Shooting Gallery

[Ahso!]

I went to a shooting gallery last week. It's my first time shooting a gun since my time in the Navy back in 1974.

It was an interesting experience. What I realized after the first shot was that shooting a firearm is different than any other similar type of hobby I've ever been involved in. There's pulling the trigger and looking for the results, period. It isn't like archery or any other sport using a projectile where I can watch the unfolding of my action to trace the results. If I throw a javelin, launch an arrow, throw a football or baseball, shoot a basketball, or shoot a hockey puck, I get to watch the action unfold to the results. Not so with shooting a gun. Even watching violent video games, the animation usually shows the path of the bullet in some way, but that's not the reality of it.

As I'm aging and searching for something to do with my time I thought I'd give this a look as a hobby.

Perhaps my perspective is only that of a newbie and there is more to the gratification of shooting guns? For those who are more experienced, I'd like your perspective or advice.

[Saint_]

I went out shooting about a year ago as well. I grew up with guns and owned many at one point. I found that I was as good a shot as I ever was...then I almost shot my foot off.

I guess shooting guns for fun would be a good hobby for some. Not me, though. I hate guns.

I used to own guns. I had a Marlin Model 60 (.22 with a 16 shot barrel feed), a Ruger 10/22, and a 9mm Luger. I mostly liked to go out and hunt beer cans with my friends. Like all teens, I loved the feeling of power firing a gun gave me.

Then came a day when I was 17 years old. The age well-known for stupidity and irresponsible behavior. My friends and I had been drinking all day. That was our first mistake. In those days the drinking age in New Mexico was old enough to see over the dashboard, operate the pedals, know the name of a beer at the drive up window and have cash that was green.

Like all western children, we had taken hunter’s safety when we were 12 and had pretty much grown up with a gun in our hands. Of course, when you are seventeen, twelve is a million years ago. So we all got our .22s and headed out to Chokecherry canyon, a desolate badlands-type landscape. We strolled along, drinking and talking, but not seeing anything worth shooting other than some old, rusted out and abandoned cars. So we decided to split up.

That was our second mistake. The third mistake was to circle in opposite directions.

As my best friend and I trudged to the top of a steep hill, our heads popped over the crest. At that second, a bullet zinged off the top of the hill, throwing dirt on our faces and whizzing right past my ear close enough to ruffle my hair. We hit the dirt, then crawled to the brink and looked over. We were surprised to see our other friends in a ravine on the other side, laughing and hollering.

Embarrassed and frightened, my friend and I stood up and yelled to them, “You almost killed us, you idiots!” (Actually, we used much more colorful language.) This was replied to by a torrent of catcalls and dispersions concerning the character and quality of our family line, with hints as towards the lack of courage in our ancestors.

Being a teenager, naturally my friend and I were jealous of honor and quick in quarrel. We yelled back, “Oh yeah? Let’s see how you like it!” We raised our rifles and waited for a second while our friends scrambled behind a rather large boulder with a steep dirt hill behind it. Once they were safely under cover, we opened fire with both guns, stitching the dirt all around the boulder while our friends screamed in fear.

After we stopped, barrels smoking, we laughed hilariously as they crawled out from behind the boulder cursing us loudly. They yelled, “You idiots! We shot at you on accident, but you shot at us on purpose.” We took that as our cue to return the insinuations as to their DNA and family tree.

After that, things began to get really crazy. We were shooting and running everywhere. Naturally, we were just shooting to frighten and calls of “If you kill me, my mother will kill you!” were tossed back and forth. I remember at one point, I was hiding behind a tree that was four sizes too small to hide me, while I listened to bullets hitting the other side with sharp “Whack Whack” noises.

As I peered around the tree, I saw my friend running from cover to another, better position. So I took aim at his heels and gave him the “Dance, stranger!” treatment. Unfortunately, at that point one of the bullets ricocheted off a rock and ran up his forearm, not breaking the skin, but leaving a arrow-straight burn trail.

