Bang Bang

Today was the first I'd ever fired a gun.

Bill and Tammy have recently joined the Front Range Gun Club - mostly for the experience and to decide if they'd like to purchase a firearm. They actually find that they enjoyed the sport of target shooting. Their membership allows them a certain number of guests each year so Bill invited me and Ron to go target shooting today.

Ron already owned a couple of handguns (a Beretta 9mm and a .38 revolver) so we didn't need to rent any from the club (though they had quite the selection). Bill bought some ammunition from the club along with a pair of 'zombie' targets for us to shoot at. Bill also had some spare safety goggles and ear protectors that I borrowed.

I have to say that having never been at a shooting range before, I thought this place was pretty top quality. They had about a dozen lanes and it wasn't too busy. The targets are stapled to rectangles of cardboard and a computerized control lets you move the target out to the range you want.

I tried both of Ron's handguns and decided that I kind of like the revolver a bit better. Both had kick to them but the revolver wasn't quite as pronounced. Also, the ejecting cartridges from the 9mm could be distracting. (A couple bounced off my head - glad I was wearing the required cap!) I noticed that I had a tendency to tense up just as I fired...and it'll take some getting used to not to squint when I'm aiming. All of my shots hit the actual target...but tended to drift to the right and slightly down. Probably has something to do with my stance or my squeezing of the trigger.

I also realized that gunshots are very, very loud. The ear protectors that Bill loaned me muffled out a lot of sound...but I could still hear the shots as audible cracks and could 'feel' the reverberation of the shots both that I made and my friends made. On the other, for whatever reason, I found the smell of gunpowder to be rather pleasant. Hopefully, that isn't a coloring of my character or something. :-)

I think the experience was pretty cool though. I finally got exercise those Second Amendment rights of mine. I don't think I'm quite ready to run out and buy myself an arsenal to stash at home...but I think I may tag along with Bill again every now and then. Whether or not I actually have a need to use a firearm, I suppose it's just one of those skills that it doesn't hurt to have.

All in all, pretty cool. Thanks to Bill for taking me and Ron out!

As always, thanks for reading - hope you're having a great day!