Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How not to use your truck as a gun rest

In the early 90's when SKS rifles came popular in my area, I saw a windshield that got hammered when the driver failed to stick the rifle out far enough when shooting at a coyote or something. A few shots in quick succession resulted in a messed up windshield.

My uncle was shooting across the hood and put three in the opposite fender of a brand new '86 Suburban. The antelope never moved. He looked up and said, "aww $hit". Got it fixed before the trip home. My aunt never found out.

3 pickups shot - by others.
22 ding in hood
9mm severe ding in hood (didn't go through the hood)
30-06 penetration through the rear post of the cab
(whistled like crazy from exit shrapnel holes, while driving )

10 % rule applies here

Heh Heh......

I did that number on the vinyl roof of my '77 Cadillac Eldorado with a 35 Whelen.

Comforting to know that piece of stupidity wasn't all that uncommon.

Uncle told me story about shooting a T/C contender and watching his cloth top explode HAHA

Loudest noise my ears have ever been subjected to was a .243 being shot from over the roof of my truck while I was in it. About killed the kid. Then he did it again. Farmers kids do some stupid stuff sometimes.

Just the shockwave of a centerfire rifle bullet passing within a few inches over it can put a very long tear in a convertible top.

Lots of windshields get cracked that way, also.

A shooter thinking a couple of inches of clearance is enough may be in for an unpleasant surprise.

Happens more often than you might think...

The worst I ever did was shoot a barb wire fence in two while shooting at a freezer deer at about 10 yards. 50 caliber Hornady 385 grain lead bullet. I was in the middle of about 12 deer, don't think I injured any of them. It was rumered that a guy in a town close by caved in a windshield shooting a 50 cal.(not black powder) across his pickup hood.

Buddy burnt his headliner with a flinchlock. Not sure if he got the deer, he wouldn't admit why he shot out the window.

Back in the middle fifties was working a Washington Department of Wildlife Game check point on opening morning of Deer Season as a Boy Scout when a guy came out in a new Plymouth station wagon with a nice buck tied to the hood and a big hole in the windshield upon talking to his hunting partner the guy was to hung over from partying the night before. He decided to stay in the car and sleep it off. He was sleeping it off pretty good when all of a sudden he was woke up by the car vibrating quite violently. The vibration was caused by the buck on the hood rubbing his horns on the front bumber. So the guy raised his 30/30 to his shoulder and shot the buck through the windshield of the car.

And, thus the science of parallax is explained!

Last week while waiting for the company to do an inspection on the RV I'd just returned I noticed they had a ladder on the one parked next to it. I asked if there was some damage to the roof and the girl said probably, and then mentioned in the morning they'd had an RV returned that the renter had managed to discharge his firearm in and put a bullet through the bed and out through the side of the RV.

Another time a few years ago Wood Cutter Bob was cutting firewood up on Skidder Hill up accross the road from Compass Rose Farm here just South of Disovery Bay off Hwy 101 when he spotted a Black Bear down below him so he grabs his rifle and using the hood of his Chevy Blazer Shoots the Blazer's Hood and the Bear wonders off to the next county.

That brings back bad memories, back in the 70's outside the small towns of Beaumont and Kunkle PA a friend of my cousins was driving his teen age daughter to school when a big buck crossed the road. Thinking he would drop it quick and come back to get it he leaned over the top of his International Scout and fired. The bullet entered the cab and struck the girl in the head killing her immediately.

The he was never the same...

2 stories, both involved guys I worked with in the power plant. First guy was hunting woodchucks with his .308. He shot 3 times at a running woodchuck and hit the hood of his truck each time. Damaged the fire wall too. 2nd guy was a grumpy old phart. He and another guy were road "hunting" and the driver asked him if his rifle was loaded. He says "what do you think I am, an idiot?" as he pulls the trigger. Shoots through the floor, oil pan and oil filter. Somebody mounted that Purolator oil filter with the bullet hole through it on a plaque and every year, just before deer season it would get hung on the wall about 10' up. He could never laugh about that but we all did.

In a little different vein but once I was shooting a 45 Colt, RRH with heavy Buff Bore loads in the Creed more position with the big revolver tight against my calf; I only shot once. The flash from the cylinder-barrel gap burned through my jeans and left a nickel sized, fairly bad burn on my leg. Felt like I had gotten stung by an ice pick.

Ouch!

Cant imagine shooting that RRH with those loads was very fun in that position, even without the burn.

I "borrowed" one of my mom's couch pillows to rest my super blackhawk on. It lasted about 3 shots, she was not real proud.