @100yds. and shut him up.

On the topic of true riflemen, I recall a story (a few) years ago in Guns and Ammo of hunting deer in Texas with gun smith David Miller. Miller, with one of his custom 7mm rigs setup with a bi-pod, in sitting position, shot a deer through the lungs at 550 yards. As the deer bolted, he cycled the bolt and put another through the lungs, again at 550 yards. This time moving.

Now *that* is impressive!

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

The point is, this is more of a test of equipment than of shooter. I'm glad some one does it, as it holds no interest for me, but it does serve to improve the breed (again, rifles, not shooters). Far more telling is how a guy can do with a real rifle (one you can carry around with you) from field positions, at unknown ranges, on the first shot, when in a bit of a hurry. Guys that can hit consistantly under those conditions are riflemen. The other guys only think they are.