Category Archives: Hap’s Corner

From time to time I am asked about the sources and, in particular, the veracity of the many anecdotes, incidents, and occurrences that form the basis for Hap’s Corners. In my half century of competitive shooting I have met a … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto The young lieutenant was at his first posting. Fresh from West Point he firmly believed that troop training ranked as his priority. Being well trained and spruce was the hallmark of a professional soldier and professionalism mattered. … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto “There sighs, lamentations and loud wailings resounded through the starless air, so that at first it made me weep; strange tongues, horrible language, words of pain, tones of anger, voices loud and hoarse, and with these the … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto The study of United States history is one of my great pleasures and the more obscure and mysteriously obscure the greater my enjoyment. I revel in the trivial minutiae of our nation’s rich past. For example do … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto From time to time I wonder what course my shooting career might have taken if I were born a few years later. When I began shooting the Army Marksmanship Unit was just five years old and only … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto After my bride and two daughters my passions are shooting, and then, in no particular order, aviation and baseball. The America’s Cup used to be up there but since the grand days of the statuesque J Boats … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto I don’t play golf but it seems to me that it is a game that, in many respects, is very much like shooting. They both have long history filled tradition, are practiced on similar outdoor venues, have … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto The study of United States history is one of my great pleasures and the more obscure and mysteriously obscure the greater my enjoyment. I revel in the trivial minutiae of our nation’s rich past. For example do … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto It has happened to all of us. Some unforeseen event occurs at a match that causes us to either meet the dark angels of our shooting soul or presents a stumbling block over which we soar. For … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto The summer of 2013 was marked by a quartet of worthy athletic feats. The Boston Red Sox rebounded from a terrible 2012 season in spectacular fashion by going from worst to first in American League East. Oracle, … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto As a kid, back in the early 1950s, one of my big thrills was watching the US Navy’s K-class blimps glide over New London while on antisubmarine patrol between Naval Air Station Lakehurst in New Jersey and … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto Jay Sonneborn has an impressive resume in the art and science of the hard hold and easy squeeze. He has been three times a member of the US Dewar Team, including a stint as captain. As fitting … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto The last prone match that most folks in the New England area shoot before departing for Perry is the Bell City Rifle Club Metric Prone Regional. The match precedes the National Championships by a week or so … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto Simply not athletic enough to play baseball, my childhood passion, I was fortunate enough to come upon rifle shooting. Shooting played upon my athletic skill set, that of being able to stay still for long hours and … Continue reading →

HPM is cancelled for tonight, 6/13/13.

 by Hap Rocketto I live in the pastoral seaside village of Westerly, Rhode Island. But for an odd meander in the bed of the Pawcatuck River the town, which is the westerly most community in the Ocean State and thereby … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto I have been, not unfairly, accused of being a bit single minded when it comes to shooting. It is one of my consuming passions. I shoot a lot and when I am not I am either thinking, … Continue reading →

 by  Hap Rocketto With the 2012 National Smallbore Position Outdoor Championship coming to its end I had come to a fork in the road of my shooting career. I had just won the geezer Three Position Championship the first time … Continue reading →

by Hap Rocketto Getting time off from work to participate in an active shooting schedule is a problem most folks face. It is tough to find a happy balance of limited vacation time between the requirements of shooting and what … Continue reading →

 by Hap Rocketto Hockey fever was sweeping New England in the late spring of 2011 as the Boston Bruins battled it out for the National Hockey League Championship and the honor of hoisting the Stanley Cup. It was mentioned that … Continue reading →