Well I got an engineering gig in Dallas, and since I will be here for 2 weeks I brought a few toys to take to the range with my long-time Texas friend. Today we got to get together and go to an indoor handgun range - we plan to hit a nice outdoor range with the rifles later this week. For handguns I brought a Browning Buckmark, an XD9, and my S&W 1911. My buddy decided to take a Ruger in .45 that was so Sig-like it was uncanny, and a 9mm Glock 19C.
I hadn't seen my friend in a few years, and he'd since married someone with children from a previous marriage. When I came in the house I was greeted by the family: a cute little toddler girl, a rambunctious boy of 5, and the happy couple. After introductions we began discussing the range and shooting in general, and my friend's wife said "Oh that sounds like fun, why don't you take our son?" I was a bit surprised, and asked what the little guy had shot. My friend said "Oh well we got him his own .22 last year, but he's kind of grown tired of it... he could probably shoot your Buckmark and have a blast with it." "Hmm..." I said, "Perhaps I could load a single bullet in it and stand behind him while he shoots it, but man, honestly I am not really comfortable with letting him shoot a 10 round handgun by himself." My friend sort of shrugged and said " I let him shoot my 9mm Glock, and he's really good - he impresses the guys at the range every time!" I was even more shocked then, and replied "I'm freaking impressed just hearing about it!!" "But still man, honestly I really would like to see the little guy shoot before I just hand that over... not doubting your word or anything, but wow! That's just incredible." We hung around the house for a bit, and then prepared to head to the range. At that time a 12-year-old boy came down from his adolescent seclusion from downstairs, eager to go to the range. "Hi, I'm Zack." I then got to explain to his wife why I was making crazy faces while they bragged about Zack's marksmanship.
My buddy lives pretty close to "The Bullet Trap", an indoor range that I'd read about (somewhere on the internet, don't remember exactly which sites) as being a notoriously rude and strict range. "It's a great place and I love it" said my friend, so off we went. It turns out that the place is very nice, with a huge retail area and 24 shooting lanes. They allow pretty much anything to be shot there, but the rifle and handgun areas are separate. It turns out my friend was right - Zack was a great shot! He exemplified the four rules, and had awesome trigger discipline. His magazine changes were smooth and recoil seemed meaningless to him... I was beaming! I couldn't have been more proud if it was my own son. The range officers were extremely nice, and they even let me borrow some tools to adjust my new Tac-sol railed sight for my Buckmark.
We plan to hit what I have heard is a pretty nice rifle range next week, I will keep you guys updated!
Swami
I hadn't seen my friend in a few years, and he'd since married someone with children from a previous marriage. When I came in the house I was greeted by the family: a cute little toddler girl, a rambunctious boy of 5, and the happy couple. After introductions we began discussing the range and shooting in general, and my friend's wife said "Oh that sounds like fun, why don't you take our son?" I was a bit surprised, and asked what the little guy had shot. My friend said "Oh well we got him his own .22 last year, but he's kind of grown tired of it... he could probably shoot your Buckmark and have a blast with it." "Hmm..." I said, "Perhaps I could load a single bullet in it and stand behind him while he shoots it, but man, honestly I am not really comfortable with letting him shoot a 10 round handgun by himself." My friend sort of shrugged and said " I let him shoot my 9mm Glock, and he's really good - he impresses the guys at the range every time!" I was even more shocked then, and replied "I'm freaking impressed just hearing about it!!" "But still man, honestly I really would like to see the little guy shoot before I just hand that over... not doubting your word or anything, but wow! That's just incredible." We hung around the house for a bit, and then prepared to head to the range. At that time a 12-year-old boy came down from his adolescent seclusion from downstairs, eager to go to the range. "Hi, I'm Zack." I then got to explain to his wife why I was making crazy faces while they bragged about Zack's marksmanship.
My buddy lives pretty close to "The Bullet Trap", an indoor range that I'd read about (somewhere on the internet, don't remember exactly which sites) as being a notoriously rude and strict range. "It's a great place and I love it" said my friend, so off we went. It turns out that the place is very nice, with a huge retail area and 24 shooting lanes. They allow pretty much anything to be shot there, but the rifle and handgun areas are separate. It turns out my friend was right - Zack was a great shot! He exemplified the four rules, and had awesome trigger discipline. His magazine changes were smooth and recoil seemed meaningless to him... I was beaming! I couldn't have been more proud if it was my own son. The range officers were extremely nice, and they even let me borrow some tools to adjust my new Tac-sol railed sight for my Buckmark.
We plan to hit what I have heard is a pretty nice rifle range next week, I will keep you guys updated!
Swami
