I tagged this post many years ago, and promptly forgot about it.

Hoping I can remember to take some time next week when I'm off and try to participate!

So as a follow up to my three target Grapefruit challenge, I went to the range today to see how I would do with what I'm going to call the pistol component.  So, to refresh ... the original Grapefruit challenge was 10 shots offhand at 50 yards.  My proposed revision, was how about adding 10 shots offhand with the pistol of your choice at 25 yards and 10 shots off a bench with the rifle of your choice at 400 yards.  

Honestly, I suspected the pistol component is going to be the easiest, and my results today confirmed that.  First target was 9 shots in the grapefruit and 10th and final shot literally a hair low.  Next target I was able to keep all my shots inside the grapefruit (barely).  Final target, I threw 2 of my 10 shots, so I just kept shooting the rest of my box of ammo at the target.  Final result 4 shots outside the grapefruit out of 30.  So basically pretty consistent in throwing 1 shot out of 10.  This is with a .22 pistol with a red dot.  Would be more challenging with my 1911.  In any event, I was able to shoot one target where all 10 rounds hit the grapefruit.  Will post pics. of the target, range and my gun once I figure out how to post images, and will try shooting stage 2 (the original 50 yard challenge) sometime in the next week or two.  For me, this is clearly going to be more challenging, and I suspect that I'm probably going to pretty consistently throw at least 2-3 rounds outside the grapefruit, maybe more.

Final component, 10 shots at 400 yards is going to be the most interesting.  While I can pretty consistently shoot under 1 MOA with a bolt gun at 100 yards (which in theory should keep everything inside a 5" grapefruit at 400), theory and practice sometimes diverge, and I think the wind is going to make this one somewhat challenging.  Of course, if it's too easy, we can always move everything back to 500 yards, or reduce our grapefruit down to 4".  However, what I think is interesting about all these challenges is that they require consistency.  It's one thing to say I can hit a 4" target at 400 yards, its another to be able to do so consistently.  Same with offhand shooting.  It's great that you can sometimes hit that 6" steel gong at 100, but can you hit 10/10?  Plus, I like that the three target challenge requires general marksmanship ability, not just rifle, pistol or long range bench rest.

In any event, curious to see if anyone else is interested in doing a pistol challenge, and if so, whether this ends up being pretty easy for a lot of people.

This thread is in the "AR Discussions" forum on the website AR15.com.  This thread is about shooting with an AR-15, not a handgun and not a bolt-gun.  This thread is about shooting an AR-15 from the standing off-hand position, not from a bench.

....

Fair enough.  Just thought it would be fun to add a couple of variations to your original challenge.  I assume I'm not the only one who owns more than an AR15.  And like the original premise of your challenge, I wonder if people who own pistols do more than blast at a silhouette target at 5 yards or try shooting paper at more than 100.  

But I didn't mean to cr*p on your thread.  So I'm perfectly content to keep this a personal challenge.  And if I'm able to complete all three (or some semblance thereof), maybe I'll post a new thread.  Just not sure where it would go.  Handguns?  Precision Rifle?  Training?

https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/General-Discussion/5/

Looking forward to trying this but being as gimped up and out of practice as I am it's going to be a "Jaws" scenario...

"I think we're going to need a bigger grapefruit......"

Tried this yesterday and was harder than I thought. Had to retune a 20" AR so drew up some 5" diameter grapefruits on paper and brought them along. The wind was playing hell with holding steady. Blowing left to right so as soon as you get steady a gust would hit your back and blow you around. Was doing better with my buddies lighter weight reddot build than mine with viper pst 2-10. Will try again with a lighter AR.

LOL.

Thanks for this thread, Molon.  It's similar to what I've believed for many years. An aluminum soda can is just slightly larger than your fist.  I also use clay pigeons in situations where aluminum cans are not available or not allowed.  The human heart, likewise, is roughly the size of your fist. If you can hit either a soda can or a clay pigeon you can put a round in an enemy's heart at the same range.

I used to shoot paper targets, but to me the immediate feedback from either a can or a clay pigeon is more valuable for testing not only one's accuracy but also one's speed.  For example:  You can learn to fire quickly (not talking mag dumps) at 3D objects moreso than markings on a paper target, at least in my experience.  A favorite technique of mine with a soda can is to strike it so it jumps up the backstop berm, and I then try to hit it one or two more times as it rolls back down. Of course, once you shatter a clay pigeon, you're done, but then you may have fragments that will test  your accuracy even further.

YMMV, but I've always thought this was more valuable than slow, careful fire at paper targets.

Gratuitous pic of lightweight AR I dedicated to shooting with iron sights:

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@Molon

Did your Challenge today.  It's about a half mile to my range & the snow is too deep for vehicles so I skied my gear up.



The shooting setup.  I pounded down a nice spot and verified the range w/ my rangefinder. 50 yards.





I shot two rifles:



Top: PSA Upper/Lower, 16" CL Skinny bbl, GI Trigger, old Burris 1.75-5 scope w/ Duplex reticle, 55 grain handload.

Bottom:  PSA Upper/Lower, Midi, 16" Melonite Bbl, LaRue MBT trigger, old Burris 3-9 scope w/ German 4A reticle, 55 grain handload.

Shooting position.





Results:

Nice work!  (Technically, it's Bigbore's challenge.)

Yeah, that's cool.

The challenge is what makes it fun.  Anyone can bench shoot and be a marksman.  Offhand, sling supported, sitting, or kneeling is so much fun with steel.  I honestly hate bench shooting I will lay in the dirt to prone shoot before bench shooting.  Midway makes an outstanding shooting mat for sitting or prone shooting.

