My Shoulder Is Still Sore

I talked about my grandfather's Springfield rifle the other day. I finally screwed up my courage enough to shoot it on saturday.

I'm not sure how those doughboys and WWII enlistees did it. That Model 1903 30-06 kicks like a Missouri mule. It was a lot of fun to shoot, even though I was shooting something like a four inch pattern (I won't say how far away, it's a little embarassing), sitting down, without a steady support. If I was really wanting to shoot it accurately, I think I could do very well with that gun. I was worried that, by shooting prone, all the kick of that gun would go right into my shoulder. Plenty of people had broken shoulders in basic training from these guns and I wasn't too anxious to push the limits.

The thought of getting into a shooting competition dressed as a WWI sniper intrigues me. Not many people shoot those old guns any more. Not only would it be educational, but those little leggings they wore are pretty cool, don't you think?