Not real surprising. We recently sponsored a charity pistol match for the
Border Patrol. They're a nice bunch of guys and gals and everyone had a lot
of fun. The difference, however, between those that shoot for fun and those
that shoot because it's required by their job could not have been more
obvious. We had to separate law enforcement professionals from the civilian
shooters to ensure that those the match were held for had at a chance at
winning something too. There was simply no comparison at all. The most
common statement by the LEOs was, damn, I'm glad I don't have to face these
guys. We're glad they don't have to face us too.

Last night, I shot a rifle and shotgun match. I fired 24 rounds at 24
shotgun targets, hitting every one, in about a minute and a half. That's
about 4 seconds per shot, including time needed to move through the stage
and to reload. My high capacity shotgun holds 8 rounds in the magazine. The
best competitors did it in about half that much time. I shot well enough and
fast enough, but did not manage to reload fast enough. In the rifle portion
of the competition, I did much the same until a jam I could not clear put a
stop to my progress through the stage. The shots I got to take were at steel
targets less than 1/8 the size of a human torso, at more than 50 yards. No
shots missed. Tonight, I'll compete with a pistol and somewhat shorter
ranges, generally no more than about 25 yards. Depending on the stage
design, it normally takes from 30 to 60 seconds for 30 rounds or so, again
including the time required to move and reload.  In 3 to 4 stages of about
30 rounds each, I rarely miss my target more than once or twice.  The good
competitors generally cut my time in half.

Lee