We decided that we’d had enough fun for that afternoon, but the day wasn’t over.

Late that night we had still been drinking, since that was our hobby in high school in the seventies. We were driving out in the hills looking for a keg since they went on pretty much continually all weekend long. We saw a truck coming the other direction, loaded with guys our age, so we flagged them down to ask if they had any info.

I not quite sure who started what after that. I have a feeling that it was my best friend who was known for a big mouth and a quick temper. But at any rate, within minutes the seven of them and the five of us were engaged in a full blown, knock-down, drag-out street brawl. I was up against a guy my size, but he no stomach for it by the look on his face. A couple of quick punches to the nose and a kick to the stomach sent him packing.

I turned around to see how my friends were fairing. In the dim light, it was hard to tell who was who, but I recognized my best friend’s brother, a hulking Navajo kid, stalking after another quickly retreating kid twenty yards down the road. He seemed oblivious to another kid on his back pummeling his head and shoulders.

I glanced to my right and saw my best friend had taken a hit. He was on the ground, in a fetal position and didn’t seem to be breathing. As I watched, the kid who was fighting him drew back his foot and gave my friend a brutal, vicious kick to the face. My friend’s head snapped back to a terrifying, unnatural angle. He lay motionless. I was convinced that his neck had been broken.

In my intoxicated state, a thought swam into my mind, insistent. “They killed my friend. Now I have to kill them.” I felt very calm. This was one of the two times in my life where I thought I was a little insane. I walked over to the car, opened the trunk and pulled out the Marlin. I turned and walked straight to the guy who had killed my friend and drew up the rifle to eye-level. At three yards, with a semi-automatic, there was no way I could miss.

Terrified, He threw up his arms a screamed, “Don’t shoot, man!” I felt my finger tightening on the trigger. At the last second, I heard a small voice in my head, “Don’t kill him.” Call it sanity, conscience, God, or just sobriety, I pulled off a little to the left and fired. At the sound of the shot, everyone stopped fighting. The boy stood there for a second, watching me looking down the barrel at him, then took off running for his truck followed closely by his friends.

As they desperately tried to start the truck, I walked around the truck blasting headlights, tailgate, mirrors, everything except the tires. (I guess I wanted them to leave.)

Finally they drove off at a pretty incredible rate and I dropped the gun to my side.

I turned, sick at heart, not wanting to see my best friend lying in the dirt. “What would I tell his mother?” I thought. Imagine my shock and amazement as my friend got up, rubbing his neck and dusting himself off! I heard him say, “Sheesh! I thought you were going to kill those guys!”

So I had almost gunned down seven men in cold blood…for nothing.

The next day, I decided that I was not responsible enough or intelligent enough to own a weapon. I wanted nothing to do with guns again. It seemed to me that situations like that could all too easily be repeated in the future.

So a friend of mine who was kind of stupid told me he would buy all the guns from me. He came over that day with the cash, because, shaken as I was, right now wasn’t soon enough to get rid of them. I debated selling them to him, because he was known to be a complete idiot. But what the Hell, if he did something stupid, that wasn’t my fault, was it? (So I thought in those days.)

I gave him the Ruger first, but I took out the clip before I gave it to him. He played with the rifle for a while. Then he said, “Give me the clip.” I replied, “No.” Naturally he asked, “Why not?” I told him, “Because you’ll do something stupid with it.” I was kind of blunt and tactless in those days. Of course, I was actually the one being stupid for considering selling it to him in the first place, but teenagers don’t think that way. He kept begging and pleading, though, and I finally gave in telling him, “This clip is loaded, you can look at it, but don’t put it in the gun.”

