Category Archives: Hap’s Corner

by Hap Rocketto It was a bright spring morning and the usual suspects had, as is our habit, gathered at Mel’s Diner on Route 163 for Friday breakfast prior to a morning of smallbore shooting. Young Nash Neubauer, in an … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto Tickets in hand Larry Small, Stan Wujtewicz, Mike Franklin and I walked up the slight incline from the street level ticket box of the Garde Theater into the lobby. Passing through the double doors we took a … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto Ken Girard, then editing the Rhode Island Rifle and Revolver Association section of The Outdoor Message, must have been pretty desperate to fill a few column inches. My well deserved reputation for pontificating on any shooting subject … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto It has been said that the United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language. While it may be true I, as shooter who has had some experience in Anglo-American marksmanship competition, tend … Continue reading →

  by Hap Rocketto For the first 13 years of my life I lived through the administrations of two of the most underrated Presidents of the United States. Born before Harry Truman defeated Dewey I was preparing to enter high … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto I may be Distinguished with both the service and smallbore rifle but I cannot say that I was a distinguished scholar in high school. Both of my high performing daughters finished 12th grade in the top percent … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto I was doing a little on line research for a prominent departed military shooter’s biography and typed “Arlington” into my search engine with the intent of checking what might be said about him on the Arlington National … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto One of the definitions of things that happen to us which are out of our control is luck. Luck can be good and luck can be bad. There are some people for whom it might be said … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto When I was a working man I earned my daily bread, and my ammunition money, as a high school science teacher. One thing that seemed to be a reoccurring theme, when teaching general science to ninth graders, … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto For War of the Roses aficionados, and particularly the Richard III Society, 2015 was a banner year, no longer a winter of their discontent it was made glorious summer by the sun of science. Six hundred years … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto Late one recent autumn afternoon the family was gathered to quietly celebrate the 85th birthday of our patriarch, Uncle Frank, when an explosion startled us, rattled the windows, knocked a few pictures askew, and otherwise disturbed the … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto I was desperate to get out of the infantry. It is not that I ever been to the field in the ten years I was a member of “The Queen of Battle.” I had been attached to … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto One of the defining activities of my youth was my participation in the Scouting movement. It neatly tied into my preoccupation with rifle shooting allowing me to spend a handful of carefree and pleasant teenaged summers running … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto An appreciation of good marksmanship is prehistoric and can be traced back, via archeological finds, to all corners of the earth. For example, the oldest archery artifacts in Europe date from the late Paleolithic Era, about 9000-8000 BC. In … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto Calais lies just 21 miles across la Manche from the White Cliffs of Dover. The closest French territory to England, it was annexed by Edward III in 1347, and would remain an important English economic entity for the next … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto Being a New Englander one can never be far from some of the nation’s greatest philosophers and writers. Not only because Bay State author John Cheever once proclaimed that all literary men are Red Sox fans, but … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto It has been more than six decades since I wiled away lazy days in the cradle of my education, Mrs. Levinson’s kindergarten class, at Harbor School. The boxy three story red brick building, known to its inhabitants … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto For over a half of a century I have been involved in various shooting sports and from time to time I have come across things that seem imponderable. By definition that means a question or situation that … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto Smallbore rifle shooters, particularly prone ones, actually all shooters, are always on the hunt for something that will reduce group size. The quest for the Holy Grail of a ten shot 0.50 inch group at 100 yards … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Me As both a pilot and Boston Red Sox fan the New York Yankees draw my attention. From an aviator’s point of view Red Sox left fielder and the “Greatest Hitter Who … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor of General of India, had not been able to enter either Nepal or Tibet because they were closed nations and, therefore, could have had no idea that Peak XV was known to … Continue reading →