[outasight20]

Originally Posted by tpelle

Part of the problem is America's obsession with instant gratification. Let me offer an example:

I happen to be a competitive shooter, and the particular regimen I'd chosen is Service Rifle. In Service Rifle you have to shoot a rifle that conforms to one of three rifles as issued to the US military - either an M1 Garand, an M14 (or it's civilian non machine gun version the M1A), or the M16 (or again it's civilian equivalent the AR15), and in all cases you have to use 'iron sights - no scopes, in other words. You shoot a course of fire that has targets at 200 yards, 300 yards, and 600 yards. Consequently I know that it is possible to hit a target at 600 yards with a fairly inexpensive rifle using iron sights. It does require a little disciptoline and use of proper position and technique.

However, go to any rifle range in the country for a little practice, and what you see commonly is the shooting version of the 'squid'. The ranges are full of guys with AR15's with big scopes on them, using sandbag rests, and shooting at 25 or 50 yards!

The issue is that they honestly believe that you HAVE TO HAVE a powerful scope and have to shoot off of a rest in order to hit anything. They don't even consider that the reason they can't hit the target is because they aren't following even the most basic principles of marksmanship. If they can't hit the target, they blame the equipment, then go out and buy a bigger scope!

I couldn't agree more with this post. And for the record, as an ex-Ninja 250 rider, I know what the bikes are capable of and miss mine often.