Alternate title: How I accidentally got to shoot with Gene Econ
Friday at work, co-worker Scott was saying he wanted to take me to the range where he’s got a new membership to help him sight in his AR. Day set. Time set. The pickup was made and away we went.
Earlier that morning I had made some optic swaps I’d been meaning to do for a long time, and by golly, I just happened to be going to the range, so of course I had to sight them in. (All pics are click to enlarge)
A BSA holosight optic came off the Ruger 22/45 (which is now a true training pistol for newbies)
And went onto the 10/22
A 30mm BSA RedDot went off the 10/22 and onto the 11-87
The old irons off the Ruger MKII 10in (which were replaced long ago by Williams Firesights)
Went onto the 22/45.
Scott is also heavily addicted to The Hun Bastard and had never shot an SKS. So, many long gun cases were filled and ammo stacked into the rolling shooting box (aka: The R2 Unit) along with a benchrest and rear bag for sighting purposes and off I went.
We arrive and unpack. We set up our target boards and wait for the only other person on the line to take a break. He isn’t. This guy is in the zone and on a mission. He’s at the other end of the line and facing away so waving isn’t going to get his attention and he can’t hear us talking, so I take a walk.
Pro shooting vest, spotting scope, etc., and a very funky AR based precision rifle are on the bench. So is a half burned cigar. As I’m walking up the guy stands up and he is under 5’10” but could probably benchpress a horse. Then it hit me. I look to my right and check the vehicle.
“Excuse me, Mr. Econ.”
He turns around, hands are shaken and greetings given. I hit the downrange signal and have some small talk with Gene while Scott sets boards.
The 10/22 and the 11-87 are set for 50yds. The Hun is still dead-nuts @ 100 and with the BDC built into the 4x Hensoldt ZF-24, is good out to 600.
Scott is learning that 55gr ammo doesn’t sight-in too well in a gun with a twist rate for 62gr, but the basic zero is there and 62gr ammo is en route.
I got to say howdy to Gene and watch him chono his new 6.5 wildcat cartridge.
Not a bad day at all, I must admit.
I hope you told Major Econ that you want to be Student #1 at his clinic next year…
I already was one of his students, RD. I’ve still got the handbook and take it with me in my rifle range box to every range session.
That’s pretty cool 🙂
Quite an impressive resume. Sounds like an exceptional range day!
Congrats on your chance meeting with a legend, I’m jealous.
I’m surprised that you removed the holosight from the pistol and now say it’s a newbie training device. I’ve had tremendous success using a dot sight on my Ruger Mk1 with newbies. After the safety lesson, I just instruct to find the dot and place it on the target, then then keep it there as they squeeze the trigger. I can concentrate on keeping their form correct and watching their trigger squeeze without adding iron sight alignment to the tasks. Soon they are bouncing cans with great regularity, often before the end of the first magazine. After a few mags, they are screaming for more of this kind of fun then I explain the iron sight. They seem to pick it up so much faster when I do it in that order, rather than the other way around. Nothing breeds success, like success, and it works for me equally with rifle or pistol.