warning, lots of words
A few weeks ago I decided it was time for me to learn to shoot. Its been on my bucket list for a long time. I'm a sucker for skills acquisition, and theres a good list of classic skills that I will attain, stuff like straight razor shaving, ability to ride a motorcycle (the modern horse?) with some degree of skill, climbing and belaying, etc, etc. Firearm handling and competence has been on my list for a long long time!
I have clear recollections of getting books on shotguns and military rifles from the library as a ~10 year old. Actions in particular fascinate me in their operation and various attempts to solve the problems of reliability, recoil, ergonomics, weight, durability. In this electronic and computerized era, the fact that 40-100 year old designs that run only only springs, levers, elasticity and small explosions are still relevant an in use is just awesome.
And with that massive pre-amble, now my detailed and not that interesting tale...
Last Sunday I had some free time, and had to decide being going to Gilbert in Rockville or OnTarget. Gilbert has a policy statement on their website explaining that if you don't have someone with their own firearm accompanying you and don't own your own firearm, you may not rent and shoot. Clearly and easily located. Therefore I did not go there. No firearm!
So I went to OnTarget and was quite disappointed to find out they have the same policy. I don't mind the policy, only that they didn't publish it on their website. I'm sure they do enough business that it doesn't matter, but its a nice thing to let prospective customers know! I did mention it to the staff, who were polite, saying perhaps someone should amend the published rules.
With another chunk of free time on Weds, I was able to head out to FreeState who have their new shooter policy clearly laid out. I took the brief training course and took 100rds of 22LR and a Ruger MkIII to the range. 2 5 round clips under supervision and I was on my own! The 22 was pretty fun.
But also very very dirty and it began to eat my ammo after about 20-25 rounds. Failures out the wazoo with the slide shutting on the ammo stuck into the hood or scraped up so bad it wouldn't chamber. I exchanged it and got another MkIII that wasn't much better in terms of ejection but at least stopped eating the ammo. Again, I was treated well on site and made my concerns known, I'm not here to complain about either place at all, just sharing my newbie perspective, perhaps for a future prospective shooter.
The upside of these messy Rugers was that I got a good amount of practice clearing jams, safely clearing the weapon with hot rounds, etc. From a mechanical perspective it was kinda fun to work through all that stuff, with each one being a new (and moderately high stakes) puzzle. Maybe everyone wouldn't agree with my perspective on jams and ruined ammo, but I was pleased. They also gave me a box of ammo free, which was nice! And now I can shoot there unaccompanied, which is great. I'm in my mid 30s with kids, so the idea needing a chaperon makes me giggle.
And today I headed back to FreeState with a buddy for some more range fun. My buddy is former service and a life-time shooter and enthusiast so I was able to pick his brains, get in some good practice and have a load of fun. I rented a Glock 17 - I asked a nice employee what he recommended and he liked the H&K P30. I respect his opinion! He likened the Glock 17 to a Honda Civic, in a non-disparaging way, but I got his point. I mentioned to him that I love my mid 90s Civic and rented the Glock. But I'll be sure to try the P30 the next time, because I really do value experienced input.
With 50 rounds for the G17 and 100 for my pal's XD 45, I had a literal and figurative blast. Saw some fun firearms being used in the lanes around and got lots of mindful practice. I'm hooked without a doubt, which is why I signed up here. I am sure the answers to dozens of my questions can be found on this forum and so I look forward to combing the archives. I plan to use many more firearms before I purchase one of course.
I'm going to brain dump my week 1 questions here, but feel free not to answer them (or do, but don't worry I'll find resources). Over time, I'll try to add in links to resources I find to answer these ...
Where can I shoot a rifle near me?
Where can I rent a rifle? Can I? If not, how do I find individuals to borrow them from?
How many rounds should one shoot to get a valid opinion on a firearm? 25? 250? 2500?
What sort of practice and drills should I exercise to attain proficiency in a pistol or rifle?
How does one measure that progress? Are there standardized tests in both accuracy and time?
TL;DR - Wanted to learn to shoot, started this week, want to understand how to do it well and make good use of time and money, want to try out lots of firearms.
