…Fire!

The men in my Bible study group got together for a guy’s night and hit the shooting range (Lloyd WMA in Crittenden for those who may be interested). Prior to last summer, I had never fired a “real” gun (not counting BB and paintball guns). While visiting my grandparents last year, I took some pot shots with a rifle at a ground hog that was well off in the distance in the corn fields (no, I didn’t come any where close to hitting it). I felt pretty uncomfortable at the time, so I didn’t take more than a couple shots.

I was still a bit hesitant about firing at the range tonight, but figured it would be a good experience to have - you know, just in case… While I can’t say this is something I necessarily loved doing, it was good to get rid of the nerves that accompanied holding and firing a weapon. Justin gave good lessons and rules on shooting and marksmanship that put me more at ease, and I felt more comfortable with each round I fired. My paintball experiences helped as well - I was already very cognizant and in the practice of having the safety on whenever not shooting, so that was one less thing on which I had to intentionally focus.

Justin, being quite the gun enthusiast (he’s even built a couple), had plenty of weapons and ammo for us to shoot, including a M1 Garand, AR-15 Rifle, M1911 Pistol, as well as a .22 Remington rifle and .22 pistol. All kinds of different calibers and sizes! The M1 and M1911 had quite some kick to them (to me at least), with the .22 pistol feeling smooth in comparison.

We had the typical paper targets, but Justin also brought some floppy disks that needed “formatting.” Overall, I think I did fairly well at the hitting the target, though I know I flinched and blinked before firing most shots. I did hit a floppy, though! (Does it really matter if I wasn’t aiming at it? )

I’d definitely say I’m now more comfortable, though still cautious and careful, with guns, so it was a great learning experience. I took a few pictures before my camera batteries died, so check the gallery for these in a day or two.