Getting up close

The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.

- Henry Miller -

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For over 32 years I've owned and operated firearms, 61% of my total life, and over that time I've used firearms, and my skills developed around them, for various tasks, some work, and some recreational. I wish I knew how many shots I've taken, it would be a big number.

I've worked tirelessly to develop my skills, studied, done courses, trained and practiced and, whilst I'm not the best shooter there ever was, I'm what would probably be called well above average. I know what I'm doing, understand firearms, make my own ammunition and have the skills to perform with a good degree of accuracy. Proficiency is the minimum standard but I've striven for excellence, it makes sense considering the use firearms are put to.

It's been a long journey, enjoyable and fulfilling, and it's ongoing; there's always more to learn.

Many elements need to come together for the effective operation and understanding of firearms and it's very technical. I guess it's one of those things that can seem quite basic and easy when observing an accomplished shooter. It's much like watching a professional sports person performing; it can look easy, but in practice it's not, and many years of effort has gone into it.

If you think firearms and shooting is all about popping watermelons in the back yard after glugging down a mason jar of moonshine...you're wrong.

_{The barrel of my .243 proudly states where it was born. I name all my rifles and this one carries a Finnish name.}

The tolerances and margins are very small when it comes to shooting and firearms. A tiny trigger-pull error can result in a miss downrange, a small error in the process of reloading ammunition can cause an overpressure situation and cost the shooter a hand, or worse. Incorrect scope set up will cause the best shooter to miss, calling the wind incorrectly will render a long range shooter inneffective, and the failure to understand the physics and mathmatics of shooting will do the same.

Attention to detail, focus and a check and recheck ethos is advisable; it needs to be added to knowledge and understanding of course, safe practices and a lot of practice. I have shelves full of books I have studied and still refer to regularly, and my processes are stringently documented and followed precisely.

When shooting at long range, for instance, I record every detail for every shot: Temperature, altitude, wind direction and speed, humidity, azimuth, slope angle, fall of shot regardless if it impacts my target or not, windage and elevation dial or hold-over...I even record the barrel temperature as cold, cool, warm and hot. All of these things are called DOPE (data on previous engagement) and can be pivotal to making that next shot.

I can shoot accurately out to well past one mile and at that range it's the small things that matter, and the small things done well, that will make the difference when the shot has to count.

With that in mind, small things, I thought I'd photograph some firearms-related items in macro today and share in a post, just for fun.

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_{Above you'll see some gun powder. Top left and right is handgun powder and lower left is rifle powder. There's so many different powders one almost needs a degree to understand it. Lower right is a primer which inserts into the bottom of the ammunition case and provides the initial ignition to set of the gun powder in the case body which ultimately send the projectile down range; a simple process, but one that comes with a lot of responsibility.}

_{Here's a few of the things used for reloading ammunition - I make my own. You can see a couple sizing dies in 6.5mm Creedmoor and .308 calibres, my beam scales used to weigh powder measures very precisely, a powder trickler (centre of image), and the scoop used to hold gun powder when on the scales at top left.}

_{A few more of the tools used in the reloading process including my vernier caliper, a cleaning brush, primer pocket cleaner and the wrench used to tighten the dies into the loading press.}

_{Above is some ammunition including .243, 12gauge, 9mm and .50 calibre. At lower left is a 6mm projectile, the part of the ammunition that gets sent down range to the target when the firearm is operated.}

_{Here's a relic from the past, but one that is still operational. This is my .303 SMLE from 1918. It saw service in the First World War with the AIF (Australian Imperial Force), now called the ADF (Australian Defence Force.) I shoot this rifle now and then, and enjoy doing so - It's like going back in time with iron sights and no fancy accessories.}

_{And now for something a little more modern. These images are of a couple of my semi-automatic handuns, both in 9mm and both manufactured by CZ. One is a P-09 and the other a Shadow 2 - The former is a field gun and the latter is more range-oriented and used primarily for competition although both will perform well in both scenarios.}

_{Here's a few snaps of my .243 rifle which I built for mixed use including culling duties and the occaional long range practical rifle competition. I usually use other rifles for the latter purpose however this rifle sits in a custom carbon fiber stock and is nice and light so it's sometimes nice to use it in competition if I know there'll be a lot of running around. Out to 1000 metres this rifle is deadly accurate as it's one I operate with most often.}

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So there you have it, just a few snaps of some of my equipment. I've purposely not gone into lengthy explainations of these things as this post would be very long had I done so, however you're welcome to ask any questions about what you see and read if you like.