Nah, I'd never try that... Once you pull the trigger, you can't catch it, if it's slightly off course, not with that kind of muzzle-velocity...

I knew how to shoot anyway, but I got good at it in the Army. Before the Army, I was shooting lizards, snakes, birds at rest, birds in flight, cans, etc with my handy-dandy Daisy 880. If you can pop a lizard from 30 feet with a BB/pellet, you can hit a man-sized silhouette from 900+ feet.

When I got the M-16 zero'd, I was a natural...

I always shot "expert" with pop-up, and fixed targets at ranges up to 300 meters with iron sights. With the M-60, I was also an expert, taking out targets 800 meters out. I was also an expert with the M0293 grenade launcher and I was the Battalion claymore mine instructor.

When it comes to weapons, I was pretty good.
I bet I can still disassemble and reassemble an M-16A1 or A2 in under 45 seconds (Not counting the sling), right down to the firing pin, and back.

That's why I knew the beltway sniper was ex (or current) military; one shot, one kill. It seems his counterpart was well-trained as well, as far as shooting goes.

 

Rock Island Arsenal. That's it, that's who I was trying to think of. $350 brand spankin new.

 

Yeah, about that.

 

Ruger P89. Can't beat the value, reliability, and service of Ruger.

 

He was a mechanic in the military, not a sniper. The only time he probably touched a gun was in his yearly qualifications, and maybe a bit in the Gulf War if he was forward deployed.

He was using a AR-15 with a scope, not that hard to make kill shots with that considering he probably was within 100 meters of an unsuspecting target.

Had he picked a better rifle, and shot from longer ranges he would have never gotten cought.

 

That freaked people out in this area. People would not gas up their cars because they were scared of him. It was interesting to watch how people dealt with the situation. I can remember gasing up and being the only guy leaning against my car waiting for it to fill...people would get back in their cars or wait to go to a station further away from I-95.

 

I shoot this:

At distances up to this:

That's 600 yards away. Those white specks in the distance are the targets, the ten ring is 12 inches wide, and the X ring is 6 inches wide. With sling support only, no rests or bags. It's not as easy as some folks make it out to be.

 

Nope, it's not easy at all; that's why there are so few experts, even fewer hawkeyes, and hardly any snipers.

600 yards with no scope, that's pretty impressive. How tight is your shot group? Push that out another 400+ yards, and you'll be on an M-60 range. (No scopes on any Army rifles, unless you're SF, or a sniper or something...)

Our target goal was 3 shots in a 10 cm circle from 250 M/ Roughly 750 feet. That was the minimum to consider your weapon "zeroed".

But, back to the Beltway Sniper, every soldier is an infantryman first. We are all taught the basics, hince the term "basic" training. From there, many others go on to learn their jobs, whereas other go on to become professional infantrymen. Nevertheless, each soldier is required to "qualify" on their weapon twice a year (minimum), under various circumstances. No excuses, it can be blazing hot, windy, rainy, snowing, etc.. Whatever you shoot, that's what you shoot. No "my weapon jammed" excuses either... You'll still get to fire, the ones you fire outside the time window, simply don't count- you're only clearing your weapon.

One would think it'd be easier to shoot from the fox hole/supported position, but I actually fired better in the prone, unsupported position- after employing a tip the Drill SGT taught us.

We all had the same training, but it was ironic to see how many jokers could barely qualify on the M-16, and you only had to hit 23/40 to be a "marksman" and 36/40 to be an expert (M-16A1), and 28/40, and 38/40 with the A-2. Hawkeye was always 40/40.

But, I guarantee you this, you'll meet 10,000 regular soldiers before you meet one real sniper... In 10 years, active duty, I never met one. I saw the sniper-school buildign at one of my duty stations, so I know they exist, I've just never seen one.

I went every chance I got, I loved going to the ranges. It beat the hell out of sitting/working/bulls**tting in the motor pool all the time.

 

I've only shot full course (200, 300, 600 yards) once this year; I shot a 146-1X out of 200.

I guess if you're talking the Army's rifle qualification, no, it's not that difficult to clean since we're shooting at a relatively big target from a relatively short range. Popping a target from 100 yards away with a scoped rifle is a cakewalk.

 

So the beltway sniper "had" to be a former enlisted man simply because he could hit his target from relatively short range?

Even I can shoot sub MOA groups with the right equipment, and I've never been in the military.

 

Best advice so far.

Just got off the range today with 31 students. A mixture of weapons including glocks and Sigs. First time shooter, never fired a handgun quailified with 238 of a possible 250. Glock is a good weapon.

My choice is a Sig. Just because for a duty, utility weapon, it's the best out of the box. You can shoot alot of rounds through it and it only gets better and smoother. Different sizes to choose from, for those with the big hands and the smallest. But just my choice now, because that's what I carry.

Shot a 1911 for years. Never really had a cleaning issue. In fact most of the time on a week long qualification and training, would never clean the weapon. Helped to tighten it up. Most of the problems I have seen are related to bad ammo. Had the best feel in my hand of any weapon I have shot.

Highly recommend a revolver for the first time hand gun shooter. Like has been said already.

But regardless of what you decide on; practice. Get to know your weapon inside and out. Take a shooting course, or better yet if you can, go the CCW route.

And finally, do not point that weapon at anyone unless you are mentally prepared to take a life. Nothing worse than a home owner being shot by his own weapon because he or she hesitated to fire.

Practice good weapon safety. If you have kids, don't hide the weapon from them. Teach them gun safety!!!!! Teach them to shoot. It takes the mystery out of it.

Regardless of what you decide on, welcome to the world of gun ownership.

 

yeah, I am not a newbie with respect to guns, just handguns, I've hunted since I was quite young and consider myself very safe with them. One can never be too careful with a firearm. One thing I plan to do when/if I ever have children is teach them about the guns and show them what a gun can do to a mellon. A little respectful fear of firearms can't hurt!

Like I said, this will just be a recreational gun, if I ever had a home invasion situation I would reach for the shotgun first. Just the sound of loading that thing could scare someone off.

 

Well, as it turn out, he was ex-military, and maybe they didn't disclose it down here, but I don't know what range he was shooting from, but I know the pictures they showed here, showed he was shooting from the trunk of a car, throgh two holes, one for the barrell, one for the sight (Or scope, I didn't know he had a scope).

Point is, most people can't shoot that well; and fewer still can shoot that well, that consistently...

I never said no one else could, there's always someone better... But, hitting a target 100 yards away (or 500 yards away) is nothing to brag about with a scope... If you can do it with iron sights; that's much more impresive.

Hell, put a scope on a .50 cal rifle, and I can hit a soda can a mile away.

But, this thread is about handguns; I haven't had much use for one of those...

 

Beretta 92 might be a good choice for you, big gun, well-made, can be found used in your price range, and 9mm is pretty cheap to shoot. As has been said, try as many as possible before you buy and get what works for you...Good luck and be safe

AMMOEATER

 

Yeah, I'm hoping the guy lets me give it a try. He lives a long ways away and I have a friend going out there this week. Hopefully he will bring the gun back with him and then I'll send the money with him the next time he goes back if I like it. Otherwise the gun will go back with him.