I shot well enough, in my teens and twenties, that despite my poor vision I usually placed in the top ten at 600 yards, but the best I ever did was 5th. Of course using an unmodified '03-A3 1942 Springfield, without a scope or bipod, although I did handload. I was frustrated once when I got home, having come in 9th, and my wife pointed out that it was indeed a problem that I seemed to not be able to crack that top 3, but I was using what I was using and blowing away people that had a lot fancier equipment than I. She was a sage philosopher and I loved her dearly, and over 23 years of marriage (she passed away in 1993) she bought me more guns than I ever bought for myself.Jumping Frog wrote:It is amazing what can be done with good eyesight and iron sights.StewNTexas wrote:Back when I was young, and good, I shot on the USMC rifle team. Routine distance was 600 yards, and did some work at 1,000 yds. Used a heavily massaged Garand, boat tails from Frankfort Arsenel, iron sights. Have a few chunks of 14k from various matches and places. All iron sights.
I'd love to have the vision that I had at age 20.
One of the reasons F-Class Long Range Shooting competition has become so popular so fast is the aging baby boomer population. Being able to use a scope is very useful for 50's-60's year-old eyes that can no longer come close to seeing 600-1000 yard targets.
I still have that '03-A3, but don't think I want to put a scope on it.