Thankful For a Little Range Time

Cloudy. Sporadic rain. Temperature in the low 40's. Thanksgiving afternoon. That all led me to think it might be a good time to hit the range. And it paid off as I had the place to myself. Due to poor planning I had only brought along one target stand, and a stack of B-34 targets, thinking I would need to be quickly in and out between shooters. Instead I found myself with the freedom to do as I pleased.

Just me

The events of Ferguson fresh on my mind, I decided to set up the one stand in the center of the berm and spent my time shooting on the move. I worked with the entire width of the bay, from around 15 yards out, and in to five. Shoot a magazine of 10 or 15 rounds, reload, move some more. Replace the target and repeat. The only regret is that I didn't have multiple targets to set up.

It was a good way to spend an hour or so. The hits were good, most inside the scoring rings. I had a few that were merely "on paper" but better to work that out in practice than real life. I was happy to get in some self-defense themed practice, without any warnings about "shooting too fast."

My ammo used up, I probably spent as much time finding my fired brass as I did creating it. There was no squatting and picking up a neat pile as the brass was spread all over the bay. At least the sun peaked through creating some sparkle to make finding it easier.

It may seem a bit odd to be at the range thinking self defense on a day devoted to remembering all the good things in our lives, but that's the reality of the world we live in. And I'm thankful I still have the freedom to be prepared.