Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 117 Location: Kansas City, MO
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:05 am Post subject: My first time shooting! (pics)
(faux edit: Sorry my pictures are sideways, I'm really bad at photobucket and for some reason when I rotate them it doesn't translate to here. You can see which way is up since there's text on them.)
Yesterday, my girlfriend's family took her and me to the range to learn how to shoot. It was a public range run by the MO parks department, and they kept the rules very strict, which I think was good since we were a little nervous (and a lot excited). I was taught by my girlfriend's uncle (her legal father) with some help from her aunt (her legal mother). Before we left, her uncle showed us all of the guns we would be shooting as well as the ammunition we would be firing so that we could compare. He taught us how to use the sights, how to obtain a sight picture, how to seat mags, load mags, and drop mags. We also got the standard issue safety talk, which I already had read online. Basically, the plan was to start with a ruger .22 pistol, then move up to sig .38, and then (if we were good) to a ruger .357 magnum revolver.
We went to the range, and the first thing we noticed walking up to it was that guns are LOUD. Luckily, we had our earmuffs readily available and slipped them on. My girlfriend and I took turns. My plan was to put up 2 targets, shoot the hell out of one to get a feel for the gun, and then when they called 3 minutes left I would switch to the other target and put in a mag or two of my best, most consistent shots. All shots are made from 7 yards and the targets are on 8.5x11 inch paper. Here's what it looked like on the .22:
I found the sights really easy to use and got the hang of it somewhat quickly. There were a couple where my hand would get kind of shaky and those are the outliers. Also, I think that on a couple trigger pulls I might have accidentally moved the gun a little (even though I was trying really hard not to). They called 3 minutes, and I switched targets.
I was pretty proud of this one. As you can see, I stopped shaking left and right, but I still had some variance up and down.
Next we moved on to the sig .38 caliber pistol. I don't think I did very well, because the gun was kind of small for my hands and I really had to squinch down around it to get a good grip. Also, the sights were tinier and harder to use for me. Here's target one:
There were also a couple that missed the paper, which I felt really bad about. Now for the second target:
As you can see, it's tightened up a little, but not very much. I think I was just bad at this gun because it was little, or maybe some other reason.
My girlfriend tried the .38 and liked it even less than I did, even though I think her hands would fit it much better. She stayed on the .22 for the rest of the time, which is ok. Meanwhile, I was approved for using the .357! Yay! Here's how it looked:
This also has one that missed the paper entirely. When I looked at this target, all I could think was "Jesus, those holes are big!" The recoil was pretty big, but it wasn't a hindrance and I wasn't hurt. Then I went to put my best at the second target:
I felt pretty good about this one. However, I miscounted one time and dropped the hammer on a used case. It wasn't such a big deal, but I flinched to absorb the recoil and totally got busted because a bullet wasn't fired. I was pretty embarrassed about that. We had some time left, so I got to get another turn at the .357:
As you can see, it isn't as good as the last one. This was partly because my hands were getting tired and partly because I wasn't trying to put out my best. The one that says "Ignore" says that because one of the tacks fell out in the middle of the session and a gust of wind flopped that corner waaaay over just as I shot and it went through the paper twice.
I'll definitely go shooting again, and I feel very lucky to have had this opportunity to learn. Right now, I'm trying to get my mom to go out to the range with me so that she can learn to use the 9mm pistol that she's had for 15 years and never fired.
What do you guys think? Can you gun experts see how I could improve by looking at the targets? What should I do now? Keep in mind that I live in a dorm and I'm broke, so even if I do scrape up enough cash to buy a gun it'll have to live back with my parents. Any constructive criticism or comment would be greatly appreciated.
Put some fired cases in the revolver and practice your trigger pull. At 7 yds all those hits should be in the red!!! Practice,practice,practice!!! _________________ "If this ain't a mess, it'l do 'till one shows up"
For the longest time when i was younger i could not get my 7.5 inch ruger redhawk to make pretty groups... until i caught myself flinching. That daggum .44 had me shakin like a dog shiddin razorblades. I fixed my flinch by loading (with closed eyes) 4 live rounds, and 2 fired rounds randomly, so there is no way to know if it is for sure going to make a BOOM or a click. Give it a try, you may catch yourself too, focus on your front sight and keep shootin
Joined: 11 Aug 2008 Posts: 22 Location: Kalifornication
Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:11 am Post subject:
Goblin wrote:
Put some fired cases in the revolver and practice your trigger pull. At 7 yds all those hits should be in the red!!! Practice,practice,practice!!!
practice is a good thing but invest in snap caps it's better to be safe then sorry I was very lucky when a live round got mixed in the spent rounds all I got was a hole in the bookcase and ringing eardrums could have been alot worse so now it's snap caps when I practice away from the range
oh and nice shooting! glad to see your having fun with it!
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could have been alot worse so now it's snap caps when I practice away from the range