Thanks!

@Bigbore, thanks, too.  Fun.

I have a few more I want to run by this.  My pix n my AR10 died w/ photobucket account.  But wow.................that was shot back in 2014!  This thing has been around a while!

Gotta get some more shooters to shoot it.

I ran a number of non-bench shooting challenges here.  We had a lot of fun w/ it and got a lot of shooters to post their results.  Haven't seen one of those in a long time.

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Cool.

I can do that with a 1911.

You can do amazing things after shooting steel at 150 yards offhand with a handgun.  

I would almost bet I could do that with a 16" AR with the rear sight missing.

S&W M&P15, Aimpoint Pro optic.

" />



This was my first AR.  From years ago.  The barrel loosened up after some hundreds of shots.  Sent back to Smith and they fixed it. Since then it's been w/ me for many an adventure. My old varminter and ski companion.  Worn a few scopes and irons over the years.  A few addons now.

 

Your dog looks like he's having a great time.

We both do.  

Are shotguns allowed?  

Cool thread and great pictures. Thanks for sharing.
I’ll have to give this a try sometime. My late Father shot a golf ball sitting on a fence post at 50 yards, standing, offhand, iron sights. Myself and 5 other people witnessed it and I still have the golf ball. He used a Colt SOCOM I bought him for Christmas. One shot, no BS.

I look up at the date on page 1 and see 2007

One of the first "__ all day" challenges here?

The Marksman's Challenge started here in 2006.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/-Marksman-s-Challenge-/118-299009/


...

...

I was expecting and hoping for real grape fruits, not targets.

Molon, if you’re in Texas come by my range and you can shoot all the grape fruits you want at 15, 25, 50, 100, and 200

What gas block/ front sight is in the OP?

This one:
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GG&G 1297

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No excuses, I suck

Shot with a 20” A2 rifle with a trigger at the top end of GI spec and M855. Zero was confirmed good at 50 afterwards.

You actually went to the range, fired 10-shot groups from your AR-15 and had the integrity to post honest results.  That puts you ahead of 87% of the people on the Internet.

....

Thank you! I'm going to keep at it until I can consistently keep them inside the fruit.

Man, you do not suck. If the radius of that grapefruit was maybe 0.5" larger you'd be all in the black! Plus you actually posted results instead of just bragging about how good you are like nearly everyone else on the internet.

This looks like a good challenge. I'll commit now to doing this target in the next few days.

Hmmmm, I don't think it'll be too tough to get all 10 shots into the target at 50 yards. Okay, I'm gonna try to get to the range this weekend and give it a go.

Here is my prediction: I'll be able to get all 10 shots into the target.

I'm gonna use my Colt 6720 with AP PRO and G33 magnifier. I don't see how I can fuck this up.

I pinky promise to document the spectacle  to show "proof" of my bad-ass shooting skills, or lack there of.


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I'm going to take up this challenge 50 yd grapefruit 10 rounds off hand . Either this week or the next.
Don' be expecting miracles but i will post my target good or bad.

@DrywellDweller

Looking forward to your results.

Didn't do as well as I thought I would

Shot 3 targets. Got progressively worse. And by shots 8-10 I was wobbling pretty good. I didn't use the slings, either removed or let hang depending on if they had QDs. 50 yards verified by laser rangefinder, standing unsupported firing 10 consecutive shots without lowering the rifle. I shot my "plinking" handloads, 55gr Hornady SPBTs over WC844. It's cheap but surprisingly accurate in all my guns.

#1 is a Roscoe 12.5" barrel on my night gun, with F1 suppressor, MBT2s trigger white light, D2, and an Aimpoint PRO, plus I found this NOS Troy TRX rail last year which I was pretty juiced about.
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#2 is an Androcorp 10.5" with a YHM Turbo, Geiselle S3G trigger, and a UH-1 which I shot without the magnifier attached.

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Cont..

#3 is a BA 12.5" which I measured at the tightest possible in spec chamber, which was a pain initially but is a very precise barrel. F1 suppressor, MBT2s, and a Burris RT6. I was shaking like a leaf by this point, thought I was actually off paper on one shot.

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Good challenge. I obviously need more practice shooting off hand, so will do a little of that and check back in later.

Thanks for participating and putting up the results.

I'm going tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see how this pans out.

Not gonna lie, I really thought I'd drop in 10 shots easily haha. The sight is dancing a jig by about the 7th or 8th shot for me though

Good luck!

I’m sure somebody in the past 15 years has mentioned that the grapefruit is roughly the size of the 9 ring on the CMP/NRA HP reduced target for 100 yards.  

I legged out in ‘09 and shot about the equivalent in 2-3 matches per month for years before that.  But I will say keeping them in the 9 ring with a blaster AR and without all the shooting jacket, gloves, etc is pretty dang respectable shooting.  

I seem to be able to hit coke cans at will plinking from 50 yards but I don’t think I could keep a 10 shot 5-6” group at 100 anymore.

Not gonna make it to the range today. Will make it next weekend. I need to “Put up, or shut up” asap. Lol.

Haven't popped in to see this one in a while.

Nice to see some more targets being posted!!  

Taking the morning off so I can go shoot this thing.

Any bets?



ETA: Damnit! The range is closed tomorrow. LOL.

Okay, looks like I'll be going this Friday after lunch.

I bet no pictures appear

LOL!

I'll be posting pics no matter how F'd up my results are!

That's the spirit.

Post it and then if you don't like it...try to beat it!

We had a lot of fun w/ our SHTF challenges w/ guys doing that very thing.