You’ve heard of George Smith Patton, the horse soldier turned WWII legendary tank commander whose trademark was a pair of ivory-handled revolvers — a .45 Colt SAA with which he dispatched a couple of Pancho Villa’s guys and a .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson.
Patton was in the Olympics, back in 1912. The games were in Stockholm, and the future general competed in the 25-meter pistol match with a .38-caliber Colt instead of the traditional .22-caliber handguns used by other competitors.
The story we found at Wired said Patton fired 20 rounds at the target but judges only recorded 17 holes in the paper. Patton contended that the missing three rounds actually passed through holes already in the target, an argument that would seem entirely plausible to anyone who has ever fired nice tight groups into a competition target. Nevertheless, Patton’s score was dinged and he finished about halfway back in the field.
Was “Old Blood-and-Guts” wrongly denied a perfect score? For a guy to punch 17 holes at 25 meters with a handgun only to completely miss the paper with three rounds seems impossible. It is incredulous to me someone with Patton’s handgun skills — as demonstrated by his target — could possibly miss the paper entirely three times. Hmmm?
https://www.wired.com/2012/08/george-s-patton-pentathlete/
The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics opened Friday, bumped back a full year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The good news is shooting events this year will get more attention than one might expect.
NBCOlympics.com recently published the schedule of shooting events available for livestreaming, with the first event — women’s air rifle finals — beginning Friday, July 23 at 9:45 p.m. EDT, which is 6:45 p.m. for readers on the West Coast.
Over the following week, assorted shooting events will be livestreamed. Scheduled events include the men’s and women’s skeet final as well as a mixed team 10-meter air pistol match.
Saturday, July 31, there’s a mixed trap competition starting at 12:30 a.m. EDT followed by the Women’s 3-position 50-meter rifle finals starting at 3 a.m. EDT.
It all wraps up for shooting on Monday, Aug. 2 with the men’s rapid fire pistol final beginning at 1:30 a.m. EDT and the men’s 3-position 50-meter rifle event at 3:50 a.m. EDT.
Why Guns, Pt. I
A tragedy in Montana earlier this month underscores the necessity of being prepared to defend oneself in bear country even though the odds are in your favor … until they aren’t.
A grizzly attacked and killed a bicyclist identified as 65-year-old Leah Davis Lokan of Chico, Calif. She was camping overnight in the tiny town of Ovando, a community whose name will be familiar to anyone who has read Elmer Keith’s autobiography Hell, I Was There! It is located about 60 air miles Northwest from Helena, and closer to 75 miles via road, and about 45 miles Northeast from Missoula.
According to several press accounts, Lokan was on a bike trip with several other people, and was sleeping in a tent.
Bear encounters are not uncommon. There have been several attacks in recent years, but still they are rare events.
Various authorities recommend bear spray, but there is a credible argument for being armed with at least a handgun in bear country.
Back in 2010, only a couple of months after the carrying of defensive firearms in national parks became allowed by law, one of two hikers killed a grizzly in the backcountry of Denali National Park in Alaska. It created a lively debate that included repeat mentions of the “bluff charge” habit of grizzlies to size up a perceived adversary. It’s academic until a bear sinks its teeth into someone’s flesh.
Study an area you plan to visit to determine whether there might be a danger of a wild animal attack, then plan accordingly. And never keep food in your tent!
About three years ago, a mountain lion attacked two bicyclists not far from my home in Washington State. Neither man was armed and one of them was killed.
https://apnews.com/article/montana-lifestyle-travel-c1d866fa4113b50b9292d8fe5f0301e2
Why Guns, Pt. II
Why have a growing number of Americans bought guns in recent months? Perhaps it’s because of incidents like a couple recently reported in California.
A homeowner in Fairfield, Solano County armed himself with a legally owned .357 Magnum when a 27-year-old man kicked in the door of the home. The suspect was armed with a semi-auto pistol with extended magazine.
According to KTVU News, the homeowner fired twice and the home invader fled, only to drop across the street, dying at the scene. Police investigators discovered the suspect was on parole for a home invasion in neighboring Alameda County. Being on parole precluded the suspect from possessing a firearm.
In Stanislaus County, 41-year-old Rodney Lee Martin made the fatal error of entering a home and engaging in a gunfight with the homeowner. Maybe it was the fact Martin was using a stolen handgun and he may not have known where to aim. According to Fox News, he missed and the homeowner didn’t.
This shootout happened in “unincorporated” Modesto, so the sheriff’s department investigated. When deputies arrived, they found Martin dead.
It’s not easy to legally buy handguns in California. There are background checks, waiting periods, magazine capacity limits and the infamous handgun roster, so there aren’t as many choices available.
Californians, like people in the other 49 states, are just as wary of two-legged predators as they of the four-legged variety. One kind of predator might kill you. The other kind might eat you for dinner.
https://www.ktvu.com/news/fairfield-homeowner-shoots-and-kills-intruder-with-357-magnum
https://www.foxnews.com/us/california-homeowner-shoots-kills-intruder-sheriffs-office
