Having dropped out I came to a match and asked if I could shoot out of competition as I can't hold an offhand bead anymore.

The answer I got was "You dumb fuck! Of course you can! Shoot the whole match on your belly if you want!"

Well, OK!

Point is don't drop out when your body craps out, ask if you can shoot OOC.

I shoot and keep a scorecard which I take home with me and compare to the ones already on the refrigerator.

Once someone asked the RO why I was shooting out of position. It was curiosity, NOT an accusation and the RO told him "Because he's an asshole, but he's OUR asshole so we let him."

Someone else told him "He doesn't turn in a scorecard."

Nobody holds it against you, they are generally glad to have you if you obey the safety rules and range commands. They just take your match fee and let you shoot.

One of the hard hitters from another club was at one of our matches and I asked him if I could shoot OOC and he said he didn't see a problem.

DON'T let old age stop you, just change your goal. Shoot against your own last score.

Truth is they need all the shooters they can get.

You might be surprised how well you can shoot offhand if you try to work back into it.

In fact, even most young and fit folks don't score well starting out with their offhand, so don't sell yourself short.

Give it a try with just ten shots at first. After some dry fire work at home, it will take you a couple of months but you would be surprised how well you will bounce back.

I have worked with severely wounded vets and disabled, and you would be surprised. I hope you give it a try, and in any case good on you for getting started.

At Camp Perry for many, many seasons we had an old man show up every year with the standard equipment and his wheelchair.

He was crippled from wounds sustained as a rifleman in Vietnam.

He shot prone on his belly.  He was not required to start from the standing position.

He shot sitting in the standard position.  He was not required to start from standing.

He shot standing sitting upright in his chair.  

He shot against himself -- and posted competitive scores.



"We come here today and I expect perfection.

"I'll accept excellence."
     
                                     Vince Lombardi



Veterans of the Global War on Terrorism at Camp Perry:

I make accommodations for shooters at my match. I let new shooters start in position until they get familiar with the course of fire. I have several older shooters that use the bench for some or all positions.

I had an older gentleman come to shoot an M1 from his collection. He shot from the bench. The M1 was too hard for him to load timely in rapids so when the empty clip flew, I shoved a loaded clip in for him.

Good for you!

We have to remember that this is a hobby.

Once I entered a match with a Martini Cadet for the hell of it. Rapids were interesting to say the least. When the time was up the RO shouted "EXCEPT FOR PICCOLO, CEASE FIRE!"

Much to everyone's surprise I had managed to get all 10 of them off sitting in the proscribed time limit. I did it again in prone.

Now as I am the one telling the story, I had a pair of 10X cleans.

For some reason or another the story that went around says I only managed to get them all inside the scoring rings.

There were a number of amazed people that day, ESPECIALLY myself. Those that were not shooting and watched were laughing themselves silly watching a one armed paperhanger in action.

Sometimes it's not about the actual score that gives someone a feeling of accomplishment.

There is an NRA exception to using the standard positions.  You just have someone take a picture of your position and submit it to the NRA. Once approved, you are GTG. Not all ROs know about it but its an official rule.

I read a few years back where some chickenshit asshole challenged a woman for false support because she rested her elbow somehow on her rather large breast.

He was claiming 'unnatural support or some damned thing.

The RO had a lot of moxie. He outright asked the woman if she had a boob job done. She said she hadn't. He turned to the complainer.

"Natural support. You lost fair and square."

Admittedly that's an ACSOT (ACryptical Story, Often Told) but it's worth telling because a lot of highpower shooters are not like puppies because after a while puppies stop whining.

...apocryphal?

Sue me. I fuck up sometimes.