Some years ago when two or three of us decided to go shooting at the range, the then head Mr.H.S.Bedi, declared that they would import ammo for the members to shoot at the range. He also told us that it would be more economical than KF ammo. Well we laughed long and loud thinking that Mr.Bedi was just being nice and trying to keep us interested in the sport. We just thought it was the brilliant Delhi winter and the atmosphere at the range and the gunsmoke going to his head.
But darn it, they did it. Slowly ammo trickled into the range and yeah it cost less than what the boys at Kirkee were pushin' out. Heck, you could even go and take a hundred bullets and blow em up on the range now, just don't loose any empties and get them back to the armoury before 15.30. I had been hearing all this and waiting for a chance to go to the range. In fact I had resigned myself to just hearing the stories as I didn't have the time. I was itching to shoot standard pistol but just didn't have the time.
And then again the DSRA chief Rajeev Sharma announces that they will coach members in all the pistol disciplines that our hearts' desired. That also on a weekend. This time we didn't laugh and quietly signed up. The event was announced on face book and the web page http://www.thedelhistaterifleassociation.org .
So I turned up on Saturday morning, all charged up as Amit Gupta had also encouraged me greatly. He did more than encourage, he bought his pistol for me to use. So I was set. There was a slight delay on the ammo getting there but when you have renowned shots for friends...even that is easy. Ollie quietly put a box of 22 Lr in my hand and said you go shoot, I will shoot another day...
If you thought that this was good it gets even better. The ammo man arrives and so I pick up a box of Eley Team Member and return Olly his pack. I knew it would be there for me if I ever needed it. Then it all started Mr.Rajeev Sharma a renowned shot several times over and Gold medalist at SP, began taking us through the safety and the new rules. He was joined in by National Coach Mr.Wajid Ali both took us through the basics and then so dry fire sessions.
After this we loaded up for the precision stage, which needs five shots to be fired in 150 secs. In the last Delhi State I had been like a headless chicken and had banged away five shots like a 'gangsta'. This time the two coaches taught us to take it easy, they taught about the importance of settling into the sight picture and then squeezing the shots off. In fact only then did it dawn that 150 secs was a lot of time. You could even cancel shots if need be. They taught us that if the sights were aligned properly at the sub six position we were sure to hit a nine. We all did this on a few sequences. Mr. Wajid Ali watched us like a hawk and quickly told us why we had shot where.
So after this we practiced the twenty and ten seconds. These are the duelling sections of the match and the tougher bits. We were now, taught to use 4 seconds of our time to aim and then to shoot. Both the instructors taught us the importance of smoothly squeezing the trigger and releasing it. They also taught us how to align the pistols. Again it was amazing to discover how much coordination and practice this takes. So it was fun to learn, how much one has to focus on each aspect. In my my first ten second sequence I shot two sixes. Mr.Wajid Ali pointed out how my foresight had risen out of alignment. The best part was that he was strict and also full of humorous ways to encourage us. One shooter was chagrined at how his score showed a zero, Mr.Ali told him yes when you normally shoot a zero, that is what the score is.
Initially, I had planned to shoot centre-fire pistol also, but time had run out and I had to do the Cinderalla act. All in all most of us had a great time and realised that not all of ISSF shooting was boring and not all Rifle Associations are alike. In this case kudos to the DSRA.
Yes ofcourse! I remember the shooting session with NM where the IOF couldn't keep up to the legendary accuracy of the mauser 
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