I'm So Badass
Last night the CHL instructor told me I should definitely shoot a gun before I show up for the qualification on Saturday. So, I skipped out of work for an hour to visit Calibers, an indoor shooting range about ten minutes from my office. I explained the situation to the guy behind the counter and told him that I'd like to try a 9mm and a revolver of some sort. I only picked the 9mm because Jason has one, and I'm familiar with how it works. He immediately pulled out a 9mm Glock and a .38 Special with a long barrel. I check them both out, and he showed me the basics of how to use them. The revolver was super easy to learn, and I was already familiar with the workings the 9mm, so that wasn't an issue either. I immediately took a liking to the Glock because it was beautiful (I know, so superficial) and light-weight. Plus, it felt much better in my hand that the clunky .38 Special. I got the two boxes of ammunition for each one, shoved earplugs in my ears, and shuffled into the shooting area to find my lane. There were only two other people there, so that was nice. I didn't want the entire membership of the range laughing at me.
I tried the revolver first. The kick wasn't too bad, but I just felt ridiculous with such a huge gun that was so heavy. I only did about twenty rounds with it before switching over to the 9mm Glock. I fell in love with that one because the kick was half of what the revolver's was and it was so much more comfortable in my hand. I shot nearly the entire box of ammunition (50 rounds). I wasn't terribly concerned about accuracy, and I didn't use the sights on the guns to hit the target (which was about 7 yards away), but I did a fairly good job of hitting the little paper man anyway. I do plan on practicing tomorrow before I try to qualify, though. The target for qualification is half the size of the one I was using today. Plus, we're going to learn some techniques tonight and tomorrow to help with our accuracy. I suspect once I've been given a lesson in there, I'll do a much better job. For my first time shooting a gun, I think I did pretty damn well.
The guy who helped me was super awesome. He asked me what I thought when I came out, and we discussed how wrong it is for men to tell women they should always get revolvers. I told him I liked the Glock, and he told me that I definitely get what I like. The Glocks are a wee bit expensive, though. Like $530 expensive. I was planning on spending no more than $400. Then again, I might try a gun at the range on Saturday that I like even better and is less expensive. Who knows.
So, class is tonight after work. Class last night was waaaay boring until the last hour. It was all the information about the laws and the Dept. of Public Safety's code. It's definitely good stuff to know, but not the most exciting. Tonight we actually get to watch videos and learn things about self defense. There are also fake guns available for us to learn with before we get to the range tomorrow morning.
I tried the revolver first. The kick wasn't too bad, but I just felt ridiculous with such a huge gun that was so heavy. I only did about twenty rounds with it before switching over to the 9mm Glock. I fell in love with that one because the kick was half of what the revolver's was and it was so much more comfortable in my hand. I shot nearly the entire box of ammunition (50 rounds). I wasn't terribly concerned about accuracy, and I didn't use the sights on the guns to hit the target (which was about 7 yards away), but I did a fairly good job of hitting the little paper man anyway. I do plan on practicing tomorrow before I try to qualify, though. The target for qualification is half the size of the one I was using today. Plus, we're going to learn some techniques tonight and tomorrow to help with our accuracy. I suspect once I've been given a lesson in there, I'll do a much better job. For my first time shooting a gun, I think I did pretty damn well.
The guy who helped me was super awesome. He asked me what I thought when I came out, and we discussed how wrong it is for men to tell women they should always get revolvers. I told him I liked the Glock, and he told me that I definitely get what I like. The Glocks are a wee bit expensive, though. Like $530 expensive. I was planning on spending no more than $400. Then again, I might try a gun at the range on Saturday that I like even better and is less expensive. Who knows.
So, class is tonight after work. Class last night was waaaay boring until the last hour. It was all the information about the laws and the Dept. of Public Safety's code. It's definitely good stuff to know, but not the most exciting. Tonight we actually get to watch videos and learn things about self defense. There are also fake guns available for us to learn with before we get to the range tomorrow morning.