Hello All, new member from Utah
Hello All,
If I understand, this thread is to introduce myself. I am a certified Old Foggie now approaching my 71st year of life. I have been a shooting enthusiast since my dad took me shooting when I was an 8-year old Cub Scout. Bought my first gun (Marlin 39A) with paper route money in 1957… still have that gun. I started reloading in 1965, and still do pistol, rifle, and shotgun reloading. I am an NRA certified Chief RSO, and am an NRA certified instructor for shotgun, rifle, pistol, muzzleloading rifle and muzzleloading pistol. I am also a Utah State Hunter Education instructor, and a BSA merit badge councilor for Rifle Shooting and Shotgun Shooting Merit Badges, and am still active in Boy Scouts. I also am a dedicated volunteer at our local gun range. I love to teach the youth to shoot, and take particular pleasure when they hit their first clay bird!
Let's see. I own several Savage firearms. A model 99F lever gun in 308 Win that I bought used in about 1965, a very old Savage O/U in 22LR and 3" 410, a BTVSS in 17HMR, a Mark II in 22LR, and, just this spring, a M12 in 308 Win. I have taught most of my grandkids to shoot, and they love to shoot the O/U (yep, they've hit clay birds from a hand thrower with the 410!).
I am joining this brotherhood because I have taken an interest in NRA midrange in Class F (T/R), thus the M12. This rifle pleasantly surprised me with its quality and accuracy right out of the box! I've entered just two matches so far and have been pleased with my first efforts… lots of room to improve, naturally! But I am hoping all of you will help me to become more familiar with my latest Savage. Even though I have been reloading a long time, I can not believe how much more I've learned about reloading since taking up this long-range sport, and am hoping all y'all can help with my reloading for long range shooting. I found the reloading part is really important. :-p
Oh, used to be a hunter, and do purchase a combination license each year, but haven't done big-game hunting since 2006. I think I did more upland bird hunting than any other type of hunting; never have hunted ducks, geese or cranes. Arthritis and a few other age-related infirmities have largely taken those parts of the sport from me, but I remain a hunting enthusiast and love to teach Hunter Ed to kids… especially shooting 22LR as part of the course (again, love to see the kids hit the target and learn to be consistent shooters).
Looking forward to perusing the various forums, and hope I can make a contribution to them in the future.
Best Wishes,
Richard
AKA, UtahAmmoCan
