Hi everyone,
I'm a middle-aged shooter new to the Hide. I grew up in a rural area and shot pretty frequently, but other than taking a deer once every few years, I haven't done much shooting as an adult. A few years ago, my dad had a health scare (he is fine now), and it made me realize how little I knew about the basic setup, care, use, and maintenance of firearms. I had always relied on him for everything—sighting in rifles before hunting season, the guns themselves, ammo selection, gun cleaning and care, etc.—and it made me realize I needed to develop some skills if I wanted to be able to pass them down myself.
Basic things I'm working on right now include trying to put together a comprehensive checklist for firearm maintenance, care, and cleaning (how often, what to look for, what methods), getting comfortable sighting in rifles myself (along with scope setup—I know very little about optics in general), and buying or assembling three high-quality bolt-action rifles and one shotgun. I grew up shooting a .410 break-action, .30-30 lever-action, 12-gauge pump-action, and .30-06 bolt-action, so those are what I'm most familiar with. However, I'm really interested in some of the newer cartridges that have come out in the last 20 or so years. The only thing I am sure of at this point is that I want a bolt-action .22 that is accurate and has a threaded muzzle—I want to use it to retrain in basic marksmanship, and being able to shoot suppressed subsonic ammo would make that a lot easier.
I am also planning to learn how to do reloading, which is a bit intimidating due to the explosive nature of the materials used. I have pretty good experience with some similar technical hobbies like bladesmithing and pen turning, but I need to settle on the calibers for some of my higher-powered rifles before committing to getting started. I have read a lot on this forum, watched some videos, and read the ABC's of Reloading 10th edition. I'm also looking into a class offered by the NRA—the "Basic Metallic Cartridge Reloading Course"—which is offered in a nearby city a few times over the coming months. I would love to know if anyone has experience or recommendations on similar training options.
In terms of less important goals, I am interested in and fascinated by long-range shooting and would like to develop some skill in that area. Most of the hunting I have done has been at what most people would consider extreme close range (~50 yards, with the long-range extreme being about 200 yards), normally out of a deer blind or, more commonly, off someone's back or front porch. I have a friend who is used to the more Northwest style of hunting who refers to what we are doing more as harvesting rather than hunting, and honestly, he's not wrong. I am not really interested in the PRS or NRL style competitions, though I might try competing in one at some point (with no expectation of doing well at all) just to have a goal to guide some of my training.
I am really fascinated by achieving accuracy through the combination of my skill set and equipment—probably more than what is required for my most likely use cases (hunting at short range). There is something I find profoundly satisfying about being able to hit exactly where you want when you want, and that is part of what I really desire when I settle on my setups. Right now, I am just setting aside a few hundred dollars a month and establishing a fund for any purchases I eventually pursue down the road.
I'm a middle-aged shooter new to the Hide. I grew up in a rural area and shot pretty frequently, but other than taking a deer once every few years, I haven't done much shooting as an adult. A few years ago, my dad had a health scare (he is fine now), and it made me realize how little I knew about the basic setup, care, use, and maintenance of firearms. I had always relied on him for everything—sighting in rifles before hunting season, the guns themselves, ammo selection, gun cleaning and care, etc.—and it made me realize I needed to develop some skills if I wanted to be able to pass them down myself.
Basic things I'm working on right now include trying to put together a comprehensive checklist for firearm maintenance, care, and cleaning (how often, what to look for, what methods), getting comfortable sighting in rifles myself (along with scope setup—I know very little about optics in general), and buying or assembling three high-quality bolt-action rifles and one shotgun. I grew up shooting a .410 break-action, .30-30 lever-action, 12-gauge pump-action, and .30-06 bolt-action, so those are what I'm most familiar with. However, I'm really interested in some of the newer cartridges that have come out in the last 20 or so years. The only thing I am sure of at this point is that I want a bolt-action .22 that is accurate and has a threaded muzzle—I want to use it to retrain in basic marksmanship, and being able to shoot suppressed subsonic ammo would make that a lot easier.
I am also planning to learn how to do reloading, which is a bit intimidating due to the explosive nature of the materials used. I have pretty good experience with some similar technical hobbies like bladesmithing and pen turning, but I need to settle on the calibers for some of my higher-powered rifles before committing to getting started. I have read a lot on this forum, watched some videos, and read the ABC's of Reloading 10th edition. I'm also looking into a class offered by the NRA—the "Basic Metallic Cartridge Reloading Course"—which is offered in a nearby city a few times over the coming months. I would love to know if anyone has experience or recommendations on similar training options.
In terms of less important goals, I am interested in and fascinated by long-range shooting and would like to develop some skill in that area. Most of the hunting I have done has been at what most people would consider extreme close range (~50 yards, with the long-range extreme being about 200 yards), normally out of a deer blind or, more commonly, off someone's back or front porch. I have a friend who is used to the more Northwest style of hunting who refers to what we are doing more as harvesting rather than hunting, and honestly, he's not wrong. I am not really interested in the PRS or NRL style competitions, though I might try competing in one at some point (with no expectation of doing well at all) just to have a goal to guide some of my training.
I am really fascinated by achieving accuracy through the combination of my skill set and equipment—probably more than what is required for my most likely use cases (hunting at short range). There is something I find profoundly satisfying about being able to hit exactly where you want when you want, and that is part of what I really desire when I settle on my setups. Right now, I am just setting aside a few hundred dollars a month and establishing a fund for any purchases I eventually pursue down the road.
