Well i finally mustard up enough self confidence to take myself and the wife to go with a friend of mine who has been shooting .50cal for a few years now competitively along with his 13yr old daughter and also his father and mother in-law. My friend is letting me shoot his .50cal till i get mine and i all I pay for is rounds and entry fee. We headed out Friday morning from Oklahoma for the 7.5hr drive to Long Range Alley Gun Club South of Shreveport, LA. We arrived about mid afternoon and the place is awesome wide open area very clean, well maintained, camping area, fishing, etc…this was my first time to an open range like this so I thought the place was great! We started putting his gun and bench setup together, so we could be ready for the Saturday morning shoot. Once we got things setup he put a few down range and told me to get to it, this would be my first time to fire his .50cal (ArmaLite), so after about 5 rounds that Friday afternoon I was ready to go.
Saturday morning came along and brought with it 35-45mph winds, I figure well, what better way to learn how to shoot long distance then in some nice high winds and heat
. He shot the first relay which is 3 targets @1000yds, for each target you are given “X” amount of time for “sighter” rounds and then your 5 shots for record per target. So roughly you are going to shoot 15 rounds, the “sighters” are how ever many you want, targets are 6'x6' with 2' center black circle. I shot second relay. The wind was crazy by this time!! flags all blowing different ways and then you would have a flag that was dead at 800yrds, 
I thought how the hell do i do this. "little back ground of me"-- Now I shoot for fun at my house 100yds to 400yds with my .223 (I’m no champ, trust me, its all in fun and learning) and try my best to learn the long range stuff and all of its concepts, I find it amazing to send the size of that projectile “X” amount of yards and hit something right on….sweet!!!. soooo I go threw my first target all over the place 43 11/16", second target I improved to a 21 9/16”, then my third target 31 1/16”. Problem was I told myself after words was not to shoot for the “X” but group them better. After me was his 90lbs13yr old daughter shooting the junior class….she basically 
me.
Sunday morning his daughter shot 1st and did great, my buddy shot 3rd, then I shot 4th relay. The winds picked up but were not as bad as the day before which was a little nicer, the winds were probably about 15-20mph this time. I told myself to shoot for groups this time and see what happens. My first target I did a 25 5/16”, second target was my best at 12 9/16”, third target was 18 13/16”. For my personal pat on the back I hit the tube that holds my spotter, and I also hit another one of my spotters, these are a 2” diameter circle, so ya I was smiling, BUT my buddies daughter did the same thing that day before and was rubbing it on me till I turned around and did the samething so i said
. So I made out a lot better and kicked my self for not trying it my first day. My buddy’s daughter ended up taking 2nd in the juniors and his father in-law took home some awards also, I think one of his overalls was close to a 4” group 
. BUT overall I had a blast they set a new record with shooters, i think there was 60 some shooters. i met some great guy/gals and had some of the best gumbo in the world and there is nothing better i have found in life then setting on the line haveing the .50's going off all around you 
can’t wait to go again later in the year……hopefully I will have my 
by then
also would like to give a shout to the FCSA for making all of this happen!!!!!
Saturday morning came along and brought with it 35-45mph winds, I figure well, what better way to learn how to shoot long distance then in some nice high winds and heat
. He shot the first relay which is 3 targets @1000yds, for each target you are given “X” amount of time for “sighter” rounds and then your 5 shots for record per target. So roughly you are going to shoot 15 rounds, the “sighters” are how ever many you want, targets are 6'x6' with 2' center black circle. I shot second relay. The wind was crazy by this time!! flags all blowing different ways and then you would have a flag that was dead at 800yrds, I thought how the hell do i do this. "little back ground of me"-- Now I shoot for fun at my house 100yds to 400yds with my .223 (I’m no champ, trust me, its all in fun and learning) and try my best to learn the long range stuff and all of its concepts, I find it amazing to send the size of that projectile “X” amount of yards and hit something right on….sweet!!!. soooo I go threw my first target all over the place 43 11/16", second target I improved to a 21 9/16”, then my third target 31 1/16”. Problem was I told myself after words was not to shoot for the “X” but group them better. After me was his 90lbs13yr old daughter shooting the junior class….she basically me. Sunday morning his daughter shot 1st and did great, my buddy shot 3rd, then I shot 4th relay. The winds picked up but were not as bad as the day before which was a little nicer, the winds were probably about 15-20mph this time. I told myself to shoot for groups this time and see what happens. My first target I did a 25 5/16”, second target was my best at 12 9/16”, third target was 18 13/16”. For my personal pat on the back I hit the tube that holds my spotter, and I also hit another one of my spotters, these are a 2” diameter circle, so ya I was smiling, BUT my buddies daughter did the same thing that day before and was rubbing it on me till I turned around and did the samething so i said
. So I made out a lot better and kicked my self for not trying it my first day. My buddy’s daughter ended up taking 2nd in the juniors and his father in-law took home some awards also, I think one of his overalls was close to a 4” group . BUT overall I had a blast they set a new record with shooters, i think there was 60 some shooters. i met some great guy/gals and had some of the best gumbo in the world and there is nothing better i have found in life then setting on the line haveing the .50's going off all around you can’t wait to go again later in the year……hopefully I will have my by then also would like to give a shout to the FCSA for making all of this happen!!!!!
