Wednesday, July 30, 1997
On shooting a really big gun
By Ken Ellsworth / Abilene Reporter-News
ZEPHYR - Stan Lethco peered through the scope of a huge, 34-pound,
.50-caliber rifle. The gun rested on a tripod which was placed
on a heavy bench. Lethco sat on a chair, aiming at a target standing
80 yards away in front of a rock cliff on his rural property.
Lethco's finger was on the trigger; the gun's stock was firm
against his shoulder. I stood right behind Lethco. We wore "ear
muffs," plastic-coned devices to protect our hearing.
"WHAM!!!"
I was not prepared. Lethco's shoulder jumped, and the air pressure
washed back over us with such force it pushed me back a few inches.
The air smelled of gun powder.
Eighty yards away, the base of the cliff emitted a cloud of
wispy rock dust like a dying exhalation. It was as though the
rocks themselves had been mortally wounded.
"This is a mind-boggling game. It's the biggest thrill
I've ever gotten into. It gives you such an adrenaline rush,"
Lethco, 53, a retired rancher, said.
The shell and bullet of a .50-caliber rifle together are about
six inches long. The bullet is one-half inch in diameter and more
than an inch long. The big shell is packed with enough explosive
powder for the gun's kick to knock you down, but the kick is deadened
to just bearable by a device called a muzzle break.
Lethco took four more shots. After each shot he turned screws
and made minute adjustments to the gun's position. Each shot moved
closer to the bull's eye.
"It's your turn," Lethco said.
---
As a member of the national Fifty Caliber Shooters Association,
Lethco has been shooting heavy .50-caliber rifles in competitions
for two years.
"It takes at least a year to figure out what is going
on," Lethco said, but he has won twice recently at association
sanctioned events. The competitions are not held at 80 yards,
though, but at 1,000 yards. The targets are five feet square,
but from 1,000 yards they look like postage stamps. The 30-inch
bull's-eye is a mere dot.
In a recent win, Lethco placed five shots almost within eight
inches around the bull's-eye center. That is like hitting a salad
dish two-thirds of a mile away. At that distance the bullet only
drops two feet.
"It's frightening, the potential of these weapons,"
Lethco said.
He owns three .50-caliber guns, ranging in weight from 26 to
more than 50 pounds. Each is valued at substantially more than
$5,000. Bullets cost $3 to $4.
I called Skip Talbot, who lives near Reno, Nev. Talbot is the
past president and one of the founders of FCSA, organized in 1985.
He is also the former editor of "Very High Power," the
association's publication. The association claims 1,500 members
across the nation. One-hundred members, Talbot said, are active
in competitive .50-caliber bench shooting.
"But we estimate there are about 15,000 .50-caliber guns
out there. We're not a bunch of Rambos. We're just just boys with
toys," Talbot said. He noted that the association cooperates
with the U.S. military, sharing facilities and training with groups
such as the Navy SEALS.
Talbot said the big guns were developed from machine guns that
were used as far back as World War I.
---
It was my turn to shoot.
The first shot missed the target, but I felt it kick hard into
my shoulder. Soon, I was down to my fifth shot. I took off my
ear muffs to ask Lethco a question.
I fired.
"WHAAAAAM!!!"
It was as though I had been shot in the head. My ears rang.
My eyes watered. I had forgotten the ear protectors.
Shaken, I peered through the scope. Bull's-eye.
"You have to be crazy to do something like this,"
Lethco said a few minutes later.
This column covers the cities and communities of this part
of West Texas. To contact Ken Ellsworth, call (800) 588-6397 or
(915) 673-4271, Ext. 381, or write to P.O. Box 30, Abilene, TX
79604.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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