Back from the firing range

I wanted to jot down a couple of quick observations from my trip to Target Master West in Milpitas where I shot a gun for the first time today.

(If you want to know the background on this, look here.)

First, Target Master West is located in a strip mall, like everything else in Milpitas. Somehow perfectly NRA, and yet so far from the Wild West.

The staff member who helped us was very friendly, explaining our choices and showing me--the total neophyte-- how to load the ammunition and rifle. The guy standing next to me with his rifle showed me how to hold the rifle. When I said it was the first time I had ever held one, he said, "we've all been there."

We chose our targets, simple bull's-eyes,donned our ear and eye protection and then went into the lanes. I had lane 15. Stephanie clipped on my target the first time, and I controlled how far away it went on the wire with a switch. I loaded my gun, shouldered the rifle and started shooting.

What I learned fairly quickly was that I tended to shoot high and to the left. When I remembered to put my cheek to the rifle, like the man in the line told me, I could get a better aim, and hit the bull's eye circle. I liked this challenge quite a bit, and I liked that I could get better at it within the hour we shot.

The rifle I used was a 22. That's the smallest size. It jammed a lot, which people said happens fairly often with 22s, because the bullets are really small. They get turned around inside the chamber. When I do this again, I want to try a rifle that uses larger bullets. I'll need to get used to that, anyway, for boar hunting.