My First Time Shooting! (A follow-up to My First Gun!)

[kingpin008]

It's more than "saying the wrong thing", eltorrente - it's saying the wrong thing, and when someone comes along to correct them, getting huffy and defensive rather than asking what they said/did/thought wrong.

And I don't "worship" guns, or shooting. I do get offended when people make statements like "guns are made for killing" and "all you're doing when you shoot is practicing killing". Because that person is spewing ignorance, and they don't care who it hurts or what it says about who they're speaking about.

I'll be GLAD to apologize to Praetorius if I'm wrong - but the facts are, he hasn't made much of an effort to show us anything other than these ridiculous statements and defensive reactions when he's called on some of the things he's said.

 

[CTPistol]

geessh..I thought 20K rounds and and a safe with 12 firearms was a little small....

The original poster needs to embrace his hard fought for rights, needs to un-brainwash himself from the pitifully sheltered upbringing he had, and MOST IMPORTANTLY -- needs to get some proper training before he hurts himself or others.

Safe gun ownership and usage is far from rocket science, its 90% attitude and maturity - but people brought up like this poster clearly show a lack of both. I dont find it angering, I find it rather sad. I bet he plays a mean ass video game though...

Read a little, take a $75 NRA course, and rethink your attitude toward your basic rights here in America.



"gun nut?"....we prefer "freedom embracer"

 

[SoCalShooter]

Its great to hear you got to go shooting. But some of your comments concerned some around here. If the range you were at was completely unsupervised its not much of a range its a local shooting spot and if I saw someone waving a glock around I would absolutely be concerned with that person and I would leave the range. As for the guy with the mosin nagant if he was there the same time the guy with the glock was I am sure he was just as concerned as you were.

Guns kill, guns defend, guns are long range hole punchers. You have to understand that the comment you made was a little basic. Especially when you tell a bunch of gun guys on a forum that guns are only meant to kill but you are entitled to your opinion but we would hope that we can broaden your ideas a little.

I call my friend a gun nut because he has a closet full of firearms with a box of 2,000 rounds of ammunition. I don't know if that seems normal to you guys, but it is not perceived as normal to the rest of society.

Its pretty normal around here, he might want to get some more ammo though Hollow points are cheap especially in .22LR caliber so large amounts of it are pretty normal, I have somewhere in the area of 8-10k in .22LR its what I mostly shoot for training.

As for the gun nut comment most take offense to it around here, a lot of the people on this forum are well educated and are very proud of their hobby or way of life.

Oh by the way, you must be careful with lead remember it is hazerdous to your health so make sure you wash with hot water and detergent. Also if you get more into shooting make sure you get a regular blood test something like every year is suggested.

Something else you should know about this forum, no one is trying to drive you way but you should understand that we take a fine tooth comb to any and all posts and people will disect what you say. But its actually a good thing, do not take it personally.

 

[Waitone]

Maybe its just a generational thingy but if I were to enter a culture or community of which I had only superficial and second or third order experience, I would just shut up and ask questions. I would not make value assessments. I would make sure I was not offending people by my observations. Since I would be a noobie I would feel free to ask questions. Reason being stupidity and ignorance are completely acceptable as long as I'm making honest attempt to learn. Instead of assigning "nut" status to a guy with a number of firearms and 2,000 rounds of ammo I be asking, "Hey, seems like a lot of ammo. Is that normal". To which a reasoned response would most likely be, "Not alot really. Equals 4 boxes of .22LR. BTW, we just whiffed one box in the last 2 hours". Another response could easily be "Nahhh, I got a buddy who measures his ammo in cubic feet by caliber" These kinds of discussions lead to an understanding of what the culture is, not throwing out what someone else says the culture is.

Now I'm swinging back to young and inexperienced instead of troll.

 

[never_retreat]

I think your friend needs more guns and he is WAYlow on ammo.

 

[CNYCacher]

Praetorius:

Welcome to your new hobby. I hope that you continue to have a lot of fun in a safe way with your guns.

Your experiences at the range are far outside of what would be considered a normal trip to the range. This may be because of the range you chose ("way out in the woods"), or other factors which are not evident; rest assured that "shady characters" and some of the other unsafe practices that you observed are not something that one normally encounters at your average firing line. I would suggest that you look for an organized range that is local to you. Around here, they are usually called "Sportsmen's Clubs", depending on your locale you may be looking for a "Firing Range" or "Shooting Club" or "Rod and Gun Club".

I am glad that you have come to this board to share your experiences with us. We are a might bit defensive when it comes to trolls (I am NOT calling you a troll). Bear in mind though that many of us are constantly battling to defend our rights, hence the defensiveness.

I disagree with your view that 2000 rounds is an abnormally large amount of ammo. I know that you are new to the hobby of shooting and I believe this fact will influence what you perceive to be normal. Let me ask you this: How many rounds did you shoot at your range trip? Hundreds? Keeping 10 or 20 range trips worth of ammo is hardly unreasonable. Bear in mind that many shooters use up a lot more ammo than you in one trip to the range. Bear in mind also that ammo prices are steadily rising, and there are usually large discounts for buying in bulk. It's actually pretty smart to stock up if you are someone who shoots a lot.

Welcome to THR!

PS. Your implication that many THR members sit on their front porch turning a suspicious eye to everyone who walks down the street as potential "home invaders" was hurtful to me. I am sure that it was hurtful to others here as well. I forgive you for your youth and for the fact that most of this thread is made up of statements that would put most anyone on the defensive.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Praetorius

The people here have a stake in safe use of firearms and would prefer that you have a good, safe start in your experience.

Check in with a local club or range to get past the normal ups and downs of new shooters trying to get there on their own. You will find that all the guns will prove more pleasant than you have so far experienced.

I will need to take exception to one of your statements: "It seems like you guys have forgotten that a gun is designed to kill stuff." That is really irrelevant. War clubs were made to kill things and they have become baseball bats and golf clubs.

There is an entire industry producing guns that were NOT made to kill, but rather for simple marksmanship. My guns were made to propel a projectile and I have personally built over 20,000 rounds of ammunition that are designed specifically for target shooting. Not designed to kill.

By the way, when I was in competition I typically shot 1200 rounds per month, others shot in excess of 2000 rounds per month (and they are better than I). Having 2000 rounds of ammunition around makes perfect sense as long as your intent is competition and not murder.

 

[PTK]

[QUOTESweet Home is in what State? ALABAMA![/QUOTE]


This is now my favorite wrong answer.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

OK, I'm tired of trying to clean this one up.

Praetorius, welcome to the forum. Feel welcome to ask around for some shooting experiences. You obviously need some more (nothing wrong with that).

Those of you who were helpful, thank you (and you know who you are).

Those of you who weren't so helpful, remember what your mother said:

If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

Closed.