Holy Wah!

by Bri A, Tuesday, September 11, 2018, 11:59 (2202 days ago) @ John K.

I picked up one of the Houze books a few years ago on a 30% off clearance for $24, and himmed and hawwed about spending that much because money is always tight for me. Had no idea whatsoever that they were getting so valuable, that is a total surprise.

Yes, the sights are indeed a fascinating part of the target rifles. My Grandfather had a collection of misc target grade smallbore rifles and sights. Walthers (an Olympic and a couple others I forgot the model names of) and Winchesters (models 52 pre-A and B, 57, and 75) for rifles. Then he had a Lyman Super Targetspot, Redfield Olympic and International sights, a Parker Hale aperture set, along with some others.

As a teenager I loved competing with those old rifles and was only one target away from Distinguished Expert when the range I shot at got closed down. Just the thought of those old rifles brings back some wonderful memories.

I enjoyed them enough to have even carried a heavy barrel B model with a 15x Super Targetspot (14 lbs on the club scale) to hunt woodchucks, squirrels and rabbits. Just being able to make some of the shots that combination enabled was worth hauling the weight around, always put a huge grin on my face.

Got a real lesson one year at a local turkey shoot. They had a small explosive charge tied to a string, hanging from an overhead pole at 50 yards and the first person to hit it won. Trying to catch up to that thing swinging in the wind with the 15x scope mounted on the heavy barrel target rifle was beyond my ability that day. The winner was a guy with an open sighted Ruger Super Blackhawk.