Can't Take The Country Out Of The Girl: More Than I Ever Thought I Would Know

Anthony has a hobby (make that several hobbies) that your normal 15-year-old has no interest in. Aside from the reenactment equipment that he spends his money on, he also collects guns. He has bought three in the last year that he loves to shoot. He and Tony go to my cousins farm to shoot them - it's the farm my grandmother was raised on. I had never gone with them because of one reason or another but last week I decided to go watch.

First, they laid out all the guns on this table they had brought along. The guns that they brought were a Russian Mosin Nagant, a German Kar 98, and an American M-1 Garand. Impressed that I know that? Me too! When he first started collecting these guns, I called them "the one that looks beat up (M-1), "the one with the strap" (Russian), and "no, the other one" (Kar 98).

And they brought this Santa sack of ammunition.

First things first. These Mama turkeys decided they should vacate their homes for a little while, which I must say was a commendable parenting choice. I think there were two Mamas with LOTSO babies.

Then they started setting up the targets. They walked, and walked, and walked. And walked. Can you even see that target down there? There is a little speck right in the middle of this picture. That was one of their targets. I told them I didn't think you should be shooting at something they can't even see.

They had a game worked up. They had two balloons on the first target, then one balloon on the targets that were further away. I had to use my zoom to even see if they were lying about the balloons being down there! I took this picture after Anthony had already shot once, that's why there's only one balloon on the first target.

Anthony's turn. He chose the German Kar 98.

Tony walked off the distance to that last target. 211 yards. Anthony's results? Three balloons in four shots using iron sites. Not too shabby!

No pressure, Tony...

Tony's choice of gun was the Russian Mosin Nagant. Anthony likes to hear the crack of that gun so he was standing back by the truck where he could take his earplugs out. And he was counting shots.

That would be a "V" for victory. I can't remember now, but Tony took either 5 or 6 shots for three balloons. Regardless of how many shots he took, HE LOST! To his 15-year-old son!

Since I didn't want to show them up and destroy their confidence, I decided to wait til the game was over to show them how it's really done. Since I'm a pro and all. LOL! Just kidding! I think this was my first time EVER shooting a gun that wasn't a BB gun.

My gun of choice? The M-1, partly cause no one had used it yet and I didn't want it to feel left out (you know how guns are...). And partly because they SAID it didn't hurt. Well it did. "If you hold it tight, it won't kick as bad". Yeah right, tell that to my poor bruised shoulder. I took it easy on them, though, and only hit one balloon with five shots. Didn't want to make them feel bad since they knew it was my first time. I only shot at the closest target - so don't go thinking I did a 200 yard shot, cause remember, I couldn't even SEE that target.

Anthony really enjoys this Kar 98. He couldn't wait to get this gun after he ordered it. He couldn't wait to see if the German Eagle and Swastika had been sanded off. Apparently, according to his research, as the Russians captured/killed the Germans, they would sand this symbol off. When he got his gun, he was excited to see that his was still intact. It was actually on the gun in several places. This is how small it is, right on the barrel.

After we all knew that Anthony was the pro shooter, they just shot some for fun, at the paper targets since we were out of balloons.