Sighting In with Shooting USA - Wheelchair Shotgun

We're Sighting In on an unusual shotgun fund-raising event. The money raised is just one part of the benefit shoot, organized by volunteers and by Doctors from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. This event has the people being helped doing the shooting.

It’s a pretty standard idea these days, holding a charity benefit clay shooting match. And that’s a great way for the shooting sports to help give back to the community, while everybody has a good time at the range. But this event is different, because the fund raising is just one part of the benefit shoot organized by volunteers, and by Doctors from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. This event has the people being helped, doing the shooting themselves at the Tennessee Clay Target Complex. A trap, skeet and sporting clays range in Nashville that has been paved to be fully accessible to wheelchair competitors. The benefit match is called Shoot for the Future. It’s an annual weekend event with disabled and able-bodied shooters competing side-by-side.

Dale Wiley is one of the organizers: “It really was for the purpose of simply giving the opportunity in a normal sitting to people with disabilities, and we didn’t change any of the rules at all. This is just an active shooting range, it’s all accessible for anyone that wants to come here and shoot.”

That was the goal in the beginning. Now, Shoot for the Future and Vanderbilt Hospital use this event to raise awareness and help fund spinal cord injury research.

Related Links:

Shoot for the Future Website

Vanderbilt Brain Institute – Dr. Peter Konrad

Turning Point Program for Disabled Youth

Allen Company Soft Gun Cases: Each padded with one inch of foam to protect your shotgun or rifle. Suggested Retail $25 to $45 at major outdoor category retail stores. See all Allen Company Soft Cases   BSA Rifle Scopes: The Huntsman RGB  The Huntsman is a 3-to-9 by 40mm variable optic, but what is different here is the RGB designation, which is a Red, Green, or Blue switchable illuminated reticule. Red is for all light conditions, Green is for foggy or overcast conditions, and Blue is for low light. The Huntsman rifle scope is treated to BSA’s Extreme Climate Protection. Windage and elevation adjustments are in quarter MOA increments. The suggested retail price is $110.  BSA Huntsman Scopes The Stealth Tactical 3-to-9 by 40 mm Twist Cap Shutter Adjustments provide lens protection and light limiting in extreme conditions. All glass is multicoated, and BSA’s extreme Climate protection ensures long life in all conditions.The Reticule has mil-dots for hold off shots, when there isn’t time to adjust the windage or elevation. The windage and elevation adjustments are made using new Push Pull Turrets, eliminating the caps seen on other optics. The adjustment increments are a very precise one eighth MOA. Suggested retail price is just $200. BSA Stealth Tactical Scope     The Henry Mini-Bolt for your young shooter: Everything about this little rifle is designed for the youth shooter from the .22 long rifle chambering to the length of pull at just 11 and ¾ inches. The barrel is 16 inches, and the whole package weighs just three pounds, making it very manageable for your little marksman. The Mini-bolt is a single shot bolt action, and the striker must be cocked for each shot, so your young shooter can take it one step at a time as he or she learns safe gun handling. The open sights are fiber optic, and the bolt is easily removed, so you can also teach good cleaning habits, along with safe shooting. The US Olympic Shooting Team has named the mini-bolt the official youth rifle of their program. The Henry Mini-bolt is available in the original black stock, or the new blaze orange. Suggested Retail $240.  Mini-Bolt Link  The Henry Repeating Arms AR-7 Survival Rifle The AR-7 was originally supplied to Air Force pilots as a small caliber survival rifle. It’s a repeater with a magazine that holds eight rounds of .22 Long Rifle. The barrel, receiver, magazine, ammo, stows in the waterproof stock, until you need it. Then you put it together and you’re plinking or hunting small game. Available in Silver or Black at $240 Suggested Retail. Slightly More in Camo. Henry AR-7 Link  Call Henry Repeating Arms for a Free Catalog: 1-888-422-1699 Toll Free

Minute of Angle Explained:

It has occurred to us that we might need to explain some shooting jargon. We hear it all the time, MOA. It’s the standard for rating the accuracy of a rifle, but what the heck does it mean? Well, MOA stands for minute of angle. One minute of angle is one sixtieth of one degree. Start with a circle, that’s 360 degrees. At the range, half of that is considered the safe shooting zone.

That’s one of the safety rules, don’t break the 180 degree line with the muzzle. So with that in mind, we can create a reference line that represents 180 degrees. Within those 180 degrees there is one degree, lets say the 90 degree mark, that will contain our shot to the target. Within that degree there are 60 minutes of angle, we’re slicing a degree into minute measurements along the line where the rifle is pointed to the target. So, we have the ability to measure a tiny variation in the line of bullets shot on target. 

If the point of aim is the same, how much do the shots vary in where they hit?  How big is the group? Well, we can measure that on the target, but how do we express the results in Minute of Angle? The answer is geometry. There is an equation that tells us that with a target at 100 yards, one minute of angle represents 1.0472 inches of separation on the target. But we like it simple, so we’ll round it off to say one MOA at 100 is one inch. The measurement at the target is relative to the targets distance from the rifle, so at 100 yards it’s one inch at 200, it’s two inches, 300, three inches, and so on. We’re measuring an angle, so the farther out, the wider the spread of the group. 

Now with that understood, and you do understand it, right? Now, we apply the concept to the fine adjustments on your riflescope or sights. Most riflescopes have quarter minute of angle adjustment for both windage and elevation. One click is one quarter MOA, or one quarter inch of movement on the target at 100 yards. That means four clicks makes one minute of angle, or one inch of adjustment at 100 yards. But, that’s two inches of movement on the target if it’s set at 200 yards. 

We think this should help get everyone up to speed on what we mean when we say MOA. And when a rifle manufacturer gives you a guarantee of Minute of Angle accuracy, that is a very good rifle. And if you find a rifle shooting sub MOA, less than one inch at 100 yards, that is a very, very good rifle, like the Remington 700 project rifle we built up to be a tack driver. Now, you know all about it.