A few weeks ago I decided it was time for me to learn to shoot. Its been on my bucket list for a long time. I'm a sucker for skills acquisition, and theres a good list of classic skills that I will attain, stuff like straight razor shaving, ability to ride a motorcycle (the modern horse?) with some degree of skill, climbing and belaying, etc, etc. Firearm handling and competence has been on my list for a long long time!
I have clear recollections of getting books on shotguns and military rifles from the library as a ~10 year old. Actions in particular fascinate me in their operation and various attempts to solve the problems of reliability, recoil, ergonomics, weight, durability. In this electronic and computerized era, the fact that 40-100 year old designs that run only only springs, levers, elasticity and small explosions are still relevant an in use is just awesome.
And with that massive pre-amble, now my detailed and not that interesting tale...
Last Sunday I had some free time, and had to decide being going to Gilbert in Rockville or OnTarget. Gilbert has a policy statement on their website explaining that if you don't have someone with their own firearm accompanying you and don't own your own firearm, you may not rent and shoot. Clearly and easily located. Therefore I did not go there. No firearm!
So I went to OnTarget and was quite disappointed to find out they have the same policy. I don't mind the policy, only that they didn't publish it on their website. I'm sure they do enough business that it doesn't matter, but its a nice thing to let prospective customers know! I did mention it to the staff, who were polite, saying perhaps someone should amend the published rules.
With another chunk of free time on Weds, I was able to head out to FreeState who have their new shooter policy clearly laid out. I took the brief training course and took 100rds of 22LR and a Ruger MkIII to the range. 2 5 round clips under supervision and I was on my own! The 22 was pretty fun.
But also very very dirty and it began to eat my ammo after about 20-25 rounds. Failures out the wazoo with the slide shutting on the ammo stuck into the hood or scraped up so bad it wouldn't chamber. I exchanged it and got another MkIII that wasn't much better in terms of ejection but at least stopped eating the ammo. Again, I was treated well on site and made my concerns known, I'm not here to complain about either place at all, just sharing my newbie perspective, perhaps for a future prospective shooter.
The upside of these messy Rugers was that I got a good amount of practice clearing jams, safely clearing the weapon with hot rounds, etc. From a mechanical perspective it was kinda fun to work through all that stuff, with each one being a new (and moderately high stakes) puzzle. Maybe everyone wouldn't agree with my perspective on jams and ruined ammo, but I was pleased. They also gave me a box of ammo free, which was nice! And now I can shoot there unaccompanied, which is great. I'm in my mid 30s with kids, so the idea needing a chaperon makes me giggle.
And today I headed back to FreeState with a buddy for some more range fun. My buddy is former service and a life-time shooter and enthusiast so I was able to pick his brains, get in some good practice and have a load of fun. I rented a Glock 17 - I asked a nice employee what he recommended and he liked the H&K P30. I respect his opinion! He likened the Glock 17 to a Honda Civic, in a non-disparaging way, but I got his point. I mentioned to him that I love my mid 90s Civic and rented the Glock. But I'll be sure to try the P30 the next time, because I really do value experienced input.
With 50 rounds for the G17 and 100 for my pal's XD 45, I had a literal and figurative blast. Saw some fun firearms being used in the lanes around and got lots of mindful practice. I'm hooked without a doubt, which is why I signed up here. I am sure the answers to dozens of my questions can be found on this forum and so I look forward to combing the archives. I plan to use many more firearms before I purchase one of course.
I'm going to brain dump my week 1 questions here, but feel free not to answer them (or do, but don't worry I'll find resources). Over time, I'll try to add in links to resources I find to answer these ...
Where can I shoot a rifle near me?
Where can I rent a rifle? Can I? If not, how do I find individuals to borrow them from?
How many rounds should one shoot to get a valid opinion on a firearm? 25? 250? 2500?
What sort of practice and drills should I exercise to attain proficiency in a pistol or rifle?
How does one measure that progress? Are there standardized tests in both accuracy and time?
TL;DR - Wanted to learn to shoot, started this week, want to understand how to do it well and make good use of time and money, want to try out lots of firearms.
