Guns and Dolls

[runmakitarun]

Makita is set up on the outdoor range. The RKG-41 is a bulky weapon. It's designed to survive a lot of abuse, and she's used it to beat people with before.

It also kicks like a mule. Makita's lack of expertise with the thing is pretty evident as she keeps shifting her stance trying to compensate. That and the merely mediocre aim she seems to have with the weapon.

There is an open case of 10mm ammunition on the ground nearby and an awful lot of spent shell casings around her feet. Her frown is a mixture of concentration and frustration. Too many of her shots are missing the target.

Comments

[3rdtimelucky.livejournal.com]

The view is going to be pretty... black.

"You might want to take the caps off first," Goldy deadpans.

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

Makita leans back from the scope and turns to grin sheepishly at Goldy before sliding the cap from the eyepiece. She starts to lean in, then remembers to slide the cap from the other end of the scope as well.

This time when she rests her eye against the scope she can actually see through it.

[3rdtimelucky.livejournal.com]

"Alright. Now focus it using the wheel closest to you, and aim it at one of the targets," Goldy instructs.

The sight is 3-9x40 with a 6 mil-dot reticle. Goldy pauses until Makita seems ready.

"Now, the posts and little dots on the crosswire can be used to estimate the range to objects of known size, or to estimate the size of objects at known distances. For example: at this magnification, the distance between each dot is approximately one inch at one hundred yards. There are fourteen intervals there, and the targets are fourteen inches in diameter, so how far away are they?"

Goldy knows that the targets will be stretching from post to post, since she's used this set up herself on numerous occasions. She looks at Makita expectantly, waiting for her to complete the facile mental calculation.

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

Math has never been Makita's strong suit, but this one she can do. She takes a moment and leans in closer, shifting her head slightly before pressing her eye against the scope in order to see clearly, "One hundred yards." Makita pulls back and frowns a bit, "How far is a yard?" The Reds use something analogous to the metric system.

[3rdtimelucky.livejournal.com]

"Right," Goldy affirms, with reference to the calculation.

"There are three feet in a yard. Twelve inches in a foot. And an inch is about this much," she explains, illustrating an inch-sized gap between her thumb and forefinger.

"Don't push your eye up so close," she adds, "unless you want the lose it when the gun recoils."

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

"Umm..." Makita hums to herself as she tries to figure distances. "Close to a meter then?"

When she settles down against the rifle again she holds her head a bit farther back, "Is this far enough?"

[3rdtimelucky.livejournal.com]

Goldy nods approvingly.

"Yes. A yard is about the same as a meter. And yes. That's about right."

"Now... that rifle has a maximum range of about four hundred yards. At one hundred we aren't going to experience much fade—one dot's worth at most." She pulls up a few blades of grass and drops them, watching where the light breeze wafts them. "Negligible wind effect," she reports, "so no side-to-side compensation needed."

"When you're sighted: inhale, exhale slowly, and squeeze the trigger at the bottom of the breath."

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

Makita carefully follows Goldy's directions, exhaling slowly and squeezing the trigger. She's so wrapped up in holding the weapon steady that when the gun kicks back (hard) into her shoulder she lets out a short yelp of surprise.

[3rdtimelucky.livejournal.com]

The rifle's KRAK! resounds about the clearing. Goldy lets out a little snicker at Makita's reaction to the recoil, then smiles kindly.

"Are you okay there?"

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

When Makita looks up there's a grin on her face. "I like it."

[3rdtimelucky.livejournal.com]

Goldy returns the grin.

"Good. Go ahead and finish the mag then, and we'll see how you did."

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

Makita works the bolt to chamber the next round, looks through the scope (remembering Goldy's admonition not to get too close), and fires. Then she does it again. And again. Then works the bolt, leans forward to site in, and pulls the trigger. It clicks.

She looks up with a frown, "Did I break it?" She's used to pistols and assault rifles and ridiculous amounts of ammunition.

[3rdtimelucky.livejournal.com]

"No, dear," the Fable says, smirking now.

"It only holds four rounds. Typical hunting rifle load."

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

There's a deepening frown on Makita's face, "You mean you have to stop and reload after only four shots?" When you're used to using half a dozen bullets per target, this seems like a pretty bad deal.

[3rdtimelucky.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Goldy admits, nodding. "But remember, this isn't a close-contact mass-killing weapon. Often there's only one primary strategic mark for the sniper. One or two rounds should be all you need in that scenario."

"Additionally, if you are situated and camouflaged properly, it's unlikely that you'll be compromised by the targets for a while. There's nearly always time to reload."

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

After a moment to ponder that Makita nods. "Okay, yeah. That makes sense." Then she frowns again, "Assuming I can hit anything, anyway."

[3rdtimelucky.livejournal.com]

"Well, let's see," Goldy replies.

She waits for Makita to get up and shoulder the weapon, then leads the way down the break to the target trees. The results aren't too bad: there are three hits in the outer rings of one target. Presumably, her first shot escaped into the woods beyond.

Goldy nods approvingly and claps her student on the shoulder.

"That's not bad at all for a first attempt. Well done."

[runmakitarun.livejournal.com]

Makita half-grins back, "But not good enough, right? This... could take a while."

[3rdtimelucky.livejournal.com]

"Three kills out of four is outstanding to be honest. So don't you worry," Goldy assures her. "With first results like that, I'll make a markswoman out of you in no time."

All smiles, she's starts heading back to the shooting log.

"Come on. Let's go again."