First time card trick

[Rangerrich99]

Today I split my first playing card with a pistol.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10216012960734012&set=a.2076636832697.123218.1148269799&type=3

I never tried this trick before (never thought I was a good enough shot to do this before). But today at my club handgun advanced training class we had a few minutes of extra time at the end and our instructor decided to give a shot at splitting a playing card (something several of us have seen him do more than once). Amazingly I split my card on my second shot. The hole in the card was my first shot. This was at 8 yards. I was using my new S&W M&P40C 2.0 (bone stock except for the Ameri-glo Pro i-Dot sights) and my newly minted reloads. Which I guess are accurate enough.

I know, not that big a deal, but for me it was pretty exciting. I nearly jumped out of my shoes when that card split!

 

[JohnKSa]

Nice.

Puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

Now you know your gun is capable of card-splitting accuracy at 8 yards. And you know that you are too.

You no longer have an excuse!

 

[Rangerrich99]

Nice.

Puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

Now you know your gun is capable of card-splitting accuracy at 8 yards. And you know that you are too.

You no longer have an excuse!

Yeah, it was an eye-opener for me. Interestingly, after that I shot the rest of my mag at the eyes of the hostage target and didn't miss a single one. Apparently eyes are a lot easier to hit than cards.

 

[Bob Wright]

Now that you've done that, try this: Tape over the ends of a paper towel core and shoot end-to-end without touching the tube!

Or try shooting through an spent 12 ga. shotgun shell end-to-end.

Shoot a bullet into an empty .38 Special case.

These can be done. Need bare ground to find the .38 case!

Bob Wright

 

[Drm50]

I set up one time to shoot stings in half with a K22 at 25'. I had 10/32 nuts
on strings to provide some tension. I shot till blue in the face, bullet would push
string out of the way. Sometimes so hard it would snap the nut off the string.
I thought I was just nicking the string. My wee brain finally figured out I needed
more wieght on string. I hung some 3oz lead sinkers on the strings and the 22
would cut the string every time. A 2' string is a lot easier to cut than a card. You
only have to worry about windage. If you can do it with a 22 you can do it with
anything. A Wad Cutter out of a 44 or 45 doubles you margin of error.
If you stretch the string horizontally it can be a job to cut it.

 

[Bob Wright]

When I was a youngster, I had aspirations of being an exhibition shooter. I tried many showy shots and usually succeeded.

I determined I would never resort to "trick shots" where I made it appear that I had done a more difficult shot. And I would never use a person to hold a target or be downrange from me.

I got fairly good, but never got a sponsor to supply my ammunition needs.

Bob Wright

 

[ThomasT]

I can't see your picture because you have to log in the facebook and I am not a member and never intend to be.

We used to set up lit candles at 10 yards and shoot off the flame with 22 revolvers. I used a 3" barreled Taurus and my bud used his H&R 999 with 6" barrel. I shot off as many flames as he did. We also shot several candles in half.

 

[RickB]

I shot through an IPSC target edge-on, first try at six or eight yards, but am under no illusion that I could do it again in a dozen tries.

I remember shooting a golf ball off a post, first try at about ten yards, then missing a dozen times.

"A man's got to know his limitations."

 

[WannabeMiculek]

There's not much funner than splitting playing cards. I split my first card a couple years ago after watching a trick shooting special on tv, grabbed my pellet gun and split one second try. My favorite trick shot that I've ever seen done and then preformed is splitting a bullet on a knife blade and then hitting two balloons (one on either side). Trick shooting sounds hard and impossible, but if you just get out and shoot and try it out you'll be suprised at your abilities.

 

[UncleEd]

Is the edge of the card facing the shooter vertical
or horizontal?

I suspect splitting a card that is horizontal might be
a bit more difficult.

(Didn't tap into the Facebook to see picture.)

 

[Rangerrich99]

Is the edge of the card facing the shooter vertical
or horizontal?

I suspect splitting a card that is horizontal might be
a bit more difficult.

(Didn't tap into the Facebook to see picture.)

