A day at the range.

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MikeInOr

MikeInOr

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A friend of mine found out she has a half brother about a year ago. He came from Germany to visit her for a couple of weeks. Not too surprisingly one of the things he really wanted to do was go shooting.

I packed a pretty healthy arsenal and took them and a few other friends out today. My girl friends ex came along with his pretty healthy arsenal too. We shot everything from .22lr to 500S&W and 30-06 (Garand). We had a great time and I was impressed at how well he shot. Evidently they both had target shooting class in middle school back in Russia. (Imagine that!)

It had been about 6 months since I have been out. My 5" light weight 50ae Desert Eagle was a lot more recoil than I had remembered. My friends 500 S&W had a lot less recoil than I had remembered. I had loaded full power 50ae and my friend had some pretty sissy 500 S&W ammo. The last time I shot his 500 S&W he had full power Buffalo Boar elephant rounds in it and I put it down after the first round. Today the 500 S&W was very enjoyable to shoot. I shot the 2 1/2" snub barrel on my Dan Wesson 744 for the first time. I prefer the 4" barrel but the 2.5" wasn't as snappy as I had thought is might be. I also shot a Double Tap in 9mm for the first time and it wasn't near the recoil that I had feared. The Double Tap was definitely the hardest recoiling of the guns we had today. I had always thought about getting one in .45acp. Maybe I might pick up a double tap in one of the two calibers some day.

After seeing how much our foreign visitor enjoyed shooting the huge variety of guns that we had brought with us it made me appreciate our 2nd amendment rights just a bit more than usual today.
 
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It's funny how time sometimes changes our perception of how a gun feels to shoot.

I have to admit that I think the point of Buffalo Bore and Double Tap ammo is hard-hitting hunting ammo for people who don't reload, and for gun writers to have a standard heavy-hitting round that muggles can also get.

I also take foreigners shooting, especially from countries where they can't shoot at all. (China! They can't even have low-powered airguns!)

Your variety of calibers also reminds me there are a couple types of shooters: those who standardize on a caliber or two, and those who like a LOT of calibers, but can't afford to shoot them very often. (unless they reload, and it is 5 years ago, when you could get components)
 
It has been about 4 years since I did any reloading... about when I bought my Desert Eagle. I usually reload a lot then it lasts me for quite a while. I was shocked when I went to the store and there wasn't a single grain of powder to be purchased! I knew things were rough for reloaders just from all the comments on this board but the shortage really hit home yesterday. Luckily I am a bit of a hoarder and found stashes of primers and powder I didn't even know I had. I even found a 1000 rounds of .45acp ammunition that I am not sure where it came from.

I really appreciate a variety! I love shooting different firearms with very different manuals of arms. I was a winner in the 80's & 90's C&R bonanza and have many different pistols and rifles of all sorts of calibers and all sorts of weird actions.

P.S. I didn't make myself clear... I was referring to the Double Tap 2 barrel Derringer type pistol that fizzled out several years ago due to bad reports of it launching both bullets from both barrels at once.

2022-08-14_192333.jpg
It is just weird and unique in its design. And I like small pocketable pistols. It is one that I wish I had bought when they were being closed out at ~$299 I think.
 
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I’ve had a number of visitors from England and Germany over the past 10-15 years. Without exception they all jumped at the chance to go shooting. The Germans really enjoyed the lever actions, especially the Winchesters.

Without exception they marveled at our ability to own and transport guns and ammo to public land shooting locations and have no government employee involved in any of it.
 
MikeInOr: Does the German guy realize that he could attend Theory classes etc, then take the practical tng. to own a semi-auto rifle? --- A German friend from Essen NRW, who has been in the US since '85 told me about their long process to acquire a First gun.

Sidenote: the many thousands of Germans (estimated by police agencies) who own old Unregistered family heirloom guns - which is Not legal - ;) keep Very quiet. Sie schweigen immer.

Numerous European countries have their various paths to gun ownership and it seems that most of their 'citizens' are not aware of it - and many American gun owners seem to simply repeat rumors without context..
The German guy might be surprised that regular Czech citizens just east of him can acquire a Concealed Handgun Carry Permit.

Here are a few Slovenian civilians (Non-LEOs): They attend Shot Show each year in Las Vegas, and have the Polenar Tactical channel.

