Mike Bryant
Active member
you may have already seen this as I received it in an e-mail about a month ago, found it today and thought it was good enough to pass on to the benchrest.com shooters.
Subject: Some things I've come to suspect
1.No one really cares if you’re shooting very poorly or very well. So boring them with the details isn’t really going do much good, although it might make you feel better. Besides, there’s a certain satisfaction in annoying your friends.
2.Neck tension varies like the moods of a teenager. Or a benchrest shooter.
3.No one remembers who came in 2nd the match before, and they probably won’t remember who came in 1st, unless they came in 2nd.
4.The only reason anyone will listen to 7 minutes of someone’s, “I had 4 in a bughole at last months match” speech is so that they can top that with 9 minutes of “come look at this dot I just shot in practice“ speech.
5.It is possible to “feel in the recoil” when a load is getting too hot before it actually blows up on target. A barking gun, like a barking dog, may be ready to leave a nasty mark.
6.A moral victory is better then no victory.
7.The people who claim to shoot only for fun still crowd around the stat sheet looking at how they finished – just like everyone else.
8.The sizes of neck sizing bushings are like first dates – they aren’t necessary who they say they are.
9.Sometimes when life interferes with your shooting and you lose focus and desire, it’s good to wander around the wilderness until you feel recharged and like attacking it again. The Israelites did this and it didn’t kill them. In fact, they’re now armed with nukes! (well, they haven’t confirmed nor denied anyways, but we know, don't we?)
10.What we lack in talent, we can somewhat compensate for by practice, an attention to detail, and a boat load of hot barrels.
11.If you shoot a tiny group and have time left, it’s not a bad idea to shoot those left over rounds on the sighter to see if they’re about to go non-linear on you.
12.Benchrest shooters can tinker, compete, or socialize but it hard to do all three.
13.If you really have the urge to hit a far away match, then the only thing worse then enduring nights in run down motels, hours in the truck listening to your favorite worn out CDs, and gallons of truck stop coffee, is not doing it.
14.The length of the ride home is not measured in miles but in how many spots out of first place you finished.
15.You’re competing against people who are shooting in 20 matches a year now. Maybe it’s better to compete against yourself. At least that way you’re evenly matched.
16.The best advice to heed when dealing with BR shooters is to be careful which ones you accept advice from.
17.Sometimes you can shoot through a condition, sometimes you can’t. Pretend you’re Ronald Regan and trust, but verify.
18.You wouldn’t want your bullet maker to touch your itty bitty copper wrapped lightening bolts of glory with dirty hands, so don’t assemble your ammo that way.
19.Don’t take winning for granted. It’s too hard to climb that ladder and too easy to fall off.
20.Don’t take losing to heart. Dan Marino never won the Super Bowl either but he’s in the football HOF.
21.Don’t pat yourself on the back if your family puts up with you spending a ton of dough and time outside of the home. It just means you’re so obnoxious that your absence is preferable to you being home mowing the yard every weekend like a normal human.
22.There is a very high level of satisfaction in working up a load that will stay in tune throughout a match. And it’s almost as fulfilling as outliving an ex-wife.
23.The experience of a match is worth ten practices. See 15. above.
24.The experience of a practice is worth ten bull sessions.
25.The experience of a good bull session is entertaining, enlightening, or enjoyable, but seldom all three.
26.We tend to forget that this started out as being fun.
27.The worst powder in the world is the stuff you just bought.
28.Many matches have been won and much hair lost by boat tail bullets.
29.A powder measure’s consistency is directly related to one’s tension level.
Subject: Some things I've come to suspect
1.No one really cares if you’re shooting very poorly or very well. So boring them with the details isn’t really going do much good, although it might make you feel better. Besides, there’s a certain satisfaction in annoying your friends.
2.Neck tension varies like the moods of a teenager. Or a benchrest shooter.
3.No one remembers who came in 2nd the match before, and they probably won’t remember who came in 1st, unless they came in 2nd.
4.The only reason anyone will listen to 7 minutes of someone’s, “I had 4 in a bughole at last months match” speech is so that they can top that with 9 minutes of “come look at this dot I just shot in practice“ speech.
5.It is possible to “feel in the recoil” when a load is getting too hot before it actually blows up on target. A barking gun, like a barking dog, may be ready to leave a nasty mark.
6.A moral victory is better then no victory.
7.The people who claim to shoot only for fun still crowd around the stat sheet looking at how they finished – just like everyone else.
8.The sizes of neck sizing bushings are like first dates – they aren’t necessary who they say they are.
9.Sometimes when life interferes with your shooting and you lose focus and desire, it’s good to wander around the wilderness until you feel recharged and like attacking it again. The Israelites did this and it didn’t kill them. In fact, they’re now armed with nukes! (well, they haven’t confirmed nor denied anyways, but we know, don't we?)
10.What we lack in talent, we can somewhat compensate for by practice, an attention to detail, and a boat load of hot barrels.
11.If you shoot a tiny group and have time left, it’s not a bad idea to shoot those left over rounds on the sighter to see if they’re about to go non-linear on you.
12.Benchrest shooters can tinker, compete, or socialize but it hard to do all three.
13.If you really have the urge to hit a far away match, then the only thing worse then enduring nights in run down motels, hours in the truck listening to your favorite worn out CDs, and gallons of truck stop coffee, is not doing it.
14.The length of the ride home is not measured in miles but in how many spots out of first place you finished.
15.You’re competing against people who are shooting in 20 matches a year now. Maybe it’s better to compete against yourself. At least that way you’re evenly matched.
16.The best advice to heed when dealing with BR shooters is to be careful which ones you accept advice from.
17.Sometimes you can shoot through a condition, sometimes you can’t. Pretend you’re Ronald Regan and trust, but verify.
18.You wouldn’t want your bullet maker to touch your itty bitty copper wrapped lightening bolts of glory with dirty hands, so don’t assemble your ammo that way.
19.Don’t take winning for granted. It’s too hard to climb that ladder and too easy to fall off.
20.Don’t take losing to heart. Dan Marino never won the Super Bowl either but he’s in the football HOF.
21.Don’t pat yourself on the back if your family puts up with you spending a ton of dough and time outside of the home. It just means you’re so obnoxious that your absence is preferable to you being home mowing the yard every weekend like a normal human.
22.There is a very high level of satisfaction in working up a load that will stay in tune throughout a match. And it’s almost as fulfilling as outliving an ex-wife.
23.The experience of a match is worth ten practices. See 15. above.
24.The experience of a practice is worth ten bull sessions.
25.The experience of a good bull session is entertaining, enlightening, or enjoyable, but seldom all three.
26.We tend to forget that this started out as being fun.
27.The worst powder in the world is the stuff you just bought.
28.Many matches have been won and much hair lost by boat tail bullets.
29.A powder measure’s consistency is directly related to one’s tension level.