Had a great day at the range last week. My daughter and son-in-law had another couple over visiting. I heard the husband expressing interest in guns, and my daughter "innocently" asking if he had ever been shooting. NO?
It just so happened we were going to the range the next day and invited him along. Being a new husband he had the good sense to be interested in learning something about guns fro defense.
We took a Ruger Mk III .22 and a G19 and g23 with an Advantage Arms .22 conversion. Also had a S&W 642 and M67 4" .38, and of course the 1911 .45.
We went over the firearm safety rules thoroughly and then the gun club range rules and etiquette. We started with the Ruger and the the AA conversion. He did well with both and after about 80 rds we moved on to the K-frame .38. He kept shooting pretty good and after three hours we had all worked through all of the handguns. Shot a total of about 500 rds of .22, 150 rds of .38, and about 50 rds of 9mm, .40, and .45 each. We had a fantastic time, had a chance to get to know each other better and I think we have a enthusistic new shooter in our circle of friends.
Some thoughts about the whole thing:
* Take a chance to invite someone to the range. I knew the young man was responsible but didn't have much relationship with him other than he was a friend of my daughter and her husband. But when I heard his interest in guns and lack of experience it seemed the right thing to do.
* The .38 K-frame once again proves what a terrific learning platform it is. Easy to handle, fun to shoot and a big step up from the .22. Pulling on an empty chamber he learned right away that he was jerking the trigger and we were able to work on that immediately.
* The Advantage Arms conversion was OK but a bit disappointing. It failed to extract repeatedly on Federal Eagle high velocity ammo. It seems to have some slope to the inner side of the rim that allows the apparently weak extractor to slip off. Winchester Super-X cartridges had a flatter rim and extracted OK but barely ejected. After about 50 rounds of Winchester and LOTS of lubing (extractor, barrel, slide rails, slider-ejector thingy that barrel engages in slide) then it would eject the Federals OK, too, just barely. Some CCI mini-mags were superb ejecting reliably and several feet further.
After about 250 rounds it started to FTExtract again, so I had to swab out the chamber, breech face, and scrub and lube the extractor again to get it back to reliable extraction and ejection.
* A few reminders amount muzzle direction took hold and he had excellent safety practices by the end of our session.
* Even a first time shooter can handle the .40 and .45! He said it was great. Even though he did not enjoy them as much, he said it made shooting the .22 and .38 much easier and more pleasant.
It just so happened we were going to the range the next day and invited him along. Being a new husband he had the good sense to be interested in learning something about guns fro defense.
We took a Ruger Mk III .22 and a G19 and g23 with an Advantage Arms .22 conversion. Also had a S&W 642 and M67 4" .38, and of course the 1911 .45.
We went over the firearm safety rules thoroughly and then the gun club range rules and etiquette. We started with the Ruger and the the AA conversion. He did well with both and after about 80 rds we moved on to the K-frame .38. He kept shooting pretty good and after three hours we had all worked through all of the handguns. Shot a total of about 500 rds of .22, 150 rds of .38, and about 50 rds of 9mm, .40, and .45 each. We had a fantastic time, had a chance to get to know each other better and I think we have a enthusistic new shooter in our circle of friends.
Some thoughts about the whole thing:
* Take a chance to invite someone to the range. I knew the young man was responsible but didn't have much relationship with him other than he was a friend of my daughter and her husband. But when I heard his interest in guns and lack of experience it seemed the right thing to do.
* The .38 K-frame once again proves what a terrific learning platform it is. Easy to handle, fun to shoot and a big step up from the .22. Pulling on an empty chamber he learned right away that he was jerking the trigger and we were able to work on that immediately.
* The Advantage Arms conversion was OK but a bit disappointing. It failed to extract repeatedly on Federal Eagle high velocity ammo. It seems to have some slope to the inner side of the rim that allows the apparently weak extractor to slip off. Winchester Super-X cartridges had a flatter rim and extracted OK but barely ejected. After about 50 rounds of Winchester and LOTS of lubing (extractor, barrel, slide rails, slider-ejector thingy that barrel engages in slide) then it would eject the Federals OK, too, just barely. Some CCI mini-mags were superb ejecting reliably and several feet further.
After about 250 rounds it started to FTExtract again, so I had to swab out the chamber, breech face, and scrub and lube the extractor again to get it back to reliable extraction and ejection.
* A few reminders amount muzzle direction took hold and he had excellent safety practices by the end of our session.
* Even a first time shooter can handle the .40 and .45! He said it was great. Even though he did not enjoy them as much, he said it made shooting the .22 and .38 much easier and more pleasant.