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| I think we have everything |
After loading the back of the vehicle with our gear we headed over to the outdoor range. I wasn't sure we'd be able to get on the range, given the holiday weekend, but it was worth the short drive to check it out. When we arrived there were lines of cars at both pistol ranges, as well as the rifle and shotgun ranges. Since it looked like a long wait we left to head over to the fru-fru coffee drive through. After stocking up on "Holiday Flavors" we headed back to the range to wait our turn while enjoying our drinks.
Fortunately the family ahead of us obeyed the "60 minute limit when folks are waiting" rule, so it wasn't an exceptionally long wait. Our turn came and we set up our targets quickly and got on with the fun. Most of the time I spent just working on trigger control, that double action first shot in particular. I also discovered that the tiniest cut caused by dry skin can be quite painful when it's on your trigger finger! After a while, I added some small stickers to my target and worked on shooting groups. As usual, strong hand and weak hand only shooting got some attention. We didn't do any shooting on the move, and most of the time was spent on the 10 yard line, but I found it a very productive practice session.
It was a fun afternoon, made even better by the unseasonably warm weather. A t-shirt outdoors. In November. In Virginia. Now that's hard to beat. No pushing or shoving either.
Black Friday is traditionally the day that your relatives beg, plead & whine to take them to the range and show them how to shoot. Your spouse, if said spouse is an “early revision” of hardware will sometimes participate in committing you to this activity so that while they are shopping, you are trying to teach someone with only marginal interest how to shoot !
ReplyDeleteThis results in long range wait times. Or longer times because you may have been planning on a quick skills building session, but spouse 1.x springs on you on the way out the door ‘Hey, why don’t you take my brother Clem shooting with you?’
Sometimes this happens to me, other times I escape relatively unscathed. I did manage to help a 16 y.o. nephew learn some handgun skill the week before. He now understands keeping your grip consistent, high up on the back strap, not to “force” a shot because he didn’t have a good sight picture for a long time, keeping his finger out of the trigger guard when not shooting and the basic safety rules.
I told him some IDPA might help his Call of Duty scores. ;-)
I have to wonder if you were waiting on my in-laws to get moving before you could shoot - they invited me to the same range, but of course I was working.
ReplyDeleteCan you believe our weather?? Down right gorgeous! Glad you all had a fun day!!
ReplyDelete'Twas a good day indeed. And yes, cuts on the tips of your fingers hurt a lot because you have a higher concentration of nerve endings there than in the rest of your hand.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you all!
ReplyDeleteRKBA, from what I saw most of the crowd that day was in teaching mode. The week after Christmas will be the same way.
Alex, judging from what I saw, I doubt it. ;-)
AGirl, yep. Wish we had more of it. I am NOT a fan of winter.
Andy, yep. To both of your points. :-)