So fast that, to this day, I still can hardly believe it, he rammed the clip into the gun, pulled back the bolt and released it. Since his finger was on the trigger, the gun went off immediately. Luckily, the Good Lord watches over fools and children. The gun was pointed at the ground. Unfortunately, the bullet ricocheted off the hardwood floor and passed through the wall into the next apartment. The family wasn’t home, but I’m pretty sure that their cat lost one of his nine lives.

So what’s my point? It’s this: gun safety has come a long way. We have trigger locks, gun safes, and ammo cases. But how can you design a gun that is “stupidity-proof?”

Like alcohol, you can pass all the laws you want, but anyone who wants a gun will get their hands on one if they are available. Anyone: criminals, citizens, and children.

You can say that everyone should have training, but I had it and I completely forgot it in the passion of the moment. Worse yet, there will always be intense, emotional situations in people’s lives. Guns have a terrible tendency to make those temporary situations worse.

I’m writing this post today, not because I wanted to expand on Ahso's gun thread, but because I got the word that yesterday that my favorite cousin tried to commit suicide.

He is in the hospital with a shattered jaw. Amazingly, the bullet went out his mouth. His face is disfigured, but he didn’t lose any teeth and I know that the doctors can work miracles with plastic surgery these days. He has been diagnosed as manic-depressive, so now he will get help and medication and perhaps lead a normal life. He wanted to kill himself because of terrible financial problems, something I can relate to intimately.

There was once a time when I felt the same way. I had lost everything, was homeless, alone, and just out of jail. What saved me was my faith, (I believe suicides go to Hell) and the fact that I didn’t have a gun that night. The next day I felt better. You will argue that my cousin could still have found a way to kill himself without a gun, but he didn’t. He used a gun.

Guns always seem to be everyone’s favorite instant solution to a temporary problem.

I haven’t owned a gun since that day. My wife doesn’t like them and I have granddaughters now, so I won’t be buying a gun anytime soon. I’ve lived an adventurous and dangerous life and gotten along fine without them. I’ve faced down vicious gangsters and crazed, delusional Vietnam veterans. I’ve had live rounds put in my mailbox from the local gangs as a message for throwing their soldiers out of school. I’ve had bullets whistle by my head when I was out cutting firewood. I’ve had strangers shoot at me from across lakes.

But I’ve been fine, I’ve never needed a gun, and it looks like I never will. It’s a personal choice, and I won’t deny others their right to own a gun, but I just can’t buy that a gun is a “necessity” of life.

That just hasn’t been my experience.

It just seems to me that guns cause more problems for people than they solve. "Shooting Gallery" indeed...that pretty much describes our whole country.

[spot]

Ahso!;1525815 wrote: For those who are more experienced, I'd like your perspective or advice.


You need to load your magazine with tracer rounds.

[Ahso!]

I went back today to see if I would enjoy the experience more. I did, though not all that much more. I haven't experienced any sense of power as Saint described. I tried a different model. I shot a Glock 43x my first visit and a Smith & Wesson 380 today. I like the 380 more.

[LarsMac]

I grew up with guns. My uncle was an NRA Gun Safety Instructor.

I've long enjoyed target shooting.

I still have several guns, but they have been in storage for a long time.

The problem these days with going to a range to shoot is that you have to hang out with a lot of Gun Nuts.

The ranges tend to be overrun with them, lately. They tend to be undisciplined, and erratic.

[Ahso!]

I've been impressed so far with everyone I've interacted with. In fact, I've been surprised by that. No MAGA hat-wearing people. Staff at the gallery have been friendly and professional.

[Bryn Mawr]

spot;1525837 wrote: You need to load your magazine with tracer rounds.


One in twenty used to be the preferred ratio as I recall:-)

[LarsMac]

spot;1525837 wrote: You need to load your magazine with tracer rounds.


Bryn Mawr;1525859 wrote: One in twenty used to be the preferred ratio as I recall:-)


Bad idea. In Colorado, Several rather severe forest fires have been started by people doing that.

