For Number 7 on my Bucket List, I don goggles and sport ear muffs. Why? Because I was at the Insight Shooting Range. For years, I had begged and beseeched Sarge to take me and teach me, but I think he thought I'd shoot him once I learned how, which makes me wonder what he's done that he thinks that I'd think that I'd want to shoot him. . . but I digress.
Pamela Samuels-Young, fellow writer, is doing research for a new legal thriller she's working on, and she's invited me along. We start off shooting a .22. The first bullet casing (that's the shell that's ejected after the bullet leaves the gun) pops off my goggles and lands on the counter in front of me. Hence the need for goggles. .22's are the smallest bullets, but in some instances can do the most damage because they are small enough to travel once they hit inside the body.
This firing range has electronic retrieval of your target sheet, so I switch in a new one for the next gun, a .45. 45's make the most noise, and have the most kickback. Don't like that one so much.
Next up is the 9mm, which holds 16 bullets in each clip. That must be why it is the weapon of choice for law enforcement. It's my favorite, too. The first pull of that trigger requires the most force, but after that, it fires with a feather-like touch. Too bad there is no rapid fire allowed at this range, and I can't practice my draw-down, either, because holsters are banned, darn it.
I find that the most difficult thing to master is getting your target in the crosshairs. There's a site on the front of the gun that has to be aligned with the site at the rear. It's easier said than done. . . but it is possible.
I put Going to a Shooting Range in my crosshairs, and fired it off my Bucket List.
1 comment:
Now that's what I call author research. How interesting! This was on my To-Do list when I was younger, but now it doesn't hold much appeal (although it might still be a valuable survival lesson).
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