Sunday 11/27/2011 Let's Go Shooting

I have never been to an indoor shooting range.
Having said that, there was a bit of trepidation about going in there -you could hear
the muffled sounds of guns going off from outside the building when someone opened the
front door.
Well, they asked what kind of guns we had: S&W 40 cal; a .22 rifle; a Beretta and a 12
gauge shotgun.  They gave me a bit of a look when I mentioned the 12 gauge shotgun.

The guy had to go ask the Range Officer, they call him, if that was allowable.  Yes - but
only certain kind of shells allowable, namely buckshot.  I had 4 boxes of shells, one of them
was buckshot so that was good enough.  I had no intention of firing off too many rounds out
of it, just wanted to get a feel for what a 12 gauge shotgun is like firing it off.

Got in there and Caleb started first, firing off the .22 rifle.  It's an old, antique looking thing but
in excellent condition.  It made a plip sound coming out of the barrel, not very loud, almost like a
glorified pellet rifle going off.

With some apprehension, I got the .40 cal ready to fire after Caleb did a couple of 5 round clips
on the .22.  I had only shot the .40 off once, very loud and very powerful handgun.  I shot off a
clip full and got past the jittery stage on it.  I fired about 50 rounds through it altogether and just
before we were about to leave, I talked Caleb into firing it.

We tried to shoot the Beretta, but it didn't work correctly. Well, I put that gun down, that can wait.
I pulled out the 12 gauge - mean looking thing - loaded it with 5 shells, did the infamous "click-click"
sound it makes when you are pulling the handle back to load a shell into the chamber, put the stock
up to my shoulder .........and stood there for a second.  This is a very powerful weapon and I had some
trepidation about pulling the trigger.

I finally just did it.  Aimed it in the "general" direction of the paper target and pulled the trigger. KABLAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!! I had always wanted to do the "general direction" thing with a 12 gauge and see what comes of it.

Caleb was standing at the back wall and started cracking up.  I was shocked.  I had ear plugs in and ear muffs over that and it was still VERY loud.  I had no idea that the firing of that gun had also shocked everyone else in the other booths and that the sound of it going off was much louder than anything they are normally accustomed to hearing inside the store itself.  Hey, they gave me permission, I had never fired it and I wanted to give her a go.  I fired the rest of the shells in it and loaded another 5 into it.

Fired those off and then the Range Officer stopped by and helped us with the Beretta.  He said the clip in it wasn't working correctly.  He pulled that one out and put the other one in and it fired off just fine.

I then shot off the other 5 of those shotgun shells, reloaded the magazines for the .40 cal again and shot all that off and yes, there is a lot of smoke going out in that place!

We decided we had had enough of it.  I hadn't shot off guns like that in - literally - decades.  We used to go out target practicing in the desert when I was much younger. But I never owned a gun and never had the time or the desire to own one in the years following - not to mention the money to buy them - and only in the last year or two had I considered buying a couple of firearms.

We got into mom's pickup and that's when Caleb told me that the guy in the booth to the right of us had jumped back when that 12 gauge went off the first time.  You can't see what others are doing in the booths next to you unless you step out of the one you are in. I dunno, was I supposed to warn everyone that a very loud shotgun was about to be fired?  The Range Officer didn't care, he's the boss in there, so that was all that mattered to me.  I gathered when we went out of the shooting range and back into the store that people don't normally bring 12 gauge shotguns to that range to shoot off.  I was also warned when I went in there to "make sure you hit the target".  Yes, I hit the target on the first shot and blew a huge hole right in the middle of it.  I hit the target every time, in fact, and tore that sheet up!  We brought the 2 sheets that we were firing at home as memento's of basically the first time I have fired a gun off in about - 28 years or so besides the one round I let off at mom's property not too long ago.  I didn't do too bad with the .40 cal after I got the hang of it.  I was either hitting center mass or just below and to the right of it, but I was hitting the target.  

Well, Caleb was still laughing at the reaction to that guy, which must have been a Kodak moment that I completely missed and honestly never thought about the reactions of anyone else in there when I pulled the trigger on that thing. I was more interested in making sure the thing wasn't going to harm me in some way with some terrible kick-back.  It did not have that much of one, I mean yes it was there, but nothing like I had imagined before firing it.  I figured at the time it wasn't making that much more noise than some of the very high powered guns that were being shot off in there, but Caleb thought much differently, having a different perspective in standing back at the wall and listening to all of them going off.  He decided that the 12-gauge as much louder than any weapon that had been fired in there the entire time we were in there.

I'll take his word for it.  I tried to talk him into shooting it at least once, but he decided it was too much power for him and he didn't want anything to do with it.  Yes, well the kick back on that shotgun wasn't near as bad as the kick back on the .40 cal gun which he did shoot.

Anyway, while we were driving from mom's house to the shooting range, I was sitting in the back seat of her pickup with my new Verizon router on and seeing how well the internet worked while driving around - way out west.  Not a hiccup. I was able to do whatever I normally do on any computer, on the internet.  We got back to mom's house and I fired it up again.  Worked perfectly.  I'm getting much more comfortable now with the decision to sign a contract on that service than I was at the beginning in not knowing anything about how well it was going to work.  I am  curious if they make car cigarette power hookups for both the computer and the router - I would have to believe they do since they are both running on batteries.  In looking at Verizon's coverage map, most areas I normally go to - and sometimes have to wait for extended periods - are covered. Even though the map shows my mom's property up north having coverage, I won't really know until I go up there.  The nagging question is going to mess with me and probably cause me to want to take a trip up there just for the purpose of going onto her property, sitting where the trailer will be parked and seeing what happens.

Meanwhile, I am on the hunt for a Direct TV satellite dish and a receiver.  Used, that is, and cheap, preferrably.  Mother used to have Direct TV but then claimed it was too expensive and switched to Dish Network.  Dish Network simply doesn't have what Direct TV has and it's an inferior service.  So, I will have a dish and a receiver up there, only need have to take a card from one of the receivers at home when I am going up there, don't feel the need to pay yet another $6 per month for and additional receiver, which is what each additional card beyond the first one costs.  Nice money making scam.  They all do it.  Oops  - and need  yet another dish for the trailer at the RV park.  Guess I better get on Craigslist and get to dish hunting.

Hmm, the trailer is being moved on Wednesday afternoon.  I need to get the doors and key situation nailed down here as well before then.  This place is going to be locked up when I am not at home and I am going to write up a notice about it and give it to the tenants.  Even if they ARE here I want the doors locked.  They do not pay attention to anything going on in the main portions of the house, a thief could easily just walk in and help himself.  It is hardly an inconvenience to lock doors, it's a bit more of a pain to have to use a key to open them, but that's pretty much normal, every-day life in the big city.

Well enough. I took a Sunday afternoon nap and now headed outside to do a bit more landscaping work.

Happy Sunday.

ben