mtnbkr
Member
My friend came into town the same weekend a gun club in MD was holding a falling plate match. Since I really enjoyed my experience there a year ago, I talked him into going and competing. He' not a gun person (not anti, just not a shooter), but agreed to go after I told him just how much fun these things can be.
We got there an hour early and had time for him to shoot my GP100 and S&W M10 to see what works best for him. The GP100's sights are adjusted for me, so he had a hard time centering his shots. For whatever reason, I shoot waaaay to the left, so my sights are adjusted waaaayyy to the right. He shoots the exact opposite. Since he didn't like the recoil of the lighter M10, I centered the Ruger's sights and explained "kentucky windage" to him hoping it would work for both of us. I did this rather than set the GP100 for him and using my M10 because my only speedloaders were for the larger GP100. They'd work for the M10, but only with some fidgeting.
Come match time, we both shot poorly. I'm not great, but I can generally clear the course in about 15 seconds or so. I was shooting in the low 30s. He was having a hard time even finishing the course with the 18 rounds he had one him each time. For the last half, I adjusted the sights for his needs and then I shot with the M10, living with the speedloader mismatch. During all this, a high school kid at the match approached him and offered some impromptu training in trigger control, movement, etc (btw, he was a fantastic shot, clearing the course in about 6 seconds). That same kid was running the timer for my friend's last round and coached him while he shot. He didn't turn in a faster time, but he did manage to knock down all the plates without running out of ammo. Even with the speedloader mismatch, the improved accuracy (not fighting out of whack sights) cut my times by 1/3.
Anyway, we had a good time. My friend got to shoot quite a bit and learned about shooting in the process. He also got to see a very positive side of the "gun culture". The match was very diverse in it's attendence, not the typical "bubba" crowd you hear about in the news. He probably won't get into shooting since he's wife won't allow guns in the house, but I'm hoping his good experiences will filter down to his kids (I'll take them out as soon as they're old enough
).
Chris
We got there an hour early and had time for him to shoot my GP100 and S&W M10 to see what works best for him. The GP100's sights are adjusted for me, so he had a hard time centering his shots. For whatever reason, I shoot waaaay to the left, so my sights are adjusted waaaayyy to the right. He shoots the exact opposite. Since he didn't like the recoil of the lighter M10, I centered the Ruger's sights and explained "kentucky windage" to him hoping it would work for both of us. I did this rather than set the GP100 for him and using my M10 because my only speedloaders were for the larger GP100. They'd work for the M10, but only with some fidgeting.
Come match time, we both shot poorly. I'm not great, but I can generally clear the course in about 15 seconds or so. I was shooting in the low 30s. He was having a hard time even finishing the course with the 18 rounds he had one him each time. For the last half, I adjusted the sights for his needs and then I shot with the M10, living with the speedloader mismatch. During all this, a high school kid at the match approached him and offered some impromptu training in trigger control, movement, etc (btw, he was a fantastic shot, clearing the course in about 6 seconds). That same kid was running the timer for my friend's last round and coached him while he shot. He didn't turn in a faster time, but he did manage to knock down all the plates without running out of ammo. Even with the speedloader mismatch, the improved accuracy (not fighting out of whack sights) cut my times by 1/3.
Anyway, we had a good time. My friend got to shoot quite a bit and learned about shooting in the process. He also got to see a very positive side of the "gun culture". The match was very diverse in it's attendence, not the typical "bubba" crowd you hear about in the news. He probably won't get into shooting since he's wife won't allow guns in the house, but I'm hoping his good experiences will filter down to his kids (I'll take them out as soon as they're old enough
). Chris