Vz58 vs H&K G3 with Manca - YouTube
 
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Mn Fats said:
Your Girlfriends ex came along? You must have a huge weiner.
Click to expand...

I have known him as almost long as I have known her, about a dozen years. They get along so no reason I shouldn't. We share an interest in guns just like their son does.

He is the one the owns the 500 S&W and the Double Tap double barreled 9mm amongst others.
 
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Ignition Override said:
MikeInOr: Does the German guy realize that he could attend Theory classes etc, then take the practical tng. to own a semi-auto rifle? --- A German friend from Essen NRW, who has been in the US since '85 told me about their long process to acquire a First gun.

Sidenote: the many thousands of Germans (estimated by police agencies) who own old Unregistered family heirloom guns - which is Not legal - ;) keep Very quiet. Sie schweigen immer.

Numerous European countries have their various paths to gun ownership and it seems that most of their 'citizens' are not aware of it - and many American gun owners seem to simply repeat rumors without context..
The German guy might be surprised that regular Czech citizens just east of him can acquire a Concealed Handgun Carry Permit.

Here are a few Slovenian civilians (Non-LEOs): They attend Shot Show each year in Las Vegas, and have the Polenar Tactical channel.

Vz58 vs H&K G3 with Manca - YouTube
Click to expand...

I honestly believe that the big difference is that we have a culture of gun owners, they don't.
 
MikeInOr:
Exactly.

One striking short segment by the main Slovenian guy was when he calmly looked at the camera (different video) , and explained that “We are not terrorists …we are just friends Having Fun etc”.

I’m sure that the primary reason was for “European” viewers.
Their history of frequent warfare skews perspectives.

In ‘Hall in Tirol’ (near Innsbruck Austria ) inside a Bed & Breakfast about ten years ago a Dutch guy - quietly- told me that he viewed the Austrian interest in gun marksmanship was a result of their aggressive nature, ie in the 20th century.
 
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MikeInOr said:
I honestly believe that the big difference is that we have a culture of gun owners, they don't.
Click to expand...

Not really correct. Germans had enjoyed the freedom to own guns for centuries until it was curtailed more and more since 1972. Gun club memberships are still almost as numerous as soccer club memberships these days. Becoming a member is easy and the beginning to the path of gun ownership. I believe nowadays somebody has to be 12 months in a gun club and has to have attended regularly and must have passed an extensive proficiency test. The other way to gun ownership is passing an even harder test and getting a hunting license.

While there are less individuals that own guns in Germany, those that do usually have all had good coaching in their clubs and have no problem hitting the black in the handgun target at 25 meters or shooting a rifle offhand at 50 and 100m.
 
I saw more hunting blinds between the Baltic Sea coast and Berlin than anywhere else I have been. Literally every open field had at least one elevated blind, some had two or three placed around the perimeter. Even the Swedes I met this summer in Stockholm said Germans often come up for moose hunts during hunting season.

8A229D1F-2FB9-4DA2-B28C-3D18A9FE693B.jpeg 58001FD1-424B-46F2-824C-90D99A6FCB5A.jpeg 2F5A5800-87EE-4146-8A87-8F26C8FE4405.jpeg EDD44F2E-7335-4087-A4A0-CA6DDD00B606.jpeg 96537C65-1552-4090-BF48-6C81C37B2D81.jpeg

Guns are not as easy to buy, and ownership is far more restricted for sure than here in the US, but the gun and hunting culture there is still very strong. :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
Smaug said:
It's funny how time sometimes changes our perception of how a gun feels to shoot.

I have to admit that I think the point of Buffalo Bore and Double Tap ammo is hard-hitting hunting ammo for people who don't reload, and for gun writers to have a standard heavy-hitting round that muggles can also get.

I also take foreigners shooting, especially from countries where they can't shoot at all. (China! They can't even have low-powered airguns!)

Your variety of calibers also reminds me there are a couple types of shooters: those who standardize on a caliber or two, and those who like a LOT of calibers, but can't afford to shoot them very often. (unless they reload, and it is 5 years ago, when you could get components)
Click to expand...
WHAT!? they have to stand there 14 hrs a day building air guns they aren't even allowed to shoot!?
 
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