This weekend I had the opportunity to go to a shooting range and fire a few of my grandfather’s old guns. Growing up I had a rifle BB gun and an old pump pellet gun, but didn’t spend a whole lot of time with a “real gun”. In fact, I’ve only fired a real weapon two or three times before. The sad part is, I felt like I had a good idea from playing video games what to expect. I’d pull the trigger and there’d be a pop and the gun would kick back a little in my hand. Rinse, lather, and repeat. I must say, that was a little ignorant.
The Facility
The place we went to was very nice. I’m not exactly sure what a poor facility would look like, but Red’s Indoor Range in Pflugerville was well run. Upon check-in they make sure that you are given eye and ear protection. If you haven’t gone shooting before, I would recommend eye protection at the very least. The whole check-in process took about 2-3 minutes and then we hit the range. I was surprised to find that the range had about 20 lanes. From the outside you wouldn’t think it would have that capacity. Scattered across the floor of the shooting area were hundreds of spent shells. There was an attendant mopping them up, but there was no chance of keeping pace as the shells continued to rain around him. He was also available to answer questions about firing the weapons and to assist with any problems.
Firing the Weapons
My first couple of shots were fired with the .38 revolver pictured in the middle above. The first shot completely took me off guard. I knew I needed a firm grip on the gun, but even then the recoil surprised me. The .38 is fairly compact and packs a huge punch since the barrel is shorter. More surprising than the recoil was the sound of the shot. Even with the ear muffs the sound scared me. That might sound dumb, but I have a problem with loud noises. As soon as the gun fired, the adrenaline kicked in. A few deep breaths helped steady the gun, but I was surprised at my reaction. Another attribute of the .38 is a stiff trigger. This is both a good and bad. Because the trigger is stiff, you have to intend to shoot the gun. It’s not likely that you would accidentally shoot. While that’s good for safety reasons, it also means that your accuracy suffers as you pull the trigger. To counter this you can pull the hammer back (the part that sticks out at the back), but you won’t be able to rapidly shoot. For these reasons I would recommend this gun for home safety purposes. You probably only need to fire the gun once to scare or severely wound, it’s compact, and there’s a smaller chance that you will accidentally shoot yourself or a loved one.
The second gun I fired was the .45 Colt pictured to the far left. It had a similar kick to the .38, but with a slightly longer barrel the recoil was less intense and not quite as loud. Additionally, the trigger is not as stiff and it’s easier to maintain accuracy when firing multiple shots. I absolutely loved this gun for several reasons. First of all, you feel like you’re in the movies when you load the bullets into the magazine. Second, once you insert the mag, you have to pull the slider back to chamber a round. Again, very cool. Lastly, it’s easier to maintain accuracy and you’re able to fire bursts of shots with ease. One problem with this gun though is that it tends to eject shells right into your face. This is where the eye protection comes in handy. Multiple shells hit me square in the glasses. Another problem is that a semi-automatic tends to jam every once in a while. Out of the 35 shots that I took, the gun jammed once. A bullet got caught between the magazine and the chamber. A little scary considering that it doesn’t take a whole lot to fire a bullet.
The last gun I fired was the .357 revolver pictured to the far right. I didn’t like this gun at all. In fact, it down right scared me. It’s slightly longer than the .38, but the bullets are also longer which means that it carries more powder and more lead. The recoil from this thing was ridiculous. It felt and sounded like I had a cannon in my hand. I only fired 6 shots and that was enough for me.
The Point
While it was a lot of fun to shoot these guns, that wasn’t the point of going to the range. It’s incredibly important to know what you’re doing when you handle a gun. You don’t want the first time you fire a gun to be in a life or death situation. I also walked away from this experience with an increased respect for guns. I have always respected their deadly power, but it’s a completely different story when you feel and see what they are capable of. Even if you don’t own a gun, I think you should drop $40-$50 and spend an hour firing one at a nearby range. Most facilities will have guns to rent if you don’t own one. You never know, it could save your life.
Posted by Mike 
