Greetings from Georgia,
I have posted a few times here concerning the education of a few guys that took place at my private 500 yard range. There have been several friends and aquaintences that have been shocked by the accuracy of these Handi rifles after only moments before looking down their noses at " that ugly boat paddle gun". Well it seems to have happened again and this time I may be in the place to make a large gain.
A few weeks ago a guy I have known for many years came over to shoot. We all have the after deer season blues and have found that firing a few dozen rounds helps lift our spirits. He brought several very nice guns over and had a good session of 100, 200, and 300 yard shots. After He was done, I told him that I would like him to spot for ma as I sent a few downrange. The first .44 mag I pulled out was a Ruger Super Blackhawk that I have had for over 20 years and shoot as if it were an extention of my soul. I was hitting the steel plate at 100 yards and this guys jaw dropped. I explained that with the experience of several thousand handloaded rounds and the good sights that it was not all that hard. I loaded 6 fresh rolled rounds and gave it to him to try and he immedietly was hitting. MAN was this guy pumped. I then proceeded to remove the .44 mag Handi from the case and he scowled. Being a "Browning kinda guy" he feels if it does not cost a bunch, it can't be very good. This is the attitude that many have and one that I love to have down on the range.
I sat down at the bench, loaded one of the max load 180 grain jacketed bullets and quickly rang the bell !! Jacked out the empty, shoved in another and rang it again, and then again. 3 hits at 100 yards in less than 1 minute. A puzzled look came across his face as I loaded another, got off the bench while leaving the Handi on the bags. I nodded to the rifle and simply said, "put the cross on the top of the bell".
I couls sense the tension as he sat down and fired the first shot. CLANG !!!! The next went just high but the next 2 were ringers. As he got up he began to really "look at" this ugly little gun. We finished up our range time and he was off.
He called a few days later to ask about the two .44 mag guns he had shot. I told him the pistol would never part, but the Handi, Well .......maybe, what do you have in mind ? After a bit of discussion, he mentioned that he had a 14 ft john boat that had been destroyed when a tree fell across it. The boat and trailer were totaled, but the 9.9 Mercury motor was untouched and still ran like new. His insurance had already settled and his wife wanted the wreck gone. He offerd it as a trade for the rifle. Well, it does not take a calculus major to figure that a $250 rifle and $100 scope is worth LESS than a $900 motor and 100 pounds of scrap aluminum. So, I agreed to the trade and am expecting the boat to be here this weekend.
Sure there will be a very emotional goodbye to the Handi, but it is also quite rewarding to see that a snobby, high class "Browning" guy is submitting to the fact that these guns will flat out shoot !! No frills, or fancy "Buck Marks" ever made a shooter. Well, now I am back down to having only 11 Handis, but hey, I am ALWAYS in the market for another. God Bless.
Dave