Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/10/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]This a portion of the "Full Metal Jacket" shooting script that has the rifle training sequence: Shots of the platoon firing their rifles. On the third day of our seventh week we move to the rifle range and shoot holes in paper targets. Later they are grouped around Gerheim. "Does anyone known who Charles Whitman was?" Blank faces. "None of you dumbasses knows?" Cowboy slowly raises his hand. "Private Cowboy?" "Was he the guy that shot a lot of people from a roof?" "That's right, Private Cowboy. He shot and killed twelve people from a 28-story observation tower at the University of Texas, from distances of up to four hundred yards." The recruits look impressed. "Does anybody know who Lee Harvey Oswald was?" That's easy. Almost every hand goes up. "Private Snowball?" Private Snowball says, "He shot Kennedy, Sir!" "That's right. And do you know how far away he was?" "It was pretty far. From that book suppository building, sir!" "Two hundred and fifty" feet. He was two hundred and fifty feet away and shooting at a moving target. He got off three shots with a bolt action rifle in six seconds, and got two hits, including a head shot. Do you know where those men learned to shoot like that?" No one knows. Joker raises his hand. "Private Joker." "In the Marines sir?" "In the Marines. Outstanding! Now those people did not put their Marine training to a good purpose but they showed what a Marine with his rifle can do, and before I am through you will all be able to do the same thing." Now I prefer to do all my shooting with a Leica, but I also know that I can shoot a bullet lengthwise through a cigarette at a distance of 50 ft. At least I could 50 years ago. Larry Z