So I got back a while ago and I’m still buzzing a little from my first experience firing a pistol. Thanks to Pete and Dan for letting me use their weapons and making sure I didn’t hurt myself or anyone else. Fired a 22, a 40 and a 45 - the 45 was the most fun and the gun I was most accurate with.Its a little weird as an Englishman to see how casual people are about guns here (and how many of them thought a Saturday afternoon spent shooting was a good idea) - not that anyone was messing about - they treated the weapons with respect but I wasn’t expecting the guy in the next lane to offer Dan a chance to shoot with the very loud hand cannon they had with them.
The first shot was a bit of a shock as I felt the recoil and to be honest I was very nervous to start with. A few rounds later and I understood why people wanted to spend their Saturday afternoon at the gun range.
I didn’t exactly feel the overwhelming sense of power I’m sure some of you are expecting me to comment on, though some of that was there and the way the 40 and 45 kicked made it clear they weren’t wimpy guns. For me the enjoyment came from getting hands on experience with something that I am incredibly familiar with (from all the cop/crime shows and movies) but have never physically come to grips with and the discovery that I’m not a bad shot was pleasant.
Will I go again? Oh yes - and next time I’m gonna try out the fully auto mp5 and maybe the AK as well.