The card was vertical. I suspect you're right; a horizontally placed card would likely be much harder to hit. Well, maybe not for me. I have days where horizontal strings seem to be the order of the day.

 

[Drm50]

Mcgiverns "Fast and Fancy" , tells you to tackle one of these trick shots and work
on nothing but it until you master it before going to the next. I though these
shots would be easier to pull off with a 22. Wrong much easier with a 44 or 45
with target loads.

I went through Quick Kill in basic training. They taught you to hit target discs
thrown in the air with a Daisy BB gun with no sights. Then we shot pop ups
with m16 with the sights blocked with a dowel rod. Amazing results. When I
got out of Army I worked on this with a Win 55 , 22 rifle and a S&W k22. The
uniformity of target and thrower helps a lot when you are first learning. After
you get into it not so much. These targets are blooped or tossed straight up.
It doesn't take long with a rifle to hit quarters in the air. Handgun is harder.

 

[rodfac]

Nice job, Ranger...and a real challenge too. In response, here's one of my "better ideas" to quote my wife, where accuracy played a significant part in the proceedings.

Several years ago, we had a very large paper wasp nest just off the porch rail at our cabin in the mountains south of Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park. The nest, about a foot in diameter, was just beyond the reach of any wasp spray that I could find so...I figured that if I was able to cut the 1/4" branch that the nest was hanging on, with a .22 bullet...it'd fall to the ground and I could hose it down with wasp killer, taking care of the problem...what could possibly go wrong, I asked my wife? Her looks spoke volumes and she retreated to the living room and closed the door behind me as I sallied forth.

On a hot august day, I loaded my grand-daughter's single shot Winchester .22 rifle and approached the porch rail, ready to do business with the pesky wasps. I was confident in my ability to clip the branch, remembering with a certain amount of pride, my halcyon days with my college small bore rifle team, hell we'd made it to the nationals in my senior year for gosh sakes...what could possibly go wrong with that kind of resume...

Shooting off hand...after all, who but a rube needs a rest when the target is only 20 feet away...I squeezed off the first round...

It was mid-day, hot, but not humid there in the mountains. The mountain laurel that surrounds our cabin was in full bloom...and my mind wandered to the next cabin infestation to be addressed; a colony of carpenter bees that were patiently tunneling into the soffits which surrounded our covered deck. It was perhaps this momentary 'wool gathering' which explains my minuscule aiming error.

That first round merely grazed the branch supporting the nest (and like the Weebles kid's toy, "it wobbled but didn't fall down"), and that, my friends, alerted the wasps that an enemy was attacking. Their reaction was immediate and morally, legally and defensively correct...they'd accurately surmised that the bullet I'd sent in their direction fully met the standards by which 'deadly force' is justified and a swarm of a thousand pursued me around the deck to the back door...

To my ever-lasting credit, I didn't drop Lilly's prized .22, but did bang it against the door frame trying to get the screen open...but that small ding in the stock was nothing when compared to the welts on my neck, arms, back and head...those little *******S can stick right through a tractor supply t-shirt! I was tempted to demand a full refund but my wife's skepticism detered me.

So what's the punch line here, fellow shootists? Double taps administered with split time in the hundredths? Bigger bullets make bigger holes? A 9mm would have done the job over a .45? Next time use a good revolver...'cause everyone knows they're more accurate than any auto? Choose your targets wisely?

Nope...its, "Speed is fine, but Accuracy is final!"

YMMV (and I certainly hope it does!) Rod

 

[Ricklin]

Great story Rod

Oops is often followed by ouch.

 

[DaleA]

Rodfac-nice writing, thanks for the day-brightener.

 

[fastlane]

DRM50:

I went through the same training at FT Leonard Wood in the early 70. They changed the name from a Quick Kill to Quick Shoot. It was more politically correct then Quick Kill.

 

[dave7798801]

Here's one I shot many years ago on a black powder trail walk although it was shot with a .45 cal. long rifle rather than a pistol. Probably equal parts skill and luck.