I’m a 1,000-Yard Man

I’m back from the Bower Clinic. Highlights (for me) of what these three guys helped me to achieve include:

— I repeatedly hit the 660-yard angle iron with one of my Encore .308 pistols, which I had never shot prior to the clinic;

— Split a bullet on the 660-yard angle iron with another fellow’s truly sweeet XP-100 pistol. This was the first time anyone has split a bullet on the angle iron using a Harris bipod.

— Made several hits at 1,000 yards with another XP-100;

— Zeroed one of my Encore pistols at 200 yards, then without clicking, used the Burris Ballistic Plex reticle to make a first-shot connection on a steel plate at 350 yards;

— Watched the owner of the XP-100 zero it at 200 yards, then spotted for him as he clicked up and made a first-shot connection at 1,000 yards, within inches of the bullseye. Had I been able to give him a good wind correction, he would have nailed the bull on the first shot.

— Zeroed my other Encore pistol at 600 yards and proceeded to hit the 600-yard plate with twenty-two shots out of about twenty-eight, in windy afternoon conditions – including a hand-sized group on the bullseye.

This was truly an event where the unbelievable became not merely ordinary, but commonplace. Two of the attendees (including me) had never shot a specialty pistol before the clinic. In less than two days, the instructors had us doing things with a handgun we hadn’t imagined. By day three, the shorter-range targets had lost interest for everyone, and we were working beyond 500 yards all the time.

(Oh yeah, and just for giggles on a break the owner and manufacturer of the incredibly accurate MOA Maximum single-shot falling-block pistols — and a true gentleman in the old-fashioned sense of the word – helped me repeatedly nail a two-foot steel plate with my iron-sighted 4″ Ruger Security-Six — at 350 yards.)

I’ll have much more to post about this trip once I get the pictures developed… and yes, the instructors have used and do use their systems for varmint and big-game hunting. They’ve made humane kills at astonishing (to me) ranges with these poor man’s sniper rifles specialty pistols.

The main point is, I’m about as much of a novice at this as anybody could be. If I was able to do the above things, it just proves that with the proper instruction, anyone can! Yes, that means you!

UPDATE: Here are reports of Day 1 and Days 2 and 3. Here’s a bunch of relevant links, including the Don Bower article.