Mark Brannon

As a kid growing up in the 50's and 60's on Army bases all over the world, I had a fascination with firearms. To my Dad, a three war veteran, they were just the tools of his trade. But he indulged me and at age 10 bought me my first firearm - a single shot bolt action rifle (which I still have). He taught me how to shoot and I would endlessly pester him to take me shooting. By the time I was 12 he had taught me how to shoot his issue M14 and his 1911A1 .45 pistol. I was hooked for life. I joined the Navy at 17, married at 18 and spent 20 of the next 24 years on sea duty aboard destroyers and submarines. I had no time for hobbies but my love of firearms never diminished. As a steam engineer, weapons weren't a big part of my job aboard ship, but I managed to qualify on all Navy issue small arms and big guns up to 5 inch, 54 caliber dual purpose cannons. Now those are fun to shoot! I retired from the Navy in 1992 and for the first time in my life I had a lot of free time on my hands. One Sunday a civilian friend invited me to a small local club to shoot skeet, which he said was wildly popular. I had heard about the game but I had never seen it. I owned a few hunting shotguns as I've always hunted when time permitted. So I went skeet shooting for the first time with my Browning A5 12 gauge shotgun with its 20 inch slug barrel with rifle sights. I shot a seven of 25 on my first round - a terrible score, but I had discovered the joy of shooting moving targets and my life has not been the same since. I bought a target gun, started reloading and eventually hooked up with a group of other retired military folks and started shooting skeet almost every day. I couldn't get enough and I still can't, although now my primary focus is Sporting Clays. There is something viscerally satisfying about hammering a 4 inch target flying at 50 miles per hour - watching it turn into a smoke ball. There's nothing like it. I live in Durham, Maine, surrounded by my wife, my dogs, kids & grandkids and lots of shotguns and ammo. And 50 years after I fired my first gun, I still can't get enough.