[LarsMac]

Ahso!;1525855 wrote: I've been impressed so far with everyone I've interacted with. In fact, I've been surprised by that. No MAGA hat-wearing people. Staff at the gallery have been friendly and professional.


That is good news. We have not been so lucky in the West.

[Bryn Mawr]

LarsMac;1525870 wrote: Bad idea. In Colorado, Several rather severe forest fires have been started by people doing that.


With apologies, I was being facetious - I am no shooter and should not be passing comment.

[Ahso!]

Bryn Mawr;1525881 wrote: With apologies, I was being facetious - I am no shooter and should not be passing comment.


Oh, stop! Your comments are always welcome, including the facetious ones.

[LarsMac]

Ahso!;1525883 wrote: Oh, stop! Your comments are always welcome, including the facetious ones.


Yeah! What HE said.

[cars]

I'll try to make a long story short! I was very young. (19) I bought what I thought was a 12 ga. "shotgun". I found out it was actually called a "Goose" gun, and it had a long barrel, actually too long for what I wanted it for, the barrel was "36" inches long. So I took a hack saw to it and cut off 33 inches of the barrel. At the time I lived miles from the next closest house. So I took my sawed off shotgun and went deep into the dense woods and fired it up into the sky. A flaming fireball blast of LOUD deafening sound came out of the short barrel. The short barrel caused the blast to explode outside the barrel. I was deaf for two days. As it turned out, I found out my "sawed off shotgun" was "illegal"! The minimum legal barrel length had to be "12" inches. So my Dad was a machinist by trade, and he machined a special collar to slide over the gun's short barrel and then slide a 9 inch piece of the cut off barrel into the other side of the collar and silver solder it all together. It came out perfect, and the gun was now legal. NOW COMES the SHOOTING GALLERY PART. I took my gun to the town's indoor Shooting Range to test the accuracy of the barrel collar extension fix. I fired the gun at the targets, and it was perfectly accurate for a shotgun, my Dad did a perfect job fixing my former illegal gun. Thanks Dad! (TURNED OUT TO BE A LONG STORY AFTER ALL )

[cars]

I'm going to a shooting Gallery Next month when I head South. My son has a new gun he wants me to try out. Should be interesting.

[High Threshold]

spot;1525837 wrote: You need to load your magazine with tracer rounds.


Exactly. Or mount a laser sight with a scope.

[LarsMac]

My daughter and her hubby just bought a house out in the plains of Eastern Colorado.

The Northern corner of the property has a fairly wide gully from an old dry water run. It has obviously made an excellent shooting range for a long time. The far bank has a couple of target screens set up, and an old table fifty yards across the gully. No more venturing out to the back of beyond to find a place to practice, and no worries about dealing with MAGA 'roids flashing their hardware.

[henrychalder]

I decided to have a go at shooting seeing the Americans find it so fascinating, so off I went to Las Vegas to a shooting gallery. After firing several guns I found it quite boring and not very stimulating so I thought I'd have a go at the 50 caliber, I fired one shot then questioned why 2 holes were in the target instead of one? "Oh thats because the shell fragmented" the female instructor said, I was puzzled by this, wasn't the real fact that the shell had hit the target ricochet off back into the target and was coming back at me?

[Bryn Mawr]

henrychalder;1528232 wrote: I decided to have a go at shooting seeing the Americans find it so fascinating, so off I went to Las Vegas to a shooting gallery. After firing several guns I found it quite boring and not very stimulating so I thought I'd have a go at the 50 caliber, I fired one shot then questioned why 2 holes were in the target instead of one? "Oh thats because the shell fragmented" the female instructor said, I was puzzled by this, wasn't the real fact that the shell had hit the target ricochet off back into the target and was coming back at me?


Highly unlikely, behind the target is an energy absorbing layer that would not allow a ricochet. Far more likely that such a large bore projectile would fragment in the bore and both fragments would hit the target.

[spot]

I tried Google for background. "Explosive expulsion of stool after digital examination" was not what I had hoped for at all.

