Can you pick the most important item to a shooter in this photo?(Besides the rifle!)

There are many like it, but this one is mine. This might sound cliche but your rifle is as unique as your fingerprint and if you want to grow as a shooter to the highest level, you have to know it like the back of you hand. You should be as comfortable behind your rifle as your are laying on your pillow at night.


A lot of people are surprised when I tell them I only own one or two rifles max. It is not that I can't afford two, it's because I know as a shooter that I will never reach true greatness with any one rifle if I am constantly changing them or modifying them. Toys have there place and collections can be fun, but it is not for the marksman.


Beware of the man with one gun isn't because he can't afford two. It is because he knows his rifle inside and out, and knows how to use it. Keeping a logbook through the years is like a roadmap of all you have learned and the little things that matter. You have your notes at your fingertips to review and refer to, and over time you will not forget them. Without written records or a journal of your progression, you are doomed to repeat many small mistakes and overlooked details that through the years you forgot or ignored.


At my prime, I really felt like I could point and whistle and the rifle would go and shoot the target and hit it without me. Some of my favorite matches that I have won and placed in honestly felt effortless. Like I was just getting lucky over and over again. It wasn't just luck. A lot of this I attribute to focusing on mastering my rifle and keeping great records as we grew together as a team. Funny thing, I have found with good luck, it always seem to follow you and hang around when you are at this level of knowledge and comfortability with your rifle. Bad luck seems to follow those who are always on their first date (with their new rifle) being uncomfortable and fidgety all the time. Just an observation. So, keep good records and master "your" rifle! You'll be surprised to find that good luck then seems to follow!

My .260 log book from 2007 to 2012

From 2007 to 2012, I ran a .260 Remington, over the years placing and winning in many matches with it including "The Allegheny Sniper Challenge" in 2012. I attribute many of the top finishes to this log book and all the records kept over the years while me and the rifle grew and learned to work together as a team. I still have this log book and will always keep one for each rifle I work with. Keeping record of any of the rifle's quirks and changes made over the years including chronograhed speeds, reloading data and DOPE for the rifle. Never forget that is truly is that important!

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