[Bryn Mawr]

spot;1528237 wrote: I tried Google for background. "Explosive expulsion of stool after digital examination" was not what I had hoped for at all.


I worry at the sites you visit!

[spot]

It was your last sentence I put in as the search term.

[Ahso!]

On my last visit which was about three weeks back, I tried a different handgun. I commented to the person monitoring the range that it felt more comfortable than the previous one and that I was more comfortable shooting.

He then asked me if I was going to purchase the gun, to which I stated that I was not ready to own a gun because I was far too sloppy and not attentive enough for one. He looked surprised and said that that is what the shooting range was for.

I disagree with the notion of owning a gun first and then becoming familiar with handling it. That seems to me to be backward thinking. I suppose the mindset is to get the guns out there first. Not smart in my opinion.

[LarsMac]

Ahso!;1528292 wrote: On my last visit which was about three weeks back, I tried a different handgun. I commented to the person monitoring the range that it felt more comfortable than the previous one and that I was more comfortable shooting.

He then asked me if I was going to purchase the gun, to which I stated that I was not ready to own a gun because I was far too sloppy and not attentive enough for one. He looked surprised and said that that is what the shooting range was for.

I disagree with the notion of owning a gun first and then becoming familiar with handling it. That seems to me to be backward thinking. I suppose the mindset is to get the guns out there first. Not smart in my opinion.


I think you're going at it the right way. Get the feel of a gun, and figure out if you even want to make it a regular thing. Find one that is comfortable and easy for you to handle.

Then make sure of your motivation for owning one. If you just want to target shoot, and play with it then that's cool. You will enjoy it a lot more if it's comfortable.

Do you think you need one for protection? then absolutely knowing how to handle it without having to think through the process is critical. You don't want to be fumbling around with something you are not comfortable with if you are feeling an immediate threat.

[Ahso!]

I still don't think I need a gun, though all these shooting going on has gotten my attention. I have family members living with me, including a granddaughter, and more next door to me.

My main reason for getting into this was to see what all the excitement is about and to get a feel for people who advocate for guns.

I would have no problem if guns didn't exist or the manufacturing of them were to be outlawed tomorrow. I wouldn't rush out to buy one ... or five.

[LarsMac]

Ahso!;1528306 wrote: I still don't think I need a gun, though all these shooting going on has gotten my attention. I have family members living with me, including a granddaughter, and more next door to me.

My main reason for getting into this was to see what all the excitement is about and to get a feel for people who advocate for guns.

I would have no problem if guns didn't exist or the manufacturing of them were to be outlawed tomorrow. I wouldn't rush out to buy one ... or five.


I have been around guns my whole life. I have been in situations where I needed one.

I've been lucky enough to never had to actually kill anyone, and now plan to try and get through the rest of my life without doing so.

Whatever else people do and say about guns, they are primarily designed and intended for one specific purpose.

Forget that at your own peril.

[Ahso!]

On one of my visits, there was a couple probably in their late 30s or early 40s in the booth next to mine. The female was shooting and could hardly hit the target from about 25 yards. They ended up purchasing a gun for her. She'll hopefully get a lot more practice. Guns are too easy of a solution that have lasting consequences at both ends.

[tude dog]

Ahso!;1528332 wrote: On one of my visits, there was a couple probably in their late 30s or early 40s in the booth next to mine. The female was shooting and could hardly hit the target from about 25 yards. They ended up purchasing a gun for her. She'll hopefully get a lot more practice. Guns are too easy of a solution that have lasting consequences at both ends.


Golly, without knowing the target or the firearm hitting something at 75' sounds pretty good.

[Ahso!]

Thinking of it in terms of feet, 25 yards is pretty far. It was much closer, more like 15 to 25 feet. She hit the bottom of the square paper target about five times out of quite a bit of shots fired. She was using a small handgun. My target, which was the same, was about double the distance and I got most of my shots within the spectrum of the target, and that was only my second or third time shooting. So, I'm guessing it was her first time. I was using a Glock 19x and hers was smaller.

[tude dog]

henrychalder;1528232 wrote: I decided to have a go at shooting seeing the Americans find it so fascinating, so off I went to Las Vegas to a shooting gallery. After firing several guns I found it quite boring and not very stimulating so I thought I'd have a go at the 50 caliber, I fired one shot then questioned why 2 holes were in the target instead of one? "Oh thats because the shell fragmented" the female instructor said, I was puzzled by this, wasn't the real fact that the shell had hit the target ricochet off back into the target and was coming back at me?


Quite possibly.

These pictures were taken during an event at my locall gun range.





Back when my wife and I went to an indoor range with only a hundred feet to the back it wasn't all too unusual to get splattered with fragments.

[tude dog]

Ahso!;1528364 wrote: Thinking of it in terms of feet, 25 yards is pretty far. It was much closer, more like 15 to 25 feet. She hit the bottom of the square paper target about five times out of quite a bit of shots fired. She was using a small handgun. My target, which was the same, was about double the distance and I got most of my shots within the spectrum of the target, and that was only my second or third time shooting. So, I'm guessing it was her first time. I was using a Glock 19x and hers was smaller.


Sounds like ya all did pretty well.

I can't expect any miracles to become gun folk like my wife. Well, she loves anything that she is better than me. Her interests go afar as the shooting range.

They are not welcomed in indoor ranges.

Ten years ago I went to a gun shop to buy a Glock 19 for concealed carry it having a 15+1 magazine capacity. It was to fat so when I left still had 500$ burning in my pocket.

Went home got on the computer and ordered a reproduction Colt Army Model 1860

Then I went for a Hawken rifle

[cars]

cars;1528206 wrote: I'm going to a shooting Gallery Next month when I head South. My son has a new gun he wants me to try out. Should be interesting.


Well my Son & I went to the shooting range, and I tried out his G34 Competition 17 mag Glock. It was amazing (to me) shooting at targets, but the thought of some mentally ill person having such a destructive weapon was frightening to say the least! We had a good time, only problem was, it went bye so fast.

[Ahso!]

Some would make the argument that wanting to possess a firearm could be a sign of heightened paranoia, considered a mental illness.

A consequence of the intensity of the gun issue has been the opening of the door to government and it's private contractors gaining access to rating people's mental capacity. A dangerous outcome for sure. Another piece of our privacy exposed, and with the government's expansion of power through the Patriot Act, this is not a subject to be taken lightly, IMO.

For full disclosure, I recently purchased a rifle, though I never really wanted a firearm.

[tude dog]

Ahso!;1529256 wrote: Some would make the argument that wanting to possess a firearm could be a sign of heightened paranoia, considered a mental illness.

A consequence of the intensity of the gun issue has been the opening of the door to government and it's private contractors gaining access to rating people's mental capacity. A dangerous outcome for sure. Another piece of our privacy exposed, and with the government's expansion of power through the Patriot Act, this is not a subject to be taken lightly, IMO.

For full disclosure, I recently purchased a rifle, though I never really wanted a firearm.


What rifle did you get?

Two years ago I bought a reproduction Hawken rifle



2012 before I bought a reproduction 1860 army



It is a relaxing type of shooting. Takin your time. I also like sharing a sense of history.

Gotta love the smell of gun smoke in the morning.

[Ahso!]

https://ruger.com/products/pcCarbine/sp ... 19100.html

[tude dog]

Ahso!;1529260 wrote: https://ruger.com/products/pcCarbine/sp ... 19100.html


Looks like you made a good choice.

Gun Review: Ruger PC Carbine

[Ahso!]

tude dog;1529262 wrote: Looks like you made a good choice.

Gun Review: Ruger PC CarbineI did a bit of research first.